An opportunity?

Was observing my daughter on the computer this afternoon. She was actively Facebooking with friends logged onto FB, while at the same time actively texting on her phone with those that were not logged onto FB. This seems like one of those situations that should be made easier. Sort of like when we all had several devices on our hips that eventually were merged into the modern day cell or smart phone.

I know there is the ability to update facebook and get facebook messages through SMS on a cell, but for some reason that feels difficult and may take longer than it really needs to. Or maybe this all that needs to happen.

What are your thoughts, keep in mind not everyone has a smart phone so those really cool FB apps for phones are cool, but not available to everyone.

Google Voice app blocked by Apple and ATT

Interesting short read on Apple, AT&T, the iPhone, and how people want to use Google Voice. Read before considering an iPhone purchase. I am becoming more and more a fan of the Palm Pre phone and phones that use the Google Android OS.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073100971.html

How to setup Google Voice to use OnStar HFC

Now that you have recieved your new Google Voice number, and decide that it would be cool to add your OnStar HFC number along with your cell and other numbers you will need to make use of a few tips.

Here are a few tips I discovered on how to setup Google Voice (GV) so that your OnStar HFC number is used.

• To activate your HFC number with Google Voice you will need a car that has a button on the steering wheel that looks like a someone speaking. This is because part of the activation process is to enter in two digits when GV calls the number to activate. To use this feature you press the button in the middle of the call, say "Dial", wait for the prompt, and say the numbers to dial. Tip for 36 say three, six not thrity six.
• Once you have your number activated then you want to turn Call Presentation off under settings in GV

Now you are good to go. Easy as that!

One more tip. Because of the way HFC answers the call, if you have multiple numbers setup and Call Presentation off it will always answer the call first and get the call. So, if you know you are not in the car, and you have multiple numbers activated than I recommend turning Call Presentation on so that HFC does not always answer first.

Google Voice, A Definate Home Run!

OK, when I heard about Google Voice months ago I thought it was a really cool idea. I just got my number and set it up with other numbers. This product is revolutionary! It is totally awesome. Enrollment was painless and fast. All features tested out great. The web page is well done and easy to use. Google really hit a home run. I can't wait to share this with others. Here are some the features I thought were really cool.

• Calls to one number (my google number) are forwarded to all numbers registered simultaneously
• Voice mail collected at my google number is stored online and translated into text. You can also play it back.
• I can listen into voice mail being left, real-time (ok, that is kinda creepy)
• Text messages of a voice mail are sent to a forwarded phone and also translated to text
• And tons more.

Oh and check out the call widget on the left. Clicking on that will connect your phone and my forwarded phone. Right now I have it setup to only go to voice mail. Give it a try and leave me a message.

The Economy changes spending habits

As a continuation of the Trend post below I just finished reading an article in the Chicago Tribune from last month ( http://tiny.cc/pXFdY ). It picks up with adding unmanageable debt as an effect of the current economy, which with the other effects lead to:

• Spending more practically
• Buying smaller homes (if you can sell your larger one)
• Eat out less
• Save for large purchases rather than use credit

The author correctly reasons that this is a moral shift that is making people reconsider how their lives really change when they are spending more.

Combined a new grounded consumer begins to emerge that is/will:

• limit "stuff" they own
• live more within their means
• think that life is not defined by how much credit they have or what they buy
• reconsider what was once considered a necessity to be more of a luxury now.

While thinking about the effects of Trends I find myself thinking about what will happen next as an effect or cause?

Economic Mega Trend Effects

I know this sounds like a boring topic, but bare with me I think it will turn out interesting. A few of us at work are researching and following some selected mega trends in an attempt to better understand product development plans. The Economy is not one of those being followed, but it hit me like a stack of bricks today in a meeting. See if this makes sense and tell me what you think.

Down swing of the economy leads to:

• the devaluation of assets and an increase in the unemployment rate, which lead to:
• Bad personal credit, which leads to:
• Failed credit checks for cell phone plans, forcing the carriers to:
• create new plans around Pre-pay and metered usage
• Carriers also have just reduced the price for unlimited plans below a pain threshold convincing people to drop their land lines to save more money.

I am wondering how the following two events will change these outcomes from the mega-trend.

• Another major power outage
• The launch of satellites designed to provide cellular communications

I think that a major power outage may remind people that still wan to have the land line, which would send them back to these companies to start the service back up. However, this time they will be asking for a "just in case" package.

The launch of the satellites, if they can get them to work , could change the arguments around who has the better coverage.

Let me know what you are thinking and sign up to a follower on the left side of this blog.

Twitter updates and cool links

Over the last few weeks a few bits of news regarding Twitter has caught my eye. I have to start with a posting from Mashable on Twitter visualization. Try some of these out; Social Collider, Just Landed, and Twitt3D. These tools are all trying to visually show the connectivity between tweets through time and people. Sometimes you have no idea what your tweet may trigger. These tools attempt to show you what was triggered. I am not completely sure about this but I think the official term is social graphing. Being a very visual and picture oriented person these graphs have serious meaning that can be very beneficial in understanding communication.

By the way did anyone notice that last week Twitter updated the following and followers pages? The change is very positive and useful. Good job Twitter!

What do these have in common: Spammers, Star Wars race scene, Satellites, the Walkman, and outrageous Laptops

Don't spend too much time thinking this is a unique puzzle. Sorry, it is not, there really is nothing in common other than some cool thoughts and links I have had/discovered over the last few weeks and tweeted about.

• Spammers get the hot seat. http://is.gd/1aa9d
• Watched Phantom Menace the other day with my son. Gotta love the race scene in
• Sirius/XM successfully launches another satellite into orbit. Position yet to occur. http://bit.ly/XCkI8
• Happy Birthday Walkman! (shhhh, 30 years old)
• Check out these concept laptop- crazy and cool http://is.gd/1lq5n

Recent news in the Wireless, Mobile Application, and Telecom Scene

I have been reviewing and categorizing my tweets over the last few weeks and found, not surprisingly, that a large number fall under this topic. So I though I would take this time to point out some of the hot spots and not so hot spots during this time.

First there was the announcement of the Intel and Nokia agreement allowing Intel chips to be used in Nokia phones. You may be thinking, why does this matter. Here are couple of thoughts on why this matters.

• The companies would like to build a new platform beyond Smartphones, Notebooks, and Netbooks.
• Intel will be licensing the HSPA (High Speed Packet Access with 600 Mbps - 1200 Mbps range in rate) technology from Nokia. This is faster than the current EVDO, but slower, of course, than LTE. The 3G technology of HSPA would be added wifi and wiMAX that Intel already offers in their chipset.
• Big step forward in the convergence of Computing and Communication

On another note there has been lots of talk about Dell re-entering the market with a handheld Internet device. This is basically a smartphone without the phone. It would be built on the Android platform from Google. It would have all the benefits of Internet access (browsing, IM, Texting, etc) along with the ability to download apps. Seems like a good idea. Some big competition with the iTouch, and not really sure Dell's heart is in to it this time around.

This one is cool. AT&T is going to start offering a wireless network on Amtrak trains. Always wondered when a carrier was going to do this. Sure will make the rides go faster.

Here is a link to what I think is a really good compare/contrast of the iPhone and the Pre. A must read before purchase of either device.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/01/palm_pre_v_iphone_3gs/

US Texting Champ, a 14 year old from Des Moines, Iowa, sends 14,000 messages/month and up to 470 message daily! She won $50k. Hey that is almost a full ride scholarship to college.

Ever wonder what the impact of the Android by Google will have on the Smartphone industry? I think it is potentially huge. Here is article that outlines how Android is changing the face of the Smartphone.

http://www.crn.com/mobile/218100828;jsessionid=KWPMTXY0AGSAUQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN

• T-Mobile just announced the second smartphone they will offer that is based on the Android
• Android is more personal
• Is the most open ended experience yet
• Focused on a Customer to Business experience
• Faster, more software releases
• It is all about the software

And, don't forget that Adobe Flash is coming soon to Android as well as WinMo and WebOS. For some reason Apple is really quiet about getting Flash on the iPhone. My opinion, there must still be some tension between the two companies.

Weekly thoughts

I just finished pulling together my weekly summary of activities to present during our Staff meeting. I like to add in a few weird things just to lighten up the experience. Here is my list, somewhat weighted more towards the end of the week and a little from today.

1. Jamie Thomas- Rasset sued by Recording industry to $1.9M
2. iPhone 3G S is less revolutionary then predecessors but step in the right direction. Lacking Tethering and MMS, which are supported by the device but not by AT&T.
3. T-Mobile introducing next new smart phone based on Android called myTouch. No keypad, larger screen than iPhone, smaller than iPhone.
4. Lawmakers and FCC debating exclusive contracts between device makers and carriers as being unfair competition.
5. More than 660,000 applications downloaded from Palm App Store for the Pre. This big news saying Pre owners want apps. Also, keep in mind there are currently only 30 apps available. So developers should see this and get cracking.
6. Indoor "GPS" to help you find a bathroom or never be late for a date. Project Leader, Christian Prehofer, said it uses cell phones and a wifi network. Requires a map.... duh!
7. It is reported that in Tokyo a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips less than 50 minutes!
8. New research has determined that due to economic cutbacks there are now only 18 animal shapes in the Animal Cracker Cookie zoo. Rumor has it that zoo keepers are frantically looking for the missing shapes.
9. Check out www.collecta.com. Very cool once you get the hang of real-time searching.
10. AT&T to extend their fleet management product with Trimble's GeoManager. Customer benefits are lower fuel and maint. costs.
11. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) across Europe is stalling because of a disagreement on the best way to coordinate adoption.
12. Applying for a job with Bozeman, Montana? They are now requiring your id and password for social networks to be used during the background checks. Yikes!

Have a good week!

Going too far!

City asks applicants for Internet passwords to social network sites.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8jn3O0JgrEGN8znw-q2Y5-FcldAD98TQPT80

Collecta

Lots of news today, but one that I am particularly found of is a new product for truly real-time searching. This product is from Collecta. You simply setup some topics and let Collecta do the rest of the work. Results returned are posts to blogs and the like at that moment in time about the topic you are searching. Pretty cool! For me I like to stay up on a the latest rumblings for a few topics and this is just what I needed.

Check them out: http://www.collecta.com/

Thoughts from June 15, 2009

Here are some really good articles I found.
Cloud computing: what it is and how it can help you http://bit.ly/uoO5z


AT&T's many missed iPhone opportunities: http://tr.im/ozGK

TIP: If you're new to #Twitter, or know someone who is, try our Twitter lists section: http://bit.ly/163Pmp

Top 5 #Twitter Related Trends to Watch from #Mashable http://is.gd/12AgN


Mashable’s Weekly Social Media and Web Event Guide - http://bit.ly/GAvJc

Business use of Twitter

While this article is supposed to be about Twitter's business and financial strategy, it comes across to me a really good showing of how big businesses are making use of and including Twitter in their tactical sales methods. To me JetBlue seems to be the best example.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/top_five_giants_stealing_twitters_golden_eggs_28909

Thoughts and news from June 12, 2009

Bing, Microsoft's new search tool, Beats Out Google in Side by Side Test http://woot.tw/f2j4

Some really good tips for advanced SEO tactics (With 55 Linked Resources) http://woot.tw/sa6dabout 24 hours ago

SFO airport is getting a new baggage system for $15M.http://is.gd/ZKQG Me: probably a good idea.

Air writing... not a from a plane, but from your phone... next killer app? Not sure about that but is an pretty cool idea. http://is.gd/ZKQG

The number of times people clicked on ads listed next to Microsoft search results jumped 8% in first week of Bing (DJ Newswires)

According to a press release from Nokia, they are releasing Nokia Life Tools in India designed to fill information gaps Ag, Edu, and Ent. Mobile application companies should keep their eyes on this one for sure.

Welcome to the age of digital television. It has been a long time coming.

Admittedly an old post, but a very good read as the value of twitter is still tested with skeptics. http://is.gd/ZIQw

Another good article on the value of twitter for business as it relates to Hotel Management. http://is.gd/ZIAi

5 improvements for the Palm Pre from a reviewer http://is.gd/ZIjJ Me: interesting list that I hope Palm takes seriously.

more Me on Facebook for personalization http://is.gd/ZIcz Me: Continues to be an interesting topic today, but I am not sure it is getting the hype Facebook is looking for.

10 cool things about the iPhone 3G S http://is.gd/ZI5x Me: 5, 6, and 7 seem to be most interesting, the rest do not seem very cool to me, how about you?

Two really good posts from nlofir, a tweeter I follow:
This is an awesome article on Product Management. A must read for Product Managers and organizations that hire them.
Product Managers are really superheros for any company. http://bit.ly/Y0hc5 Me: BRAVO!

"effectiveness of a community" strategy big topic yesterday. All over the map: monetary, visibility, contributions, no standard

Fridays are special days on Twitter to follow someone new and recommended. Here's how Follow Friday works: http://bit.ly/2S29Fq

My thougths from today

Random thoughts from today June 11, 2009

I sent out a tweet about Android and found that there are bots on Twitter that look for hash words and then retweet them. I guess I should have guessed that people would setup bots on twitter. I hope it does not ruin it

A Symantec executive today was quoted by Dow Jones Newswire as saying they will evaluate working with Android if it gets used significantly.

I follow Lance Ulanoff on Twitter and he tweeted something funny today.

"Spoke to the Analog TV signal today. It said, "Hold me, I feel cold."

It was my friend Paul's birthday so Jeff and I went and got him some cup cakes and sang happy birthday. He liked it... nothing like hostess cup cakes for a birthday!

Verizon announced that it will start offering the Palm Pre in Jan, 2010 once the exclusivity agreement with Sprint is over.

Here is a thought. Should Apple break away from AT&T? What would this do for the Apple and iPhone? No idea... if you do please post a comment.

Ok now this one is only going to piss you off. Today the IRS weighs rules for taxing private use of work cell phones - ME: yup they want to tax you for 1/4 of your work phone usage. Will they get away with this? I think probably not. What do you think?

I bought stock in Palm today, probably 3 months to late if you look at history of the stock. Byt since they changed the CEO there was some good movement in the value. It panned out for me. I hope it sticks.

The redbull airplane races are coming to the Detroit river again. All week they have been setting up and all week I have been waiting for the practice day that finally came today. Wow, I could watch them all day long.

According to Marketwatch Qualcomm is boosting 3rd quarter revenue outlooks from 2.67B to 2.77B due to demand for high-end phone chips.

Thought H1N1 had quietly gone away?.... wrong, the news today has WHO announcing the first Pandemic in 40 years. Something like 70+ countries have been effected.

According to CNN Manchester United accept world record offer of $130 million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. ME: Holy cow that is a lot of money.

Facebook Week

I am also looking forward to reading more about Facebook during the Facebook week at Mashable.

http://mashable.com/2009/03/30/facebook-week/

24 Things Going Extinct

I like this article in that it forecasts or speculates things that will go away or become extinct.  I am sad to see most of these go, but that is probably because I am more of an old school sort of guy.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977641082&grpId=3659174697253781&nav=Groupspace

Relationship Symmetry

This was a new topic for me, but a simple one to consider.  It is also an interesting way to categorize various networks out there.

http://bokardo.com/archives/relationship-symmetry-in-social-networks-why-facebook-will-go-fully-asymmetric/

The idea is that a relationship in a social network can basically be one-way or two-way.  Today in Facebook relationships are two-way or symmetrical.  This means that for you to be my friend, I have to be your friend.  There are personal reasons to desire this that also lay the tone of a symmetrical relationship network.  An asymmetrical relationship network is essentially one way.  You can be my friend or follow me without me having to be your friend or follow you.  Twitter is exactly like that and lends itself to a tone that is more public. 

This seems like a cool topic that would be interesting to analyze in actual relationships outside of the computer.

Social Media Expert, is a what?

Clearly, and for some time now, there is a position in the organization that requires Social Media expertise.  However, what does that really mean?  What is a Social Media Expert.  This link discusses that topic.   

http://www.smoexpert.com/what-a-social-media-expert-should-be

As always common sense plays a big role in the answer.  This article points out how the expert needs to be an intelligent people person able to engage in topical discussion.  They must also be able to understand the variety of social media tools and how to use them.  Finally, they must be able to determine and describe marketing value with respect to social media.  It is this final expertise that I have discussed before around monetizing social media.  This will be a hot topic/trend over the next 12-24 months.

Monetizing Social Media II

Here is another article discussing the same topic as below.  The basic premise is that advertizing alone will not generate enough to keep the business alive.  I tend to agree, which is why I like the twitter model.  But, I may be naive in this manner.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13326158&CFID=48835061&CFTOKEN=90444495

Monetizing Social Media

This is a good article from a familiar blog.  They have added a new perspective beyond the usual Facebook and Twitter observations.  The author suggests that Apple with it's App Store has found a way to monetize 3rd party sources.  I agree, but is the App Store a community where teens hang out and adults converse.  Continuation of common thought leads to simple adds like those you find in Facebook.  These may eventually support a portion of Facebooks budget, but something more needs to come from it.  The author suggests that Twitter will be introducing accounts that can be paid for in the hopes that businesses will take this on.  I think the Twitter model actually has some merit.  Businesses will soon see that they want to use Twitter internally, but without sharing with the world for competitive reasons.  Businesses will want to implement their own Twitter for quick brainstorming and the gathering of virtual and naturally formed groups within the enterprise.  This sort of application could foster Intellectual Property gathering or Root Cause determination or simply new innovative ways to solve problems.

http://mashable.com/2009/03/28/monetize-social-media/

Earth Hour a Success

For those of you not sure what Earth Hour is there is a good comment on the last Earth Hour post that describes it.  As for last night from 8:30 - 9:30, timezone by timezone, nearly 4000 cities in 88 countries turned off non-essential lighting as a statement that we must do act on climate control now.  I have read that the response however has changed from street parties to street protests. 

Earth Hour Game

You have to try this game out. You will be addicted immediately and your kids will want to play also.

http://lightsout.earthhour.org/lightsout/

Chris Barger @ GM

Chris is the Director, Global Communications Technology at GM. He has a great attitude and outlook about his work at GM. I recommend having a look at the link below describing his inteview by Shel Holtz, complete with video on his responses to questions.

http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=910

Social Networking within the Enterprise

It seems that March has been the month of social networks and business mashups. As expected there are many applications and useful ways for the enterprise to benefit from social network and media. Now of course this has been a long time coming, in fact the Wall Street Journal reported on this in the summer of 2007. Here are a list of ways that business is using social networking and media.

• Employee collaboration
• Online marketing
• Product development
• Support services
• Business contacts
• Linkage of business to social media about the business
• Recruitment of contestants
• Public relations
• Learning tool
• CRM
• News feed

Believe it or not, these are examples from news articles that were published in the month of March. The following blog is a nice summary and source of links to the actual articles.

http://blog.sewardinc.com/2009/03/26/social-networking-watch/

Not surprising but Twitter and Facebook are among the most commonly mentioned social networking tools. As reported earlier Twitter has grown 1,382% from Feb. 2008 to Feb. 2009 (CNET March 19, 2009) with now over 7 million members.

Auto Social Media Luminaries

This is a good interview with Scott Monty, Ford's Social Media Luminary with reference and Comparison to Chris Barger, GM's Social Media Luminary. I will be listening to Chris speak to a group of high level executives next week on Social Media.

http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=1147&d=68&h=60&f=75&dateformat=%25e-%25h-%25y

Being effective with Twitter

For those that are uncertain on how to increase what you get out of Twitter here is a good read.

http://blog.shoutem.com/2009/03/25/build-your-blog-community-with-twitter/

Everything Twitter

Here is a great site that describes everything about Twitter. I think that those of you who are wondering what the big fuss is about Twitter and it's 140 character message this site will clue you in.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/the-ultimate-guide-for-everything-twitter/

Sprint and Clearwire and WiMax, Oh my!

Reading about the new Sprint 3G/4G modem U300. First, the modem and technology are very cool. The modem itself can switch between EV-DO and WiMax, a first I believe. It is a small and rotatable dongle that plugs in to the USB. You can read more about it here.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343549,00.asp

However, also in this article you will read about how crazy the business is for Sprint and Clearwire. In fact, I would ask what the heck Clearwire is doing?

Google email undo

Google has a new feature you can add in that allows you to undo sending a message... sort of. You get about 3-4 seconds to react to hitting the send button, then if you see the message at the top of your screen you can click there and stop the send function. It definitely works, but you have to be on your toes to catch it. Here is how to add it.

On your main gmail screen click on settings

Next click on the Labs tab

Finally scroll down (way down) to the Undo option and enable it.

Go to the bottom of the page and click Save

Now you have the feature.

Lots in the news today...

It doesn't take long to find something interesting on the news today to write about.

Email VS Social Networks:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10200669-62.html

According to Neilsen Online Social Networks are more popular than Email now. This is not surprising to me. Email lacks the community need. Sure you can reach out to whomever you want, and they to you, but why. In a social network there topics and discussions going on to hang out around and take part in. Email definately is not going away and has it's place, like for CYA in many places.

Tom Tom to MS - Get Lost!

http://www.crn.com/software/215901395

It is patent infringement wars between the two around navigation. Linux is pulled into the mix because MS claims Tom Tom is using part of MS technology that relies upon Linux. Interestingly MS has said that they are willing to work out some sort of license agreement with Tom Tom and other developers. This has outraged Linux developers because Linux is an open source platform. TomTom has countersued MS, saying that in fact MS has infringed on their patents. Wow what a mess.

Ballmer has eyes for yahoo!

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090319_464203.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_technology

After speaking with CEO of Yahoo! Ballmer sees a real opportunity for a deal. Referring back to the first artical that claims 85% use and are interested in internet search seems to indicate clearly why MS wants a search engine with some popularity. Currently, MS search capabilities have not found success, although they are rebranding their search capability to be Kumo. What is Kumo??? Would you Kumo it???

What are you all thinking about, send me mail or comments and lets talk!

-Wylie

Contract free iPhone

I am reading on CNET about the speculation that AT&T will offer the iPhone free of the two year contract. This is good news, but the price of the phone is $599-$699! Without the two year contract could we take the iPhone to another carrier?

Mobile and Location Based Wireless Presence

Presence is best described through the example of most Instant Messaging software. Simply put it is a way for software and systems to always know the availability of the users. This is also being extended to the wireless communications world with Push to Talk features on phones. I am thinking that it will need to used for any peer to peer application.

So, the question is how will this work. It especially becomes an interesting problem when the status of the peer is changing constantly, as would be in the case of location based peer to peer applications. It seems unreasonable to have the application constantly sending messages with a new status of the presence, but is that the way it gets done today? Is there a technology that enables presence?

Wireless Trends

After reading the CTIA Agenda I think I have come up with a list of wireless trends over the next 12-24 months. Here are some of the more interesting ones.

• The falling of the walls around the walled garden
• Peer to Peer applications that make use of GIS
• Mobile social networking

It will be interesting follow these trends and product developments over the next 1-2 years. For starters match up Apple's iPhone announcements with these trends. Hmmmm....

Killer Apps

I have been reading two good books lately by Tomi Ahonen.

• "Services for UMTS"
• "m-Profits"

I am really starting to understand the 6 Ms method of determining killer apps. I highly recommend the read. Here are the 6 Ms as described in these books.

1. Mobile: Must be mobile and enable the free movement of the user and service
2. Moment: Relevant to the time of day or delivered at the crucial moment
3. Money: Must generate money while delivering value
4. Me: The user wants what they want not what we want – My content, my services, my interests, supports my work needs, makes my life easier
5. Machines: Services must come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. The must be usable from many different devices from home, the office, vehicle, phone, and more
6. Multi-User: Creates a sense of community. People want to belong to something, anything. Information travels and improves faster within a community

Frictionless Communications

Yesterday my eyes were open to the future of information communication and collaboration. While reading tweets from my some of my favorite techie tweeters I learned that Apple was about to host a special meeting for the press to announce the new iPhone OS 3.0. Lance Ulanoff a tweeter I was following was attending the meeting and decided to start blogging live on the event (complete with pictures). I was following Lance and others on twitter and his blog (http://live.appscout.com/2009/03/apple_iphone_os_30_announcemen.php). All in all this was very fun and I actually felt like I was learning new information real-time.

The point I am making is that in the advent of social media, which started with blogging, and has now advanced to sites like Twitter and Facebook, information is shared more easily. The sharing of data is refreshing. I hope this continues and that new technologies are developed on open platforms with open software so that anyone with a computer or phone can feel the power of frictionless communication and collaboration.

-wb

IBM and SUN

My head is still spinning on this one. IBM is talking with Sun about buying the company. Here is a summary of what I have read.

• May happen as early as this week
• Sun's pricetag is $6.5B
• IBM most interested in the software
• People are not seeing Sun HW go away
• Like everyone else Sun is struggling (revenues are down and staff getting laid off)
• If deal goes through Linux will NOT be impacted and Solaris will certified on IBM servers
• IBM would likely get mySQL

Apple iPhone OS 3.0 announcement

Yesterday at 1:00 Apple had a special meeting for the press to announce the new iPhone OS 3.0. I was reading the highlights live on blogs and twitter, which was really exciting. Here are some of the announcements they made.

· Available in June

· iPhone in 80 countries with 13.7 million sold in 2008 (projected 10 million units sold). I wonder if this will do anything for the stock?

· 800,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK

· 96% of apps built by 3^rd parties are approved. 98% are approved within 7 days.

· 100 new features and 1000 new APIs

· Maps app for iPhone done with Google (go figure). Provides public API for embedded maps in applications. TBT capable, but something goofy about bringing your own maps.

· Push notifications done all server side. Claims that when tested with processing all on phone the battery and cpu were drained.

· Social Media and Networking. New app with Meebo (social network aggregator)

· Touch pet: social pet simulator

· Lots of new games through EA.

· Global game playing

· Buying into games at $1 a piece.

· Mention of Oracle Mobile as a way to contact CRM backends from the phone. Not sure what the app was here.

· New app with Lifescan for simplified diabetes management and realtime communication of health data to doctors so as to alter dosage and med strategies on the fly. Also, used to keep others informed of the health of the diabetic. Interesting “notification” type app.

· Peer to Peer support by using Bonjour for discovery. Location based music. iTunes sharing with nearby iPhone users

· MMS messaging

· Calendaring

· Search multiple apps at once

· Stereo Bluetooth

· Cut, Paste, and undo by shaking the phone (how cool is that! Etch-a-sketch style)

That about covers it. Most bloggers and tweeters were impressed, a lot of them said there is much here that is simply expected with a smart phone.