Kerstin Baker-Ash

Winter in Toronto

It's freezing. With a sick baby and weather that makes polar bears shiver, we stayed indoors today. It was quite relaxing watching the ferries to Toronto Island casually break through the thin layer of ice on the inner harbor of Lake Ontario as they made their way to the Toronto Islands. I took a video, uploaded it and posted it likely before the ferry made it to the other side. This technology thing is kinda cool, eh?

 

Shot on a Flip Mino HD (bought in April 2009), edited with iMovie '11 and song loop composed in Garage Band '11.

Layar: Awesomely Cool

This neat app for Android (sorry, no iPhone yet) is über-cool, brought to you by the techy folks at SPRXmobile. They're calling it an "Augmented Reality Browser", which basically means that you point your cell phone at your surroundings (outside, please), the camera in your cell phone captures images which communicate with your GPS system, which then parses where you're standing and what you're looking at. Then, as if by magic (really, it is magic), Layar inserts a visual information layer on top of your camera view, telling you where to look for ATMs, bars and even houses for sale.

According to Engadget, the app will roll out to the US later this year (as well as the UK and Germany), and target the iPhone 3GS. A missed opportunity for many of us (and a reason to switch to Android - gasp!), as O2's idiotic contracts and stubborn upgrade policy mean that even when the app launches in the UK, most iPhone users won't be able to test it because we're stuck with 3G iPhones until our ridiculously long 18-month contracts run out (or we want to pay £500 to upgrade early). 

/iphonerant

It's a pretty amazing innovation; it definitely needs to work in practice, but just as GPS has helped me find client meetings or the nearest gas station, the real world practice potential of Layar's Augmented Reality browser is huge. Another app designed to make mundane tasks appear cool and time-worthy. Bravo, SPRXmobile.