Will Kelly

WWD Post: iPhone Blogging Tools Roundup

When I made the jump to the iPhone 3G it was most definitely a platform play for me. As a web worker who can be on and off client sites all day, I still want access to my personal web properties, especially my blogs, which serve as a professional face for me online.

via webworkerdaily.com

WWD Post: Create Mind Maps on the Go with MindJet for iPhone

Meryl recently wrote about the benefits of developing mind maps with pen and paper. However, what about those of us who are cursed with poor penmanship and want to develop mind maps on the go without having to carry around paper and a pen?

via webworkerdaily.com

MindJet for the iPhone is one of the first apps I purchased for my new iPhone and I am finding it a very usable and well done application.

My Initial Impressions about the Palm Pre

I was a long time Palm customer dating back to the time that predates smartphones. In fact, I first started carrying a Palm PDA back when you could sit around a conference table and the meeting participants who were carrying a PDA where the exception rather than the rule.

Palm and I had a break up during the Treo 650 generation because they became irrelevant as they lagged behind in technology. When developments in the Treo product line grew stale, I became a Blackberry user.

Thoughts about the Recent Apple WWDC Announcements

Yesterday, I followed the Apple WWDC keynote online via Engadget, gdgt, and other online geek news outlets. While FY 2009 is probably not going to see any new hardware upgrades in my home office, I was enthused about the announcement of Snow Leopard and the next generation of the iPhone.

Just Installed Windows 7 RC 1

Today, I finally got around to installing Windows 7 RC 1 on my MacBook Pro with a little bit of help from VMWare Fusion. It was a smooth install after I upgraded VMWare Fusion to the latest version.

My Impressions about Netbooks

While I've yet to pull the trigger on a Netbook for myself, I've been following developments in the market.

My laptop of choice is a MacBook Pro and I also have a MacBook Air so at the current time I really don't have a real use for a Netbook. When I want to travel light, I grab my MacBook Air. It has served me well when I needed to have a computer with me while I was on personal travel more than once over the past year or so.

My Blackberry lost a shift key

My Blackberry lost a shift key and it seems "toothless" for some reason"

Road Review: MacBook Air

I took my MacBook Air along on a recent New York City trip and the machine behaved like a champ both on the Amtrak Acela and in my hotel room.

It was great that I was able to stow my MacBook Air (in its protective sleeve) in my backpack versus having to carry a separate laptop bag. I like to travel light when I am on vacation.

Road Review: Amazon Kindle

I took my Amazon Kindle with me to provide reading material  when I was taking the Amtrak Acela on my recent trip to New York City.

My Kindle was a Christmas present last year and it has taken me a long time to get used to the device because ever since I was a kid, I've found comfort in print books. Reading books was also a big part of my life when I was an English Major in college.

Why I've yet to succumb to the Apple iPhone 3g

I had multiple sightings of the iPhone 3g in the wild while I was out and about in New York City during my last visit. In fact more than once, I felt like I was in an iPhone 3g commercial. As an early adopter, I began to wonder why I have yet to surrender to the iPhone.

Mobile Worker Meet your Web Office

Perhaps the single most FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) about Web Office applications  is the lack of offline access to these Web Office suites for mobile workers.  This FUD is disappearing rapidly.

However, today's leading edge Web Office applications like Zoho Business, ThinkFree Office, and Google Apps are now offering offline access for users meaning that a mobile worker can now update and work on documents while on a plane or when WiFi access is a bit sketchy.

Census Bureau Dropping Handhelds for 2010 Census

It's all over the news that the Census Bureau is killing their plan to automate the 2010 census using wireless  handhelds due to technical glitches and obviously poor project management and requirements gathering.

Census Back to Pen and Paper (from Washingtonpost.com)

The government is dropping plans to use handheld computers to count millions of people, citing problems with a contract that was intended to make the 2010 Census the nation's first high-tech head count.

Favorite Mobile Apps of 2007

In 2007, I parted ways with the Palm OS and the Treo platform altogether. Migrating to the Blackberry 8800 was a productivity boon as I spent more time mobile between  my home office and client sites. I lost faith in Cingular/AT&T and needed push email that my Cingular Treo 650 couldn't provide me.

Super Duper Secret SmartPhone Unveiled

NSA rings up a secure (and rugged) smartphone (from news.com)

Finally, here's a phone plan that allows you to switch from the U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network to the Unclassified but Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network with a single keystroke.

I wonder how long until one of these new Federal government smartphones are found on the metro or in some bar DC area bar bathroom?

Why I passed on the iPhone

I've long been known as an early adopter much less a user who rediscovered the Macintosh and the brilliance known as Apple engineering after a long respite.

However, I made conscious decision to avoid the iPhone. Here is why:

• Cingular offered great service and when I called customer care there was a native English speaker on the other end of the line who was competent and knowledgeable in the product line beyond the script they were reading from their computer monitor.  As a customer, I was willing to sacrifice 24/7 customer support providing I had the comfort of knowing that I could call a native English speaker who could solve my problems (which I had plenty of as an early adopter of the Treo 650 on Cingular's network).
• When the ATT/Cingular acquisition was consummated  my calls were dropping so much I would joke that it was the network with the most dropped calls. While some drops could be attributed to the condition of my phone the sudden drop in service quality made me wonder if ATT Mobility was decommissioning the more expensive Cingular built networks in my home region.
• My smartphone needs changed as I went to independent consultant status and  my ISP wouldn't allow email forwards to my Treo so migrating to a Blackberry 8800 made good business sense. It was important for me to be able to respond to emails even if I was out on a client site (sans using their equipment).

Palm Foleo Delayed?

Engadget reports that the Palm Foleo is delayed. They cite a Barrons report which mentions a number of software bugs dealing with Foleo to Treo synchronization. Not a good sign but then again the whole news of the Foleo shows that Palm has lost their focus on the Smartphone market.

Palm went from being a market leader in the Smartphone space to launching something like the Foleo. While Engadget called them out and Palm gave a public response as a disaffected Palm customer I can only sigh.

Will Kelly iPhone Watch

The iPhone launch day came and past and I've yet to see an iPhone in the wild. While I am a big Apple fan and followed the news leading up to the launch of the iPhone, I can't count myself as an early adopter of the phone.

Yes, I geeked out over the specs and was a long time Cingular (now AT&T) customer. However, I recenly migrated over to T-Mobile and purchased a Blackberry 8800. Thus far the Blackberry 8800 has been an excellent device, push email has been a real productivity tool, and I have yet to regret taking my old Treo 650 out behind the barn and putting it out of its misery even though my contract with Cingular wasn't even up.   

Bye Cingular Treo...Hello T-Mobile Blackberry 8800

I was a longtime Palm and Treo user and with all the changes at Cingular and I must say the launch of the Palm Foleo -- it was time to move on. So I traded in my old school Cingular Treo 650 (a holdover due to a LT Cingular contract) for a T-Mobile Blackberry 8800.

My history as a PDA and later a SmartPhone user started back in the day when you could walk into a meeting and a minority had such devices on the table besides their laptop, drink, notepad, and pens.

Here are my initial thoughts about moving over to the T-Mobile Blackberry 8800:   

T-Mobile Wing Launches

I've begun to seriously reconsider getting a new phone as my Treo 650 isn't aging gracefully and now that Cingular is the "New AT&T".  The T-Mobile Wing recently launched and I am seriously considering it along with the T-Mobile Blackberry 8800.

ZDNet's Matthew Miller chimes in on the launch of the T-Mobile Wing:

T-Mobile Wing replaces the T-Mobile MDA by ZDNet's Matthew Miller -- T-Mobile announced the release of a Windows Mobile 6 Professional (aka Pocket PC Phone Edition) device called the T-Mobile Wing. This device was revealed just a couple of weeks ago by the FCC and it didn't take long for T-Mobile to get it out. The press release and device specifics haven't even been posted on T-Mobile's site yet, but a couple of fellow mobile enthusiasts have full reviews that you should check out for more information. Mobility Site and Mobile Tech Review take the Wing for a spin and for the most part are pleased with the device. It lacks 3G since T-Mobile is the only major U.S. carrier without this service so that is one area of concern. It does have WiFi and Bluetooth, but also uses the 200 MHz processor like that used in the current T-Mobile MDA. This is fine for Smartphones, but a Professional device really should have 300 MHz or more under the hood. That said, I have some gadget cash saved up and may be adding the T-Mobile Wing to my collection soon.

No Skype for Mobile Phones?

Skype says time is not ripe for cell phone version (from news.com)

While there are many compelling reasons to have Skype running on a cell phone, the major carriers don't seem to be there with attractive flat fee packages that would make economic sense for users.