I hate this movie...

Current status on Android:

- Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE: Waiting for ICS
- Asus TF700 LTE: Waiting for JB
- Galaxy Nexus S: Waiting for JB 4.2
- HTC One X: Waiting for JB

(to be honest, I haven't even seen the thing...)

The "touch" screen rant... #jolla #bb10

So it's been a few years since proper, affordable capacitive displays have been out. But every OS interface is pretty lame and boring. Especially the main contenders.

Apple has integrated "ape" gestures into the iPad. And Google... one finger zoom? Seriously, I feel neanderthalish using 4 or 5 fingers, and one finger... well it's as useful as LTE or NFC. Or a 3rd nut.

There have been 2 (two!) interesting approaches to the subject of touch interface, mainly using simple swipes. The BlackBerry Playbook (yes, seriously) and the Nokia N9.

Now Win8 has some of it (a swipe from outside mostly) but not in WP8. Just a 3rd lame touch option then.

BB10 however is pretty seriously getting into it.

But the most expected "revolutionary" and inovative will be Jolla. The creators of the N9 are building not just a new platform/operating system, but they are betting heavily on what made the N9 such a brilliant device. Simplicity and originality.

The simplicity is probably a bit hard to grasp. The new UI is full of new touch and swipe or slide gestures. Many new movements no one had ever seen or experimented. So first reaction? It's weird, it's complicated, it's not user friendly.

Well allow me to say that's where you're completely wrong. If you manage to get your hands on something like this, and actually use it and for more than some 20 seconds, your brain will quickly adapt and you'll soon find yourself using these new "moves" instinctively. And mostly, don't form an opinion just by watching a video, it is a TOUCH interface.

The future of mobile touch interfaces will lay in individual, application, general UI and icon taps/swipes/moves as demoed above. Some will be cross platform (as the "swipe in" seems to have become), other will be specific. But trust me on one thing. Your brain will memorize them faster than the freaking path (or 10) to some obscure settings menu. That is how I ended up double tapping every smartphone to wake it (obviously unsuccessfully, N9 heritage).

And the newer generation will assimilate it and use it so well, you'll look like your parents trying to use a mouse on a computer for the first time.

Of course, it won't be "awesome" until Apple implements it's vision of it, nor "cool" until Android releases it on a new Nexus. Then fragments it across some devices. One region/device/model/type/operator at a time.

But then again, this will only work with "real" multitasking and proper running memory/resources management. Guess Apple and Google respectively will have to solve those 'minor' issues first.

Go @jollamobile and BB10 !

I for one can wait to get out of the stone age of touch we're currently stuck in.

Congratz Marc Marquez!

I started ou by not liking his overly agressive style and the way he took other riders out, or got in their way, intentionally or not. He's been involved in several incidents this year, and this last race there was another one.

Now, I honestly don't think he had any reason to be punished this time... it was a free practice and he tried a move on the S, one that he repeatedly made in the race and nothing happened:


Marc Marquez tira a Simone Corsi durante la FP2... por Alfonso_SomozaMrquez

However I'm glad he was. This allowed him to finish the championship in the most brilliant display of speed and control, on wet conditions moreover. From last to first, with 2 laps to spare...



This not the first time. At Motegi a couple races back, he forgot to put it in gear and was passed by virtually everyone. He still won the race there as well.

One of the best racing videos I've ever seen:


Marc Márquez Motegi Onboard 2012 - Lap 1 por Alfonso_SomozaMrquez

Well done Marc! You've won me...

The Nissan Delta Wing Rant

Click for official site to read and see all about it.

My rant is simple today. Why can't the DeltaWing officially race?

Racing was supposed to be the test bed for new solutions. That is the main "excuse" everyone keeps using. For racing and for wasting more and more money every year in racing development, new composite materials, incredible aerodynamics (that mostly ruined many racing series in the last years, but that'd be another rant) and so on. But it really isn't, is it? Racing is all winning at all costs. It's about publicity, notoriety from racing results. And when participating is not providing as much return, manufacturers retire. Even when winning and dominating a series for years.

Let the DeltaWing race. For real. Not as a favor.




Some fun facts that make it awesome (most are in the video)

My first car was lightweight at 700kg. My current one (MPV) is 1800kg and it's not "that" heavy.
This is really lightweight at 475 kg (1,047 pounds)

Engine is a Nissan DIG-T 1.6 L with around 320hp. Considering the light weight... it's a lot.

Front wheels are the same size as a Citroën 2CV orr a space saver spare wheel. It still turns. Actually there is basically no under-steer. The reduced drag from the smaller tyres needed helps in acceleration and top speed.

Front suspension "practically a mountain bike", no power steering, none needed.

Rear, brilliant suspension, and no wing. The car itself is the wing. Actually, the aerodynamic is so brilliant it can pull high G forces when turning, but still attain incredible top speeds, faster that most (if not all) LMP type cars, and brake hard, mainly in the rear wheels without a problem.

All that, with incredible fuel mileage and low tyre wear.

But who would want that... a faster, more effective, efficient race car, that would lead to better road cars?



PS: (long) it's not a trike, it has 4 wheels. It rolls, yes. But just like a 4 wheel car can.



Even a heavy V8 Supercar can roll when tagged in the rear:



Or hits another car the right way (ffw to 18m31s):