Google beats the big blue guy again
by Volker Weber
Google is building out its device support. Now the Nokia Lumia (and other WP 7.5 phones) gets the same treatment from GMail as the iPhone. Use your browser to go to http://m.google.com/sync and select your phone to set it up. You can now "send as", sync up to 25 calendards, etc.
If the site says your phone is unsupported, just change the site language (not your phone's) to English.
PlayBook is getting pretty cool
by Volker Weber
This does not exist yet. Well it does, but you can't download it yet. It's a small program that connects a BlackBerry to a PlayBook. Not only can you access stuff on the BlackBerry from PlayBook, it now works the other way as well. Here is a use case:
Somebody sends you a presentation (or you have it already). Display it on PlayBook. Connect the PlayBook HDMI-out to a beamer or TV. Then use your BlackBerry as a remote. It works as a trackpad, you can use the keyboard to type on the PlayBook, you can go into presenter mode where you just click your slides forward and backwards. You don't need anything but your BlackBerry and your PlayBook. No dongles, no Wifi, no network access, no line of sight. And in a small group, not even a TV or a beamer. Just prop it up and then go through your presentation without touching the screen.
Here is a small secret: this works with PlayBook 1.0.8. You only need Bridge 2.0. I am sure you find it somewhere on the Internet.
And next month we will see what PlayBook can do for people without a BlackBerry. And it's equally cool. I have seen it already. ;-)
Size matters. Ask any girl.
by Volker Weber
Compare yourself here >
Lotusphere presenters, IBM needs your help
by Volker Weber
Year after year, IBM has a hard time publishing the Lotusphere presentations to their customers. But you can help. Don't hide them on your blogs. Add them here.
Old farts on bikes
by Volker Weber
OpenOffice went LibreOffice, Symphony goes OpenOffice, vowe goes nowhere
by Volker Weber
Once in a while somebody sends me an ODT or ODP file. Usually somebody from the ibm.com domain. For that I keep a copy of LibreOffice arTound. It's made by the people who used to make OpenOffice until Oracle p'ed them off. My copy is currently at 3.4.5 and I believe they are working on 3.5.
Then there is OpenOffice, currently on 3.3. IBM donated their Symphony code to the project. While it is transitioning from GPL to the Apache License (no I am not going there), progress has become a bit slow. But eventually OpenOffice will come out as 4.0, at which time it replaces Symphony.
That's right folks, Symphony 3.0.1 is probably the last version that IBM puts out. If I recall correctly they will also remove Symphony from Notes. Which I believe is a good thing. You shouldn't be dragging around another boat anchor that's too big for your ship.
I never felt inclined to use Symphony, although its interface is prettier than OpenOffice or LibreOffice Both of them are stuck on an old Microsoft design. If somebody wants a free office product, I usually install LibreOffice.
With version 4 OpenOffice is likely to become the new Symphony, with the OpenOffice name. IBM will distribute an "IBM Edition", which is technically the same thing. You can pay for support though, which makes enterprise happy.
For Lotusphere, IBM asks their presenters to use Symphony. In the words of Andrew Pollack:
IBM wants the slides in Symphony's ODP format -- and has "strongly requested" that we use Symphony to present.
I prefer to spend a little money. I am using Keynote for my presentations. It's 15.99 € from the Mac store. I also use Pages if I need a formatted document, which rarely happens. I am not happy with Numbers though.
If I do get files to work with from other enterprise users, they are usually in Microsoft's formats. For those, I keep a copy of Office around.
If I could only have one Office suite, it would be Microsoft. I like both Excel and Word. But I would still buy Keynote. I believe you just have to use the best tools for best results.
Maria Gomez schreibt
by Volker Weber
Maria Gomez, Director IBM Social Business and Collaboration Solutions, schreibt als Nachlese der Lotusphere an alle deutschen Teilnehmer einen Brief, den ich mit Erlaubnis zitiere. Das hat bisher noch niemand gemacht. Und man kann sehr gut sehen, wo die Reise hingeht:
Best comment ever
by Volker Weber
Jeff Schick boasting on Facebook: "Announcing IBM Connections 4 at Lotusphere to 8000 people".
Dale Schultz: "Counting shoes is better than counting seats."
Apple Reports Record Results
by Volker Weber
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Best quarter ever, beating estimates by more than 10%. 37.04 million iPhones (up 128 percent), 15.43 million iPads (up 111 percent) , 5.2 million Macs (up 26 percent), 15.4 million iPods (down 21 percent).
Missed the IBM quarterly results last week
by Volker Weber
Revenues from the WebSphere family of software products increased 21 percent year over year. Information Management software revenues increased 9 percent. Revenues from Tivoli software increased 14 percent. Revenues from Lotus software decreased 2 percent, and Rational software increased 4 percent.
What is killing BlackBerry? Hint: it's not the devices.
by Volker Weber
So RIM has a new CEO. One that will continue the course set by the old CEOs. BlackBerry seems to be in a downward spiral, if you believe what the US press is writing. Or the rest of the world is parroting.
At the same time, RIM has a pretty good line of devices. But there is something wrong. I see three things that kill BlackBerry. All of them could be changed:
- Carriers
- Enterprise IT
- Emotion
Carriers require a special provisioning for BlackBerrys that they charge extra for. BlackBerrys don't work over the carrier access point. They need to talk to the BlackBerry.net AP and the RIM infrastructure. RIM charges the carriers, the carriers charge their customers. This is not smart, since BlackBerrys use a lot less bandwidth than other smartphones. Lower network utilization means extra dollars. If BlackBerrys would work with every single SIM on the market, devices handed down from business to family would become a lot more useful.
Enterprise IT locks down BlackBerrys in a way that makes them completely useless for private use. The reason is "security". Those enterprise policies are old and outdated. RIM provides BlackBerry Balance, which would allow IT to secure enterprise usage and allow private use of Facebook & Co at the same time, without compromising security. The irony is that enterprise IT kills the only platform that provides this solution.
Emotion. This is your call, Thorsten Heins. Unfortunately you don't look like emotion. Not in the least bit.
Yosemite timelapse
by Volker Weber
How to commit
by Volker Weber
Here is a little trick you can play with your brain. Say you want to exercise every day for 30 minutes, which you should btw, you need to keep a record. Don't just do it. Check it off on your calendar every single day. And display the calendar on your wall. Why? So you can see, that you did not break the chain. It's very rewarding to see that checkmark every single day. You don't want to see a day where you did not check off the thing you committed yourself to. And here is a little app that helps you if that calendar thing does not work, because you are traveling:
Not yet working for the person who made the screenshot. :-)
heise online - Lotusphere 2012: Alistair Rennie im Interview
by Volker Weber
Was ist eigentlich ein "Social Business"? Alistair Rennie, General Manager IBM Collaboration Solutions, erklärt, wie IBM die Technik und Kultur sozialer Netze auf den Einsatz im Unternehmen übertragen will.
Cyan!
by Volker Weber
Black Lumia 800 replaced by cyan Lumia 800.
Sonos - what to play?
by Volker Weber
These are the sources I can play on my Sonos. And I am a bit overwhelmed. Let's take a look:
- Music Library, Docked iPods, Sonos Playlists, Line-In point to sources on my network. The Music Library contains all my tracks ripped from CD. Docked iPods is whatever iOS device sits on one of my two Sonos docks, be it my own or a visitor. Line-In is either AirPlay or my TV, which are my two outside sources connected to two players. Sonos Playlists are, well, playlists of my tracks.
- Radio contains the world's radio stations, no matter where they are. As long as they provide a live stream or on-demand radio shows.
- Aupeo, Deezer, Juke, Napster, Rdio, Stitcher SmartRadio, Wolfgang's Vault are streaming services. I once also was a Last.fm user, when it was free.
The music services are all direct competitors, with the exception of Stitcher. Deezer is a french service like Last.fm without the social network. Aupeo, Juke, Napster and Rdio let you play exactly what you like. They largely overlap, so it does not make sense to pay for all of them. In my case, I can try them all out. The Juke trial for instance was provided by Thomas Lang of ueberall-musik.de, on Rdio I am using the 7-day-trial.
What is standing out here at vowe's magic flying circus? I mostly listen to Music Library, and when Ute finds new stuff while reading her newspapers and magazines, she goes to Napster. Wolfgang's Vault is perfect for old farts, because it has so many original concert recordings from the last century. Aupeo, Juke and Rdio could possibly replace Napster. And I am currently trying to do that. However, old habits are hard to break.
If you have any of those streaming services, and your music library is not on a NAS, you will probably exclusively listen to streaming music. It's perfect for people without a large collection. You will find that none of the services are perfect. At times they will not have the exact album you are looking for.
You also have to look for mobile use. Depending on the plan you are paying for, you might also be able to stream or even sync to your mobile player.
Which service are you using, and why?
Research In Motion Names Thorsten Heins President and CEO
by Volker Weber
The Board of Directors of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that ... it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer. ... Prior to today's announcement, Mr. Heins was one of RIM's two Chief Operating Officers and, before that, Senior Vice President for the Handheld Business Unit. He played key roles in the creation of RIM's product portfolio. Mr. Heins came to RIM in December 2007 from the industrial conglomerate Siemens AG.
I am not expecting radical changes.
First look at the Nokia Lumia 900
by Volker Weber
At Lotusphere I was able to take a look at the Lumia 900, which Nokia is building for AT&T. Same screen resolution as the Lumia 800 but much bigger. The prototype was very rough. The screen for instance was flat and not curved. There was a noticeable edge between the screen and the body. Not at all like a Lumia 800. They also made the USB port much more accessible. It's under a flap on the 800. Since the phone is charged over USB, a more accessible port is a plus, although the flap is prettier.
I don't like the larger body. My thumb is too short for the big display. But the 900 adds one important feature: a front facing camera for video chats.
Balance
by Volker Weber
A few brief Lotusphere observations
by Volker Weber
Back from Lotusphere and already digested most of the information. In no particular order:
- Three general sessions: Monday was quite good, Tuesday was enterprise strength bla-bla, Wednesday mixed. Tim Berners-Lee so-so, Watson Software GM very exciting, Polycon CEO was just a commercial.
- Social business, we get it. Now put Social Sandy back into the cage.
- It's all beta, all the time.
- I like the new design patterns. No "eye candy" decorations. Trump MSFT by going AAPL.
- Connections will have a great year.
- Integration with Microsoft stack is key.
- XWorks server does not fool anybody. Potential customers smell Domino.
- Has anybody heard Quickr?
- Sametime?
- IBM finally wakes up and does a full ActiveSync implementation. Calls it HTC and Nokia.
- Take note who ended up on Lotusphere backpacks and what happened to them. IT Factory, Sun Microsystems, HP, BlackBerry, the list goes on.
- Speaking of backpacks, Lotus now wears yellow on the inside.
- I have a feeling, life is going to get very hard for partners.
- As much as IBM is pushing other content, most people come for plain old Notes & Domino.
- Most interesting person I met: Manoj Saxena, GM of Watson Software. The stuff he does will change our lives in a good way.
- Lotus is going away. Notes needs to follow rebranding quickly, otherwise it looks even older than it is.
- Had a private PlayBook OS 2.0 demo. It looks really good.
- The closing session was the worst I have ever seen at Lotusphere. What a self-serving idiot.
- To be continued ...
As for my working conditions: I have never had a better service. Very much appreciated, Karen and Don.
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