Are you ready for Twitter’s internet domination? Well, if push comes to shoves, it looks like that’s where the Twitter folks want to bring their popular and widely use social communication tool. That’s the power to tweet, retweet, follow and unfollow no matter where you are in the internet. Or another way of putting could perhaps be making establishing a Facebook Connect  killer?

Believe it or not, soon Twitter will be all around the web. On Yahoo sites, when reading online newspapers, while watching a video on YouTube and practically everything  that you do online or every sites that you visit – Twitter will be there. This was announced on the Official Twitter Blog – the Twitter @Anywhere framework.

What is Twitter @Anywhere?  The Twitter blog defines it as a new set of frameworks that will add the Twitter experience to practically anywhere on the web.  It’s a different approach than the Twitter API since instead of APIs all you need to do if you want the Twitter functionality on your website is to add a simple line of Javascript. That’s right, now complex coding, not programming needed. Just the old, plain and simple ready to copy and paste – Javascript.

And with Twitter @Anywhere, soon you won’t be needing to visit Twitter.com anymore to post a tweet, reply a tweet, follow and unfollow people. You can do all of them right where you are.

But of course, to make this a success, Twitter needs partner sites willing to test the feature out. Luckily, there are already a handfull of online sites who’ve signed up to give Twitter @Anywhere a test drive.

Sites like AdAge, Bing, Digg, eBay, Meebo, Yahoo, YouTube, MSNBC.com, NYT, Citysearch, Salesforce, and Amazon are jumping in to Twitter @Anywhere.

Promising? Yes. Something worth looking forward to. Bring it on Twitter – show the web how you intend to conquer it.  Beat Google into it.

True to what was announced last week, Apple has started accepting pre-order for its much talked about product – the Apple iPad.  And while everybody else is probably still thinking right now whether they are going hit the pre-order button or not, I closed my eyes, took a plunge and just made Steve Jobs $553 richer. Yes, I did pre-order the Apple iPad, and I’m proud of it.So how was the experience? To tell you frankly, it was kind of uplifting to be part of this whole process. From the anticipation, to the online discussion, to the countless hours of reading articles that praised or criticized the iPad up to a moment ago when after clicking the refresh button of my Chrome browser – the store was up again. And there it was the iPad pre-order page – waiting for me to partake of this while shenanigan which Apple has mastered through the years.

Call me nuts or what ever but hey, this is the first time that I’ve participated in something like this. When the iPhone hype hit the web, I couldn’t participate. I couldn’t line up outside an Apple Store to be the first to grab an iPhone, simply because the region where I am currently located wouldn’t have the iPhone for a year after it was released in the U.S.

Thanks to the wonders of online commerce, the geographic and time barrier has been taken down. And thanks to a friend who agreed to receive my order, I am now one of those who can’t wait for April 3 when Apple will ship my iPad to my friend in the U.S. who agreed to send the iPad to me.

So, are blindly taking the plunge? Or have you placed a pre-order already? Which one did you get?

For those who are planning to placed their order, here are the different iPad models that you can pre-order.

Expect additional charges such as recycling fee and appropriate taxes to your total cost.  I got the 16GB WiFi iPad model with a price tag of $499 but my total cost upoin check out amounted to around $553.

So, now the waiting begins.

In case you’re still using Google Reader to get your daily dose of RSS news from sites you monitor, you might be interested to try out Google Reader Play. It’s Google’s latest offering that aims to take the Google Reader interface into a new level. Something innovative and yet can be counter-productive.

Google Reader Play gives you the most recommended news items of the day. These are culled from various news items that were identified using the technology Google employs with Google Reader’s Recommended Items. It’s basically random selection, so you’ll never know what will be displayed next.

Speaking of display, that’s basically what Google Reader Play is all about.  Feed items are displayed one at a time, in a huge, graphically-enhanced interface in full-screen mode. And it’s interactive as well. You just need to click on the next arrow to move to another item or browse other items by simply clicking on the filmstrip located below the screen. It’s like browse an online photo gallery. But in this case, if you click on an item, you will be brough to the source of the item.

To make it even more interesting, Google Reader Play can be personalized if you login to your Google Reader account while browsing Google Reader Play. It will allow you to like items and Google will use this information to show other items that may interest you. You can also categorize the items that you want to view.

But if you just want to browse items randomly, you can just visit Google Reader Play without signing in to your Google Account. Just hope that something interesting comes out as you browse.

Google Reader Play is currently in beta and is now part of Google Labs. Google was very clear that it is not aimed at replacing the original Google Reader, but an alternative way of viewing and getting the latest news items on the web instead. It can also be Google’s way of sparking interest to their Google Reader service.

products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps

These installable apps are easy to use because they include single sign-on, Google’s universal navigation and some even features that integrate with your domain’s data. Although I’m could not really see any use for those apps as I’m not an administrator of our company’s enterprise computing system, I checked the Google Apps Marketplace nonetheless. What did I find? Several cool online web apps that would really be useful if you’re running an enterprise system that uses Google Business Apps.

Here are some of the cool online business apps that I found interesting on the Google Apps Marketplace:

eFax – lets you send and receive faxes quickly, privately and securely anywhere you can access your email.

myERP.com – streamlines key processes of any operations – sales, purchases, CRM, accounting, inventory and logistics; reduces data entry and helps you to make smart and quick decisions.

Aviary Design Suite –  Aviary recently made all its image-editing services free to use. This app lets you create logos, slides, business cards and letterhead, retouch photos, make web templates and banner ads, develop podcasts and more.

Manymoon – lets you attach Google Docs to tasks, projects, and events, add project information to shared Google Calendars, gadget for collaborative task management in Google sites.

Socialwork – lets you share ideas, web links, email and Google Docs, share and access files from web or mobile and nice integration with Gmail, Google Talk, Google Docs; works on a secure environment as well.

So, are you using Google Business Apps? Will you be using some of these business apps?

PHONESCOOP.COM

One of my first stops over the past decade, Phonescoop.com offers one of the better phone finders out there.  Filter by carrier, user rating, O/S, battery life and more.  The “Weighted finder” gives you a sick amount of detail – down to built-in productivity software and headset jack type.  With over 775k people across the world visiting each month, the discussion boards are active and the cell phone video tours are useful in seeing how the phones operate.

My only beef is that it is a little difficult to differentiate paid ads from content.  But they’ve gotta pay the bills, right?

MOBILEDIA

When shopping for a cell phone, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who is not considering more than one phone.  If you’re a stickler for details and total datahead, Mobiledia allows you to compare up to 25 phones at once.  You can also search by feature or even the phone’s release date.

One of the Mobiledia’s most useful features is their sub-site CellRisk.  Here you can sort phones by low/high radiation. No one knows conclusively if cell phones cause brain cancer, but by the time there’s enough research, do you want to be the wrong side of the stats?  Learn all about SAR (specific absorption rate) and which phones to avoid.

The site also offers the latest cell phone news, including this recent story about a self-charging cell phone.

You can also take the Perfect Phone Quiz, a fun approach to finding the gadget that best suits your needs.

BILLSHRINK.COM

If you haven’t been to BillShrink, you obviously like to waste money.  Offering money-saving recommendations and unbiased information, BillShrink has a great cell phone section that give you a better understanding of the “lifetime” cost of a cell phone.

On the first step, you are presented with images of each phone. You then filter by budget, color, need for physical keyboard, carrier, etc.  Then find the plan that’s right for you by inputting your desired price, minute usage, zip code and more.  You can even tell the system if you’re currently under contract and it will help determine which providers the people you call most often are using.

Also see MyRatePlan.com

CNET

If you are concerned about cell phone radiation levels, then CNET is a must visit.  Their comprehensive list is updated regularly.

CNET also has a nifty buying guide that can help you navigate tricky cell phone jargon.  If terms like  CDMA and GSM are Greek to you, you can learn more here.

Thanks to a partnership between CNET and Root Wireless, you can also check a carrier’s service coverage in your area.  Choose between signal, data and network, and find out the download/upload speeds in a given area.  Determine where signal strength is the weakest – the results might surprise you!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Also chock full of resources are sites like WireFly and LetsTalk.  These destinations exist to sell phones.  That’s important to keep in mind when researching.  But they do offer a ton of resources if you’re in the market for a new phone.

Mobile Crunch, Test Freaks, Engadget, PhoneDog and Gizmodo are on top of just about every cell phone development and are worthwhile daily destinations.

CONCLUSION

Cell phones are always replaceable, but since most of us are beholden to contract terms, it is important to research a phone before buying it.  Carriers have varying return policies with one consistent theme: you usually have to jump through hoops.   Get it right the first time by using the resources above and save yourself a cell phone-induced headache.

Pardon the double exclamation points in the title of this post. I just want to highlight the fact that I’m pretty excited about this announcement. I’ve been checking the Apple iPad site, every now and then, hoping that Apple will finally announce the date when they will start accepting pre-order for the iPad.  And so, just a moment ago, there it was – pre-order starts on March 12 and shipping on April 3.

Apple also announced that upon pre-ordering, you can choose to have it shipped to your address or arrange a pick-up date on Apple Store’s nearest your location. Like what have been reported before, Apple will be releasing only the iPad with Wi-Fi on April 3. But you can opt to pre-order either the Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi + 3G models beginning on the said date.

Later in April, the Wi-Fi+ 3g models will also be released.  At almost the same period, Apple will start making it available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

The iPad Wi-Fi only model is still priced at $499. While the 32GB model will have a price of $599 and $699 for the 64GB model. The iPad Wi-Fi+3G model will have a price of $629 for the 16GB version, $729 for the 32GB and $829 for the 64GB.

Other key points that you should remember include – 12 new apps will be preloaded on the iPad. Likewise, the iBooks app for iPad including the iBookstore will be available immediately for download from the Apps Store.  Incidentally, if you’ve purchase apps for your iPhone, you can sync them with the iPad and all the apps will work perfectly on it.

Now here’s the saddest part for us who are not based in the U.S., international release date other than the countries mentioned is still unknown, although Apple promises that it will be later this year. So, anybody kind enough who will be willing to buy the iPad for me? I’ll arrange for the payment and shipping. The best part is – this bloger  will be forever indebted to you.

Here’s the full Press Release issued by Apple.

iPad Available in US on April 3

Pre-Order on March 12

CUPERTINO, California—March 5, 2010—Apple® today announced that its magical and revolutionary iPad will be available in the US on Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models and in late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Beginning a week from today, on March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Starting at just $499, iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours.*

iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface makes surfing the web an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. You can read and send email on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard or import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. iPad makes it easy to watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD, or flip through the pages of an ebook you downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers are already creating exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

The new iBooks app for iPad includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile product. The iBookstore will feature books from the New York Times Best Seller list from both major and independent publishers, including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster.

The iTunes® Store gives iPad users access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 films including over 2,500 in stunning high definition. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

Pricing & Availability
iPad will be available in Wi-Fi models on April 3 in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.  iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPad will be available in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. International pricing will be announced in April. iPad will ship in additional countries later this year.

The iBooks app for iPad including Apple’s iBookstore will be available as a free download from the App Store in the US on April 3, with additional countries added later this year.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Funny how Internet giants could affect each not only in the negative way but positive as well. Take the case of Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine and its Facebook fan page. After running an ad campaign offer within Farmville, the most popular game in Facebook, Bing’s Fan Page was able to gain around 400,000 new fans from Monday’s 100,000 fans. The trick? – the ad campaign offers 3 Farm Cash to anyone who will become a fan of Bing’s Facebook page. Farm Cash, in case you’re not aware is Farmville’s virtual currency.

Now, you might ask what’s the big deal in  having tons of fans in a Facebook page? Well, if you’re a Facebook Fan Page administrator, that means a lot. It’s the sole reason why you are working as a Fan Page administrator – to promote the brand that you are campaigning and get as much followers as you can.

Here’s the more interesting part. According to published data, Farmville has around 84.1 million monthly active users. And last Tuesday alone, active users were around 28.7 million. This means that those who became fans of Bing’s Facebook Page were just a minute part of the total Famville users. Can you just imagine how positive its effect to Bing would be if more of those users sign up to become Bing’s fans?

What’s good about Bing’s ad campaign is that it is not senseless after all. In fact, Bing’s ad campaign is promoting how Bing could help Farmville players with some of the “pressing” issues they encounter on Farmville.  And that is by searching for answers to those issues using Bing search.

If the number of new fans who signed up in one day is not enough indication that Bing’s ad campaign is not working well for it, how about if we tell you that majority of those who’ve seen the ad campaign actually love it because of the Farm Cash?

Hopefully, as Bing’s Facebook Page fans grows bigger, those fans would actually take some time off to try using Bing if they are still using Google or Yahoo. Bottomline is, the number of fans will be useless if those fans will not use Bing after all.

But still, Bing’s awareness campaign through the Farmville-related ad campaign is pretty clever.  Something that others may try to emulate in the coming days. So, expect more of those ad campaigns showing up as you play Farmville.

With so many smartphones available in the market right now, somehow I could understand why there still many users who would stick with the old and trusty Nokia handsets. At least Nokia is exerting all its effort to make their mobile devices, specifically smarthphones to be at par with other brands.

Nokia’s latest effort to spike interest to its smartphone product line is through the integration of Skype. Both Skype and Nokia are announcing the new Skype for Symbian app which is available for download from the Ovi Store or direct from Skype – for free.

With Skype on Nokia phones running Symbian S^1, which is actually the latest version of this Nokia mobile platform, you can do the following:

• make free Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world
• save money on calls and texts with our low rates
• send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups
• share pictures, videos and other files
• receive calls to your online number
• see when Skype contacts are online and available to call or IM
• easily import names and numbers from the phone’s address book

In other words, you can practically use all the features that you would normally enjoy from the desktop Skype software.

And in case you’re interested to know whether you Nokia smartphone supports Skype for Symbian, take a look at this long list of Nokia devices:

Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5530 and the following non-touch devices: Nokia E72, Nokia E71, Nokia E90, Nokia E63, Nokia E66, Nokia E51, Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 Gb, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 5320.

Now, there are two points that make this news interesting. One is the fact that this expands Skype’s userbase if in case all those Nokia users would download and use the app. And the other is the fact that this would somehow  diminsh the usual habit of making cellular calls using the traditional way.

So, are you going to use Skype on your Nokia smartphone? If you do, please share with us your experience as I’m pretty sure the three of us here in Rotorblog (Me, Maris and Andrew) won’t be able to experience this.

If you’re struggling to lighten up, MyFoodDiary can help you track how much you’re eating and how much you’re moving. It’s a proven fact that sustainable weight loss happens through consuming fewer calories than you use, and this site lets you count calories, maintain a food diary, and log your time at the gym. Use the site’s mobile app to stay on track al day, and make good choices at the drive-thru by searching the database of over 60,000 foods – including popular chain restaurants – for the pick that’s best for your waistline. You can receive periodical progress reports, and visit searchable weight loss forums to join discussions on everything from losing weight while nursing, to getting started when you have more than 100 pounds to lose. The site’s weight loss success stories will keep you extra-motivated.

Quit Smoking

If your resolve to quit has dissolved, try quitting with support from My Last Cigarette app for iPhone and iPod Touch. Thousands of smokers have used this app to stay away from cigarettes and their hazardous effects. You simply enter some personal information, including your date of birth, the date you started and stopped smoking, what kind of cigarettes you smoked, and how much they cost.  The app will then display, day by day, your “smoke-free” statistics, like the number of days (or months, or years) you’ve stayed away from smoking, ways in which your health is improving, how much money you’re saving, and more. If you’ve just quit, the app will also predict your nicotine craving pattern, and tell you what your nicotine levels are so you can deal with the toughest moments. The app’s most motivating stat of all? The number of cigarettes you have NOT smoked since you quit.

Save money

If you’re having trouble saving for home improvements or your dream vacation, Smartypig can help you reach your savings goals. The free, online piggy bank lets you put away money for specific items or events, and allows you to invite friends and family to contribute to your account (thanks, Grandma). All it takes is an initial deposit of $25, and a minimum $10 monthly deposit. The site tracks your savings and tells you how far you’ve come in terms of percentage. Once you’ve hit 100%, you can redeem your savings in three ways: funnel it back into your bank account, put the money on a SmartyPig MasterCard debit card, or boost your savings by up to 12% by putting the money on a retail card like Best Buy or Macy’s. The site’s simplicity eliminates brain-swirl, and the mobile app lets you track your progress using your smartphone.

Stick to it

No matter the resolution you’ve chosen to pursue, the website Stickk will provide you with a powerful incentive to be good. Using the “money talks” philosophy, you can put a contract out on yourself that will end one of two ways: put up or pay up. You decide your goal, how long it will take you to get there, and how much success is worth to you. If you do the work, you keep your money. But if you fail, your money goes to a designated charity. Give yourself extra reason to work hard by designating a charity you dislike – for instance the political party you oppose. Either way someone wins, but wouldn’t it be nice to accomplish a goal and keep your money?

So how are you doing on your resolutions? And how do you stay motivated? We would love to hear what works for you!

Here is great infographic form Pingdom showing Google from every angle.

Congratulations Twitter team!

Here is what they are saying:

Folks were tweeting 5,000 times a day in 2007. By 2008, that number was 300,000, and by 2009 it had grown to 2.5 million per day. Tweets grew 1,400% last year to 35 million per day. Today, we are seeing 50 million tweets per day—that’s an average of 600 tweets per second.

GardenWeb

If you’re new to the gardening scene, your very best bet is the iVillage GardenWeb. This site full of forums, photo galleries, and advice from experts is the place to begin. This is where you can figure out the basics – like which gardening zone you’re in, how to prepare a new garden plot, and how to grow pretty much anything, indoors our out. Peruse the “Ask the Experts” area for a compilation of the most frequently asked questions on the site, and you’ll learn more than any textbook could ever teach you. Visit the “Blogs” section to find postings compiled from favorite garden bloggers around the Web.

Dave’s Garden

This (self-proclaimed) hands-down favorite site of gardeners worldwide, DavesGarden is filled with how-to articles, videos, and photos. The site’s most popular feature is its “Plant Files,” which is the largest-known plant database in the world, with photos of over 180,000 different plants. Over 100,000 helpful comments by users assist you with plant identification, botanical names, and growing information – like height, hardiness, and planting specs. The “Bug Files” help you figure out what’s eating your plants, or which bugs could be beneficial to your garden.

Cyndi’s Catalog

If you’re unsure about buying seeds and plants from your local big-box home improvement store, visit Cindy’s Catalog of Garden Catalogs to find … catalogs … from every major mail-order seed company in the U.S. and Canada. The site features over 2,000 resources for seeds, plants, bulbs, and more, and breaks everything down into the most common categories under which you would be likely to search. The site also has a ratings system that helps you find the best quality, service, price and selection.

Yardiac

If you’re “slightly crazed about lawn, garden, and outdoor décor” Yardiac is for you. Powered by Garden.com, the site is helping lovers of all things green create outdoor living spaces that are beautiful and inviting. This is the go-to e-commerce spot for everything from the perfect patio furniture to quirky garden gnomes. Got grubs? Shoppers can also find a remedy for anything that ails their lawn or garden, plus stylish attire to wear while killing critters.

KidsGardening

If you’re a parent or educator, go to KidsGardening for great project ideas and educational information to share at home or in the classroom. The “families” area of the site offers quick, easy gardening ideas for tots, plus more difficult ones for older kids. The “teachers’ room” gives educators insight on how to engage kids through science, with a slew of articles on everything from beneficial insects to plant identification. There is also information on grants available to schools and communities. The “store” area helps you find everything you need for successful gardening with kids. The site is sponsored by the National Gardening Association.

Cooperative Extension System Offices

Perhaps the best gardening and yard care resource in the U.S. is the Cooperative Extension System, a nationwide educational network of offices in each state, staffed by experts, that can give you research-backed information on gardening (and many other topics). Each office is tied to a state university, and through federal funding brings special programs and assistance to the communities it serves. Most extension offices have a gardening hotline, and offer low-cost soil testing and pest/disease identification. This is also where you can go to take the curriculum required to become a certified Master Gardener, a program that allows you to become a gardening expert, and give back to your community.

At first glance, it’s sleek and sophisticated. At second glance, users will fall in love with the high-res touchscreen, and the not-too-touchy buttons (including a dedicated Bing button – imagine that). That’s about it. It’s refreshingly simple, and doesn’t feel overwhelming like a Blackberry. The graphics are outstanding, and the screens are like butter – scrolling vertically, launching easily, and sliding users around with nary an effort. By comparison, the iPhone seems a little … ahem … clunky.

Social Networking

Microsoft’s truly brilliant idea was to keep users highly connected by integrating their contact list with their favorite social networking sites. Users can instantly see friends’ feeds from a number of social networking sites, view online photo galleries, and more.  Social media is the place to be, and Microsoft is there.

Apps

Rumor has it that apps for the WP7S will cost more than iPhone apps, but the quality will be better. Which is kind of the point. Microsoft’s strategy is to not let just anybody with a spare hour (and a willingness to comply with some bendy regulations) develop an app, and then sell it for a buck. But who knows? They may change their minds once customers begin shouting, “More apps! More apps!”

Gaming

One of the most talked-about features of this new smartphone is its integration with Xbox Live. Details are still kind of sketchy, but initial buzz indicates that gamers will be able to make their avatar and Game ID mobile (as in “take it wherever you go”), and easily drop into Xbox Live casual games from someone else’s lair.

Entertainment

Microsoft really wants to build up Zune. So, of course, they’ve made it the go-to entertainment software within the new Microsoft 7 operating system. The WP7S will be Zune enabled, and the company has its fingers crossed that users will feel the experience is different from that offered by iTunes. Microsoft is banking on easy access to music and video, plus a “social element” that makes users feel extra-engaged.

Productivity

Linux lovers don’t love Microsoft. But the fact is that the majority of companies worldwide use MS Office products, and this new smartphone will make a huge contribution to the 24/7 mobile office. It will allow users to create, edit, and share documents with ease – and without those pesky formatting problems – straight from their mobile device.

Availability

iPhone got pretty persnickety and chose AT&T as its only U.S. carrier. Microsoft sat back and laughed, and then learned from Apple’s faux pas. Every major wireless carrier will offer the WP7S, which could lessen its exclusive feel, but cause Microsoft’s stock to skyrocket.

Bugs

OK, bugs aren’t a feature. But it’s worth mentioning that Apple does have an advantage here. The iPhone has been out for awhile, and the company has worked out some glitches. It is guaranteed that the first run of the WP7S will have its quirky moments, which will get the tech bloggers’ panties all in a bunch. But Microsoft’s advantage is they have the shiny, new smartphone. And that’s usually enough.

So tell us … do you think Microsoft is back in the game with their new smartphone? And – more importantly – do you think the name is going to be one of the biggest marketing blunders of 2010?

Baseball Manager 2010

iPhone, download from iTunes, $4.99

Take baseball simulation to a new level with Baseball Manager 2010, an app that can only be described as “fantasy baseball meets The Sims.” Pick your favorite team from two leagues, and then manage their every move from spring training all the way to the World Series (hopefully!). You get to pick and trade your players, negotiate contracts, and choose your lineup game by game. You’ll be thrown the occasional wrench when a player is injured, or stolen by another team. But ultimately, you control the game because you’re privy to detailed info about your players’ skills, stats and contracts. This easy-to-use app gives you a glimpse at every detail of team management, and if you don’t like your current job, you can check out the app’s jobs market to see which ball clubs might have an opening for you. However, play your cards right or your owner can fire you! The app also features…

- Custom training schedules for teams and players
- Ability to negotiate player contracts and manage team finances
- Reports from scouts about other teams in your league
- Reports from trainers on player injuries
- Helps and tips within the game for smarter play
-Real-time stats, scores and more

Baseball Superstars 2010

iPhone, download from iTunes, $5.99

The sequel to the extremely popular Baseball Superstars 2009, this game has improved its batting capabilities, and is difficult enough that it feels like real baseball (virtually speaking). You’ll experience authentic roleplay feel as you bat, pitch and field your way to the World Series. With six modes of play (Exhibition, My League, Season, Homerun Race, Mission, and Match Play), you can experience everything from friendly “promo” games to hardcore bouts. You generate the players on your team – which is fun and creative – but it can take some effort before they perform the way you want. The fun comes when you simultaneously compete in batter and pitcher mode, using two separate players!  Training mode lets you improve your characters’ skills throughout the season. The more you win, the more you improve, but things can go south quickly. The game does not have a Major League Baseball license, so it lacks the excitement of affiliation. This, however, does not diminish the lure of America’s favorite game.

My BaseBall Bat Stats and My BaseBall Pitch Stats

Android, download from Androidzoom.com, $0.99 each

These highly popular apps let you track batting and pitching data and stats anywhere, at any time. Smart and easy to use, the app can store data for multiple games and teams, and lets you change data and view stats throughout the season, letting you track player and team trends.

Whether you’re following your favorite major-league team, or your own little-league player, My BaseBall Pitch Stats lets you keep tabs on batting averages, on-base percentages, and ERAs. The app also teaches you to calculate averages and stats for each player, and alerts you to common mistakes that may be bringing averages down. With this app, you can track a season’s worth of games, or just one game at a time.

Tell us, what apps are you using with the iPhone and the Android to keep up with your favorite ball clubs? Comment below and keep us in the know!

Several days after it was rolled out, some users may have already buzz out of Google Buzz and totally muted out Gmail Buzz. While some continue to use it as I for one keeps on getting buzz updates from those I follow. The good thing about this is that Google quickly responded to various privacy concerns and other so called buzz kills that were aired by users.  Google has just dropped  the auto-follow feature, disconnected Google Reader and Picasa Web Album and added a Buzz tab in Gmail settings so that you can easily disable Buzz totally.

But there are still other buzz kills that Google need to address although I don’t think that these may affect Google Buzz own demised. Yes, folks whether you agree or not, I think that Google has successfully came out with a killer social sharing/communication tool once again. And I could see users continously buzzing out in the coming days. Here are five reasons why Buzz will continue to make a killing in the social blogosphere.

1.  Google Buzz is an effective communication tool

Whether you like it or not, people will continue to use Google Buzz, be it inside Gmail or on their mobile phone. Why? Because it’s an effective, no-cost, real-time communication tool.  Despite the noise it makes, Google Buzz effectively lets you share information and links, communicate with a group of people, find out about what’s going on with what’s going on with the lives of the people you follow and more. It’s a bit short of becoming Facebook and a bit more than a Twitter-like service.  

2. Google Buzz is neither a Twitter nor Facebook killer

Stop saying that Google Buzz is going to kill Twitter or Facebook – it won’t. There will always be loyal Twitter users as there are Facebook users. Soon, there will be loyal Google Buzz users, who may also be using Twitter and Facebook or using only Google Buzz to network and socialize. It’s just going to be a matter of preference.

3. Google Buzz is a Google Product/Service

I’ve always believe that if it’s from Google, it must be good somehow. Yes, despite the many flaws and shortcomings of the Nexus One, many still believe (including myself) that it is a great smartphone. And like the Nexus One, while we may have some qualms about Google Buzz, pretty soon those qualms will vanish as soon as we grow accustomed to Google Buzz’s intricancies and appreciate its merits.

4. Google Buzz is quick way to build social groups

Whether you like Google Buzz’s auto-follow feature or prefer the auto-suggest feature that was just rolled out by Google, Buzz is a great way to build social groups. Whether from your existing Gmail contacts or new contacts that you’ll stumble upon through Google Buzz’s nearby feature. Google Buzz instantly creates a social group where each member actively participates in the discussion.

5. Google Buzz is a noisemaker

Yes, I believe Google Buzz has created so much noise during its first week of run. It added some noise to my Google Reader account as the feeds shared by my Google Buzz contacts in their Google Reader accounts started showing up on my account. But while you may not like those noise, if you take a look at some of them, you’d find out that some of these noise are information, useful and helpful at some point or another. Noise can be a good thing some times.

Vancouver2010

There’s no better place to get the downlow on the games than to visit the official website. Check out Vancouver2010 for everything you want to know about the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. The site boasts a tab for each specific sport, plus a comprehensive spectator guide, The Olympic Store for official gear, an area about Canadian culture, and even event ticket sales in case you decide to hop a plane to Canada (don’t forget your passport).
NBC

The official network of the Olympics, NBC has taken an over-the-top approach to interactive media with their “Be there, wherever you are” campaign. From the opening ceremonies to the very last medal, NBC has you covered:

TV – Watch around-the-clock, high-definition broadcasts of the different events, which will be peppered with special interest stories about the athletes. You can get complete TV listings here, organized by timeslot, or by sport.

Web – Viewers that want even more Olympic feed can go to NBC’s 2010 Olympic Winter Games website, where the network features event results, blogs and tweets from the athletes, video and photo galleries, and up-to-the-minute medal counts.

Mobile – NBC has also partnered with AT&T to present a mobile app you can download to follow the games while you’re on the go. You can download widgets, get an RSS feed, shop for Olympics souvenirs, and even set up alerts for your favorite sports so you won’t miss a thing.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics Facebook Fan Page

Declare your love for the Olympics out loud by becoming a Facebook fan of the 2010 games. The official Facebook site fan page is over 420,000 fans strong, and is already bustling with activity in anticipation of the games. The site’s “wall” and “discussion” areas are open for comment once you become a fan, and you can also find photo galleries, info on the torch relay (in both English and French), and virtual Olympics “gifts” you can send to your Facebook friends.

Twitter

If your social media site of choice is Twitter, stay connected to the games by following @2010tweets, presented by the Vancouver Olympics Committee communications team. This is where you’ll find “approved” Olympics buzz; if you want some “unofficial” play-by-play, follow the list @kk/Vancouver-2010-olympics for tweets about the games from regular Joes.

The Official Mobile Spectator Guide
Lucky enough to be going to Vancouver? Download the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games: The Official Mobile Spectator Guide to your mobile device before your trip. This free app is location-aware, meaning it knows where you are in relation to where you’re going, and will give you directions and maps to the venues on your agenda. It also details more than 2,000 sports and cultural events taking place over the 17 days of the games.

NBC Olympics Cheer

Now that you know where to find Olympics action, you might need some help cheering for Team USA. Especially if you hit the bar to watch your favorite events. Download the NBC Olympics Cheer app (presented by Coca-Cola) from iTunes, and suddenly your iPhone will be a sound-effects machine that produces sounds like a cowbell or an airhorn. Special sounds can even be produced by shaking the phone or blowing into the microphone. You can even write and record your own Team USA cheers to show your patriotic pride!

What apps or websites are you using to get in on Olympics fun? Comment below and tell us how you watch – or interact with – the Olympics.

Big tech blogs like Mashable and TechCrunch have already added Google Buzz buttons to their articles for people to share their content. If you also want to have such feature on your blog download Google Buzz plugin here. With just a few click you will be able to setup the button and place in custom location on your blog.

Download The Plugin

Plugin is the easiest way to add Buzz button, but if you want to customize it more and build your own here is explained how to add button manually.

And if you like this article Buzz it!

Twitta

Twitta is a basic and simple Twitter app that does the job done. It lets you posts tweets, direct messages, @replies, search Twitter and hashtags, follow/unfollow and receive notifications. It uses Bit.ly for URL shortening. It only takes 121kb of your phone’s memory capacity.

Why you should install  it? – It’s simple, lightweight but does the basic functionality of Twitter.com pretty well.

Twoid

Almost double the memory requirement of Twitta, Twoid offers a clean and easy to use Twitter client. It lets you view public tweets, your own tweets, view list of followers and list of friends. It also supports @messages and direct messages as well as viewing of user profiles. Twoid requires 300kb memory space.

Why you should install it? – Same reason why you should install Twita plus some more added features.

Twit2Go

Another simple app which lets you do basic Twitter functions. What’s interesting about Twit2Go is that it lets you select the interval between checks for new tweets and gives you a running count of remaining characters before you reach the 140 character limit of Twitter. It also lets you post pictures directly from your phone’s camera. This app takes 323 kb of your phone’s storage.

Why you should install it? – The running count of remaining characters before you reach the 140 character limit of Twitter, is a pretty much useful feature.

Twidroid

Twidroid was my first Twitter app  for my Nexus One phone. I stopped using only because I liked Seesmic better. If not for Seesmic I will still be using this app. The interface is very similar to Twitter.com  but modified for the small screen of  Android phones. Another best feature of this app is the menu icons which are relatively big. Twidroid requires 605kb memory space.

Why you should install it? – The sleek UI wins it for this app.

Seesmic

Seismic really put a lot of effort to its Twitter client for Android.  It just recently supported multi-account in addition to its many features including video sharing, location sharing, photo sharing, URL shortening, background notifications, saving tweets as drafts, and quick access to Twitter profile . This is by far the best Twitter app for Android.

Why you should install it? One feature it has that Twidroid doesn’t have – multi-account support.

TwitterRide

At 808Kb, TwitterRide is the largest of the twitter clients tested. A number of settings can be chosen on login. They include turning auto-refresh of recent tweets on and off and a daemon that checks for new tweets even when the app isn’t running. New tweet checking can be set between 5 minutes and 120 minutes. You can also select your notification types to include vibration and LED Flash. TwitterRide can be set to only notify you of @replies and direct messages. The TwitterRide UI is clean and very user-friendly. The main interface contains three tabs that let you see all tweets, @tweet, or DMs. When you tap on a tweet, the app will display a contextual menu that allows you to favorite the tweet, view user profile, send a reply or dms and re-tweet messages.  The app also supports uploading of images from your Nexus One or Android devices’ camera. Finally, TwitterRide also supports URL shortener.

Why You Should Install It? – As you might have noticed, TwitterRide got our longest description and review. Suffice to say, this app is feature-rich and a robust Twitter app for your Android or Nexus One phone.

JobPile

The ability to drum up work is essential, but who has time to search job boards? JobPile takes listings from a several job sites –Indeed, Simply Hired, Yahoo!, HotJobs and Jobster – and funnels them into one easily-searchable location. Project seekers find at-a-glance freelance job listings in major cities across the country.

The hardworking Backpack app helps you create an intranet online, where you can create task lists, share files and images, manage production calendars, and collaborate. Backpack also lets you create a secure e-mail system and message board. Signup is seamless, and the site offers a 30-day free trial.

Writing an e-mail address on a napkin, or a phone number on your hand, is sometimes unavoidable. But with HighRise, you can seamlessly manage all your contacts – and create for yourself reminders to stay in touch with clients or prospects. The app helps you easily remember who’s who, what was said, and when you need to follow up next.

If you crave simple organization, Remember the Milk helps you stay on top of tasks. Create tagged to-do lists and then watch your task cloud to quickly see what’s next, or set reminders to be sent to your e-mail, instant messenger, or mobile device. You can even enter the locations of your errands and the site will tell you the most efficient route to take.

Communicate quickly with clients and colleagues via chat or instant messenger with Meebo. The site lets you create a buddy list and then use virtually any IM service to communicate buddies with using AIM, Yahoo!, Facebook Chat, MSN Google Talk, MySpace IM, and many others. Quickly engage in private or group chats, share links, and work in real-time via your desktop or mobile device.

With FreshBooks, account management is easy. This software helps you navigate accounts payable and receivable, send and track invoices online, and enter billable time from your computer or mobile device. You can create a branded system using your company’s logo, which will then be translated onto any form you create with the program, giving your business a polished look.

Collaborate with clients and colleagues via ConceptShare, a tool specifically created for the sharing of print, web and video projects. Upload your work to the site, and then invite others to view and offer feedback. With the feel of a creative roundtable, contributors can mark up designs, make comments, and help drive the direction of the work without time and location barriers.

ProjectStat

Spend less time answering the phone and replying to e-mails, and more time working with ProjectStat, an app that lets you easily enter and update project statuses. Clients can log on and see how you’re progressing with timelines, rather than contacting you directly. The app tracks basics aspects of your projects and gives users simple, no-frills reports.

Visit MorgueFile and pick up a few “has-been” photos. A huge library of high-resolution, royalty-free images is searchable by keyword. The site “repurposes” stock photos that are a little past their prime, but still very usable. Users can download any photo free of charge, view complete portfolios of photographers, and rate images to help improve the archive.

What are your favorite freelance tools?

Although Facebook Chat is very popular, web interface lacks many features you would like to see on your IM client, that’s why we provide you with best and full function Facebook Chat desktop clients for Windows and Mac platforms.

Digsby

Digsby is very powerful client that knows the “language” of many popular social networks and email services. I will name just largest platforms: Facebook Chat, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Talk, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Gmail, Yahoo mail, AOL/AIM Mail and others. It can really become your only software to update all your networks, check email and chat with buddies. Digsby is available for Windows – Mac and Linux versions coming soon (Thanks Mihnea!).

Check out this video to see main features and how it all works:

Adium

Adium is the most popular IM client among Mac users mainly because of features it may offer to mac users. As it is developed specifically for Mac it runs very smooth have native interface. Adium offers large number of services you can integrate together: AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, ICQ, Facebook Chat and others. If you own Mac – try Adium!

Pidgin

Pidgin is great client for Windows and Unix systems, although it doesn’t support Facebook chat by default you can integrate it using this plugin. Besides that you will be able to connect with your buddies on large number of networks and remember plug-ins, they offer almost unlimited possibilities for developers to add new features and networks.

Chit Chat For Facebook

App that is built specifically for Facebook and if you don’t want to get crazy integrating everything in one desktop client (trust me, it can be very annoying) you can go and install Chit Chat. This IM doesn’t have nothing too fancy, but there are all basic features you may want to require for Facebook Chat. Runs on windows only.

Palringo

Palringo have strong focus on mobile devices and if you like to use your phone for connecting to your friends – try this app. Currently it have applications for Android, Iphone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Simbian, Windows mobile and Java application. Also supporting large number of social networks and IM platforms – check out full list on their site.