Pajama Entrepreneur

I was at Mobile World Congress (formerly known as 3GSM) in Barcelona the last two days checking out the latest in mobile gadgets and this one is my favorite because it marries the basic thin Nokia phone with Nokia’s new Maps 2.0 application. Maps 2.0 is the Nokia GPS map adapted to pedestrians. According to Nokia, it has an “accelerometer” which measures changes in direction and orientation. The built-in compass makes it easy to follow the map when you are walking around in a city. So when you turn, the map automatically switches orientation so it shows you where you are facing. This is very handy when you are emerging out of a metro station and have no clue in which direction to proceed.

I had a chance to try out the 6210 (pictured above) with Maps 2.o yesterday. I signed up for Nokia’s “Hidden Barcelona” tour. I went in a tuktuk (see below) with a representative of Nokia. We drove to the center of town, close to the Barrio Gotico and we had to find a hidden square called the Square of Silence. Anyone who has been to Barcelona knows that it’s easy to get lost in the center with its tiny alleys. There is no way to orient yourself against the steeple of a church or a building. It’s like walking in a maze.

So with the 6210 and Maps 2.o, I walked, the map told me to turn left here, right there and voila, there I was at the Plaza Saint Felip Neri. I realized suddenly that I had been there before but I don’t think I could have found it again without the 6210’s Maps application. Below is photo of the square, which I took with the new 6220, a phone that Nokia announced this week which has a 5 megapixel camera with Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics. I could have uploaded this photo directly to my Flickr account but decided to transfer it instead to my Mac Book Pro so I could post it on this blog.

What I also like about Maps 2.0 is that if you are driving, you can see upcoming parking lots, auto mechanics and petrol stations. The map also marks churches, museums, metro stops and train stations.

How often have you wandered around a city completely lost, trying to figure out where the metro stop is, not knowing that it’s only one block behind some building?

What I’d like to do with Maps 2.0 is layer over points showing my friends’ favorite restaurants, cafes and hangouts in Barcelona. Then, Maps 2.0 will really shine. It’s great that Nokia is putting this application on the lower end phones so that it gets mass adoption.

Posted on Rose Cantine last month:

•  Jason Calacanis on Internet pollution and how to stop it
• Users revolt: blog network turns out to be owned by a marketing agency

Since everyone is making a list at the end of the year, I decided to create one, too. Here’s my top 10 most useful applications — things I couldn’t live without in 2007. Some are online apps, others are software that you download to your computer. I have a Mac Book Pro running Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5.1).

(1) Gmail: Google’s online mail application has reduced the amount of spam I receive to nearly zero. The mobile client is stable and fast. You can use Gmail to send and receive emails from other email addresses. Since your email is stored online, even if you lose your laptop or the hard drive dies, you always have access to it.

(2) Google Docs and Spreadsheets: perfect for sharing documents and spreadsheets. Like Gmail, you never worry again about your hard drive dying or losing your data.

(3) Backpack: create to-do lists, keep reminders (that send SMS or emails to you so you never forget anything) and keep an online calendar that syncs with Apple iCal. Backpack is one of the excellent online applications developed by the wonderful 37 Signals. They are known for Basecamp, the project management and collaboration application. There’s a free and a paid version.

(4) Transmit: fast, easy-to-use FTP software for the Mac. I’ve tried others, but this one is the fastest and most intuitive.

(5) Wordpress: the best blogging software around, with a huge community of developers of plug-ins, themes, widgets, etc. Wordpress powers this blog and other blogs I have set up in the past. Wordpress also has a hosted service, called Wordpress.com, for those who can’t be bothered to set up, host and maintain their own blog. Created by Matt Mullenweg, it is used by thousands of bloggers and big media companies.

(6) Netnewswire: RSS news reader. I don’t like online RSS readers because it takes forever to load the feeds. I like Netnewswire’s clean interface.

(7) Skype: this application has saved me thousands of Euros in phone calls. I can’t imagine life without Skype. I have no more long distance phone bills and since most of my contacts are on Skype anyway, it’s much easier to reach people or IM them.

(8) Gizmo Project: like Skype, Gizmo Project allows you to call people for free (if they are also Gizmo Project users) or to call landlines and mobile phones for low rates. Most of my contacts are on Skype so I use Gizmo Project primarily for calling landlines and mobile phones. I use it also on my mobile phone because unlike Skype, Gizmo Project has software for the Nokia phones. So when I am abroad and in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi network, I avoid roaming charges by using Gizmo Project on my mobile phone via Wi-Fi. I buy $10 units and it takes me months before I use it up. Another true money saver!

(9) Ad Block Plus plugin for Firefox browser: This plugin blocks obnoxious advertising on web sites. No more miserable flashing banners, video ads that suddenly play and blast out your ears, nasty advertising animations. My web surfing experience has improved dramatically since I installed Ad Block Plus.

(10) Super Duper: this is the best backup software. It is easy to use and fast so there is absolutely no excuse anymore not to back up your hard drive every night. Tech support is very good. I emailed their support team and got a response within 24 hours (they solved my problem — which had nothing to do with the Super Duper software but with errors on my hard drive).

Microsoft launched a unified communications platform (merging email, instant messaging and telephony) that Business Division President Jeff Raikes claims will put an end to telephone tag:

“The era of dialing blind, the era of playing phone tag, the era of voice-mail jam…that era is ending . . . I don’t want to get in touch with your number. I want to get in touch with you.

Sorry Jeff, but actually most of the time, I don’t want to talk to people. I want them to leave a message in my email box which I can either read or listen to in order to determine whether it is worth responding to. Based on what I hear and read, I will respond.

Why do companies love offering products like this - a hodgepodge of stuff that does not really solve a pressing problem? Right now my problem is I get too many emails from business contacts, friends, family, email newsletters, etc. The last thing I need is people managing to reach me via phone interrupting my already busy day.

I want FILTERS, intelligent ones, and I have a few solutions already using email, but nothing is optimal. Messages from close friends and family go into a mailbox marked “read right away”. I have various mailboxes for different levels of urgency. But what I certainly don’t need is a solution that allows people to talk to me whenever THEY want, not when I want.

Ever since I’ve been using Microsoft Office, first on a PC and since 2002 on a Mac, I’ve bought every single upgrade from Microsoft. Not this time. Microsoft is selling the upgrade for $239.95.

Here are the reasons why I won’t be upgrading:

• $239.95 is too much money to pay for - what? I use Word, Excel and Powerpoint but only its basic features. I do not use Entourage, the email client.
• I have been using Google Docs and Spreadsheet to share documents with people. Those programs are free and integrate well with Gmail, which I also use. Gmail is also free.
• Recently, I downloaded a trial copy of Apple’s iWork suite and have been using their new spreadsheet program called Numbers. I love it. I am thinking of buying iWork. I have already used Pages, their word processing program, and Keynote, which blows away Powerpoint. I like iWork very much and it’s only $79.
• There are many other free alternatives to Microsoft Office, for example, Zoho which offers free online spreadsheet, word processor, customer relationship management system, chat, database creator, etc.

I don’t know whether to call Pudding Media the most loathesome business model in the world or the most cynical, or both. Pudding Media is the latest company to take advantage of the “free services in exchange for ads” business model. We’ve seen free Wi-Fi in exchange for viewing ads (MetroFi) and free mobile phone service supported by ads (Blyk).

Now comes Pudding Media, founded by two guys who used to do intelligence work for the military. You can see where they got their ideas. This is the ultimate monetization of phone surveillance or snooping. They have a web-based phone service that lets you call any phone number for free (in the US for now), but they (or rather their software) listen in on your conversations and display ads on your browser.

Here’s what the NY Times says:

. . . Pudding Media is eavesdropping on phone calls in order to display ads on the screen that are related to the conversation. Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen while he or she is still talking . . . The company’s model, of course, raises questions about the line between target advertising and violation of privacy. Consumer-brand companies are increasingly trying to use data about people to deliver different ads to them based on their demographics and behavior online. Pudding Media executives said that scanning the words used in phone calls was not substantially different from what Google does with e-mail. Still, even some advertising executives were wary of the concept.

You might think it’s not different from Gmail, Google’s free web-based mail service that delivers ads on the side. But I think it is. There’s something very intimate about phone calls and I would be completely freaked out if strangers, even if it were a software bot, were listening in on mine. Of course Pudding’s founders don’t think so, having been in the military intelligence business. Does it help them to have the former chief privacy officer of Microsoft on their advisory board? It depends on whether you think Microsoft is a friend or foe of privacy.

I think most people will be freaked out by the idea even though Pudding says they don’t record your conversations.

Where it might work well: the sex chat industry

But I can see where it would be quite popular: in the sex chat industry. The caller dials a number via Pudding’s web-based service, sees ads on the side while he or she is chatting — although I think this destroys the pay-per-chat business model of sex chat businesses unless they offer this free version to their customers in exchange for seeing ads on a web browser (and the ads actually make up the lose in revenue).

Stylefeeder.com is the latest personal online shopping site that allows you to bookmark items you like (an iPhone, Gucci shoes, Dior bag), find “style twins” (people who share your taste), get product recommendations specific to your taste and solicit advice from others in the community about items you are thinking of buying. It’s a social network and bookmarking site around shopping that tries to match people’s tastes. Stylefeeder makes money by taking a cut on purchases made via your recommendations.

I signed up for a Stylefeeder account and found it very easy and fun to use. The best way to make use of Stylefeeder is to install a browser plug-in button so that whenever you find an item in an online shop, you can simply add it to your Stylefeeder list.

For example, you go to a store, click on an item, click the Stylefeeder button to add to your Stylefeed. A box pops up that allows you to pick the photo you want associated with the item and to edit any information about it. Click “add” and that’s it. You can also edit to add tags to the item, and add it to any groups that you have joined in the Stylefeeder community.

Stylefeeder is like Kaboodle, the other social shopping site that’s been around for a while and has a larger audience. Kaboodle describes itself as “social shopping community where people discover, recommend and share products. Kaboodle’s powerful shopping tools allow people to organize their shopping through lists, discover new things from people with similar style, get discounts on popular products and find best prices. At the heart of Kaboodle is a fun and engaging community of people who love to shop.”

Both sites encourage users to make lists of favorites, to tag items, create or join groups, make recommendations, rate items, etc. Kaboodle was recently sold to Hearst Magazines. The rumored price is $40 million (Kaboodle raised $5 million in VC funding).

I like Stylefeeder more than Kaboodle because Stylefeeder looks better and is easier to use. It’s less cluttered, more “Web 2.0″. Stylefeeder also lets you place widgets on your blog, website, Friendster and MySpace pages, and it has a Facebook application. But Kaboodle has the advantage in terms of the size of the community so if you are looking to join a group of beauty junkies who have already posted a lot of items, Kaboodle is better . . . for now.

There is such a demand for online sites that do taste search, not just for shopping, but also for travel, entertainment, eating out, and home decor. I expect Stylefeeder to attract a large audience very quickly.

Stylefeeder and Kaboodle founders motivated by similar problem: finding things that match their taste

The similarities between Stylefeeder and Kaboodle extend also to the founders. Both sites were started by couples who had difficulty shopping for things online to decorate their homes. In the case of Stylefeeder, she couldn’t find decent lighting in the US (see http://www.stylefeeder.com/about.html). Kaboodle’s About page says the founders were remodeling their home and couldn’t find products that matched their tastes.

Stylefeeder’s founder goes into his obsession with taste search, finding whom to trust when it comes to restaurant reviews, etc. (http://blog.tech.stylefeeder.com/).