SOMEWHAT FRANK

iPhone 3GS: First Impression

After making my second stop to the Apple Store in two days, I finally got my hands on an iPhone 3GS. My first attempt was unsuccessful because the AT&T network was down. So when I returned the next day, I decided to go with the white 32GB version since they were out of the black. I figured I could use the extra 16GB over my last iPhone 3G since I would most likely be taking advantage of the iPhone 3GS's video capabilities.

In order to purchase the iPhone 3GS I had to get yet another AT&T contract. This annoys me. The FCC needs to step in to stop the monopoly that Apple and AT&T have created by forcing all iPhone customers into an AT&T contract just to purchase a new iPhone. Consumers have no choice as they cannot fight of the beautiful songs of the Muses that play while starting into the touchscreen interface for a shiny new iPhone 3GS. Ok, I will get off my soapbox now, but I really think the FCC needs to do something.

Upon syncing up my new  iPhone, I was excited to test iPhone 3GS video camera so I recorded and edited a quick video using the 3GS. I think Flip should probably be a little concerned about the iPhone's video camera taking some of its piece of the mobile video camera pie, though there are still lots of people that will not have the 3GS. The Flip and other similar cameras also offer HD quality video which the iPhone does not so there is still value in having both but the gap between them is shrinking.

Aside from the new video camera, the iPhone 3GS also has a better still photo camera with auto focus and balance. So I performed a little photo test by taking a similar photo but using the touchscreen to focus on a different area.

AOL Buys Bebo - KickApps Next?, Yahoo Semantic, Flickr Video Coming, Facebook IM Coming, YouTube Goes Hi-Res & SXSW Coverage

Photo of the Week: This photo was taken while recording this Blog Talk Radio episode with Kris "Croncast" Smith and Rox from BeachWalks.tv at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. Photo thanks to Roxanne Darling.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 03.16.2008

TubeMogul Distributes & Tracks Online Videos

Getting your online video distributed on multiple sites on the Web can be a bit of a time consuming task but TubeMogul looks to make your life a lot easier. With Berkeley-based startup TubeMogul, you can simply upload your video once and then configure it to be sent to a number of video platforms at one time (i.e. YouTube, Blip.tv, MySpace Video, etc). TubeMogul, founded by a handful of Berkeley graduate students, also offers video metrics for all the videos that you upload through the service to help paint a more clear picture of exactly how your video is performing online. This could come in pretty handy when it comes to selling advertisements around online video. TubeMogul recently announced a series A round of funding from Knights Bridge Capital.

Microsoft Backs DataPortability, Facebook Translates, Digg Tweaks, YouTube Mobile, Widget Kings, Mahalo Examined & Davos

Photo of the Week: The weather in California has been a bit moist this past week as this photo by Michael Risenhoover shows.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 01.27.2008

Video: Tantek Çelik On Open Web Media

Tantek Çelik, an innovation leader and long time advocate of open standards efforts like microformats, recently discussed open Web standards and data portability at an Open Media Web Meetup. Tantek  believes writing on the Web is like "writing in sand" since it all could be wiped out irretrievable when the next wave of technology standards come through. Tantek also speaks about data formats and how content data formats expires content over time. Tune in to Tantek's forward thinking perspective and analysis.

Google Getting Into Everything, NewsCorp To Buy LinkedIn?, FireFox 3 Beta, Death to E-mail, Popular Twitter Clients & Don't Text-N-Drive

Photo of the Week: With the Thanksgiving holiday this past week I ate entirely too much and encountered situation shown above several times. I am glad that Marc Levin captured it on film with this photo titled member of the clean plate club.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 11.25.2007

LinkedIn Platform Closed, Google Buys Jaiku, MSNBC Snags Newsvine, YouTube In Google Earth & Facebook Talent Vacuum

Photo of the Week: I got a chance View The Rock from Pier 39 while coming in San Francisco, California for the Widget Summit.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 10.14.2007

Amazon MP3 vs. iTunes, Microsoft Facebook Investing?, Widget Timeline, CSS & Photoshop Tips & YouTube Adsense

Photo of the Week: The San Diego, California Harbor taken during DEMOfall 2007 earlier this week.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 09.30.2007

Google Phone Details, Dapper Facebook App Maker, Clown Co. Named Hulu, Personalized & Social Search and The Sexual Relationship Database

Photo of the Week: I found this unique view of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC this weekend.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 09.02.2007

Free Online Video Guitar Lessons

Strumming a six-string guitar can be a very relaxing exercise but it is not something you can learn to do well overnight. It takes time to practice and perfect your skills. Read/Write Web recently wrote an article listing a number of web 2.0 sites and services for musicians. I recently found one that was not mentioned but is worth mentioning called JustinGuitar.com (no this is not Justin.tv).

New YouTube Video Ads, Google Embeds Maps, PlayboyU & MyNYTimes Launch, the Attention Economy, Microsoft's Tafiti Research Project & Bacn In Your Inbox

Photo of the Week: This photo was taken by, one of my skinnyCorp friends, Harper Reed as he captured some fresh Threadless designs.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 08.26.2007

YouTube Feature Updates, Embed Joost?, Flickr Goes Global, Me.dium $15 Million, Stalker 2.0, Fat Long Tail, RSS Toolbox, Discover via Megite & Blog Or Die

Photo of the Week: Jen Consalvo recently snapped this photo titled backlight. A little sunshine is a beautiful thing and is good for the soul - this little yellow guy appears to agree.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 06.17.07

YouTube Remixer: Edit Videos Online At YouTube
YouTube has officially launched YouTube Remixer, a new service that allows users to edit their videos from within YouTube itself. Also, YouTube Mobile launched this week.

Discover From Megite
Megite recently launched a discover area which offers users a place to find new things via a tag cloud and other discover links.

Embedded Joost Will Change The Market
Reports that Joost is now talking to hardware vendors about embedding Joost into set-top boxes and televisions will change the market as we know it.

Me.dium Pulls $15 Million in Funding
Boulder, Colorado based Me.dium, the sidebar social network, has received $15 million in second round funding. The round of funding was led by Commonwealth Capital Ventures.

11 web technologies political campaigns should consider
Technology Evangelist points to 11 different technologies political campaign leads should know.

Google Reader losing feeds?
A few people complained this week that Google Reader lost their feeds. I didn't see it, did it happen to you?

CommunityNext July 14th: VIRAL... Catch the Fever!
The Next CommunityNext conference is coming up July 14th - are you signed up?

Stalking 2.0: The Websites that Track Your Every Move (Voluntarily!)
Are you letting people track you online? If so you probably have encountered one of these stalker 2.0 applications.

The Long Tail Is Getting Fatter
It wasn’t that long ago that 100,000 users was considered huge for a Web 2.0 related business. Today a small startup such as SpaceTime can gain those numbers in two weeks. 6 million users three years ago would have seemed an impossible dream, and yet it is very attainable now. This article takes a closer look.

Can You Make A Living Blogging?
Great question and I will have to answer with a resounding 'YES!!!' I have seen bloggers go from nothing to something as little as a six months to a year. It is pretty amazing. However, I have to agree with Nick, we don't all blog for the money...the real benefits of blogging are all the great friendships that come from it.

Schilling's Laws for Perfect Start(up)s
Seth Goldstein talks baseball and startups on Found+READ.

The Ultimate RSS Toolbox - 120+ RSS Resources
Check out this comprehensive post on a number of RSS tools available on the web. You may already know but I think RSS is sexy. ;)

Flickr Goes Global
Flickr opens up its doors to a number of new languages and also there is word this week that Yahoo Photos is going to be closing its doors. I'd say this is a big week for Flickr. I have a feeling Flickr video uploads are coming very soon.

Middio: Search YouTube Music Videos

Are you looking for music videos on YouTube? You are not alone. Middio launched publicly on Cinco de Mayo (May 5, 2007) to help users find all the music they are looking for on YouTube. Middio indexes YouTube music videos so that you can search by song or artist and returns search results with embedded video thumbnails. Interestingly, Middio was created by Jake Jarvis, the sixteen year web developer, blogger, student and son of popular blogger Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine fame. Nice work Jake!

I performed a few video searches and received pretty good results but I also expect the search algorithm to continue to improve with time. I think the real value in Middio lies in the fact that it removes many of the bogus results you might encounter when performing the same search on YouTube itself.

Additionally, Middio enables users to convert YouTube videos to iPod format to be taken with you which is similar to a product put out by the TechCrunch team that allows for the download of YouTube videos. TechCrunch reported that it is possible that YouTube will try and block this portion of the application. Middio also currently enables users to share videos to Facebook so it could use some additional means for sharing but I figure they will come with time. Videos are played within Middio and you can see a screen-shot below.

Microsoft Buying Yahoo?, Goodbye Yahoo Photos, YouTube RevShare, Small the New Big, Conference Success & Twittering

Photo of the Week: This was the view from Sweet View on Derby Day at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 05.06.07

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo? Nope.
Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned. Opps, false alarm.

Breaking: Yahoo To Shut Down Yahoo Photos In Favor Of Flickr
The Yahoo Photos service will be shut down in favor of the newer and more social Flickr, which they acquired in March of 2005. Peanut butter clean-up?

YouTube Makes Some Members Content Partners
Participating user-partners will be treated as other content partners and will have the ability to control the monetization of the videos they create. Once they’ve selected a video to be monetized, we’ll place advertising adjacent to their content and share the revenue with the content producer.

Small is The New Big
Now that Web 2.0 is growing up, scale no longer matters. GigaOm explains how even tiny businesses—like transcription services—can go global.

eBay widgets
What a fantastic and easy way to promote your auctions or Ebay fund raisers on your blog! The set-up for this widget is very simple to figure out. There are no technical hurdles for newbies to worry about.

The (Re)Birth of Mobile Banking
While the upcoming iPhone launch is capturing the lion’s share of attention in the Wireless industry, the re-introduction of Mobile Banking has been at the core of a movement to make a cell phone your next wallet.

Calacanis’ latest, Project X, Kokua?
Jason Calacanis, co-founder of Weblogs Inc., and now an entrepreneur-in-action at Sequoia Capital is working on a new company called, Project X. Valleywag published some details about the company earlier this week, that has the apparent backing of Mark Cuban. I am hoping Mark also buys the Chicago Cubs at seasons end.

Most Profitable Web 2.0 Business: Conferences
The tech conference business continues to amaze me. They are true champion revenue generators of the web 2.0 area.

Rebrand & New Features: Google IG To Relaunch as iGoogle
Google’s personalized home page, Google IG, has been rebranded as iGoogle and launched at igoogle.com.

Twittering more than blogging
I sent 1,327 text messages last month, many of which were related to twitter so I have to say that I did not write anywhere near 1,327 blog posts in the same time. Marshall Kirkpatrick explains how he is has been twittering a lot more than blogging as well.

Election 2.0

With a number of political candidates creating MySpace profiles, YouTube videos and Second Life avatars it appears that the Internet and web 2.0 technology are being leveraged for political campaigning.

TechPresident, a project of the Personal Democracy Forum, launched recently to aggregate the activities of U.S. presidential hopefully on popular web 2.0 social media sites. Aside from a blog which gives perspective on the presidential race, TechPresident also tracks each candidates MySpace friend counts, YouTube videos, and Technorati mentions and Google and Yahoo ads. I would love to see it add Second Life (virtual world) and Twitter (micro-blog platform) to the mix as candidates also appear on these sites.

The video below titled, Election 2.0, explains just how the 2008 United States election will be like no other election as web 2.0 takes on an unprecedented role. My only critique of the video is that it breaks the "context before detail" rule which would have made the message more powerful. Nonetheless, I think it is well done and worth watching.