Ubuntu for Phones, and the Convergence of Computing

By Bassem Makarem

January 2nd, 2013

Few hours ago, Ubuntu for phones was unveiled by Canonical in a move that is anything but surprising, at least for those following Tech news closely. In a 21-minutes long video, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and ex-CEO, gives a fairly extensive look at the new OS (as debatable as the term "new OS" is), with a focus on new User Interface paradigms mostly reminiscent of Nokia's pioneering Meego swipe gestures.

Ubuntu on phones won't ship properly until 2014 (although it could run on Android devices present today), but that is not why I am writing this. Nor am I overly excited about the promised new interface, as much merit as some of its ideas have. Instead, what piqued my interest in all of this is the convergence of your whole computing experience: It doesn't matter what device you're using, be it a phone, a tablet, or a laptop, the experience is the same and, most importantly, all of those devices should work seamlessly together, so that when transitioning from one to the other, your workflow (or fun-flow, really :P) doesn't get interrupted.

4G LTE Soon in Lebanon (Update)

By Bassem Makarem

November 1st, 2012

Annahar reported today that Telecom Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui will be unveiling plans to roll-out LTE, aka 4G technology, in Lebanon on today's episode of "Talk of the Town" on MTV. The plan, according to Annahar, will start with a testing phase starting the 16th of the current month on both operators (Touch and Alfa), with consumer availability on April 23rd, 2013.

Don't miss the scoop I will be revealing to @monaabouhamze this Thursday on "Talk of the Town"
— Nicolas Sehnaoui (@NicolaSehnaoui) October 31, 2012

The 4G network should allow for theoretical speeds of up to 100 Mbps, with practical real-world speeds in the 30 Mbps range. By contrast, current HSPA technology allows for speeds up to around 8 Mbps. The upgrade is following work on improving the long-stagnating infrastructure in Lebanon, by installing fiber-optics cables to connect the different stations, and should give a great boost to the economy by encouraging new investments. Of course, you need to have an LTE equipped phone to take advantage of the new speeds.

Update: Alfa Telecom confirmation on twitter (find the official press release in the sources below):

The wait is almost over!Alfa is the first to test 4G- LTE in Lebanon with over 20 LTE test sites in #Beirut #Alfa4G
— Alfa Telecom (@AlfaTelecom) November 1, 2012

source: Annahar, Alfa

Haave You Met Windows 8?

By Bassem Makarem

October 17th, 2012

Haave You Met X is a new feature on this blog, introducing new tech for the uninitiated.

If you ever used a computer, you're 90%* likely to have encountered Windows, give or take. Now, or in a week's time to be exact, on October 26th, Microsoft is set to release the next version of its operating system: Windows 8.

Windows 8 improves on the already great Windows 7, with a lighter, faster build, so that it could run with no trouble on fairly old systems. But more importantly, Windows 8 brings with it the early winds of a shift in computing paradigms, also known as tiles. Whenever you turn on your Windows 8 PC, you'll be met with a new Start screen, with flat rectangular icons that allow you to launch new full screen apps that you can get from the Windows Store. Alternatively, you could click on the Desktop tile to go to your familiar, well, desktop.

Thoughts: The Dark Knight Rises (Spoiler-free!)

By Bassem Makarem

August 17th, 2012

I went to see The Dark Knight Rises with a couple of friends yesterday (I won't start a rant about how the most awaited, biggest blockbuster movie of the year started showing one month ago internationally, while the [insert preferred curse here] [optional second curse word goes here] theaters in Lebanon for whatever "very logical reason in their mind" made us wait so long, meanwhile avoiding half of the internet in fear of stumbling over spoilers.. /rant).

Back to the movie itself.. We went to Concorde, and bought the last five tickets which had us sit a meter and a half before the screen (we could see the perforations in the screen fabric, and a mosquito apparently suffering from myopia); it gave quite a unique perspective to the movie :P Our choice (or lack thereof) of seats also had us suffer at times some audio loss due to its "Surround" nature, which would give optimal quality at the center of the theater (or else there was a problem with the whole theater's audio and no one noticed :P).

Now I will say this: I went with the expectations of watching an amazing movie, what I got was a 100 times awesomer! 165 minutes of pure pleasure, and I would've stayed for even more. The sound effects (at least those coming from the front channel :P), the visuals, the gadgets (oh how I love the gadgets), not to speak of the narrative itself (I promised spoiler-free, and I'll hold that promise) were unmatched, or only by a few. You might read somewhere that the movie was disappointing, or that it doesn't hold against The Dark Knight, and that would be wrong, and that would be stupid, and that would be blasphemous! Blasphemy I say! And those who wrote that are stupid.

The extended 165 minutes run-time was really a bonus, and I wish more movies would go that route as much of a bet as that might look to be (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter series!). And for the equivalent of 2 normal movies, and a movie as awesome as The Dark Knight Rises, I really believe 10000 L.L. to be a real steal. I will definitely go watch that movie again.

Finally, I just can't not mention how much respect I hold for Christopher Nolan, for the masterpieces he keeps getting out of that brilliant mind of his. Christopher Nolan, a tip of the hat to you.