March 2011
#dickbar takes an absence
by Volker Weber
Rather than continue to make changes to the QuickBar as it exists, we removed the bar from the update appearing in the App Store today.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
We believe there are still significant benefits to increasing awareness of what’s happening outside the home timeline. Evidence of the incredibly high usage metrics for the QuickBar support this.
Next time you add a great feature, just let me switch it off, OK? I am going to be extra super careful before allowing an update of your client.
Conny Talbot vs. Adele
by Volker Weber
Twitter non-conversations can be fun
by Volker Weber
@belgort:
On the IBM Social Business Toolkit webcast. This should be interesting.
A toolkit is what you get when the vendor can't produce a functional SDK or documented API
Next week IBM will teach you in a webcast how to use Twitter.
Social business in general, and Twitter in particular, has real value for an IBM seller. Whether you need to stay in front of a customer sat. issue or get closer and more intimate with your business partners, there's a lot of power and action happening in Twitter - 140 characters at a time. And yes, there is more to Twitter than learning how your high school pal feels about his breakfast. We'll talk about the whys and wherefores of Twitter, and focus specifically on what YOU need to do to participate. As Jeff Schick said at Lotusphere — social software is not a spectator sport. Join us to see and how Twitter works -- how you set up your own Twitter account, the etiquette of following, using the Notes sidebar, #hashtags, and more.
I don't think @readystate is going to take that class.
Grossglockner Backcountry
by Volker Weber
[via @leyrer]
Amazon Cloud Player is a smart offering
by Volker Weber
You can buy tracks from Amazon today. Which means, they have an instance of that track on their servers. You download a copy. If you use the Cloud Player, you can play that same track again from the same storage where your copy originated from. If a thousand people buy the same track, it adds a thousand links but not a thousand files. Instead of charging you a monthly fee for streaming, Amazon charges your for the tracks which you own and can play offline if you want. Only if you exceed your storage allowance, you pay more. And Amazon makes more money without adding significant cost. Everybody wins.
Who is losing? The music "industry" which still tries to emulate their physical distribution model. Next step? Artists publish to iTunes and Amazon.
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
Perhaps the company should be called Research In Slow Motion.
— Martin Peers
Aus der Reihe "Unbekannte Helden": BH-905i, Callisto, Conserve Valet, G11, K100, NeoTV
by Volker Weber
Dass ich täglich und dauernd von Sonos berieselt werde, ist ja nun bekannt. Aber es gibt noch ein paar Gadgets, die ich jede Woche mehrfach benutze. Sozusagen die Dinge, die sich richtig bewährt haben. Ein kurze (alphabetische) Aufzählung:
- Belkin Conserve Valet lädt alle meine Mobilgeräte (außer den Apples) und schaltet sich dann ab, wenn sie voll sind. Die Apples würden auch gehen, aber da sie über das Kabel synchronisiert werden, brauchen die keine Extra-Ladung. Und für das iPad nehme ich das Original-Ladegerät.
- Canon G11 (jetzt G12) war ein toller Kauf. Meine Spiegelreflex-Kamera kommt kaum noch zum Einsatz. Entweder reicht das iPhone, oder ich nutze die G11.
- Netgear NeoTV 550 spielt einfach alle Videos ab, die man ihm vorsetzt. Hat mich noch nicht einmal im Stich gelassen. Könnte dringend ein schöneres UI gebrauchen. Hat aber hier im Haus einen ähnlich hohen WAF wie Sonos. Wenn das AppleTV nicht so vernagelt wäre, dann wäre das NeoTV abkömmlich. Aber ich habe keinen Bock, ständig mit Jailbreaks zu hantieren.
- Nokia BH-905i ist der beste Kopfhörer, den ich bisher hatte. Hält den Umgebungslärm weg, zum Beispiel schnatternde Damen in der Huschebahn. Den BH-905 habe ich leider kaputt gemacht, und deshalb musste ein BH-905i her. Andere Bügelform, kleinere Tasche, bessere Aufbewahrung des Zubehör-Klimbims, aber gleicher Klang wie der ohne i. Wer ein Bose-Headset mit Airmiles bezahlt, OK. Wer Geld in die Hand nimmt, kauft besser das Nokia.
- Plantronics Callisto 800 ist ein Freisprecher für PC und Mobiltelefon. Ich habe das falsche Modell ohne RJ11, sonst würde ich mein Desktop-Telefon wegwerfen. Aber auch so managed das Dinge meine eingehenden Anrufe auf iPhone oder Skype. Hat mein Plantronics-Headset abgelöst. Geht nicht mehr ohne.
- Plantronics K100 ist eine Bluetooth-Freisprecheinrichtung, die man an die Sonnenblende klemmt. Ich mag keinen Knopf im Ohr, sonst hätte ich wahrscheinlich ein Voyager Pro. Der Klang ist ordentlich, man kann den Output auch per FM ans Autoradio schicken. Recht witzig: man verbindet das iPhone per BT mit dem K100, das schickt alles FM ans Radio. Kommt ein Anruf rein, wird die Mukke abgesenkt und man kann den Anruf entgegennehmen. Pluspunkt: das blaue BT-Blinken lässt sich abstellen.
Ich komme langsam zum Schluss, dass man Plantronics blind kaufen kann. Ich hatte noch nie ein schlechtes Produkt von denen.
Und welches Telefon? Gegen stärkste Konkurrenz weiterhin das iPhone 4. Vor allem wegen der Software: FaceTime, Kik, Path, Reeder. Ärgerlich: die vielen Bugs im BT-Stack. Zickt nicht nur mit dem BH-905i sondern auch mit den Plantronics-Geräten. 4.2 war besser als 4.1, 4.3 ist wieder schlechter.
Dogboarding
by Volker Weber
Das Unbehagen der Hauptstadtjournalisten mit dem twitternden Regierungssprecher
by Volker Weber
Cracked
by Volker Weber
Photos: vowe
Mixed Tape 38 "Orchid Blast" is out
by Volker Weber
01 FLOWERS | SILENCE IS FULL OF BIRDS | 3:08
02 KEEPING ON | CHRIS BOND | 4:30
03 AT THE MOVIES | BLUE SWERVER | 4:16
04 SENSUOUS BELLS | STEVIE VID | 3:51
05 EV'RY BIT OF US | DOROTHEA MUENSCH | 2:10
06 PRELUDE | CRYSTAL JOY | 2:53
07 AJ AJ AJ | DEIMIENN | 1:43
08 ACCIDENT | FUJI KURETA | 4:43
09 CHANGED GAME | DR FREEBS | 4:54
10 LEAVING MY WORLD (CLUB VERSION) | MICHELL PHUNK | 4:41
YouTube Downloader
by Volker Weber
Download YouTube videos to your mobile phone with this handy little application. Support resolutions from 240p up to 720p HD quality (if available) The videos are stored in your video folder and you can at any time enjoy the high quality videos off line or project them onto a TV, thanks to the Nokia HDMI and TV-out.
Pretty cool app.
Don't believe your own propaganda
by Volker Weber
Ed writes:
The term "RAD" (rapid application development) is often used to describe the capability to quickly build and deploy applications on Lotus Domino. It's been one of the product's core strengths going all the way back
In theory. In practice however, just take a look at the templates IBM ships. If it were so easy to rapidly build applications, those templates would use all the latest features of Domino 8.5.
They don't.
Heise zieht um
by Volker Weber
Der Heise Verlag hat das ehemalige Verwaltungsgebäude der Versicherung Hannoversche Leben, die inzwischen zur VHV-Gruppe gehört, gekauft.
Cassius Marcellus Clay a.k.a. Muhammad Ali
by Volker Weber
From my inbox
by Volker Weber
Spotify box
by Volker Weber
Sonos Controller for Android postponed to April
by Volker Weber
"We know you’re anxiously awaiting the Sonos Controller for Android. Unfortunately, testing the app is taking a bit longer than we anticipated. The latest addition to our free controller line-up won’t arrive until April, but when it does, it is going to rock."-Andrew Schulert - Vice President, Quality, Sonos, Inc
All I can say is that it's getting close.
RIM Expands Application Ecosystem for BlackBerry PlayBook
by Volker Weber
WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 24, 2011) - Developers wanting to bring their new and existing apps to the highly anticipated BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet will soon have additional tools and options to enhance and expand their commercial opportunities. Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced plans to greatly expand the application ecosystem for the BlackBerry PlayBook. The BlackBerry PlayBook is scheduled to launch in the U.S. and Canada on April 19. RIM will launch two optional "app players" that provide an application run-time environment for BlackBerry Java® apps and Android v2.3 apps. These new app players will allow users to download BlackBerry Java apps and Android apps from BlackBerry App World and run them on their BlackBerry PlayBook.
Android apps, that sounds intriguing. But wait:
Developers currently building for the BlackBerry or Android platforms will be able to quickly and easily port their apps to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS thanks to a high degree of API compatibility. The new optional app players will be available for download from BlackBerry App World and will be placed in a secure "sandbox" on the BlackBerry PlayBook where the BlackBerry Java or Android apps can be run. Developers will simply repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World. Once approved, the apps will be distributed through BlackBerry App World, providing a new opportunity for many developers to reach BlackBerry PlayBook users. Users will be able to download both the app players and the BlackBerry Java and Android apps from BlackBerry App World.
That's kind of unlikely. And it's not done yet.
BlackBerry PlayBook users and developers who are interested in seeing the new app players for BlackBerry Java and Android apps can see demos at BlackBerry World in Orlando, Florida (May 3 to 5, 2011)
TomTom updates continue to be a nightmare
by Volker Weber
Good news first: after trying for 2.5 hours I finally succeeded to install a new app and the latest EU map on the TomTom LIVE 1000. What you see above is only one of the silly status messages: there are no updates, and there are updates. Between this and success where a lot of "Busy, do not disconnect" messages without progress indicator.
What do you think "myTomTomSA" means? My TomTom Support Application. It replaces TomTom Home which turned into an app trying to sell you subscriptions. Since most of what has been available in TomTom Home is not available through myTomTomSA, things got worse. You can't even install voices you previously bought.
The software simply isn't done. I continue to enjoy the device when I don't have to update it. The funniest thing is that the device has an Internet connection of it's own, but it must not update itself over this connection.
I also continue to enjoy TomTom on the iPhone. Updates over iTunes App Store just work.
Final note: even the latest map does not correctly show two streets where I live, four years after the streets were built. Despite multiple attempts to tell TomTom.
Business-Smartphones: BlackBerry immer noch erste Wahl
by Volker Weber
Trotz des Hypes um Android, iPhone und Windows Phone 7 ist das BlackBerry weiterhin als Firmenhandy erste Wahl
Microsoft starts rolling out Windows Phone 7 updates
by Volker Weber
The new version adds Cut & Paste, a better search in Marketplace and a number of small enhancements. As you can see, I am still on the February release (7008) while the March release will be 7390.
Avalanche Artillery
by Volker Weber
Erinnerungen
by Volker Weber
Photo: vowe
In den letzten beiden Tagen habe ich zwei Events in Frankfurt moderiert und jeweils einen Eröffnungsvortrag gehalten: erstens die COSYNUS Partner Konferenz und zweitens die ebenfalls von COSYNUS ausgerichtete Kommunikation 2011.
Es gibt viele kleine, spezialisierte Veranstaltungen, aber diese beiden Events waren etwas Besonderes. Sie verknüpfen Information mit Emotion. Das beginnt mit einem außergewöhnlichen Veranstaltungsort, dieses Jahr die Klassikstadt in Frankfurt, und setzt sich fort in bemerkenswerten Erinnerungen. So bin ich gestern knapp zwei Stunden mit alten Autos durch die Gegend gefahren: Mercedes SL, Ford Capri, Jaguar E-Type, Alfa GTV, Triumph TR6. Die Porsches habe ich ausgelassen, weil ich die so schon kenne, und den Mustang V8 habe ich nicht mehr geschafft.
Als kleinen Service für die Teilnehmer hänge ich eine Linkliste an.
- COSYNUS (Vorsicht: Website macht Krach)
- BlackBerry PlayBook
- Motorola Xoom
- ESP.Dialog
- RightNow
- PitneyBowes
- Baumann & Baumann
- Gruß + Partner
- SoftwareTec.de
- Klassikstadt Frankfurt
- Automobile Meilensteine
- Samowa
- IT-Buch Rhein-Main-Neckar
Oscar Peterson Piano Lesson
by Volker Weber
And then there were three
by Volker Weber
DALLAS, TEXAS AND BONN, GERMANY — March 20, 2011— AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Deutsche Telekom AG (FWB: DTE) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately $39 billion. The agreement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.
This leaves the US with a single GSM provider.
BlackBerry Protect now available from App World
by Volker Weber
BlackBerry Protect just became available on App World in Europe as well. You will find it in the test category:
The software will automatically back up your BlackBerry and let you restore it if necessary. You can also have it track your location:
There is a portal at https://protect.blackberry.com/ which lets you locate the device, let it ring (even when switched to silent), display a message, lock or wipe it. The service is free.
(notes on) biology
by Volker Weber
How to unsubscribe from My Nokia SMS spam
by Volker Weber
I was receiving SMS messages from Nokia on my iPhone. As it turns out, you are automatically subscribed to "valuable tips" from Nokia when you set up your new phone. Unlike myself your SIM is probably still in your Nokia phone. Otherwise you would be out of luck switching this stream off.
On your Symbian^3 phone, go into Applications, Tools, My Nokia, and find your unsubscribe there.
The most useless file format ever invented
by Volker Weber
The WWF format is a PDF that cannot be printed out. It’s a simple way to avoid unnecessary printing.
Cry Baby
by Volker Weber
Stupid tech bloggers tap into GPS chip
by Volker Weber
You may not have known this, but besides missing a 3G radio, the WiFi-only iPad also lacks the A-GPS chip that enables exact GPS positioning versus less-accurate WiFi triangulation. Well, according to Tablet Monsters, if you've got an iPhone with iOS 4.3 and are subscribed to Personal Hotspot, your shiny slate should be able to tap into the GPS chip of it's smaller-screened family member. Reports in the MacRumors forums confirm ...
No, you can't tap into the GPS chip. It's really simple: the iPhone tells Apple where it is. The iPad asks Apple: where is my access point? And in our next broadcast we talk about Skyhook and how it works.
Bing bing
by Volker Weber
HD Traffic online
by Volker Weber
München, 16. März 2011 -- TomTom, weltweit führender Anbieter von Navigationslösungen und standortbezogenen Diensten, präsentiert heute eine Karte zur aktuellen Verkehrssituation und macht damit die besten verfügbaren Verkehrsinformationen online zugänglich. Mit der neuen Karte zur aktuellen Verkehrslage ist es dank HD Traffic für jedermann möglich, sich online über die allerneuesten Verkehrsmeldungen in seiner Umgebung zu informieren. Ab sofort informieren unter www.tomtom.com/livetraffic Karten aus 18 Ländern über die aktuelle Verkehrssituation.
Jetzt bitte noch eine kleine iPhone App dazu, weil die Website unterwegs arg schwer zu bedienen ist:
86% of SMBs surveyed in the United States are not investing in mobile phone security
by Volker Weber
Canalys today announced the results of its latest US survey, indicating that 86% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have not yet adopted mobile phone security throughout their organizations1. The research signals an alarming gap between the growing number of mobile phones, especially smart phones, and their secure usage.
Fritz!Box und Sonos
by Volker Weber
Mit einer der letzten Software-Aktualisierungen hatte AVM eine unglückliche Entscheidung getroffen. Das SMB-Share auf der Fritz!Box hieß fortan FRITZ.NAS. Und das akzeptierte Sonos wegen des Punktes nicht als gültige Freigabe.
Ich habe darauf hin bei Sonos und bei AVM gequengelt. AVM hat sich zunächst auf die Position zurückgezogen, dass dieser Name durchaus standardgemäß sei. Sonos war der Ansicht, AVM habe das kaputt gemacht und solle es gefälligst reparieren. Am Ende hat nun AVM nachgegeben, nicht zuletzt weil auch andere Gerätschaften mit diesem ungewöhnlichen Namen Probleme hatten.
In der aktuellen Labor-Version kann man nun den Freigabenamen frei setzen. Wer die Labor-Version nicht testen mag, darf im nächsten Release mit dieser Funktion rechnen.
Meine Auszeichnung als Rettungsschlumpf :-)
by Volker Weber
As if Nokia did not have enough problems already
by Volker Weber
I am pretty sure my Twitter account has not expired. And if it would have, my operator could not help at all. But your operating system and your software stack has expired. A long time ago.
Canalys: Tablet Sales To Enterprises Will Increase 50x In 2011
by Volker Weber
Enterprises will buy 50 times as many tablets in 2011 as they did in 2010, ...
And then IT is going to remove all the fun from them. ;-)
From my inbox
by Volker Weber
Thank you Duffbert, that's a really cool book. Scroll all the way to see samples. It shows you a photo, and then on the next page, how it was done.
heise online: Internet Explorer 9 erschienen
by Volker Weber
Fast auf den Tag genau ein Jahr nach Veröffentlichung der ersten Vorschau-Version hat Microsoft die fertige Version 9 seines Webbrowsers Internet Explorer zum Herunterladen freigegeben. Internet Explorer 9 steht auf 32- und 64-Bit-Systemen unter Windows 7, Vista und Server 2008 in 40 Sprachen bereit; eine Version für XP wird es nicht geben.
HP's CEO Leo Apotheker Explains Plans For WebOS
by Volker Weber
CEO Apotheker just said that the HP TouchPad will ship in June, and that HP will ship a beta version of WebOS running in a browser on Windows by the end of the year. It will then ship WebOS on Windows PCs in 2012 as he has previously mentioned.
webOS in a browser. Oh dear.
Detlef Guertler: Hirnschmelze
by Volker Weber
Selbstkritisch und von mir auf andere schließend stelle ich fest, dass an diesem Wochenende beginnend mit dem Wort “Kernschmelze” bei vielen Menschen und Medien das rationale Denken notabgeschaltet wurde - eine Hirnschmelze sozusagen.
Interessante Kommentare.
HTC Incredible S just became available in Germany
by Volker Weber
I have not had the chance to really use the Incredible S, but from all the latest Android phones I had the chance to play with for at least five minutes, I liked this one best. It holds very well in your hand, has great materials and a good size. You have to touch it to understand. :-)
Anyway, if you are in the market for an Android phone, consider this model.
Reading does take a lot of time
by Volker Weber
It's now been a month since I got my own Kindle 3. We had a Kindle 2 for almost a year, but that wasn't mine. It has seen some heavy use, so I wanted one for myself. And while I never finished any novel on my iPad, I did read eight books in the last month on the Kindle 3.
Since the Kindle is only on its second full charge and weighs next to nothing, it's going with me, as soon as I carry even a small bag and expect to have some time to read. So it's all good.
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.
— anonymous
Path 1.5: Getting More Personal
by Volker Weber
As Path grows and helps more people be themselves and share life with close friends and family, we try to continue to pursue our vision of the personal network. With Path 1.5 we hope that you can connect with more of your close friends and family than ever before, and express yourself in more personal ways every day on Path, but also on other social networks you know and love, like Facebook. Here is a look at the updates:
E10
by Volker Weber
Die Mineralölwirtschaft wird im Rahmen der laufenden Aktivitäten sicherstellen, dass unverzüglich die DAT-Listen mit Informationen zur Fahrzeugverträglichkeit an allen Tankstellen zur Ansicht ausliegen.
Ich hätte mal eine Idee, was man mit dem Internet so alles machen kann.
Darik's Boot And Nuke
by Volker Weber
Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
Auch iX gibt's im App Store
by Volker Weber
Und das schon seit acht Tagen ...
Why the Kindle is the superior reading device
by Volker Weber
Out in the sun. The iPad screen is on with brightness set to max.
The screen survived, but it was close
by Volker Weber
Habe Zeit
by Volker Weber
Eine der komischsten Sätze, die ich höre, lautet: "Ich habe keine Zeit". Gleich gefolgt von "Du musst eine Zeit haben". Kinders, wir alle mögen unterschiedlich viel Geld haben, aber wir haben alle jeden Tag gleich viel Zeit. 24 Stunden. Entscheidend ist allein, was man damit anfängt. Stellt Euch vor, Ihr habt noch eine Woche zu leben. 7 mal 24 Stunden. Da verschieben sich die Prioritäten, nicht wahr?
VANMOOF
by Volker Weber
Hat jemand in der Gegend so ein Fahrrad? Ich würde gerne mal eine Probefahrt machen und es gibt hier keinen Händler.
From my inbox
by Volker Weber
Danke, Franziska. Jetzt muss ich nur noch den Hauptwasserhahn zudrehen und den Strom stundenweise abschalten. :-)
Feeling grumpy? Watch this.
by Volker Weber
The King's Remix
by Volker Weber
Good Morning CeBIT
by Volker Weber
Photo Thomas Cloer
Tweet of the day
by Volker Weber
The king is dead, long live the king
by Volker Weber
If you got an iPad for Xmas, it just got outdated. The iPad 2 adds two cameras front and back, and it's gotten even thinner. New processor, same display, same storage, same battery power, same price. It's the old Apple story of replacing a great product with an even greater one.
The new cameras remind me of the iPod touch 4gen. Great for video, not so much for photos. "HD" is only 720p which is less than a megapixel. I wonder if Facetime on this device will be better or worse than on the iPod. It's way easier to hold an iPod up than an iPad and you don't want to peek into people's noses. Yes, it will be fun, and so will Photo Booth.
The best new feature is the snap on cover, held by magnets on the left side. It rolls up to form a stand and it will automatically switch the iPad on and off.
Apple has some great deals on the "old" iPad. If saving money is your concern, get the 16 GB for less than 400. The new one will be available from March 11 in the US, and two weeks later here in Germany.
Shiny, precious, want one. :-)
Plantronics Calisto
by Volker Weber
I have always been impressed with the quality of Plantronics products. Today I started using a Calisto 825 desktop speaker and although I can only use part of its potential it has already won the editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award. The 825 connects to your PC and your mobile phone. The 830/835 device will also connect to your phone line, but that particular model was not available yet. It would allow me to ban the landline phone from my desk.
The Calisto is essentially a hands-free device. You can take any call on your PC (or Mac) and route the audio through the Calisto. On a PC, with supported software, you will also be able to handle the call from the Calisto. Dial a number, accept a call, put it on mute, set the status. It connects to your mobile phone at the same time, so you can handle those calls on the Calisto as well. And if I had the 830/835 model, it would also connect to my plain landline through an RJ11 jack.
The little extension at the right is portable microphone on a charger. The 8x0 devices come without that extension, the 8x5 models have it. The use case is simple: if you don't want to stay in front of the device, you can attach that mike to you your shirt or lapel, and transfer the call to that mike with the push of a button. Now you can roam around the room without compromising the audio you transmit. It's easy to listen to the speaker when away from your desk, but the microphone has to be with you unless you want to sound like speaking through a tube.
The Calisto 825 is powered over USB, which means the computer has to be on for it to work. You can plug in an external 5V/500mA power supply to keep it on for your mobile if the computer is off. Since the 830/835 are designed to replace your desktop phone, in addition to connecting to your computer softphone and your mobile, it will come with the power supply.
If you do a lot of conference calls at your desk, you want the Calisto. If there is other people around you, you probably want the Voyager. You may look like something is growing out of your ear, but the sound quality is just amazing.
Some thoughts about the Microsoft briefing on Monday
by Volker Weber
A couple of days ago I was visiting the Microsoft CIO Roundtable in Köln before heading to CeBIT. It was a very interesting event because it gave me some perspectives I did not have before. The event was squarely aimed at customers who are currently running Lotus Notes and are re-evaluating their strategy. The interesting things happened in the Q&As and offline discussions. Some short observations that I have not put into a complete picture yet.
- What you are seeing in the photo above is a Gartner analyst in front of the largest touch (!) screen I have seen so far talking to a very senior IT management audience.
- Two out of three customers who consider a move from Notes to Exchange stay with Notes. That's some of the IBM wins.
- Two major pain points start the discussion: the 8.x Notes client and integration issues.
- Application migration simply is not happening. Customers just let them die from starvation. Minor maintenance on existing platform and reengineering on new platform when necessary. Only trivial apps like file libraries are migrated. Where migrations do happen, the business goes to the cheapest offer, mostly off-shored.
- Exchange wins in mobile support.
- IBM can win bidding wars against Microsoft on price.
- Microsoft knows that Connections is a good product and they do feel the pain from IBM going after their customers.
Microsoft seems to have a pretty good plan on how to win customers from Notes. And they have a full pipeline. Microsoft has also been hiring people formerly working in competitive roles in IBM.
If you read about major migrations from IBM to Microsoft, you are often asking yourself why. The answers you get are only showing a small part of the picture. If you make a business plan based solely on IT cost, none of those seem to make sense. But there is a larger picture around it. In some cases companies have decided on a two vendor strategy: SAP and Microsoft. Or they have gone from a best-of-breed strategy to a single vendor desktop. If your answer is that the customer is stupid, it is more likely that you are. ;-)
TV + easy = tizi ['tI:si]
by Volker Weber
There is a new toy at vowe's magic flying circus, which brings DVB-T channels to your iPhone, iPod touch (3rd & 4th gen), and iPad. Tizi is a small and elegant device that runs off a battery for a couple of hours and charges over Mini-USB. It does not come with a charger but with a cable so you can just use the Apple charger that you will be carrying anyway. Tizi works as a Wi-Fi access point, which can be secured with a password. You download an app from the iTunes store, connect your iOS device to the Tizi access point, scan for channels and you are all set. Tizi asks you to use your current location so it can speed up the scanning because it then knows from other scans which channels to look for. Installation was absolutely painless, and with great DVB-T coverage in Hannover I was watching TV in no time.
If you switch away from the Tizi app on iOS4, it can continue to play the audio stream so that you know when to come back after a commercial break. It also can record TV, but it won't do it on a time schedule. It pretty much does everything I expected it to. There was only one thing I did not consider. Since you connect your device over Wi-Fi to Tizi, you will lose Internet connectivity through Wi-Fi. iPad 3G and iPhone will still have Internet access through the mobile network, but for iPod touch and iPad Wi-Fi, you will only get to watch TV while using Tizi.
Tizi is not broadcasting the current TV channel over Wi-Fi. It is sending the data stream received over DVB-T to the iOS device, where it is rendered as audio and video and also populates the channel overview with data about the running and the next show. This leads to one limitation: only one device can control and watch TV at the same time. If more than one iOS device connect to Tizi, the last one wins.
It's a great experience, but there is one caveat: compared to simple TV USB sticks, it's rather expensive. Tizi sells for 149 €.
