BestTechie

This Is America, Dammit! Winklevoss Twins Become Venture Capitalists.

Jeff Weisbein — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:36:12 +0000

Like many people I couldn’t help but watch the CNBC interview with the Winklevoss twins where I was surprised to learn that they were becoming venture capitalists. I always figured they would simply take the Facebook settlement money and run — probably to never be seen or heard from again. But no, that is not going to be the case at all. In fact, they are looking to use that settlement money to invest in early stage technology companies.

By now I have read (and I’m sure you have too) quite a few articles poking fun at this reality. While I was surprised by the twins VC plans, I was even more surprised that so many tech-focused blogs are being so quick to dismiss the Winklevii.

I agree the interview was pretty terrible, but I put most of that blame on the anchors who were conducting the interview — I mean, asking for autographs? Seriously? Anyway, regardless of whether or not they invented Facebook, they are now willing to use that settlement money to fund companies that need it to build businesses. I honestly do not see how that is funny. They could have easily taken the money and disappeared, but they’re not. And to me that means they must have a true interest in technology and business.

Let’s make a quick checklist of things the Winklevii would need as legitimate VC’s:

A stockpile of money. Check.

Interest and knowledge of tech / business. Check and check.

Connections. Check.

Don’t forget they went to Harvard and were in the Olympics, too. Those two things have to count for something.

I just do not see startup founders in need of money dismissing the Winklevii as a serious option for funding. And why should they? There is no reason to not at least consider it.

Will the Winklevii succeed? Who knows — and that is the beauty of it all.

Watch the full interview here.

I’m Starting A New Chapter In Life

Jeff Weisbein — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:00:01 +0000

May 7th, 2003 – it was a Wednesday. I remember because it was a day that changed my life. That day I created a list of reasons why I wanted to build a website. Reasons that I knew had to be persuasive enough to convince my parents to let me (a 13 year old) use their credit card to buy a domain name and build a website that anyone on the Internet could visit.

After much thought, I came up with three main reasons why I should be allowed to build a website. The first reason was that I recognized websites were becoming an essential part of the Internet and wanted to be able to learn more about how websites worked to capitalize on the expansion of communities on the Internet. And really, what better way is there to learn than to do it yourself? The second reason was that I wanted a create something that was my own. And lastly (but perhaps most importantly), I wanted to create a forum to share information and knowledge about technology with the goal of helping people.

Needless to say, I must have been very persuasive because that afternoon that I registered my first domain name – BestTechie.net.

It has been an amazing journey; one that I will definitely not forget. I have learned a lot and shared a lot. Now, just as when I started this site, I hope to be able to share everything I will be learning as I take the next steps in my career.

Today, I have some exciting news to share with everyone. As you know, I recently graduated from college and I’m happy to announce that I have accepted a position at an amazing company in New York City called Mashwork.

Mashwork is social media listening service. It monitors what consumers are feeling, how passionate they are, and determines what it all means for a company’s marketing initiatives. In short, the reports and analysis that Mashwork provide assist companies in understanding online conversations about their brands, products, or services. I have seen some of these reports and they are truly amazing. I’m very excited to be part of their team and look forward to helping Mashwork continue to grow.

You may be wondering what I plan to do with BestTechie? I plan to keep it online. The site has a lot of useful information and a terrific community that benefits people every single day.

What about new content? I plan to continue to write about technology in my free time. However, as you can imagine, my free time will be more limited than when I was in school and my job will have to take priority. I hope we will continue to have new content from contributing writers, as well.

I have a lot of people to thank for helping me make this site so successful over the years - the moderating team on the forums (some of whom have been here since the very beginning), the contributing writers and, of course, everyone who reads the site and is an integral part of the BestTechie community. I am eternally grateful to all of you for making this such an incredible experience for me and all of the other members of our community.

Thank you to everyone who has visited BestTechie and taken part in the community over the past 9 years. Even though I will no longer be here on a full time basis, I hope that BestTechie will be able to continue to be a source of information and knowledge for all things technology related.

If you are interested in learning more about Mashwork I would recommend watching the video below.

Google Drive: Coming Next Week?

Jeff Weisbein — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:20:59 +0000

Google Drive: Finally coming this April: According to Om Malik, the rumored GDrive or Google Drive, the Google online storage service, might be released in early April.

According to Om’s source, if it does happen, the big day is sometime during the first week of April 2012 which as anyone with a calendar would know is next week! Very exciting.

GDrive has been rumored to be coming since 2006 so I’m not holding my breath this time but it would be awesome if it is in fact true.

(Via GigaOM.)

Tim Tebow Single Handedly Boosts Jets Facebook Likes

Jeff Weisbein — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:06:10 +0000

Tim Tebow is a social media phenom. Since the rumors of his trade (and subsequently the actual trade) to the Jets made it into the public, the New York Jets Facebook page has essentially seen a hockey stick increase in “Likes” most likely from Tebow fans and followers who wouldn’t have otherwise cared about the Jets one bit.

Don’t believe me? Take a look. The chart below shows that as of March 20th the New York Jets Facebook page was hitting it’s lowest number of “Likes” per day and the amount of people talking about the Jets had also appeared to be tapering off. Never fear though, queue the Tim Tebow trade rumors and the Jets Facebook page “Likes” per day started to climb higher while the amount of people talking about the Jets has soared.

Currently the NY Jets have 1.3 million people who “Like” their page, a number which I expect to continue to increase as the season gets closer and Tebowmania begins. While the Jets are still trailing the New York Giants in Facebook “Likes” I wouldn’t be surprised if they catch up soon, thanks to Tebow. The Giants currently have 2.1 million “Likes.”

Leave it to the Jets to get more fans by acquiring perhaps the most polarizing figure in professional sports, instead of gaining fan support the old fashion way by you know, winning.

On a side note, I wonder how many “Likes” the Denver Broncos page lost (if any) after the Tim Tebow departure. They are currently hovering close to 1.2 million. However, I can’t determine any fluctuations in their numbers because the Broncos have yet to update their page to the new Facebook Timeline.

Cisco VPN for Android Preview Needs a New Recipe Before Release

Guest Author — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:40:11 +0000

The ability for enterprises to have employees get behind company firewalls through their Android devices has been a desire for businesses for some time now. With the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Google-made smartphone operating system, that’s now looking possible. Cisco recently released a preview version of its Anyconnect Android app back in late February, which is currently available on the Android Marketplace. While the app may not be as advanced as a virtual private network, it is still pretty advanced.

But while every smartphone app “preview” is sure to be a little buggy, it’s safe to say that as far as telecommunications related releases in recent memory are concerned, the Anyconnect app for Android Ice Cream Sandwich takes the cake. While it shows promise for usability at some point, it doesn’t appear to be in the new future, and especially not in time for when they surely plan on releasing the final version.

We tested the mobile network security work-around on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus for optimum conditions, and found the following problems within just ten minutes of use: The program crashed when an archives section of our intranet was accessed, and it required a complete reboot of the hardware in order to get it working again. When weaving in and out of wireless hotspots, the app would simply cease functioning and require a re-login instead of seamlessly reconnecting along with the wireless receiver.

According to Cisco, this version is most likely the one that will be released in the final format, or one with a “small number of additive fixes.” It’s going to take more than a few additive fixes to mend the aforementioned problems, considering we were using the most baseline of hardware (which they specified over advanced editions) and accessing the most basic of internal data when things went haywire.

With that said, word of Cisco creating an Android app for its VPN service is good news for the industry as a whole, and specifically for the secured businesses that rely on a mobile workforce. Megapath and other competitors are sure to be hopping on the bandwagon shortly by creating their own network security apps, and will no doubt be learning from Cisco’s mistakes when designing their own VPN Android app.

Nokia Lumia 900 Will Hit AT&T on April 8th for $99.99

Jeff Weisbein — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:31:00 +0000

Nokia Lumia 900 coming to AT&T on April 8th for $99.99 | The Verge: AT&T has confirmed that Nokia’s LTE-capable Lumia 900 will be available on April 8th for $99.99, an impressive launch price for a device billed as a flagship phone for Windows Phone.

Pre-orders start online and in stores this Friday, March 30th, and both colors announced back at CES — black and bright cyan will be available at launch, meanwhile, a glossy white version of the Lumia 900 will be released on April 22nd.

(Via The Verge.)

Maybe Google Just Doesn’t Know How to Innovate for Social

Jeff Weisbein — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:45:31 +0000

We all know that there are many brilliant people working at Google. The company is extremely well known for its amazing search and advertising technology, both of which use complex algorithms to come to decisions. It has even been said that Google also uses algorithms to (help?) make executive decisions. While Google’s success has been phenomenal, the company’s recent ventures into social haven’t been a huge hit despite what Larry Page is saying about Google+ user numbers.

The problem isn’t design and it isn’t lack of demand — it’s lack of interest. But why? Why aren’t people finding Google+ interesting and/or worth using?

Google hasn’t provided useful innovation. Don’t listen to what Google employees are saying about the so called “innovation” they have come up with in Google+.

The features Google+ offers which it considers innovative (e.g. Circles, Hangouts) aren’t. They are just basic features slightly rethought.

So what kind of innovation am I talking about then? Here’s an example: you know why Google search is truly innovative even to this day? Because no company has been able to match it — it’s just that awesome. The same can be said about their AdWords/AdSense platforms. That’s innovation.

Right now, Google is just one-upping Facebook with a feature modification, only to then have to play catch up once Facebook offers a similar feature. And you know what? With Facebook this far ahead in the game, Google+ will never catch up to them playing that game. Google needs to truly innovate for social the same way they did for search.

Easier said than done.

The thing is when it comes to being social you really need more human elements and less computers (algorithms). I think Facebook gets that. I don’t think Google does yet.

If Larry Page is as hell bent on beating Facebook in social as all these articles I’m reading say he is, then he needs to re-imagine social the same way he did with search.

One more thing.

Larry, Vic, and Google+ team: I keep hearing from you that you have all these great things planned for Google+, however, I keep coming back to the feeling you guys just don’t know how to innovate when it comes to social. If you did, you should have all of those wonderful innovations in Google+ on launch day. First impressions are important (especially when your competitor is already so well established) with people (it’s a social thing) and despite your G+ sign up numbers, the extremely low time on site statistic just shows that your first impression was a bad one.

You guys are Google, you can get people to try out your new products easily, but if you want them to continue to use them every day that first impression is just so vital. When people tried Google search and Gmail the first time they were blown away — it was so much better than anything they had ever seen before. Gmail was able to crush Hotmail (a well established competitor) and catch Yahoo Mail because of true innovation and an awesome first impression. You could have done the same with Google+ but you blew that opportunity. It’s going to be very tough to convince people to come back now.

Google Working on Metro UI Version of Chrome for Windows 8

Jeff Weisbein — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:27:59 +0000

Google working on Metro style version of Chrome for Windows 8: Google has confirmed that it’s working on a version of Chrome for the Windows 8, the new version of the browser will work for both the desktop and the Metro UI of Windows 8.

This is especially exciting since just the other day Mozilla announced that they too are working on a Metro UI version of Firefox for Windows 8.

These Metro UI apps are gorgeous and I can’t wait to see what Google has in store.

(Via The Verge.)

Benchmarks Confirm RAM And CPU Speeds for The New iPad

Jeff Weisbein — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:12:37 +0000

RAM And CPU Clock Speed Confirmed For New iPad, But The Spec Is Still Dead: Early benchmarks of the new iPad show that the clock speed of the A5X processor is set at 1GHz, which is the same speed as the iPad 2. However, the new model does sport 1GB of RAM, which should make for an overall better experience.

Also, let’s not forget, as Apple stated in the announcement keynote, the A5X rocks a quad-chip graphics core for better graphic performance.

I can’t wait to get mine!

(Via TechCrunch.)

Viva La Resolution!

Jeff Weisbein — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:36:26 +0000

Jolie O’Dell over at VentureBeat wrote an op-ed article the other day regarding the launch of the “new iPad,” claiming that it was sloppy and very un-Steve Jobs. She writes:

While today’s Apple event unveiled a couple new improvements to an expected lineup of products, it also revealed a certain sloppiness that was absent from former, Steve Jobs-led launches.
[…] I think today’s Apple event shows that perfectionism fraying a bit around the edges. The bad pun, the goofy logo, the weird product name — all of it pointed to a leadership that either didn’t understand or didn’t care about consistency in iconography.

I couldn’t disagree more.

It’s not just her unfortunately, it’s a majority of tech journalists. They all find little things to nit pick and be disappointed about warranted or not. In this case, her claims are just patently false. For a sample of evidence demonstrating how wrong her claims are, check out this article by Matt Thomas which provides examples countering all of her claims. Be sure to skim through the comments too as some other people provided additional examples.

The fact is Apple is still building amazing products that people are buying. Apple reportedly already sold out of the initial “batch” of iPad’s that were available for online pre-order and I’m sure come March 17th there won’t be any Apple retail store that has any in stock either.

What really bothers me is that many of these tech journalists talk about what Steve would or wouldn’t do, I just can’t help but think: “How much time did you spend with Steve Jobs every day?” And if the answer is more time than Tim Cook did, I’ll think about giving what they are saying some credence.

Regardless of what Steve Jobs would or wouldn’t do, this is Tim Cook’s company now. And you know, even if it was different — that is true to one of the core values Apple was built on. “Think Different” was one of the greatest advertising campaigns Apple ever ran, if Apple doesn’t continue to “think different” they will have lost a very important core value that Steve Jobs instilled in the company up until the day he died.

And for the record, I bought a new iPad (Black, 32GB, AT&T 4G/LTE) and I can’t wait to get it. Viva la resolution!