On CrisisCamp Haiti Silicon Valley

It is amazing to realize how remote technical experts can help in disaster relief efforts even as they start far from the point of disaster. Clearly, it is the power of the Internet. A case in point is my experience yesterday afternoon with the CrisisCamp Haiti Silicon Valley in Microsoft Campus, 1065 La Avenida Street, Mountain View, CA.

The sheer energy in the cafeteria was unbelievable!

Additional information:
CrisisCamp Silicon Valley on Facebook
Crisis Commons

Nexus One versus iPhone 3GS

After Google announced Nexus One this morning, there have been several comparisons available on the Internet, e.g., Nexus One vs Motorola Milestone vs iPhone 3GS. This blog post is an attempt to compare the iPhone and Nexus One in tabular form.

Property	iPhone 3GS	Nexus One	Comments
Price	$199 (2-yr)	$79 (upgrade), $179 (2-yr), $529(none)	Nexus One is slightly cheaper.
Weight	135g	130g	Both are equal.
Display	3.5", 480x320	3.7", 800x480	Pictures will appear crisper with the Nexus One: Larger resolution in almost the same real estate.
Camera	3MP, autofocus, no flash	5MP, autofocus, flash	Better resolution camera and flash!
Video	VGA(640x480) up to 30 fps	720x480 pixels at 20 fps	Nexus One is inferior for motion (fps)?
CPU, RAM	600MHz CPU, 256MB	Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz, 512MB	Faster CPU for Nexus One.
Carrier	at&t	T-Mobile; Any, but no support for high speed packet access (HSPA)	Since the Nexus One comes unlocked, you can use any carrier. If data speed is important, stick with T-Mobile.
Location	Accelerometer, digital compass, Assisted GPS	Accelerometer, digital compass, Assisted GPS	Both have similar characteristics.
Non-volatile storage	Built-in 16GB hard disk	Removable 4GB Micro SD (expandable to 32GB)	Expandability may be an advantage for Nexus One.
Battery	Built-in, 1219 mAH, Talk up to 5 hrs, Standby 300 hrs, Internet 5 hrs on 3G	Removable, 1400 mAH, Talk up to 7 hrs, Standby 250 hrs, Internet 5 hrs on 3G	Nexus One has slightly better capacity, is slightly better for voice, and slightly inferior for Standby.
Multitouch experience	Quite uniform	Not many apps exploit it (in Jan 2010).	Nexus One is inferior.
Peripheral interfaces	iPod connector, Bluetooth	mini USB, Bluetooth	Nexus One has no proprietary interfaces.
Software Features	Google Voice is still being evaluated.	All text fields can be spoken to. All of Google software.	Nexus One may have an edge.

What is the bottom line? It is difficult to say without experiencing both the devices but, on "paper", Nexus One appears to have an edge, particularly if you ignore non-availability of multi touch experience uniformly in the Nexus One.

Mashable's Ben Parr provides a non-committal assessment at the CES.

Newer is better, isn't it?