While the mobile industry is busy talking about and comparing the Nexus One and the iPhone, there is one phone that really gives a clear perspective of the entire market and sums up the industry in a nutshell. It was not long ago when I first laid hand on the famous Motorola RAZR. “Wow, what a phone”, I thought, but what was it about the RAZR that so impressed people. What did the phone really being to the table that made people by the RAZR by the millions? Let’s be honest, was it the features that the phone offered or was it simply a pure case of style over substance? Did the RAZR revolutionize the mobile phone in that it offered better wireless broadband? Did it offer a better camera? Was its user experience superior to its predecessors?

The answer is a big fat no. The RAZR did nothing in terms of functionality. The only thing it did was push the boundaries of mobile hardware. Motorola managed to build a mobile phone that would amaze anyone that would hold it. We all fell for it. Not only did us “dumb” consumers fall into the trap, but all of Motorola’s competitors did too. All the big corporations that spend billions on market research, spent the next year or two competing who could make the thinnest phone. What about functionality? What about experience? Not many phones before or after the RAZR offered such a poor user experience. So how were we so blind?

Instead of trying to answer “what were we all thinking?”, what we should be trying to answer is “Have we learned from our mistakes?” I believe we have and the HTC HD2 proves my point. The mobile industry has completely evolved in my opinion from a hardware-centric market to a software-obsessed one. Why obsessed? Because, today, many consumers are purchasing their mobile handsets based on the number of apps the market that compliments that phone hosts. I have heard on many occasions (and I will not deny that I have even said this) consumers trashing the Android platform because compared to Apple’s 130,000 apps, the Android Market has only 20,000. Think about that for a second, 20,000 apps to install on your mobile phone. Who needs so many? OK, so you are probably thinking that it is not the number that matters, rather the variety. While the App Store has an app for “pretty much anything”, there are many things not yet available in the Android Market. This is true, but I would dare to say that you can find 99% of apps you will need in the Market.

So, how does the HD2 prove this point? Well, the HD2 is the ultimate phone, or at least it would have been back in the RAZR days. In terms of its hardware, it lacks nothing. Where do I start? The screen is a ridiculous 4.3′ (compared to the miniature 3.5′ on the iPhone), the processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which is 1GHZ compared to the 600MHZ on the iPhone (this means everything works faster on the phone, including how fast you can access the wireless internet, not to be confused with how fast the actual connection is). The camera is 5MP with an LED flash. The entire phone is 11mm thick, which when compared to the RAZR’s 14mm (when closed) is just insane.  When I said it lacks nothing, I was not kidding.

So, why are people busy talking about the iPhone and the Nexus One when there is an HD2? The answer? No one cares about hardware nowadays. The Windows Marketplace, which is the equivalent of the App Store on the iPhone is just non existent. I mean it exists, but with the numbers and the variety of apps it provides, it might as well not exist. Like a friend who recently reviewed the HD2 told me, there is only a limited amount of time you can spend on Youtube.

To be fair,  I will say that the HD2 is not all hardware. HTC did as good of a job as they could at covering up the origins of the phone’s OS. At first glance (that might actually last a long time), you do not even know you are on a Windows Mobile phone. The phone is also the first Windows device to have a capacitive touch screen, as opposed to the resistive touch screen, which can be found on all the older Windows Mobile devices. No need for a stylus with the HD2. However, if you are like me and enjoy getting to know your phone well, you will eventually encounter the old Windows Mobile you once saw in older devices. It is hidden well, but it is very much there.

In addition to the fantastic job HTC did designing the UI, all the various social tools are integrated into the new OS. Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, they are all preinstalled. A nice touch, but not enough. The bottom line is, we seemed to have learned our lesson. The HD2 is the modern RAZR, as I see it. It is beautifully designed, it really is. The experience, if I am being honest, is leaps and bounds ahead of what the RAZR was, and I am not just talking about something that happens over the years. I do not blame HTC for the HD2′s lack of popularity, I blame Microsoft. They need to get with the program, make app development as easy as it is on the competing platforms, and most of all, they need to get their priorities straight.

I don’t know about you, but this whole “Microsoft falling behind Apple technologically”, is Deja Vu of the whole Mac VS. PC saga. All I can say is, this is still a new space relatively speaking, and so it is not too late for Windows Mobile, but if Microsoft does not make a major switch in the way it views its mobile OS and its ecosystem, the Apple commercials mocking the Windows Mobile platform are not far off.

On the flip side, if you want a phone that incorporates all the new technology and pushes the limits of the mobile industry, the HD2 has it all. The internet on the HD2 for example, is less like the mobile Web as we know it (http://www.broadbandexpert.com.au/), and more like the desktop experience we have grown accustomed to. That is what 4.3′ of screen will do for you. Let’s sum it up by saying, take the HD2′s looks and slap on some of Apple or Android’s personality (and by personality, I mean 3rd party apps), and you got yourself a phone that will beat out any and all competition.

HTC HD2: A Clear Picture of Where the Industry is Headed is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

By: Aryeh Altshul

I have been meaning to review Xobni (“Inbox” backwards – it took me forever to figure that out) for a while now. The delay can be blamed on the fact that I have been using Xobni so much, I haven’t had the time. This is one of the only pieces of software that I shelled out cash to get the premium version, because it is just that good.

Xobni is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook that is a must for all outlook users. I use Outlook for all my work emails with clients and customers and Xobni has really touched on the key missing features of  Outlook, and offers an easy-to-use plugin to fix all the issues.

The first and most important is the Email Search. Outlook’s search is very primitive and slow, Xobni provides an easy-to-use search that can find anything and everything. It searches all messages, people, attachments, appointments, and links , while providing easy-to-navigate results.

With the search comes a profile for every person that you have in your inbox. Xobni indexes all the mail and harvests the emails and phone numbers of all the people you contact. So there is no more search old emails for email addresses and phone numbers, they are available in the easy to access profile window.

Underneath the profile window you have links to their LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Hoovers, and newly added SalesForce profiles. There is also an email analytics feature so you can see what time of the day you get emails from that person, how many times etc, which will tell you when and how it is best to write to them. Then comes the real beauty! All the emails, links, and attachments you have sent back and forth with the person and all the people who have been CC’ed in your emails are all threaded, so you don’t need to go searching around for the next email message in the conversation.

One of the more useful features, which I found myself fighting with everyday before Xobni, is the AutoSuggest feature. Outlook will AutoSuggest people who you have written to already, while Xobni searches your whole email for all addresses. This has saved me hours of time looking through old emails to find addresses.

For a complete list of all the features, take a look at the Xobni Feature List!

Being that the Microsoft Office suite is very fragile when you add anything to it, the big concern that people have is that it will slow down Outlook.  I, and others in my office, have not experienced any slow downs or crashes. Different people use XP, Vista and Windows 7 with an exchange server. I do know that one of Xobni‘s main focuses is to make the program flawless.

I highly recommend Xobni for all Outlook users.

Xobni – A Must For Every Outlook User is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

One of the most common questions people have asked me about Twitter (besides of course “why do I care what you’re doing?”) is how on earth I follow so many people.  The question is a valid one since at a following list of over 4,000 people and counting, it is not humanly possible to read every tweet, every thought, or every link that people share. The basic premise of following people on Twitter is that you are at least somewhat interested in what they have to say, so the question of how I follow them all is a good one.

The answer is somewhat complex. To simplify things, I will say that the real answer is that I do not. Yes, all these people appear in my Twitter following count, but in reality, I follow only a small percentage of them. So the next question is “If you don’t really follow them, why do you follow them”? You confused yet? What that means is, if I am not really following those people or reading their tweets, why bother following them at all? The answer is etiquette. Twitter etiquette is a very interesting thing, and one that I am not going to get into here, but suffices to say that if I only followed the small number of people that I either know personally or was genuinely eager to hear what they had to say, I would not see the benefits of the diverse and amazing Twitter network I have today. Like I said, I am not going to go into detail about that here since I can write an entire blog post about that topic.

So, how do I follow 4,000 people, but really only follow 200? The answer until last week was groups. I access my Twitter on a 3rd party application called Tweetdeck. I use Tweetdeck on my home PC, my work Mac, and sometimes on my iPod Touch. One of the reasons I chose Tweetdeck over the many Twitter clients on the market, was that Tweetdeck was the first client to offer the group functionality. What I did was simple. I took all the people I knew interested me, plus all the people I communicate with regularly, and combined them into a Tweetdeck group called “Primary”. I created an additional column in Tweetdeck for my Primary group and set the program’s notifications to notify me of new tweets in that column along with my replies and DM columns. The All Friends column, in which the rest of the 4,000 people appear, became my secondary focus.

Let me clarify that if I said I never paid attention to the All Friends column, I would be lying. I read it regularly, but then we come back to our original question of how it is possible to follow 4,000 people. So, I skim that column and pay more attention to my Primary group. OK, so that was my solution until recently. A few weeks back, Twitter released a new feature called Lists, which was meant to draw people away from 3rd party applications and back to their roots of using Twitter.com. The idea was identical to the Tweetdeck groups. You would be able to create lists of users and follow those lists.

I was one of the first to get this feature, and quickly began making my lists, based on my Tweetdeck groups. However, I immediately learned that life without Tweetdeck was not so simple. To make a list, I had to add each person individually, by finding someone that interested me, opening their profile, and adding them to the list. The process took a few minutes per person, and multiplied by 200, that was time I did not have. The time was only the beginning of where Twitter lists fell short.

Other issues I had with the new list feature, was that in a totally counterintuitive way, to follow the members of a list, you need to add them one by one. Additionally, the new retweet feature that Twitter recently announced was not supported within lists. So, what good is it if I can follow the most interesting people in my network but not share their tweets with my followers? These are just a few of the list issues I had. The main one, however, was that these lists were only available on the Web, and let’s be honest, how often does the average Twitter user actually use the primitive interface offered by the Twitter.com website? The lists were not available on Tweetdeck, they were not supported by UberTwitter, which is my all time favorite mobile Twitter client (BlackBerry), and they were not supported by Echofon, my preferred iPhone Twitter app.

All that changed yesterday. I am now testing a pre released version of UberTwitter and it not only includes lists, it implements the list feature to perfection. More about the new Ubertwitter when it is released. However, as much as I loved the new Uber, that was not the big news of the night. Tweetdeck released a major update (more like a totally new application, but we will call it an update) yesterday, turning Tweetdeck into a program that pretty much covers all my social media needs. I literally do not need to ever open up Twitter.com, Facebook, or even Linkedin anymore, anything and everything (almost) I would do on those sites is now available within Tweetdeck, and most of the features are actually easier to use within Tweetdeck as opposed the site itself.

I am not going to give a full review of the new Tweetdeck now, but I will just give you a short list of the new features. They include full Linkedin integration, Go To Profile, the new retweet function in addition to the old way of retweeting, geo tagging tweets, and full list integration, which makes the whole concept of Twitter lists completely manageable.

Basically, using the new Tweetdeck, I converted my Primary group into a Twitter list called Favtweeps in just two clicks. The new list, as I mentioned will now be available to me on all platforms. I can actually use Twitter effectively on my BlackBerry now not having to follow 4,000 people. Until today, I would basically use Twitter on my phone to reply and DM people, but only rarely actually followed the stream since it was too overwhelming. Now that I have my lists on UberTwitter, the way I use Twitter will completely change.  Echofon has not added lists yet, but Twittelator Pro has, and I am sure the iPhone Tweetdeck app will be updated shortly.

Not only that, but between my multiple Twitter accounts (work and personal), my Linkedin, and my Facebook, chances are, I will be spending much more time in front of my Tweetdeck. By the way, I never created a MySpace account, but you can add that too if you have one.

In conclusion, let me just say that two of my favorite Twitter clients just got a whole lot better, and the new features are actually going to change the way users access their Twitter and various social networks. There are two problems I can see arising from these new developments. The first one is that Twitter.com’s number will continue to fall. They have been on the decline for months now, since most people do not use the Web interface, but rather depend on the API via external applications. With these applications offering everything the Web offers and a lot more (url shortening, picture, video, and audio upload services, as well as auto complete of names), I cannot think of any reason users will continue to use Twitter.com.

The other problem I foresee, and judging by the time I spent playing with the new Tweetdeck last night has already started, is that Twitter addicts all around the world will lose the battle to their addiction. Not talking about myself of course, but if a person was accessing their Twitter on Tweetdeck before, but once leaving the computer, would be available to spend time with their spouse or family, pretty sure people are going to be spending a lot more time on Twitter now with all these new features supported by the various clients. Suggestion? The next version of Tweetdeck should include a cap on the amount of time users can spend on Twitter daily.

Either that, or get ready to start seeing a lot of new T.A.A (Twitterholics Anonymous Association) centers forming across the globe.

So, do you share my enthusiasm about the new Twitter features? Please let me know in the comments!

How Social Media Completely Changed Overnight is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

There have been so many developments in the tech world lately, it was literally difficult for me to choose one to write about. However, at the end of the day, all the new mobile phones announced over the last month, or the new Twitter features released to the tweeting community, are not going to change the future of how we use our computers, Google’s announcements will.

I am not referring to one announcement or another, I am talking about what seems to be an increasing Google dominance of our virtual lives, and how we use our computers. While the desktop and mobile worlds are becoming overly obsessed with software and how many apps are available for this platform or the other, Google is doing what they know best, and they are thinking out of the box. They are not occupying themselves with developing more apps for mobile or desktop, what they are doing is trying to figure out a way to create a world in which 3rd party apps are not needed.

They are moving to the cloud. Google is single handedly responsible for a shift in the way users access their information. While the other large corporations such as Microsoft and Apple are busy developing new operating systems and approving and denying apps to their app store, Google is buying and releasing services that are cloud-based and will enable us to do whatever we are doing now, without slowing down our computers with heavy and unnecessary software.

What is amazing is that Google seems to have covered all their bases, and offers a solution to almost any software need you have. The problem is, and this is just my feeling that grows and intensifies with every Google acquisition/announcement, the more we use these Google products, the more information we trust in the hands of Google. Now I don’t know about you, and maybe I have seen one too many movies, but it seems Google is collecting a little too much information on my every move, and it is starting to make me uncomfortable.

Let’s just take a quick look at what needs Google now fills in our lives. Of course, there is the obvious Web search. Google knows exactly what words you and the rest of the world are searching for. No biggy. What are your interests? Yup, they know that too with Google Reader. Who and what are you emailing? That’s easy, they have Gmail. What do you do with your time? Google Calendar. Remember, why use Outlook and store your information privately, when you can use Google Calendar and store it in the cloud, over which Google has full control?

Moving along, and the list is quite extensive, who are you chatting with? Gmail Chat (assuming you store your chats in Gmail). What movies are you watching? YouTube. Then there is of course the professional side of things with Google Docs. No more “need” to save your documents on your hard drive, why bother? Give them to Google to store.  Pictures? “Store it with us in Picasa”.

The list really does go on and on with services such as Blogger, Feedburner, Google Maps, Chrome, Analytics, and many more. However, two of Google’s big announcements this month are really the cause of this post. Google’s dramatic entrance into the world of consumer GPS turn by turn navigation, as well as the announcement of Chrome OS, changes everything.

As if the information available to Google was not enough, they go ahead and enter a totally new industry, the turn by turn navigation for mobile phones, and now they take the expression “knowing your every move” to a whole new level, a literal one. As opposed to many other consumer GPS products, which do not even need to be connected to the internet since the maps are stored locally, Google’s GPS, is updated in “real time” using your phone’s data connection. It would be a totally different story if users would be the ones deciding what to share and what not to share, sort of like a social GPS.

However, what is happening here is that the information about your location is gathered in the cloud automatically, and the turn by turn instructions are then pushed to you from Google. Is it just me or is that kinda creepy? Now I know Google is not the first company to collect information about your location via satellites, in fact, that is what makes GPS technology so amazing. However, somehow when Google is watching you, it just seems different to me, and I don’t mean in a good way.

So, now Google knows where you are at every moment. OK, I know I am being overly dramatic, since this is only true if you are using an Android 2.0 device, but according to experts, it wont be long before Android devices begin to dominate the market. If last year, there were 3 or 4 Android devices from which to choose, we already have more than 20 including the very popular Droid device, as well as Google’s rumored phone, which we should be introduced to soon.

Well, at least there are still companies who provide an alternative. I can always choose to use Outlook for email, Photoshop for pictures, and Microsoft Word for my documents, right? Well, yes and no. Those products are not going anywhere soon, but the new “cool” kid on the block is Google Chrome OS. No more “need” to store anything on your hard drive. Forget everything you know about the way we use our computers, use Chrome OS and you wont even need a hard drive. That is what we are being sold, and a lot of people are buying it. Now, do not get me wrong, the thought of a computer that starts up in 7 seconds is extremely appealing to me, and I would be lying if I said I did not intend to try it out and possibly use Chrome OS. However, I would also be lying if I said that did not worry me.

Once again, maybe I have seen one too many movies, but you know the guys in the streets with the cardboard signs claiming the end is near? You know how they all talk about the corporations ruling and controlling our lives? Well, I do not want to seem crazy, but does not seem so far fetched anymore, does it? Google claims they collect this information for us, so they can provide better services for us based on our needs. To me it seems that what they are doing is less “crowd sourcing” and more acting like a “big brother“, not in the good sense of the word. I am not talking about a big brother who teaches you how to ride a bicycle, I am referring to the popular reality show in which every single move you make is recorded by hundreds of surrounding cameras ( and is borrowed from the George Orwell book, 1984, as a friend pointed out to me).

In conclusion, let me say that, I like Google products, they generally work well. I will even go as far as to say that I do prefer most of them over their desktop based competition. However, we all need to do some serious thinking about where the Web and the software world is heading, and decide if we are comfortable with this new trend. Until last week, the words “cloud computing” was very much a thrown around buzz word. With the release of Chrome OS, it has become a reality, and quite a frightening one.

For a full list of all the information Google knows about you, you can take a look at your Google Dashboard, yup, they are not even trying to hide it! So, is this new shift in the way we use our computers scary to you or I am just being paranoid? What do you think? Would love to hear your insights in the comments!

How Chrome OS Changes Everything is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

The keyboard is absolutely amazing, I find myself sitting in front of my computer and typing out emails on the BlackBerry. The Bold’s screen never ceases to amaze me and is by far the most impressive part of the device.  I love the way you can fully configure exactly how you are notified about any and every event on the BlackBerry. You can configure the phone to vibrate once with a certain ringtone when you receive an email to your personal account, and vibrate twice with a different ringtone for your work account.

The bottom line is, I can go on for a lot longer with reasons why I love my Bold, but here is where I tell you the reasons I hate it. There are many problems that I am willing to overlook since they are overshadowed by the advantages. These include the size of the Bold, which RIM apparently knows about, since the new Bold 9700 is significantly smaller, as well as others. There are, however, some things I have discovered over my few month period with the Bold that might just be deal breakers for me. Now, here is the thing, the only phone I would consider replacing it with is the iPhone, but the iPhone too has some major disadvantages. There is the whole non replaceable battery issue, which combined with the iPhone’s mediocre battery, is a serious problem for heavy users like myself.

9700 vs. 9000

The iPhone also does not support background apps, which is the reason I did not get one till now, but with almost all apps that matter to me supporting push notifications, this might not matter as much anymore. Another issue I have with Apple and the iPhone is their jail-like philosophy. Everything about the iPhone smells like I am in prison. Every app needs to be approved by Apple, the iPhone can only work with iTunes, the OS is completely closed with no real customization options available, and the iPhone gives users zero access to its core infrastructure. Now, it is true that most of these issues are overcome by at least one of the 100,000 apps available for the iPhone, but I still want my iPhone to feel like a mobile device not a prison.

OK, enough babbling, here are the reasons I am now strongly considering replacing my BlackBerry with an iPhone:

• Gmail (or lack thereof): This is by far my biggest issue. I love my Gmail and would not replace it with any other Web mail service. When I originally went BlackBerry, it was clear to me that this device, which is apparently the world’s most advanced email machine, will work seamlessly with the world’s most advanced and popular email service. Boy was I wrong. For starters, the BlackBerry, by default, sets up your Gmail account as PoP and not IMAP. After you managed to hack the settings and get IMAP enabled, it is only half IMAP. What I mean is that to my utter surprise and disappointment, Gmail and BlackBerry do not sync in both directions. So, when I am at my computer and archive or delete a message from my inbox, the message is not deleted on the BlackBerry. The IMAP only works in one direction and what is deleted on the phone automatically disappears on the Web inbox within seconds.  This is a HUGE (I do not capitalize words for emphasis very often, so you know I must mean it ) disappointment, and through a simple Google search I found that it is also one that is driving other BlackBerry users nuts as well.

• No Folders! Really?: This is of course directly related to the lack of IMAP support, but even if RIM cannot support IMAP for whatever reason, they need to support email folders. I know that with BES, this is no issue and everything syncs perfectly, but with BIS, folders are completely not supported. Now, let me just say, I am learning new things every day about the BlackBerry, so it could be that I indeed missed this, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to view your sent items, your received items, or your archived items separately. Now I know that the Gmail Advanced Plugin was recently released but that does not help me with this issue. The folders are still absent and the added archive feature is only available if you use the email account icon and not the messages one. Like I have said on many occasions, I do not need a BlackBerry if my email experience is similar to that of an old non smartphone. For this exact reason, I refuse to use the Gmail app. The app, while solving the IMAP and folders issue, works on every old device and does not give you the email experience RIM is famous for, and for which I bought the Bold in the first place. I also have to add that the iPhone did not offer real push mail until recently, so now that it has full Gmail push, it just became a more practical option for me.

• Apps, Apps, Apps: If you have not picked up on this trend yet, let me give you a little awakening, no one cares about hardware anymore. Thin is not cool anymore. In fact, I love my Bold, and as much as I love the way it looks, its size and its very plastic feel would not make it in the era of the RAZR and other cool looking phones. Today’s mobile arena is dominated by software. How many apps are available for the device, how easy are they to install, and of course, how good are the actual apps in terms of user experience? Do I even need to go on? I think it is pretty safe to say that the biggest winner of the app competition is Apple with its 2 Billion downloads and 100,000 apps. If Apple is the biggest winner, I am pretty sure RIM is the biggest loser. Symbian still dominates the globe in terms of users and there are also tens of thousands of apps available to download. I do not know the exact numbers, but the Android market is also growing nicely both in terms of quantity and quality. RIM on the other hand, does not even offer its App World globally, so anyone outside of the few select countries cannot access it. There are some useful sites to find BlackBerry apps, but the vast majority of them are very expensive and can and should never be compared to iPhone apps in terms of usability. The truth is I have any app I need on my Bold, a great Twitter app, Facebook, IM, and some other cool toys, but being the geek that I am, I want more options, and there are none.

• Application Memory: I guess this is a direct result of the last bullet. Maybe RIM figured that since there are no good apps available anyway,  no point in building the device with a lot of memory to install apps. Whatever the case, the Bold comes with a total memory of 128 MB, from which the OS takes a good 60, leaving you with a total capacity to install apps of less than 70 MB. Does that sound like a flagship device of one of the world’s leading smartphone companies? On an average day, I have less than 30 MB of free application memory, something that slows down the device significantly. Now I am no mobile developer, but I cannot imagine it is so difficult to enable users to install apps on the phone’s 1 GB of storage or even better, on the SD card. I know memory is not the same as storage, but still. If this is not possible, then where did RIM come up with the 128 number? Why not a gig? I could be missing something here, but in any case, the Bold does not come with nearly enough memory for anyone who wants to install a nice amount of apps. This is of course in total contrast to the iPhone, which is an extreme app machine, not to mention that the iPhone might have actually passed in the era when hardware mattered.

• No Touch: OK before you yell at me, let me explain. I am not saying that touch screens are always better than regular screens. What I am saying is that if I had a dime for every person that played with my BlackBerry, and began by running their finger across the screen, I would be a whole lot richer today. The Bold’s screen is just that good, it begs for your touch. Now, I know that the BlackBerry’s huge advantage over other phones including the iPhone is its keyboard, I love my Bold’s keyboard. Having said that, there is something just intuitive and natural about touching the screen when you are talking about a display like the Bold’s. I am pretty sure RIM will not agree and we will never see a Bold-like device with a similar keyboard and a touch screen, but a man can dream, right? I know there is the Storm, but I am not even going there…. Read the reviews, then come back and talk to me. The Storm 2 is coming out soon and the initial reviews are amazing, so there is always that option, but if I am going touch and giving up on the keyboard, I am looking at the people who revolutionized touch, and not the ones who jumped on the bandwagon a year later.

These are 5 things that are pushing me in the direction of Apple, but with the Bold’s many advantages over the iPhone, if the rumors of IMAP coming to BlackBerry soon are true, you can be sure I am sticking with my Bold. If however, RIM continues with their stubbornness and refuses to take their customers’ Gmail and user experience into account, I am most definitely going to look to the company that is synonymous with top notch user experience, and hope Apple comes through for me.

-Hillel

5 BlackBerry Issues I Would Not Have On An iPhone is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

Now, lets shift to another hot topic, the Web. If two years ago, the big thing was Web 2.0 and user generated content, today, it is all about Social Media, not to say that these two things are not connected because they are. Who has not heard of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to just name the main ones. New social networks are starting daily and most failing before they even launch. Most people think there is no more need/room for another social network like Facebook and Twitter, and they are right.

What we may need, however, is a social network that meets certain needs that are not met by the existing sites of today. If, just hypothetically (or not) there was a site that merged the two buzz words mentioned above and gave mobile app developers and mobile entrepreneurs a platform to communicate with other developers, receive feedback  from users, or hear new ideas for apps, such an initiative would take off in my opinion. We already discussed a service that merges apps and social media, but how about a full fledged social network?

As of a few days ago, AppBoy fills that gap. It is a full fledged social network that provides a comfortable environment in which to work, where anyone can suggest an idea for mobile development, get feedback from the site’s users in the form of votes, and receive compensation for their idea in the form of an initial bonus, as well as a revenue sharing model.

AppBoy also enables developers to host their very own app store on their site with a custom URL at Appboy.com/<your username>. So if you are a BlackBerry developer for example, you do not need to worry about whether the App World is available in a certain country, you can just send a link to your personal App Store on AppBoy.

If you are an iPhone developer, you do not need to send the person searching in iTunes or send an annoyingly long link, you can direct them to your AppBoy app store. Pretty convenient.  The site is well organized and is split into categories of Apps and Ideas. In the Apps section, you can browse all the apps by category or suggest an app for development. In the Ideas category, you can view all the ideas people have submitted by categories. and vote on them. You can also submit an idea and if the AppBoy community likes your idea for an app, you will be compensated accordingly.

The concept is really simple and in my opinion, groundbreaking. How many times did you think of an idea for a mobile app, but not know how to go about implementing it? I know I have had quite a few.I do not need to tell anyone the amount of money to be made in the mobile app industry, but the numbers are absolutely insane. With the use of social media and the potential in mobile apps, anyone with an idea, can make it big in a very short period of time.

With social media becoming more and more mainstream and the rapid distribution growth of mobile apps, AppBoy fills a very important gap, and I really think if the developers of AppBoy (follow him here) market themselves properly, they can have the next big thing. I already signed up and am going to be submitting my first idea very soon.

Please tell me what you think of the concept and their implementation, in the comments!

-Hillel

Social Media and Mobile Apps Join Forces Using AppBoy is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

In the world of mobile apps or app stores, the undeniable champion is of course Apple with their 60,000 apps and 1.5 billion downloads. The industry surrounding iPhone apps is nothing short of astounding. There are endless stories of people who were broke and spent minimal funding developing a simple and fun iPhone app, only to become number one in the app store, which lead to an income of hundreds of thousands of dollars within days.

The second underlying theme in today’s world of tech/web is of course the social space. Who has not heard the word Twitter? Name one talk show that has not spent significant time talking about the Twitter phenomenon. Leno, Ellen, Letterman, Fallon, and of course Oprah, they are all obsessed! Social media is dominating the traditional media and the global web. Everyone is talking about it.

Now that we have established that mobile apps and social media are taking over, the obvious question is, how can one integrate these two? How can we take the iPhone with all its revolutionary apps and make them more social? How can you easily share them with your friends/followers/fans? Well you can blog about your favorite apps, but everyone knows that these top 10 lists are getting a little old. You can copy the long and annoying links to iTunes apps (click that link, great app for you) and email them to your friends, but is that really the best and most effective way of doing things? The answer is obviously no, there has to be a better way.

AppsFire Virtual iPhone

A well known entrepreneur and the founder of TechCrunch France, Ouriel Ohayon thought so too, so he did something about it. He came up with an idea that I think offers the perfect merge between these two dominating worlds of iPhone apps and social media. His product, AppsFire, which is now only available for Mac in private alpha, places a virtual iPhone on your private AppsFire webpage, automatically aggregates your iPhone apps from your iTunes, and displays them on the picture of the iPhone. You can then select which app  you want to share by email, Facebook, widget, or tweet.

AppsFire also allows you to take those annoying long iTunes links and shorten them right from inside the application’s interface. They also created an external iTunes link shortener. Ouriel is now working on a Windows version as well as an iPhone version, which you can see in the video below. As for the Mac version, you need to launch the application on your Mac, close iTunes, scan for your iTunes apps that you have already installed on your iPhone/iPod (not just downloaded, but you need to install them too), , and walla, you should see all your apps and be able to easily share them.

I have two reasons to believe this product will be a huge success. One because of the concept, it is a pretty simple idea that is very much needed, and the interface is just as simple and user-friendly. The second is because of the man behind it. Ouriel was also behind Topify, which is hands down the most useful Twitter service I use. If AppsFire is even half as convenient as Topify, which it is based on my tests, this product will be a huge hit.

Ouriel provided me 50 download links for the first 50 readers who want to try it out, but don’t forget, it is Mac only for now! You can download your copy here. If you are a PC user and want to be notified when the Windows version is available or when AppsFire is out of private beta, you can sign up here.

-Hillel

The Perfect Merge of iPhone Apps and Social Media is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

Now, let me ask you this, how you ever come across a concept that made you ask yourself “How did I not think of this?” or better yet “How did no one think of this?” This is one of those moments. When I first found out about OffisSync, I will be honest, it did not grab my attention. Most new services that enhance Microsoft products in general, and Microsoft Office specifically, do not really speak to me. However, throw the word Google, Google docs, and online sync in there, now you already have my ear.

So, I was just minding my own business on Twitter and I got a DM from a good friend to check this new product out, so I did, and let’s just say, I was so impressed, I broke some of my Twitter rules and tweeted about the product at least 3 times over the next hour. So what is this new Microsoft Office add on and how could I possibly be so excited about it?

A little background. Any writer will tell you two things about Microsoft Office. First of all, it is a buggy and frustrating program, and second of all, everyone uses it. So, there are two ways around this predicament. You can either use another tool and deal with all the inherent compatibility issues, or you can enhance the tool and make it a great application. OffiSync does the latter. It enhances Microsoft Office by turning it into not only a highly efficient tool, but I would go as far as to say, it turns it into an exciting application that even cool people might want to use, and it is fully compatible with Office 2003, 2007, and 2010

Enough babbling, here is what this brilliant piece of software gives you:

• Search Google from Within Microsoft Office: The possibilities of how to use this feature are almost literally endless. You can make use of Google Images right from within Office, you can search the Web and easily copy texts or terms from anywhere on the worldwide Web, you can research a topic without ever closing Word, and much much more. I do not know if this functionality is possible with other programs, I am sure it is, but it is so simple and brilliant that I do not know how Microsoft did not incorporate this in their original offering.
• Save your Word Files Online: Once again, how was this not available before? OffiSync integrates Microsoft Office with Google Docs. OffiSync is available for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the three primary Office tools people use. Pure genius. Save your file online seamlessly, transfer it to a co worker to view or edit, see their corrections in real time, and access the document from ANY computer connected to the Web. Brilliant.
• Collaborate with Others: By making use of the today’s big buzz word, Cloud Computing or Services, OffiSync combines the convenience of Google’s Cloud Services with the familiarity of Microsoft Office. Many people, myself included, like Google Docs. They use it in very specific cases, but cannot make it their primary work tool due to their long lasting familiarity with the market dominating Microsoft Office. With OffiSync, there is no need to make that choice. You can literally get the best of both worlds.
• Publish to Social Networks/Blogs: OK, this is obvious. A one click solution to post any content in your file to your favorite social network or blog.

Someone tweeted the other day about a very interesting concept. They said to imagine if you could drag and drop files or text between the Web and your desktop. OffiSync brings that concept one step closer to reality. The potential of OffiSync is endless. Among the other countless advantages of OffiSync, it will no doubtingly solve the bugginess that accompanies placing graphics in Word files. This way, you simply select the image from the Web and place it in your document (of coursewhile taking copyright into account). Completely seamless.

All this amazing functionality in a small and light toolbar that sits on top of your Microsoft Office interface. I for one installed it already and I would suggest to anyone who is reading this to do the same. It will enhance your usability and productivity that are severely damaged by the glitches that accompany Microsoft Office. One more thing I forgot to mention, OffiSync only costs…NOTHING! Totally free!

Watch the demo below, I am sure you will agree that we have a breakthrough product on our hands!

-Hillel

OffiSync: How Twitter Increased My Productivity is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

Shape Services has made a name for themselves in the industry with their award winning instant messaging software IM+, which works on multiple mobile platforms, including iPhone, Blackbery, Android, Windows Mobile, J2ME, and Symbian. It is one of the most useful apps I use on a regular basis, and what makes Shape Services such an amazing company is that they never rest. As you know I conducted a thorough review of the IM+ app on the iPhone and just days after my initial review, I was notified that a new version was released with some very serious enhancements. The new version includes an awesome Twitter interface and some other very important improvements. Today they released a newer version with push notifications, something only available as of iPhone OS 3.0.

Shape Services release new products more often than any other company I know of in this industry and each one manages to amaze with its innovation and implementation of new technologies. Another example of that is RDM+, which enables you to control your desktop from your iPhone. It took a little setting up and it is not perfect yet, but seeing my desktop on my iPhone and being able to perform almost any action from the iPhone blew my mind.

To me, one of the most important things I look at when encountering a new company is its staff and their responsiveness. I spoke about that with Snaptu, and it is true about Shape Services as well. I communicate with a member of their staff by the name of Elena Dyatlova on a regular basis, and she is always willing to help in any way possible, whether it be to answer questions, to let me know of a new product, or to put me in touch with support when necessary.

Shape Services impresses me in every possible way, and all I can say is if they keep pushing out new releases and products, they will continue to grow as the industry leading software developer they have become. If you have a phone of pretty much any kind, you should definitally go visit their site and see if they offer any applications that spark your interest.

-Hillel

Shape Services Continues to Amaze is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing

The issue is that I have accounts on many different IM networks including AIM, MSN (although, it is just a matter of time before I stop using it because of all the IM spam), Gtalk, Yahoo messenger (I have like 3 contacts), and the newest addition (and a very important one) Facebook chat. So what I need from my iPod Touch is an app that supports all of those protocols and does it well. I have used apps like Fring, which is an awesome app for what it does (Voip and some IMing), I am a HUGE fan of Nimbuzz, although, lately, I am not sure if it is Facebook or Nimbuzz’s fault, they do not seem to be in cahoots with Zuckerberg.  I have also tried others like Truphone, which is primarily a VOIP app and it appealed to me less.

My latest app for IM is IM+. My first impression of the company is that they are an industry leader in this field, I see they are compatible for almost all platforms including iPhone, Java, Symbian,  Palm, Windows Mobile, and even Blackberry. My 2nd impression is that they do not spend enough on marketing, since in all the forums I have read, almost no one recommends their software as the best choice, and in my opinion, it is because they are not familiar with it. Shape Services, the company that makes IM+ are on the right path if they gave me the app to review, but they need to get their name out there more.

On to the app itself. Setup was seamless and even fun! It supports pretty much any IM protocol you can imagine. Here is the list: AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber, Gtalk, MySpace, and Facebook chat. Not only that, but they stay on top of their game and their next version will include Skype and…you guessed it…Twitter. OK, it has all the “standard” features including sending photos, location, and audio clips to contacts, and the IMing is easy and fun. You can of course add avatars for you or your friends and you can type on a spacious landscape keyboard, a very blessed feature.

However, hands down their coolest feature, which correct me if I am wrong, is unique to their app, is IM Push notifications. The lack of background apps on the iPhone is of course one of, if not the biggest disadvantages over other phones. Whether or not this issue will be “fixed” in iPhone 3.0 is up for debate. With IM+, you can have your IM running in the background for all intents and purposes. You can configure how long you want it to stay connected after you close the app, and during that time, you appear online to your buddies. If they send you an IM , it is sent to your email, from which you can choose to reply to the IM (converted back to IM automatically, how cool is that?) or open the app and reply. Very very cool feature, which separates it from its competition.

The ultimate IM app? Not so fast. Yea, it is a highly useful and extremely innovative app, but it is not without its bugs. Facebook chat worked for the first few days and I have not been able to connect ever since. The app says something about Facebook now requiring your birthday in order to connect and how you should press the “Support button” to input your birthday. When you press “Support”, it brings you to their FAQ, so yea, not feeling it. In addition,  I have sent in numerous bug reports on this issue, and gotten one response back, so I think they need to knock their service up a notch.

Bottom line is, this app has huge potential and I cannot wait for the next version. Shape Services were really nice and professional, and unlike too many app developers that send me their apps to review, knew how to write their emails in proper English. By the way, if you are a developer or anything else for that matter, and English is not your mother tongue, have someone else write your emails for you, it makes a pretty bad impression, when people get an email that makes no sense. In fact, I rarely respond to such emails.

Back to IM+, they are clearly a company that is not satisfied with the minimum, but rather try to push the limits with the technology they put into their software. I for one enjoyed working with them and hope soon to review more products of theirs, and specifically the IM+Blackberry version. By the way, if I was not clear until now, the answer is yes, it is worth buying it, $10 is a little steap but I will go out on a limb and say it is even worth $10.

-Hillel

Update:  Just got a tweet from my boyz over at Fring that they also have an “Always on” feature in their new release. Looks like Fring is back in the game! Thanks guys!

IM+: A Top Notch IM App on All Platforms is a post from: Mobile | Social Media | Newest Technologies by Tech N' Marketing