Well, it seems Google, everyone’s favorite Internet company, is trying to take another leap forward.  This time on two fronts. For one, by promising language translation software that works right from your cellphone. And secondly, with their new social networking tool, Buzz.

Let’s talk cellphone interpreter first. The basic plan is to create software that can translate on the fly, letting us break through a few language barriers as we traipse across the globe. While this would be totally awesome, even with the ambiguous time-table of “a few years” away, I have my doubts on Google being able to accomplish such a lofty goal. Even the most advanced consumer voice recognition software has trouble with basic sentences, despite them being spoken in the most robotic, monotonous voice imaginable.

This sort of tool hasn’t even breached the voice-to-text wall, as can be shown on even the most advanced Google platform (Android 2.1). If a 1 GHZ powered smartphone (the Nexus One) operates (at best) like a lisp-impeded translator, then what hope does Google really have when dealing with not only dozens of languages, but hundreds of dialects? For me, it’s an unfounded hope. Because quite frankly, how cool would that be?  Even if I don’t happen to visit other countries all that much, this is a smart step in the right direction and would absolutely love for the do-everything company to succeed.

So, what’s the word on Buzz? Well, it appears Google is taking very incremental steps to creating the smartest idea ever. First it was Gmail, then Google Docs, Wave and Talk, and now Buzz. Basically Buzz is a glorified Facebook status that acts like Twitter. You have followers and can post various things. There’s also your Gprofile that friends can look at.

What makes this different than anything else? Besides that Google is doing it? Well, it doesn’t seem like much, but it does appear that privacy is a big thing and you can choose to let people follow you or not.  All in all, it’s another neat piece, but perhaps too little too late to be anything other than jumping on the bandwagon. Once again though, we’ll have to see what Google does with it.

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After a too-long absence from writing for Rhombus, I find it fitting to come back with an article that was inspired via request by another Rhombus contributor, a one Mr. J. Petersen, who sent me a link to a company called Better Place.

Simply put, Better Place is a company trying to do for the auto industry what has long been a pipe-dream for every clean-energy, clean-car nut since the ’60s, by making electric cars/vehicles a viable mode of transportation. Not being a stranger to this idea, I already had a lot of objections that needed answering before I believed these guys were serious and not just some sloppy start up.

It should be noted that electric cars have already been shown to work — the engineering isn’t anything new. But there are several major hurdles this technology must overcome to make it into reality, and it seems Better Place has the answers. At least, that’s what they want you to think.

Instead of focusing on these hurdles, which would make this a very lengthy article, I will sum it up and leave a lot of the details out. Range, infrastructure, standardization, peak charging times and the power used to charge the vehicles have always provided a conglomerate of problems, but Better Place has addressed these issues, if in a simplistic manner.

To combat those long hauls of over 100-200 miles, Better Place envisions simple battery swapping stations. Creating the many charging stations that could be used seems to be as simple as running power lines into their prefabricated charge points. They’re also working with the ISO and IEC, both big names when it comes to standardizing. Utilizing smart networks and grids, much like what Google is trying to do with PowerMeter, will ease any fiascos during a peak charge time. Better Place is even pushing for the adoption of alternative power sources for all our electric needs.

Of course, no new venture is perfect — it will have flaws and foibles, but if the end result will be something greater than before, it should go to reason we (as progressive individuals that want a better life for ourselves and future generations) should do nothing but endorse and empower those seeking this end result. That’s why, despite the many technical and nit-picky problems I see, Better Place will have a consumer in me as soon as we come together.

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Unless you’ve been living in a technology-free zone for the last six months, you probably heard the rumors of the secret Apple tablet computer (and when I say secret, I mean officially the worst kept secret in the history of technology).

Well, today Steve Jobs and his black turtleneck finally unveiled the product to the masses at a media event in San Fransisco. Despite sounding more like a high-tech feminine hygiene product than a groundbreaking media device, the iPad demonstrated impressive capabilities and Apple appears poised to have another huge hit. We at Rhombus, of course, are here to bring you the breakdown of what you need to know about this next-generation mobile computing device.

What is it?
Basically, it’s a giant iPod touch. The iPad looks identical to the iPhone except, instead of a 3-inch screen it features a 9.7-inch LED backlit display. It uses the same multi-touch technology used on the iPhone/iPod Touch, only made even more responsive by the enlarged screen.

What does it do?
The iPad is based on the iPhone operating system, so it will run almost all of the 144,000 iPhone apps on the day it launches. That means if you already have an iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll be able to play Bejeweled all you want right on your iPad — and the best part — without having to pay for the app again. The iPad will also have apps specifically developed to take advantage of its larger screen and increased processing power. So eventually, there will be an app for pretty much whatever you want your iPad to do.

The iPad was shown as using a bigger version of mobile Safari for Web browsing that looked quite slick and seemed very fast and responsive — about the same, if not faster than using Safari on a MacBook. Apple also demonstrated that eBooks are a large part of their plan for the tablet, with several big name publishers on-board to provide reading content through an iTunes-like store called iBooks. The iPad has completely redesigned the mail, calendar, and photo applications, with each one taking full advantage of the larger screen with more robust interfaces and features than their iPhone counterparts.

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It’s fairly hard to argue that both HD and the Blu-Ray disc (BD) are not successful consumer technologies. In fact, if you want to go out and buy a brand new standard definition television, you probably won’t be able to. It even appears that Best Buy doesn’t offer SD televisions anymore, unless you want to watch The Office on a seven-inch screen. Perhaps you have basic Comcast cable, then you should be getting the local channels in HD as well. Of course, owning an HDTV sure helps.

Finding any high-def naysayers has been difficult of late, as they’ve all seemingly succumbed to the idea that you cannot argue with pixels — 1920 x 1080 is absolutely more than 640 x 480. It’s an undeniable fact. One might as well attempt to prove 2+2 does not equal 4. With all this talk of pixels, we’ve found the most compelling reason for the success of high-definition technology — it just looks better and, of course, it is better.

What about the Blu-Ray disc? Why such controversy over it and why do I constantly get told that people “don’t get it?” I would actually say the main reason is because of its name. When pioneering the technology, Sony was directly competing with Toshiba, who were marketing their HD-DVD at the same time. Of course, Sony couldn’t use the same name, so they came up with Blu-Ray.

Why? Because instead of a regular red laser like DVDs, BDs use a blue-violet laser that has a much shorter wavelength and can thus store more than six times as much data, providing the same phenomenal picture as anything else labeled HD. Had Toshiba’s HD-DVD come out victorious in the format war, I feel they would have met less resistance than Sony has with the Blu-Ray moniker.

Since the advent of Internet streaming, Blu-Ray might appear at first glance to have heavy competition, especially with BDs pricing at $25 or more. Maybe so, but for people who still like buying disc editions of their favorite movies (read: a lot of people), shopping a little smarter will actually pay off.

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Once again, the holiday season is upon us and we’ll be giving and receiving fantastic gifts like toy trains, dolls, and the ever-popular iTunes gift cards. And what better way to spend those iTunes bucks than on all the newest iPhone apps available on the App Store. Here are some of my personal recommendations:

Tweetie 2 ($2.99) – Tweetie was a popular Twitter application for iPhone, but it did little to seperate itself from the pack of iPhone Twitter apps, such as Tweetdeck, Twitterfon and Twitterific. Tweetie 2 was released and has now set itself apart as the Twitter app. Some of the killer features include landscape mode throughout the entire app, as well as an intuitive swipe interface where you swipe a tweet to see all the available option like responding, retweeting or quoting. The app is the fastest and most reliable of the half-dozen or so Twitter apps I’ve used — and also does little things I didn’t even know I wanted done, such as saving my place in my feed, allowing me to come back to it hours later and pick up where I left off. Let me say that I like Tweetie 2 so much that i actually tweet with much more consistency now then I ever did before, just because it’s so much better with Tweetie 2.

ESPN Radio ($2.99) — I just recently started using this app and I absolutely love it. This app gives you the ability to listen to the live ESPN Radio national feed right on your iPhone, as well as listen to 15-plus local ESPN Radio affiliates, such as ESPN Radio New York or Seattle. The sound quality is excellent, much better than actual radio. You also get the ability to listen to any of the ESPN podcasts on demand, like The B.S. Report, Pardon The Interruption, or The Fantasy Focus. This is also one of the most polished iPhone apps out there — when you are streaming the live radio feed, you are treated to the same ESPN BottomLine feature you see on the network’s HD broadcasts, keeping you updated with scores and all the latest news.

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