Hah. If Droid keeps running ads like this we can overlook a few rebate scams and a battery cover that keeps falling off.

As a gay man watching this Droid ad why does it feel like Verizon is calling the iPhone a homo! To quote:

Its not a princess, its a robot. A phone that trades hair-do for can-do. In a world of doesnt. Droid Does.

Image Source: http://www.productqas.com

I’ve been using my Blackberry 8830 since November 2007. I got it around the same time lots of my techie friends were getting their iPhones, but I refused to switch providers as my family has four lines and it was just too much to go through that kind of hassle. I’m sure you understand.

My Blackberry did everything I wanted it to. I was able to communicate through e-mail, Twitter and ultimately Facebook as well. But as time went by, browsing became an issue. The model I had did not have a built in camera and the multimedia functions of it were just not fulfilling my needs. So much so that when I was in my own home and other Wi-Fi environments, I got in the habit of using my iPod Touch to access all of my social networks and communication needs.

Then came the Droid.

This is an early holiday gift from my husband. (You’re welcome Chris. Now you don’t have to go shopping for me.) After reading and researching the Android Market and checking out the many features of the phone itself, I took a field trip to my provider’s store this past Sunday. Here are the initial features that sold me:

• 3G network
• camera (by the way it’s a 5 megapixels)
• video camera
• 3.7 inch touch screen
• pre-installed apps (like Facebook and YouTube)
• Wi-Fi capable

I turned off my Blackberry forever. It was funny. A few days later my 6-year old asked me if I missed it and I realized that for the last couple of years she’s known me to pretty much always have it with me. But the answer was easy. I didn’t miss it at all.

I walked out of the store, got in my car and just for fun used the Google Maps with Navigation over speakerphone to get home. The voice over the Droid gave me ACCURATE, turn-by-turn directions to get right to my driveway. Not that I won’t still use my Garmin GPS, but it’s nice to have an alternative.

One thing that the gentleman at the store explained to me is that I would no longer be able to use Microsoft Outlook to sync my Calendar and Contacts. Bummer. So, when I got inside, I fired up my computer and exported everything out of Outlook and imported everything into my Google Account. This is something I had planned to ultimately do anyway, I guess I just needed a reason. Check this out:

• Google Over the Air updates – no need for a wire to sync your phone – it happens over the air and automatically – Holy Cow!!
• Integrated Google and Facebook contacts – so someone calls me and I see their Facebook picture
• Rotate the Droid and the screen changes to landscape, rotate again it goes back to the portrait orientation
• Android Market

Image Source: http://www.dialaphone.co.uk

I’ve been downloading and using a few of the apps from the Android Market. There are about 10,000 apps there. I realize that for you iPhone users, there’s still no comparison, and I’m not writing about the Droid to bring it into the classroom, but because it’s such a great productivity tool for me. So here are the apps that I have downloaded and used so far with thanks to Damian Bariexca and Paula White:

• Twidroid – “twidroid is the industry-standard twitter client for android and among the most used twitter applications across all platforms. it’s available as a free and commercial pro version that supports all twitter features as well as functionality that is customized to the capabilities of android devices.”
• Flashlight – simple white screen allows you to see in dark places
• Mother TED – “Mother TED allows you to watch the latest TED videos based on Themes, Talks and Tags.”
• Where – “WHERE is a bundle of cool GPS apps all wrapped into one. Are you looking for the hottest restaurants, jonesing for your next coffee fix, or need a cheap fill-up? Maybe you want to know the local weather, traffic or headlines? Whatever you are after, WHERE has it.”

It’s not quite yet a week. I have so much to learn. I’ve been bookmarking some great resources and I plan on posting more on the Droid in the near future. If you have one and care to share your experiences or some apps that have been helpful, please do. If you are thinking about getting one,  don’t hesitate to ask me about mine.

I absolutely love this video right now. The latest Droid advert from Motorola and Verizon takes a swipe at the iPhone by asking “Should a phone be pretty?”. Well I don’t know about you, but I quite like my phone being pretty and I certainly wouldn’t say it’s digitally clueless!

Still the video made me giggle.

Motorola targets young men with its most testosterone-heavy TV commercial yet

Screen shot from Droid ad. Image: Motorola

Someone had fun writing this ad copy:

Droid. Should a phone be pretty? Should it be a tiara-wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen? Or should it be fast? Racehorse duct-taped to a Scud missile fast. We say the latter. So we built the phone that does. Does rip through the Web like a circular saw through a ripe banana. Is it a precious porcelain figurine of a phone? In truth? No. It’s not a princess. It’s a robot. A phone that trades hair-do for can-do.

The new Droid commercial that debuted in prime-time Thursday night (and is pasted below the fold) opened a new front in Motorola (MOT) and Verizon’s (VZ) $100 million ad campaign to take market share from Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone

Earlier commercials had appealed to the fragile male ego with icons of masculinity: stealth bombers, heavyweight fighters, rock-crushing machinery.

This one goes after the competition by painting it — and its users — as effeminate.

Source: YouGov's BrandIndex surveys. Margin of error: +/- 2%

It’s a strategy as old as the schoolyard, and it seems to be working — at least on one side of the yard. A new YouGov BrandIndex survey taken Thursday shows Motorola’s buzz rising relative to Apple’s and Research in Motion’s (RIMM) among men 18 and older. And the company seems to be on track in its stated goal of selling 1 million Droids by New Years.

It remains to be seen whether it has burned its bridges to the other half of the market in the process.

Below: The latest ad.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Verizons popular buy one get one deal WILL cover the Droid and the Droid Eris which is pretty great news.  Here’s the catch though, the deal will only last from December 4th (tomorrow) to December 7th.  Pretty sucky for such a short period of time but damn that is a great deal.  I wouldn’t mind splitting the price with a friend if I wasn’t with T Mobile for another year but I can’t.  Hopefully these phones are as good as all the hype around them.

Android 2.0 was initially launched on the Droid as part of the marketing blitz on Motorola’s part. Until recently the Motorola Droid was the only device running Android 2.0 and there hadn’t been word on when or if older devices such as the MyTouch, G1, or the Hero were going to receive these updates. Leaked screenshots showed Android 2.1 running on the HTC Hero with Sense UI included. Now developers can download Android 2.0.1 which is set for release in December and there are some minor hints that the update isn’t just meant for the Droid.

Engadget was told by Verizon that Android 2.0.1 is going to be released sometime in December. The update is said to fix a known issue with the camera focus and voice reception on the Motorola Droid. Though as Engadget points out, it is a little odd that Google would release a .0.1 update for one specific phone. In Google’s release notes about Android 2.0.1 it says there are minor API changes, bug fixes, and framework behavioral changes. Along with the release notes, there are some instructions on getting started on developement with Android 2.0.1 by downloading the AVD Manager into Android SDK 1.6 or greater. To my knowledge, at this point there shouldn’t be any developers coding for the Droid using SDK 1.6. Maybe this is the final push to get everyone else developing for 2.0.1 before the update is released to older Android devices. One can only hope. As far as the framework changes, hopefully those include fixing the stutter you get on the Droid when pulling down the notification tab or switching between home screens. An issue you don’t see on the Hero, Mytouch, or G1.

Google’s release notes for Android 2.0 and 2.0.1 can be found here.

[Via Engadget]

I’m waiting for some video cuts to upload to Vimeo from a presser I did a few weeks back, and it got me thinking.

Back in the 80s, before my dad brought the PS/2 home, I recall getting onto an older machine using PowerMenu by Brown Bag software, this was before I was blown away by 3.1. How far we have come…indeed.

What is truly amazing these days is the software you can download and install in seconds – no coding, headaches or restarts. Thanks to AIR and others, Tweetdeck, Flickr, Twitter, Vimeo and others can all be operated simply and easily. This has to be one of the largest democratizations of software and hardware in history. The prevalence of netbooks, webcams, Droid phones and other devices brings this all together. I look forward to trying out the WordPress app on my BB, should be interesting.

There is still part of me that misses Run DOS Run.

Brown Bag's PowerMenu

Here are five of the most basic do’s and don’t’s to follow while commuting on NJ Transit. It’s hard out there for a commuter, but with a little train etiquette, I think we can all…get on the right track? I’m sorry, that was painful for me, too. Anyway, enjoy! And, after reading through my ideas, tell me: Do you have any wisdom to pass along?

Just your typical jam-packed, peak-hour train (Photo from DustandRust.com)

DO: Read. Duh. Too many books, too little time… but two hours a day on the train helps! I love borrowing books from work that I’ve been working with and reading them on the train. Even though I don’t necessarily have to read the books I help produce, doing so allows me to do my job much better. I’m able to better communicate with designers (who may have read the book) and editors (who have not only read the book, but are intimately involved with it to the extent of being in a relationship). Right now, I skew toward YA books and fun middle-grade series, like Allie Finkle (though I’m definitely partial to Allie because of her name! Well, that, and Allie’s spunky voice, courtesy of YA mastermind Meg Cabot).

DON’T: Comment on your neighbor’s reading choice. Well, sometimes this is OK I suppose. For instance, the occasional “I loved that book” is fine with me, as is that “I heard about that book. Are you enjoying it?” But I’ve had people give away plot twists and endings (really? REALLY?) while I’m only on Chapter One, and that’s just rude. RUDE, I tell ya! And don’t read over people’s shoulders, unless you’re commuting with them and you’ve both agreed to read the book at the same time, like my commuting buddy Andrew and I did with Catching Fire (and will likely do with the third book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy when it comes out next summer). Oh, and when someone is doing a crossword or Sudoku puzzle, please refrain from giving them the answers or telling them how quickly you were able to finish it that morning (this means you, smug man from Metropark!).

DO: Sleep. This editourist leaves for work at 6:40 AM and doesn’t return home until 7:15 PM, leaving time for dinner, some freelance work, maybe a little TV, and bed. I like to catch up on sleep on my way to work. New York Penn is the final stop, so it’s nearly impossible to sleep through it. Although, I do have fears of one day missing the stop and ending up in the Sunnyside train yard… but I’ll deal with that when it happens.

DON’T: Snore, drool excessively, or sleep on the passenger next to you’s shoulder. Sometimes you can’t help it. I understand. But please, please try.

DO: Play with your new Droid ERIS phone, because you have one! And by you, I mean me, and it’s been a life-changing experience. I don’t think it’s specifically the ERIS that’s changed my life, but having a phone with internet capabilities. Now I can use my train time to catch up on news, personal email, and reading Publishers Weekly (which has a pretty clean Mobile look, mind you!). I’m also loving the text application, because it shows up as an IM and logs my conversations. My days of accidently deleting important messages are gone!

DON’T: Play games or watch YouTube videos on your phone with the sound on. I’m begging you. I’m asking you to mute it partially because it’s just plain annoying and inconsiderate, but mostly because the sounds are totally going to distract me from whatever I’m trying to do. For instance, if I’m reading but I keep hearing “beep” and “chirrrrp” from your phone, I’m going to look over your shoulder to see what’s going on. I want you to clear the screen in Tetris! I want you to find a match in Bejeweled! I’m your biggest fan! But it’s incredibly creepy for me to be watching you play these games, so please, save this easily-distracted girl the trouble and mute it. Or, wear headphones. Preferably big, cool-looking ones. Big, cool-looking, orange ones (birthday present, hint hint!).

DO: Observe the strange breed that is the NJ Transit passenger. Man, what characters. NJ Transit passengers range from the Jewish pants salesman arguing on the phone with his mom about Shabbas dinner, to the most definitely not legal high-school boys coming home from the city drunk, to the 80-something man hitting on the conductor… the list goes on, and yes, these are all true examples. Andrew and I love people-watching on the train. It’s hard to avoid doing anyway, so you might as well enjoy it.

DON’T: Get caught observing the strange breed that is the NJ Transit passenger. You’ll get hit on, threatened, glared at, and made to feel generally uncomfortable. Probably because you’re being a total creeper and you deserve it.

DO: Zone out into space. One of my favorite ways to pass the time. Grab a window seat, make yourself comfortable, and let yourself tune out for a while. Why not?

DON’T: Zone out long enough to miss conductors’ instructions (or your station stop, for that matter). Here’s why not: As I’ve learned the hard way, you often have to walk forward or backward cars in order to make your stop. This is especially true during peak hours, and it changes depending on which train you catch. And here’s another why not: The conductor will often make a speech that sounds like this: “This train will not stop in [your stop]. I repeat, this train will not stop in [your stop]. This train will make all station stops except for [your stop]. That is, all stops except [your stop]. We will not stop in [your stop]. No [your stop].” When you ask the conductor why you’re passing the stop you want to get off at, he’s not going to think it’s funny. Trust me.

BONUS DON’T: Argue with the conductor. She does not have the ability to magically turn the train around. Really. Arguing is going to get you nowhere but further in the wrong direction. Accept your mistake, ask how to fix it, and laugh about it later. I did!

 There’s a significant amount of speculation out there these days about the next home for the iPhone in the U.S.  Debate all you want about who it will be, but in 2010 the iPhone seems most assuredly to be found across more than one carrier.

While certainly difficult to call Apple’s first move into the mobile space with AT&T a failure, it’s no secret that AT&T is slowing down Apple these days much more than helping them dominate in the mobile space.

AT&T’s service has come under fire from multiple directions, most recently through clever and timely Verizon attack ads as well as a less-than-favorable review from Consumer Reports. The AT&T side of the equation is definitely under attack and with the dismissal of court action to stop Verizon from promoting AT&T’s shortcomings, it appears this side of the iPhone/AT&T equation is the weakest link. I don’t see that ending any time soon. When Verizon and AT&T launch their 4G networks, I think it’s pretty likely that Verizon will beat AT&T handily. I find it more difficult to find an iPhone user that doesn’t concede AT&Ts shortcomings than one who defends AT&T. Make no mistake, these people are for the most part iPhone users first and AT&T customers second.  Usually, all you need to do is ask an iPhone user if they ever drop calls to bring it out.

On the device side of the equation, I think it’s difficult to make a case that any phone realeased to-date is an “iPhone-killer” or even in the same ballpark as the elegant iPhone.  Some of the closest devices to date in my opinion are the Droid (which if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of) and the Palm Pre.  But let’s face it, the device side is the strong side of the AT&T/iPhone equation.

Even so, Apple is facing a constant barrage of new devices and it’s not going to let up soon.  Many times, I have found staunch iPhone  advocates to dismiss this with arrogance, saying things like “yes, but none of them are nearly as good as the iPhone.”  I can’t agree more, but I also can’t help but look at the stark difference between the iPhone’s original competition and its newest competition.  Devices today are a far cry from those 3-year old Blackberries and Palm Trios.  Look at the HTC Hero (a.k.a. Droid Eris), which received very little fanfare when it was launched.  We live in a world where a device that powerful and elegant doesn’t even make the news.  If it had been released before the iPhone, it would have been the most incredible mobile device we’d ever seen, and there’s supposedly an upgrade coming (the HTC Dragon) that will boost its processing speed.  My point is that yes, the iPhone is still arguably the best device out there, but it doesn’t enjoy the lead it once did, not even close.

Others are learning from Apple and designing great devices.  And the “others” aren’t small companies.  We have massive and innovative companies that are vying for meaningful survival in the marketplace such as Google, Nokia, Motorola, Palm, RIM/Blackberry, etc. and it seems inevitable that we will at some point see some big moves from Microsoft.  So, while perhaps not currently facing a significant competitor, it’s pretty easy to see that the device side of the AT&T/iPhone equation is also (at least somewhat) vulnerable.

All signs point to a need for Apple to make its next move in mobile and there’s something big on the horizon that allows Apple a natural opportunity to do it: 4G.  There won’t be an event in mobile of this magnitude for perhaps another decade.  If you were Apple (or any company vying for mobile dominance) what would you do?

I know what I would do.  I would be working with the carrier that is expected to dominate the 4G space from the start… and that’s Verizon.

So for all the rumors and articles out there talking about will there or won’t there be a Verizon iPhone and will Apple work with T-Mobile instead, I say we’re over analyzing it.

Maybe Apple will launch a T-Mobile iPhone, who knows?  But even if they do, don’t cont out a Verizon/Apple agreement aligned with the Verizon 4G LTE launch that changes the game again.

Of course, to get such a deal done, Apple is going to have to make some concessions, but in return they might just get what they’ve been after the whole time.  Not device dominance.  Mobile PLATFORM dominance (…the same reason Google’s in this game).  Apple isn’t trying to sell iPhones, they’re trying to become the mobile standard.  And to those who say the Apple approach won’t win because it’s not “open” or the “best” platform, I suggest they look at the history of format wars in technology.  The “best” platform does not always win.

A reminder:  these are just my opinions.  I’m holding out for a 4G Verizon device for my next phone.  I’m hoping it’s a 4G iPhone, but even if Verizon and Apple have a colossal failure of management and can’t make the deal happen, I have a feeling my choices for 4G devices are going to be pretty impressive.  I’ll give Apple and Verizon until Q3 2010 to get it done, but by then I will have waited an awfully long time to upgrade my device and won’t be willing to wait any longer.  Fingers crossed!

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Respective device images courtesy of Apple, Blackberry.  Other device images and corporate logos courtesy of their respective companies when possible.

Almost a month after buying the Droid, I got my rebate, but they didn’t send a check, they sent a rebate card.

It’s kind of cool looking:

At first I thought — wow this might be fun. Getting a check is a minor hassle, but it just goes into your account, and sloshes around with all the other dollars in there. Having a card means I could buy something for $100. It’ll burn a bit of a hole in my pocket, which is always a welcome feeling.

But, after watching the Frontline show about credit and debit cards, I’m on the lookout for scams, and right away I spotted a couple

1. My first thought on opening the envelope was “Oh shit another card I never asked. I bet at least a few cards get shredded before they ever get used.

2. You can’t spend exactly $100. Some people will spend $20 and forget how much is left, and voila — an $80 profit for Verizon. No matter what, there will be a lot of loose change left over on a lot of cards. With a million Droids out there that’s quite a bit of money.

3. They got use of my money for a month.

Obviously, the most customer-friendly thing to do would have been to apply the $100 to my next Verizon bill. Or better yet, never charge it to me in the first place, and drop the price by $100.

Update: It’s even worse than it appears. You can’t use the card until you register it. So I went to the registration site and it doesn’t accept my Verizon username and password. Just to be sure I have the correct info, I logged in on the home page, and I do. So how much of my time is it worth to chase down the $100? I guess that’s #4.

Update #2: Read the fine print. This is a new login. Okay. They want my mother’s maiden name for one hundred freakin dollars? Fuck you. I made something up.

This episode has no real purpose other than to be the outlet of the random thoughts bouncing around in my head today.

I seem to attract/be attracted to women with self esteem issues.  This fact came to my attention this morning as I recapped a conversation with my “friend” last night and most of yesterday to my cousin.  This is the girl I’ve been talking about the last few entries, the one I have that major crush on.  Basically, she feels like she is unattractive and I seem unable to convince her otherwise.  As you can see, she is a very pretty girl.  I’ve told her every day how beautiful I think she is, and every day she says I’m on crack for saying so.  So, I got a brilliant idea; I figure I would show her picture to a few of my friends and let THEM tell her how pretty she is. I did get four people to reply to me/her (I only sent it to four people), and it was pretty unanimous; she is HOT!  But she thinks I bribed the girls to tell her that, and just didn’t believe the guys.  Now, i have struggled with my own self esteem issues, so its not like I don’t know what she is feeling . . . it really is hard to undo a lifetime of not feeling pretty enough, and i understand that. I still stuggle with mine from time to time, especially when people tell me all the time how cute my cousins are, but I have gotten better, and I just want to help her with it the same way she has helped me . . .

I was gonna blog about this earlier this week, but decided not to . . . but since I’m blogging now, why not . . . I HATE STUPIDITY!!!!!!!!  Seriously, I loathe acts of stupidity, and strongly dislike the people who repeatedly commit such offenses. But, I came to a realization regarding stupidity that I should be grateful for; stupidity creates job security.  For example, stupid people with cars create insurance jobs, mechanic jobs, medical jobs . . . the list goes on and on.  Stupid people with computers [ Not to be confused with people who make HONEST MISTAKES ] create my job security.  I supposed I should thank stupid people for making sure I have a steady source of employment, but dang, I wanna slap them sometimes LOL.

I LOVE MY DROID!  This phone is awesomeness wrapped in fantastical with a side of sweet. For serious.  And for all the people out there who may assume I’m biased in any way shape or form; I OWN AN iPHONE.  But, the droid is superior.  In two days, its made me not even want to touch my iphone again. Its just that great.

Um, i think that’s it for now.  Thank you for tuning in to another episode of “Matt, Uncut.”

My mobile phone problems persist. I want an iPhone but I don’t want AT&T. Fortunately there appears to be a light at the end of this tunnel. Unfortunaetly my faith in Apple has been rocked and my eyes are turning to a new champion of the consumer experience…the big, bad, Google.

Despite the latest Droid advertisement belittling the iPhone to a “pretty porcelain princess” figurine, calling its own device a robot that “does”, the truth is that the iPhone does too. AT&T doesn’t. Which begs the question: for a company so hell bent on creating the best user experience possible why now has it chosen to forgo these principles for the sake of control? AT&T is truly the worst.

The Droid is a good phone. The iPhone is a great phone and it’s possible the Google Phone – reportedly being released by Gizmodo and every other tech blog online – will be great too.

Apple has created an incredible ecosystem with Mobile Me. I am able to keep my address book, calendar and files on my computer synced together with my non existant iPhone.

But alas I do not have an iPhone. I have a Blackberry Tour, which by all accounts is a decent phone. Sure, Blackberry Messenger satisfies my inner stalker with “R’s” and “D’s” for read/delivered messages. But decent doesn’t cut it. And the Tour is really my stalemate phone because I have no moves. Google Sync has since come out replicating all the wonderful features of Mobile Me, sans the $99 fee. Which has me taking a notice.

But lets get back to the iPhone and the expectations that Apple has created for itself. They pride themselves on the user’s experience. Microsoft writes its operating system (haphazardly) for dozens of different computer manufactures and it shows. Apple creates its own operating system for its own computers- this too shows. The experience between a Mac and PC do not compare.

Apple revolutionized the way we interact with music with the iconic iPod + iTunes. As a company Apple has moved methodically with great regard to the user experience in every instance except the iPhone. The quality of the service provider (in this case AT&T) has a massive impact on the user experience and the carrier partnership should be scrutinized just as heavily as the number of clicks it takes to get from one menu to the next.

A chain truly is as strong as its weakest link and for whatever reason AT&T is the rotting link on this chain that Apple has bound to the iPhone. So while I appreciate what Apple has done for me, it seems to have side stepped with respect to the iPhone.

I’m now looking for Google to innovate. I have hopes for the Google Phone. The sad thing is the phone my heart..err thumbs yearn for (iPhone) is right in front of me. So while the iPhone is screwing around with that crap carrier I’ve got my eyes open for something better. Maybe Apple will get it’s act together before I lose interest. Maybe not.

Recently I’ve been bombarded (while watching The Daily Show) with advertising for phones running Google’s Android OS.  These phone were on my short list but the advertising turned me off.

Google, have you learned nothing from Microsoft’s lame advertising in the past years?  Your advertising is just as geeky.  Your customers are not machines!  They are people!  You’re effectively telling me these phones are for geeks and robots.  And the best feature you have is turn-by-turn directions?   Seriously?!  Dude, my geeky crappily-designed Windows Mobile phone was giving me turn-by-turn directions three years ago when shopping for Burning Man supplies in Reno (see what I’m doing here? take a lesson and empathize with you audience ).

Let’s see what avenues your competitors are exploring…

See?  Cool inspiring music!  Connecting with people and audience!  What else?

See? Peeeooople! Connections! (plus you too know just as much about your customers )

The other ads in this campaign are just as cold and geeky, effectively portraying the phone as an alien device (see them in the Verizon Wireless channel).  In a recent interview on Fox News, Eric Schmidt, Google CEO says they’ll try not to make the same mistakes Microsoft made (02:55) but in fact they are making the same mistakes around bullying other businesses and lame geeky commercials.

And yes, I do believe the Windows 7 advertising campaign is a successful one.  Leading with the customers and leaving your ego behind is always a good thing.

Well, it isn’t surprising who won kudos from the recently released Consumer Reports annual report on U.S. wireless service and phones.  Verizon Wireless was tops once again, followed by T-Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, and AT&T bringing up the rear; on the flip side, AT&T’s flagship phone, Apple’s iPhone 3GS ran away with the best in class.  The interesting and somewhat perplexing finding is that only 54% of the 50,000 readers surveyed were completely or very satisfied with the quality of their network; two-thirds of respondents had at least one major complaint.

What this seems to shed light on is how important the cellular phone has become on our society and that this popularity has made the networks overloaded and under-built in many areas which leads to this discontent.  The result of 54% has to be seen as a failing grade to the wireless carriers as there is no way to spin a 54 being anything but a big fat ‘F’ – I wonder what the execs at the carriers say when they see their valued subscribers to unsatisfied.  Oh to be a fly on the wall…

It is interesting that the most popular and beloved handset, the iPhone smartphone runs on the lowest rated network; AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity runs out in mid 2010 and it is widely believed that Apple will sell the iPhone to other U.S. wireless carriers to gain additional market share.  The iPhone’s hold on their users is a staggering 98% would but it again, while only 79% of other phone owners said they would but their devices again.

For those who are wondering where all the new Droid devices were in the ratings, they were too new except for the MyTouch which tied for 3rd.  It will be interesting to see if there is any shift a year from now with all the new Android smartphones flooding the market plus the anticipated iPhone sales by other U.S. carriers.

Overall, these results were expected and generally accepted industry-wide as the best carrier and smartphone out there, but it shows room for significant improvement in the industry.

I have a true love-hate relationship with technology. I’m a techie who works in the industry, so, therefore I love it. As a youth I built my own boards, made cables and tweaked hardware and software every chance I got. I spent hours overclocking every piece of tech I had in my arsenal. I just love that tech.

I hate the fact that tech has intruded on my privacy and life in such a offensive way. My blackberry keeps me tethered like a slave to my job. Now I’m expected to be on-line twenty-four seven. I receive spam and mail from folks I want nothing to do with and continuously have to update my security and virus controls.

I have to keep an eye on my identity, credit cards and children due to predators cruising the super highway.

Man, I miss the days where I just loved tech.

I might be slightly twisted in the head, I might read too much AdAge – but how fun has it been watching Verizon and AT&T square off? A battle, might I add, that has grown increasingly competitive in the past few months (celebrities, lawsuits, the whole nine). Not since Obama – McCain has there been such a hot debate, with each side preaching very different messages (coverage vs. product line).

The Verizon "Map for that" Campaign

The number two and three marketers in the US (Verizon at $3.7 Billion, AT&T $3.1 Billion) have been utilizing the likes of McCann and BBDO respectively to consistently prod each other through a series of attack campaigns. The now certified viral Verizon campaign dubbed, “Map for That”, tarnishes AT&T’s 3G coverage while poking fun at the iPhone’s “App for That” campaign. To combat the movement, AT&T has gone ‘Old School’ and hired funny man Luke Wilson to refute the reputation of poor coverage.

My ringside view of the fight?

Verizon’s marketing strategy (brilliantly) has always revolved around the strength of its network, while effectively solidifying AT&T’s bad rap. AT&T, in a too-little too-late effort, is now confronting its network issues through Mr. Wilson, but the seed has already been placed in consumer’s minds that AT&T’s coverage can’t compete with Verizon’s. This means trouble for AT&T, who has all but ignored its subscriber’s pleas for network improvements, relying heavily on the popularity of the iPhone for new customers.

While there have been dozens of attack campaigns (think Microsoft – Apple) over the past few years, it is hard to match the intensity and quickness, not to mention spending, of these two marketers.

Although Verizon is seemingly winning this battle with AT&T, many more installments are likely in the Verizon – AT&T war.

Here’s another quick ’round-up’ post of brief thoughts, musings, and other tidbits. Feel free to ask for elaboration on any point:

• Still loving my Droid. It looks like I’ll be keeping it and canceling the iPhone line later this week.
• Still waiting for nook. In theory my December 11th ship date is still intact, but given B&N missed their November 30th shipment I remain skeptical
• I am not, however, ‘outraged’, ‘incensed’, or otherwise indignant over this. I won’t be rushing to get a Kindle in the meantime. (Of course, I already have one, so even if I were upset I couldn’t threaten that.)
• Speaking of my Kindle, the longer battery life is a huge and very noticeable improvement. Very nice.
• If you want a silly Diablo clone, try Torchlight.
• Dragon Age is still awesome. I’m still turtle-slow in playing it.
• Lie to Me is an enjoyable show, but damn their plotlines have been getting really exaggerated recently.
• More Fringe please.

That’s about it for now.

The Independent are reporting that Motorola are launching their new handset the Droid in the UK on December 7th. The model runs on Google’s Android Operating System, and has won over a number of iPhone fans in the US.

YouGov’s BrandIndex has been the primary tool for tracking the impact that the Droid’s release – especially US Carrier Verizon’s combative iDont ads. We have been delighted that BrandIndex’s scientific brand-measuring data is finally getting the publicity we believe it deserves. AppleInsider, Cell Phone News 2.0, eWeek, and numerous other tech news sites (as far afield as China) have been quick to understand the implication of the BrandIndex figures.

Okay, so I’m cheating a bit here. This isn’t a physical bit of tech, unless you work with the actual servers. But I digress. Pandora is a brilliant service, any way you look at it. Whether you use the free version, or like myself, opted for Pandora One, it is an excellent idea with excellent execution. The “Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down” system is simple, and effective. Mark songs you like to find more songs with similar attributes, and mark songs you dislike to remove that from the song library, and further refine your preferences. The music quality is excellent, and with Pandora One, you can opt for even higher quality music. And here’s a cool bit of news: it integrates with Android. I am definitely getting the Droid now.

Cheers, internet. More tomorrow.

TouchDown is a program that lets you get you exchange email, contacts and calendar on you phone. As someone who uses my Droid with my work’s email server, I was pretty frustrated with the built in exchange program. One of my colleagues recommended TouchDown by NitroDesk. It comes as a 5 day trial to make sure it works for your server. I found it very easy to setup and get going. After using it for most of the day I have to say I am quite pleased. It looks much better than the built in program. It has lots of little touches that put it over the top such as widgets.

I really like being able to see quickly what the latest emails are so I can decide if I need to go into my email or not. Also the TouchDown home screen is very nice with easy access to all of you corporate functions making it east to go to your email or see your appointments or contacts.

I havn’t gotten to really push this app yet but from what I see so far this is the app I really needed. So far my only little hiccups have been my email coming a bit late. It has only happened a couple of times but it may be my server and not the app. This is by far the most expensive app I have purchased But so far seems like it was worth every penny. Everyone who uses corporate email should at least give the 5 day trial a shot. I don’t think you will regret it.

App name: TouchDown

App price: $9.99

App market rating: 4.5

My rating: 4