jtrigsby.com » Killer Apps

Get a Phone in the Cloud

jtrigsby — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:26:57 +0000

We love being connected. People have always tried to find new and better ways to communicate. To do this, sometimes, we have to use multiple communication devices to do so. This is a big hassle and could most of the time be confusing. But what if you had something wherein you can organize and manage all your communication records, devices and contacts by using just one simple application? Wouldn’t it be easier? Well, Google has the right solution for you. It’s called Google Voice. Google Voice is an awesome, FREE service to help manage phone and contacts the same way gmail helps you manage your email.

Google Voice is a great new telecommunications service from Google. It is not a phone redirecting service. It’s not VoIP or Voicemail. It is a combination of all of the above and more. Google voice allows users to register a new phone number and direct it to call multiple phones. It could also collect messages and act as your personal switchboard operator and it also tracks, records and transcribes communication for easy recording and safekeeping on the cloud.

It is currently one of the best cloud apps in the market today. However, it is still just limited to the United States. You can get a telephone number for any US Area Code (sorry, only works in US) no matter how far or remote the area that you would like to be in. Google voice service also now allows you to choose words or witty phrases that your phone number spells out. So you can easily personalize and have fun choosing the number that you want such as (773)824- LOVE. The downside is that sometimes you cannot use an existing number of yours or have to pay a switching fee to allow it to switch to Google Voice which can be a sad fact for those who are married to a longtime cell number or the like

Another great thing about Google Voice is that you can forward incoming calls to ANY phone, to even more than one phone. This protects your privacy since you don’t have to give out your actual cell phone number and if you change phones, you don’t have to worry about missing calls. This application forwards your calls to as many or as few numbers as you like, and you can even redirect calls to different phones depending on who is calling. This makes it easier for you to organize your call list, avoid unwanted callers and get the calls that you actually want. Just like gmail, you can even set certain groups (or individuals) to be sent directly to Voicemail, to the Spam folder, or block the call altogether.

With Google voice, you are not stuck at home with a computer. It is portable and could even be used with ANY phone. It forwards the calls to wherever you are and you can check your messages from all the phones anywhere using the service. The Iphone has even launched an official application for Google Voice users.

If that’s not enough, Google Voice also allows you to thread incoming calls differently for different groups of callers. For example, unknown callers go straight to voicemail while family callers go to your cell phone and business callers only go to your cell during business hours. You can take that total holiday without fear of losing and missing any important calls. You can take your business anywhere with you and gives you freedom and allows you to organize contacts into groups for easy tracking and recording.

Google voice allows you to either have the calls sent directly to your phone with no filtering, or you can have Google ask them to say their name first so you can screen callers and choose the people you want to talk to or avoid. The service will call you, tell you the name of the person who is calling, and give you the option to take the call or send them to voicemail. This is a great way to protect your privacy. You can also customize the behavior of the service at anytime depending on a group (Friends, Family, Work, etc.) or an individual basis. This eliminates the guesswork and even gives you the ability to listen in on voicemails as they are being left.

This service also has a great voicemail system with transcription and email forwarding. Incoming voicemails are automatically transcribed and can be configured to be emailed to you. It could also be sent through SMS and is recorded and kept in the cloud forever. There is no fear now of losing a call record because you will all have them organized and permanently stored in the cloud.

Now for the best part, Google Voice gives you all of this for FREE. It’s all free. And we all love free! How could you even compare to that?

So, this leaves me to ask: Do you use Google Voice? What do you think? What’s the good, the bad, and/or the ugly from your experience with Google Voice? Is it worth it or is it just another waste of a perfectly good cloud?

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The Web of Tomorrow?

jtrigsby — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:11:38 +0000

Ben Parr has an awesome post over on Mashable about What the Web of Tomorrow Will Look Like: 4 Big Trends to Watch. One of the things that makes it so totally awesome is that he agrees with me! Here are a couple of the highlights:

The Web Will Be Ubiquitous – Always connected, always on, fully integrated with the appliances that we use to manage our life. Finally!
(see more under Mobile Becomes King in my 6 Guaranteed Game Changing Predictions for 2010)

The PC Will Lose Its Dominance Over the Web – No need to rehash this one… I’ve written about it plenty! Check out Repent! Repent! The End of the Personal Computer Is Near

The Human-Computer Interface – Ben asserts that media centric interfaces will replace the good old keyboard and mouse. Things like voice to text and touch will eventually work well enough… in a decade or so! I’m not sure if you’d call that a pessimistic outlook but I think a decade is WAY too far away. I’ve said before the iPhone has changed everything and how we interact is no different. There’s an expectation for touch these days. The full court press is on and it will be a matter of months before we have usable alternatives to the keyboard and mouse… IMHO.

Finally, Social Media Will Be the Killer App – Have to say I totally agree Ben… and it always has been. Since Ray Tomlinson invented email all the way back in 1971, we’ve been using “the computer” to interact with other people. I mean after all… there are only so many recipes and checkbooks to manage, right? Sooner or later its all about interacting with others. In fact, most technological advances have derived their need by some form of human interaction. Telegraph, telephone, trains, planes… they all serve to facilitate human-to-human interaction.

Even though Ben and I disagree on a couple of the details, I think he’s right on about where we’re going over all. A lot of the things we’ve seen lately, devices like the iPhone, netbooks, and Apple’s new tablet, even applications like Twitter, Wave and fourSquare are really just enabling technologies. My frequent answer to those that don’t get Wave is that it won’t make sense until you have an application for it. Its a platform, an enabling technology that will make something else possible.

So, what do you think about these areas of tech development? Do we have it wrong? What else could be considered important?

And what about the enabling technologies? What did I miss.

Drop a comment and let us know what you think!

@jtrigsby

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Repent! Repent! The End of the Personal Computer Is Near!

jtrigsby — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Ok, so after a little title theatrics…here’s the real question. Is the rapid adoption of Cloud Computing sounding the death knell of the personal computer? I have a few definite opinions to go along with a whole litany of questions!

What is the Cloud and Why is it Appealing?
According to the complete compendium of human knowledge (aka Wikipedia), Cloud Computing is a concept that uses the Internet as delivery platform for applications and services hosted online. Probably the oldest example of the concept (although it was never called that back in the day) is Yahoo! Mail. The app resides on the server along with your data (email messages) and is easily accessible from any computer with a web browser (PC, Mac, Linux…doesn’t matter). Now there are countless companies offering “cloud” based services. Google is of course the biggest but hundreds of others are out there too.

The clear appeal of Cloud Computing is ease of access from anywhere and no installed software. It is the concept of no installed software that has the choir warming up for the funeral of the PC. If I can do everything I need to do from any browser, the “PC” is now just a platform for the browser…right?

Hang On a Sec…
While it sounds like a good theory, can it really be so? In his latest article on PCMAG.com, Lance Ulanoff has eight key questions for Google’s cloud specifically, and cloud computing generally. Some I agree with, some I don’t, but the point is really a cautionary one…don’t rush head long into adopting such a radical departure without at least a little forethought. There are bound to be downfalls with some of the concepts, companies will come and go, and what responsibility should the service provider have toward protecting your data? Then there is the ever present possibility that they’ll get hacked, or big brother might want a peek at your data. Lots of questions without answers…yet.

So What Does the Future Hold?
Wow, wouldn’t we all like to know the answer to that one! But here’s at least one possible outcome, heavily slanted toward my opinion (go figure!).

A move away from the dedicated, sitting in the corner, all-purpose personal computer to more task specific appliances. Case in point, Tivo. I quite accidentally stumbled over Tivo’s cool integration with Netflix. Movies viewed on demand from Netflix via my Tivo. Or if I can’t find anything good there, I can watch YouTube videos or rent a download from Amazon…all through the Tivo. Great example of a task specific appliance. Oh sure, the interface is pretty weak, but hey, its still young.

Need another one, ok. How about Skype, the web based IP based communication service? With their new unlimited use pricing structure ($2.95/month I think for unlimited calls to and from US based phone numbers!) now their hardware offerings are looking pretty appealing. Takes the place of you regular phone, even looks like a regular phone.

One more? Ok. Xbox. Now instead of installing games on my PC to take advantage of the cool things the PC can do, including playing over the Internet with my friends, just get an Xbox.

Are there problems with this theory, only one I can see. The interface!!! The keyboard & mouse have worked well for the dedicated use computer, but as anyone who has tried to compose an email on their cell phone / PDA can attest, it doesn’t work nearly as well away from the desktop. Will it be speech to text, gestures, sub-cutaneous implant behind the ear? Don’t know but I do know, sooner or later, it has to change.

And Now, For the Pretty Bow…
Just think about it. How natural does it seem that I have to sit in a designated place, using a specific device in order to take advantage of a service? Back in the early days of the telephone (all the way up to the mid-80′s or so…when they still were attached to the wall!), people had dedicated places to sit and use the phone. Heck, they even made pieces of furniture for that very purpose. How crazy does that sound to us now, just 20 years later? The same evolution of use is coming for the personal computer, in fact its already underway. So be open to adopting the enabling technologies, like Cloud Computing, that will be bringing this kind of thing into the realm of possibilities. Begin to watch for the ways the data & information we use in our daily life is now being (or could be) delivered through something other than the beige box sitting on the desk. Oh, and enjoy living through the transition! In 20 years or so you’ll be able to say, “I remember when you had to sit at your desk and hold the mouse to use the computer…”

And Now Its Your Turn…
Leave comments and let me know what you think about this topic. Ways you’ve already seen information delivery changed… or just tell me how full of crap you think I am (I may delete your comment but at least you’ll feel better!). No, really…what do ya think?

PS – After going back and re-reading this post, I did get a little far afoot from the cloud computing topic. Sorry, I was on a roll!

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The Latest Killer App!

Thom — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:55:00 +0000

Since the beginning of the computer age users have been asking the same question, “Yeah, it’s cool… but what will you do with it?”

The first killer app was a spreadsheet called VisiCalc. It harnessed the power of the PC and made it a useful tool for the everyday business user. With a tool like VisiCalc there was actually a reason to buy a PC.

The Internet has been the same way. Oh, by no means has there been any shortage of killer apps for the Internet. (How about e-mail and web browsing just to name two!) Then, building on web browsing as a platform, we experienced e-Commerce, that multi-billion dollar industry we’re all still trying to tap for our few cents.

Well now there is a new killer app. Many have tried to do hosted applications before but none have been as successful as Google with their new Google Apps! With Google Apps you can now host your own domain, have email, calendar, and shared documents, even your own blog! And the best part is the price… it’s free!

I’m such a big believer in the Google Apps platform that I run my whole Internet existence with it. My domains are now hosted by Google, my email, calendar and documents are all hosted on Google Apps. And as you can see, I’m a big believer in AdSense from Google. More to follow.

-Thom

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