Flat is fine, curved is better!

The old fat TVs used to have a convex curvature. Future TVs will probably be concave, like the largest cinema screens are already. What we see here are some curved screens shown at the CES:

OLED screens like these can be extremely thin and bendable. Bent screens apparently cause a 3D effect, which is said to be dramatic.

The potential of bendable screens is likely to stretch well beyond home cinemas. Samsung showed a bendable screen for use in mobile phones. They use the term flexible (see the Youtube video in the references below), because the user can actually bend the screen himself. It looks quite neat.

Then there's the new use of vending machines. Here's one that'll lend you a MacBook:

I thought it was a joke, but this machine is apparently at the Drexel University in Philadelphia. The machine lends out MacBooks free of charge—with proper ID—for five-hour periods. What's its Raison d'etre? It's not for saving students the money for a MacBook, instead it lets students who are studying at the university's library late into the night, leave their own hardware at home, so they're not a target for thieves on the streets of west Philadelphia. A common problem with Apple products, like the iPhone.

You must have heard of the Java security hole. It hasn't been fixed yet if I'm correctly informed. To be on the safe side you might want to disable your browser's Java plug-in. You'll probably not have to enable it again, because only a small percentage of sites use it.

Refs: 
http://gizmodo.com/5974348/lg-curved-3d-oled-hands+on-an-imax-for-your-house (LG bendable screens)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2nG9qy6vs (Samsung flexible screen)
http://gizmodo.com/5975475/how-to-disable-java-in-your-browser (Disable Java)

The shrinking Harddisk prices

Hi all you tech-lovers! The price of harddisks keeps going down. The prices are lower than about two years ago, while the capacity keeps increasing and some producers have started making colorful and attractive devices.

To me this is a sure sign that the competing technology, solid state memory (same as in USB memory sticks), is about to win the battle of storage technologies. Another sign of this is the fact that Apple's MacBook Air has only solid state memory. Its storage capacity is much smaller than most laptops, but still sufficient for most buyers. These Macs can get additional storage simply by connecting a USB harddisk, when needed.

The harddisks will lose, and I'm sure proponents of both technologies have made diagrams showing when the technology switch will happen. In the meantime we can enjoy ever more storage at ever lower prices. In one of the electronics stores close to my place, I can get a 2000 GB drive for 675 SEK, which is about 100 USD. 675 SEK / 2000 GB = 0,33 SEK / GB = 0,05$ / GB. That's really cheap. Of course I'll have to pay more should I want a colorful one.

I'm going to buy a harddisk this afternoon. Maybe two.

Spring or Not Spring?

Hi all App fans! You may have read the April 27th post, the one about spring in Skåne. Spring optimism must have hit me on that day, because I was totally wrong. I turned the central heating off and went to the driving range. 
It's been incredibly cold here for about a week with sub-zero (sub 32F) night temperatures and day temperatures of about 5 degrees C. Turned the central heating on again, and it toiled like it was mid-winter. But finally it's getting warmer outside.
Possibly due to cold temperatures, the morning paper didn't arrive yesterday. However that doesn't bother a lucky iPad owner like me. A free online subscription is included in the paper subscription, so no problem there. Great device, I keep saying it. 
I've noticed that I do certain web-activities almost exclusively on the iPad or iPod touch, as opposed to doing them on the MacBook.

• iPad only: handle Google Docs, use Google Reader, read morning paper
• iPod touch or iPad: mail, browse the App Store, check weather/stocks/calendar, morning paper feed, Proctele games, Facebook, Twitter
• MacBook: work, mail, Facebook, Twitter

Of course the above is not complete. 

I have not made any conscious decisions about device use. The way I use them is only decided by convenience. A good app on a certain device can definitely drive use towards it, but it's a good app in combination with good and suitable hardware that makes a really good user experience.