George Tuvell

TMobile’s for sale – Google should buy

Sprint and Verizon are out because they run on CDMA technology, not GSM and UMTS as T-Mobile does. MetroPCS and Leap Wireless also run on CDMA. So, the next best company who might be remotely interested would be AT&T.  That’s a possibility, however I think Google has more of an incentive to buy. With Google Voice and now the Nexus One,  like it or not Google is becoming a telecom operator. Perhaps their relationships with carriers will go the way of their relationship with Apple…friends first, now direct competitors

I believe Google views the largest U.S. operators as competitors and are obstacles to owning the mobile channel, and if they purchased T-Mobile they would pick-up 33 Million new Google Voice users

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Google Voice new wow factor – Click-to-call from web pages

I have been using Google Voice for my voicemail on T-Mobile for several months now. Every time I get a voicemail, I can listen to them online, get an email copy or text message transcription, and keep them archived forever just like email – it’s pretty nice – among many many other features including the capability to send SMS messages from the browser.

But, the new “Click to Call” feature is awesome. If you are using the Google Chrome browser, or Chromium on the Mac, you can install the Google Voice extension that allows you to click on a number on any webpage. After clicking, Google Voice will dial your phone and then connect you to that number automatically. For the super lazy, not only do we not need to remember phone numbers anymore with our digital address books, but we now no longer need to dial them either…at least in front a computer

I’m probably going to be porting my number to Google as well, as this will allow me to have any service plan (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon.etc.) depending on who has the best rates or phones available. I’ll no longer be afraid to switch providers because of having to get a new phone number

Google also gives you a free number when you sign up. You take your pick based on available numbers. If you need a local number in a new area (I soon will) as a second line, you can use Google and forward that number to any phone for free. Pretty cool!

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The new market for security apps – social websites

This is a quick post because I am super busy and don’t have time to write much on this topic…but, today I read about a new Facebook security application, Defensio, from Websense. It can also be used for blogging platforms, and probably more web applications as well.

The point: — > security applications (malicious content and spam filters) are going to be just as important protecting web applications as they were on the traditional desktop we’re all familiar with. There is a SUPER HUGE market forming here (Facebook, Wordpress, etc.). This is the beginning of a new era for both consumer-based and professional web security applications.

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New Respect for Sharks

I caught this 6 foot black tip shark off of Casey Key, FL on new years eve. I say “caught” but the real truth is I just reeled it in. Our friend Greg did the baiting and paddled out into the dark water on a surf board to drop it into the freezing water so I could have this experience..thanks Greg.

Having never ever hooked into a shark (or any fish that comes close to it) it was the most amazing fishing experience I have ever had.

I was 100% physically exhausted after reeling it in. But, after I caught my breath I was able to soak it up. It was absolutely awesome.

We released the shark after the photo shoot.

Some photos…

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Today, I officially dropped cable TV – for good.

The only reason I held onto my cable service over the past year was to watch sports (ESPN and college football), and some shows that my wife and I enjoy, such as bizarre foods (check it out) and Forensic Files, which were previously only available to us on the Travel Channel and TruTV.

The other perks of keeping our cable connection were that we had an HD DVR, so we could watch beautiful HD television, and record shows that we could watch whenever we got around to it.

All of this for about $55 per month…that’s with promotional pricing from RCN.

On top of our cable subscription we have 5mbps internet service that costs $35/mo…not bad, but also promotional pricing.

Now, it’s a major pet peeve of mine when money is unnecessarily spent. It drives me freakin crazy…and our cable bill was absolutely unnecessary: here’s why:

If you have high-speed Internet and a computer connected to your TV, you do not need to pay for cable service!

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Killer presentation – Internet\Mobile Trends. Thanks Mary Meeker.

Mary Meeker’s Internet Presentation 2009

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Road to recovery – economic indicators

CLICK ON IMAGE to ENGLARGE

courtesy mint.com

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Is Twitter Mobile Marketing?

Twitter came on the scene only a few years ago, and although it was originally intended for communications among individuals, it has become a popular marketing platform for some of the world’s largest brands. Companies including Starbucks, ComCast, Whole Foods, Southwest Airlines, Dell and Best Buy are actively using Twitter to communicate with their patrons. Using Twitter is a fabulous way to broadcast alerts, special offers, and other meaningful information to consumers. Given the growing number of third party applications that provide easier ways to monitor the Twitterstream and stay in touch with followers (such as TweetDeck), it’s obvious that Twitter is an outstanding tool for marketers. With all of the recent benefits and buzz, and the ability for consumers to follow updates on their mobile devices, many companies are also turning to Twitter thinking that it is also a mobile marketing platform. Although Twitter does include SMS capabilities, there are several key aspects of traditional permissions-based SMS marketing solutions that Twitter lacks:

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Music – still not everywhere

Today I tried out my new MotoROKR T505, which allows me to stream music from any bluetooth enabled device (i.e. My G1) or ipod (bluetooth adapter may be needed) directly to my car stereo. The MotoROKR connects to the device using bluetooth, and then to the car stereo via an available FM channel. I can listen to music, and make hands free phone calls without an ear piece, which is pretty nice.

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Google Health Rocks – Go digital

I finally got around to loading all of my medical records into google health. It’s so easy and I recommend that everybody do it. Your data is 100% secure and only you can grant access to share it with doctors, insurance providers..and anyone else.

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Bye Bye Text Books

I met the CEO of School Town yesterday, and got to learn a bit about their vision of eliminating all text books in K-12 schools, and providing learning tools 100% over the web.

I must say, it’s a no brainer. The Internet is so underutilized in K-12 school systems. With School Town’s web-based platform, students can learn interactivity with the teacher and other students, use collaboration tools to share items,  link to other sources on the web, and most of the other great things we’ve come to love in SaaS software. Not to mention the millions in savings by eliminating text books. Chicago Public Schools has something around a $30M budget for text books.

I’m believe within the next 10 years text books will go the way of the dinosaur, which doesn’t upset me.

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New favorite tool – DropBox

I work between multiple computers, including a few macs and a windows machine. There are also times I’m accessing files and folders from public machines. I keep a lot of what I do in the “cloud” such as email, contacts, and calendar items that I sync with Google, but I’ve not found an easy way to SYNC FILES across multiple computers, until DropBox.

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Reconnecting

Over the past several months I have reconnected with people that I haven’t talked to in years over the web.

People I met randomly, some I went to grade school with, high school connections, family, family I’ve never met but they found me online, and others who have reached out to explore a professional relationship.

It seems obvious that tools like Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Blogs and other online social media bring us together, but it’s really amazing how much value they bring by allowing us to rediscover lost friends and family and stay in touch.

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My new home media center

I’ve now gone 100% digital with all of my music, movies and photos – here’s how:

Step 1: I purchased a new Samsung 52″ HD LCD flat screen from Best Buy (they have outstanding offers right now due to the economic situation, and in some cases are offering up to 36 months free financing) I had the option of going with a plasma or the new LED (a combination of LCD and plasma), however LCD was the best option for me because it displays the most accurate picture from a computer, and there’s less worry about burning and ghosting. The exact model is LN52A650, and you can read more here.

It connects directly to the internet and has various widgets, such as weather and news feeds as well.

Step 2: I purchased the new Apple Mac Mini, and loaded it up with 4GB of RAM. I got the smallest hard drive offered because my plan was to use external hard drives to store all my media so that I could easily switch computers down the road, and stay flexible enough to switch from mac to linux or windows if need be as well.

I also got the wireless keyboard and mouse – well worth the extra investment and allows me to use the macmini’s browser on a 52″ display – pretty cool. It’s connected via HDMI to my TV for HD quality video too.

Step 3: Two 1 Terabyte external hard disks to store all of my media. I went with the LaCie 1 TB drives. I’m using 1 drive to store everything, and the other drive mirrors the primary to ensure I have a daily backup. Intego Backup is a great (free) application for doing this. I then configured my photo library and iTunes music to load from the external drive. Movies are also stored on the external drive. If my computer were to die, or I needed to upgrade my system, I simply swap out my computer for a new one and all of my media is ready to go.

Step 4: Misc other stuff: I installed Boxee (which I have been testing for about 6 months now). There are still quite a few glitches, but it’s really good for streaming internet TV. I prefer iTunes to browse my music library (using the gmote on my G1 to remotely control) Boxee is good for watching Hulu or NetFlix movies over the web, and that’s about all I use it for. For DVD’s that I’ve ripped I use VLC player - it’s great and plays videos that Boxee and other apps have trouble with.

I would ultimately like to drop my cable TV subscription for free internet video (and my NetFlix fee), however we’re still several years away from that being a reality. By that time my prediction is we’ll have to pay for internet video anyways…and it will be no different that the cable model we’re familiar with today.

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I love to fish

Memorial Day weekend was so relaxing…….and a much needed break. Pulling this catfish in was probably the highlight of my weekend, aside from the great time spent with friends and family.

I really love to fish!

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