YouTube and Apple: Together We'll Take Over The World

July 1, 2009 By

Well the online video world at least. The latest statistics on the new iPhone 3GS and YouTube are staggering. The iPhone has a history of taking something that has been around for awhile on other mobile phones and blasting it into the mainstream. Browsing the web was nothing new on a mobile phone when the iPhone was launched, but Apple took it to such a level and made it so easy and fun to do, mobile web traffic has exploded since. Now it’s happening with video. Nokia phones especially have always been great for taking video, but it has taken the new iPhone 3GS with it’s built in video capabilities to make it massively popular. Again, Apple takes mobile video to the next level by allowing simple on phone editing and super simple distribution to YouTube. I’ve always thought mobile video was going to be the next big thing and it looks like the new iPhone is going to confirm that thought.

What does it mean for your business? All this new video is going to drive more people to YouTube to watch. It will solidify YouTube’s dominance in the online video world. If you are doing any kind of video for your company and you do not have a YouTube channel yet, you are passing up a massive opportunity. You simply cannot afford not to be on YouTube. You should also be watching and monitoring YouYube for videos about your company or your industry. What are people saying, what are they thinking? This is the best market research/customer opinion lab you have ever had. You may not like all the content, but you had better pay attention and be ready to respond and engage.

What kind of opportunities are you giving your customers, your raving fans to share their videos? Maybe you should share the best YouTube videos on your main website. What other ways can you encourage people to create good video content about your company? These are the kinds of things you should be brainstorming with your social media consultant. Don’t have one? You might want to give me a call, I’m happy to help.

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Google Android is Coming

April 23, 2008 By

According to reports T-Mobile will be first out of the gate with mobile phones based on the new Google Android specification. I am excited to see what becomes of this and I hope Android phones are sucessful. We need more competition in the mobile market when it comes to software. Palm has been left for dead and Nokia is not a player outside of Europe. The iphone has been the only real breath of fresh air in the market in years.

Although many will play it off as such, I don’t see Android as competition as much for the iPhone as it is for Microsoft and Windows Mobile. Google is taking the Microsoft approach, not focusing on hardware at all, but providing a software platform upon which many phones can be built. Apple’s iPhone is a unique experience unto itself and I think it will continue to stand apart. The pressure is really going to be on for Microsoft to make Windows Mobile more compelling.

What all this means in general is that the mobile market will continue to accelerate and companies had better start thinking about how mobile fits into their plans. Already I am disappointed that my bank Washington Mutual has no mobile access to their online banking. Customers will soon factor mobile access into their buying decisions when looking at things like online banking and bill payment.

Synchronization features will also be an important part of any new product or service. Ideally I want my data synced between my desktop, mobile and Internet. Evernote is a new note taking program that I am loving and it does a masterful job of synchronization. All they need now is a better iPhone client.

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Computing, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Me and My iPhone

December 30, 2007 By

The iPhone still gets attention when you carry one in public and someone recently asked me “is it really that good?” I had to say, you know what, it actually is. After all the hype, pomp and circumstance, the iPhone does deliver on most of its promises on a day to day basis.

As a phone it works quite well and there are so many small things in the interface and the way things work that really make a difference. It’s the best cell phone I have ever owned, hands down.

As a mobile Internet device, again, the best I have ever used, no question. The ability to view full web pages and the way the multi-touch works is stunning. The lack of Flash support, however, is really bugging me. I’m watching more video online now and I would love to be able to do so with the iPhone. This is the single biggest drawback for me of the iPhone. The pokey EDGE network isn’t as bad as you might think, but the additional of real 3G speed in 2008 will be a very welcome addition.

As an iPod, where the iPhone really shines is in video. Having the beautiful clear widescreen is great. As cool as multi-touch is, for music, I actually prefer the old scroll wheel on the iPod Classic. The wheel is ingenious and can be used without even looking at it. I can pause, play and change tracks just by the tactile feel of the wheel. With the iPhone, there is no tactile feedback, so this is not possible. It’s a trade-off obviously for the multi-touch, but as a pure iPod, I still love the scroll wheel.

Basic productivity is fair on the device. The lack of the syncing of notes and the failure to include a todo function at all are very surprising. I have no problems with the virtual keyboard and can type quite quickly and accurately on it. It was a cause of great consternation when it was introduced but for me it’s a non issue.

Overall, I love my iPhone and wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s one of the best pieces of technology I have ever owned. After years of little or no innovation in the mobile market, Apple has set the bar high for everyone else and it will be a great thing for consumers that competitors will have to start chasing them. I think we’re going to see a whole new renaissance in the mobile space in 2008, leading to an even more connected world.

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Computing, Technology Tagged With:

Web Development in the iPhone'ed Mobile World

December 13, 2007 By

With great fanfare, Steve Jobs told the world the one of the biggest innovations of the iphone was bringing the “real” internet to a mobile device for the first time. No more junior, stripped down websites, with the iPhone you can view entire original websites as they were intended to be viewed.

Because the iPhone did not ship with the ability to run third party native applications, Jobs boldly told the development community they should build web 2.0 applications that would be just as good as native applications. Than Apple release development guidelines detailing how developers could build custom web applications formatted perfectly for the iPhone.

Thousands of web applications have sprung up for the iPhone, many of them very useful and well done. But these are custom applications that only run on the iPhone. What about the rest of the mobile market? What ever happened to the “real” internet? The point that you didn’t need to develop any kind of special or stripped down version of a site just to view it on a mobile phone? Apple has fallen into its own bear trap. I’m not complaining too much, being an iPhone user myself, but the rest of the mobile world is getting a little bit of a rip off with more development time being put into iphone specific web applications.

If you’re a business and you are looking to make some noise in the mobile market, should you create an iPhone custom web app? Probably, especially if you believe your target customer is likely to own an iPhone, but don’t forget about the rest of the mobile universe. It’s still a great deal bigger than the iPhone market, at least for now.

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Computing, Technology, Web 2.0 Tagged With: , , ,

Google Maps to GPS

September 4, 2007 By

I have been wondering when car GPS systems would start using Google Maps for their systems. Well, the time is now as Mercedes has a new system that lets you map directions online and send it to your car. BMW has something similar. Other people can even send you directions as well. This is so ultra cool, I wish I could afford a BMW or Benz.

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Filed Under: Mobile Computing, Technology

iPhone shows need for new wireless network

July 3, 2007 By

An interesting article here, mostly about Reed Hundt, a former chairman at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and vice chairman of Frontline Wireless who is lobying for spectrum to be made available for a national wireless broadband network. Reed says the launch of the iPhone shows the shortcomings of the EDGE network and the need for a much higher speed network. What caught my attention was a quote by an AT&T spokeman.

“We believe the EDGE network was designed for a product like the iPhone,” Smith added. “We’re confident with its ability to support the device.”

Most every review of the iPhone I have read says the biggest shortcoming of the phone is the slow EDGE data network. This kind of asinine quote is the kind of thing that drives me nuts. Some line written by a pr hack deep inside AT&T with absolutely no connection with reality. It’s so depressingly old school and out of touch. Releasing a statement from some anonymous spokesman saying EDGE is great doesn’t make it so and we all know it.

Wake up and smell the new media landscape AT&T. We don’t use spokespeople anymore and when the emperor has no clothes, we acknowledge it. I want the truth from AT&T. EDGE isn’t as good as it needs to be for advanced smart phones like the iPhone and we’re hard at work on a new, much faster network. I might not be happy that they don’t have that higher speed network ready yet, but I would respect the fact that they are being straight up with me and that they care about improving things as soon as possible.

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Filed Under: Mobile Computing

iZoho Web Apps for iPhone

June 28, 2007 By

Moving us even closer to life in the cloud, online app company Zoho intruduced iZoho today. Users will be able to Zoho Logoaccess specially developed and formatted versions of Zoho Writer, Sheet, and Show on the new Apple iPhone. Zoho competes with Google in the online app space, but here the smaller and maybe more nimble company outmanuvers Google to optimize their web apps for the iPhone first.

Filed Under: Mobile Computing, Web 2.0

Google Calendar Goes Mobile! Yes!

June 26, 2007 By

There is a God, and she is good. Google finally released a mobile version of their on-line calendar. One more step toward living full time in the cloud. Now if they can just add some todo features. You know from my last post I am using Socialtext for notes on-line and it’s working really well, but Google does have Google Notebook which is a fairly good web-based note taker itself. People have already been clamoring for an online version of that one. Ok, I admit it, I have become a Google fanboy. Damm.

Filed Under: Mobile Computing, Web 2.0

The Ultimate Notepad is a Wiki

June 24, 2007 By

I have been searching for a long time now for a solution. What I want is a place to store all my notes, random thoughts and ideas. I want to be able to access them from any computer and via a mobile device as well. I have tried various programs on Mac and PC and played with different syncing senarios on Windows Mobile and Palm based devices. I have tried several web-based systems; Nothing has cut the mustard. Every solution worked on one level, but left something out.Socialtext

I did come to one conclusion; the solution had to be web-based. That is the only way I could have access from any computer, anywhere. No complex sync routines needed. That just left out the mobile component. I began thinking a Wiki might be the best way to go and finally I found what may just be the Holy Grail, Socialtext. The Socialtext wiki is simple and easy to use and most important of all, it was built for mobile access. Socialtext also supports tagging, rss, email into the wiki and more. So far, I’m digging it.

Filed Under: Mobile Computing, Technology, Web 2.0

YouTube Comes To The iPhone

June 20, 2007 By

Google and Apple are at it again with regard to the iPhone. First a slick Google Maps app and now a custom YouTube app that will bring online video to the iPhone. It’s nice I guess, but I would be even more interested in an app that allowed me to watch tv shows from the various networks now streaming shows online. Oh but that would go against Apple selling shows on iTunes. I have no interest in buying shows I have already paid for via my satellite bill when they are available for free as a stream with ads.

Oh, and just one more thing… remember when Steve Jobs said at the recent WWDC conference that building web 2.0 apps for the iPhone was such a sweet deal for developers? Not sweet enough for Apple as the new YouTube app is a full native app for the iPhone. Let’s not kid ourselves, web 2.0 apps for the iPhone might work out resonably well but they’ll never be as good as a native app.

Filed Under: Mobile Computing
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