Storage Model: The Google Approach

So Google announced that "within the coming months" they will offer free personal storage - and not just through those nifty little programs that let you soak up that extra GMail space for personal storage either. There will also be a premium storage option as well but pricing has yet to be announced. This means a lot for Google and their stab at Microsoft (who is btw, building data-centers in the U.S. for a very similar service) and allow for people to access their primary files anywhere that there is web access. This type of model is already being seen in its infancy with Google Docs & Spreadsheets that now even includes presentation options where you can link other people to your live feed of your Slides (and I assume soon to include VoIP or webcam options to really enhance the experience). It is also notable that this "G" Disk type storage options closely resemble that of the .Mac service from Apple, with Google's CEO on Apple's board of directors, similarities between the two trendy technology companies is to be expected.
This is a very big paradigm shift in computing back to the old school model of a mainframe and small centers that access them, but instead of being direct networking, it uses "the cloud" aka The Internet. We will hopefully be able to harness the power of local machines that have all the extra horsepower now, in a mash-up of what we create, and where we can access that content. Google hopes to be the center of how we organize and find that kind of information within our lives as it would lead to their search engine (which as of date is delivering roughly 40% of all internet advertising, and the most profitable advertising at that). So if you can think with an open mind about how you and computing can/will relate to each other, then this should be great news for the advancement of computing.

Google Rebound

Remember that huge hit that Google took not too long ago? Remember the post that I had put out saying that is was a buying time for Google? Looks like that would have paid off by now for any reader who had heeded the advice as Google stock is creeping back around the $700 dollar mark again, even though it has just received a price target of $900, I do not see the stock reaching that price point until May at the soonest, we will see if I eat my words or not but the statistical data supports a longer range time frame to reach such a lofty price. Huge gains for anyone who nabbed it when it was very much closer to $600. In other news, Apple is also up recently with the help of the iPhone launch in Europe, and the availability of an exorbitantly priced unlocked iPhone for roughly $1,499, as well as higher phone bills in comparison to the United States. That coupled with Apple's commission from contract fees should help elevate the stock even higher by early December.

1st Generation Apple Problems

Apple has built its business with the user in mind, because they are so small that each and every loyal customer its necessary to help keep them alive right? Think again, there are plenty of problems that Apple just ignores, even if it caused the problem through software. A specific example has to do with Superdrives in first generation Macbook/Macbook Pros, and the firmware that they are running. A lot of these owners received firmware 2.1 through Apple's software update, installed and it 'poof' their drives are either essentialy useless (only read 1/50 discs - commercial pressed) or OS X fails to recognize the drive all together anymore. Apple recognized that this update that was supposed to increase the the types of discs readable by the drive was busted, and removed it from the update cycle, and even if you go to their website searching through their various available updates, there is no 2.1 for Matshita drive anymore. If you call their technical support though, you get the run around and simply told to reset the "P-RAM" which is an outdated term for their Intel platform (and obviously doesn't help the situation as it is firmware), and if you tell them that Firmware 2.1 broke your drive, they simply tell you to take to an authorized repair facility (thank you scripted phone calls).
In addition to software issues, the first model of the regular Macbook (white) had all kinds of case issues, some recognized and replaced, others not dealt with. Discoloration (yellow) was found with the very first batch of the laptops, and was promptly replaced by Apple when enough people complained about it. But even with the "fixed" models of first generation, there was a vulnerability with the case to where it cracked off a strip of plastic along the edge of the casing where the magnetic connects are located. While this problem has been found on almost every 1st gen Macbook I have come across, there seems to be no official way to get it fixed by Apple. If you looked at the California based firms past products, their standard of quality appeared to be much higher, but with the pressure to be competitive in relation to finance and getting the bottom line down, they appear to be cutting corners in areas they used to never even think about doing. Condensation problems with their new iMac, freezing graphics, various ipod issues (screen, menu system etc.) that all sum up to a sub-par level of quality assurance for such a pricey and idolized product line.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all of the American friends (of which there are plenty) who read this blog, I would like to extend a happy thanksgiving to all of you. I hope that your football and eating habits go out of control for the day, as they are officially socially acceptable on thanksgiving. Perhaps you are perushttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifing the advertisements looking for excellent deals on black Friday. One that was not very publicly advertised is for Best Buy where they will have a 40" 1080p Samsung (with glossy 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio) for $1149. Now that is a killer deal. That screen should also take care of the gamer within, but if that screen size just will not do it, and you are seeking an enormous canvas for your COD carnage, perhaps a 65" 1080p Mitsubishi Reaer Projection for only $1499 will do?!
Either way, there are a lot of deals to be had out there, and feel free to post links to other great buys below to share with everyone, besides its the season of giving right?

Oh the Internet Pessimists...

So I awoke this morning and checked the stats on my blog, and what do you know you CAN actually get traffic from posting a quick blurb along with a tag-line including your url in it on popular websites. I don't feel it is an abuse of the system when the websites are relevant and you put at least your two cents in. But apparently some guy (cough- Nathan) feels that my blog is a piss poor representation of anything on the website, he claims that everything on my site is a rip-off and mashup of other technology blogs, and while some things (such as the iPhone video) are obvious items that have been seen many other places, I know of a large group who had yet to have it grace their viewing eyes.
He also felt the need to belittle every other aspect of my blog, and take a personal attack out on me, which many fellow posters even felt the need to step up and basically tell him to not be such a pompous ass and in case you are reading this Nathan, my blog really is only about one month old, so if you do not like my content, I am not forcing you to come here you are the one who clicked the link dumb ass.
I appreciate the small base of readers that I have been fortunate enough to grab as of yet, and I love it when new people come to my site. I really try to give fresh perspectives on subjects since I work in the technology field, and I am studying business at an accredited four year university- that has to be worth SOMETHING. So for now I plan on just chugging along and trying to post real original content (if it wasn't original I wouldn't be getting Google searches landing on my page btw) and try to deliver what readers expect from my blog. If you have any tidbits you feel should be added to this post and/or this blog please let me know below.

Paid Social Network: The Busted Model

I have stumbled across the oddest idea ever. Paid social networking, there are a few sites who are trying it from different angles - yet both seem busted from the user's standpoint. Think about it, why would you want to befriend anyone who's sole purpose of wanting to interact with you is due to money? Kind of a hard bargain I know. The first site is called Yuwie, and its pretty much nothing more than a MySpace (yes, just as slow) except that they hope to retain users by the dangling incentive of money. The idea here is basically the MLM model applied to social networking, with users building a downline of users to make them all more money. And while that should slow the bleeding, I also seeing it turning off quite a few users through fear of being continually spammed by their friends in a way significantly beyond the fears of Facebook's new social advertising platform.
The second site is called Yippi.com, and their approach is not user traffic and building a downline of friends (sheesh, did I really just call it that?). But rather, Yippi hopes to get an influx of taffic by offering "Yippi Points" for refering new users that complete a set amount of tasks. Those are uploading 2 pictures, and referring at least two friends. One completed referral = 1 Yippi points, which looking at their rewards is roughly equivalent to one dollar. A pretty 'cheap' way to cash in on millions/billions of eager ad clicking drones if you ask me.

Leave your 2 cents below on what you think of paid social networks.
P.S. We might be having prizes that will go for rss subscribers in the near future!

2nd Generation Zune Review

Here is a pretty decent video I found about the second generation Zune's (the flash based ones in particular), and it goes over all the basics of the new player. I have fiddled with them in Best Buy and found their new user interface to a nice facelift in comparison to the first gen products (as are most technology products).

This Makes Some Sad: Others Rejoice

In this video, some become sad as they cannot afford the iPhone, while I am sure others rejoice at seeing the new technology icon destroyed, which are you? Speak your peace after the break.

Zune Graphics

News from the Zune world is free engraving to help seperate their line from Apple notorious iPods, which have also been updated not too long ago. The 80gb Zune has yet to join this new free engraving program, but that could easily be tied to the fact that the 80gb is still scarce among online retailers, but the Zune website states that the entire new Zune family should be available for engraving soon. Above is a sample picture from their website showing the combination text and graphic option, but all text, or all graphic options are availabe with graphics being from a multitude of artists.

Microsoft's Attempt To Keep Pace, or Save Face?

Microsoft picked up mobile music oriented company Musiwave for $46 Million dollars, in addition to the company having a $4 Million debt balance sheet. This is the Redmond firms latest attempt at strengthening the stronghold against Apple and Google and they try to rock the Mobile boat and shake Microsoft's grip on the smart phone industry. Leap, Orange UK, and T-Mobile are the carriers that are now under the Microsoft flag, extending the global reach even further.
The hopes are that this new addition will help prove as a platform to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Google's newly announced Open Handset Alliance. These types of acquisitions are becoming more commonly place in the Tech Industry and even more so for Microsoft who has traditionally just tried to build a competitor instead of taking in one. Such items as the Zune with Zune marketplace are perfect examples of Microsoft's attempts at gaining traction in already robustly dominated fields. They have proven a small success in portable media players with the second generation getting very good reviews, but nothing has been quite a success in second generation as their Xbox 360 console, which ripped Sony out of the lead in a hurry after Sony Corp. had nestled itself nicely as the #1 console maker with the Playstation 2 for so many years.

Psst: Buy Google

As many may have noticed, Google has been "victim" to a massive sell off in Wall Street over the past week, dropping it from day-over-day 52 week highs, to a more modest $630 in early trading today. The biggest news here is, Google is trading much lower than thats ratio to earnings, and that has BUY written all over it. With all the new announcements that they have been releasing lately it is easy to see why the stock had been catapulted to a dizzying height, but at the end of the day, those announcements could still result in big returns for this Search giant. OpenSocial should prove a worthy adversary to Facebooks Application platform, and I see a version of AdSense plugging nicely into that feature set to help programmers easily monetize their efforts on a wider scale with targeted returns - say it with me now "advertising growth".

Google's philosophy is always "make it fast, make it profitable" and their clean approach to web based application development is growing their business exponentially and their Android platform should be no exception. The struggle for them here is going to be overcoming powerhouse teams such as Microsoft because they will fight tooth and nail for that market share that they have captured pretty completely. If Google is able to capture a sizable amount of this market though, they will cement there selves as a household name in the software industry, and should start to see big returns from their Docs & Spreadsheets integration.

Apple Releases 10.4.11

Apple finally releases the 10.4.11 update that customers running last generation's operating system have been waiting for. Notable fixes in this update include full version Safari 3, and VMWare bug fixes.

The full list of patches for OS X 10.4.11 are listed here:
- Includes Safari 3
- Adds RAW image decoding support for the following cameras: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, Leica V-Lux 1, Olympus E-400, Olympus EVOLT E410, Olympus EVOLT E510, Canon EOS 40D
- Improves compatibility when using OpenType fonts in QuarkExpress
- Improves reliability when running VMWARE's Fusion
- Improves support for using Image Capture to import pictures taken on your iPhone
- Improves syncing between iPhone and Yahoo! address books
- Addresses an issue copying files from a Mac OS 9 AFP sharepoint
- Improved reliability advertising an AFP sharepoint over Bonjour
- Addresses an issue which could prevent the use of port mapping when sharing your Mac's internet connection
- Improves reliability when trying to authenticate to an AFP share using Kerberos
- Improves compatibility with third-party wireless wide-area network devices
- Improves reliability when mounting external USB hard drives.
- Adds support for Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000
- Addresses an issue in which selecting two rows of album art within the iTunes artwork Screen Saver may cause System Preferences to unexpectedly quit
- Includes updated Daylight Saving Time information for customers in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States state of Indiana
- Allows the use of the special keys on aluminum Apple Keyboards to control Aperture slideshows
- Addresses an issue in which help content for some applications may be displayed in English when using the computer in another Mac OS X language
- Addresses issues with certain Apple Dashboard widgets: Unit Converter, Calculator, Stocks
-Previously released security updates.

The Next-Gen Problem: In Perspective

Have you ever wondered why the more expensive, and more proprietary Blu-Ray discs had been outselling HD-DVD's? It goes against the laws of economics that a less featured higher priced item would outsell the lower priced full featured one. So how is this possible? After working with thousands upon thousands of eager customers at a Big Box establishment (you may know it, its Blue and yellow, with a giant price sticker logo) and trying to filter out technology terms to the causal consumer, one thing became apparent.

Customers flat out had no idea that HD-DVD's were any different.

To the average consumer, they would go through the though process of "I am buying an HDTV, and I have a DVD player, so shouldn't I be able to use HD-DVD's?" I am sure that statement makes most techies cringe but its the simple truth. It comes down to a marketing problem. Just as DVD was very distinguishable from VHS in the ability of consumers to see that they were different products, the name of HD-DVD does not do what it needs to for consumers to start converting and buying new players. On the other hand, the consumer sees "Bluray" as a next generation offering simply by its name and marketing campaign attached with it, and can then justify in their heads spending the ridiculously larger amount of money for that player. Good thing for Sony Corp., bad thing for Joe Sixpack.

Ah, but alas as I had explained to each and every customer (knowledgeable or not) about my personal thoughts about which format would "win", it came down to one simple answer. Whichever format could get a decent player for under $100 dollars (the magical electronics price-point for the consumer), would start selling boat loads if the quality was at least similar. And traditionally HD-DVD players have been at least $200 cheaper or so and then came the big news!
Wal-Mart will be having Toshiba HD-A2's for $98 and this my friend should help decide the format race and leave Sony in the same place they were years ago when they flubbed their video format technology(Betamax vs. VHS anyone?).
So this lower price, combined with (hopefully) knowledgeable sales people could be the mix of champions in the HD-DVD arena and allow for a more open and FINALLY standardized format that will then cut out all of the uncertainty that customers have right now, and let everyone get in on the HD goodness!

ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware Free Today!

Looking for some good software to protect your Window's based machine? For today (Tuesday November 13, 2007) only, you can download ZoneAlarm's anti-spyware software for free. Now while this download is not the full ZoneAlarm suite, you are lucky enough to get their firewall with the Anti-Spyware suite which also includes Spy site blocking, sypware detection and removal, as well as a year of free updates. The usual price of this software is $29.95, but go ahead and get it for the magical price of $0 today while you still can!
This deal is to bring attention to it being "patch tuesday" nothttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giforiously named by Microsoft.
The link is: http://www.zonealarm.com/patchtuesday
This free bit of software is available until 7am PST on November 14th, 2007.

Steve Jobs to Mac Users: You must be idiots

So I am sitting here writing this blog on my MacBook, sitting right next to my Windows PC and it occurred to me; the simplicity of Mac's can only be that way for one reason, Steve Jobs must think we are all idiots. I mean yes Mac's are stylish, easy to use etc., but that doesn't separate us too much from cavemen who would pick the shiny object just because it looks nice, even though it might not do everything exactly how we want to do it. But Steve Jobs has done something even beyond this point; not only has he marketed his objects of simplicity and style, but he even got away with charging more for them! Now this isn't a bash to all MAC users (duh, since I myself use one in combination with Windows), but rather it is just a notice piece.
Take a look at who are buying Apple products, it typically isn't the IT guy down the hall, or the number cruncher, but rather the trendy students, faculty, and simpletons to the computer industry that are buying these things. iPhone? Sure it looks sexy, has a new way to interact with it but where does it stand on productivity? No exchange real exchange support, EDGE platform, no PICTURE messaging and more. One more thing... the price! Look at other smart phones on the market when combined with differing contracts, the price difference is staggering. Other phones like the Samsung black jack for instance comes highly reduced or even free with plans that rival that of the iPhone, and they can be unlocked easily, no what to do? No proprietary software to use (iTunes), no carrier lock down, just good old fashioned terms of service :)
Now Steve jobs has set it up pretty well for himself, being able to retain a closed system for his products, media distribution etc., and he has orchestrated some of the best looking products in the industry. But when it comes down how you want to be spend your money, do you really want to just drag and drop?

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Facebooks New Advertising Platform

So the cat is finally out of the bag. Now it is time to see if Microsoft's enormous investment will start to pay off with facebook's announcement of a new advertising platform, but one more thing... a new business presence platform too. Is this the synergy of social and business that we have been waiting for or just another flop like the efforts from Yahoo! and the likes? Let's take a look under the hood to see what this new platform has to offer.

Social Ads
Can anyone say "privacy issues.. rollout"? This will likely be one of the most powerful, yet disputed features of facebooks new approach. Their new advertising technology builds largely off of their old flier model but brings it to the next level. You can customize based on almost every demographical option; gender, religion, location, keywords etc. which I am sure has online marketeers chomping at the bit. But the real question here is whether or not facebook is overstepping their boundaries in regards to privacy concerns. Most members of the sites 50 million are likely to take offense that information they inputed is being bought and sold at accelerating speeds. At least with marketing before they had to do the work of yanking it from the vast internet tooth and nail to try and target you, now you just fill in the blanks; how convenient. With any hope this information will not be abused, and rather will be able to deliver actually relevant advertising based on interest, much like Google's Adsense does for contextual based solutions. In this particular case you have a human sitting behind the control board deciding what is working and what is not for their dollar compared to a server full of algorithms.
Just as about any advertising network has, you are able to set budgets per day and per click/cpm. The option of click or impression based advertising is nice to be able to do so simply, and their advertising creation tool is practically brainless. With facebook social ads you will be up and running a highly targeted campaign in no time.

'Beacon'
The idea of 'Beacon' ties directly into their new presence available for businesses. This should fit nicely next to all the other (add to) buttons available across the internet except this brings a persons internet behavior far beyond their own scope, this brings their activity into the limelight which in all reality is a dirty perk for most social network users. (Countless people peruse social networks to get the low down on their friends. When your best friend bails because they are sick, but you see tagged photos of them partying elsewhere you'll be the first to know.) This feature alone should be attracting many new startups that are web based as it harnesses the virility of a popular idea/business and spits out free marketing all on its own.

Facebook Pages
This is the meat and potatoes of facebooks business presence, and ties deeply into the next two categories for marketing success. These pages are setup easily (and freely) so that companies can plug into the facebook ecosystem and look like they belong. It has all the stuff that a regular group profile would have including a news feed, topics etc. but it also adds in fans and other nifty business oriented features that help distinguish the two applications from each other.

Analytics
Watch out Google? Hardly, while Google analytics is designed with the web master in mind, facebook analytics is really compassed around their new advertising platform, traffic to your facebook page and conversion rates etc. based on keywords, but is not a search engine analytics tool replacement. It is more of a compliment that will leave most users satisfied with their ability to change up the ad campaign on the fly and to really target their efforts into the places that are converting well.

Optimization
This little wonder does pretty much what you think it would do. Much like the leader's version (Google's Adword optimization), you are able to have facebook help you batten down the hatches and fine tune your advertising machine into a conversion factory. But the trump card in this case is that facebook also hopes to be hosting your business facebook page, and can therefore also help you optimize that page to deliver the most relevant engaging experience for the sites users, which at the end of the day leads to higher volume, and better performing conversions.

So this is at least the first big cannon in Facebooks new advertising lead. It will be very interesting to see how the internet advertising market will react to these new features. Having the data, velocity, and authenticity that facebook has will be hard to rival with other open ended systems. Microsoft appeared to have made a very wise decision in taking a stake in facebook as a toddler, because for all reasonable accounts their is a bright horizon in the future for this growing superstar.

Open vs. Closed, The Big Dilemma

Interestingly enough, even with Google's CEO on the Board of Directors for Apple, the two companies have a very different vision for the future of of Mobiles. Apple sees revolutionary (in terms of hardware) as being the solution to keep an ancient business model floating along with high prices, and an exclusivity trade mark. Google on the other hand sees open source, driving prices down, and making it easier for the average consumer to reach the apps they use the most, in an easy way. As well as allowing developers to create new applications as they see fit so that the consumer benefits from constant innovation rather than waiting for a company to release a new firmware etc. for their feature set to be improved. Google is really harnessing the virility of the market and its ability to electrify digital products. It is this concept that has accelerated the internet. Things such as Google's page rank, OpenSocial etc. are just the first steps into a new way of thinking in the Technology industry. Even the services that they offer are driven out of employee innovation where 25% of an employee's time is to be spent on a new idea that they are interested in. Out of this 25% comes over half of the Google services that we know and love today. If only we could blend the open model of Google's Android, with the hardware innovation, sleekness and marketing prowess of Apple could we see a virtually unstoppable motion of a real "Mobile Platform" that will give customers the best experience, for the lowest dollar and allow for the back-end companies to do the least amount of work while creating a better product than even they could have ever imagined.

Google's Mobile Agenda

Today Google Inc. finally let the cat out of the bag about how they plan on freeing their "G" software into the mobile foray. They will not be producing handsets (sadly), nor will they be stamping their title all over the devices. Instead, Google as partnered with 4 agreeing mobile companies to integrate their software into new handsets that will allow customers to reach their products in "new and exciting ways". And yes this is only for new phones, and will not show up until the second half of 2008 according to sources.
For the U.S. we can expect to see this Google OS on handsets from the carriers Sprint and T-Mobile, and through a few of the major players in the Open Alliance of hardware manufacturers. The biggest threat to the existing mobile phone business model is that this operating system will be free to handset manufacturers unlike the software supplied from Microsoft in its Smart Phone handsets. Google is hoping to simplify, open, and allow mass access to the internet to billions of people across the world. We can assume a nice integration of things like GMail, Google Chat etc. to be a part of this phone. Google also mentioned that this will be part of their open initiative, can anyone else see the synergy of OpenSocial meeting up with this operating system for developers? Googles next big cash in hopes are a combination of advertising to Mobile devices, followed closely by "Widgets" which is the common term for small web apps that are found in places such as iGoogle, social networks, and soon to be Mobile phones everywhere. (p.s. The iPhone has widgets built in, just not open source ones to be developed by third-parties).