Random header image... Refresh for more!
Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-02-05

February 6, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-02-03

February 4, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-02-01

February 2, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

5 reasons why i won’t be buying an ipad

The Jesus tablet has been revealed and the product hasn’t lived up to its hype.  I’m intrigued by the device, but it’s not really a great mobile device – nor is it a great netbook. In fact, it’s not really even a tablet as we’ve defined them.

It’s essentially a large ipod – or a Kindle on steroids.

Here are 5 reasons why i won’t be buying the first version:

  1. Poor resolution – 1024 resolution is a major disappointment. You can’t watch full high definition video.
  2. No Camera – most laptops now come with a camera for things like skype calls and making raw videos. 80% of all new mobile devices also come with a camera…. So not including one with the ipad was odd and a major miss. You also can’t access external content from outdoor media and printed magazines that are increasingly coming with 2d (or QR) codes and AR codes. No camera also limits potential gaming applications.
  3. No GPS – along with no camera, having no GPS means you can’t use the device for navigation or for any of your geo-social media apps – like foursquare, Gowalla, and Yelp. The future of digital media is going to be location driven – so why make the ultimate media device already irrelevant? Now I have to carry around my mobile phone and the tablet. No GPS also means Apps such as Layar that leverages augmented reality to add data to your view will also be restricted to your mobile device. Outside of layer, how useful is google maps without GPS on a mobile device?
  4. No flash support – so many websites that you’ll now be able to enjoy on a larger screen will have lots of broken buttons. I know that flash is dead (or dying), but many sites including the new york times integrate flash elements to enhance the browsing experience. I’m sure site designed for the mobile web (even the iphone mobile web) will look great – but on a screen that stretches nearly 10 inches, I’d want the full web experience.
  5. No expandable storage or USB port – so that means I’ll need to carry my netbook or laptop in addition to my iphone along with the ipad. That’s too many devices for even me to carry around

Don’t get me wrong – the device looks beautiful and the user experience will be typically amazing as Apple always puts a premium on it; however, it fails as a true tablet device and even at its attractive price point, I will wait at least until the second generation of the device to appear (likely next year) before I consider picking one up – or at least paying for one out of my own pocket :)

January 28, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-01-26

January 27, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-01-25

January 26, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-01-22

January 23, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

bacon to facebook – bring back the birthday!

I’m a big fan of the current facebook user experience online.

I’m actually an even bigger fan of their latest iphone app that allows better access to groups and pages and improves the overall user experience.  Adding the ability to sync with my contact list to add pictures and links to my iphone contact list is the best example of an App integrating with a device yet.

It’s just missing one key feature – the birthday push

The last few iterations of the facebook platform have moved birthday notices below the fold of your screen – which means I almost never see who is celebrating a birthday anymore. I was having a wobbly pop the other night with my good friend Jason who suggested that having your calendar also sync with facebook events you’ve already opt-ed in for would be brilliant.

I couldn’t agree more. Let’s go one step further and bring the birthday back as either a push message from facebook on my iphone, or as an iphone event reminder as synced by the facebook app.

I’m terrible with remembering birthdays – so having a push message on my iphone would help me be better a friend :)

January 22, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

Tweet Digest from 2010-01-20

January 21, 2010   View Comments

Email Article Below Email Article Below

7 ways you can use Mobile to donate to Haiti relief efforts

salvation

This past fall at the inaugural mobile innovation week in Toronto, the CWTA announced the formation of  Mobile Giving Foundation Canada which enables Canadian consumers to “text to donate” using their mobile device to registered Canadian charities.

With the recent devastation in Haiti, Canadians can use their mobile device to donate $5 or $10 by simply texting a keyword to a specific shortcode. This one-time charge will be added to your next wireless bill or subtracted from your pre-paid account.

100% of each donation will go to the donor’s chosen charity. Service is available on most carriers.

Here are 7 [updated 1/19 from 5] ways you can donate to Haiti relief efforts:

  1. The Salvation Army in Canada: Text “HAITI” to 45678 ($5); Text “ASTRAL” to 45678 ($10 will be donated)
  2. Plan Canada: Text “HAITI” to 30333 ($5 will be donated)
  3. World Vision Canada: Text “WORLD” to 45678 ($5 will be donated)
  4. Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative: Text “HAITI” to 20222 ($5 will be donated)
  5. UNICEF Canada: Text “GIVE” or “DON” to 45678 to donate $5
  6. The Canadian Red Cross: Text “REDCROSS” to 30333 to donate $5
  7. Rogers customers only: Text “HELP” to 1291 to donate $5 to Partners in health. Rogers is also donating $250,000 in funds and goods to the relief efforts

January 18, 2010   View Comments