“Gone Google“, as described here, usually refers to organizations (schools, universities, startups, MNC’s, etc…) switching to the web-based Google Apps platform for their email, productivity and collaboration tools. A choice that I had actually made on the very first day I founded Bitsmedia and which I posted about on this article.
“Gone Google“ has taken a whole new meaning for me today as I am very excited to announce that I will soon be joining Google and more specifically the Developer Relations team in South-East Asia. For the most curious of you, here are the main reasons which have driven such decision. Read more…
In just 24 hours, Steve Jobs will be opening the 2011 edition of Apple’s yearly developer conference (WWDC) which will focus on:
- Lion: the new version of Mac OS X (10.7), Apple’s desktop/laptop operating system (OS);
- iOS 5: the 5th major edition of Apple’s mobile OS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad);
- iCloud: Apple’s 3rd attempt to crack online services and cloud computing (after Mac.com and MobileMe), as well as, should the rumours be correct, a new online music service.
As much as I love Apple’s products and my iPhone(s) (I believe I’ve owned them all since the very first one in 2007), I have recently surprised myself using Android devices as my everyday phone (my two favorite ones are the Nexus S and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc). Two main reasons:
- I never got used to the edgy and squarish design of the iPhone 4 (I miss the curved line of the 3G/3GS)
- I got bored of using the very same user interface for 4 years.
I therefore have very high expectations of tomorrow’s keynote, hoping that iOS 5 will finally feature some key functionalities which I believe have been missing. Make sure to read further to discover which ones. Read more…
Before the recent boom of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, the only list of friends or contacts most people would manage and interact with was their address book. The hardcover indexed address books and the electronic databanks (remember those cool Casio devices with enough memory to store 128 contacts) are the true ancestors of your social graph. Read more to understand why I believe the address book is still very much the key to success of any social network today. Read more…
If you read my blog and follow my tweets, you might have noticed that I keep switching between my three favorite phones: an iPhone 3GS, a Nexus One and a Blackberry Bold 9700.
Three great devices. Three beautiful and powerful gadgets. But certainly three sources of frustrations with each their very own set of caveats and downsides such as the iPhone and the lack of multi-tasking, the Nexus and its poor touchscreen accuracy, as well as the Blackberry and its terrible browsing experience or app catalogue.
If your Telco has an affordable Multi-SIM option, it might be the end of your frustrations. Read more to find out how to seamlessly switch among your various phones without the hassle of removing the SIM card. Read more…
If you own a smartphone (some even now call them app-phones), chances are that you’re constantly looking for the best and latest apps! Here is my top-20 non game list of applications for the three devices I use on regular basis.
I use a iPhone 3GS, a Google Nexus One and a Blackberry Bold 9700: 6 of my top apps actually run on all three devices and the other 14 are either platform-specific or only run on two of my devices. Make sure to read more to quickly get the best out of that brand new smartphone you just bought 
Read more…
Google Apps is Google’s set of messaging and collaborative tools for groups and businesses. It is basically a customizable version of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Google Docs for your own domain name. That means you can start enjoying all the benefits of Gmail (conversation threads, huge storage, great anti-spam, integrated Gtalk, etc…) with a personalized email address like <yourname@yourbusiness.com>.
Whereas the standard edition is free for up to 50 users, Google Apps also comes in a Premier Edition should you require Google Groups, Google Videos, more users and storage, as well as support and SLA. Check this page to compare both editions. It actually even comes in two more versions specially packaged for Educational and Government use.
I personally use the free standard edition as the emailing and collaboration platform of my mobile applications company (Bitsmedia Pte Ltd) and, despite a few frustrations, I simply love it. Make sure to read more to find out if Google Apps is the perfect tool for your organization.
Read more…
