Imran Ali: Web 2.0 Expo Berlin

Web2expo_2 Ian Hay and I have been invited by O'Reilly's Brady Forrest to run a session on mobile trends at Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin next month. Strangely, neither one of us can remember writing this abstract...

From a Mobile Telephone to a Computer - a Reality Dysfunction

The mobile phone is becoming more advanced, but should it? This talk is going to take a look at the reality of carrying a personal computer in your pocket. Some of the trends that will be examined:

Smart vs simple - the buzz of iPhone/N95 vs. huge sales of low end handsets, perhaps it has to with cameras hitting 10MP with flash, auto focus, etc., storage hitting 8GB, GPS, UMTS/GPRS/HSUPA/Wifi and a net result of no battery life

HMI (human mobile interaction) - as these devices become mobile personal computers the UI is (still) hugely flawed. Sure it can do anything, but only if you have time to click thirteen dialog boxes

Development Platforms - there is a lot of work going on to provide abstraction layers from the device hardware (DirectX for phones) to allow easier development, at the same time operators are looking to bundle up apps into containers to simplify certification process.

Still, sounds pretty good dontchya think? Maybe we'll jsut stick with it! Problem is my passport has vanished and I'm not sure I can get a replacement in time to book a cheap flight and rooms for 7th Nov...that and I don't wanna get my brown ass renditioned to Guantanamo 'cos I'm 'traveling freely in the EU'.

So tomorrow we're gonna figure out if it'll be possible for me to iChat/Skype into the session; unfortunately, iChat always makes me look like I just woke up!

UPDATE: Turns out I dropped my passport somewhere on the campus at Sheffield Hallam an someone kindly mailed it back this morning....unfortunately, as I reported the loss already, I still have to apply for a new passport :(

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