How many times have you forgotten to buy milk? RTM is a really nice, easy to use task reminder/ fully integrated to do list. All the regular functions are included like due date, importance, groups etc. They also use Google Gears so that you have full offline access to the account. Location based tasks are very useful also. You can set where the task needs to get done using Google Maps or GPS. They just came out with an iPhone app which is really nice because it syncs with the Web app. The sync is really great because Steve Jobs decided to leave out a todo list or tasks function from the iPhone. I have no idea why this feature was left out, most smart phones have active sync which allows them to sync all Microsoft Exchange items including tasks.
The reall beauty lies in their integration with other platforms like iGoogle, Google Calendar, Twitter, Gmail, Blackberry and so many more. With there API they have been able to do some really neat stuff.
So a little about the Twitter integration, all you need to do is to follow RTM on Twitter and they provide a verification code to Identify you. Once that is set up all you need to do is to direct message RTM a task like ” meeting tomorrow with Steve at 7am” and it will automatically add the task to RTM and it works like a charm.
Motorola just announced that they are going to be laying off a whopping 3,000 employees, two thirds of which are from the handset department. I cannot say I am surprised when they are wasting their time and energy designing phones like the Aura.
The thing is, Motorola is not the only Hi-Tech company that is in the process of layoffs, not even close. The entire industry is going through a major crisis, in fact it is so bad, CNET has a dynamic chart of all the Hi-Tech companies that have laid off employees including the exact numbers. Check it out here.
The companies that have recently laid off employees include Aliph (does that mean the Jawbone is going to get a price reduction or the opposite?), Symantec, Xerox, Yahoo (do I really need to link to Yahoo.com?), and one company that has affected your favorite blogger, yours truly, Comverse. The list goes on.
In trying to shine some light on the very dark situation, I will say, let’s just hope this crisis forces companies to improve their products or lower their prices, after all, with or without a paycheck, I still need to buy new cellphones, don’t I?
In the cellular world, it is not often that we come across a truly useful app that can be used by not only smartphones or iPhones, but also by pretty standard handsets that only support Java apps. I recently read about a new Mobile IM client that aggregates all the available IM networks in one easy-to-use interface on your Java-enabled phone.
Of course it was not long before I downloaded my copy of Trutap and sure enough, a really great app that I am sure to use a lot of in the future. It combines AIM, MSN Messenger, GTalk, and even Facebook chat. It is kinda like a Digsby for your phone (I cannot recommend Digsby in strong enough words, amazing app).
Not many mobile apps have impressed me so fast, in fact I think the only other one was Fring, and there is no need to tell you how awesome Fring is (although it does not work on my Java-enabled 6288). Anyway, Trutap is entering a pretty competitive market, but I think it has all the apps that I know of beaten.
Motorola seems to be attempting to get back in the game, but just like last time, they are doing it all wrong. Motorola released the new Motorola Aura (at least last time, they had a pretty cool name, I mean, Aura?) handset, I think you should sit down for this.
Before I tell you what is so special about this phone, let me tell you what is not. The specs! The phone is 18 mm thick (just for reference, the original Razr was 14mm), it does not have 3G or Wifi, and the camera is a boring 2 megapixels.
So then someone please tell me why the heck this phone costs, (are you sitting down?), a whopping (I’m telling you, you’re gonna want to sit down for this one) $2000? OK so it is supposed to be one of those stylish looking phones, I get it, but at least the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte has 3G and a decent 3.2 megapixel camera.
Well, at least they did a good job with the design, right? Wrong! This phone is, in my opinion, one of the ugliest phones I have ever seen. Is it just me? Even in the below video, in which they are attempting to show off the beauty of the phone (I think that’s what they are doing, I need to brush up on my Russian), opening and closing the phone seems painfully difficult.
I don’t know about you, but Motorola making $2,000 phones when they have not made a good $50 phone in months, just does not sit well with me. Someone needs to talk some sense into whoever is making the decisions over there in the Motorola house, otherwise, at this rate, when I buy my son his first cellphone (he is now 4, I figure he has a few more months), he will never have heard of Motorola.
In Motorola’s defense, they have not given up. I have to admit that with phones like this, this, and this, I would’ve given up long ago.
The details about the new platform are not so exciting at all. Palm is dragging far behind the iPhone’s software and now with Android, their release will likely cost them millions in loses. We have already seen their phones running on Windows Mobile, so why all of a sudden do they need to release their own OS? I think their market share is dwindling and they soon will be out of business.
Google released a new version of their Mobile Gmail client for all Java phones as well as Blackberry devices. The new client brings offline email so you can read and compose your emails when you have no access to the Web. It also supports multiple account access and a few new shortcuts to access its menu.
I have used this app many times and as convenient as it was to have Gmail on my phone, it always struck me as a little primitive. After reading about the enhancements of the second generation Mobile Gmail, my opinion has not changed. In the 3 years since the original app came out, all Google could come up with is offline access? Didn’t Outlook do that like 10 years ago? OK, granted Outlook is on a PC and this is on a cellphone, but still, I expected much greater enhancements, like maybe the ability to have it run in the background and notify you of new mail.
Maybe Google should stop spending money on fighter jets (yes, Google bought a fighter jet) and pay their developers more money to actually make useful products.
On Friday, before I left the states I canceled my AT&T plan, which I signed up for to get an iPhone. I called customer support and told them I was leaving the country and I no longer needed the plan. I was told that since I was within 30 days of activation that I did not need to pay the early termination fee of $175, which I was pleasantly surprised to hear. I then went ahead and paid my bill and I was done. There was no mention of returning the phone or paying a fee. Pretty sweet deal.
Over the last few days, things seemed to have slowed down a little in the cellular world. I really did not come across any huge industry news when going through my daily blog routine, which by the way includes the following blogs/sites:
Only two pieces of news struck me as blog worthy, one because of its beauty and innovation, while the other, for the exact opposite reason.
Let’s start with the new Intel Mobile Internet Device (MID). It does not have a real keyboard and its specs are too weak for it to be a laptop. However, it is not small enough to be a phone, it seems to be in a category of its own, the category of MIDs.
This device looks pretty cool to me, kinda like a stretched out iPhone. There are not that many specs available, but the video of the thing definitely does a good job marketing the concept.
On the flip side of things, Motorola (wait, who?) is trying to get into the touch screen game. Except they are not doing a very good job, in my opinion. I don’t know what happened to the cellular giant of the first few years of the 21st century, but it seems that after the Razr (I do not mean that with any sort of sarcasm, I remember the first time I laid hands on a Razr, I was wowed!), they disappeared completely. Yea, they make an announcement here and there, but it is not for no reason, that I have not mentioned the word Motorola on this blog until now.
Anyway, Motorola announced their new handset, what they call the Crave. Seems like a cool name for a phone, right? Well maybe the name is cool, but the phone is far from it.
Besides its obvious ugliness, the specs are outright boring. 2.8 inch touchscreen (not quite there), 2 MP camera with no flash (I am falling asleep writing this), 138 MB internal memory (didn’t Bill Gates once say a few MBs will be enough?), and, are you ready for the big feature? Bluetooth! OK, I am exaggerating a little, it also has GPS, but all in all this phone does nothing for me.
I am sure Motorola will sell a few of these devices, but I have one major question about this phone. OK, so it is a little on the boring side, and not the most attractive of handsets, fine, I can handle that. The only thing I really don’t get here is, why would Motorola cover the touch screen display with an external plastic cover? Isn’t the point of a full touch screen the ease of accessibility? Why would one want to have to lift a piece of plastic every time one wants to access the very feature that is supposed to make the phone somewhat modern? Anyone, anyone?
If you are still reading this post, maybe you are a lover of Motorola, then you can watch the video of the crave below.
To sum things up, I would have expected the Intel MID and the Motorola Crave to have been announced in different times (the MID in 2020 and the Crave in 1999), with at least a 20 year gap between them, and not in the same week. Seems like Motorola is going to have to work just a little harder.
Oh, and while I am giving Motorola some advice, I have 3 words for them: STOP MAKING RAZRS. I don’t care that they still sell, it has been too long to continue selling a phone that’s only appeal is the fact that it is slim, too long!
