Category: News

Yesterday I attended the House Taxes Committee Meeting. There were two topics that touched upon broadband and both were quick discussions. The super condensed notes on the sessions (vis a vis broadband):

HF1686 (Lenczewski) Public fund investments authorized, energy improvement repayment provided for, capital equipment financing requirements changed, and street reconstruction bond election requirements changed.

Quick Notes: Anything related to fiber was taken off the table once the legislators realized that this amendment might conflict with other policies. They may rework the language – but really the momentum seemed to be to remove it. Some discussion on whether or not the fiber was intended for government-only use – but again momentum was to drop it.

HF389 (Lesch) Collection of 911 fees from prepaid wireless telecommunications services and prepaid wireless E911 services provided for, broadband development grant program established, and money appropriated.

Quick Notes: Legislators were not in favor of the broadband development grant program – more (I believe) based on prepaid phones not being connected enough to the cause than the actual fund. Again They may rework but momentum was to leave off the fund and the higher level momentum was to avoid any controversy.

Below is video and more notes on the session. It was interesting to watch the Tax discussion when what I was listening for was broadband because tax involves some deep ideologies and so it’s clear to see that broadband is not the issue – money is.  From that perspective I think the second video I have posted is interesting. Someone mentioned the need to represent the private sector – to which someone else asked who represented the public sector? Just an interesting glimpse.

Discussion on HF1686 (Lenczewski) Public fund  investments authorized, energy improvement repayment provided for, capital      equipment financing requirements changed, and street reconstruction bond election requirements changed.

Lynnette Slater Crandall – Dorsey Whitney Bond Lawyer – MIPF introduces the amendment.

Questions –

Fiber optic – does that have to do with municipal telecom systems?

Yes – but we just realized that it might be controversial so we ask that we remove that part.

We are looking at Section 4,7,8. We would want to delete the fiber portion from each section (or remove the first mention and subsequent referrals).

Mr. Carlson –

This only refers to intergovernmental fiber connections, not to serve residents or commercial entities. So I question the controversy. Some wealthy counties are already doing this. They are self-funding fiber networks for government use.

Brent Christensen (Minnesota Telecom Alliance) –

The MTA opposes the portiorn of the bill that relates to government funded and constructed networks. (Lines 3.3, 3.4, 5.3, 5,.4, 5.29 & 5.30.) It creates an uneven playing field. Also it permits local government to make investments that may lead to long-term debt for equipment and expenditure in the competitive telecom world for equipment that may become obsolete. Finally the amendment conflicts with Minnesota law that requires a referendum before a city can enter the telecom business.

Mike Martin (MN Cable Communications Association)–

We share MTA’s concern. It opens the door to government sponsored competition. The issue is the ability to lease capacity. There’s no definition of what local governments serve, which could leave to reselling. Dakota & Scott Counties are already doing this. There are transparency issues.

Are governments selling fiber now? Yes – for example Carver County got ARRA funding to build a network and used some bonding to match. Then they asked providers (competitors to existing providers) to come on board too. It means governments might be able to compete at below market rates.

We might not object in areas without service but that’s not necessarily the case here.

Question: This is the tip of the iceberg. Maybe we need to reconsider the referendum with increased transparency. Maybe people need to understand the risk. Monticello is a deal that hasn’t worked.

Dorsey Whitney: It’s not the intent to submit a controversial topic. We’ll try to make a change to accommodate these issues or delete fiber pieces.

General Questions:

Question: We don’t want anything that would be controversy for the private sector – but who is watching for the public sector?

We do work with League of Cities. Sometimes one governmental agency has a diverging view from other types of government entities.

Questions: If it’s all technical why do we need to do this?

It might help the bond owners sleep better at night. There is expanded authority that matters to our constituency.

HF389 (Lesch) Collection of 911 fees from prepaid wireless telecommunications services and prepaid wireless E911 services provided for, broadband development grant program established, and money appropriated.

We fund 911 services in MN by charging a fee on phone bill. More phones don’t have phone bills; they are pre-paid services. One of the leader in pre-paid phones was paying the bill but they quit. So we’d like to get pre-paid phones back

Representing AT&T

We think this is a bill whose time has come. We need to resolve this as the customers change and move away from landline. Prepaid is 23 percent of market .

Questions:

We’re laying this bill over. I have concerns. We talked about adding 4 cents for broadband grant fund. That seems beyond the scope. I hope if this comes back in Omnibus Tax Bill that this gets dropped.

There is one other amendment – delete section 16.

The date for report from Commission of Public Safety from 2014 to 2015. One concern – how do we come up with an adequate fee without a more precise estimate? The sooner we get a report the better we’ll be.

I agree but the department didn’t think they’d have adequate data in the time previously provided.

The need for data and the quicker the better would be helpful. We don’t want to collect more than is necessary.

Dep of Revenue

We want to express concerns. It puts us in the position of being a collector for another agency’s fees. We do collect some fees for other agencies. This puts us in the place of using sales tax system, which puts us in an awkward position given relationship with retail providers.

Question – but you’re already doing it.  Department of Public Safety isn’t geared up to collect fees.

Question – Who else could do it?

We could do it, but it’s a bad precedent. We collect annual drycleaner bills. We do solid waste fees. But these are smaller projects. Not of this magnitude.

Jamie Pool – MN Grocers

We are concerned with local business collecting taxes for national providers. We support e-911. The bill goes into effect when minutes start to get used. The fees must be itemized. We’d need to set up systems and start collections. The language also says any fee changes will be announced on the website – requiring us to keep up and opening the door to inconsistency. We understand we don’t’ need to sell these cards – but we want to provide one-stop shopping.

Jackie Mines Emergency Services

We currently collect 911 fees. We distribute it. We provide backbone for infrastructure. We support this bill. It’s a mechanism for fair and equitable fees. With migration to prepaid it’s important to public safety to keep fees coming into the fund. We are happy to make reporting available when we can. We would be happy to send out letters as well as post fee changes on our website. We might need to get contact info on grocery shops.

Samsung loves making fun of Apple and its fans with its ads. It’s kind of become a tradition now that every major Samsung product launch takes a dig at the people who wait in line outside Apple stores for the latest iDevice. That’s probably not going to change with the Galaxy S4, but Samsung isn’t poking fun just yet.

Samsung released the first Galaxy S4 ads today with all three focusing on a specific feature that’s being introduced with Samsung’s latest flagship device. The first is for Sound Shot – a feature that lets users record sounds alongside their pictures.

The second is for Group Play – a strange feature that has users syncing their phones to all play the same song. It seems a little unnecessary, but hey, somebody will probably get a kick out of it.

The final ad is for S Translator – an app that is basically Samsung’s version of Google Translate.

If you were expecting a bit more humor out of the Galaxy S4 ads, you’ll probably have to wait closer to launch. Speaking of which, the launch shouldn’t be that far away as AT&T will start taking pre-orders for the device on April 16 with a rumored launch sometime in early May.

[h/t: Droid Life]

IObit says their Advanced Mobile Care app is a swiss army knife of Android tuning tools, and they aren’t kidding. From security to performance, there isn’t much this app doesn’t do. It’s actually been out for a while, but they just updated to 3.0 to include anti-theft protection, a call blocker, tablet support, and an improved battery saver.

This all-in-one app features real-time virus scans, anti-theft protection, a game speeder, battery saver, call blocker, app manager, task killer, privacy locker, privacy advisor, and cloud backup. Now you would expect with all these features, it has to be complicated, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Advanced Mobile Care’s UI is elegant, and simple to navigate. It’s the perfect app for not only the expert, but the novice as well.

When opening the app you will get a large SCAN button at the top with a few options at the bottom. Tapping SCAN will completely scan your system and let you know if any viruses are present, what tasks are running, how much cache you have, and how many junk files you have. I personally would stay away from the task side of things because Android already has a very efficient mechanism for that, but the option is there if you insist.

Assuming your device is free from viruses, you will want to concentrate on the cache and junk files. Just tap cache and you will see how much cache is stored for each app. If you’re not familiar with cache files, they are temporary files created by each app. They do nothing but slow your system so deleting them regularly is a good thing. Advanced Mobile Care will already check off all the apps that have cache, but you can bypass that and select the particular apps you want. Junk files will consist of log and temp files, browser history, as well as unnecessary thumbnail files. You can also include your call logs and SMS messages if you wish. After you have made your selections, the SCAN button will now say REPAIR. Just tap on that to clean/delete everything you have chosen. Going back to the anti-virus aspect, it’s a 24/7 scanner, which means it automatically scans any apps that you install, so you don’t have to remember to run the scan.

If you tap on the bottom center box icon, you will see all the other options that Advanced Mobile Care offers:

Game Speeder

If you have any games that are processor intensive and you find they are choppy at best, you will want to utilize this feature. Just add any games that you want, and that choppy lag will disappear magically.

App Manager

Will let you uninstall apps, move any apps to the SD card, and manage any third-party APK files stored on your device.

Battery Saver

Will tell you how much battery is remaining in terms of percentage as well as time.Tap on the top right icon to find out what apps are using the battery the most. Tap on the top left information icon gives you other status info like health, voltage, temperature, etc. You can also choose to turn the Battery Saver option on or off at the bottom. If turned on, it will maximize your battery life. I did reach out to IObit on what exactly the battery saver does in order to improve your battery, but I wasn’t able to get an answer.

Task Killer

It will allow you to kill any apps that are running. You can also exclude certain apps from showing in this list. I would recommend that you stay away from this section because the Android OS already has it’s own management for closing apps.

Privacy Advisor

Will tell you what apps have ads in them as well as tell you what permissions each app has. It will categorize them by permissions so for example, you can quickly find out what apps can access your contacts or your location.

Anti-theft

Will allow you to get the location of your phone, lock it, or sound an alarm in the event that it’s lost or stolen. There is one caveat, and that is that you need to use another phone that has Advanced Mobile Care. It’s not a deal breaker, but a little bit of a nuisance if you’re friend doesn’t have the app already installed on their phone. Just enter the phone number of your lost phone into your friend’s phone with Advanced Mobile Care, and you will be able to do the things I mentioned above.

Cloud Backup

This will let you backup your contacts and call logs. You will need to open an account in order to do this, but it will give you the ability to restore them from any phone. Assuming you contacts are in Gmail, using this to backup contacts is kind of useless, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to have another backup if it doesn’t cost you anything.

Just in case any of the above isn’t enough for you, there is a handy widget that lets you quickly run scans directly from your homescreen as well as check system information and set the battery saving mode to on or off.

As you can see, Advanced Mobile Care is definitely the swiss army knife of Android tuning tools. Not only does it offer so many features, but it has a simple and elegant user interface. Now you would think something as comprehensive as this would cost a few bucks, but not this one. It’s absolutely Free and I recommend you try it out now. From anti-theft to making your device run smoother to speeding up your games, there is very little that Advanced Mobile Care doesn’t do. Grab it now and thank me later. Check out my hands on video below and hit one of the download links to get started. As always, let me know what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Play Store Download Link

 

Come comment on this article: Featured Android App Review: Advanced Mobile Care [Tools]

Apple (AAPL) is set to post its results for the second fiscal quarter on April 23rd and a new report suggests increased competition may have hurt Apple more than usual. Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha said in a recent note to clients that competition is hurting Apple more than it has in the past, and he sees iPhone sales in the March quarter falling to 38 million units — though that figure is still up from 35.1 million iPhones in the same quarter last year. 

Continue reading…

You can find some interesting imagery on Google Maps Street View. It’s no wonder, given the efforts the company takes to produce it. They’ve even gone so far as to design special equipment to get imagery from the places where it’s just too hard to get a car or even the Street View Trike.

Sometimes, you’ll just find some weird stuff. Apparently you can even find people having sex.

A redditor pointed this out in the ever-popular WTF subreddit. My first instinct was to assume that this was a fake. Google wouldn’t really take a picture of this and leave it available on Street View would it?

Luckily, right there at the top of the comments was a link. Yep, it’s really there.

It’s entirely possible that this couple isn’t actually having sex, and is rather just having some fun at Google’s expense. On the other hand, it’s also possible that they’re doing both.

Interestingly enough, Google blurred out the license plate on its own:

You can click through if you want to see it and mess with Google’s controls. If you want to, however, you should probably do it now, because I doubt this will be sticking around for long.

Even when Chelsea Handler isn’t hosting her late night E! talk show, Chelsea Lately, the interviews still seem to become a bit raunchy. The three famed Kardashian sisters (Kim, Klohe, and Kourtney) took over the talk show this week, and were propelled into the kinky fantasies of Russel Brand.

The sisters started off complimenting Brand on his accent, then moved to teasing the comedian when he stumbled over their names. The talk quickly turned sexual, however, when Brand suggested he was “vulnerable to the concept” of a threesome between the Kardashian sisters.

Khloe happily played along, saying, “Well, I heard pregnant pussy is the best pussy.” She was referring, of course, to the fact that Kim is currently pregnant with R&B star Kanye West’s baby.

Brand continued the flirtation saying, “I think pregnant women are radiant and beautiful, and the idea of lactation is an interesting one.”

Not to be outdone, Khloe topped Brand by revealing some very personal things about herself and her sisters.

“You have the best of both worlds, ’cause Kourtney is lactating and Kim is pregnant,” said Khloe. “And I am just, like, ‘raging waters.’ It’s just happy over here.”

The internet of things — the scenario where everyday items are equipped with sensors and pumping out data — still feels largely theoretical. However, it’s bleeding into reality, often in rather prosaic ways. And you don’t get much more prosaic than garbage collection.

One interesting company dabbling in this field, Helsinki-based Enevo, just picked up €2 million ($2.6 million) in funding from Finnish Industry Investment and Lifeline Ventures. The money will be used to help Enevo push its cleantech services across Europe and into North America.

Enevo isn’t the only company working on smarter waste management, but rivals (such as BigBelly) are largely trying to sell more intelligent bins. Enevo, on the other hand, is a services firm that provides sensor units to waste management companies for free. The unit (pictured in the hands of CEO Fredrik Kekäläinen) measures variables such as volume and temperature within the bin, then sends the data back to Enevo via GPRS. The company then uses that data to dynamically optimize collection intervals and routes for its customers.

The intended result? Fewer overflowing bins and fewer pointless journeys to empty bins that are barely full. In the trillion-dollar industry that is waste management (according to Lifeline), that adds up to a pretty big deal. According to Kekäläinen, Enevo’s existing 10-or-so customers are already saving 30 percent on direct waste logistics costs.

Kekäläinen told me on Wednesday that Enevo has started mass production of its sensor units (using a Finnish manufacturer “to make sure it’s really high quality”) and is recruiting salespeople across Europe. The company has deals with municipalities across Scandinavia and is setting up a pilot project in Canada. It’s also in talks with the big bin manufacturers to try get the sensor units integrated into their products.

All in all, it’s a simple idea that can produce tangible results – cost savings for firms and greater efficiency and environment-friendliness for communities. As such, it’s a pretty good example of what we’re hoping to see come out of the much-hyped internet of things.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama said that we must invest in the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising and thriving middle class.  He said that every day, we must ask ourselves these three questions:  "How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?"

This morning the President sent Congress his Budget for Fiscal Year 2014, which presents his plan to address each of these questions. He also spoke to the press about his proposal in the Rose Garden, and said that while our economy is poised for progress, we need to get smarter about our priorities as a nation. And that’s what his 2014 Budget represents — a fiscally-responsible blueprint for middle-class jobs and growth:

read more

We knew LG’s Optimus G Pro was eventually coming to the US, we just weren’t sure when. Well, the cat’s out of the bag, and sources indicate that AT&T will be picking up the G Pro on May 10th. That puts it right up against the HTC One and the Galaxy S 4, so LG is walking into some very stiff competition with that release date. However, it will be the 5.5 inch version, not the 5 inch version that was released in Japan, so this might attack more of the Note 2′s market instead of the One and S 4.

No word on any other carriers, but I’m sure we’ll hear something sooner or later.

source: Android Central

Come comment on this article: AT&T picking up the LG Optimus G Pro, slated for a May release

Law enforcement officers raided the headquarters of Samsung’s (005930) display unit in South Korea this week over allegations that it stole OLED technology from LG Display (LPL), Bloomberg reported. Officers sought to gather evidence and determine whether partners of the rival display-maker leaked its technology secrets and if Samsung was involved in any way. The two companies have been butting heads recently with a string of patent infringement lawsuits stemming from charges filed against six LG employees who were found to have stolen Samsung’s OLED technology last July.

Continue reading…

Popular recording artist Brandy recently did an At Google Talk discussing “mapping the past, searching the present, and inventing the future” with Googler Dara Wilson.

The talk was part of the Black Googlers Network’s Black History Month celebration, and took place on February 25th.

Is Facebook losing its stranglehold over young social media users? According to some data from an bi-annual survey, the answer is yes. And it’s not that social media in general is losing its cool factor, it’s that other networks like Twitter and even Instagram (owned by Facebook, of course) are stealing Facebook’s mojo.

The data comes from Piper Jaffray’s 25th bi-annual “Taking Stock with Teens” survey that looks at everything from online shopping and fashion, to tech, social, and gaming.

The survey looked at which social networks are the “most important” for teens. It found that Facebook still holds the top spot – but barely. And it’s been declining over the past year.

Facebook is the most important social network for 33% of the teens surveyed, which is down 9% from 42% back in the Fall of 2012 (the last time this survey was published).

Twitter, on the other hand, saw an increase from 27% to 30% in teens claiming it as the most important social site in their lives. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook but has stayed independent, grew in popularity from 12% to 17%.

Watch out Facebook, Twitter is nearly as important to teens as you.

The only other significant change in social media loyalty among teens in the past few months is in the “other” category. Piper Jaffray notes that the top 5 “write-in” picks for most important social media service were Wanelo, Snapchat, 4chan, Kik, and Twitter’s just-launched six-second video app Vine.

Another interesting find from Piper Jaffray’s survey: Teens still love their iPhones. Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed said that they already own an iPhone (up from 40% in the Fall) and 62% said that they plan on buying the iPhone as their next device. Compare that with Android, which had 23% of teens expressing future desire.

[Image via toodlepip, Flickr]

During the PS4 reveal in February, Sony revealed that the console would be using AMD’s new Jaguar x86 system-on-a-chip architecture that combines a CPU and a GPU onto a single chip. There were rumors that Microsoft would be doing the same with the next Xbox, and a new report adds more fuel to the fire.

Speaking to those familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Bloomberg reports that the next Xbox will indeed use AMD’s Jaguar SOC. The report doesn’t mention any specifics, but previous leaks have said that the next Xbox’s CPU would feature eight-cores, and be clocked at 1.6 Ghz. The PS4′s Jaguar has the same number of cores, but is clocked at 1.8 Ghz.

The report says that Microsoft’s move to an AMD-based architecture will effectively kill any chances of backwards compatibility in the new console. The Xbox 360 employs an IBM PowerPC CPU that makes any chance of compatibility with the new AMD chip all but impossible. Of course, the next Xbox could use emulation for Xbox 360 games, but that seems unlikely. Those wanting to play Xbox 360 games will just have to keep their old consoles around.

Bloomberg’s report is just the latest in a number of leaks that are beginning to paint a clearer picture of the next Xbox. One of the most persistent, and plausible rumors, is that the next Xbox will ship with the next generation of Kinect hardware. The surprise is that Kinect will be required at all times, even if the game in question doesn’t require it. Some suggest that Microsoft will be using the Orwellian tech it patented some time ago to enforce DRM or other protective measures based upon the number of people in the room.

Another persistent rumor is that Microsoft’s next console will require an always online Internet connection. The latest rumor says that the console will be able to function for up to three minutes without an active connection, but will suspend all activity to open the network troubleshooter after it times out.

Of course, all of this is mere speculation and rumors for now. We won’t anything until Microsoft decides to unveil the console. The latest report suggests that Microsoft will host its unveiling event on May 21, and then reveal more at E3 in June.

If using both a phone and a tablet together is a hot tech trend this year, April’s BlackBerry Fan of the Month is ON TREND.

Meet Sergio – a lean, mean, BlackBerry PlayBook-ing-machine. Sergio knows how to work hard and play hard and he uses his BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to make the best of both worlds. In his personal life, Sergio’s BlackBerry PlayBook helps him stay in touch with his loved ones – his wife, in particular (say it with us – ‘awwww!’)! And in his professional life as a successful business owner, Sergio can’t live without his tablet. It allows him to remotely manage inventory for his robotic pool cleaning company and print invoices on demand for customers. The Evernote app on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is perfect for taking notes and pictures while on the job. And, best of all, he can use it as a phone whenever he needs to. Sergio is one of the original Super Users in the BlackBerry Support Community Forums. He is extremely helpful and passionate about the BlackBerry PlayBook with impressive stats in the community:

• Total Posts: 3,704
• Total Kudos: 215
• Total Accepted Solutions: 107

Like we said, lean, mean, BlackBerry-PlayBook-ing MACHINE. Ladies and gents, I present to you, our April FOTM, Sergio(@icemanswimmer):

1. How many years have you been on Team BlackBerry?

I have proudly been part of Team BlackBerry since 2010. Honestly, I have to tell you that it has been a great experience. I never imagined my passion for BlackBerry would lead me here to be part of FOTM.

2. How many BlackBerry devices have you had in total? Could you list them all out for us?

I have had four – BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (I really love this one) and now I’m getting a super sexy BlackBerry Z10!

3. How many BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) contacts do you currently have?

On my BBM, I only have a select group of people, 24 right now. But I’m sure BlackBerry 10 will put me back in touch with all those that I miss.

4. What is your favorite BBM emoticon?

Definitely the laughing one. Haha.

5. What is the best BBM you ever received?

One from a customer saying that the deal was closed in our favor, definitely the best!

6. Sergio, if you could BBM your BlackBerry, what would you say? How do you think your BlackBerry would respond?

Sincerely? Please don’t tell my wife, though. I would say, I love you and I can’t live without you.

Of course the BlackBerry would answer: Me too!!

7. Sergio, we know you own your own company, selling pool products. Tell us more about how and when you started this company!

Sure, it’s a long story but I will try to be brief.
My pool business started about six years ago, I never imagined that I would be doing this. Six years ago, I was selling VoiP solutions. One day my partner met some guys that were involved in the Robotic Pool Cleaning business. They showed him all the beautiful things that robots could do, it was awesome and a really great business opportunity in a market that was not existent in Mexico at the time.

We weren’t sure where to start, but, lucky for me, I’m a swimmer and I knew people that own swimming schools or are Coaches in Acapulco or Cuernavaca, so I used that network to start selling this technology and give the business a shot!

But wait, the story doesn’t end there. Customers didn’t just want the robots to clean their pools. That was just the beginning, later they wanted more from us – they wanted chemicals, equipment, accessories, services etc, so this business has been growing as a result. Now we have more customers than we could have expected and work on some of the main pools in Mexico City.

I need to say that BlackBerry has been part of that story. These devices have been so useful for my business. Thank you guys.

8. Sergio, how does BlackBerry keep you organized with your work? (Especially since you’re one busy man!)

Well, my BlackBerry and my BlackBerry PlayBook are really my main computing devices, but the BlackBerry PlayBook has sort of won me over because I can do so many things with it.

On the PlayBook, when I’m not at the office I use remote access to check inventory or create invoices. Sometimes I also access email and Docs To Go using my BlackBerry PlayBook.

I use Evernote on the PlayBook for updating the notes I take at each customer visit. This also involves taking pictures so I have a record of water clearness or turbidity, chemical parameters, etc. These notes can be shared immediately with the customers or my suppliers when there are product issues.

Of course, presentations are part of this business, too. I edit my presentations on the PlayBook using an Office app. Sometimes I display these presentations on a LCD or LED TV and use my BlackBerry smartphone as my remote control with BlackBerry Bridge. It is so cool and it looks so profesional that customers are amazed each time I do this. In fact, when I finish the presentation, they often want to take a look at the BlackBerry PlayBook and play with the remote control feature. Haha.

Check this, one of the coolest things I do on the PlayBook is placing calls through VoiP, this turns my tablet into a ‘phablet’ but also helps me reduce my phone costs as much as 40% on local calls and 80% on international calls. I do this when I’m at my customer’s facilities, coffee shops, restaurants or when I’m traveling. The phone function even works through the internet using a modem, but the voice quality isn’t always the best.

Of course, e-mail is one of the things I use most during the day. I probably split by time on e-mail between my two devices evenly.
Getting access to web sites related to the business are part of every day tasks and I mainly do this on the PlayBook.

Those are some of the areas in which BlackBerry helps me a lot.

9. What did you think about the launch of BlackBerry 10? Did any announcement in particular stand out?

More than seeing this as BlackBerry deserving another opportunity, I thought you guys did this once, why can’t you do it again? BlackBerry 10 has all everything you need to succeed. I’m so sure of that. I believe!

About announcements, yes, of course, there were some that stood out – those about the apps that customers could expect to see and use. There are so many! Congrats to your Developer Relations Team, they are doing a great job!

10. And finally, we just have to ask: Are you prepared to handle the fame that comes with being our Fans of the Month?

Hahaha, I hope to enjoy it! Bring it on!

---

Be sure to check out the other awesome members of the BlackBerry Fan of the Month (FOTM) club:

February – Ivan (@IvanSHarris)
March – Jane (@photosfromabb)
April – Josh (@BBbrodyBB)
May – Mark (@AllAboutMyBB)
June – JT (@jt_teran)
July – Kimberly (@kmcooley)
August – Mike (@flash0p)
September – Jon (@nerdologist_jon)
October – Guido (@FuriousGuido)
November – Ange (@Afl2277)
December – Zalman (@Zalman5K)
January 2013 – Arisham (@arisham2003)
February 2013 – Julie and Andrew
March 2013 – Sergio(@icemanswimmer)

Keep sharing your FOTM suggestions with us, either by leaving a comment below, tweeting to us @BlackBerry on Twitter, or posting on our Facebook page. Stay tuned – our April FOTM could be YOU!

Within moments of seeing white smoke billow from the Sistine Chapel, media outlets were inundated with a slew of reports about the former Cardinal Bergoglio. The Vatican PR machine noted that Pope Francis was an incredibly humble Cardinal who, as was befitting a Jesuit, had an abiding concern for the poor, rode the subway, and cooked his own meals. Oh… and that he was missing most of one lung.

This certainly runs contrary to conventional wisdom about how best to conduct impression management; i.e. “Put your best foot forward.” With Catholics already anxious about the new Bishop of Rome’s wellbeing, doesn’t pointing-out a condition that begs the question, “Was it cancer?” constitute impression mismanagement?

Actually, I think it’s something leaders should do more of. Let’s take an example from history to see why: Back in 1999, Louis V. Gerstner “let out” word that he had a deficiency immediately prior to taking the helm at IBM. Big Blue had been among the nation’s foremost enterprises, but when Gerstner was picked for the top spot it was bleeding red ink. Conventional wisdom would say that to redress the blue mood IBMers were suffering, Gerstner should have greeted them with bravado to boost morale. Instead, Gerstner exposed his soft underbelly by stating, “I don’t completely understand the technology [of IBM’s product line]. I’ll need to learn it, but don’t expect me to master it… unit leaders must translate it into business terms for me.”

Gerstner’s, “I don’t know IT but I know management” was pure genius. Here’s why:

• Presenting his IT deficiency made it impossible for anyone to challenge him as being an industry-outsider — he pre-emptively admitted he was and declared that others needed to oversee IT issues.
• What Gerstner also did was frame the discussion of what was best for IBM around his strengths. His greeting proclaimed that IT advances wouldn’t fix what ails IBM. They’d turn the company around by reducing costs and increasing profits.
• Finally, by admitting a flaw, Gerstner created what psychologists call an augmentation effect: “His managerial strengths must be super-strong,” people were forced to conclude, “Since he was hired despite being ‘short’ on IT competence.”

The notion that admitting flaws enhances impression management efficacy is not mere conjecture. Psychological research on ingratiation conducted by Edward E. Jones (and colleagues) at Duke University proved that self-presentations referencing negative attributes, shortcomings, or flaws, was far more effective at creating favorable first impressions than those that were limited to listing personal strengths and achievements.

This is not to say that a favorable impression is born of admitting every misstep you’ve ever made. As social media aficionados would say, that sort of disclosure is TMI. But when interviewing for a promotion (or taking a new job), meeting potential investors, addressing boards of directors, and the like, volunteering that you have a chink in your armor that intense vetting would ultimately reveal, accrues to your benefit.

Why is this so? As noted, it both takes the wind out of (potential) critics’ sails and helps define the parameters of what is discussed about you. In addition, there are three more seemingly counterintuitive (but actually rational) reasons why divulging a flaw helps you score points when getting to know someone:

• When you voluntarily disclose a flaw -as though it is no big deal — you “force” others to think just that. Within a day of learning about Pope Francis’ lacking a lung, news outlets were teeming with articles quoting pulmonologists who said it was of no concern.
• Not disclosing personal flaws that are ultimately discovered makes it appear that (a) you hid them, and, (b) they are more damaging than is actually the case. Had Lou Gerstner not allowed, “I’m no IT wizard but I know business inside and out,” some wag could have accused him of assuming the top spot at IBM under false pretenses. That claim, true or not, could have undermined his turnaround efforts: Given the bloodletting he initiated there were countless times that Gerstner’s foes out-numbered his followers.
• Acknowledging flaws, irrelevant though they may be to leadership potential, conveys strength of character that a sanitized (positive) self-presentation cannot. Most people over-estimate how damaging their flaws appear, feel that they, alone, suffer them, and are loath to admit them. The sole exception to this rule occurs when someone strives to achieve what shrinks call “secondary gain” — using personal problems to accrue attention, control others, or an appearance on Dr. Phil.

Yes, over-disclosing your dents & dings is a huge error. Most of what we keep private about ourselves is irrelevant to our professional comportment and, as such, of concern to no one. Moreover, to metaphorically strip yourself naked in front of business associates is akin to touting the purity of the meats used in your sausages by providing tours of your processing plant. A simple, “No fillers or additives used” will suffice; specific details of how hogs become your hot dogs are, once again, TMI.

Think of it this way: When fighting your way to the top you never stick your chin out unprotected, allowing it to get hit. But you also can’t keep your gloves up all the time, or you’ll never be able to throw a punch. Instead, you strive, as best you can, to box like Muhammad Ali: Dropping your guard, strategically, to keep your power punch at the ready when it’s time to hit ’em with your best shot.

As the debate over gun rights ramps up in the U.S., reports of accidental shootings that would have remained local tragedies have been rising to the forefront of national news coverage.

This week, a six-year-old in New Jersey died after being shot by a four-year-old neighbor. According to a report from New York ABC station WABC, Brandon Holt of Toms River, New Jersey died after being shot in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Holt was playing in a four-year-old neighbor’s yard when the four-year-old found the rifle inside his house. The gun is reported to have accidentally fired and hit Holt from 15 yards away. Police have stated that the four-year-old’s parents were also in the yard. Holt was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where he later died from his wounds.

Toms River police are still investigating and have not released any further details about the incident, including information on how the four-year-old may have obtained the rifle.

Facebook announced the launch of a new self-serve targeting ad targeting feature for partner categories. The categories use data from select third parties like Acxiom, Datalogix and Epsilon.

“For example, a local car dealership can now show ads to people who are likely in the market for a new car who live near their dealership,” the company explains. “To date, advertisers have been able to show ads to people based on their expressed interests on Facebook. Now with partner categories, they can also show ads to people on Facebook based on the products and brands they buy across both desktop and mobile.”

“Companies have long used this type of targeting off of Facebook, and we are excited to make this available to advertisers of all sizes on Facebook,” the company adds.

The categories work the same way all targeting on Facebook works. To kick things off, partner categories includes over 500 unique groups and works with other Facebook targeting options.

The feature will be available to US advertisers in Power Editor and through the API starting today.

Facebook assures users that no personal information is shared between Facebook and third parties or advertisers.

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Google Voice is one of those Google apps that seems to be ignored by Google, and I often wondered if it might suffer the same fate as Google Reader. With the news that Google is readying a new unified messaging service called Google Babel, I became hopeful that Google Voice would be included and might not be doomed after all. Well it appears that Google Voice will indeed be included in Google Babel, but not right away. At launch, Babel will only include Talk, Hangouts, and Messenger.

We can also expect to see notification syncing, which means once you have read a message on one of your devices, the notification will disappear from your other devices. This is huge as I always have GTalk notifications on several devices for messages that I already read. The introduction of sending pictures would also be nice since I can’t think of how many times I wish that ability was there. Unsurprisingly, Babel will launch on iOS as well, but Google is saying this is the first time they are building a first class iOS experience. Lets hope we see Babel at I/O.

source: Droid-Life

Come comment on this article: Google Voice to be included in Google Babel, but not right away

Anticipation reached Apple-like levels head of Samsung’s (005930) Galaxy S4 unveiling last month, and one feature in particular generated a good amount of hype. Though early reports incorrectly stated that “Smart Pause” utilized eye-tracking to automatically pause media when a user looked away from his or her phone, the new feature still achieved the same result using facial recognition technology. While Android fans will have to wait until the end of April at the earliest for the Galaxy S4 to launch before they can check out the new Smart Pause feature, a new free app lets iPhone users enjoy similar functionality today.

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