Posts in Technology
Project: webcam without wires

Here’s a quick project I’ve been meaning to write up since I first trialled the 3G dongle from 3mobilebuzz.
The ability to eliminate the physical connection between a PC and the internet enables a whole range of applications. I’ve used it to check email on the move, web browse, upload images to flickr, post blog postings and demo web application in press meetings.
But my favourite use is a web cam. Using TinCan a £10 capture and upload application, I set up a web cam on my PC to upload images to my personal web space (image above shows a view over the City of London from the south). More...
Widgets, applets, snippets, games - the future for Apple iPhone
Apple took $1m per day in sales of apps at its Appstore on iTunes since launching the new 3G iPhone. Steve Jobs says it’s going to create a $1billion business… well, he said it’d ‘crest at half a billion soon’, which is a nice way to describe the run-rate of takings…
What is significant about this new marketplace isn’t just the valuation positive for Apple, it’s the way it gives a new lease of life to a whole load of entrepreneurs. Last.fm looked to be killing Pandora (which drew its horns in and went US-only). But, there’ve been a million downloads of Pandora’s iPhone radio station stuff. More...
London digital magic continues
The challenge in searching for the Next Big Thing is that so many entrepreneurs are hard at it in Widget World - creating the business of the future. How do you grade them, rate their prospects and see clear water between them?
That task has recently fallen to Chinwag, the digital commentators, who are leading a UK government trade mission - Digital Mission - to take Brit firms to big US events for a spot of exposure. No doubt, with some limelight, passes to Web 2.0 Expo and some air tickets involved, Chinwag had a big field to whittle down.
Those going to the Big Apple with Digital Mission in Sept - and therefore worth a sniff as candidates for Next Big Thing… (Digital Mission has 40 places for Austin, Texas in Mar 09 next up…)
B View - http://www.bview.co.uk
Harvest Digital - http://www.harvestdigital.com
Head London - http://www.headlondon.com
Headshift - http:
Back to the future
Last weekend I happened upon this book in a junk shop. I recognised the cover instantly. It was one of my favourite books when I was a child.
Published in 1981, when I was around 8 years old, it contained, to my infant mind some pretty cool stuff. One of the pictures that I remember really firing my imagination at the time was the description of a pocket computer of the future.
Having paid 50p for the book, I went straight to the page, and there it was. Reading the captions and looking at the image, I was instantly struck by the fact that, actually, that future had come and that in my pocket, in the shape of my smartphone, was a device, that almost word for word, feature for feature matched the description written some twenty five years earlier. More...
Oyster card hack
Transport for London is reportedly hacked off at users tinkering with their Oyster Cards. Techy Londoners are dunking their cards – used to access the bus and tube in London – in acetone, removing the chip and inserting it into other more familiar objects such as watches or wallets.
Unlike recent Oyster Card hacks this one doesn’t have a financial impact on Transport for London but the transport authority is clearly sensitive after recently published flaws in the Oyster Card’s security scheme.
Check your email - quick - another one might be in....!
But wait a mo....! When you didn't have email, did you check your postbox every 10 minutes for physical mail? Or did once, or perhaps twice a day, do?
A new study by AOL has revealed we are becoming ever more addicted to email. According to the research, almost half (46%) admit to being hooked on email. More...
Cuil Becomes a Google-Killer Thanks to the Power of PR
Brand: Cuil (source) Agency: Manning Selvage & Lee The Blog PR community has been feverish about the launch of Cuil - tauted by press as 'a Google-Killer' (yawn). One blogger goes onto ask - Wow, How Did Cuil Get So Much Publicity on Day 1?!
Well here's my hacked up answer:
1. Timing- let's face it, we're pretty bored of Google, aren't we?
2. The guys who set it up are Ex-Google, giving the press a nice 'Son of Google' story.
3. It's the revival story from the Seven Basic plots - my Bible for PR stories.
4. Conflict- the press were happy to say Cuil is a Google-Killer. See other things such as BlackBerry-Killer, iPhone-Killer, etc. More...
Saying goodbye is hard to do
In fact I’ve decided that I’m going to give it up. I like it so much I’ve asked the 3mobilebuzz team if I can sign up on a contract.
Tags: 3G, broadband, dongle, mobile
Review: i-gotU GPS tracker
I tracked my journey into Oxford Circus this morning by scooter from Ealing using an i-gotU GPS tracker. It's a tiny device weighing about 20g that's about half the size of a matchbox and logs GPS data at intervals of between 5 and 60 seconds. The integrated lithium battery lasts between 20 and 40 hours.
It's an extraordinary piece of kit more likely to be found in the hands of James Bond or Spooks' Adam Carter. In fact the manufacturer cautions that if you wish to use this device to track another individual or their vehicle, you must do so with their full consent and knowledge.
You suck off the data by plugging it into your PC and using an accompanying software application to display or fly-through data points on Google Maps. More...
Hanging out with Robert Scoble at Tapulous, producers of Tap Tap Revenge, the #1 iPhone game
I am a huge fanboy of Robert Scoble. From his pioneering scobleizer blog (which he started while at Microsoft) to his new gig as Managing Director of FastCompany.TV, Robert is always doing interesting things on the Web.
Robert wrote the terrific forward to my book The New Rules of Marketing & PR. The forward is the perfect way to introduce the new marketing world we’re all living in today. I am so grateful for him doing that for me! (Thanks again).
Remarkably, Robert has produced over 1,000 videos on the Web. I tagged along with him yesterday afternoon and evening to watch him in action. More...







