The conversation thing

I am begining to love BBC they’ve got the most interesting news about this industry… Nokia has launched today the new music and games download service, challenging both rival handset makers and mobile phone network providers. Most importantly, the iPhone. It was about time. BBC reads the store will charge 1 euro ($1.40; 70p) per single track and from 10 euros for an album, while games will cost between 6 and 10 euros.

It is interesting to observe the competition in this area. Nokia is one of the best mobile producers (proud 2ys owner of a 6680 ) still, I’ve noted that while their mobiles are good and reliable and always with the latest technology, they lack some features in usability. For instance, Nokia’s good-to-everything button needs clicking on it, while Sony Ericsson’s small joystick is sooo flexible and silent and interaction friendly. Same tool, lack in usability. I cannot argue though … Nokia is one hell of a resistent mobile so maybe some features need to be adjusted so as the poor mobile will not to crush into pieces at the first big encounter with the floor

I love Nokia, and my next mobile will most probably be a Nokia, but I’d like them to improve in this “cool” interaction area. Not to misunderstood me, it’s not that they don’t have the features, but usability for interaction features is still a little behind competition.

For this launch, they’ve thrown a big event NokiaGoLive . Liveblog for it can be read here 5 mobiles are released: N95 8GB / 5610 Xpress Music / 5310 Xpress Music / N81 / N81 8GB

Another Go Play event is held today and on the 30th in Singapore

Haven’t got an invitation, nor a ticket to Singapore or London… promise at their next 5 mobile launch to be among the ones invited

Ned Beauman on TheBlogArt&Architecture raises one very good question: why not use art in computer/console video games and what artists could be placed in this context.

Well, I’de loooove a videogame based on characters of Bosch. It’s so surreal ( quite interesting for his age ) that would apply perfectly for our own time’s imagery.

Other artists that would be perfect are Arcimboldo, Dali; Gaugain would do nice for a 2d game, Mondrian would be interesting for a pacman :).

Also considered Warhol and Rauschenberg but they are too modern and too visually violent for me to play for hours …

One video game that uses art and play and I simply loooooooooove is Nintendo’s Electroplankton. Toshio Iwai is a good example of an artists that combines visual art and music in a commercial game.

BBC again with a very good interview with Vinton Cerf

Good news that AT&T is no longer the sole operator of iPhone. As George Hotz shows on his blog on thursday, there are 10 steps to break in …

BBC reads that “Before George Hotz’s announcement on his blog, the iPhone was made to work on overseas networks using another method, which involves copying information from the Sim (Subscriber Identity Module) card.

However, special equipment was needed and the actual phone was not unlocked, with each Sim card having to be reprogrammed for use on a particular iPhone. ”

George, do us all a good favor and unlock it for the European market… we love iPhone just as well !!

Arcimboldo is one of the wierdest artists i’ve seen, love his works but never actually knew where to place them and what to do with his experience. Till Nowak got his clue and reinterpreted Alien freaks in Archimboldo’s style … Great work!

Antonio Altamirano, Internet Marketing Consultant at Accenture posted a key question yesterday on LinkedIn on what will the next three years bring to us technology wise …

Someone talked about changing the country global internet infrastructure, so that services will go to another level, another answer was that innovation on interfaces is probably already signaled by the launching of Nintendo Wii, iPhone and Microsoft Surface. Virtual world technology, like Second Life, was also mentioned, WiMax and Ubiqutous Computing.

What I think will be the necessary move in the next 2 or 3 years is the tag based file organization. The folder style for data storage on computers is so last century. Even my mom needs to associate text files to different folders, or associate different type of files to photos, and searching through one year of normal vacations photos in my computer becomes impossible. I actually feel the need to organize my files tag-based. Microsoft and Mac OS XI I am counting on you on this one !

Interesting material invented by Steven Kistler in 1930s over a bet … This material now revived by NASA appears to be the material for the future. Prevents pollution, insulates from extreme temperature … global warming, watch out!

There’s a huge gap between wanting and having, but these guys proved to be sooo brilliant in making this gap almost dissapear.

Cristine and Justin had an art idea that proved to be quite fun for the artists themselves.

I see MySpace.com entering this new breed of concerts - live online… I think in two years the most, internet will be the no1 medium for broadcasting concerts and live events, as well. So far, the whole industry is switching to video and live streaming. Video it’s the new pink

That’s what I’ve discovered in the last 30 minutes: three interesting projects all developed at MIT and a designer that helped build one of the websites.

1. Openstudio is more or less a site about artists that draw online. One setback - using Java is kinda limiting your own possibilities of expression. But the concept “OPENSTUDIO is web + art + community + economics.” goes far beyond drawing as it also includes art transactions and posibility for negociating jobs for the registered artists. Some of the founders Amber Frid-Jimenez, Annie Ding and Burak Arikan.

2. Along with Open I/O, OpenCode, OpenSpace and OpenTag, Openstudio belongs to PLWire at MIT, namely The Physical Language Workshop

PLW kinda puzzled me with one concept: audio tag … now what is that? Some sort of answering machine over the internet? Why tag? I do have to digg a little more to see precisely.

3. What else? A very funky project, haven’t got the time to see it through but the name is puzzeling Emma on relationships

And 4. the designer Takashi Okamoto in charge of designing the plw site. Same japanese/academic visual minimalism. Worth browsing as the sites abunds in all sorts of visuals so different than what can be seen on Romanian market. Not thouroughly commercial, rather a breath of unconventional fresh air.

Isn’t browsing fun ?