The new LG Optimus 3D Android Smartphone

Henry Nho, 3D evangelist at LG Mobile, showed the Silicon Valley Android Meetup Group  LG’s soon-to-be-released Optimus 3D smartphone last night.  With its dual camera configuration and nice integration with YouTube, we will be able to take 3D video and easily and upload to YouTube 3D!  3D tagging is automatic – no cumbersome upload process. You can connect the Optimus to 3D TV and laptops as well.

“Dual” has some significance in this product:  dual cores, channels, memory as well as the cameras. The Optimus 3D has a slidebar control for dynamic depth control.  They claim the battery life is good (but only testing will tell).

This phone is initially launching with FroYo, but will quickly upgrade to Gingerbread. It was fun to watch sci-fi video with a squid-like creature suddenly surprising me in the foreground.  One concern – be cautious not to drop the phone when surprised!  This definitely makes mobile gaming more fun.  Don’t know how long my eyes will want to keep up with the 3D challenge, but it is button-easy to switch between the two modes.  Kids, gamers, and personal video enthusiasts are going to be all over this.

Henry Nho is a very good speaker, and will challenge you to stump him with technology questions.  He gave us a great presentation including how 3D works, methods for combating “cross-talk” issues in 3D, camera separation distances, optimal viewing distance considerations for different devices, degree-of-sight ranges for your eye vs a camera, and more.  I recommend him highly for presentations.

See this smartphone on a YouTube video from Google IO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHwrSZ8xMg

Flash on Android

Good discussion lead by Stephen Chin ( http://flash.steveonjava.com/ @steveONjava), and Andre Krutzfelt from the Adobe AS3 team, last night at the Google Technology Users Group  (thanks Van, Kevin, Tom  @sv_gtug ).

Stephen walked us through Screen Orientation, Density Explorer, Multitouch Gestures, and Touch Point API’s on Flash Professional CS5.  Slides and video can be found on Stephen’s site.

The “Burrito” preview of CS5.5 is available, with release expected in Q2.

We saw screen shots of the newer Panda Board (next step up from Beagle Boards) for android testing set top boxes, tablets, and smartphones.  They run about $150 – $250.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_Board .

Flash Player and Flash applications work on Android (Froyo Android 2.2 needed as minimum to run Flash apps).  Flash applications CAN be deployed on iPhone using Adobe Air (2.5 or 2.6), though Flash Player in a web browser cannot work on iPhone.

For good development links for Android, Air, Flex, iPhone, see Stephen’s slide #35 (basically http://labs.adobe.com and http://developer.android.com ) and his lists of recommended blogs on slide #36.  See his blog for sneak peaks of portions of his upcoming “Pro Android Flash” book, co-authored by Oswald Campesato and Dean Iverson.

Random Tidbits:

• Motorola Atrix just announced – most dense smartphone screen to date for Android (275ppi)
• Photoshop Express is a nice, free app on Android Market
• New Flash Player typically released quarterly.
• Flash 11?!?!?  What?!?!?
• Adobe Product Crib Notes:
  Flash = visual, animations, RIA;
  Flex = SDK for RIA built on Flash;
  ActionScript (AS3) = OO language similar to JavaScript
• Android TV and Android  car (DVD & GPS)  in China:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76gTWZKSAI8

Word of the Day: “Spimes”

I attended a great mobile usability meetup last night – more on that later – and was introduced to the word “spimes” – objects of the future tracked in space and time.  Our context included purpose, environmental impact, and enabling better choices in regard to mobile UI.

Now the Wikipedia entry:

Spime is a neologism for a currently-theoretical object that can be tracked through space and time throughout the lifetime of the object. The name “spime” for this concept was coined by author Bruce Sterling. Sterling sees spimes as coming through the convergence of six emerging technologies, related to both the manufacturing process for consumer goods, and through identification and location technologies. *

These six facets of spimes are:

1. Small, inexpensive means of remotely and uniquely identifying objects over short ranges; in other words, radio-frequency identification.
2. A mechanism to precisely locate something on Earth, such as a global-positioning system.
3. A way to mine large amounts of data for things that match some given criteria, like internet search engines.
4. Tools to virtually construct nearly any kind of object; computer-aided design.
5. Ways to rapidly prototype virtual objects into real ones. Sophisticated, automated fabrication of a specification for an object, through “three-dimensional printers.”
6. “Cradle-to-cradle” life-spans for objects. Cheap, effective recycling.

With all six of these, one could track the entire existence of an object, from before it was made (its virtual representation), through its manufacture, its ownership history, its physical location, until its eventual obsolescence and breaking-down back into raw material to be used for new instantiations of objects. If recorded, the lifetime of the object can be archived, and searched for.

Spimes are not defined merely by these six technologies; it is, rather, that if these technologies converge within the manufacturing process (CAD and automated manufacturing are already in wide use in the manufacture of many things today; RFIDs are becoming more and more prevalent in consumer goods) then spimes could indeed arise.

Recent James Gosling Talk – comments and video link

I had the pleasure of hearing James Gosling, “Father of Java”, talk recently at the Mountain View Googleplex for the SV Web JUG and SV JavaFX UG groups.  He simply opened up with Q&A, and the questions poured until he cut them off.

It’s refreshing to hear someone with deep expertise talk easily, candidly, and with humour.  Gosling said he was “shocked as hell” by the recent IBM and Apple truce, and thinks Oracle really didn’t know what they had bought when they got hold of Sun/Java.  A big question mark hovers over real-time embedded as they don’t yet understand it.  Still, Gosling is optimistic about Java under the Oracle umbrella.
What to do with Java as we move toward multi-core  computers is a fascinating issue for him – what happens when core count becomes exponential?

Gosling is frustrated by all the attention web engineering gets when he claims it is only about 10% of the computing landscape.  Biology; modern medical research, such as protein folding; computer simulation in modern materials; and “neolithic” car systems replacement are examples of a few other areas dependent on computing.  Most scientists write code!

He points out that it is challenging to get kids excited about computing and tech jobs:  Enrollment in tech related majors has declined since the dot com bust due, in part, to a false sense that all the tech jobs are overseas when the truth is there are LOTS of tech jobs EVERYWHERE.  He pointed out the efforts of the Alice project at Carnegie-Mellon to engage youth in tech.

What is Gosling up to now?  Working with VW and the Stanford Lab Vehicle Group on the math behind skidding.  Watch how their vehicle does on a gravel climb at the Pikes Peak Rally in 2011!

Fun facts:
·         Second favorite language is Scala.
·         He’s hooked by the “lame but damn compelling” game of Fruit Ninja.
·         He crawled the tunnels of CERN before they turned it on.
·         He attended the Washington DC Rally to Restore Sanity.

You won’t find Gosling on social media anytime soon – he’s simply not interested – but I recommend you catch his next talk and watch the  video from November 17th, 2010 on Markana. Hear his commentary about the forking of Java due to Apache quitting the JSP;  the Java mobile world becoming fractured;  Steve Jobs deprecating Java for the Macs;  Java ME’s incredible popularity outside of North America;  the philosophical difference between Oracle Open World and JavaWorld; and why he developed Java.

Props to:  Van/Kevin (from SV Web JUG), Stephen/Keith (from SV JavaFX UG), Max Walker, and Aleksandar (Saša) Gargenta

Well Employed, But…..HAPPY?

You are a great engineer / developer / lead / manager and are well-employed in this economic downturn. But are you HAPPILY employed? If you are a good to gifted developer, don’t settle for “employed” – people with big things to build are looking for you!!!

• Are you underpaid?  If so, but you like your environment, team, and challenge, go ask for a raise!
• Do you want, and are you on, a promotion track?  Is your company growing enough to provide that rapidly?
• Are you sufficiently challenged?  Are you innovating with the most cutting-edge tools and technologies?
• Are you constantly learning new skills?  If you are not, your market value is shrinking as time passes.
• Are you loyal?  Ensure your company is loyal to you as well, and keeping your best interests in mind as well as theirs.
• Do you have significant equity?  If you do not, perhaps a startup – early, mid or mature stage – or a small or mid-sized company is a good move for you now.  If your expertise is building the company, you should have a piece of the investment.
• Are you aware of your options “out there”?

Assess your current situation, improve what you can on your current job, and talk to a recruiter like me to keep tabs on other opportunities, which skills are in the highest demand, what the market is paying, and which opportunities come with pay, benefits, AND equity.    Recruiters – or Head Hunters as the good ones LIKE to be called – have access to jobs and companies that you may never otherwise find.  There is no obligation to simply check in with us once in a while. 

The ABC’s of H-1B’s By Carl Shusterman

worth reposting:

http://www.recruitingtrends.com/the-abcs-of-h-1bs?dm_i=AH1,AGA4,1ZQMJH,SMJ9,1

Working With a Team

I’ve made a new move, trading in much of my home office time for a shiny glass desk at Montgomery and Market that’s a-buzz with energy.  I’m pretty good from a home office at staying in contact with people via social media, phone, email chat, Skype, and good ol’ networking event attendance; but there’s something to be said about the synergies fostered by working in a room with your colleagues, teaming up to quickly put a special talent in place with a good team, and taking time together to sharpen your head-hunting and client personalization skills.  And to be honest, I love rising up out of the train tunnels in the morning into the skyscraper landscape with all it’s accompanying hustle, bustle, color, sound, and excitement.  Make that a double shot mocha on my way to the elevator!

So what’s in it for YOU?  My Clients will be getting even more specialized attention and quicker candidate search response.  Candidates – I have more positions opening for you daily/weekly than ever before.  Right now, I have Java, iOS, Android, and PHP jobs coming out of my ears, so let me know what you are looking for and send me an updated resume for starters.  And when you are in my part of town – let me know if you have time to meet!

Consumer Internet is Hot

Consumer internet is where the big acquisitions and exits are happening, according to an SDForum VC panel I heard recently.  And Q2 2010 is up significantly from Q1. (See the data detail on the PriceWaterhouseCoopers site.)

 Angels stepped in  to help new startups in the last few years, but the VC’s are starting to come back around.  There is more interest in the B2C than the B2B space right now.

Group buying, which was tried but died about 10 years ago, is now poised for a comeback.  The communications infrastructure, mobile access, and social networking is in place to make it truly successful.

The word of caution, however, is that we are likely to see some hyper-growth in the next year as investors grasp for consumer internet assets to put in their portfolios on the heels of Facebook’s recent successes, but we will likely see some valuation rebalancing for hot consumer internet assets in about 18 months.

Startup Health Litmus Test Questions for the Recruiter

I enjoy working with early-stage startups.  Some recruiters think I am crazy – the monetary compensation is not usually as high as corporate, I will often work deferred and on contingency, and the risk is great.  The searches are harder because you are looking for extreme talented people who are willing to step away from a lucrative job, bet on their ability to deliver, and work for a deferred or low initial cash compensation.  So why do I do it?  It’s FUN!  The right startup team will be comprised of very interesting, highly intelligent entrepreneurs and I love to see how they put the next best thing together.  And to build the initial team that may one day turn into the next big brand – priceless (almost!).

I have paid a heavy price from some of my earliest involvements with startups,  including extended placed contractor payroll dollars.  Also priceless – lost meals with family, missed child performances, missed paying business deals, stress, etc.  Startups are to a large extent art, and so is the decision to work with one.  I have started a list of considerations I run through now when approached by a startup to recruit.  I will share it here, and please – if you have some items or advice to add, let me know!

• Company Viability Background
• Value Statement – simple, clear?
• When/Why Founded
• Founders’ Background
  • Starts
  • Funding Connections and Experience
  • Successful exits
  • Expertise in current core industry/sector
  • Are Founders “in” 100%?  How long can they last?
• Core Team in place?
• Board Members
• Competition Research
• Current Funding Status
• Possible exits – have they planned?
• Early Adopters, Clients, Partners on board?
• Software Build Framework:  Fast Engineering Iterations  (Agile)
• User Testing – Perspective/Plan
• Marketing Approach and Expertise
• Experience Evaluation with other Recruiters
• Corporate Structure?  Credit Ratings; Personal Guarantee of Financial Commitments
• How consistent and transparent is their communication with ME?
  • Readily available by email, IM, and/or phone
  • Able to put agreements in writing and sign
  • Review and respond to candidate submissions in a timely manner
  • Give me multiple contacts, including CFO or other key finance person
  • Keep me updated on their funding progress and team changes
• Is some payment in equity available?

Seeking android phone advice…

HTC Evo vs. Samsung Galaxy S vs. new Droid X. Looking at the online comparisons. Anyone with any strong experience and/or advice for a new android phone adopter? (Moving from a BB Bold and dumping AT&T asap.)