Happiness CCXC

Dec 31, 2008 | happiness

Fond memories, and a review of things I’ve learned during 2008 are on my mind.

Android Apps – Suggestions

Dec 26, 2008 | blog

'Suggestion Box' by disrupsean Ok, I’m getting antsy for a few good apps that I need or would like on my G1 Android phone.  I’m betting we’ll see some interesting new apps hit the Android Market in January when Google adds the ability to charge for an application.  I’d also like to make a few suggestions for some applications that I really need to have soon for productivity purposes.

Office Apps

The need for real word processing and spreadsheet applications is no joke.  An app that supports Word, Excel, and a couple extra file formats would be appreciated.  This is an application that I’d pay for.  Make it decent, include PowerPoint support as well – it needs to be a quality app.  Ability to save/load from SD is a necessity btw.

Adobe – Flash & PDF

’nuff said.

Video

A camcorder app would be awesome, but even better would be to see a QIK client released.  Is this too much to ask?

Onscreen Keyboard (psst Google, you listening?)

There are a couple apps that already include an onscreen keyboard, so why can’t the OS?  Alls you have to do is draw some buttons and feed the button presses through the existing keyboard driver – come on, it’s not that hard.  I’m surprised at all the existing Windows Mobile onscreen keyboard vendors – this is an easy market to jump into here.

Navigation Software

Here’s another good opportunity for some enterprising company.  Don’t get me wrong, Google Maps with GPS and 3G kicks ass, but when you’re out of data range – and when you really do need some navigation assistance – it really starts to show its deficiencies.  A good navigation software package like TomTom or Garmin’s would be quite nifty – and with the size of microSD cards on the market, not too hard to load up maps for offline roadtrip fun.

So these are some of the things that I would like to see.  There are tons more – do you have some suggestions?

Photo credit: disrupsean

Android Developers! Here’s a phone-load of free ideas

Oct 16, 2008 | blog

android logoYeah, I’m a little excited while I sit and wait for my T-Mobile G1 to be delivered. During this waiting period that nearly every geek worth their weight in Apple will experience, I’ve been reading  reviews, opinions, development docs, looking up existing applications and so on.

During this time I’ve been thinking about the things that Google did & didn’t put in the phone. I’ve been pondering the criticism and the early praise for the device, and I’ve started thinking about what I want out of the G1, and through this I’ve come up with a list of possible application ideas for some “Rock Star” android developers. So here they are.

Media/Communications

  • Video Camcorder App (since Google left this out!)
  • Adobe Flash Player
  • Flickr Uploader
  • QIK & Seesmic Video Client
  • A Slingbox client
  • A Kick-But Media Player
  • Rhapsody client, iTunes Client, and so on
  • Skype, GrandCentral, ooVoo Clients

image Social Media

  • Twitter Client
  • Facebook (and other social networks) Client that supports pic/vid/audio uploads
  • Find a way to use the accelerometer as an input device – specifically for scrolling. (Ok, yes like the information pads from STNG that the crew would simply tilt back & forth to scroll the information on the device – geeky I know.)

Drivers/Input

  • Bluetooth AD2P Stereo Headphone Support
  • Bluetooth HID support for keyboards (Specifically my older ThinkOutside Bluetooth Keyboard please!)
  • Bluetooth HID support for Mice
  • Multi-Touch input drivers (I believe Google didn’t do this because of IP concerns – I’m probably wrong)

Productivity

  • Google Reader App (How’d they miss this?)
  • Google Docs App (Gears… Hello!)
  • Note taking app (I’d like one that integrates/syncs with Microsoft OneNote, but others like Evernote)
  • Full Screen Keyboard
  • Blogging client similar to Windows Live Writer
  • Weather App (Forecasts, Maps, etc…)
  • Support for email signing/encryption certificates
  • Travel App (This one could be cooler than they have been to date: detect location via GPS, set correct time/date, download current weather, look up local restaurants automatically and present by breakfast/lunch/dinner times, download current exchange rates, more…?)

Heck, I’m just listing off things I want – but look at the device and think of the G1 as a PC rather than a phone. Remember, with 3G, GPS, accelerometer, touch interface, camera, access to your Gmail Contacts & Calendar, Maps, etc… what could you build using a combination of these hardware and soft resources? What if…? Since Android is an open platform, you can replace even the core components of the software suite: dialer, browser, email, input drivers, camera software… it’s endless.

Ok, now that I’ve demonstrated that I’m an Android fan-boy, I’m going to go back to work. Have fun!

Windows 7

Oct 13, 2008 | blog

Windows_generic_v_web Yep, Mike Nash announced it today on the Windows Vista blog. The next version of Microsoft Windows will be named: Windows 7

I like it, but then I’ve been accused of being a Microsoft fan-boy, so my opinion probably doesn’t count. It’s a name anyway, and darn early for a Microsoft OS release at that. Not even in beta yet. The idea with Windows 7 is simplicity, and the name seems to fit fairly well.

At any rate, I’d like to toss a few ideas regarding W7 (can I coin an acronym this early?) at Microsoft that would make the next version a little bit better than Vista. These are mostly non-technical suggestions, but one’s I’d like to see at any rate.

  • SKUs: Let’s pare it down to 3 versions of W7: Basic, Home, and Business. Forget about anything else.
    • Basic is just that and should be for UMPCs and Netbooks, etc…
    • Home should have Media Center, Tablet support and a few other “fun” things that used to be in “Ultimate”
    • Business is the standard business client with full Active Directory & corporate security functionality. It should also have Tablet PC extensions.
  • Licensing: Home licensing should be made super-simple. It’d be great for home users to by a 3-Pack of “Windows 7 Home” licenses for $99 (US). How about a 5-Pack for $150 (US)? Sure, not all home users will need many of these license packs, but the positive PR from bloggers of low-cost upgrade license packs, reduced packaging materials & shipping of these is a great “green” spin.
  • Include the Windows Home Server client components on the Windows 7 DVD.
  • Nice to see the duplicated “live” components being removed and available as free add-ons. Now do this with Media Player, Internet Explorer, and other non-essentials. You don’t need to go open-source with Windows, but take out all the optional-extras that you’ve been making us install by default. Make it so damn easy for Google, Apple, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, IBM, Bob’s Computer Supply, etc… to make available downloadable replacements for these. Then make the Live offering so damn good that everything else can’t compare. A tall order, but one that is based on true competition and is what users what anyway. Can you imagine folks not complaining about IE or WMP? Wouldn’t that be nice for a change?
  • Publish all the hooks needed for 3rd party developers to create replacements for these and share them. Shout from the rooftops about it. make it simple and easy for any developer to find and use it.
  • Create an installation routine that will include 3rd party components during the install of Windows 7. Let the user choose from an alphabetical list of choices, with no pre-set defaults. MAKE them CHOOSE one. Make it easy & free for 3rd party developers to get their wares in the list.
  • Make all the “Windows Vista Ultimate Extras” that you were supposed to offer for
  • Windows Vista Ultimate available at no charge as offerings from the Live site to any Windows SKU.
  • Be 100% accurate when you share resource requirements to the average Joe.

Something I’d like Microsoft to get as well is that we’re buying an operating system. We’re not buying a soup-to-nuts software suite. I’m not sorry to tell you that, that is all I want. Just like all I want from my broadband ISP (Cable in this case) is a simple, fast, pipe. Nothing else. Your value-add is the Windows Live stuff, so make that good.

Some of the early indications on Windows 7 is a new approach. I’m not sure it that’s true or just more spin like the last 20 years. Prove our suspicions wrong. If Windows 7 is really about “simplicity” than make it so – make it OSX simple.

I know you can do it – I’d just like to see folks as happy with Windows as I’ve been for nearly two decades.

Ok, I’m off my soap-box. What’s your take? More spin? Stupid or great name? Do you believe the next version of Windows will be worth your time? Tell Microsoft what you think – some of ‘em are actually listening.

Extra special people make extra special events

Oct 7, 2008 | blog

So I’m sitting here this fine, cool, wonderful Saturday morning, working on plans for the next four Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities events thinking. There’s an energy here in the Northland that is hard to describe, but I know our fellow social web enthusiasts know what I’m talking about.

Even with the issues in the world-wide economy, I see energy and optimism that is a component of every entrepreneur. The ideas are fresh and honest, the kind that make you say “why didn’t I think of that”? The atmosphere of these events engenders this kind of creativity, the kind that allows you cheer them on. The real work of meeting people, exchanging ideas and making things happen are as timeless as they are productive.

It’s because of these extraordinary meetups that drive me to continue to help make them happen. Realizing that this is something I enjoy only makes the effort that much more rewarding. So as we roll out the next several events, I wanted to take a minute and thank all the folks who visit and participate in these social media events. You are the reason we find value in getting together and sharing those ideas.

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