gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

Can’t say how I came upon the Channy Yun’s blog KoreaCrunch, but I have to opine its well-written and he gives a lot of insight into the happenings that occur in Korean Web 2.0 scene. It beats the poorly written Korea Herald articles, and less painful than translating the dozens of blogs available. It serves as a local reference point to interpret and understand the differences/similarities.

Mar.gar.in (pronounced ‘margarine’), the Koreans answer to del.icio.us was launched at the end of November 2006. In keeping with the exploratory spirit, the type of tags and its links are worth checking out.

Link: » Mar.gar.in, Social Bookmarking for Korean :: KoreaCrunch.

…and not us conforming to a physical device, Jeff Han says.

While his presentation at TED 2006 did wonders in visually explaining it’s plain wrong to accept the mouse and keyboard interface, but more important showing the way to a drastically different way of things. It’s significant to allow us to break free from the de facto. The intuitiveness of his system is simple and doesn’t require the user to have had a previous learning experience.

I’m not certain just yet on the mainstream availability. There is one big issue: while the system does present a cool way of interfacing with our programs. Will it disrupt what makes us productive? How many physical components are needed? And the size? Unfortunately, the drafting table display Han used during his presentation is not feasible for everyday usage. I’d really like to see a scaled down version for home usage and/or one for the office setting. Another would be a modular system, something that can be packed up for storage and vice for deployment.

In any case, this is a good forward movement.

Link: Can’t Touch This - Jeff Han - Touch Screen.

Herman Miller, the purveyor of high design products including the Aeron chair, Eames chair, etc., looks to bringing the desk for the high tech professional. The customer segment does not have to end there, mainstream people are more than likely owning gadgets purportedly dedicated to a single function (i.e., mobile, iPod, digital camera, etc.) than a convergence device that resembles a Swiss Army knife. Herman Miller’s answer is to bring a charging feature to the desk by licensing a system that ‘eliminates the need for dedicated chargers’.

Here’s how it works, a device first must be embedded with the eCoupled technology. When it is placed on the desk’s surface, power is transferred through a magnetic field.

Auto parts maker Visteon and the telecommunications HW maker Motorola are both working with eCoupled. Visteon has a charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter with a summer launch date. The adapter will be able to work with Motorola mobile phones, Apple iPod Shuffle and other gadgets. Look for more mobile phones embedded with eCoupled after the Visteon’s charger product launch.

This innovation can clearly expand to other markets including the home setting where kitchen tops can charge blenders, microwaves, TV’s. The ubiquity of power is limitless.

A curious question: similar to what Powerline Communications offers - the ubiquity of internet and network communications offered through the electrical system of the house. Could the eCoupled technology not only offer charging but another means of data connectivity? If that is viable, Herman Miller’s desk could one day become the all-important hub. This is a killer feature: a capability to charge all devices while improving the connectivity between devices.

Related: Reuters.com, textually.org

Seth provides a brilliant primer of what Web 4.0 can be in this post.

The opportunities of the semantic web are limitless, and I can’t wait. But that’s not Web4. Web4 is what I’m really waiting for. And it’s entirely possible that Web4 will get here before the semantic web even though Web 3 makes it work a lot better.

We start with this:

• Ubiquity
• Identity
• Connection

We need ubiquity to build Web4, because it is about activity, not just data, and most human activity takes place offline.

We need identity to build Web4, because the deliverable is based on who you are and what you do and what you need.

And we need connection to build Web4, because you’re nothing without the rest of us.

Web4 is about making connections, about serendipity and about the network taking initiative.

And screen snapshots displaying how the iPhone could be like Web 4

A really indepth and valuable article on the iPhone user experience from Bruce “Tog” Tognazzini, a member of the usability experts, Nielsen Norman Group.