Archive for December, 2009
HP Envy vs Macbook Air
Dec 10th
The Hewlett-Packard Envy 13 offers an excellent example of what a cutting-edge ultra portable should be–and it moves past the Apple MacBook Air in some important respects, despite its overly ambitious price tag.
First, let me say that I have used a MacBook Air for over a year and am well aware of its merits. That said, it is beginning to look a little long in the tooth when juxtaposed with the Envy 13 which, like the Air, offers an aluminum chassis. I will also draw comparisons with 13-inch MacBook Pro since the Envy seems to fall somewhere between this and the Air. Read the rest of this entry »
Wireless Charging
Dec 6th
Wireless charging has become a very big deal over the last few months. I know many people who don’t want to have to deal with plugging in wires when they want to charge the mobile phone or other devices. The WildCharge system has been around for a while now and today marks the launch of a new product called the Powermat that can charge multiple devices at once.
Folding PowerPad
The Portable Mat is a fold out device that has a place to sit up to three mobile phones to charge. Each phone requires a special case or an adapter to charge. The mat also has a single USB port allowing the user to charge a USB device at the same time. A universal power supply allows the mat to work anywhere in the world and the system includes a Universal Powercube with eight tips. The tips included are for many common phones such as those that charge using the mini-usb interface. However, tips for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Sony devices are not included.
Powermat Receivers are the cases that allow the devices to get power from the mat and are offered for Blackberry, iPhone, iPods, Nintendo DS, and a universal receiver has USB tips and more. The Powermat is available in the US for $99.99 and the specific receivers sell for $29.99 to $39.99. You can get more details at Powermat
I’m going to order one and try it out. I’ll let you all know if it is any good!
Top 30 Telecom Operators – October 2009
Dec 6th
| Rank | Company | Country | Technology | Total Subscribers |
| 1 | China Mobile |  China (Mainland) |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 508,370,000 |
| 2 | Vodafone |  United Kingdom |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 427,990,000 |
| 3 | Telefonica / Movistar / O2 |  Spain |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 200,850,000 |
| 4 | America Movil |  Argentina |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 194,340,000 |
| 5 | Orange |  France |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 189,000,000 |
| 6 | Telenor |  Norway |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 172,000,000 |
| 7 | T-Mobile |  Germany |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 150,900,000 |
| 8 | TeliaSonera |  Sweden |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 143,900,000 |
| 9 | China Unicom | China (Mainland) |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 142,800,000 |
| 10 | Bharti Airtel |  India |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 116,160,000 |
| 11 | Orascom Telecom / WIND |  Egypt |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 110,600,000 |
| 12 | MTN Group |  South Africa |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 108,470,000 |
| 13 | MTS |  Russia |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 96,860,000 |
| 14 | Etisalat |  UAE |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 94,000,000 |
| 15 | Verizon Wireless |  USA |
cdmaOne | 89,000,000 |
| 16 | Reliance Communications | India |
GSM, GPRS | 88,930,000 |
| 17 | AT&T Mobility | USA |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 82,700,000 |
| 18 | Telkomsel |  Indonesia |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 79,770,000 |
| 19 | Telecom Italia / TIM |  Italy |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 71,500,000 |
| 20 | Zain |  Kuwait |
GSM, GPRS | 69,500,000 |
| 21 | VimpelCom | Russia |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 63,700,000 |
| 22 | Axiata Group Berhad |  Malaysia |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 62,820,000 |
| 23 | NTT docomo |  Japan |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 55,670,000 |
| 24 | BSNL | India |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 53,960,000 |
| 25 | Idea Cellular | India |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 53,350,000 |
| 26 | Qtel |  Qatar |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 52,540,000 |
| 27 | Tata Teleservices | India |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 51,730,000 |
| 28 | MegaFon | Russia |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 49,120,000 |
| 29 | Sprint Nextel | USA |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 48,300,000 |
| 30 | China Telecom | China (Mainland) |
GSM, GPRS, EDGE | 46,780,000 |
Great iPhone App : Knocking!
Dec 3rd
Knocking, a new application for the iPhone, got a pretty big “wow” out of me — it lets you share footage from your iPhone camera with friends who have the app.
Let’s say you’re at a store and you want to ask your spouse which product they like better. You could turn on Knocking, “knock” on their phone, then they would get a message saying you want to share. Then you just turn your camera on the different products you’re looking at, and it shows up on their phone. Here are a couple other examples offered by Brian Meehan, co-founder of Point Heads Software, the Danbury, Conn., development studio that created Knocking: If you’re fishing, you could use Knocking to share the great view, or if you’re stuck in traffic you could use the app to show family or coworkers how bad things are on the highway.
Knocking Application
I haven’t tried the application myself, but I have seen a live demo as well as a video, and both suggest the video quality is decent, if a little jerky, and is broadcast with only a few seconds’ delay. Neither fact undermines Knocking’s essential coolness.
Pointy Heads actually released a more limited version of the Knocking app in November, which focused on photo-sharing. The full version was rejected from the App Store due to some user interface features that Apple said fell afoul of its policies. (Meehan was a bit vague on the exact violation.)
It seems like this is becoming a common story among iPhone developers, but Meehan decided to take his concerns straight to the top — he sent an email to Apple chief executive Steve Jobs recounting his history as a lifelong Apple fan, and outlining his concerns with the decision, such as the fact that other apps live in the store seemed to offer the same feature that got Knocking rejected. Shortly afterward, Meehan said he got a call from Apple “upper management,” who said they were calling about his email to Jobs. A few more phone calls later and the app was approved without any revision from Point Heads.
“It was a great feeling to know that they are listening and they do care,” Meehan said.
Knocking is available as a free app for the first 50,000 users, and will then cost $2.99. Pointy Heads plans to demonstrate a version for Android phones at the Consumer Electronics Show next January.
Pointy Heads is self-funded.
First, Facebook and Yahoo hook up, Now Twitter and Google do the same
Dec 3rd
Who will be the web’s primary identity platform?
An announcement from Google today shows that it’s trying to stay in the fight by integrating Twitter across its 9 million Friend Connect web sites. That means you can log into a Google Friend Connect site with your Twitter profile and share that new membership with your friends along with other interesting content.
Keep in mind that most of those 9 million member sites are part of Google Blogger, which automatically got included in the platform when it launched. This will help those sites find new audiences and promote the Friend Connect identity to others.
What’s interesting is the timing of Google’s announcement. It comes on the same day Facebook announced a massive integration with Yahoo’s properties, handing the social network an additional way to reach 500 million people. A big win. Yahoo users can use their Facebook log-ins to see what friends are doing on its properties and share that activity with their social network.
Google, however, doesn’t really have a large sharing platform. It has Orkut and Google Reader, but those haven’t found the same traction as Twitter or Facebook have with audiences closing in on half a billion users. It also wants to prevent the growth of closed or unfriendly ecosystems. So it’s turning to Twitter in a reactive move against its emerging competitor Facebook.
But this gives Twitter and Facebook more of a duopoly on data around our identities and social relationships. Is this ultimately what we want?
