Check this out... I was looking at the iPhone 20min Guided Tour on Apple.com and is it just me or is the browser on the iPhone just a Google Maps type image viewer application and not a full fledged browser? Look at the screen midway through the guide (about 10min). Here are a few suspicious things about the iPhone web browser:

- iPhone web pages load too fast for Edge (could be that it's just for the demo) -- but could if they follow the Google Maps model.
- when the user "zooms in", it looks like the image is getting blurry, exactly like it does with Google Maps, then the higher resolution images load in.
- when the user moves around, the same happens.
- when the user "zooms out" (pictured), the image panels to the left are not loaded. Exactly how Google Maps works.

I'm speculating here and could be 100% wrong, but I think Apple might be proxying all requests to a server (3rd Party??) that takes a snap shot of the page, much like "snap.com", except it updates more often.

Guess we'll know for sure in a few days! What do you guys think?

Update: So I talked to Mike D. (he's a diehard fanboy of Apple) and I'm more than likely wrong... why it's loading fast is because it's wi-fi -- look at the wifi signal indicator next to AT&T? And we think it's rendering the page first on screen, then turning it into an img (PDF) and then re-rendering it to screen when zoomed -- like the PDF viewer -- wow! The iPhone must have a ton of processing power!? Guess, there won't be any magic that will make the pages load quicker over Edge.

Ten days ago, Pogue posted an interview he had with Steve Jobs about Flash and Java support on the iPhone. Steve Jobs said, “Java’s not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It’s this big heavyweight ball and chain.”

Am I the only one that finds this interesting since the format Apple is supporting for HD content is BluRay, which uses Java for all the interactive menus or BD-J discs. He is supporting a next gen format which supports a technology that he claims nobody uses anymore.

Last night I installed the Windows Live Search for Mobile BETA (enter http://wls.live.com from your Smartphone or J2ME device to install client) on my HTC Wizard (8125) and today on my way to get an oil change I decided to test out its usability. The steps are very simple...

1) Enter the business name and the location near you.


2) Results display quickly. Select business.


3) The next screen gives you the option to call, get directions To or From the location, as well as search the nearby area. I chose "Directions To Here".



4) Start location and end location are prepopulated (I haven't tested a GPS unit with this yet, but I expect it to prepopulate the start with the current GPS data).



5) Route Summary (with live updates if GPS is available)



6) And now for my favorite feature! Map with REAL-TIME traffic status! WOW!



I'm also a big fan of the Categories search. If you feel like Greek food, it will list all the restaurants near your location. I'm very impressed with the speed and ease of use. Kudos to the team over at Microsoft that wrote this great piece of software. It blows away the Google Maps (J2ME) application I used before this.

That's right! We soon will be able to pay for stuff without the need of a wallet -- just bring your cellphone along. The technology that makes this possible is a new wireless technology called NFC (Near Field Communication). The NFC chip encrypts your credit card information using short distance radio waves that transmits the data directly to the register. What makes this different than RFID is that it is a two-way technology. The whole footprint of the chip (both transmitter and receiver) measures only five-millimeters. The chip can also receive other data like receipts or coupons.

The best part about this technology is that you won't have to get a new cellphone. Yup! If you already own a Palm or Windows Mobile phone you will be able to use this new technology by just installing the mini-SD adapter from SanDisk. Which should be available March 2007 for about $80.

- SanDisk and Philips Join Forces to Ensure Security in Ticketing and Mobile Payment Applications

I've been real busy lately, so it's been hard to find time to post new entries -- one of the many problems with running a blog. I have managed to find some time to make huge progress on my automation server, by adding native support for the Omni Pro II automation controller into my .NET server as well as refined it a bit. I had requests from people that wanted to buy my software, but, I'm still not to that point, this project is a hobby and I wrote it because everything out there is so unnecessarily complicated and heavy, not because I wanted to sell it. Who knows, I may decided to release it one day.

Ok, so onto the phone, I've been looking for a new phone for over two years, my Sony T610 was being held hostage until someone came out with a phone that had Wi-Fi, BlueTooth and was running Windows Mobile 5.0. The Pocket PC version of my automation interface is in Flash and ties into a CE.NET application on the device so I wanted the latest and greatest when it comes to platforms. That's what I got, the Cingular 8125! This first review will be short, since I haven't had much time to play with the phone yet... but initial reaction is that I love it! It will be a tough transition going from a "real" phone to a computer. The biggest challenge I am having so far is that there is no dial pad. It's virtual on the Cingular 8125, so touch dialing is pretty much out. I've been playing with voice dial and that seems to be working fine, as is Microsoft Voice Command 1.5, but it's still pretty weird. I want the ability to touch dial and touch screens don't offer that feature. But again, overall, I'm loving it. I'm going to spend a few more days with it before I try to install my software on it. More to come...

Oh, one more thing, the reports are true, the Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard), does seem a bit under powered... I'll let you know if it irritates me.