On this week's Teen Tech Review, my son Max reviews the Sony PSP. This may not be of much interest if you're wearing your VoIP hat, but this is a very popular and well designed device, and Max has a pretty good idea why.
CAVEAT - and this seems to be a big one! I just discovered tonight that readers located outside of Canada cannot access Blogtv.ca. I'm not sure if that applies across the board, or somehow varies by broadband provider, but I suspect it's the former. After all, bandwidth costs can get very expensive if you make these video feeds accessible to the whole world.
I'm looking into this now with Blogtv.ca, but if you've not been able to watch our video reviews, that will explain why. If that's the case, I have a problem on my hands, and I'm open to suggestions. This sounds like a Vonage scenario, I know - if they can come up with a workaround for me, we'll be fine. But if not, I'll have to look at another way of doing these so everyone can see them. You're probably nodding your head right now, as this looks to me like a net neutrality or even a net freedoms issue. I'll keep you posted.
Oh - if you can't access our video reviews, and really want to see them, please drop me a line, and I'll see what I can do.
Technorati tags: Sony PSP, Jon Arnold, Max Arnold, BlogTV.ca, Teen Tech Reviews
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
How to Make Life on the Road Better
Fellow blogger Andy Abramson is a great exponent of the digital lifestyle, especially in terms of living - and working - while on the road. This topic is close to his heart - so much so that Andy has a separate blog dedicated to it. He calls it Working Anywhere, and his latest post is a wonderful wish list of how hotels could do a better job of catering to the digerati.
Andy may be on the high end of the scale, but his needs today will be your needs tomorrow. So, I wouldn't be surprised if a number of his ideas become common practice, at least in hotels that are digerati-friendly. It's a great list, and if you're a heavy traveller, I have no doubt that you're smiling and nodding your head as you read each item. I don't travel enough for most of these things to matter to me, but I would certainly concur with items 5 and 10.
Item 5 - a bigger in-room safe. This one got a few comments from his readers, and I'm with them. It's great for stashing my passport, iPod, car keys, etc. Stuff I have no use for during my trip. But Andy's talking big enough to stow your laptop. I'd go for that - even to pay a buck or two extra a day. Maybe I'm naive, but I can't imagine hotel staff having the audacity to make off with something so big and so obviously not theirs. I know these things happen, but I don't think twice about leaving my notebook connected and on the desk in my room when I'm out. There are lots of times I have no need to schlep my PC around when I'm not in my room, so what else can you do? Count me in for this one.
Item 10 - early check-in. I've never been able to figure out why check-in times are always so late in the day. If check-out is usually by noon, it shouldn't take 3-4 hours to get the room ready again - and that's presuming your room was occupied and just vacated the day you arrive. It hasn't happened to me very often, but sure, it can be a drag arriving in the morning and being in no-man's land for half a day. Sure, you can check your bags and wander the streets for a while, but a lot of hotels are like compounds, and it's not so easy to just step out and stroll about.
We all have our wish lists when we travel, and this sure is a good one. Feel free to add yours here - and of course to the comments section on Working Anywhere.
Technorati tags: Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold, Working Anywhere
Andy may be on the high end of the scale, but his needs today will be your needs tomorrow. So, I wouldn't be surprised if a number of his ideas become common practice, at least in hotels that are digerati-friendly. It's a great list, and if you're a heavy traveller, I have no doubt that you're smiling and nodding your head as you read each item. I don't travel enough for most of these things to matter to me, but I would certainly concur with items 5 and 10.
Item 5 - a bigger in-room safe. This one got a few comments from his readers, and I'm with them. It's great for stashing my passport, iPod, car keys, etc. Stuff I have no use for during my trip. But Andy's talking big enough to stow your laptop. I'd go for that - even to pay a buck or two extra a day. Maybe I'm naive, but I can't imagine hotel staff having the audacity to make off with something so big and so obviously not theirs. I know these things happen, but I don't think twice about leaving my notebook connected and on the desk in my room when I'm out. There are lots of times I have no need to schlep my PC around when I'm not in my room, so what else can you do? Count me in for this one.
Item 10 - early check-in. I've never been able to figure out why check-in times are always so late in the day. If check-out is usually by noon, it shouldn't take 3-4 hours to get the room ready again - and that's presuming your room was occupied and just vacated the day you arrive. It hasn't happened to me very often, but sure, it can be a drag arriving in the morning and being in no-man's land for half a day. Sure, you can check your bags and wander the streets for a while, but a lot of hotels are like compounds, and it's not so easy to just step out and stroll about.
We all have our wish lists when we travel, and this sure is a good one. Feel free to add yours here - and of course to the comments section on Working Anywhere.
Technorati tags: Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold, Working Anywhere
Max Arnold Reviews the Nokia N800
The Nokia N800 is one cool tablet, and I've been lucky enough to be included in the Nokia blogger program to review it. That said, I'm honest enough to tell you that I'm not enough of a gadget guy to get any utility out of this wonderful device - but my oldest son, Max, is.
Max should be pretty familiar to my blog readers by now, and he's had a good run with the N800 for a while. We did a video review of the N800 on our first edition of Teen Tech Reviews for BlogTV.ca, and Max has now posted his written review on his blog.
So, for this post, I'm really just the messenger, and my job is to steer you to Max's review. The N800 has received thorough blog coverage and great reviews from the likes of colleagues Ken Camp and Alec Saunders, but these are from an adult perspective. Max may not be as sophisticated, but I think there's a lot of value in reading about how a teenager views the N800, and if you feel the same way, I think you'll enjoy what Max has to say.
Oh, and while I have you, Max is very keen to do more reviews - or even paid writing gigs - so any suggestions are welcome. :-)
Technorati tags: Nokia N800, Jon Arnold, Max Arnold
Max should be pretty familiar to my blog readers by now, and he's had a good run with the N800 for a while. We did a video review of the N800 on our first edition of Teen Tech Reviews for BlogTV.ca, and Max has now posted his written review on his blog.
So, for this post, I'm really just the messenger, and my job is to steer you to Max's review. The N800 has received thorough blog coverage and great reviews from the likes of colleagues Ken Camp and Alec Saunders, but these are from an adult perspective. Max may not be as sophisticated, but I think there's a lot of value in reading about how a teenager views the N800, and if you feel the same way, I think you'll enjoy what Max has to say.
Oh, and while I have you, Max is very keen to do more reviews - or even paid writing gigs - so any suggestions are welcome. :-)
Technorati tags: Nokia N800, Jon Arnold, Max Arnold
Friday, June 1, 2007
Fireman 3.0 Reviews - Video and Text
For a variety of reasons, all kinds of neat products and gadgets find their way to me, and one of the recent ones is Fireman 3.0. This is a software package for burning CDs and DVDs, made by a company called Honestech - all of which is new to me. This is not something I would ever use, but my oldest son, Max is the perfect person to try this out. He's been test driving it for the past little while, and has done not one, but two reviews.
First is his written review, which you can read off his blog.
The second review is video-based, and is the second broadcast in our weekly series called Teen Tech Reviews, on BlogTV.ca. We put this together earlier in the week, but I haven't had a chance to post about it until now. Hope you enjoy it.
Looks like the PR folks for Fireman 3.0 have been getting the word out to the bloggers. Fellow blogger Alec Saunders posted his review today - talk about being on the same wavelength! His review was quite positive, and interestingly, both Alec and Max referred to Fireman 3.0 as a Swiss army knife. Must be a pretty versatile product!
Technorati tags: Fireman 3.0, Jon Arnold, Max Arnold, BlogTV.ca, Teen Tech Reviews, Alec Saunders
First is his written review, which you can read off his blog.
The second review is video-based, and is the second broadcast in our weekly series called Teen Tech Reviews, on BlogTV.ca. We put this together earlier in the week, but I haven't had a chance to post about it until now. Hope you enjoy it.
Looks like the PR folks for Fireman 3.0 have been getting the word out to the bloggers. Fellow blogger Alec Saunders posted his review today - talk about being on the same wavelength! His review was quite positive, and interestingly, both Alec and Max referred to Fireman 3.0 as a Swiss army knife. Must be a pretty versatile product!
Technorati tags: Fireman 3.0, Jon Arnold, Max Arnold, BlogTV.ca, Teen Tech Reviews, Alec Saunders
Welcome - the Thomas Howe Company
Fellow blogger, indie colleague and New Englander Thomas Howe is doing his thing with a mission. It's not easy being an indie - it's certainly not for everybody - and Thomas is taking some exciting steps in ramping up his business.
I've been off the blogs for almost week - gotta make a living - and I just caught a post of his from last week announcing his formal launch. I'm in the loop on what Thomas is up to, but this was the first public notice I've seen about it.
So, I'm doing my part here to say congrats and welcome to.... The Thomas Howe Company. The name says it all , and you can read more about on his post here. If you're into Web 2.0 and mashups, this is a company you'll want to be following, and in time I won't be the only one you'll be hearing this from.
Technorati tags: Thomas Howe, Jon Arnold, mashups
I've been off the blogs for almost week - gotta make a living - and I just caught a post of his from last week announcing his formal launch. I'm in the loop on what Thomas is up to, but this was the first public notice I've seen about it.
So, I'm doing my part here to say congrats and welcome to.... The Thomas Howe Company. The name says it all , and you can read more about on his post here. If you're into Web 2.0 and mashups, this is a company you'll want to be following, and in time I won't be the only one you'll be hearing this from.
Technorati tags: Thomas Howe, Jon Arnold, mashups
Cisco's First Canadian Telepresence Sale - and Arnold Likes it
I'm not talking about myself, actually. This week, Arnold Schwarzenegger made a cross-Canada tour, with a stop here in Toronto the other day. Lots of green agenda messaging, which is great, and I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with Cisco and Rogers.
Well, here's why. In honor of his presence - not telepresence - he was actually here - Cisco sponsored a splashy event around the opening of a Canada/California trade mission. During the event, Cisco announced their first Canadian telepresence customer - Rogers. Sounds like a great first customer to me, as Rogers is probably more aligned with Cisco's vision that just about anybody, especially among big companies. As I'm saying that now, I just remembered that's exactly what I said in December while attending Cisco's analyst conference, which you can read here, or on Cisco's own blog page. Gee, what I said then now looks pretty prescient, if I must say!
Fast forward ahead today, and the news was officially announced this afternoon. You can read about it in Cisco's own words here.
And in case you're wondering, there's one more loose end to tie up here, and it's probably the most important one. As all Canadians know by now, Gov'r. Schwarzenegger has an aggressive green agenda, which was very well received here - that's what made the front pages in Canada all week - not telepresence.
Well, anyone following telepresence knows that cutting down on travel, carbon emissions, etc. is a strong selling point, and Cisco's John Chambers has been quite vocal about that. The environmental angle was only mentioned in passing in Cisco's news release, but you can be sure that was a big part of what Arnold was talking about during his Toronto visit when the news was announced. After all, Cisco is based in his state, and to make the connection clear, during the event I'm told there was a video clip of him and John Chambers make a telepresence call to Ted Rogers, CEO of Rogers. That must have been fun! Ok - I think all the dots are connnected now - back to work...
Technorati tags: telepresence, Jon Arnold, Cisco Canada, Rogers, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Well, here's why. In honor of his presence - not telepresence - he was actually here - Cisco sponsored a splashy event around the opening of a Canada/California trade mission. During the event, Cisco announced their first Canadian telepresence customer - Rogers. Sounds like a great first customer to me, as Rogers is probably more aligned with Cisco's vision that just about anybody, especially among big companies. As I'm saying that now, I just remembered that's exactly what I said in December while attending Cisco's analyst conference, which you can read here, or on Cisco's own blog page. Gee, what I said then now looks pretty prescient, if I must say!
Fast forward ahead today, and the news was officially announced this afternoon. You can read about it in Cisco's own words here.
And in case you're wondering, there's one more loose end to tie up here, and it's probably the most important one. As all Canadians know by now, Gov'r. Schwarzenegger has an aggressive green agenda, which was very well received here - that's what made the front pages in Canada all week - not telepresence.
Well, anyone following telepresence knows that cutting down on travel, carbon emissions, etc. is a strong selling point, and Cisco's John Chambers has been quite vocal about that. The environmental angle was only mentioned in passing in Cisco's news release, but you can be sure that was a big part of what Arnold was talking about during his Toronto visit when the news was announced. After all, Cisco is based in his state, and to make the connection clear, during the event I'm told there was a video clip of him and John Chambers make a telepresence call to Ted Rogers, CEO of Rogers. That must have been fun! Ok - I think all the dots are connnected now - back to work...
Technorati tags: telepresence, Jon Arnold, Cisco Canada, Rogers, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Canadian IP Thought Leaders Series - Jim Glover and BDC Venture Capital
On this week's podcast, my guest was Jim Glover. He's the Investment Director for BDC Venture Capital, the venture arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada. Their focus is to support the small business sector, and venture capital is one way of doing this.
Jim and I spoke about the state of the market for venture funding among Canadian telecom and tech companies. He addressed the challenges facing VCs in finding good opportunities, and the types of companies and technologies that are getting funding now. Jim also shared his thoughts on what he looks for in companies seeking funding.
You can download the podcast here, as well as read more about Jim Glover.
Technorati tags: BDC Venture Capital, Jon Arnold, VoIP podcasts
Jim and I spoke about the state of the market for venture funding among Canadian telecom and tech companies. He addressed the challenges facing VCs in finding good opportunities, and the types of companies and technologies that are getting funding now. Jim also shared his thoughts on what he looks for in companies seeking funding.
You can download the podcast here, as well as read more about Jim Glover.
Technorati tags: BDC Venture Capital, Jon Arnold, VoIP podcasts
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