First Scoble writes about something so amazing from Microsoft it makes him cry and will be world changing. Then Long Zheng spots the above page via an email pitch linking to opensourcehero that redirects here.
What open source something will Microsoft forge on February 27 that will be world changing and make Scoble cry? I read Scoble’s post again (either I didn’t read it all the first time, or he has since added to it) and pulled out some more clues:
- Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay both work on the Next Media team at Microsoft. The team does the following:
Microsoft Next Media Research group focuses on exploring what new consumer media experiences are possible with the growth in computing power, connectivity and storage in a compelling, elegant and transparent way in the 3 to 10 year timeframe. The group envisions consumer information and entertainment experiences not available today and builds or combines technologies from other Microsoft Research groups and crafts intuitive user interfaces and compelling scenarios to deliver that experience. Rather than focus on old media or new media, the group attempts to develop working prototypes of the Next forms of media possible from new convergent technologies, hence the name.
- Scoble said there isn’t a business model with what ever this is, supporting the tie in with the open source announcement the same day
- Scoble again: “Could they have done this at a Silicon Valley startup? I doubt it. Venture Capitalists won’t see enough business value in what they are doing.” Which means it’s not a product that will sell, more likely an interface or way of doing something, and again, likely to be released open source
- Scoble: “If I told you today what they were doing, without showing you the video we’ll have up on March 3, you’d tell me “that’s lame Scoble.” It’s 100% involved visually, and likely interface related.
- Scoble: “Buzz Bruggeman, CEO of ActiveWords, was the first to tell me about,” ActiveWords knows about it, and is an interface improvement provider.
- Scoble: “In Wong and Fey’s work you’ll see techniques that lots of startups are using and, even, that the Google Map team is using,” got to be visual, possibly 3D.
- commenter on Scoble’s blog:
I don’t know if this has anything to do with what Robert is talking about, but its interesting to note Wong and Fay worked on this:
The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) project is designed to be an extensible learning and exploration environment which integrates hyperlinked rich media narrative with a seamless multiple survey virtual sky to enable guided and unguided exploration of the universe.
In my earlier post on Scoble crying I guessed Silverlight or online Office. It might be something powered by Silverlight, but I’m now changing my predictions. It’s either an amazing online astronomy program, or it’s heavily interface related to I don’t know what. Guesses given where Fey and Curtis work: media management in images, audio and video.
See all
Post
No one gives a shit.
Wonder if it’s anything to do with their PhotoSynth interface?
Probably something to do with the “Heroes happen {here}” conference that kicks off on the same day (in LA).
http://www.microsoft.com/heroe.....fault.mspx
And in typical M$ fashion, the “Install silverlight” link at the top of the page can’t even figure out if you’re on a Mac and downloads a .exe file
Didn’t Microsoft buy the company that demonstrated the amazing 3-d image morphing solution at TED. I’m talking about the product that analyzed thousands of photos on Flickr to rebuild Notre Dame in a virtual space. Perhaps they are making this available to the masses. It was pretty damn inspiring.
As i’ve already noted, it’s probably Photosynth:
http://peteremcc.wordpress.com.....ry-solved/
“It sounds to me like a souped up version of Google Sky that uses Photosynth (or at least Seadragon) for the implementation, presented to the user via Silverlight. This would explain why WWT, Photosynth and Silverlight are the main three rumours going around.”
And scoble posted on the previous article saying it’s something to do with TED. They demod Photosynth there last year - they’re probably launching it there this year.
This is a post for the sake of posting. Your conjecture is petty and quite immature. Is your average reader 12 years old, or so sensationalistic that you must write like this?
Must be first. Must make the first post about this. Who cares if I don’t have anything to say. Must be first.
Ted, not quite.
Microsoft bought Seadragon, which is the zooming technology and incorporated that into Photosynth.
It was Microsoft who demoed it at TED last year.
As for analysing photos, the version they showed had to have photos all taken at the same time with the same camera to help the software figure stuff out. Since then they’ve been improving it and did a project with the BBC with photos from different sources.
It’s the “Ground Based Telescope”
It’s not Photosynth that I was talking about.
From { } im guessing its something for coders, hopefully a cross platform .NET runtime. Microsoft ending their rain of impeeding developers to their own platform might make some cry.
Good analysis.
Given that it required some sort of demonstration to have an impact, it’s not likely to be a toolkit. Astronomy isn’t that popular, so it won’t be that. It’s not any sort of paid content, because that would have a valid business model and income stream. So it must be existing free content, or free (non-professional) user generated content, or just plain old communicative technology.
Microsoft really doesn’t have any community presence, so it’s probably community related, an area Microsoft would definitely have been investing in over at least the last 3 years.
It’s probably a slight shift in paradigm … something like the difference between reading the headlines on a page, and having them forwarded over RSS. If Microsoft is consistent with previous behavior, scoble is getting a little too excited and it’s probably not worth another techcrunch post.
Its a bird, its a plane, no its just microsoft!
Oh and Scoble already ruled out Silverlight in the other thread if anyone missed that…
See below quote below (taken from the first story post #15). Check out the credentials of Rahul Dave.
http://timemachine.iic.harvard.edu/people/
….“I’ve seen it and Scoble is not even being hyperbolic in how good this application is. Gaspar is onto something, is all I will say. Jonathan Fay is genius.
BTW I’ve seen Googlers faces drop seeing this. You do have to be a geek to appreciate it, and it will have immense educational AND research value.”
Comment by Rahul Dave
I give an update on this on my blog here: http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/.....osoft-cry/
M$ will release nothing but a full load of shit on Feb 27th.
this time Mr. Scoble is hired as a PR whore by M$.
read. will check out on the date. thx.
Is it maybe the Surface source code?
drum roll… Microsoft Flight Simulator 75!!!
Seriously though, it could be some sort of sim program that ties in Flickr, etc. Images of the location along wtih Encyclo/Wikipedia info and employs all Media Files about it including Movie Clips. For Earth (Surf and Turf, including deep Surf) and the entire known Universe. Exploration and Learning? Huge upgrade compared with Google Earth?
Superhero + Microsoft = Supersoft !
Microsoft Surprise 2008
Umm..after all this speculation if this stuff does not turn out to be enough fun, then Scoble will really be made to cry!
Silly readers.. The clue is there! “Forge New Powers”? Microsoft is obviously going to open-source one of the main internal applications: Microsoft Office Pact. It’s the lesser known application in the office suite that makes selling your soul to the devil easier than ever.
Keeto
I even tossed up Windows 7, but it didn’t fit with what Scoble said, unless of course these are two separate announcements scheduled for the same day….and that would be rather odd.
Also saw Scoble updated again and said that I’m still not warm. Keep guessing ppl, between us we should be able to join the dots somehow.
For the two trolls: if it’s as big as Scoble says it is then we are interested, and it has nothing to do with being first (we weren’t), simply we want to cover what ever it is, and hopefully along the way guess what it is as well (not that I’m having much luck in that direction yet).
I am a Cry Baby!!
I am a Cry Baby!!
They’re going to open source Windows 1.0. Finally!
something microsoft hasn’t done, but will be doing on feb. 27.
microsoft opens up its next OS to the opensource world?
It’s IE going open source of course
Duncan,
I just read Scoble’s new update and now I’m really trying to figure out what the hell this thing is..
Let’s see, not Photosynth and not “operating systems, productivity apps, data centers or databases, video game consoles, or other things that you’ve seen Microsoft do in the past.” Heck, he even said he should have associated it with the WWW (though he did mention something about requiring “2008-style Web services and data centers”). And then mix in the fact that it was created by a team of two.
Could it in fact be inspiring because only two people created something good? (The inspiring power of two-person teamwork?) I hope not.
So what hasn’t Microsoft done in the past?.. Hmm, probably something that just works..
M$ will buy Yahoo! on Feb 27 and shut down all their open source projects.
Duncan: Impressive deduction
You could give Robert a break though - I’m not a Microsoft fan, but the way he wrote this post actually made me interested in the release. People want cool stuff this day, no one will care whether it’s from Microsoft if it’s cool enough.
Duncan,
If you had the WebMynd plugin you would have known for sure if he had changed his blog post.
They’re going to open IronRuby up to 3rd party contributors on RubyForge.
Do I win?
Here’s another hint:
X**X 3*0
it could be a anti child-porn service.. where all security departments can collaborate to search and find (bastards) who abuse children….
just a guess…
I see Pr0n in your tabs
My prediction: MSFT will make their HD-DVD multimedia playing code + tools open source. HD-DVD is losing badly to Blu-Ray, and it just gets worse every week. Going open source could enlist exactly the kind of geeky first-adopters who determine which still-expensive format will win (although arguably, Blu-Ray has already won). If this isn’t MSFT’s announcement, it should be. It’d be a clever, aggressive, last-ditch effort to prop up their influence and centrality over not only just HD-DVD Players (Toshibas) and HD-DVD discs, but also the XBox 360 and all devices that play media, including PCs (YouTube, iTunes, Hulu), TVs (iTunes), MP3 Players & Cell Phones, and more…
Microsoft is finally releasing the more revealing photos from the Bill Gates Windows 1.0 promotional collection, coinciding with the release of the 3d photo rendering and realistic human form virtual animation software. Virtua Software is partnering with Microsoft on the project, and will soon release VirtuaBill, being demonstrated on the 27th.
Sources from within Microsoft state “You’ll be amazed at how realistic the rendering appears”. Microsoft is spending big on the release of the product and Wall Street Analysts are recommending Microsoft as a strong buy (while quickly short selling their own shares).
Not expecting much. When I click on the “install Silverlight” link on that page, MS immediately offers me a Windows executable, like a bit fat FU to all OSX and Linux users.
Typical Microsoft arrogance, exactly what makes any MS foray into the open source world less than credible.
I’m afraid this is going to be one of those “we’ve found a way to ruin something that could have been quite beautiful” things.
It is a wi-fi portable device capable of connecting to a MS online service containing and cataloguing every video, music, pictures, documents, bookmarks, sites you visit, conversations you record and so on and then giving you immediate access to the content or time-lined history of all your digital life…
ZImbraFan: Yahoo! is already doing it without needing M$ help.
http://infosthetics.com/archiv....._down.html
Photosynth + Surface Device Mashup! … that would be cool !
=====
http://www.i-guide.ro/blog/Ro/en/
Cool post
I think this link could give some insights!
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=564
But no way a small team can’t do it…
Sourceforge type repository with built in Visual Studio access and collaboration features.
Probably twittered and RSS’d up the wazoo to keep Mr Scoble happy, and with a Silverlight interface to prove that some Open Source developers use it.
*shrugs*
IronRuby is already open for 3rd party contributions on RubyForge. And whatever that Feb 27 thing is, it has nothing to do with the screenshot at the top of this post.
Looks you picked up well from my hint on your previous (crying) post - “emerging media; telescope; convergent technologies”
I don’t think this’ll be anything open source - I think you’re trying to draw a connection between 2 unconnected data points.
I think this is going to be something web-based.
@ducan
It’s a Holodeck. MFST has created the first version of the Holodeck.
Slow news day?