Blackberry Storm - Reviews Are Out

I'll put together a few links that will tie as much of the reviews I can find on the Internet together.
Two things to keep in mind with online reviews.

1. Favorites - some reviews will play favorites.  I'm not accusing anyone of blatant bias.  For example, people on iPhone sites will be used to its quirks when it should be an issue but doesn't mention it in its reviews.
2. Some reviewers are not users.  They send a few days at most with a device and sits down in front of their Macbooks and set to provide their best opinions - I've owned the G1 for a month now and I've avoided providing an in depth review until I've had the time to vet it properly.

So far from what I've read, things aren't good when Blackberry-centric sites are cautioning the same things I've mentioned above.  Usually, fan-sites jump right into the fray if reviews are glowing.  After looking through some of the more objective ones, the conclusion seems to be one of the best Blackberries ever on the market but more work is needed via updates and Storm 2. 

Now just the same, if you are interested in the Storm or any other mobile devices, my best advice is to go down to the local stores and spend some time with it.

Yahoo! T-Mobile And Glue - We're Down, Not Out!

Yahoo seems to be on our minds lately at Onxo.  And for good reasons.  Pretty much everyone, not users, are dumping on them.

But just to prove everyone wrong, Yahoo comes charging out with three announcements this week so far.  First, we know Yang is out.  He did what he thought was right for Yahoo and in a perfect world, I agree.  Alas, while I'm hopeful we'll get there some day, the world is far from perfect.  Yahoo needed vision and Yang did not provide one.  Yahoo needed a partner and Yahoo walked away from Microsoft.

All is not lost.  This is huge.  Yahoo made a deal with T-Mobile USA (apparently T-Mobile's international ops as well) to become the default search engine on T-Mobile's phones.  A great coup consider T-Mobile launched the G1 along with Google last month. 

That was the second announcement.  The third announcement is Yahoo! Glue.  What is it?  It's their new search result implementation.  It provides users with text, images, and other results like videos all on one page.  I think it can work well of novice users who are looking for the latest and most commonly searched items.  More at Yahoo's search blog.

Will I be using this?  Sure, I'll give it a try.  It's limited now and Yahoo will need to move fast to increase searchable topics to get folks interested and hooked.

Impact:  So long as Yahoo remains in contention, it's all good for mobile warriors.  In fact, they are doing better than Microsoft.  More competition, the better.

Note:  A Yahoo-Microsoft partnership for mobile search might make sense.  I would use Microsoft's engine at the back end and Yahoo's front end.  Yahoo's UI seems to be more user-friendly and consistent.

Source: Yahoo! Glue, WSJ

Mobility Future Under Obama Administration

Things should be good under an Obama Presidency as far as wireless is concerned, right?

I don't know.  Washington politics.  Who really knows.  So today, let's take a look at those advising the President-Elect and try to see where we go from there.

First, if you didn't already know, is Google's involvement.  A lot of you will argument that is not an accurate statement.  No?

Google is a vision as well as a business.  And Eric Schmidt is one of those folks with a "vision" of how the world should be, or at the very least, how the technology can be used to serve the world.  Furthermore, Sonal Shah, head of Google's Global Development Initiatives, has been tapped to be involved with the Obama transition team.

These folks are not just going to check their opinions at the door of the the Oval Office.  They're being asked to serve by providing their opinions and visions.

Now, there is a balance as well.  There are tech insiders who served with telecoms that should provide a two-sided tale for whatever President-Elect Obama wants to hear.  But the emphasis on technology heavy-weights is a clear shift from the last eight years (to be fair, we have had a lot to deal with in the Bush administration).

The hope is that whatever wireless and technology roadmap is implemented, it is implemented well and on a bipartisan basis.  We're likely to see a lot of initiatives in the first 100 days but I'll be  happy with a more competitive wireless field to start.

Note:  We'll get into the other characters to help us gauge how we'll get to the promise land of ubiquitous mobile broadband.

Cowboys Have Their Horses, Mobile Warriors Have...

Mobile Warriors! This is your ride.

First off, it’s strange how all these new green cars are suppose to be available in 2010. Have you noticed that?

Now, this VW. Yes, I would drive this around town. 280+ miles per gallon and you may even use algae-based diesel if research is as promising as the media reports it to be.

Reported to be 20K to 30K euros (I’m not putting a dollar figure given the dollar to euro rate is a moving target right now), it could be worth it since gas has nowhere to go but up in the short-term.

It’s small frame may be a turn-off for some mobile workers but according to Canadian Driver, this little roadster has safety of the driver built in mind: air bags, stability controls, anti-lock breaks – ejection seat too (just kidding about the ejection seat).

I’m sure a bigger version will come soon thereafter. If VW can create one with more room and even as the expense of the mileage per gallon, it would be worth the sacrifice (280 to say 150 miles per gallon).

We’ll keep an eye on this one for you.

Mobile Gaming on Company Time - Yes, it should be okay.

Is mobile gaming a good thing to have on handhelds and smartphones that are meant for work?

It really depends on the function of the person and how much self-control he or she has but on the whole it is a good idea.

Now, I know a few doctors who are really excited about using the medical programs that will be available on the iPhone (stop calling it the iPhone 3G, folks). But I wouldn't want them to be playing Crash Bandicoot or getting too wound up playing Doom or something like that just before a surgery now would we?

But for everyone else, a bit of unwinding can go a lot way towards relieving stress and increase or maintaining productivity. I have been writing on the iPhone quite a bit more and once in a while when I hit a block, it helps to be able to surf the web or play one of the few games available via jail-break.

I hope employers who plan on giving their mobile warriors iPhones (or any other phones) to do battle allow them to have nearly full access to the phone's functionalities and not hinder what can be an efficient member of the company.

I recently played with a Blackberry my cousin got from her work. It was a great device for work - checking e-mails and keeping in touch with what's going on at her office when she does to work from home or Starbucks. But it annoyed the hell out of her knowing that they purposely crippled the device just to keep her from surfing the web from time to time. I want to give the company the benefit of the doubt in saying that it may have to do with data charges. But knowing her company and who her employers are, that is not the case here.

So, mobile entertainment is a good thing if kept in check. Annoying mobile workers by treating them like children is not. And with the plethora of smartphones like the iPhone and Android phones coming out later this year, it would be a shame to see mobile warriors given the equivalent of sword but no shield.

Mobility Impact from Google-Yahoo Deal

Wired has an article not just about the deal between Yahoo and Google but a bit of analysis.

Here's a quick rundown of potential winners and losers and how the deal impacts mobile warriors.

Potential Winners:

• Google. Not "potential". They won this round.
  
• Yahoo publishers and users. Better ads that is directed at them.
  
• Microsoft. Only if they quickly put this distraction behind them and Balmer focuses on other deals for advertisement. Video advertisement is somewhere they are doing better than Google. They need to go out and step up their game. Those are the deals they need because its high profile. No buyout deals for shortcuts.
• Office equipment manufacturers.
• Yahoo employees. Expect more letters and cheerleading from Yang. After working so hard, I can imagine a lot of the people who worked so hard on their new ad engine very demoralized. Afterall, it was not their fault for series of delays on the part of Yahoo executives.
  

Potential Losers:

• Yahoo shareholders. Oh, those billions. Only Yang and his confessor can really know why he kept declining Balmer's marriage proposal. Even if this deal with Google goes as plan, they will not be looking at those billions any time soon.
  
• Advertisers. While Google has not demonstrated a mean streak like Microsoft with their desktop monopoly, it sucks to have only one guy to deal with and not three guys to play them off each other.
  
• Search. Less competition. Less innovation. While Google still has to contend with Microsoft, Microsoft really has not demonstrated itself to be threat. Ask a typical user out there if they know the different between MSN and Live. I bet they probably don't know Microsoft operates Live. Microsoft has no centralized strategy beyond buy Yahoo at this point.
  
• Microsoft. Balmer seems to be taking this quite personally. More chairs and tables destroyed? Here's the different between Gates and Balmer. Gates is very passionate about Microsoft's technology and impact. Balmer is just very passionate. And with no focus, it's not good for Redmond.
• Yang. From founder to CEO to potentially being spoken in the same breath as the captain of the Titanic.
  

For mobile warriors, it really depends on where you're coming from. For users who routinely use the Internet as a part of their work, we are not likely to see any wholesale changes. For our mobile devices, the change will come depending on how the deal helps Yahoo. It's currently doing well in the world of mobility but there will be a lot of distractions within Yahoo for months to come. This can affect innovation and deployment.

Yang will have to deal with a proxy fight with Icahn. An ugly fight will lead to some Yahoo people leaving the company particularly if the severance plan adopted in the early days of Microsoft's failed takeover is triggered. This will likely impact mobile innovations from Yahoo if they start focusing their attentions else where.

Also, in the recent discussions regarding the 700Mhz auction, Yahoo was not a factor. Maybe that might not be a big deal because I haven't heard Microsoft making a play or their opinions public either. It is likely both companies knew the telecom giants were going to win in the end and simply did not want to antagonize the winner.

Google will likely remain vocal as it as a lot at stake with Android-installed phones scheduled to be released 4th quarter of 2008. A clear victory will give Google a bigger voice in the mobile realm. Here, Yahoo and Google are still competitors and an already weakened Yahoo could mean Google gaining more of a foothold onto the screens of mobile devices. This could be more evident with Android phones.

How about Microsoft's plans for mobile users? There's nothing different between the various versions of Windows Mobile that grabs users. Perhaps, in Mobile 7, we'll see a lot of iPhone features simply copied over and Balmer will labeled them as innovations.

So far, everything is speculation. Everyone is in a wait-and-see mode. For mobile warriors, new features and services will still be coming but not necessarily from Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo. Regardless of how ads are implemented, we will not be impacted greatly in the near future.