To be or not to be June 17! The iPhone upgrade release date was much anticipated in our office. We all came in with our phones ready to upgrade, waiting for the new copy and paste feature, the new landscape keyboard, the new ability to MMS, the new MobileMe.... but wait! NOOoooooo! They meant PST. Does the whole world runs on Pacific Standard Time now?
I used to live in Redmond, same time zone as Cupertino, and I guess I just took for granted that the whole world understood that technology time was whatever time it was in PST. Americans can be ever so slightly provincial (I can say that as an American). But now I'm in Sydney, and low and behold, a new realization astounds me. June 17 is today, and this was the date they told us at the APPLE store on George Street and on the world wide web's APPLE web site. What gives?!? Where's my new toys?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
What is social networking anyway??
Some people think that Facebook is the biggest social networking engine, with 200 million active users, half of which log on every single day. But consider this… Microsoft Live Messenger has 320 million users! Why don’t we think of them when we hear the term “social networking”?
Social networks are online communities made up of any number people that have a shared interest and interact via technological media. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. So why, for example, did Mr. Notorious R.O.B. have a beef with Seattle-based John L. Scott Real Estates selection of Live Services as their tool of choice when venturing into the social networking sphere? See his post here. Mr. Rob – we think you have seriously under-rated Microsoft Live Services.
Microsoft is all about accessibility – they are the masters of the commoditization of geek technology. What I mean by that is that Microsoft has historically provided entrance to high-end, elite technology by making it user-friendly for the masses – from the Windows GUI framework for early PC users to the up and coming Visual Studio 2010 for developers today. And they have done that with social networking from the start. Just because people don’t realize that they are social networking when they are using the Live Services doesn’t mean that they aren’t. In fact, they probably don’t even care. There is a difference between the Uber-Geek who buys into technology for the sake of it being new, and the mainstream user who buys into technology for what it can do for them.
MOST people are mainstream consumers of technology and are drawn to the tools that work. Microsoft knows how to build products that work, and Microsoft is here to stay. There was no risk in John L. Scott using a Microsoft product. Facebook, Twitter, etc. are all the rage today, but are they here to stay?? Is the passive use of a posting service as effective as interactive discussions (thanks Angus)? And while Google is great on many levels, Microsoft Live Messenger is ACTUALLY way more popular, so why would John L. Scott choose anything (anyone) BUT Microsoft Live Services?
Check out the new JLSConnect product on http://www.johnlscott.com/. By the way, we at nsquared had a little something to do with it… ;)
Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/nsquaredmagic
Social networks are online communities made up of any number people that have a shared interest and interact via technological media. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. So why, for example, did Mr. Notorious R.O.B. have a beef with Seattle-based John L. Scott Real Estates selection of Live Services as their tool of choice when venturing into the social networking sphere? See his post here. Mr. Rob – we think you have seriously under-rated Microsoft Live Services.
Microsoft is all about accessibility – they are the masters of the commoditization of geek technology. What I mean by that is that Microsoft has historically provided entrance to high-end, elite technology by making it user-friendly for the masses – from the Windows GUI framework for early PC users to the up and coming Visual Studio 2010 for developers today. And they have done that with social networking from the start. Just because people don’t realize that they are social networking when they are using the Live Services doesn’t mean that they aren’t. In fact, they probably don’t even care. There is a difference between the Uber-Geek who buys into technology for the sake of it being new, and the mainstream user who buys into technology for what it can do for them.
MOST people are mainstream consumers of technology and are drawn to the tools that work. Microsoft knows how to build products that work, and Microsoft is here to stay. There was no risk in John L. Scott using a Microsoft product. Facebook, Twitter, etc. are all the rage today, but are they here to stay?? Is the passive use of a posting service as effective as interactive discussions (thanks Angus)? And while Google is great on many levels, Microsoft Live Messenger is ACTUALLY way more popular, so why would John L. Scott choose anything (anyone) BUT Microsoft Live Services?
Check out the new JLSConnect product on http://www.johnlscott.com/. By the way, we at nsquared had a little something to do with it… ;)Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/nsquaredmagic
It's Just Not Fair!
Why does Mac get to release Snow Leopard with Safari in Europe in September, when the old evil empire has to release Windows 7 without a browser? It just doesn't seem fair to us. Don't get me wrong - we're not just a Microsoft shop here, we love our Macs at nsquared, and are even working on some projects that involve Apple products... ;)
This isn't a post about whether Safari is better than IE 8, we even deliberate upon that in the office. It's just simply that it doesn't seem FAIR! What do you think?
Contact us for help with your Microsoft or Mac projects, we'd love to hear from you!
This isn't a post about whether Safari is better than IE 8, we even deliberate upon that in the office. It's just simply that it doesn't seem FAIR! What do you think?
Contact us for help with your Microsoft or Mac projects, we'd love to hear from you!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Mapping Product Formerly Known as Virtual Earth
What is this? Virtual Earth is now Bing Maps for Enterprise?? Well, except for the long name, it makes sense to us.
Is this just a change in the watermark, or is there more to it? From my understanding, the API calls will remain the same, using the Virtual Earth references. The terms of use will also remain the same except for the name, so no need to review them again. The only thing Virtual Earth/Bing Maps for Enterprise users need concern themselves with is if they refer to Virtual Earth on their website or have implemented a Virtual Earth logo themselves. These should be changed by September 1, 2009 at the latest.
With the release of Bing as Microsoft's new search engine, or "decision engine" as one news release called it, it seems timely that Microsoft should condense their branding. Bing Maps for Enterprise is the platform that underlies the Maps portion of Bing. It will also be the new brand name behind the thousands of Virtual Earth maps utilized by businesses worldwide, on their websites, in their solutions, and as part of their applications.
Is this just a change in the watermark, or is there more to it? From my understanding, the API calls will remain the same, using the Virtual Earth references. The terms of use will also remain the same except for the name, so no need to review them again. The only thing Virtual Earth/Bing Maps for Enterprise users need concern themselves with is if they refer to Virtual Earth on their website or have implemented a Virtual Earth logo themselves. These should be changed by September 1, 2009 at the latest.So have a go - check out www.bing.com/maps and have a look at the new branding.
Did you know nsquared is your expert on mapping tools! Contact us for help integrating maps with your website or applications!
Monday, June 8, 2009
iPhone 3G space S
Hot news flash of the day at WWDC09 (World Wide Developer Conference): Apple releases new iPhone!
The new iPhone 3G S (for Speed) is twice as fast. Messages launched 2.1x faster, viewing attachments 3x faster, etc. The phone also includes a better camera, video taking capabilities, voice control, improved battery life, and more! A new feature called "Find my iPhone" allows you to log into the internet and view where your phone is. You can also remotely wipe the phone if necessary.
According to the keynote, developers have downloaded the iPhone SDK over a million times. nsquared counts for some of those - just wait and see what we have in the works for iPhone! We are hard at work on a couple of apps and will tell you more when we can. Have your own idea you need help implementing? Feel free to contact us!
The new iPhone 3G S (for Speed) is twice as fast. Messages launched 2.1x faster, viewing attachments 3x faster, etc. The phone also includes a better camera, video taking capabilities, voice control, improved battery life, and more! A new feature called "Find my iPhone" allows you to log into the internet and view where your phone is. You can also remotely wipe the phone if necessary.
According to the keynote, developers have downloaded the iPhone SDK over a million times. nsquared counts for some of those - just wait and see what we have in the works for iPhone! We are hard at work on a couple of apps and will tell you more when we can. Have your own idea you need help implementing? Feel free to contact us!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Azure Developer Challenge!
Early last month Microsoft announced its latest Developer Challenge to US Developers. This week on Monday (June 1), the contest was opened to the International Development community.
new CloudApp() is the Azure Services Platform Developer Challenge open to US Developers, and the Rest of the World, separately. Opened early this week for the likes of us downunder in Oz, the Challenge aims to find the best cloud application or service that can be built using the Azure Services Platform.
Submissions close on July 9, 2009 and the International winner will be judged by the Community who will vote for their favourite apps between July 10 and July 20.
With a $2500 VISA Gift Card up for grabs and the prestige, we think it’s worth the effort: How about you?
Find out more here: http://www.newcloudapp.com/
new CloudApp() is the Azure Services Platform Developer Challenge open to US Developers, and the Rest of the World, separately. Opened early this week for the likes of us downunder in Oz, the Challenge aims to find the best cloud application or service that can be built using the Azure Services Platform.
Submissions close on July 9, 2009 and the International winner will be judged by the Community who will vote for their favourite apps between July 10 and July 20.
With a $2500 VISA Gift Card up for grabs and the prestige, we think it’s worth the effort: How about you?
Find out more here: http://www.newcloudapp.com/
Monday, June 1, 2009
bing (beta) is Live
Or is it that Live is bing? Whichever way you look at it, bing is set to change our expectations of search engines and already leads the way. bing beta went live at around 11am Australian time on Monday. The staged rollout was completed in around 24 hours, and the results look great.
We took a peak at the preview that was released earlier and have spent some time exploring Microsoft’s new search engine over the last day. We’re impressed to find that it does what the preview promises. Better search results, with great context and heaps of extra information that you don’t get without spending more time on other search engines. Perhaps it’s best that we reserve our judgment until at least day two, but from what we’ve seen today, we think the other search engines are now playing catch up.
We took a peak at the preview that was released earlier and have spent some time exploring Microsoft’s new search engine over the last day. We’re impressed to find that it does what the preview promises. Better search results, with great context and heaps of extra information that you don’t get without spending more time on other search engines. Perhaps it’s best that we reserve our judgment until at least day two, but from what we’ve seen today, we think the other search engines are now playing catch up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)