Bluetooth-based ads

There's always been talk about how Bluetooth can be used for advertisements when a person with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device comes near an object, then an ad can be sent. It's been talked about and done in research labs, now there are actual deployments being done. In the UK, a system called Bluecasting does this with subway billboards. They call this proximity-based broadcasting, and this really targets users who would be most interested in it, because they are near the ad so they must be somehow looking at it, or somewhat interested in it.

Wouldn't it be cool, that you could have e-coupons or discounts on your Bluetooth phone or PDA when let's say you're in an Indigo bookstore or Best Buy store? And if the store has a profile on you on what you like and what you have bought, it could let you know of items that you may be interested. Think Amazon but directly in the store.

The demise of Palm?

I hate to say this even though I am a Palm user, but is the recent announcement on Monday about a Windows Mobile-based Palm Treo 700, is the nail in the coffin for Palm? According to this ZDNet article, Michael Singer believes so. In short, the acquisition of PalmSource (the OS) by Japanese software maker Access, the lack of integration for business applications on the Palm system, Palm's proprietary operating system Palm OS, the dwindling market share of Palm (which Microsoft surpassed last year), and now the announcement of a partnership between Microsoft and Palm, seems to indicate the glory days and dominance of Palm is over.

It will be interesting to note how Palm OS 6 will play out, since Palm did buy out BeOS and is supposed to use the multimedia features of BeOS on Palm OS, which they didn't do in Palm OS 5.

Palm to unveil Treo 700 cell phone with Microsoft and Verizon

Just read this about Palm announcing their new Treo 700 to work with Microsoft software and on the Verizon cellular network. Does this mean that the Treo 700 will be based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system? OK, Engadget got a sneak peak of this cell phone, and from the report, this is definitely a Windows-powered smartphone.

I remember Palm saying that they would not give into Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS, stating its instability and bloatedness compared to the ease-of-use and simplicity of Palm OS. Well, it looks like Palm now has a Windows-powered PDA. How will this fare with loyal Palm users I wonder?

CASCON workshop on Business of Blogging

Interested in knowing about how blogging affects business and what are the issues surrounding corporate blogging? Come and attend my workshop at the CASCON conference in Toronto (it's free!).

You can register at CASCON online before October 13 and sign up for my workshop.

Hope to see some of you there!

Can any MP3 player beat the iPod Nano?

I must admit the iPod nano is nice, it's as thin as a pencil. A closer look reveals the elegance in design and the size. Apparently, it's going to be the hottest MP3 player for Christmas. The iPod nano is available now, at Best Buy in Canada, it is going for $249 for the 2GB version (500 songs) and $299 for the 4GB version (1000 songs). It has a battery life of approximately 14 hours, and it comes in white and black. Also, the screen is colour.

If I had known about the iPod nano, I would have waited instead of buying the iPod mini. Or I can sell my iPod mini and get the iPod nano, what do people think?

Microsoft to take a stake in AOL?

Can this be true? According to this article from Reuters, Microsoft is in talks to have a stake in AOL and to possibly combine their Internet assets together.

I think Microsoft is getting really scared because of how dominant Google is and Google is one step ahead of Microsoft. Yahoo and Google are ahead of Microsoft, and Microsoft wants to revamp MSN to become a formidable competitor.

Once upon a time, Bill Gates and Steve Case were rivals. AOL didn't like Microsoft and AOL beat Microsoft to instant messaging and Internet. But now where is AOL now, how many use AOL for Internet? AOL claims ease of use for Internet with their AOL software, but who really uses that? I remember seeing AOL CDs, but people just used them as coasters or frisbees or they wound up in the garbage. I don't know of any of my friends using AIM any more, I myself don't use AIM, everyone is on MSN now. And ICQ, remember the days when everyone was on ICQ? Well since AOL bought Mirabillis that made ICQ, I still occasionally may use ICQ but I most often use MSN Messenger, and sometimes Yahoo Messenger. Now, I am using Google Talk.

Learning social network analysis and UCINet

I am currently learning a crash course in social network analysis and UCINet for my research. I found some links that I am following.

Learning UCINet
Intro to Social Network Methods
Handouts from Steve Borgatti, author of UCINet
Steve Borgatti's 2-week social network analysis course
SNA wiki

If there are any other links that are good for learning UCINet, please let me know. Are there any data sets available pertaining to blogs that can be input into UCINet?

Google has a blog search engine

Just found out that Google has a blog search engine. I did a search on Gadgetman and it returned my blog entries on MSN Spaces and not this blog on Blogger interestingly enough.

I would have thought since Blogger is owned by Google that my Blogger entries would come first, but it didn't! Interesting to see how this compares with Technorati's Blog Finder.

eBay Buys Skype

This deal baffles me. eBay is an Internet buying and selling marketplace, why does eBay want to buy Skype? According to Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, she says it's to extend the communication medium for buying and selling beyond e-mail to VoIP. Others have criticized saying that, eBay could have developed their own VoIP service in-house or paid for other companies for far less amounts. I was surprised that none of the messaging companies like Microsoft would have considered buying Skype. Google has their Google Talk which apparently I hear is pretty good. Yahoo has their VoIP technology with Yahoo Messenger, which I haven't really tried yet. MSN has their voice chat feature but it doesn't seem to work as well as Skype.

Microsoft Internz video

This is funny, 5 Microsoft interns made a video before they left to go back to school.

Hey, if they can't get a Microsoft job, at least they could try to audition for American Idol!

Just got my new Motorola RAZR V3 black cell phone!

Finally, I've upgraded my Sony Ericsson T68i cell phone which has been crashing the past year (I've had to reset the battery in the device so many times) to the ever popular Motorola RAZR V3 black cell phone. In fact, I had to wait because all the stores were all out of the RAZR, that's how popular that phone is.

Motorola is beginning to get back into the cell phone game with their nice styled phones and will give competition to Sony Ericsson and Nokia. The Motorola ROKR is also a good phone which has iTunes from which you can download songs from iTunes to the MP3 player functionality in the phone. It will be available mid to late September to Rogers Wireless in Canada. I've already upgraded my cell phone to the RAZR, and I am going to play more around with it. I don't need an iTunes phone, especially now that I have the iPod mini.

iTunes 5.0 + Motorola ROKR iTunes phone + iPod nano

Well, the wait is finally over. Apple and Motorola have finally made an iTunes phone called the Motorola ROKR. There's also an announcement of a Harry Potter iPod and Harry Potter audio books on iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, there's now a new release of iTunes 5.0 which apparently allows for more sophisticated searching. In addition, there's a new iPod, the iPod Nano which apparently is 62% smaller than the original iPod and smaller than the iPod mini. And it's available now. More details from Engadget's web site.

Oh man, I just bought myself an iPod mini, I didn't know the iPod nano was out! That's technology for you, what you get, is automatically obsolete right away. You can't keep up with technology. Technology should be used to keep up with you, adapt towards your lifestyle and your needs.

Back from vacation in China

Well, I am back now, so before my blog was on hiatus while I was on vacation (though I was able to write some blog entries with photos of my trip in Guangzhou and Beijing). The vacation was too short, I wish it was longer. Now, I am back at school and it's going to be busy for me as I am working on the CASCON workshop on blogging. If you are in Toronto, register for the CASCON conference (which is free!) and subscribe to my workshop. You'll find more details of the workshop later towards the date which is Wednesday October 19.

I am also going to be busy as well TAing CSC309 Programming on the Web as well as taking a course, and preparing scholarship applications for NSERC and OGS. And also working on my research paper as part of my PhD, and also my research towards a topic for my PhD thesis.

It's gonna be a busy semester for me, especially the months of September and October!