Skunkworks

You should take a look at the video below. First time in a long time when I got an uneasy feeling in relation to the technology. At first glance it seems to me that this robot is much more advanced (in relation to walking) then the ASIMO japanese robot. Also I think the “robot brain” would allow walking on 2 legs only if needed.

After watching the Iphone SDK related presentation these are some random thoughts that come to my mind:

• If you want to see how Iphone SDK compares with the rest of the mobile platforms SDK you should check this chart from Engadget
• Adobe is on the loosing side because flash and Air won’t be on the iphone. Adobe can try to add them using the SDK, but nobody is going to use that additional layer. There is no killer app for Flash or Air for the Iphone. Also on a side note is worth to mention that Silverlight 2.0 from Microsoft is providing support for offline apps.
• Google really has to improve Android and some how talk the developers into using their SDK instead of Apple’s.
• Nintendo and other mobile console makers will be on the loosing side also because is so much better having only one device in your pocket.
• I wonder if other video codecs will be available on the Iphone. Most probably Apple will find a reason not to allow Xvid or WMV to run on the Iphone.
• Probably Iphone was rushed to the market, and they didn’t had time to actually make their software really stable and create an SDK. This was probably the main reason you get access to native apps only 1 year later.
• Probably if Apple is going to add HDSPA and GPS to Iphone in june, is going to be the best device ever. Also it needs bluetooth and some accesories like video googles.
• Scott Forstall, the guy who did the SDK presentation has a very similar style of talking and acting on stage with Steve Jobs. Not sure if the similarities goes further than this, but if Iphone is going to be huge, this guy could be the next in line for the CEO position. It seems to me that Scott has the same attention to details in relation to the interface like Steve does.
• Not sure how Apple will address the fact that they sell Ipod Touch in almost all the countries in the world, but you do have acces to Itunes store only in around 20 countries. How I will get apps for an Ipod Touch sold in Romania for that matter?
• Apple will have a problem with the Ipod Touch. By switching the focus from Iphone being the best ipod ever to Iphone being the killer PDA phone, Apple created for them a problem. Nobody will buy Ipod touch for getting apps that are really useful only when you have acces to the network. Probably Ipod Touch will get a bigger screen and evolve into an ebook reader, but again this is just educated guessing. Will see what’s happening in june at the developers conference.
• Didn’t see in the demo if you can actually edit your calendar apointments when you get them from the Exchange server. I hope you have full functionality and not read only.
• By getting so many apps running on the Iphone, the battery will become a much more important issue. Most probably with the update in June, if any, Apple will provide a user replaceable battery.

This post should be in romanian, because it has to do with the romanian daily reality. I choose to write it in english to keep some sort of order in the blog.

Around 2 weeks ago I went for an interview to a top 5 bank here for middle management position. The interview went more than ok, I asked for a certain amount of money, the interviewer was relatively ok with the amount. 4 days later I am getting a call from the interviewer in which he said to me that I am the person for the job, but he can not offer me more than 85% of the amount I requested. Next day I accepted the offer, and the interviewer told me that he needs to have this amount approved by a VP because my sallary is bigger than their approved sallary grid.

They called me to the office next monday at 11 to sign the papers. I was there and after 30 minutes discussion between the interviewer and the HR department I was told to come back at 16:30 the same day because the papers weren’t ready. Knowing the way things are here I suggested to them that I should come back next morning at 9, which I did.

So tuesday I met with a HR person which presented to me all the papers except the sallary which still wasn’t approved at this stage. She told me that by the end of the day, she should have the approval and she will call me to establish a meeting next day for signing the employment papers. Tuesday around 7PM she called, told me that the sallary is not approved yet but she will call me when it is ready, for me to come and sign the papers.

One week later I got a call from the interviewer asking me to meet him next day to discuss the offer. So I met him this morning in his office and he told me that the initial money weren’t approved by the VP and offered me 60% of the initial amount that I requested. I declined the offer politely.

End of the public service announcement.

PS I still have to figure out if I am allowed to make all the names public or not.