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Posted at 02:36 AM in Current Affairs, Food and Drink, PSTN, Sports, Television, Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (0)
VC, angel, blogger Brad Feld wrote a very passionate post about his plan to move for a month from iOS to Android on his blog this past week.
A day or so later VentureBeat picked up the post and reposted it, and the Twittersphere picked up on it adding greater social amplification. Feld's post has resulted in over 155 comments, further cementing in my mind that Android and iOS remain the hot topics/tickets in mobile, while Microsoft gets a light passing mention in the post and comments while Blackberry wasn't even thought of. Reading some of Feld's comments I had to jump into the conversation as I've now spent almost two solid months outside the USA, traveling to Thailand, Australia, France, Portugal and the UK, using both my iPhone 5S (Euro Model), iPad Air, and current Android devices-an HTC One and Nexus 7...plus I've been using both platforms since their respective launches so I do have a perspective. So, I weighed in with a comment. It's so relevant to VoIPWatch readers I'm reposting it below:
Brad,
I have done something similar the last 50 days or so on the road in Thailand, Australia, France, Portugal and soon the UK before heading back to the USA on Saturday. The "something" is I ran both iOS and Android on multiple devices-a EU version iPhone5S, a globally endowed HTC One, my iPad Air and a Nexus7. Part of the experiment was based on the move last summer of the business over to GoogleApps and a steady shift away from Microsoft to cloud based services and apps....I found I could live very well on the Nexus and HTC One for Apps, and most of what I needed to do via Basecamp, with WhatsApp, Skype, etc. I did find that iMessage is beginning to dominate with many colleagues and friends, and that apps like DRAFTS kept me going back to the iPad as well as the fact that the Zagg case/keyboard combo allows me to ditch the Mac Book Air 90 percent of the time when I'm out the hotel or houses I'm renting. I also found the camera on the iPhone5S to be about the sharpest around.
Now on to your comment about SIMs frustrating you. This is something I've made both a game and a mission the past 13 years. That being to always have local SIMs dating back to when I was traveling to France 4 times a year and I actually bought a Nokia phone, signed up for a contract and opened a bank account there to accomplish it before prepaid even existed.
Between clients Gigsky (www.gigsky.com) for data and Truphone (www.truphone.com) for voice, text and data, I'm pretty well set on the global roaming, but I still have sought to know enough about the local SIM market to be able to advise friends of their options.
For starters, I'll agree a few years back, and each time Apple comes out with a smaller SIM, the market for SIM cards goes haywire. A great deal of the problem you and I first experienced would have likely been around the time Apple first went micro the whole industry was caught off guard, and with the runaway demand on the iPhone4's back then, and the delayed international roll out, the best selling idea was to carry your own SIM card cutter..That's what The Phone House went out and bought so visitors to countries they operate in could get a SIM cut down that worked in the 4 and 4S'. I saw the same mentality with regard to the 5's and 5S' as well as iPads. They're cheap to buy on Amazon and a useful throw in your bag in case you can't find the right SIM.
Next is buying a SIM---It really varies. In the UK getting SIMs and Topping up is a snap. Same in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Portugal and Spain. Spain does want proof of ID (your passport) before you get a SIM, but The Phone House stores are great for helping and avoiding language barriers. In Portugal, Vodafone at the airport is a breeze, but I prefer Optimus for data on iPads and the Nexus because the offer an enhanced 4G service on prepaid. TMN has amazing plans, the best voice network and best coverage so it's a toss up between them and Optimus. Down in Australia I found OPTUS to be the best on iOS and Android hands down, but my LTE/4G mobile broadband modem from Telstra couldn't be beat when on a train or in places where the WiFi was saturated. It was a godsend, and worth the investment.
Over in New Zealand I used both Telecom NZ and Vodafone with stellar results, simple pick up the SIM at the airport in Auckland and never had an issue the week I was there. In Thailand True move is the hipper carrier and again, the airport stand just outside baggage claim had me up and running on iOS and Android devices in no time at all. France used to be a breeze on SFR and Orange, but they've made changes to their plans. I've also found that #3 Bouygues Telecom is a rapid challenger, and has the best 4G network in the country. I switched over to them on my Android HTC One and have SIM's to use on my iPhone and iPad for my return in February. Once you learn the steps to activating the plans it's a breeze...UK I have SIM's with Vodafone, T-Mobile and 3, and am going to move my T-Mobile over to their new EE prepaid plans on Thursday with what is called double fast broadband. A tip with T-Mobile is you can set this up to charge your American Express card if you register an UK address with AMEX. That's all of a phone call, and then you can renew whenever you need to, keep some money on the SIM (they don't expire it for a long time) and have your numbers.
I'll admit most people don't travel the amount I have the last 8 or 9 years, nor do they visit the same countries enough to warrant having all these SIMs..but with the iPad and Nexus 7 becoming almost attached to my hip, knowing which operators offer what, and being able to use both devices for VoIP calls sure allows me to stay connected everywhere. The really big benefits come when I'm using GoToMeeting or WebEx as their apps work very well on both platforms and when you have really fast mobile broadband, you can be in many places getting work done, without worry or concern. That is reason enough for me to have local SIM's vs. trying to find a WiFi hotspot that's quiet..
If I can help you out with this, hit me up...
Andy Abramson
CEO
Comunicano, Inc.
Posted at 01:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Posted at 01:26 AM in Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Mobile, PSTN, Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted at 01:49 AM in Current Affairs, Mobile, PSTN, Sports, Television, Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (0)
Image via CrunchBase
At Comunicano, our master of the message, Bill Ryan hammers on regularly about why positioning is so important. He should know. Back in 90s his agency, NRW was brought in by the late Steve Jobs to help with the turnaround of Apple. Now, some 16 years later, you can still see the fingerprints of Bill and his colleagues who left their mark on one of the world's true iconic products companies.
All you have to do is read today's post on Business Insider and see the difference between Google and Apple as iOS vs. Android is the battleground of today.
To Apple product owners the experience that they have with Apple is one from top to bottom and at the end of the day, that is what really matters.
With Google and Android, it's not the same.
Sure you can get gift cards for iTunes or Play, but the fragmentation of Google Android vs. the single experience of Apple tells the whole story. Personally, the Play gift cards seem so me too, it feels like they are on store shelves only because Apple already was.
Don't get me wrong, Google is moving in the same direction as Apple--quickly, and my experience as a Google Apps user is only getting better, but I have that experience on Apple products as well as on Google's Android and Chromebook devices, but what I don't get from Google or Android is the Apple Store, the Geniuses or the support that Apple puts behind its products with anything other than the core apps of Google.
Apple owns their customers expereince end to end. That's where it breaks down for Google. If there's a problem with an Android device immediately it's the manufacturers problem, not Google's. Let's call that the second layer of fragmentation. And, there's more when you look at the two side by side, which is why at the end of the day, an Apple product and Google services is the REAL combination that is killing BlackBerry and Microsoft.
Net-Net--Apple positions better than Google but together they are an unbeatable combination which makes me wonder if the two companies really are rivals, or simply allies with common enemies, and really are working together on a far more strategic level than they let on.
Posted at 12:58 AM in Current Affairs, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0)
There's a lot of anger and animosity being directed to online e-tailers like Amazon and the delivery companies, UPS and FedEx for not getting the presents to their intended recipients on time. I'll take a contrarian's view point and applaud the logistical giants one and all for doing the right thing. Sure, many children and adults were dissapointed, but when the thoughts of what else may have happened race through my mind, the crisis counselor in me says that UPS and FedEx made the right decisions.
So what if presents arrive a few days late...Better a day late that than not at all in my book.
Let's start with UPS and Fed Ex, both companies which are often under appreciated, clearly made the right moves in not having drivers and warehouse staff, many who already were working overtime hours and extra days not deliver on Christmas Day. Not only did it make for good fiscal sense for the companies, as the overtime would have been directly impacting their bottom lines, but what has been overlooked by many is the health and welfare of the drivers-who also need the day off.
They want and often need to be with their families so by not forcing the drivers to work the companies didn't wreck the plans they made, or give their families a less than happy holiday. Now imagine if the overtimed and overtired drivers got into a fatal accident because the public wanted their packages on Xmas eve. Those are big trucks, and an already overworked person driving around in holiday traffic in any size vehicle is a danger on our roads. So, yes, call the decisionmakers at FedEx and UPS over cautious. But don't call them callous because some presents didn't arrive. There's a certain point where not changing plans makes sense and this was one of those examples as so far we haven't heard of a UPS or FedEx driver overturning a vehicle racing to make sure the presents were delivered on time..
As for Amazon-beyond the apologies and the credits the reality is they are migrating to their own delivery companies to augment what UPS and FedEx do. In some cases its great, but in other cases it's just so so...
As for what can be done...well, part of the problem lands at the feet of the online retailers. Last minute sales, lead to unanticipated demand on the logistics companies. There's only so much room on airplanes and in trucks for so many packages. Add in offers of free shipping, gift wrapping (added weight, space) and you start to see how even the best run companies at figuring out how to get the box from point A to point B can underestimate.
People also have the whole year to shop and ship...but being procrastinators simply means waiting until the last minute likely leads to a problem for some. I can see all kinds of things coming from this.
1. More local pick up by Amazon as their predictive delivery knowledge increases
2. Tiered delivery service costs-if you really want it delivered, you'll pay a premium after a certain date. Call it the procrastinators tax.
3. A return to physical retail. Expect the big box stores to get better at competing, targeting offers and having products actually on hand, or close enough to be picked up.
4. The rise of the local suppliers.
Like anyone, I get upset when something expected isn't delivered on time, but in this case, level headed thinking outweighs the emotional angst that the buying public feels. I for one would rather get the present later versus finding out that a case of wine was damaged in an overturned truck that killed two people because I had to have my wine before Xmas...sorry. The welfare of the drivers and the welfare of the public trumps personal need and as long as the wine isn't damaged, or can be replaced, why should I care...(In my case I asked wine shippers to hold off shipping until after Xmas....)
Posted at 12:39 AM in Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Posted at 12:38 AM in Current Affairs, Mobile, PSTN, Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (0)
Back when I started VoIPWatch innovation was happening in voice, video and collaboration. That was in the era where Jeff Pulver coined the phrase "Purple Minutes", Alec Saunders crafted his VoIP Manifesto, Skype was still a fledgling independent, Michael Robertson was busy figuring out Gizmo Project with the likes of Jeff Bonforte, James Tagg was inventing Truphone and the ever lovable tag team of Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet were cooking up GrandCentral, which we all now call GoogleVoice. Video was something that was coming-SightSpeed being one of the first and IM with AOL, Yahoo and MSN/Windows Messenger all were the way we "texted" or "chatted."
But along came the iPhone and the innovation shifted away from voice and even video to apps. Mobile Apps, Web Apps. App for Apps even Apps for SAPS.
Now I'm sure many will say that WebRTC is where the innovation is, but I'll contend that all WebRTC will be is a simplification of SIP. Forget about building and writing things that break new ground, now all you have to do is build on top of what's in the browser. If Web sites that used to go for six figures can now be outsourced to 99Designs.com or services like LauchRock for hundreds of dollars, so too will communications apps go that route. It's natural evolution.
The cost to develop drops, new services come along and that's about disruption.
If you have a really game changing communications app or service, come talk to me. It can be in the infrastructure or end user layer or even a game changing add on to something we all use everyday...the world is ready for new, different and radically different ways to do things..today is yesterday somewhere, so think about tomorrow...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Posted at 02:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted at 12:59 AM in Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted at 01:06 AM in PSTN, Travel, VoIP, VoIP and Wi-FI, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0)
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