I Think the Droid X Launched Today
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Thursday, July 15, 2010 · 
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Believe it or not, the Droid X launched today, but the lack of coverage had me wondering if I had my dates confused. You’ll remember that when the iPhone4 reception debacle was first heating up, they took out an ad which fed on those frustrations, stating:
“And most importantly, it comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls.”
Yes, it appeared that Verizon, Google and Motorola were going to monopolize on this infrequent misstep by Apple. But July 15 is here and who’s dominating the media? Why, Apple, of course. A Google search for “Droid X” brings up a paltry 900 or so news articles, while a search for “iPhone4″ yields nearly 5,000. Even CNN.com’s home page has a poll asking users if Apple should recall the iPhone4, and nothing about the Droid. Prominent tech blogs have more coverage on the upcoming press conference than they do on the Droid (Gizmodo has a decent Droid Xreview if you are so inclined).
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity, and while Apple may argue, their issues have overshadowed the launch of a worthy competitor. Perhaps it was by design, and tomorrow they’ll announce free bumpers and a $20 iTunes credit for everyone — knowing that the cost to keep all eyes on them was worth every penny. But just in case, I’m going to stock up on duct tape.
Google Voice Desktop App Preview
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Friday, July 2, 2010 · ·
Remember way back in October of 2009 when Google said “Google Voice is a free web application, one intended to supplement and enhance existing phone lines, not replace them.” And the way GV worked at the time made that seem plausible. After all, you couldn’t make calls directly from GV– it required that you entered the number you wanted to dial, then a number where it could call you to complete the connection. In April we learned that GV was testing a new desktop client. And today, a new TechCrunch video demonstrates this “unreleased” software, and makes one wonder about the definition of “supplement.” Video after the break. Read more
Bounce Offers Website Annotation
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 · (1) ·
Back when I did some website work, I remember making screenshots and either hand writing on paper, or “photoshopping” my thoughts. I guess there are similar tools, but I came across Bounce today and thought that a member or two might find it useful either for internal use, or for working with clients.
Google Voice Open to All
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 · (2) ·
About a year ago, Google launched Google Voice, a service with cool features such as transcribed voice mail and call control. At that point, it was a limited preview, and required an invitation to join. In May, Google announced it was targeting students, allowing anyone with a .edu email address to have immediate access. Today, Google Voice is now open to anyone — well, anyone living in the United States that is.
“Over the past year, we’ve introduced a mobile web app, an integrated voicemail player in Gmail, the ability to use Google Voice with your existing number and more. Over a million of you are now actively using Google Voice, and many of the features released over the past year (like SMS to email and our Chrome extension) came as a result of your suggestions, so thanks!”
So head on over to Google Voice and try it out. Maybe it will spark some ideas of things you might offer to your customers, but at a minimum, you should see what your competition is up to.
Update: According to Bloomberg (and others), Frontier is suing Google Voice over a patent dispute. Stay tuned to see how this turns out!
USDA Reports On Round 1 Stimulus Awards
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Thursday, June 10, 2010 · ·
Yesterday, the USDA unveiled a report called “Connecting Rural America.” This report provides an overview of round one stimulus awards, and helps identify “… how broadband deployment funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) will improve the quality of life of over half a million rural American households.”
In the first round, RUS awarded just over $1 billion for 68 projects in 31 states. The report suggests that the projects will bring broadband service to an estimated 529,249 households, 92,754 businesses and 3,332 anchor institutions across more than 172,000 square miles. It compares the geographical size of the total projects to the state of California. Additionally, the projects will create about 5,000 immediate and direct jobs.
Other report highlights include: Read more
AT&T Quietly Removes Unlimited Data Plans
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 · ·
In a press release today, AT&T announced two new data plans for it’s wireless service. The DataPlus plan offers 200M of throughput for $15 ($15/200M if exceeded), and DataPro offers 2G of throughput for $25 ($10/1G if exceeded). Also available is a tethering option, which will allow a subscriber to access the internet on a laptop via their iPhone. But with tethering, the bandwidth will still be limited.
AT&T keeps a positive spin on the press release by suggesting that the entry level voice and data bundle is now $15 cheaper than before. What isn’t in the press release? Any mention of an unlimited data plan. In fact, they subtly add towards the end, “For new iPad customers, the $25 per month 2 GB plan will replace the existing $29.99 unlimited plan.” My read is that this is the case for all customers. Existing customers will be grandfathered in (and can switch if they want), but say goodbye to unlimited data. Read more
Skype To Start Charging?
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 · ·
Engadget (and many others) are reporting about Skype’s recent release of its 2.0 software for the iPhone, offering “free” calling over a 3G network. Like computer-based VoIP services, Skype would allow users to use the data network to avoid eating into their wireless “bucket of minutes.” While I wouldn’t call this news shocking, the fact that they are hinting at charging for these calls in the future is rather interesting.
Details are not yet known, but it is expected that iPhone users will get to make calls free through the remainder of the year. We should see info in the coming months about the cost, and expect to see a backlash from net-savvy consumers that think everything should be free.