Posts Tagged ‘iphone’

Not that one would be able to tell the difference, but I’m writing this article while flying back to San Francisco from a great week of meetings in New York, and I’m absolutely convinced of two things:

  1. Lugging a laptop around from meeting to meeting is overrated; and
  2. The iPad makes it ridiculously easy to be just as productive on the road. (Oh and 3, as if it weren’t blatantly obvious to anyone who’s flown them: Virgin America = love.) By the time this article publishes, the iPad2 will be shipping, which will present a faster, lighter, longer-lasting experience.

Informal survey time: This flight is just about full, and looks like half of my fellow passengers are using some type of mobile device: iSomethings, Androids, and iPads. (Sorry Motorola, love the Xoom but none spotted around this nightclub-in-the-sky.) I counted maybe four or five laptops, and about 8 iPads.

The time of the tablet has clearly arrived.

Now anyone who has or does carry a laptop with them, you are with me on this, right? Seriously, it’s 2011 and the average laptop is still heavy (6lbs!). The exception might be the MacBook Air 1.86Mhz – a slick machine for sure, but make a move in that direction and $1,600 will need to make a move from your wallet. For less than half this cost you can have a fairly nicely-loaded iPad2 3G.

Now before you drop this post like a hot skillet and rush off to the Apple Store, you need to know a few things. The iPad is indeed quite cool, but a full-fledged laptop it isn’t, so some sacrifice is definitely necessary. Making the iPad your primary road machine requires having some proverbial ducks lined up first:

  1. Email.  The good news here is that the native Mail app works nicely for just about all email needs. The only drawback is that if you’re a Salesforce user, you’re out of luck for a mail-to-Salesforce sync with the iPad.
  2. Documents & spreadsheets. There is currently no MS Office for iPad. Sad, I know. However there are workarounds for working with documents and sheets: Google Docs works pretty well with iPad, and Safari’s use of HTML5 caches your work in case of a connection interruption. Also, apps like Citrix Receiver (for Xen users) and LogMeIn Ignition will connect you to your laptop or other machine back at the office.  I understand that Apple’s own iWork for iPad app is pretty good, though apparently has limitations if you need to convert to MS Office formats.
  3. Presentations. Keynote for iPad allows you to create all the decks you need, or better yet edit existing PowerPoint files. Since most meetings tend to be between two or three people, presenting from the iPad itself is a great, intimate way to talk someone through your deck. For formal presentations, just use the A/V dongle and you’re all set. Need to drop some Photoshopped goodness into your deck? There’s an app for that.
  4. Backoffice apps. Of course while on the road you’ll need to stay connected; your business juice running back in your datacenter.  Salesforce and most other CRM apps are web-based, so you’re already covered here. Connecting to your company’s systems is possible using the native Cisco and other supported VPN protocols. Datacenter providers are themselves releasing server management apps for the iPad. Rackspace, for example, just released an updated version of their feature-packed admin app for iPad, and I’d expect Terremark and the other major players to follow suit.
  5. File management. Storage space is key here, and since there (still) is no support for SD cards with the iPad2, I’d recommend getting the 64GB version. Given almost ubiquitous WiFi or 3G, both Dropbox and Google Docs are two smart ways to manage and backup files from the iPad.

If you happen not to be an Apple or iPad fan, I’d still recommend considering a tablet versus a laptop as your ‘road dog’. (Motorola Xoom is the best of this bunch at the moment, IMHO.) The light weight, size, decent-sized screen, and connectivity to your datacenter and business applications presents a compelling case for replacing that heavy old laptop. Your shoulders will thank you, too!

Social Media and Tribes #28: Social Media on the GO!

by Deepika Bajaj on February 2, 2011

In today’s world, we are no more rooted to our computer for staying connected. This is largely because of the advent of smart phone and mobile apps. If you have an iPhone and a friend of yours complains about your delay in responding to his/her email…you better NOT say, “I was away from my computer”. Since you are on your iPhone, the other person is 100% positive that you have received the email and read it too…whether you replied to it OR not is a different story. Similarly, if you are a smart phone user and you say to someone “I don’t have time to Tweet or FB”; most likely they are wondering if you are using any smarts of the smart phone!

The point is that a cell phone is now more than an instrument to make or receive calls. It is now your desktop on the GO and has enabled social media on the GO.

My Favorite Mobile Apps

  • Facebook for iPhone: Talking about FB, the coolest mobile app for iPhone is Facebook for iPhone. It is convenient to use, read live feeds of your friends, upload pictures taken from your iPhone to FB, review notifications, chat with online friends, update status et al.
  • LinkedIn: LinkedIn mobile app is like a rolodex online. If your connections change jobs and businesses and update their profiles – you are still in touch without having to be in touch. I like the fact that I can see updates, invite people to connect, Accept invitations simply on my iPhone
  • Echofon: I love tweeting and so any app that allows me to see tweets real time, see mentions, retweet and send direct response to people is valuable for me on the go. This app is great as I get to tweet from anywhere and share thoughts from the touch on the iPhone.
  • Foursquare: I love the fact that I can checkin real time into places. And choose if I wish to share my location with my Facebook and Twitter friends. Also, the badges that I have unlocked (Jetsetter, Adventurer  etc) are a great motivator. Primarily I use it to locate places near by, get tips about a restaurant from people who have shared their views and see where my friends are at.
  • WhatsApp: If you have blackberry friends, then you have heard about the pleasure of BB messenger BUT now with WhatsApp you are able of message friends on Blackberry (if you are an iPhone user). I like to send pics as attachments, see who is available and also chat with friends all over the world on my iPhone….
  • Dropbox: I simply love this application. It is virtual file sharing and syncing – in a secure environment, right at your fingertips… and your fingertips don’t have to be around a keyboard or a laptop! It enables me to receive a contract from a client half way across the world, while I am riding in a train, I can read it on my smart phone and send my approval! Productivity Galore! On top of that, the first 2GB (yes, I said, GB!) of space is FREE, and you get an additional 250MB when you sign up referrals (each referral gets you an additional 250MB of space – up until 8GB! Surely, not a place to add your high-def videos but definitely good for coordinating and sharing work related stuff!

So, if you are on an airport and find yourself in the middle of nowhere, try to connect to wireless network of the airport. Voila! the world will be at your disposal…to chat, communicate and collaborate. So, next time you get a response to your email when your friend is traveling or you chat with your friends in different continents or you post a pic on FB…remember it has nothing to do with being on the computer…and everything to do with your smart phone – so think twice when you say – “I’ve been out of touch since I am not a person who likes to sit on my computer”. As long as you sit, walk or stand and have a smart phone, you have powerful tools to stay connected, thanks to Social Media, on the GO…. !

There has been a lot of speculation about the what will be the impact of social media when Gen Y grows up into more mature digital natives. This generation already proved those wrong who thought they will grow up to be TV watching couch potatoes. This generation has the unparalleled skill to use their fingers on their smartphones and use social media to stay connected and consume entertainment. While generations older than them still watch TV on a flat HD screen in a living room, there is a revolution happening where your TV, computer and smartphone connected through internet are all equipped to provide entertainment on the GO – taking living room to the airport lounges, malls, libraries and even schools and other cool cafes.

Sure, Gen Y watches over 3 hours of TV a day, but it’s not a couch potato experience. I would argue that they’ve turned TV viewing itself into social media.

If you see them watching TV, do not assume that that is ALL they are doing. Check how they are texting, commenting and tweeting. They don’t just watch a movie, they are sharing, collaborating, distributing and connecting. This thumb-savvy generation has no issues with the overload of new technologies –  they are excited about to learn about the launch of innovative technologies – eg. Google TV, ustream.tv.

The traditional TV watching is going to need a face lift when this Generation grows up. Brands have rested for 50 years reaching their consumers through mass media. They are not up for a challenge to make contact with their future consumers. Advertising on TV to a Yelp reading, Foursquare Tip taking and Quora questioning and answering community is not as simple as placing a 30 sec ad on the prime time network during Superbowl.

Another cool example is the President’s State of the Union address that happened today. Sitting from my office, I was able to watch the address simply by logging on to yahoo through an ABC.com feed. The fact that there were real time tweets and a real time blog with a commentary ongoing made the whole experience so much more richer! Admittedly, I (during some parts) enjoyed watching the blog more than I enjoyed watching the speech!

TV watching is still there and psychology behind watching the TV is the same. BUT I get excited about the world where sharing screens will be on a touch of a button, finding movies on my smart phone that my friends are watching, avoid sitting in living rooms….and I am not even a Gen Y.  As a Gen Xer, I hope to just keep up with them. As I find TV watching an isolating experience and the new approach to being entertained resonates with me.

Afterall, ” Man is a social animal”. Soon, “Man will be a social media animal”!

Everything is so amazing and nobody is happy

by Vijay Peduru on March 22, 2010

If we look at our lifestyle now, we own things even a king couldn’t dream about a century ago.  A nice air-conditioned house, a car to ride along smoothly , cool , classy  iphones and so many other luxuries.  Yet, we are still unhappy. We complain and get frustrated a lot.. about the “traffic” , “cellphone calls dropping”, “Nasty plane travel” and many other things.
  • We get impatient if our flight gets late… can you imagine getting from one place to another without the invention of airplanes?
  • We get upset when our computer does not respond within 10 seconds…. can you imagine how productive it would be without one?
  • We get annoyed when the elevator is too slow… can you imagine how slow (and not to mention tiring!) it would be to climb those 45 stories?

You can see where I am going with this… We are Very Lucky to be in this age rather than be in an era where there were no flights, no ATM’s ,no cellphones..  Once we take this view.. that we are lucky to be living in these times, we begin to appreciate all the advances in our technology and be grateful for them. When we take this point of view that we are lucky to enjoy these luxuries, we begin to see past our immediate frustrations and with this way of thinking, we may find that ever elusive happiness!

Tools fundamentally increase our capacity.  As entrepreneurs, business owners, managers and individual contributors, we need to move past our small frustrations and ‘ideal scenarios’ while dealing with tools and technology we use in our everyday work so that we can appreciate how far we have come and see the blessings that these really are!

This light-hearted, humorous video below shows how “bad” it was just a few year ago and how people “complain” about the present technologies rather than enjoy the marvelous advances in technology.