Posts Tagged 'Android'

Onavo-ing

20 days into 2011.

20 days without a post.

20 days of working at Onavo.

Onavo team - missing: Eran Friedman

Onavo team - missing: Eran Friedman

We’re doing brilliant things here, around data compression – very relevant to business travelers, and travelers in general. In a sentence: Onavo is about saving you money when you’re doing data roaming with your iPhone (Android coming soon) abroad.

We’re currently in closed alpha, but accepting new beta testers. If you want to join, email your name and mobile carrier to: info at onavo.com.

Stay tuned.

2010 by the numbers

For the past month or so I’ve been reading and sharing a lot of ‘top 10 of 2010’ lists, and true to my nature – why not post a wrap-up of my own. So, here goes.

2010 in numbers - Google Analytics Dashboard

My numbers for 2010

During 2010 I wrote 62 posts (down from 118 in 2009 – damn I wrote a lot in 09!) that received almost 19,700 page views from 12,668 visitors who spent an average of 1:11 min on my blog.

Top pages you were viewing (hopefully reading too, in no particular order) were: The 101 of getting married in NYC (BTW, did a Jewish wedding too, in August), About pageThe real life facebook Like buttonNokia E72 – day 1Just how big is social mediaDay of mourning Carmel FireInterlude.fm, Fidd.me take Techonomy 2010 by stormLotus Notes TravelerOld Spice case study, and FIFA World Cup 2.0.

In the countries section, we have a mini-revolution: Israel surpassed the US and was the #1 referring country, with almost 4,500 visits (US with just over 3,650). Impressive. I write in English since starting to blog some 8 years ago, so knowing that my words are read mostly by Israelies means a lot – Toda Raba people!!!

2010 in numbers - 15,000 visits from 2,788 cities

Just under 15,000 visits from 2,788 cities

A total of 2,788 cities from 132 countries sent traffic to my blog, and the top 10 countries are: Israel, USA, United Kingdom, India, Germany, Canada, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, and France.

Now, some interesting details…

Mobile devices accounted for 700 visits (5% of site total) – iPhone, Symbian, iPad, Android, and iPod make up the top 5. Time spent and pages/visit are obviously down (people on the go, less time to read, screen size), by 17% and 10%, respectively. I’m positive these numbers will increase in 2011.

15:00-19:00 is the period in which most of you (almost 40%) visited my blog, and another 20% of you read me later, probably at home (19:00-24:00).

In terms of Time Spent on Site, interesting metrics – Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Palestine Territories are among the top 10, with over 2:30 minutes spent here. Maybe my blog will bring peace in 2011, who know…

Somewhat of a disappointment, but I’m not judging anyone – 30% of you opted for Internet Explorer, 37% Firefox, and 21% Chrome. Hope to see a change in 2011..

May was the top visited month with over 2,400 visits, probably due to the fact that it was the most posted month (8 posts).

Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn are #1, #3, and #5 top referring sites (26% of total traffic) to my blog, with planetlotus.org (once an IBMer, always an IBMer I guess) and google taking slots #2 and #4 (all respectively). Social has been a huge content promoter for me in 2010, and I see no reason for this to change in 2011.

Google is the #1 in Search Engine sources, and by far. It accounted for 6,100 visits – more than a 1/3 of total visits, growing month by month – from 250 in January to 800 in December.

Finally, to the 12,668 people who visited my blog in 2010 – it was a blast, I hope you enjoyed, and looking forward to seeing you in 2011.

Thank you and a Happy New Year!!

Nokia Apps Review – Foursquare for S60

Last month at Nokia World 2010 I caught a glimpse of Foursquare for Symbian, demoed by Foursquare stuff, and have been waiting patiently for it to become publicly available. Earlier October, it has been released to Ovi Store.

Profile screen - Foursquare for Symbian

The Profile screen

Most Symbian users (me included) haven’t waited for the official app, using the excellent Gravity application to manage our twitter, facebook, google reader and foursquare – but Gravity had its limitations with Foursquare, such as adding/viewing tips and to-dos. After a week or so of using Foursquare for Symbian, couple of thoughts:

Richness of features

Unlike Gravity, Foursquare for Symbian has all the features of the other mobile apps (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) – a big advantage. Now, after checking-in to a place, I can view to-dos, add tips, view nearby twitter updates and much more. I can also approve/decline new requests and add new friends – actions I could do only on the web (or mobile web) until now.

Tips screen - Foursquare for Symbian

Tips for Ben Gurion Airport

Register new users

A big plus for Foursquare. Although it’s the most popular LBS in the world, it still lags in total number of users compared to giants as facebook and twitter. The ability to join Foursquare from the app itself can ease hundreds of millions of Nokia owners into the location-based arena.

User interface

Something’s went wrong here, not clear why. In both the touch and keyboard versions (see Foursquare demoed on Nokia N8 at the bottom of this post), the actual screen allocated to Places, Friends, To-dos, is too small. The top and bottom include Foursquare and Phone menus, leaving just 2 lines of results to be displayed in each screen (Friends, Places, To-dos, Profile). Symbian is the 4th mobile app to be released (with Android already in V2.0), so the UX/UI was already available. Even on the N8, with its 3.6″ screen, there are too many menus and logos and too little LBS information.

Performance

Foursquare for Symbian loading - speed isn't its strong suit

Get used to this screen, speed isn't its strong suit

I tested Foursquare for Symbian on my Nokia E72, which was installed on the 8GB memory card, running from the phone’s 256MB memory (my actual free memory is under 60MB). Start-up time is awful, about 30 seconds and navigating from one screen to the next also takes too much time (compared to Gravity). An action of checking-in to a place (assuming the app is running) takes about 45-60 seconds – way to much for the mobile worker on the go.

Overall

Foursquare for Symbian was due a long time ago, but it’s finally here. The UI isn’t perfect and I would appreciate the option of changing the default ‘homepage’ (from Friends to Places). Nokia users finally have a free alternative (Gravity costs 9.95 USD) to help them make the first step into LBS.

Foursquare for Symbian

Download via Ovi Store (free)

Compatibility: Symbian S60 3rd Edition, 5th Edition and Symbian^3 (what version do I have?)

Nokia announces E7, C7 and C6 at Nokia World

Busy 2 days here in London, attending Nokia World 2010, trying to catch all the action, at the lectures and the Experience Lounge. I will write a longer post over the weekend, to sum-up my trip to Nokia World, but in the meantime – a few highlights.

Nokia World 2010 Keynote

Nokia World 2010 Keynote

This morning Nokia announced 4 devices (inclduing the N8 which I got to preview last month). All devices are touch-based, sporting AMOLED screens and sleek design. The C6 and C7 are almost identical, with minor differences in design and specifications. C7 is aimed higher of course, with a 3.5″ screen, internal 8GB storage and 350MB of internal memory. Both phones have an 8MP camera with an ability to take HD videos at 720p.

Nokia E7 pictures alongside iPhone 4

Nokia E7 pictures alongside iPhone 4

The E7 is a big device, weighing 170g, 4″ AMOLED display with clear and bright colors. The E7 features similar specifications as the N8, including the HDMI output and video capabilities (although shotting at 8MP, not 12MP). From a brief hands-on I had the device is most impressive, combining the multimedia capabilities of the N8 with the business value the E-Series is known for. Despite the keyboard, the device is roughly thin, a bit more than iPhone 4.

Stay tuned on @twitter for live updates.

Google Cloud Print

With all the hype surrounding Apple’s rumored iPhone 4G, this next piece was somehow ‘lost’ in the stream: Google has announced last week that the company is working on a project that will ‘enable any application (web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer’. Although Google Cloud Print is still in early development stages, the company has made its code and documentation available to the public, as part of the open-source Chromium and Chromium OS Projects.

Google Cloud Print

Google Cloud Print

This announcement is big deal for the millions of cellular users out there, who basically depend on their mobile device for a large portion of the day. Being able to print, without any cables or drivers, to a printer near your location, via your iPhone/Windows/Symbian/Android based phone, can change the way we use printers todays. Great opportunities for businesses, such as Starbucks, Kinkos/FedEx, and others, especially when combined with geo-tagging. Looking forward to this project maturing, soon.

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Mobile & Media Consultant. I help startup companies launch products to the consumer market. Reach out: dvir.reznik [at] gmail.com
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This is my personal blog. The postings here do not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my past employers or of my clients. It is solely my opinion.