Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.14.08 edition
This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack. This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity. Can you hear the drum beating for Black Friday? It is getting nuts in here! Here is what caught my eye this week:
Join me as I call out these guys for totally suspicious acts:
- Gadget makers
- Classmates.com
- Bloggers that leak good stuff
- Korean dictionaries. Yes, I am serious about that one.
Follow the link to hear more. It is almost guaranteed to brighten your Friday. Almost.
Blackberry and MySpace release app
In news straight out of 2006, BlackBerry and MySpace have finally gotten together and jumped on the app train. Seems straight laced corporate types have been clamoring for a way to keep tabs on their social networking bit for years and finally it is happening. BlackBerry already has a FaceBook app.
The new MySpace application will do what you’d expect it would:
- Send and receive MySpace mail
- Update your Status and Mood
- View and send Bulletins
- Add comments
- Post your photos
- And much more
I don’t know about you, but “and much more” bugs the heck out of me and BlackBerry doesn’t go on to discuss the much more bit. Of note, the application requires your device to have 64MB of on-board memory and 100KB free.
The timing suggests this move is all about adding features that the young folks buying the BlackBerry flip phone want. As the lower priced flip phone trends into younger users, BlackBerry wants to make sure it is hip with the young ones.
App page: [BlackBerry ] and [MySpace]
Related- iPhone is number 1 in mobile ads
- Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition
- Verizon employees suspended for accessing Obama’s call records
Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.07.08 edition
This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack. This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity. Here is what caught my eye this week:
Follow to see me call out:
- LG and its ridiculously square phone
- AT&T thinks Android is on crack
- Sprint thinks we want to watch football (American) on our phones.
- Moto wants to be on crack
- and our own Natesh who finds more than his share of obscure gadgetry
T-Mobile G1 tethering somewhat a reality
People often try to “tether” their Internet capable devices to their PCs or laptops in order to get Internet on them on the go. Many tried with the iPhone, but weren’t very successful. When the T-Mobile G1 first was announced, one of the main questions was if the G1 could support tethering. Back when it was announced, not many people thought they could tether their G1. However, some people began posting in the TmoNewsForums on how to tether your G1 over USB. Continued after the break.
Augmented reality android app: Wikitude
In what has to be the worst name ever for any app, not just Android, Wikitude by Mobilizy offers something extremely unique: augmented reality. In addition to being a POI (point of interest) search companion, the tool makes use of all the on-board hardware on the G1: GPS, accelerometer, data connection, camera among others. In my opinion, this is the coolest thing on the G1 phone.
The remarkable augmented reality is basically like looking through a pair of binoculars that identifies landmarks and provides snippets of information from Wikipedia about them (video below). Imagine you are traveling through Europe, as you are prone to do, and whip out your G1 and activate Wikitude which tells you the bar you are drinking in was visited by Napoleon. Instantly, you’ve got your own tour guide.
See what else this cool piece of software does.
E-ventr hopes to organize all your free time
With the release of the iPhone App Store and the Android Market, a lot of apps are trying to become the next social networking app. E-ventr for Android tries to accomplish this goal by managing your free time. With E-ventr you can create ope events, or join open events that your friends that are attempting to do something.
Sure, E-ventr requires everyone else to have the same app, which as of now means they also need to have a G1 phone. So, assuming that is the case, you’ll be able to coordinate events easily.
Looking for the best deal around? Try Compare Everywhere
With the amount of available Google Android Apps out there, it is important that you know what each app does and how it works. I was looking through a list of Android Apps and one that I found particularly interesting was Compare Everywhere.
I’m not that big of a shopper, but when I buy something big such as a TV, laptop, or a MP3 player, I like to compare the prices to find out where I can get the best deal. Sometimes, I am already out looking for something I really need, and I don’t have the time to research to find the best prices, and here is where Compare Everywhere would come in handy.
Basically, the purpose of Compare Everywhere is to help you, the shopper, find the best deal around on a certain item. For example purposes, let’s say you are interested in buying some new Nike shoes. You would begin buy pointing your camera at the barcode. Once the picture is saved into your phone, you access the barcode picture within the App itself and you can compare the price from the store you are in to stores nearby. Then, you can even call the store directly, or use the GPS in the G1 to find directions to that store. More after the break.
Update: Google *not* playing favorites with Android
Last month, I asked whether Google would start to pay favorites with respect to designing and upgrading their products now that the Android phone was out. Today, I learn that Google Earth for iPhone became available yesterday as a free application from the App Store. There is no Android version, yet.
The Google team seems very excited about putting the world in your pocket via the iPhone. A quick tour of the application shows it augments the native Google Maps application that comes with every iPhone and iPod touch. An accelerometer based trick allows you to tilt the phone to get a 3D view, panning up or down as you tilt. It’s quite a neat trick. A bare bones search function is also available, though in my test the very same results were brought up in Maps.
Keep reading to see a video of the app in action and more.
What’s not so good about the BlackBerry App Center
Committing to a firm date of March 2009, RIM announced today it, too, would have an app store at its super-fun RIM BBDC (BlackBerry Developement Center). Just like the cool kids from Apple and Google, users can shop for applications to bring new functionality or just time wasters to their phones. Developers can begin submitting applications to RIM come this December. In what appears to be an obvious attempt to thumb its nose at Apple with a, “whatever you can do, I can do better” attitude RIM will only keep 20% of the revenue brought in as opposed to Apples crushing 30%.
Your boss might still want you to work.
Users will have to navigate PayPal for the purchase of apps, which could make the ride a little bumpy from a diminutive screen (assuming everyone isn’t upgrading to the Storm if it shows). What’s more, in a move to be uber-business friendly to your corporate IT, running BlackBerry Enterprise Server or BlackBerry Professional Software, can make sure you can’t get any games, just like on your laptop. Hmmmphf.
Might the telecoms stop RIM from offering the storefront on their phones? Find out by clicking “more” below.
Swimming upstream: 7 reasons the Google Android phone will fail
A couple of weeks have passed since the T-Mobile/Google event and my uneasy silence hasn’t dissipated. Sure, I am impressed that beloved Google is involved, the apps are cool and don’t even get me started about compass mode in maps. Very cool stuff. But it doesn’t matter. Here are the top 7 reasons Android will fail.
Headed to Vegas? Don’t bet on the G1 just yet.
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