Category Archives: Mobile

Starting with Google Places, Meyer talked about how key it was to be able to get a real sense of a place when you seek information about it – its look and feel. According to Mayer, the best way to connect with the places you love is at Google Places. Live for just 6 months, Google Places already has over 50 million Place Pages that include over 5 million ratings and reviews which is a rate of 1 million a month. Its success is due to its social interaction of users who can gain personalized search results via Finding, Rating and Sharing Places. Mayer announced the launch of Google Business Photos in Google Places at the Social Loco conference. Google is offering FREE photo shoots for owners at their request. The photos are high- high-quality, panoramic photos. A great Q & A about their new offering is provided by Google. Not only is it being launched in the US, but also in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Go to #socialloco and follow the conversation about the Social Loco Conference.

Coming into the event space full charge, MogoTix is the newest to join in the ticketing phenomenon.

No longer will you have print out those long lists of attendance registrations, while spending precious time checking off names at the door, you can now scan a ticket via your iPhone (soon to be Android) and keep the line moving fast and easily.

MogoTix offers a simple mobile ticketing option for event organizers. The sign up process is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Really! To register for an event, you only have to fill out 3 lines.

To create an event is a simple process that takes only moments to create.

Whether its a party, conference or a tweetup, MogoTix makes it just as easy to set up an event as it is to distribute tickets to the attendees.

How does it work exactly? MogoTix will send an event ticket directly to an attendee’s cell phone via text message. Once they arrive at the event, they pull up the text message and with the ease of the MogoTix app (available in the iTunes store for free), the organizer can scan tickets quickly and easily at the event using their mobile phone.

“I personally heard comments like, this is ‘the future’ and what ‘it should be like’. MogoTix was a great way to set the tone for our conference and our attendees definitely got it and appreciated it.” – Wharton

Check out MogoTix for your next event!

-Follow them at Twitter.com/MogoTix and Facebook.com/MogoTix

It’s only been, what, four years since the iPhone was released? It seems that Apple and AT&T have finally ended the annoying exclusivity that has caused countless dropped calls. You can now get the iPhone on Verizon – or at least you can get it beginning Thursday, February 10. “Qualified” Verizon Wireless customers will be given the exclusive opportunity to pre-order the iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability.

“We are pleased to introduce millions of wireless users to the industry leading iPhone 4 on the nation’s most reliable network,” said Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon. “This is an important step for the industry as two great companies join forces to give wireless customers one of the most important technological additions to the mobile landscape this century.”

iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless is the same iPhone as AT&T except it will include new Personal Hotspot capabilities allowing customers to use iPhone 4 to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices. Basically, you can turn your iPhone into a Mifi. Oh, and it runs on CDMA*. Nothing in the press release mentions Verizon’s new LTE network, so I believe that the iPhone, whether on AT&T or Verizon, is still 3G. If there’s an LTE announcement, I imagine it would come from Steve Jobs as part of whatever the iPhone 5 might be.

I have my fingers crossed that mass iPhone adoption on Verizon won’t turn “America’s Most Reliable Network” into another AT&T.  This also levels the playing field. Verizon has led with amazing Android-based phones throughout 2010, but that’s all changing. Both AT&T and Verizon will have iPhones and some pretty impressive upcoming Android phones, including the Atrix (AT&T) and the Bionic (Verizon). Additionally, both carry the iPad, the Galaxy, and Verizon will also offer the Motorola Xoom tablet. It’s going to come down to price and speed, now that the choices aren’t so very different.

Should you rush out and get one? Well, for all the hype, remember that iPhone announcements tend to happen in June, with new phones in July. Your iPhone 4 might be old news in 6 months. And if you’re traveling to Europe? Whether you’re AT&T or Verizon, the iPhone is not the phone you want to purchase.

iPhone 4 will retail on Verizon for $199.99 (16GB) and $299.99 (32GB) with a new two year customer agreement. iPhone 4 will be available at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide, online at  www.verizonwireless.com/iphone, at Apple Retail Stores, at the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple Authorized Resellers, and by calling 1-800-2 JOIN IN.

*CDMA:  you won’t be able to have a call going and surf the Internet on Verizon’s CDMA network, unlike AT&T’s network.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

By Julie Blaustein

Brian and Shoshanna Zisk

The 7th. SF MusicTech Summit came back to town on Monday, December 6th. at the Kabuki Hotel. It was another great gathering of the various players in the music industry who drive its innovation, creativity and growth in this constantly evolving space. Topics discussed and debated included entertainment, product development, wireless and hand held, start ups, legal issues and, so much more. The very first SF MusicTech had maybe 300 people whereas now, there are over 800 attendees and over 27 sponsors! There was barely enough room for all the sponsoring logos to fit on the Sponsor plaque. The team responsible for securing all these sponsorships include the “music gods” Brian Zisk and his lovely wife Shoshana along with their partner-in-crime Todd Tate. They all have a deep history of performing and working in the music industry and are now seeking to keep the music alive through the collaboration of those that are seeking to make music and those that are seeking to make money. I also gained  better understanding of what made the SF MusicTech Summit a “must” attend by talking to a few of the sponsors and vendors.

Michael Hobson of HRT

High Resolution Technologies (HRT) would normally have exhibited at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas which is way larger than the Summit, but due to their employer Michael Mercer’s recommendation they chose the SF Music Tech Summit. Not only was HRT the largest sponsor of the show but they spoke on a panel and took the opportunity to announce their new product’s launch, The iStreamer which allows you to deliver high performance digital audio playback directly from an iPad, iPhone or an iPod.

Sonic.net provides Internet connectivity to the technology start ups in the community. This is their 2nd. year being a vendor and a sponsor with the summit. Tiffany Lawson, an Account Manager with Sonic.net was eager to be a part of the Summit in part due to how easy it was to work with Brian Zisk, the Executive Producer. “Zisk was great to communicate with, he is always on the same page and he genuinely cares about making the conference a success for you.”

Gianluca delli Carri of MusiXmatch hails from Italy with corporate offices in London. MusiXmatch provides a way to distribute lyrics. Usually they would attend evnts such as Music Hack Day where they would engage with developers. Based on a partner and a past, colorful attendee Robert Kaye of MuicBrainz, they chose to commit to the event.

Peter Jung of Vocoo

Not to be outdone in terms of going the distance to attend SF MusicTech Summit, Peter Jung, Manager of Vocoo.com that provides your voice over background of the hottest songs for iPhone, Android, PC, YouTube, FB and more, came from Seol, Korea! Based on the recommendation of their PR firm, ICR, they came in the hopes of meeting other companies. In fact, it appears that MusiXmatch is now in talks with Voocoo about providing their expertise in lyrics. That, my friends, is worth the airfare and certainly  justifies the ROI of the event to any manager questioning its worthiness to attend.

If you are involved in the music scene in any way, do your self a favor and attend the next SF MusicTech Summit in the spring of 2011 to learn, meet new and old friends and do business. You can’t go wrong.

Go here for more pictures and for Past SF MusicTech Summit Events and check them out on Twitter at #SFMusicTech.

Back in September, when I was refusing to even think about snow, I was sent a pair of SmarTouch gloves from Isotoner (free sample, etc). The SmarTouch gloves are one of the many types of gloves you’ll find on the market this year that allow you to use your touchscreen device without freezing your fingers off. I wasn’t immediately blown away, mostly because it was still in the 80 degree range in Cincinnati and because they are a terrible teal color. I sort of filed the gloves away for later use.

Thanksgiving arrived and we headed north to Chicago to visit family. On a whim, I took the Isotoner SmarTouch gloves with me. After all, it was cold in Cincinnati, but freezing in Chicago. The gloves work. I had no problem keeping the gloves on and using my HTC Incredible (touchscreen) or my husband’s iPhone. I had to slow my typing a bit, as the gloves are larger than just my bare hands, but they certainly worked without a problem.

Some of the gloves you’ll see on the market have small metallic receptors sewn in – I’m not completely sure what happens when you need to clean those gloves. The Isotoners are completely washable, which is good. They work because they have conductive threads embroidered on teh index fingers and thumbs. The threads convey electrical impulses to the touchscreen.

The Isotoner SmarTouch gloves are available in men’s and women’s styles. I’ve seen them on-sale a lot locally, considering that it’s 23 degrees in Ohio now. Are they warm? Well, they aren’t the warmest gloves I own, nor are they as warm as any of my leather gloves, which is really what I prefer. (If someone makes leather touchscreen compatible gloves, please let me know!) On the other hand, they certainly beat fingerless gloves when it’s 23 degree out. The gloves worked well enough that I actually purchased a grey pair, which I find much more practical than teal.

Isotoner is also running a “Give the Gift of Touch” sweepstakes in which you and a friend can win a pair of gloves and an iPad. All you have to do is send a friend a virtual pair of smarTouch™ gloves on Facebook. If they click on the gift, both are entered to win.

SmarTouch gloves are available at most major department stores and online. They retail for around $40 but always seem to be on sale for around $19.99 – $25.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.