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Google is now providing resources to help you mobilize your website.

GoMo: An Initiative From Google

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I’m often accused of being an Apple apologist or fanboy. Truth is, I really like Android for the most part…but here’s why you won’t see me buying an Android phone. understatementblog: The announcement that Nexus One users won’t be getting upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich led some to justifiably question Google’s support of their devices. I look at it a little differently: Nexus One owners are lucky. I’ve been researching the history of OS updates on Android phones…

Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8fsvYd2RBY Google Translate with Conversation Mode (by GoogleMobile)

Google Translate with Conversation Mode (by GoogleMobile)

The sci-fi future really is here now. Between Siri on the iPhone and Translate on Android phones, speech recognition has come a long way in the last few years. Everyone in the information industries, including libraries, should be paying close attention to this stuff.

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Ars Technica on the Kindle/Overdrive experience. Two best quotes: “To see what’s available, visit your library’s website, which will likely display an obvious link to the OverDrive eMediaLibrary. Login to the system, usually by entering details like a library card number and PIN code, and you’ll find a website straight out of 2002.” and they clearly see what the future may bring: “For Amazon, this looks only like a first step. While the arrangement helps Amazon move more Kindle hardware and sell some books (checked-out books can easily be purchased for those who want permanent access), a far more compelling product might come from Amazon itself rather than a local library: pay a yearly fee and get access to millions of Kindle-ready books. Not surprisingly, Amazon is working on exactly this idea (and it already rents textbooks).”

Ars Technica on Kindle/Overdrive

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Developers are really starting to show off their HTML5 chops these days, and Google is clearly a leader in this area. If you are a Google Music Beta user, but prefer iOS to Android, you’ve been suffering with a lack of good integration with the service. This still isn’t the level that Android phones get, but it’s a really nicely done HTML5 app that shows off how much you can do in the browser these days. 

Google Music Beta releases mobile web app for iOS

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaNzbCtxtcY Disney AppMATes: The New Mobile Application Toys for iPad

Disney AppMATes: The New Mobile Application Toys for iPad (by DisneyLiving)

Here’s a new concept in iPad interactivity from Disney…toys that provide unique identifiers to the screen (I’m assuming via some pattern of capacitive dots on the bottom of the toy) and thus allows for custom interactive experiences. Very clever, and the general idea is brilliant. Storytelling with an added dimension for the child to interact with. 

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Origo is a company who’s developing an extruded-plastic 3D printer that’s easy enough for kids to use. As they say on their site: “Right now, I am just an idea. I will be as easy to use as an Xbox or Wii. I’ll be as big as three Xbox 360’s and as expensive as 3 Xbox 360’s. I will sit on your desk and quietly build your ideas, drawings and dreams. There are other 3D printers. But none will be as easy to use as I will. None will be as reliable or work as hard for you. I’m not a kit or an industrial machine. I’m not complicated. I’m an appliance, like a toaster or a microwave. Only I’m purple and make your stuff.”

Origo: a 3D printer for ten year olds

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Reading Rainbow for the iPad generation from the article: “LeVar Burton, a children’s literacy advocate and a former star of Star Trek: The Next Generation, plans to make an ambitious comeback, giving the once-loved Reading Rainbow brand a 21st-century upgrade. Burton’s for-profit venture, RRKidz, plans to launch an educational iPad app that lets children explore topics of interest—such as, say space—in a multimedia-rich environment, with voice-over-enhanced children’s books, familiar videos of Burton at real-life places (like NASA), and, of course, games.”

Reading Rainbow: The Next Generation

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOaZspeSBZU Arthur C Clarke predicting the future in 1964 (by elabjer

Arthur C Clarke predicting the future in 1964 (by elabjer)

One of my favorite pieces ever about predicting the future…as Clark points out, if you make a prediction, and it sounds reasonable, it is almost certainly wrong. And if it sounds fantastic, it will be dismissed…even though the future has consistently been more fantastic than almost everyone could realize. Clark was one of the true visionaries…he saw clearly how breakthroughs in electronics, satellites, and communications would effect the world. 

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3D printers are likely to explode in variety in 2012

Ultimaker: There’s a New 3D Printer in Town

Yet another option in fabrication beyond the Makerbot, 3D printers are likely to explode in variety in 2012. The Ultimaker looks like a promising entry into the increasingly competitive field.
Check out the Ultimaker blog for more information.