My car got banged up while in the parking lot. Damm...Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Friends Map on Orkut
Orkut has added a new feature, the MAP allows me to see where my friends are located on world map (dont think they have Asia working yet).
Seems like every site is adding the map feature...
Seems like every site is adding the map feature...Thursday, September 21, 2006
The Coming Dramatic Decline of Youtube - Blog Maverick
A nice post by Mark Cuban about Youtube.
"Come to our website and use our video hosting services, we can party like its 1999 all over again ! "
The Coming Dramatic Decline of Youtube - Blog Maverick
"Come to our website and use our video hosting services, we can party like its 1999 all over again ! "
The Coming Dramatic Decline of Youtube - Blog Maverick
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Tabs in my Google Home page
Its a tabbed world. Started with Firefox and n then IE and now it seems everything I use comes with tabs :-). Just noticed the new Tab feature on my personalized home page. This should help me organize the clutter on my page :-)The only complain, I wish they let me choose the color for my tabs. Green and white combo just isnt something I like. So I decided to check the different colors out and began adding tabs but now I am stuck on the 4th tag :-( and it wont let me add more tabs and neither will it let me go back to my previous tabs.... A very Buggy situation. Hopefully the bug would have dissapeared by tommorrow.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Mobile Shopping: Are we there yet ?
Mobile Shopping has arrived... atleast people are more receptive to the idea than a couple of years back. I could not locate the definition for Mobile shopping but did manage to locate one for Mobile Commerce which I believe is the next closest thing. Infact shopping would be a subset of mobile commerce. I wonder why no one has defined it on wikipedia yet.
Mobile shopping isn't gonna replace the existing ecommerce websites atleast not in the near future but it will serve as a bridge between the online world and the physical world (Stuff Scott always talks about). I started working on a checklist of stuff that I want to be able to do with my mobile device when I am in a physical store.
1) Piece of Mind factor:
When I am in a store and about to buy some thing, I want to be sure that the price I am paying is comparable in the online world. To make a decision I need to know
- The cheapest price for that item from a trusted website.
- The Shipping cost.
- The time for Shipping (Imp).
2) Price Match:
Lets face it, no physical store owner is gonna compete with an online price but will they be willing to come close to it ? what they will be ready to offer is a price match with a price from another physical store. Circuit city did offer this once (dont know if they still offer it). The mobile service must be able to pull down flyer or something similar from a physical store that I can use for a price match.
3) Speeeeeeeeed:
Whatever service I use for my mobile shopping needs MUST be quick. I dont want to stand in a store and wait for the more than a couple of minutes for results. I dont care about the slow data speeds on wireless networks or the sluggish SMS delivery. I want my results fast. Frucall (voice based) is the fastest way to get results compared to the other services out there today. It relies on a normal phone call and if I am not using Tmobile then I pretty much have no dropped calls :-). Yep, this even beats the SMS service(s) offered by other providers.
4) In Depth Info:
Most of the websites now offer reviews and product comparisons. I want to be able to access that information on my mobile phone while I am in a store and holding that product in my hand. Since I am viewing the information standing in a store, on a small LCD display, I do not want to sift through a lot of information. Give me the bottom line first and then let me look into details if I choose to. I like the Scanbuy Shopper approach of categorizing the product information. I get the basic info up front and then can navigate to through the diff categories. There is still a long way to go though in getting more information out to the end user.
5) Other Physical Stores:
I want to see a list of other stores close to the store that I am currently in. I dont always like to make online purchases. Buying it from a store has its benefits. Slifter does a bang up job in providing me with this information. They bring me results from big name stores and also some Ma and Pa shops in my zip code. To top it off, I can get a map and rough directions. Eventually, I would love to see a detailed map from my exact location to the stores exact location but for that we need better hardware and better access to the GPS features.
6) Ability to Place an order:
If I like a deal or offer being presented to me on the phone, I should have the ability to place an order for that item (add it to a remote shopping cart or even go through and buy it). This can be tough to implement technically as security is a major concern but I am sure we will see more and more of this feature. A few workarounds do exist though. The Pricegrabber wap site (atpgw.com) does allow you to call the store and place an order, I am sure other sites do too. From applications, there are a few apps like Amazon-Onthego that use the remote shopping cart feature of Amazon Ecommerce service. There is still a long way to go though.
7) Targetted Deals:
If I am looking to buy a digital camera, I would like suggestions to be sent to me on my phone (or by email) detailing products that match my requirements, the differences between them (pros and cons) and also where I can get the product at a decent price. I know this borders on the realm of advertising but if its targetted to my needs then I as a user dont mind it at all. Imagine, I am at a store and I pick up a digital camera and browse through the details of that product (prices, reviews etc) on my cell phone but I am not sure about if I want to buy this. I should be able to click on a button that says "Suggest Alternatives". I should get back a list of products that match close to the specifications of the original camera with pricing and other details about that product (most important - differences).
There is a good number of services that offer mobile shopping experience to the end user. I am listing out a few that I am aware of and played around with. I am pretty sure I am missing out a lot of them (Let me know).
SMS Based:
WAP Based:
Voice Based (Phone Call):
Downloadable Apps:
Mobile shopping isn't gonna replace the existing ecommerce websites atleast not in the near future but it will serve as a bridge between the online world and the physical world (Stuff Scott always talks about). I started working on a checklist of stuff that I want to be able to do with my mobile device when I am in a physical store.
1) Piece of Mind factor:
When I am in a store and about to buy some thing, I want to be sure that the price I am paying is comparable in the online world. To make a decision I need to know
- The cheapest price for that item from a trusted website.
- The Shipping cost.
- The time for Shipping (Imp).
2) Price Match:
Lets face it, no physical store owner is gonna compete with an online price but will they be willing to come close to it ? what they will be ready to offer is a price match with a price from another physical store. Circuit city did offer this once (dont know if they still offer it). The mobile service must be able to pull down flyer or something similar from a physical store that I can use for a price match.
3) Speeeeeeeeed:
Whatever service I use for my mobile shopping needs MUST be quick. I dont want to stand in a store and wait for the more than a couple of minutes for results. I dont care about the slow data speeds on wireless networks or the sluggish SMS delivery. I want my results fast. Frucall (voice based) is the fastest way to get results compared to the other services out there today. It relies on a normal phone call and if I am not using Tmobile then I pretty much have no dropped calls :-). Yep, this even beats the SMS service(s) offered by other providers.
4) In Depth Info:
Most of the websites now offer reviews and product comparisons. I want to be able to access that information on my mobile phone while I am in a store and holding that product in my hand. Since I am viewing the information standing in a store, on a small LCD display, I do not want to sift through a lot of information. Give me the bottom line first and then let me look into details if I choose to. I like the Scanbuy Shopper approach of categorizing the product information. I get the basic info up front and then can navigate to through the diff categories. There is still a long way to go though in getting more information out to the end user.
5) Other Physical Stores:
I want to see a list of other stores close to the store that I am currently in. I dont always like to make online purchases. Buying it from a store has its benefits. Slifter does a bang up job in providing me with this information. They bring me results from big name stores and also some Ma and Pa shops in my zip code. To top it off, I can get a map and rough directions. Eventually, I would love to see a detailed map from my exact location to the stores exact location but for that we need better hardware and better access to the GPS features.
6) Ability to Place an order:
If I like a deal or offer being presented to me on the phone, I should have the ability to place an order for that item (add it to a remote shopping cart or even go through and buy it). This can be tough to implement technically as security is a major concern but I am sure we will see more and more of this feature. A few workarounds do exist though. The Pricegrabber wap site (atpgw.com) does allow you to call the store and place an order, I am sure other sites do too. From applications, there are a few apps like Amazon-Onthego that use the remote shopping cart feature of Amazon Ecommerce service. There is still a long way to go though.
7) Targetted Deals:
If I am looking to buy a digital camera, I would like suggestions to be sent to me on my phone (or by email) detailing products that match my requirements, the differences between them (pros and cons) and also where I can get the product at a decent price. I know this borders on the realm of advertising but if its targetted to my needs then I as a user dont mind it at all. Imagine, I am at a store and I pick up a digital camera and browse through the details of that product (prices, reviews etc) on my cell phone but I am not sure about if I want to buy this. I should be able to click on a button that says "Suggest Alternatives". I should get back a list of products that match close to the specifications of the original camera with pricing and other details about that product (most important - differences).
There is a good number of services that offer mobile shopping experience to the end user. I am listing out a few that I am aware of and played around with. I am pretty sure I am missing out a lot of them (Let me know).
SMS Based:
WAP Based:
Voice Based (Phone Call):
Downloadable Apps:
Friday, September 08, 2006
"TEXT ME!" Web Widget
Heard about this from a friend of mine.Pretty Cool toy.
I am adding this to the sidebar of my blog. Use it to send me an SMS when you cannot reach me.
Check it out:4INFO Mobile Search - Free SMS Search, Fast Mobile Internet Search
I am adding this to the sidebar of my blog. Use it to send me an SMS when you cannot reach me.
Check it out:4INFO Mobile Search - Free SMS Search, Fast Mobile Internet Search
Thursday, September 07, 2006
New York Times Launches Mobile Site (with Msft Advertising)
checked out mobile.nytimes.com and its pretty good for a news site. Not much you can do with this but the most interesting part about the site is the Windows Mobile banner and the link on the bottom of the page. Way to go MSFT.
Wonder if all the Giants have the plans to convert existing websites into mobile sites with their advertising offcourse.
Via:MocoNews.net
Wonder if all the Giants have the plans to convert existing websites into mobile sites with their advertising offcourse.
Via:MocoNews.net
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Shakira - Hips Dont Lie SPOOF !
| My brothers spanish final. Which just happens to be a hilarious, yet disturbing, Shakira spoof. Shakira - Ryan Gangsters - Sal, Matt Directed/Filmed/Edited - Tom Go to the official shakira spoof... - > www.be-dumb.com | |
Monday, September 04, 2006
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Google Video: IPod download
Didnt know about this until today. Isnt it just amazing that I can now dowload stuff from the Google video directly in the mp4 format for my ipod :-). I have been looking for videos to play on my ipod ever since I got it and just found out about this. :-) where have I been ???
Check out the spoof's: spoof - Google Video
Check out the spoof's: spoof - Google Video
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Data Service: Is it really a APP killer?
Found this interesting post by Nasser. He brings up a really neat point. Data service adoption has been slow here in the states and yes the adoption rate does hit any application (including SCANBUY Shopper and Slifter) that uses data service.
An application residing on the phone is a natural extension to the PC world that the average user has grown accustomed to. Its a more comfortable setting for the user where he can process a large amount of data with relative ease. Services using telephony do have a cost factor advantage but I do not think the comparison between services using telephony and data service is a fair one as they cannot be truely compared in terms of features they offer. Data service based application(s) like shopping assistants can provide the user more data and easy navigation (Seeing is believing). I do believe the telephony feature of the cell phone is and will be an important part of any service being offered for mobile devices in the years to come, however it will only be a small part of the complete service. Having a UI that a person can see and interact with is definitely the way to go.
But what about the extra price?
Cellular services have been a bit slow here in the US compared to markets in Asia and Europe. The carriers in the US have spent and are spending a huge amount of green ones on setting up their networks to incorporate data. True, there is an extra cost of this setup hitting the first batch of consumers but eventually the prices are going to go down (remember SMS?) .
Original Post:Frucall and Scanbuy
Another Interesting Post:
Online Price Comparisons in the Offline World
An application residing on the phone is a natural extension to the PC world that the average user has grown accustomed to. Its a more comfortable setting for the user where he can process a large amount of data with relative ease. Services using telephony do have a cost factor advantage but I do not think the comparison between services using telephony and data service is a fair one as they cannot be truely compared in terms of features they offer. Data service based application(s) like shopping assistants can provide the user more data and easy navigation (Seeing is believing). I do believe the telephony feature of the cell phone is and will be an important part of any service being offered for mobile devices in the years to come, however it will only be a small part of the complete service. Having a UI that a person can see and interact with is definitely the way to go.
But what about the extra price?
Cellular services have been a bit slow here in the US compared to markets in Asia and Europe. The carriers in the US have spent and are spending a huge amount of green ones on setting up their networks to incorporate data. True, there is an extra cost of this setup hitting the first batch of consumers but eventually the prices are going to go down (remember SMS?) .
Original Post:Frucall and Scanbuy
Another Interesting Post:
Online Price Comparisons in the Offline World
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