THEMCKAYPOST

Juiced about Joost

I wrote about Joost (formerly known as The Venice Project) previously, but I like what I’m hearing so much (believe this is a steppingstone to true “on Demand TV), I am pointing to another article I came upon in Time. below is an excerpt.

If your not yet "juiced" about Joost, you will be when you see what it’s all about:

For years, Microsoft and others have tried, and failed, to bring the Net to TV screens with duds like WebTV. But the Venice Project, renamed Joost (as in juiced), is doing the opposite: moving TV to the Internet. And unlike Apple TV, Slingbox and other hardware offerings, Joost requires nothing more than software. For now, it's by invitation only, but by this summer it will be open to the public. You'll download the free Joost software, then use it to watch channels ranging from Lime, a lifestyle station, to National Geographic. And potentially thousands more, from anywhere, in real time — and without the stuttervision that dogs streaming video today.

Read the entire article in Time.

Technology I really like (continued…)

By now everyone knows that "The Venice Project" was the code name for Joost. I didn’t include Joost in my original post, but feel it deserves a mention in light of the announcement today that Joost has entered into a content licensing agreement with Viacom. Joost, which is still in Beta, appears to me to be similar to Network2. Interesting to note Joost founders Janus Friis, and Niklas Zennstrom (Skype, and Kazaa), as well as Network2’s founder Jeff Pulver all have backgrounds in VoIP. A logical progression (from voice on the internet, to TV on the internet) it would seem.

I also came upon this clip of Google co-founder, and President of Google Products, Larry Page giving his take on AI, and a hint at what Google is doing in this field. The Google approach is different from that of Numenta, in that they are focusing more on traditional AI models, rather than algorithms, but work on both sides of the fence is a good thing, and Page suggests in this clip that he doesn’t think this form of AI is too far away.

Anything that brings us one step closer to both View On Demand TV, and Artificial Intelligence are good things in my book.

Technology that I really like

Yes I like gadgets and gizmos as much the next guy/gal, and I love the internet too, but what I really like is the groundbreaking stuff that is going to change the way we do things, and not just improve upon what we already have. Here are a few examples:

Numenta, a startup founded by Jeff Hawkins of Palm Pilot, and Treo fame, is working on software that learns, much the same way that the human brain does.

This is not to be confused with AI. Here is an excerpt from the article Jeff Hawkins hacks the human Brain which appeared in CNNMoney:

Numenta, Hawkins stresses, has nothing to do with the field known as artificial intelligence. What he has in mind is far more supple and elegant.

Rather than being inspired by biology, AI uses brute computing power and logic to make computers seem intelligent through their behavior. When IBM’s Deep Blue finally beat chess grand master Gary Kasparov a decade ago, it wasn't because it was smarter than he was. It was just faster.

Even today, computers don't have intuition. They have trouble recognizing images, understanding language, and dealing with ambiguous information. Humans have no trouble doing those things. We are intelligent, and computers are not.

Numenta's approach is radically different. Computers running Numenta software will not be programmed like regular computers. Rather, algorithms that Numenta has come up with allow machines to learn from observation, just as a child learns by observing the world around her. More...

Second Sight is a privately held company which receives substantial funding from the U.S. Government. Located in Sylmar California, the firm has had profound successes in developing implantable technology that returns sight to people who have become blind due to certain diseases and disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa (the destruction of retinal cells). The company is beginning clinical trials of it’s latest, and most advanced implants which are showing remarkable results in early volunteer test subjects. Read the article; Better 'bionic eye' offers new hope of restored vision, which appeared in New Scientist.

On to the internet, and a couple of developments that are still in their early stages, but will eventually provide the kind of experiences we are all looking for.

There are a few companies out there who are developing innovative search engine technology intended to rival that of Google. The ones that I like include Wikiasari, a project created by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and Powerset a natural language search engine. Although these businesses may end up ultimately being acquired by Google, as is pointed out by Internet Outsider’s Henry Blodget in this recent post entitled Powerset "Natural-Language Search" to Threaten Google? Please, These firms are out there being innovative, and in doing so will either catch Google off guard, or they will be bought, and the technology they are creating will become part of the bulldozing behemoth from Mountain View.

Lastly, Network2 which I see as the most likely candidate for my vote as the prototype for TV in the near future (hopefully) when true “View Upon Demand” is available in my living room, on my flat panel. Tom Evslin (Fractiles of Change) writes about Network2 in his post entitled Television and the Internet. Here is an exerpt:

My friend Jeff Pulver (formerly a VoIP pioneer and a commodities trader) started network2, a website which is a good example of PART of what TV on the Internet will be. In many ways IP TV (which is what Jeff is doing) goes a step beyond traditional television; it’s most like TV Guide except that when you click on a show you actually get to see it or download it for later viewing or for watching on some kind of portable device. Network2 doesn’t own the content it points to (but the content is very glad to be pointed at). Network2 does exercise some editorial discretion in picking content. You can’t just upload stuff to Network2 as you can to YouTube. Much of what Network2 points to is professionally produced. Some is content like newsclips, old movies, and trailers for new movies which traditional providers have made available; some is video from sources like the New York Times; there are even high quality made for the Internet shows like Wallstrip.

Anyway, these are among my favorites. There are a few others, and will write about them in the near future.