In case you haven’t been paying attention to the mountains of coverage, Google has announced the “real” GooglePhone, the NexusOne. A Snapdragon sporting, AMOLED adorned, Android 2.1 touched smartphone, the NexusOne is taking the tech sites by storm. Several people have asked me my thoughts on the new phone, and I decided to put them here.
It’s interesting how married to Operating Systems people can become. My first computer was an Apple IIGS, but then we swiftly moved to Windows. I used to join in deriding Macs, then I got one. Mac OS, especially 10 and up, became my OS of choice. However, I still used Windows (and occasionally Linux) on a daily basis. I’m basically platform agnostic. A platform is a tool, and the one that works best for you is the best… for you. There is no perfect platform for everyone, for computer or phone.
I mention this because of discussions I’ve been having with some fellow techies. This week I finally broke down and bought a Pre. The reactions from my iPhone, WindowsMobile and Blackberry using friends (Sort of sad, but I don’t personally know a single Android user – no I’ve never met Justin) were almost comical in their predictability. I even got complaints about the Pre from a fellow Pre owner… because he’s really a Blackberry user. I’m not saying they’re wrong – I’m just saying the Pre is closer to my “ideal” phone than most of those other options (In fact, I recalled a doodle I drew ten years ago and it resembles the Pre to the point of scariness).
Every phone does its job in one way or another and every phone does it for someone. The cell market is really big enough for everyone. So how about we all just calm down and let people find the right solution?
So, why is the Pre my “perfect phone” (so far, anyway?)? Click the read link and find out.
[Warning – this thing is a fricking essay. I clearly have no life.] (more…)
Here are some interesting things from DigitalLook, but not exactly interesting enough to be their own article (no offense to the vendors, who were all awesome)
Note that I do have photos, but I seems to be mangling the photo functions of the blog, so I will be holding off on adding them. (more…)
Why is it that Hispanics in the US are strong mobile phone users?M:Metrics attempts to explain:
“M:Metrics, the mobile market authority, reports that with 70.9 percent of English-speaking Hispanics consuming mobile content in the United States, they are among the most active, engaged mobile content consumers. The measurement firm finds that the percentage of English-speaking Hispanics who consume media and information far surpasses the market average of 47.9 percent.
Youthfulness is a key characteristic of this demographic. Overall the Hispanic cell phone users skew much younger than the average user, particularly among the coveted 18-34 age group which comprises more than 51.5 percent of the total Hispanic mobile population. In comparison, the 18-34 age group only accounts for 31 percent of the entire U.S. mobile population. â€
Jean Baudrillard, french media theorist, died yesterday at the age of 77. Many of you may not know who he is but his work has influenced millions, especially in the arena of post-modern media theory and pop-theory entertainment like the Matrix. Next to Jaques Derrida (the father of deconstruction theory) he is arguably one of the most influential public intellectuals of the late 20th Century (also including Chomsky, Foucault, Heidegger, Sartre).
Famous for his theory concerning Simulacra (see his work Simulacra and Simulation) Baudrillard argued that we live in a world in which representation and simulation have come to dominate over what was once thought of as reality, to the extent that our reality now often is our simulation of it. The theory reached public notary when he applied it to the Gulf War announcing that it had never really taken place and what really happened was just a media spectacle (not saying that fighting had not really occurred just that it happened as a media spectacle and not really as a war).
In his essay “The Ecstasy of Communication,” Jean Baudrillard states that we are in an era of “connections, contact, contiguity, feedback, and generalized interface that goes with the universe of communication.”
While he only briefly at times commented on the mobile age, his work has been used a countless number of books and articles written on mobile communications theory (I know I used him in my master degree thesis).
Baudrillard might argue that mobile technology has so penetrated our daily everyday spaces that those spaces do not really exist anymore and only seem to be made real by our mobile devices.
When once asked how he would like to be remembered after he died, Baudrillard commented “What I am, I don’t know. I am the simulacrum of myself.”
Applying his own theory to his death its safe to say that it never happened, nevertheless he will be missed.
When Harry Met Sally might be the cutest movie ever. Just listening to the stories of how the old couples met each other is heart warming and always brings a smile to my face. But things were different back then. You met your mate at a dance or through a family friend. Today, people must take these things into their own hands, quite literally, and make their fate happen through on-the-go romance tools.   Â
A popular mobile dating company, Trilibis Webdate Mobile, boasts over 91,000 mobile US singles!  Webdate Mobile lets subscribers search for singles in their area, view members’ photos and full profiles, check messages in the Webdate inbox, and send messages to any members. Users also can choose to send virtual gift messages rather than an ordinary message to other members. Ages of singles range from 18 to 77 and while the sex ratio is still dominated by men (58/42), women are coming in greater numbers to the mobile dating scene over the virtual. So why is the mobile dating service so successful?
According to Alex Panelli, CEO of Trilibis Mobile, “Webdate Mobile enables users to continue pursuing active lives while staying connected to the largest mobile phone accessible dating community. Busy, on-the-go people can quickly view profiles, send messages, and respond to messages from prospective dates.â€
So, if you are in search of true love, or just a date for v-day, why not try a mobile dating service? It might be a cute story for the kids one day.Â
I don’t know anything more about it than you do but apparently a UK organization is allowing you do get condoms via SMS. Introducing condomtext.com. Users will be able to send a text message to a shortcode which in return will said a PSMS message in return. What that will say I do not know but one hopes it wishes you have a good time and to be safe. The text message that you get back will cover the cost of the condoms and their postage which will be around around 150 pence per msg which has a maximum of three (condoms and messages). The service is not launched yet.
The goal is to make it easier to get condoms for those who may find it a hassle and ask for a box of French Ticklers or rasberry flavored ones.
Here is a an interesting way to get people to go outside and play. Presenting the “Come Out & Play Festival” which will take place in my New York City from September 22nd to 24th. The festival aims at taking advantage of the recent explosion of street play games such as the City Wide Pac Man cell phone game (which I recently learned was done by Tim Chambers of Media 50’s cousin) and GPS tag.
So for two days week NYC will become a giant gameboard to what looks like some pretty cool street games, some of which, if not most, are cell phone based.
Some cell phone based games of interest include, a real Wall Street player game called the Insider, the camera phone based scavenger hunt game snagu, the must have GPS enabled phone game Crossroads, the always elusive SpyText game the SMS criminal catching game Sleuth, a cell phone driven urban adventure game called The Go Game, a bluetooth capture the flag game called Conquer the Quarter and a mobile storytelling game that a lot of people are talking about called Manhattan Story Mashup. The artist / flickr addict in me is particularly fond of the Manhattan Story Mashup in which players move around Manhattan, taking photos of words from stories, written by visitors on the Manhattan Story Mashup website while the game goes on. The resulting illustrated stories will be shown on large public signs in Times Square in real-time and on Manhattan Story Mashup.
I swear, each one of these games is worthy of a post all its own. Check them all out.
Too often, street games are only discovered after they’ve finished. Come Out & Play is an opportunity for you to experience these games for yourselves. Unfortunately, the scheduled the festival during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, so I will not be able to participate… but if anyone does and they want to blog about it here on MOPocket let me know.
This brings mobile gaming to a whole new level and really captures the idea that the mobile device is one that we always have on us, wherever we are and must, therefore, always take into account our surroundings… unlike the PC I am typing on now.
Anyways, not gonna wax philosophical on you. Have fun!
The Urban Kunoichi always has these interesting “hacks.” I have discussed two cell phone related ones on MOpocket already (1,2). Now the Urban Kunoichi has an interesting article on how you use everyday mobile technology for your eavesdropping purposes.
While Nokia “spy phones” have already infiltrated the market… The Urban Kunoichi explores how to do similar spying activity with your own mobile phone. The ranges go from extremely simple to “must have a little tech experience.”
Oh, and before you go any further… please be aware that neither I or MOPocket will be held responsible for any damage you may inflict on your handset, nor any consequences which result from you implementing the techniques you read here. Please be aware that in many countries, the use of covert surveillance devices is illegal. You must check the legality of your proposed actions before you implement them!!!
The methods talked about pretty much take advantage of a phones automatic answer feature (and teaches you how to make that possible in older Nokia Phones that don’t have that.. which requires you shorting something).
The Urban Kunochi recommends using it as a baby monitor . Which, by the way, should give you entrepreneurs out there an interesting mobile application idea… Cell phone baby monitors. Not only does it start the baby off with a cell phone plan early in his life (thus increasing his chance of brand carrier loyalty) but it also gives some feeling of security to parents while they are away.
Oh, I always give away my best ideas… (someone hire me).
This really is one of those why didn’t I think of that ideas. But it makes sense right? Engineers have developed a system for taking anonymous cell-phone location information and turning it into an illuminated traffic map that identifies congestion in real time. To answer your question, these types of signals are produced whether someone is talking on them or not. Pretty nifty.
When Harry Met Sally might be the cutest movie ever. Just listening to the stories of how the old couples met each other is heart warming and always brings a smile to my face. But things were different back then. You met your mate at a dance or through a family friend. Today, people must take these things into their own hands, quite literally, and make their fate happen through on-the-go romance tools.    
. Which, by the way, should give you entrepreneurs out there an interesting mobile application idea… Cell phone baby monitors. Not only does it start the baby off with a cell phone plan early in his life (thus increasing his chance of brand carrier loyalty) but it also gives some feeling of security to parents while they are away.
