I am a big fan of the latest generation of smart phones. The variety of applications that make them so much more useful than the previous models, which were mostly focused on email usage with a little web browsing on the side. I have an iPhone, but I spent the last weekend helping my significant other get his Android phone set up. Once we got the basics up and running, the first thing we did was start exploring the Android Market and installing applications.
Playing with applications on an Android phone got me thinking about how I use applications on my iPhone. I’m always interested in seeing what applications my friends are using on their phones, so I thought people might be interested in reading about the iPhone applications that I use. Read the rest of this entry »
Socialtext, an innovative enterprise social network/collaboration app that we’ve covered previously, has just launched Socialtext Mobile, which provides smartphone compatibility and lets you stay connected to your team even when you’re on the go.
The beta version of Socialtext Mobile supports iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices. The site detects if you’re logging in with a mobile browser, and automatically directs you to Socialltext Mobile, which has a mobile-optimized interface but still lets you access all of Socialtext’s key functionality, including giving you full access to Socialtext Signals (Socialtext’s private microblogging tool), Activity Streams (keeping you up-to-date with what everyone’s doing), collaboration via Workspace pages, and — perhaps most importantly — access to your colleagues via People (which lets you look up colleagues’ contact details and connect with them while you’re on the go).
Socialtext Mobile comes free with Socialtext, the cost of which varies depending on your needs (a 30-day free trial is available). If you’d like to see a demo of Socialtext Mobile, check out the video.
Let us know what you think of Socialtext Mobile in the comments.
Managing the flood of electronic communication — phone, voicemail, email, SMS, IM, micro-blogging and status updates on sites like Facebook — is an increasingly difficult task. It’s being reported that Bill Gates recently left Facebook due to a surfeit of friend requests. I’ve struggled to manage these communications, and like most businesspeople I’ve talked to, my system is based on having different voice, email, IM and social network accounts for personal and professional uses. I can thus give real-time access to clients during business hours, while after-hours access is limited to friends, family and emergencies.
Several upcoming products (Google Wave, for example) want to make every communication channel available in one place in real time and should, in theory, help to make all these communications easier to manage. But will these apps actually make it harder to separate business and personal lives? Will real-time access to all electronic messages make it more difficult for us to provide effective customer service while maintaining personal lives? As Mashable asks: are we ready for the walls between email, messaging and related technologies to come a-tumbling down? Read the rest of this entry »
We’re nearing the end of the year, and now happens to be a good time to single out some of the disruptive technologies that are likely to affect web workers next year. 2009 is slated to bring a few very major connectivity technologies that have been years in the making, mired in the standardization process, to fruition. It also promises to bring some surprises from the world of open source into the spotlight.
Here are four disruptive technologies that could have a big impact on how you work.
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If we didn’t have enough mobility to keep us busy with Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and iPhone, now there’s the new T-Mobile G1 running on the new Google Android platform.
We at WWD haven’t said much about it because none of our team has had a chance to play with one yet. Our co-workers on the network have gotten their review units and posted initial impressions. We’ll have more on the phone as it applies to productivity and web working, but in the meantime, check out these early hands-on reviews.
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It’s been widely reported that the first phone using Google’s “Android” operating system will be announced for sale by T-Mobile this month – perhaps as soon as Tuesday. With a full-fledged operating system aimed squarely at web users, it’s worth thinking about the impact that this announcement will have on web workers.
The obvious competitor to match Android phones up with is the Apple iPhone, which has become the new darling of many high-tech workers. While the iPhone has its warts and its detractors, it also has many committed users, and recent software updates seem to have cured many of the early teething pains. If you’re already locked into an iPhone contract, the launch of Android phones probably means nothing to you. But what if you haven’t jumped yet? How do you choose between the two? Here’s a short list of points to consider.
Read the rest of this entry »
I am a big fan of the latest generation of smart phones. The variety of applications that make them so much more useful than the previous models, which were mostly focused on email usage with a little web browsing on the side. I have an iPhone, but I spent the last weekend helping my significant other get his Android phone set up. Once we got the basics up and running, the first thing we did was start exploring the Android Market and installing applications.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
