As the Cablevision/Fox talks reach their eleventh day, I want to take a few moments to be amazed at how these two companies have lost focus on the consumer. I still put my allegiance behind Cablevision as I believe that Fox deliberately scheduled their blackout to coincide with the Sports programming. I hope that Cablevision continues to stick to their guns because in a few more days, Fox will reach their deadline with Dish Network and then 14.3 million more homes will be effected by this struggle. That will increase the pressure on Fox to settle as surely their ratings will be getting hammered even more.
Yes, I know as a non-sports fan it's easy for me to take the high road here as many fans are upset at not being able to see their teams play. Heck, I'm upset that Fox preempts The Simpsons and Family Guy for Sports. I mean in this world of ever diversified cable channels, why do broadcast channels think they need to show sports on their regular channels is beyond me. But, back to my point, even as this fight threatens my ability to watch my favorite Fox shows, I still stand with Cablevision because I think that Fox's demands are way out of line for a commercial broadcast network. Besides, there are other ways to view your favorite programming, and are legal.
There is Hulu.com an online service which provides online access to your favorite shows. Although, you mayhave to wait a day or two for them to become available. But, just like a DVR, once it is available you can view the shows at your time. There are two point about this though. First, Fox had originally demanded that Hulu block their content from Cablevision customers. Although they quickly retracted that demand, as talks continue to stall who knows if they may revisit that scare tactic. It also makes me wonder how they would punish Dish customers once they join the fight. The other thing about Hulu is that you are forced to sit through the commercials. Although, the commercial breaks only last between 30-90 seconds, they cannot be fast forwarded through and they are often repetitively annoying. This option is free although they do offer premium content for a fee.
Another option is to get a Slingbox (http://www.slingmedia.com) and have a friend with a different service allow you to plug in. I have used a Slingbox for a couple of years now to watch TV while I travel. It allows me to connect in with hometown news and programs. It also allows me to watch and control my Tivo while on the road. Optional software will also allow you to watch your Slingbox on your Smartphone, great for long waits at the airport or the doctor's office.
While I hope that Fox comes to terms with Cablevision and Dish Network. I really hope that Cablevision and Dish prevail. Because there is more to this struggle than just a contract for retransmission of content. There is a precedent to be set. If Cable and Dish win, that means that Networks like Fox, NBC, ABC, Scripps, YES, etc. have reached their limit on milking money from the public. Yes, they are entitled to be paid for their content but, they need to make their demands realistic. The public can live without the programming. They may not be as happy, but life will go on.
Showing posts with label Smartphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smartphone. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Blackberry Browsing and Voicemail
When I first started using mobile devices with internet access, I was excited. I was thinking of all the great websites that I can finally see on my commute and no longer be tethered to my desktop computer or have to lug a laptop with me. Boy, was I wrong.
The first generation of mobile browsers barely understood html (Hyper Text Markup Language, the code behind internet pages), not to mention fancy languages like Flash, Ajax or any of the other common languages. As phone companies jockeyed for position, specialized languages were created for mobile devices however many of them were specific to the model and pages needed to be written differently for different phones.
The current version of the Blackberry browser does a better job at resolving regular websites. However, unless the site you’re looking at was designed with the mobile market in mind, chances are most of the plug-ins will not work and the page may be unreadable.
Opera Mini
Enter Opera Mini (http://m.opera.com/) . this little browser does a better job of resolving regular webpages on the Blackberry. It sometimes shifts elements around to make it easier to browse and it still may have a problem with a plugin or two. However, it can work on many more full webpages than the built in Blackberry browser.
It also brings in features such as the option to create a profile and save your bookmarks off the device. This way they can be easily restored should your phone loose its memory or you upgrade to a new phone. The opera browser also uses a special streamlined rendering engine with server side compression that can help the page appear much quicker. Best of all, the opera mini browser is free.
Google Voice
After several years being known as Grand Central, Google bought out the start up about two years ago, changed the name to Google Voice and has finally released it into the wild (http://www.google.com/voice). What makes Google Voice so special?
When you sign up for Google Voice (GV), they offer you your own phone number in any of the available area codes. Live in New York and want an Los Angeles number? Not a problem! Want a local number? Not a problem either! Why would you want another number? Well, this is the number you can give out to those pesky contests that you know will be harassing you with sales calls. Or, this is the number you can give out to that annoying guy or girl that keeps asking you out. Or, this can be the number that you use for your business and even your family. This number can do it all! How does it work?
When someone calls your GV number, the service checks their Caller ID against your list of friends, business associates, enemies and even, telemarketers. Based on which category the number falls, the call can be forwarded to your home, cell, and/or work numbers to and find you. The call can be sent to Voicemail or, in the case of telemarketers, the system will let you play possum and will sound a disconnect notice when they call. This way your personal number can remain personal while providing contact information to the people you’re not too sure of. Also, should you decide to change your personal phone numbers, GV can be easily reprogrammed with new numbers.
But wait, there’s more! GV now allows you to set it up as your Cell Phone’s Voicemail. Thus providing premium voicemail features such as Voicemail to Text. When someone leaves you a voicemail, the system converts it to text and sends it to you in an SMS message (standard message rates apply). Depending on how clearly your caller speaks, it does an adequate job transcribing. At least enough that you can figure out what is being said (only works for English though). If your caller is recognized and have forwarding numbers set up, GV will also try to forward the call to those numbers as well.
How much would you expect to pay for such a premium voicemail system? Twenty dollars a month? Thirty dollars a month? Much more? Well, Google offers this service for the nominal sum of Free! That’s right $0! How great is that?
Well, that’s it for today. Next time on the blog… I’m not sure yet. So come on back and see!
The first generation of mobile browsers barely understood html (Hyper Text Markup Language, the code behind internet pages), not to mention fancy languages like Flash, Ajax or any of the other common languages. As phone companies jockeyed for position, specialized languages were created for mobile devices however many of them were specific to the model and pages needed to be written differently for different phones.
The current version of the Blackberry browser does a better job at resolving regular websites. However, unless the site you’re looking at was designed with the mobile market in mind, chances are most of the plug-ins will not work and the page may be unreadable.
Opera Mini
Enter Opera Mini (http://m.opera.com/) . this little browser does a better job of resolving regular webpages on the Blackberry. It sometimes shifts elements around to make it easier to browse and it still may have a problem with a plugin or two. However, it can work on many more full webpages than the built in Blackberry browser.
It also brings in features such as the option to create a profile and save your bookmarks off the device. This way they can be easily restored should your phone loose its memory or you upgrade to a new phone. The opera browser also uses a special streamlined rendering engine with server side compression that can help the page appear much quicker. Best of all, the opera mini browser is free.
Google Voice
After several years being known as Grand Central, Google bought out the start up about two years ago, changed the name to Google Voice and has finally released it into the wild (http://www.google.com/voice). What makes Google Voice so special?
When you sign up for Google Voice (GV), they offer you your own phone number in any of the available area codes. Live in New York and want an Los Angeles number? Not a problem! Want a local number? Not a problem either! Why would you want another number? Well, this is the number you can give out to those pesky contests that you know will be harassing you with sales calls. Or, this is the number you can give out to that annoying guy or girl that keeps asking you out. Or, this can be the number that you use for your business and even your family. This number can do it all! How does it work?
When someone calls your GV number, the service checks their Caller ID against your list of friends, business associates, enemies and even, telemarketers. Based on which category the number falls, the call can be forwarded to your home, cell, and/or work numbers to and find you. The call can be sent to Voicemail or, in the case of telemarketers, the system will let you play possum and will sound a disconnect notice when they call. This way your personal number can remain personal while providing contact information to the people you’re not too sure of. Also, should you decide to change your personal phone numbers, GV can be easily reprogrammed with new numbers.
But wait, there’s more! GV now allows you to set it up as your Cell Phone’s Voicemail. Thus providing premium voicemail features such as Voicemail to Text. When someone leaves you a voicemail, the system converts it to text and sends it to you in an SMS message (standard message rates apply). Depending on how clearly your caller speaks, it does an adequate job transcribing. At least enough that you can figure out what is being said (only works for English though). If your caller is recognized and have forwarding numbers set up, GV will also try to forward the call to those numbers as well.
How much would you expect to pay for such a premium voicemail system? Twenty dollars a month? Thirty dollars a month? Much more? Well, Google offers this service for the nominal sum of Free! That’s right $0! How great is that?
Well, that’s it for today. Next time on the blog… I’m not sure yet. So come on back and see!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Chatting on the Blackberry
Ask my wife, I am a gadget maniac and I love to customize my gadgets with as many apps as possible. If a gadget claims it can do something, I want to see it do it. As I begin this post, I am writing it on my Blackberry Bold 9000. I've had the unit for little over a year and happy to say it has worked very well for me. I have added a number of features which have enhanced my experience. Even better many of these apps are free!
Blackberry Messenger (BBM)
This feature comes with your Blackberry and many people aren't aware. What it does is allow you to text back and forth with other BBM users.
Why would you want to use this? The main reason is that the messaging is included with you Blackberry Internet service and texts sent through this do not count against your SMS quota (if you have one). What I like best is that BBM indicates when a message is received by the recipient and when they've read it. This alleviates the nagging question if your message got there.
The drawback is that the app only works for Blackberry to Blackberry. So, if you have a friend that has a shiny new iPhone, you need to stick to SMS or regular email. The other challenge is that it uses a unique Blackberry PIN code to identify users. Often users have trouble finding this information however it can be easily received by typing "mypin" in any message and the Blackberry with automatically change it to your PIN code.
If you’ve installed the updayed BBM application, a new feature was added, individual and group barcodes. Using this feature, a user can scan the bar code off of their friend’s Blackberry using the smartphone’s camera. Instantly the two friends will be hooked up as buddies bypassing the usual approval process. One little known feature is that the BBM can read any QR Barcode. You may have seen these codes on the bottom of advertising or in magazines. Scanning one of these codes will send the user to a web page, add a contact or create an SMS message.
Here is an example of a QR Barcode. It contains a link back to this blog. A great site for information about QR Codes and to create one of your own is here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ (plus it is free!).
CrunchSMS
So what about communicating with the non-Blackberry users? Well, Blackberries do have a built in SMS application however, it sorts on date and makes it hard to use SMS as a quick back and forth communicator.
Enter CrunchSMS (http://www.crunchsms.com/). This application can be used as a replacement SMS application. Just follow the directions to deactivate the Blackberry SMS app. Using this application organizes your SMS messages by contact. So, you can easily follow the thread of your conversations. It stores the history of your conversations for as long as you like. It displays the photo of your contacts and displays the messages as color coded bubbles so you know what you said and what they said as well as the time you said it.
Best of all the application is free. Of course there is a small space reserved for advertising and for a small fee (less than $5) you can support the developers and have the advertising removed. Personally, I think it is well worth it, not that the advertising is intrusive (it is not) but to help support innovation and individual programmers.
Wow, this entry is getting long and I’ve only covered two of my favorite apps. So let me sign off for today and next time we’ll look at a internet browser options as well as my favorite voicemail system.
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