a multi-tasked stream of consciousness or perhaps just emails to myself
If you’ve yet to consider how helpful it might be to have an on board GPS system in your mobile, check this out…
Sure there’s a small glitch at the end, but this is a soon to be released product that will most certainly improve. I like that Nokia has built in a content store beyond just the installed POI which should make for some nice incremental sales as people travel about.
Just saw this on the Nokia website… sounds like a killer party!
On December 31st, Nokia will welcome the New Year in unique style – by connecting millions of music lovers from around the world as they count down the final minutes of 2006. Nokia New Year’s Eve, a global music event stretching across four continents, will feature a number of international artists including The Black Eyed Peas and Scissor Sisters to entertain audiences at New Year’s celebrations from Hong Kong to Rio de Janeiro. Those unable to attend in person can experience the party via television or the internet. To orchestrate this unique global celebration, Nokia has enlisted the services of Harvey Goldsmith CBE, the producer of Live Aid and Live8.
Nokia New Year’s Eve will travel from east to west, starting in Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, followed by Mumbai’s Andheri Stadium, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and rounding off the night in New York. [Nokia
]
3 in the UK has announced a pretty killer suite of services on your choice of two high end mobile devices… Why the hell don’t we see anything like this in the US? VCast and MediaNet are not the same … the addition of Skype and means that 3 is savvy enough to realize that people are going to figure out how to do this stuff (when the symbian clients are officially released) so you might as well buy it from them.
I don’t have any experience with the SE Walkman phones, other than about 1 min of hands-on with a former colleague’s, but the Nokia N73 rocks.
Hutchison, more commonly known as 3 in the UK, today announced a partnership with Skype, Sling Media, Yahoo, Nokia, Google, eBay, Microsoft, Orb and Sony Ericsson. The idea is to bring all of these services on to your mobile for a flat rate fee — it’s been dubbed ‘X-Series’.
According to the hype, you’ll get free Skype-to-Skype calls to any PC or other X-Series user worldwide, be able to search on Google and Yahoo, send MSN instant messages to your friends, watch your TV from a Slingbox, access your computer at home with Orb and buy or sell stuff on eBay.
So far the only thing getting between the majority of consumers and the mobile Internet has been the cost of accessing online content and the limitations of certain sites on certain handsets. 3 says it is going to eradicate these problems by charging a set fee and making sure that its handsets support the content properly. The first handsets to be sold on the X-Series plan will be the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone. [Crave at CNET.co.uk:]
Technorati Tags: 3, Google, Marketing, Mobile, MSN, N-Series, N73, Nokia, Sling Media, Sony Ericsson, Yahoo
Quite a few new companies are starting to offer SMS configurations for mobile services via an SMS which can actually install a file on your device directly. This is great for a few reasons – It confirms the user’s device address and makes it easy to get going rather than worry about manual entry for adding settings to things which can actually be quite a pain for the average person.
Truphone offers an SMS configuration trust me when I say you don’t want to manually configure SIP on a phone. I was not able to get the SMS to arrive on my phone even with a full signal so I began to try and figure it out eventually getting some help over the phone…
GooSync is another service which can configure your device for use and as adding a sync service is a bit complex. Again, the SMS never arrived… Seems there are quite a few people in the group list who also had not received their messages and were also on Cingular.
A few threads later, it was revealed that there’s actually a binary multipart message being sent which is clearly being blocked by Cingular I’m sure as they think it might be something bad…
Truphone’s solution to this problem is to offer a download (two parts) from their site based on how their service works… not ideal, but you can get it done. I’d imagine that the average mobile VOIP user is not your average user anyway so a bit tech-duct tape to the rescue… Hopefully a work-around for Goosync will also come around. It’s unlikely that Cingular will unblock these type of service messages.
BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » How to kill newspapers in one easy lesson
Jeff Jarvis points to what has to be the worst idea I’ve ever seen by an old media thinker… especially given we are way past mass-adoption of the internet… essentially, the genius at the SF Chronical is thinking it’d be great to develop an embargo to prevent online from running stories to give the newspapers a fair fight.
Too bad we can get information from all kinds of new sources these days…
The irony…
I just posted about starting to use Google Calendar and moments later have received an email from Apple inviting me to learn how to sync using .Mac.
I’ll be waiting for the Apple OTA sync until I really get back into things with iCal / .Mac — as much as I like it actually. I just want easy access (two way sync) from a wireless device and GooSync can rock that for mobile devices.
Technorati Tags: .Mac, SyncML, Google, GooSync, Marketing, N73, N91, E61, Apple, Mobile, e-series, Software, Sync
There was quite a bit of buzz about the release of GooSync this week, but when I went to try it out there was no support for s60v3 devices like the ones I use… It was not actually a limitation of Symbian, but the version of SyncML that the phones support.
That’s all resolved now and I’ve been trying to get it to work on my E61, N93 and N73. There’s a slight hitch which is I have yet to receive the configuration message – sent wirelessly for the Sync Server. Once received, I should be able to sync my device two-way over the air (OTA) with Google Calendar, which is suddenly very compelling. In fact, if this works (GooSync was actually doing an update last night) I would seriously consider ditching iCal and .Mac sync for my Calendar.
Once you use a device that syncs over the air, there is no going back. Why? Have you ever not been able to leave your house while a palm was syncing in the cradle or your phone was waiting on iSync? I have. This is a slow and burdensome task and even though I’ve enabled sync for devices, I rarely use it. I get most of my info OTA from my work Exchange server and sync once in a while for my personal info with iSync — all because of the time required.
The GooSync service is a massive consumer win and I hope becomes a wakeup call for Apple’s .Mac team. When the iPhone is eventually released, it will HAVE to sync OTA with your .Mac info out of the box in order to be competitive — regardless of the coolness factor Apple brings to the space.
Anyway — looking forward to getting this rolling later today and exporting my personal .ics files from .Mac to Google’s Calendar.
Technorati Tags: .Mac, N93, e-Series, GooSync, SyncML, N-Series, Google, Nokia, OTA, Sync, N73, Apple
The term hyper-local has been getting a great deal of use lately in describing the ever-changing Newspaper (and news reporting in general) landscape. As papers begin to realize that they are news organizations not limited to just printing a single edition a day their existing credibility opens the doors to a very deep relationship with their reader communities. The use of digital enables a fantastic loop for a paper to break a story via web or mobile and feed back a reported story to the next days or evenings paper. In each community, coverage can go very deep on topics of great interest to the local readers so things like crime, politics, sports and retail can all be deeper than the usual scan they might get from a printed paper who needs to limit the printed word for cost keeping.
The latest move by Gannett as reported in Wired is very significant for a few key reasons… For Starters USA Today is the nations largest paper. If you add in a layer of hyper-local coverage they become a force to be reckoned with in areas whose paper’s have yet to embrace what can be done electronically.
The initiative emphasizes four goals: Prioritize local news over national news; publish more user-generated content; become 24-7 news operations, in which the newspapers do less and the websites do much more; and finally, use crowdsourcing methods to put readers to work as watchdogs, whistle-blowers and researchers in large, investigative features.[Wired News]
Gannett has already been testing this new model fully in a few markets and the results are very positive:
What they found is remarkable: Breaking news on the Web and updating for the newspaper draws more people to both those media. Asking the community for help, gets it – and delivers the newspaper into the heart of community conversations once again. Rich and deep databases with local, local information gathered efficiently are central to the whole process. The changes impact all media, and the public has approved. Results include stronger newspapers, more popular Web sites and more opportunities to attract the customers advertisers want.[Crowdsourcing]
Given their size, Gannett can compete across many markets simultaneously and offer communities a complete news view from hyper-local through international…
Big papers like the The New York Times are not standing by while this trend grows and in fact have their own high tech multimedia reporting desk being built out now:
The booming expansion of multimedia at The New York Times was a big driver behind the network infrastructure going into the new facility. The Times, over the last several years, has been trying to shake the “gray lady†image with aggressive use of online and multimedia features, such as multimedia packages and video segments from reporters, chat rooms and blogs. That means Times staff does more than just write and edit text articles for the paper-and-ink product.
To this end, every desktop in the newsroom will feature a full Gigabit Ethernet link as well as an IP phone, integrated voice mail/e-mail and an Internet chat, all rolled into one with Nortel’s CallPilot unified messaging product. Instant “click-to-dial†audio conferencing and presence capabilities will also be available for the Times staff, Kraft says.
“We wanted to create a multimedia environment for each worker,†Kraft says. “If they need to do anything with voice or video or multimedia, it can all be done†from the desktop. Since each PC will have a USB camera and microphone, Kraft anticipates more video conferencing will take place, was well as recording of short podcast and video podcast segments by reporters for the NYTimes.com site.
Among the background clatter in the Times’ current newsroom are several televisions, constantly tuned to breaking-news channels, such as CNN or FOX. The new Times newsroom will have fewer televisions but more options available for the staff, as 10 channels of IP television will be available to every desktop in the company. The IPTV streams will be delivered via Time Warner Cable.
“We will be one of first customers in New York for†IPTV from Time Warner, Kraft says. “We’re helping them develop that service.â€
The IPTV streams will let editors and reporters view content more relevant to their sections or beats, Kraft says; business writers can view CNBC or MSNBC; sports scribes can peek at scores from ESPN News while writing and editing. (The Times had no comment about what effect TV-to-the-desktop will have on reporters meeting deadlines for filing stories.) [Network World]
One thing is clear – the news reporting business is very competitive and traditional papers need to evolve to compete for both the timeliness and depth of coverage across all the facets of the consumers lives. The newspaper seems to have an edge against TV reporting based on their existing associating with consumers and their ability to deliver multiple channels of news across a variety of media. TV and Radio guys are actually starting behind, with the exception of CNN – but they really only focus on national and international news. The local and metro markets – those which impact us all on a daily basis are hotbeds for the future of competitive news.
Om notes the pending release of a cool new Voice 2.0 service … (gotta love the not so new numeric age we are living in now.)
Without actually using this it’s hard to make a real judgement, but I like how it seems to work, which is fully transparent with your mobile device. Your virtual TalkPlus number can both send and receive calls directly on your mobile with the help of a small app… You can choose to keep your mobile number private if you like which is a feature I probably would not take advantage of personally but as Om also notes will be great for the dating scene.
My challenge is getting past initial trial on most of the new VOIP services as tasty as they seem (GrandCentral, TruPhone, etc) is that it’s not that simple to use at the same time as your current phone without having to constantly use a different number for in and outgoing calls. TalkPlus seems like it will simplify matters considerably.
Here is how it works: the service gives you a TalkPlus number that you can pass around freely. The service connects to a TalkPlus server over the data network, and allows you to authenticate your number. All out bound calls from your phone can be made via any of the two phone numbers you have – your cell phone, or this virtual number.
Outbound and inbound calls use the voice channel, and connect to the PSTN network. There is no voice quality degradation, typically a problem with mobile VoIP offerings. Those who are receiving your call can only see your virtual phone ID.
When they want to return your phone call, they can hit call and the call is returned to the virtual number. When they hit send, the call is then routed to the TalkPlus softswitch and then onto your mobile phone. [GigaOM]
Technorati Tags: GrandCentral, TruPhone, TalkPlus, VOIP
The New York Times reports on the launch of T-Mobile’s UMA service:
To gain access to the service, called T-Mobile HotSpot @Home, customers must buy a phone that works on both networks. T-Mobile is selling a choice of two handsets that cost $49.99 for customers who sign up for a two-year rate plan for at least $39.99 a month. Subscribers are charged $19.99 a month in addition to their regular cellular plan fees.
Customers also need a wireless router, which is free with a rebate. The router is then connected to any available broadband line for home or office use. The phones connect not just to the wireless router, but also at any of 7,000 Wi-Fi hot spots that T-Mobile operates at Starbucks coffee shops, Hyatt Hotels and other public locations.T-Mobile has set up a Web site, www.theonlyphoneyouneed.com, for customers who want to sign up for the service.
Since customers can make unlimited calls using their broadband connections, the service represents a threat to Vonage, SunRocket and other companies that offer phone plans over high-speed Internet connections. The service also gives T-Mobile a leg up in competing with Sprint and other cellular carriers that are trying to develop similar services.
The dual-use phone service may appeal most to younger consumers who do not have a traditional phone line and rely solely on cellular phones and broadband lines.“For the below-30 age segment, it’s a no-brainer,†said Roger Entner, a wireless industry analyst at Ovum, a consulting firm. “This is also a threat for other wireless carriers because it fixes the problem of poor coverage inside homes.â€
This is definitely a big deal especially considering how prevalent locations like Starbucks are with TMO hotspots are. I know plenty of people who only carry mobile phones and to whom being able to both conserve minutes on the go as at home via WiFi would sound very enticing.
What I’d really like to see as a next step is the capability of phones to become enabled for this type of service without having to buy all new equipment. Clearly this is far more advanced and would require some effort by the consumer which the new router and phone from TMO defeats… I get that. My point is that there is already an existing audience of enthusiasts like myself with WiFi capable handsets and mobile VOIP access. I can do both TruPhone and Gizmo on my Nokia E61… just not as a single service inter-linking with my existing cellular. Actually – Truphone defines multiple Access Points (3 by default) so you can automatically connect to work or home WiFi as you enter range… assuming you leave it enabled. My data connection can also auto-switch between cellular and WiFi thanks to Birdstep’s smartroaming… voice is the next logical step.
Technorati Tags: e-series, E61, Marketing, Smartroaming, T-Mobile, Travel, UMA, VOIP
WHOA!! Quite a domination…
Google Inc. is on track in 2006 to become the first company ever to pocket 25% of all U.S. online ad spending in a calendar year, according to a new report from eMarketer, an online ad tracker. [eMarketer via MarketWatch]
Nokia announced the formal release of Symbian Series 60 version 3 feature Pack 1 (S60v3 FP1 if you prefer shorthand). The current crop of E-Series devices all run v3 already, but I sincerely hope that Nokia enables these devices to be flashed forward to the latest release of the OS. From the release it states that the system is fully backwards compatible so … should work right?
There are some enhancements to key pieces of the system that many of us use on a daily basis – like the browser (bye bye Services!) and RSS. Without understanding the complexities of matters — though I did manually flash my E61 already — it should be possible to release an update per device.
Please don’t make this only available in future releases like the N95…
Technorati Tags: E-Series, E61, Marketing, Mobile, N-Series, Nokia, N95, Software
I was pretty psyched this weekend (OK low bar perhaps) to find that my Cingular 411 had been enhanced with a smarter voice recognition system – I’m guessing through TellMe since that’s who’s doing their voice search. The best part is that you can now receive a text message with the contact info for easy repeat usage. With a simple spoken preference, I was able to elect this for any 411 call I make in the future…
I had suggested this some time ago actually and learned that ATT had enabled this… perhaps it just took a while for the Cingular side of the house to kick in.
The only enhancement I can see wanting now is the addition of vCard support so you can easily save the contact record to your phone.
Two new mobile bookmarks for business readers… WSJ and BusinessWeek. Interestingly, both are sponsored by Microsoft Windows Mobile. BusinessWeek even sprung for a new .mobi domain.
http://mobile2.wsj.com/
http://businessweek.mobi/
Technorati Tags: BusinessWeek, E61, Marketing, Microsoft, Mobile, Travel, WSJ
Amazon.com Unbox Video:: No Macs allowed.
Facebook signed an advertising deal (update: also in NY Times) with Microsoft that will put Microsoft adCenter sponsored links and other ads on the Facebook site. There are no financial terms available for the deal, which runs through 2009.[Techcrunch]
This is what you call corporate synergy. IPG invests $10 Million into Facebook and then parlays the deal to mega-client Microsoft for some ad action. I wonder if there’s any rev-sharing going on…
Technorati Tags: Interpublic, Facebook, Marketing, McCann
MobilePlay has signed up some new content providers for its service — some fairly big ones. They include The Onion, AccuWeather.com, washingtonpost.com, newsweek.com, slate.com, and U.S.News and World Report. Mobileplay offers the services free, supported by ads. It recently signed a deal with Opera.[MocoNews.net]
I already have Opera Mini installed on my mobile devices so I don’t see the new Mobileplay URL but a quick visit / bookmark revealed that you simply need to hit http://mini.mobileplay.com to take advantage of the good stuff.
Technorati Tags: Marketing, Mobile, N-Series, N70, Opera Mini, Mobileplay
MobileCrunch reports on the release of Nokia’s Firmware updater which is excellent news – though there’s no Mac support currently and there only seems to be one phone that accepts the update OTA – at least for now. Let’s hope this service gets enhanced quickly.
Technorati Tags: Mobile, N-Series, N70, N90, N91, Nokia, Software
Netflix goes mobile. Handy dandy!
Technorati Tags: Netflix, Nokia, Opera Mini, Mobile
Dell is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames, the company said today. This will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. [New York Times]
Not something to be very proud of … especially considering how much attention this has already gotten. No response yet on the Dell Blog. Dell’s Response.