“If you ever doubted the power of the credit card companies, consider this: Visa, the world’s largest credit card network, can predict how likely you are to get a divorce.” This article talks about the increasing value and capability of number crunching – collecting and analyzing mass amounts of data to learn trends and predict things.
In the next update to the iPhone operating system, iPhone OS 4.0, Apple is introducing a gaming social network called “Game Center” – essentially Xbox Live for iPhone games.
“Game Center is not about Google, since Google doesn’t have a gaming social network. (Yet?) But it sure seems like a shot against Facebook. Want to play Scrabble or compare your scores against your friends? Game Center aims to supplant Facebook for that sort of thing.” – John Gruber on Game Center
One of the things I wish the iPhone could do is have deeper integration with social networking, specifically Facebook and LinkedIn. Both Palm’s WebOS and the BlackBerry have much to offer in this area. Game Center seems like an area that Apple could easily introduce a native Facebook Connect feature, rather than shunning it as Gruber suggests. Allowing users to associate a Facebook profile to their Game Center user account would enable Apple many opportunities to easily extend the reach of Game Center to a user’s wider social network, rather than a close circle of iPhone toting friends. They could also provide game developers with the ability to tap into this social/viral integration and send updates to Facebook, promoting the game and the iPhone gaming platform in general. Features like that would further elevate iPhone gaming over the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, less connected devices.
One reason I doubt Apple will do this is because they want to have complete control over everything, and this social network probably won’t be different. This approach is typical of Apple, but it might ultimately limit the benefits of Game Center, restricting its reach to just your friends that you have explicitly added as “friends” in Game Center. Facebook would allow you to see a lot more people you know on Game Center, including those who you wouldn’t have necessary thought to add when setting up your account. When I used to play games on Facebook, it was always interesting comparing my high scores to random friends that I wouldn’t actually think to invite to connect in the game. Bejeweled on the iPhone already does this to some extent with Facebook Connect, and it is quite interesting, so it would be great to see it available to every game.
Since we probably won’t find each other with Facebook on Game Center when it debuts in the Summer, feel free to add me – my username is “willwnet”…
“I’d keep it in the living room to check e-mail and browse the Web. I’d take it to the kitchen and read The New York Times while I eat breakfast. I’d bring it with me on a plane to watch movies and read books. That may not be life-changing, but is it worth 500 bucks? Yup. Done. Sold.”
All of the things that he thinks he will use an iPad for, I already do with my iPhone. While this could be viewed as an argument against getting an iPad – I prefer to think of it as: if I already do this with my iPhone, think how much better it will be on an iPad!
LinkedIn has finally revealed their BlackBerry app. It looks pretty cool, specifically the integration into the BlackBerry core apps (contacts, messages, and calendar)
Contacts. Integrate your LinkedIn connections with your BlackBerry address book, and view the profile of any contact directly on your BlackBerry. Messages. LinkedIn invitations and messages will now appear in your BlackBerry Inbox, just like any other email. You can also view the LinkedIn profile of the sender of any email you receive. Calendar. You can now view the LinkedIn profile of any attendee of a meeting on your BlackBerry calendar.
Just like the previous post on Xobni, this sort of integration is something that iPhone apps tend to be unable to achieve. For example the iPhone LinkedIn app – while neat – is limited to what it can do in the app itself, and can’t integrate very closely with Mail, Contacts, or Calendar (and other apps) on the iPhone. I think this is what RIM is calling Super Apps, and is definitely something they should be pushing app developers towards.
After mulling this decision over since the iPad was announced, I finally made up my mind. I am going to get an iPad – most likely the 16Gb WiFi + 3G version.
This decision didn’t come quickly, though now that I have realized I want one, it seems obvious:
I am not the standard iPhone user, I use it more as a computer than a phone. Being based on the same operating system and having apps that are more powerful, while maintaining the great user experience, I expect the iPad to take over this role. The only tasks I prefer to do on my laptop or Mac Mini are formatting documents, graphic design, and making websites. Everything else I would rather use my iPhone. Apple’s iWork for iPad looks like it can handle the formatting of documents and I would bet there is a Photoshop-like app that could fulfill many of my Photoshop needs. For websites I use a text editor and an FTP client, both of which some developer could definitely bring to the iPad.
Typing on a virtual keyboard is great – but if it isn’t sustainable for long reports and website work, the iPad supports a Bluetooth keyboard.
The apps. Before the iPad has even been released, a number of my favourite iPhone developers have already announced iPad versions of their apps.
Even if a better iPad comes out next year or sooner and I have to get it too, I will still be able to use the original as a GPS in the car or sell it for a good price.
The only hesitation I have with getting this first-generation iPad is the lack of camera in it. It seems like it would be the perfect device for a front-facing camera like Macbooks and iMacs have, and something that Apple will most likely add in the next version. I doubt I can hold out until then – and really, I hardly ever actually use my webcam so it may not matter.
A press release that mentions my group winning the Telfer School of Management Business Model Competition and coming in second place in the University of Ottawa Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition (bottom of first page).
There is is no app for the iPhone out now that can match the features of Xobni for BlackBerry. In the video you can see how it integrates with the Calendar, Phone, E-mail, and SMS messages of the BlackBerry to give you a consolidated view of your interactions with a contact. It also gives you quick access to call, text, e-mail, or schedule a meeting with them. When composing an e-mail, you can simply flick upwards to pull up Xobni and quickly select multiple contacts or view their profiles.
Originally from Toronto, I am now living in Ottawa while completing my Bachelor of Commerce degree (E-business/Entrepreneurship specialization) at uOttawa's Telfer School of Management.
Currently I am working for the web startup Gazaro, as a Web Marketing Specialist.
