Tag: Smartphone

12 Tips to Reset Your Sunday

All work and no play is not a healthy way to live. Even if it’s just an hour without your BlackBerry or iPhone, wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about what all is going on in THE world, let alone YOURS for just a little while? To take a break from the bill pay reminders, Facebook comments, emails and updates, and just be …. present? Maybe in this hour you begin with a nap, or meditation, playing with your children, or going outside for a walk. Maybe even tackling that project you’ve been putting off. But being present in the moment is sometimes the most valuable asset you have and can give. The best part of it is you just may find out where you really are without having to check in.” Full story at: 12 Tips to Reset Your Sunday.

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I <3 Endomondo!

One of the most important things I’ve done in my fitness routine is to throw out my scale and to start using Endomondo on my Android [available for your iPhone, too]. Endomondo uses the GPS in my phone to track my exercise and keeps a running log with stats like this I can view on their website [click image to enlarge]…

My scale is a LIAR — it rarely says what I hope it will say. Endomondo reminds me that if I do the right thing, the right results will follow and it shows me how my efforts are adding up. THIS inspires me — you may benefit from it, too!

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On technology and relationships…

Ouch! I started watching this TEDtalk thinking this didn’t apply to me but the longer Sherry Turkle talked the more I heard her describing me…

Our fantasies of substitution (with tech) have cost us… – Lead.Learn.Live.

To illustrate her point, I find myself posting this video before I’ve even heard her conclusion and I’m tweaking this post while I could be sitting in bed with my wife drinking coffee…

“Let him who has ears to hear“…

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What are you doing in my world?

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Many years ago, when our son Connor was acquiring language, he said to one of his brothers “what are you doing in my world?”. What made it funny was that he intended to say “what in the world are you doing?”, but his language was much closer to what I think we really mean when we ask that question…

Yesterday, I had a ‘what are you doing in my world?’ experience with my wife. We were driving from Algoma to Warrenville, IL to celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday. During the course of the trip, she…

  • Used Google Maps to find a restaurant in Milwaukee and find her way back to pick me up
  • Commented on my Facebook status from her smartphone
  • Critiqued a couple of blog posts on my personal blog
  • Actually tried to sell my mom on the value of having a smartphone!

…all from her HTC Evo!

Now these might sound like normal things to you, but I have always told people that when it comes to technology, my wife and I have a mixed marriage. Not I’m PC and she’s Mac, but rather I live it, she hates it. Until now, the internet has been my own private playground but apparently that’s not the case anymore — my wife is now critiquing my blog posts! I almost fell over when I was sitting in a meeting and saw that she had commented on my Facebook status. I was even more surprised when she made it back to the place where she dropped me off. I was even more surprised than that when the critiques she offered on my posts was actually good feedback and I think I’m going to listen to her more often [in that regard anyway]…

;-)

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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With the official announcement of Google’s Nexus One yesterday, I’m going to go out on a limb and say “It’s time to sell your RIM stock”. This slurp from Mashable came out almost a month ago before Google’s announcment and the BlackBerry was in trouble then…

“As you may know, we’ve been conducting our weekly Lunchtime Poll and getting Mashable readers’ opinions on the topic of the week. This week we pitted six smartphone platforms against each other in our Smartphone Smackdown and asked you lovely folks to cast your votes.

We put RIM’s BlackBerry, Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, the Symbian OS, Palm’s webOS and Windows Mobile head-to-head and sat back to watch the votes fly. At the end of the day, all had a respectable showing on the scoreboard, but there can be only one winner…

… and in this case the victor happens to be Apple’s iconic iPhone — the platform that kicked off the mobile app store craze that other mobile players have followed. With a commanding 43% of the vote, the iPhone was the champion, although Google’s (Google) open source Android (Android) platform was not too far behind at 29%. RIM and Palm both took 9% of the tally, with Symbian and Windows Mobile bringing up the rear at 5% each.” Source: Mashable Readers Vote: iPhone Wins the Smartphone Smackdown

I’ve been a BlackBerry user for over two years now and the products that are coming out today make the BlackBerry look like DOS compared to a Macintosh 15 years ago. When my chance to renew comes up I’ll be getting an Android phone so fast it will make your head swim. Until then, I’m stuck with this stupid Curve that looked so cool a couple of years ago…

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Benjamin Franklin
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All the topics that interest US in the past 24 hours…

 

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Yesterday, I said…

“Speaking of sex and smartphones or maybe sexy smartphones, I’m going to take this opportunity to rant about the iPhone AND Android phones for a moment. Excuse my language, but they both suck — that’s right — they suck! Why the iPhone? Because #1 it’s a closed system — yeah, there’s an app for that but they must all be approved by Big Brother at Apple — and #2 because AT&T is the worst cellular network in the world!” Source: Sex and Smartphones, part 1

…and promised to talk about the Android today…

Over the past two months, I have been experiencing a love/hate relationship with a Samsung Moment running Android. My final take? I went back to my old Blackberry Curve. I was attracted to the Moment for two reasons: it’s Google-created operating system and the appeal of the sliding keyboard on the Samsung Moment. Personally, I think the HTC Hero is one of the most beautiful pieces of industrial engineering I’ve seen in a long time but I hated the software-only keyboard on the iPhone so I thought I’d better try the Samsung Moment first. As it turns out, most critics agreed that the Hero is pretty, but underpowered — kind of like Obama’s healthcare plan, but I digress!

The Samsung Moment was a frustration from day 1 like this author describes…

“So all that being said, I found myself standing in a Sprint store faced with two choices, the Samsung Moment and the HTC Hero. I bought the Moment. Thankfully there was a 30 day trial period!” Source: WTF was SAMSUNG thinking?? Quick Review: Samsung Moment « RichandDaveShow.com

Do go to the source and read his comments if you’re thinking about a Moment. He really nailed it here…

“Wow, the battery on this thing is horrible! There is no possible way this phone, fully charged, could make it past lunchtime if you used it for anything other than a paperweight. ” Source: WTF was SAMSUNG thinking?? Quick Review: Samsung Moment « RichandDaveShow.com

Here are some that he missed…

  • The screen is horrible. I hate touchscreen devices like iPod touches because I’m really anal about my screens and fingerprints bug me and the Moment is even worse than the iPhone…
  • Most of the cool new apps for Android are for 2.1, not 2.0 and 2.1 for the Moment isn’t coming out anytime soon…
  • While I’m at it, Android 2.0 seems pretty half-baked…
  • Not only is the battery life bad, but memory management sucks too…
  • Pandora and other streaming apps didn’t work. What’s up with that?

Had enough? I did. I reactivated my old Blackberry Curve! It syncs with Google Apps, does a great job of email and texting, Pandora rocks again, and I’m not missing any calls. Calls are easy to make. All the basics are covered. Life is good again. Basic, but good…

My trial period is over but I’m going to return it to Sprint anyway and they better take it back! If you’re thinking about stopping by your Sprint store and getting a Samsung Moment take a moment and don’t. Get a Moment that is…

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While the Vikings were sticking it to the Packers on Monday Night Football, Verizon was sticking it to Apple and AT&T in the only way they really could; on the issue of reliability and connectivity…

Recently, I had the chance to use both my BlackBerry Curve and an iPhone 3Gs on a trip from Green Bay to Nebraska and back. My assessment? The iPhone excelled in every area except one: phone calls and connectivity leading me to ponder ‘what does it profit a man if he gains all the apps in the world but suffers the loss of his phone call’ [sorry, Lord!]. The BlackBerry on Sprint outperformed the iPhone on AT&T in phone calling, streaming inbound audio from Pandora, and uploading to the internet. Unfortunately, the quality of photos and videos on the Curve is less satisfactory than the iPhone making IT a less than useful tool for the social media applications I was using. So what’s the answer? There is no answer! The iPhone fails in the one thing a phone is supposed to do; make and hold calls and Verizon stuck it to them good in this new campaign…

Don’t get me wrong — the iPhone is truly amazing — but by partnering with AT&T Apple has left the door open for someone else to dominate in the smartphone space like maybe Google/Verizon. The moral of the story? Think before you buy an iPhone and ask the users where you live what their experience has been. The best advice is still to go with the best network in your area and then get the best phone they have. If you want that slick iPhone capability without the phone, get an iPod Touch — you’ll be happier!

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I’m talking social media with a barrista named John in the Starbucks in York, NE. Yes, there is one thank God — it’s one of the few redeeming features of this intersection called York where I have been sleeping while attending Husker Harvest Days. John noticed my Wisconsin license plate and asked where I was from. Turns out we’re from opposite ends of Kewaunee County and we’re chatting at a Starbucks in York. Small world…

Starbucks has the only reliable wireless internet connection for me to upload my content for AGCO so I have been a better customer than usual as yesterday I had over 2.5GB of content from the show to upload for the Envano team back in Green Bay. The social media campaign we have been doing for AGCO has been wildly successful. There are over 2,000 fans in Facebook now and we just added a beautiful YouTube channel for Husker Harvest Days.

I’m looking forward to heading back to Algoma with stops in Des Moines, IA and Galena, IL along the way. Soon I’ll be sharing some thoughts on the technology behind the AGCO social media success — including my huge disappointment with the iPhone and the way it performed on the trip! Be sure to fan AGCO in Facebook and follow the new YouTube channel in the meantime. If you’re curious about how all this works, give me a call @ (920) 486-4798. I’ll be happy to talk with you — I have 12 hours of driving time to kill on the way home… ;-)

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My “old post promoter” picked a doozy this time! A year ago, I was quite unhappy with my smartphone choices, but don’t worry — there’s a happy ending that I’ll write later this week after you’ve read parts 1 and 2…

“Wow! What does THIS say about us?

“Smartphones tied with sex as the number one thing that business professionals can not live without in a study from cloud-based business phone system provider, RingCentral. In a survey among RingCentral’s small to medium-sized business customers in the U.S., the importance of the smartphone in daily and business life was reiterated over and over again.

The study, which surveyed nearly 400 customers, showed that smartphones are taking on the defacto role in business communication.

Here are some highlights:

  • Smartphones and intimate relationships tied at 40% for the number one thing respondents can’t live without.
  • 79% of respondents use their smartphones to conduct most business calls, versus an office phone or home phone.
  • 34% use a smartphone more than a computer for business. 7% even said they don’t take their laptops with them when they travel for business if they have a smartphone.
  • 48% of respondents said that at least two-thirds of their phone communication is via smartphone.

None of this data is particularly surprising, except for the shift to using a smartphone as a primary business device. Thanks to platforms like Android (Android) and the iPhone, you really can do a lot of work from your mobile device.” Source: Business Professionals Can’t Live Without Sex or Smartphones [STATS]

Interesting…

Speaking of sex and smartphones or maybe sexy smartphones, I’m going to take this opportunity to rant about the iPhone AND Android phones for a moment. Excuse my language, but they both suck! That’s right — they suck! Why the iPhone? Because #1 it’s a closed system — yeah, there’s an app for that but they must all be approved by Big Brother at Apple — and #2 because AT&T is the worst cellular network in the world!

Android phones, however, are a different issue and I’ll take them up tomorrow…”

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The beautiful view from my deck in rural northeast Wisconsin is a great reminder of the power I have to publish and promote; from anywhere to the ends of the internet!

I’ve worked hard to develop a simple blogging workflow that can empower even the most basic computer user. I don’t care if you’re Mac, Windows, Linux, or even Smartphone or iPad — my practical, tactical approach to social media can help  you publish and promote your passion whatever it might be. But “Wah!”, you might say, “I don’t want to learn anything new!” Can you send an email? Can you save a bookmark? Then I can teach you how you can leverage social media to help establish your thought leadership position…

We’re now in an unparalleled time in history where everyone has the power to publish — the question is, will you take advantage of it? I post here every day, day after day, the best of the insight God has given me into leveraging these new media tools. If it makes sense to you, use it, great! If not you know the drill — comment, call or contact me and I’ll be happy to net it out for you!

Posted via web from e1evation, llc

 

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=357k_8t0QMw

Yeah, the iPhone is all that and a bag of chips as we say in Wisconsin, but what if you don’t use AT&T and don’t want to switch carriers? Or worse yet! You can get AT&T but they won’t sell you an iPhone because they don’t have coverage there [happened to a friend of mine]? Well, all is not lost.

Tech buddy Steve Gallimore pointed out to me that the iPod touch — which I previously thought was worthless because of the small storage space — actually has wifi [duh! How did I miss that?] which makes it the most valuable of personal digital assistants [pdas] in many ways. In my hands on testing the iPod touch does have a lot of “WOW! Factor”. My only major complaint? It’s very hard to type on and there is no stylus option. Can’t type on it with any kind of speed at all! So for most of my needs, I’m still married to my trusty BlackBerry Curve, but I can understand why the iPhone is gaining ground. Now if we could only fix the dysfunctional way that phones are distributed through certain carriers, I’d be a happy camper…

In the next few weeks I’ll be talking a lot about cloud computing, Google Apps, smartphones, pdas, etc. and how they all work together for the busy executive. Stay tuned…

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The Samsung Moment…

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…is everything the iPhone should have been!

“In case you haven’t noticed, the Google Android dam has broken. For almost a year, HTC was the only manufacturer to offer handsets with the operating system, but in the past month, Motorola and Samsung almost fell over each other to offer Android smartphones of their own. Moto gave us the satisfying Cliq and Samsung countered with the Moment. Though we’re not sure which “Moment” Samsung is referring to (the company’s product names baffle us regularly), it’s clear that Sammy is taking its Android endeavor seriously. The Moment offers everything you’d expect from an Android phone while adding Sprint-specific media services. Other features are plentiful, and the sturdy design and comfortable physical keyboard offer a nice contrast to Sprint’s other Android phone, the HTC Hero. The Android OS still has its quirks, camera-editing options are nonexistent, and we had a few performance complaints, but at $179 with service, the Moment, aka the M900, is cheaper than T-Mobile’s Android options. ” Source: Samsung Moment (Sprint) Smartphone reviews – CNET Reviews

3 reasons why:

  • Reliable network
  • Sliding keyboard
  • Open, multitasking operating system
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No surprise here!

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Apple is dominating the smartphone market and Google is giving them a run for the money with the Android OS…

“comScore has released a report on the state of the US mobile market from September to December 2009, and it shows that the recently established trends of Android and iPhone growth don’t show signs of ceasing.

In December 2009 RIM was still the leading mobile smartphone operating system in the U.S., with 41.6% market share, a slight drop from 42.6% from September 2009. Apple has risen from 24.1% to 25.3% in that same period, and Google (Google), although still in the fifth place, has doubled its market share – from 2.5% to 5.2%.” Source: Apple Grabs 25% of the Smartphone Market, Android Doubles Market Share

The big losers? Blackberry [RIM], Microsoft and Palm…

Smartphones are an important technology tool for thinkers and thought leaders; picking one that works with your online world is important! More than just a flashy accessory, smartphones can be a key component of an overall communication strategy. Comment, call or contact me to talk about what this means to you and your business…

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7 tools for the mobile journalist

The e1evation/Envano team has done a great deal of work over the past six months on building the ‘near perfect’ toolkit for the mobile journalist. It comes from our award-winning work covering trade shows for AGCO. Here’s an interesting post on tools for the mobile journalist. Read the author’s take and then you can have my list of tools…

“The multi-function playground that is the smartphone has shrunk the capabilities of a van-sized 1970’s news team into the pocket of a single reporter. Today, front-page news can stream from any individual with a cell phone camera and a Twitter account, as it did during Iran’s election protests last summer. Today, major news outlets, such as CNN, have crowdsourced parts of their newsroom to locally-savvy citizen journalists, often armed with little more than a camcorder.

In addition to the standard smartphone equipment, such as a camera and social networking applications, we’ve compiled a list of five additional tools that can help a single journalist rival a fully-functional news team. With these tools, a mobile journalist can record data, edit clips, and broadcast polished stories as events unfold.” Source: 5 Essential Tools for the Mobile Journalist

Personally? I must be cranky today because I think this list is lame! My list?

  • Apple iPhone [too bad the ATT network sucks so bad! We need a Sprint MyFi as backup…]
  • Kodax Zi8 HD Video camera
  • Posterous
  • uStream
  • Picasa
  • A notebook computer
  • And a Humvee Combat Vest to put all the equipment in!

Our key to mobile journalism is to assign the right duties to the right assets, be they people or products. Comment, call or contact me to discuss how this applies to your business…

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Moms and smartphones…

They’re not just for CEO’s anymore…

“Smartphones may have started as productivity tools for top executives, but they’re quickly finding their way into the hands and purses of “power moms,” a.k.a. the CEO of the household.

As smartphones become easier to use and in many ways more useful, more women, including busy moms, are buying them to leverage all kinds of digital applications to stay organized and to connect with their families, friends, and social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter. They’re also using these Internet-enabled devices to get things done like paying the bills, ordering groceries, downloading coupons, and hunting for ideas for the next family vacation.

And like their corporate counterparts, these women are hooked.” Source: Modern power moms flock to smartphones | Wireless – CNET News

Go to the source to read the rest of the article…

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Be an iPhone for Halloween!

How geeky do you have to be to build and be a working iPhone for Halloween?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIjBqFMwM08

Read all about them here…

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Going mobile!

Here’s a little tuneage from the Who while you contemplate this; if you’re an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android user, you can now view e1evation.com in a special mobile format. Check it out!

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