Joiku turns Nokia N95 into Wifi hotspot
Oh, this is cool. I read about it on the Marikaya blog. The software is Joikuspot and turns a Nokia phone into a Wifi hotspot.
This is the kind of thing I learn about when I come to Europe. Yuri van Geest told me about it — he’s sitting in the front row of LIFT.
Google kicking butt on iPhone
My old boss, Vic Gundotra, has been showing off a new iPhone app from Google and also trotting out some numbers we first heard at the iPhone Dev Camp: that people with iPhones are using the Web at a far faster rate than people with other phones.
This data matches what I’ve seen in my own life, too. I have a $750 Nokia N95. It really sucks to surf the Web on, compared to the iPhone. So, why do I carry both an iPhone and the Nokia? The Nokia does video capture and has a much better camera than the iPhone, which doesn’t do video yet. Interesting data, though.
Justin.tv watch out
Tonight I was over Rocky’s house and got a message that I could download the new Qik video streaming service to my cell phone. Cool, “let’s try it,” I said to myself.
It only took a minute to download and install.
Now there’s a “qik” icon in my applications folder. Click on it on my Nokia N95. A video window pops up, says “connected” and there’s a button called “stream.” I push that and this is the result. Rocky realizes that it truly is live, albeit with a five-second delay.
Holy s**t. I can stream live video to you now from anywhere at anytime. No longer do I need to wait for Kyte, Seesmic, or other services to upload videos.
I push that button and the live stream turns to a recorded video. Instantly.
Freaking amazing. Wait until I hook this sucker up with Twitter.
Imagine being at a conference, telling people “visit my Qik” and turning this on so they all could watch.
My world has just changed. Thanks Qik! Watch my page for some more videos coming later today.
The quality isn’t the best, but it’s watchable and that’s all we really need considering that video is coming to you over a cell phone connection.
Google is taking over the mobile world
Tonight Google.com was updated for iPhone. I film a little demo on Seesmic. TechCrunch broke the news as far as I can tell (Google Reader is getting damn fast at bringing me everyone’s blogs).
Anyway, this is yet more reasons I’ll be using Google on mobile phones.
I’m even ready to eat my words about Android since Verizon announced they’d be supporting Google’s new mobile OS.
And have you tried the new “My Location” feature on Google’s mobile maps? That rocks — I’ve used it dozens of times over the past week and it makes using Google Maps on a cell phone a LOT more useful.
Is anyone else getting you to use its services on mobile phones?
Oh, Sean Percival says “I like it” on his Seesmic video about the iPhone.
UPDATE: MG Siegler has a more complete review, which talks about the new auto suggesting feature which does, indeed, rock.
UPDATE2: David Jacobs says “holy crap” and “it’s amazing.”
The mobile media war continues with Zannel
I am finding most of the audiences I’ve spoken to lately have never seen Kyte.tv. Many have never seen Twitter. Or even know they can upload photos to Flickr from their cell phones.
But someday they will.
Zannel is another company that’s trying to make cell phone media easier. Here’s Zannel’s CEO and CTO to show us Zannel.
Why is this important? Well, how many cell phones will sell in the next year? Now let’s say that even 1% signup for Zannel. That could be a pretty sizeable audience.
Either way, these guys give us their view of the cell industry and where it’s going.
I know mobile phone stuff is important because of you. I got more email off of my Fast Company column about cell phone services than any of the other columns I’ve written for Fast Company. Thanks!
Google’s Android cell phone SDK is now out
The Google Android SDK just shipped, along with a video explaining how to use it.
I’m watching it now and will come back shortly with some feedback.
