Category: Uncategorized

Change is good…. Hard, but good.

by Matt Hand

First I realize this blog has remained mostly dormant for the last few years. There have been life changes, business changes, and just overall change so it has remained largely just here. I am at a crossroads now though and it is time to bring it back.

Why?

Well in all honest truth I have missed writing my little missives and getting them out to the world. I have missed just being more transparent. I am not going to talk about my personal life, but years ago when I began to blog I wanted to make a journal of my life as a business owner with all of the changes and struggles that have happened. This is the new story, the new beginning.

I won’t promise something everyday, but here will be my adventures in building a new.

Change is hard, but required.

Big Blow For HTC

by Matt Hand

So this could be interesting:

From the Verge

Apple won a wide-ranging exclusion order banning the importation of HTC Android devices at the International Trade Commission last December — the ITC found that Android’s messaging app and browser infringed upon Apple patent #5,946,647, which covers automatically converting things like phone numbers and email addresses into actionable links that open a menu of options. The ban was delayed so HTC could engineer around Apple’s patent claims, but it went into effect on April 19th — and although HTC claimed so-called “data tapping” was a “small UI experience” that would be completely removed from its US Android devices, Customs is now reviewing the One X and Evo 4G LTE.

This has wide ranging implications for the future of Android.

Motorola Is tracking you

by Matt Hand
Anyone doubt that our smart phones know more about us then we think:

Motoblur collects information about customer use of applications and how that use relates to functions like power consumption. With that data, Motorola learns which applications drain power. “We are getting to the place that we should be able to warn you,” Jha said. He envisions presenting a notice to users when they launch an application alerting them that using the application will drain 35 percent of the phone’s power, for example, he said. The user can then decide to continue or conserve power.

6 Must Have iPad Apps

by Matt Hand
A little over a week ago I invested in the iPad 2. Why? Well I will be teaching an iPad class up at the local community college and it has one extremely useful feature which is the ability to mirror the screen out. This is a very nice feature that I am looking forward to. I also enjoy the smaller size and the smart cover really is smart.

But this really isn’t a review as I was recently asked by someone what apps I consider essential. Here is my list of the 6 must have iPad apps.
1) Dropbox: Dropbox is my essential app for managing files and share them between my Mac and the iPad. The other great thing about Dropbox is the amount of other applications that use Dropbox as a storage mechanism. Some of which I have include Plaintext which is a simple text program that stores all of your notes to Dropbox. Another great thing is the ability to share files by copying the link to a file using the app and emailing it to someone. To get a Dropbox account you can find it here.
2) GoodReader:  GoodReader is one of the best file opening tools. It reads most files including PDFs, MS Office files, iWork, and even handles Quicktime files. GoodReader allows you to annotate all of these and store them out as PDFs. The great part of this app lies in the new synchronization with remote servers. The one thing Dropbox is lacking is the ability to upload files. With GoodReader you can use the open in GoodReader function and then choose to synchronize it with your Dropbox folder and voila it is in your Dropbox folder on your computer. I have folders in the application that I store all of my PDF manuals and can access them in the field.
3) Evernote: Evernote is for me where I store all of my notes on everything including webclippings and other pieces of information I want to store. Evernote never forgets and is completely searchable with tags and words within the content. If you upgrade to the premium version you gain the ability to search images and pdfs as it converts text within the images. GoodReader even now allows you to open in Evernote and store edited PDFs. Find more out about Evernote here.
4) River of News: If you have a Google Reader account and like to read your news feeds River of News should be a must buy. While most people have heard of Reeder for iPad I prefer the way River of News user interface more closely mimics that of Google Reader and you can quickly navigate between the news feeds. It also has some great features like sending to Instapaper, posting to Twitter and Facebook, as well as sending the entire article to an email address which I use to send it to Evernote using a feature in Evernote that gives you an email address to send notes to.
5) Kindle: I just love reading on my iPad and what a better way than having the entire Kindle library.
6) Netflix: Bummed they removed the instant que from it a few months ago, but the new update is very nice and if you are somewhere and want to kill some time what better way to do it than watching a movie.
I have many more apps installed than this, but if I were getting a new iPad and needing some key apps these would be the ones I would download first.

Facebook makes some much needed changes with pages

by Matt Hand
I just got this in an email today:

Facebook pages are getting an updated layout and several new features to help you engage with your fans. Here’s some of what you’ll be getting:

• Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts
• A place to showcase photos along the top of your page
• A news feed for your page
• The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page

Preview your page and you’ll be given the option to upgrade early. All pages will automatically be upgraded on March 10.

These are some much needed improvements and if you haven’t ever built a page I would recommend giving it a shot by going here to start the process and look for the create page button which is in the top right.

I am not sure why it has taken so long for the notification piece, but I am very excited about being able to get those notifications which will increase the ability to interact. Being able to post as a business should be interesting as well as you will be able to interact on a B2B level now with other pages.