GigaOM » WWD Coffee Break

Google Search Appliance Grows Up and Reaches Out

Derrick Harris — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:04:17 +0000

In the ongoing battle for collaboration domination, Google has struck yet another blow with its suite of new features for the Google Search Appliance. By giving users more searchable locations and more control over both search results and search architecture, Google is using its strengths to its advantage against a group of competitors that includes Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and VMware.

The highlight of the new features probably is Cloud Connect, which lets users search for data within their various Google Apps at the same time they’re searching standard locations such as file systems or the web. In terms of convenience, that capability seems tough to beat; I can’t count the number of times I’ve searched through email, the web and a CMS all to find someone’s name or a piece of information I knew I’d seen somewhere. If Google expands this feature even further, into third-party cloud services, it will be an even bigger deal. Every survey under the sun shows businesses more cloud services by the day, and anything that helps tie them all together will be a big hit.

Other features are worth noting too, particularly Dynamic Navigation and Active-Active Mirroring. According to Google, the former “allows users to drill down into search results based on search modifiers for their queries,” and the latter lets users spread search traffic over multiple Google Search Appliances to increase reliability. This is a strategy pulled from the database world, where active-active architectures ensure that consistency and reliability by having two database instances live and sharing the same information.

Although Google Search Appliance is not the company’s flagship enterprise service, it’s notable that the release coincides with Ray Ozzie’s departure from Microsoft. Google and Microsoft compete across pretty much all things cloud, and, as Om points out, Ozzie is generally considered the innovative brain behind Microsoft’s cloud efforts. The two happenings are hardly of the same importance level, of course, but losing Ozzie while Google continues to show it might have some enterprise chops, after all, still is not a good thing.

Image courtesy of Google.

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What will the iPhone 3G cost current AT&T customers?

James Kendrick — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:41:30 +0000

We’ve all gone gaga over the cheap new US pricing of the iPhone 3G and rightly so. Given the original price of the iPhone, $199/ $299 is downright cheap and has more than a few contemplating purchasing an iPhone for the first time. This feeling of euphoria may be misplaced in current AT&T customers if the information that Gizmodo is getting from the carrier proves accurate. Word has gradually leaked out of AT&T that the cheap iPhone 3G prices that Steve Jobs taunted us with are in fact carrier subsidized prices and that the real price of the iPhone 3G is much higher than that. AT&T is indicating that they are subsidizing quite a bit of the real price, although they have yet to admit what that might be, to get the pricing down to Jobs’ quoted level. This doesn’t matter to new iPhone/ AT&T customers but according to the most recent information Gizmodo has obtained from AT&T it should matter to existing customers of the carrier. They are reporting that AT&T will handle the new iPhone like they handle any other phone which means that if current AT&T customers do not qualify for a low-cost upgrade of their existing phone then they must pay full price for the new iPhone. This price is not yet known but speculation puts it in the $500+ range for customers who don’t meet the detailed qualifying criteria which seems to mean anyone who hasn’t had their current phone for 21 months or so. This frankly sucks and while I’ve been forthcoming that at the low quoted price from Jobs I would almost certainly be picking up an iPhone 3G at full price I can guarantee I will not do so. I suspect that none of the original iPhone customers will be upgrading either at full price. I wonder how Apple can state that the price of the two iPhone 3G models is $199/ $299 if in fact that is a subsidized price. That is false advertising at every level and it also leads me to wonder how they are going to sell the phone in their online store if they can’t guarantee the quoted pricing? Makes you think.

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Nokia gets down to business with the E66 & E71

James Kendrick — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:53:59 +0000

Nokia has unleashed two new phones today aimed squarely at the business market and both the E66 and the E71 have features designed for the mobile professional. The E66 is a slider phone that auto-rotates between portrait and landscape orientations when the phone is turned, not unlike that fruity phone. The E71 is the thinnest phone that Nokia has ever produced and features a Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard and two integrated cameras. Take a look at this Nokia produced video to see the new phones in action and you’ll find the press release after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/v/IakGWL-jL8A&hl=en

Slim, stylish Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 multimedia computers offereasy access to range of email solutions, including Microsoft Exchange

London, UK – Nokia introduced today the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 –the latest email-optimized devices from the Nokia Eseries productrange. The sleek Nokia E71 with full QWERTY keyboard and the stylish,slide-to-open Nokia E66 easily mobilize a broad range of personal orprofessional messaging needs, including Microsoft Exchange, the world’smost widely adopted corporate email solution. Both devices are expectedto begin shipping in key markets in July. The Nokia E71 and the NokiaE66 are expected to retail at EUR 350, before applicable taxes andsubsidies.

“The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 were designed for people who lead amobile lifestyle and want quick and easy access to their personal andwork email. With both of these devices, we have responded to consumerfeedback by making calendar and contacts available at the touch of abutton,” said Søren Petersen, Senior Vice President, Devices, Nokia.“Equally important, people want well-crafted devices that are asbeautiful to use as they are to behold. Stainless steel was chosen asthe core material for these devices, giving them additional strengthand a touch of class. Furthermore, the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 offerall the latest multimedia features that people desire.”

Easy, one-touch access to email

The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 come fully equipped for easy-to-installand easy-to-use professional and personal email. People who useMicrosoft Exchange at work can access their email using the Mail forExchange mobile email client, which comes pre-loaded with the Nokia E71and Nokia E66. With these Nokia Eseries devices, people can getreliable real-time access to their email, calendar, contacts and tasks,as well as download attachments like Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDFfiles directly to their devices.

The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 support email accounts from more than athousand internet service providers (ISPs) around the world, as well asGmail, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail. Additionally, the Nokia E71 and NokiaE66 support the Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email solution as well asthird party email solutions like System Seven and Visto Mobile. Bothdevices come with the new switch mode that allows people easily toswitch between personal and work home screens.

"With mobile email penetration and access to wireless applicationsgrowing at a rapid rate, Nokia is well positioned with its extensivelineup of market leading handsets to address the needs of consumers,high-end users and mobile professionals alike," said Andrew Brown,Director, Wireless Enterprise Strategies Global Wireless Practice,Strategy Analytics.

Sophisticated tool, premium design inside and out

With a stainless steel case, etched graphics and available in twocolors – grey steel or white steel – the Nokia E71 bears the hallmarksof Nokia quality and craftsmanship. The cool metallic finish iscomplemented by the bright colour display, which showcases the NokiaE71 device’s brilliantly simple user interface. Designed for bothone-handed and two-handed use, the Nokia E71 pays special attention toergonomics, as evidenced by its narrow shape and specially designedkeypad.

The Nokia E66 offers a premium look and feel with its stainlesssteel accents and smooth sliding design. Sharing the same key featuresas the Nokia E71, including an enhanced calendar, contacts andcustomizable home screen modes, the Nokia E66 offers unique additions,like an orientation sensor that automatically optimizes itself for fullscreen viewing or silences the ringer when the device is turned over.Available in grey steel or white steel version, the Nokia E66 leaves alasting impression as a sophisticated business tool in a distinctdesign.

Always Entertaining

In addition to email and personal information management, the NokiaE71 and Nokia E66 support the latest Ovi services including maps, musicand media sharing that power users expect from their device. Thisincludes fast and seamless browsing with HSDPA, wireless LAN and 3Gconnectivity, Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Nokia Maps for navigation, amusic player with support for up to 8 GB expandable memory and a 3.2megapixel autofocus camera.

Built for Businesses of all sizes

In addition to serving entrepreneurs and smaller businesses, theNokia E71 and Nokia E66 also come fully equipped with a robust suite ofenterprise grade features, including a built-in encryptionfunctionality for both the device memory and for the memory card. BothNokia E71 and Nokia E66 also include integrated mobile VPN support thatgives mobile professionals access to their company intranet, and devicelock and wipe to protect corporate information. Incorporatingunderlying technologies that allow IT departments to effectively managesecurity settings, corporate applications, data and advanced voicefeatures, the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 expand the range of Nokia Eseriesdevices that support enterprise-specific deployment.

Accessorize with Style

Also announced today were a number of Nokia accessories that supportthe Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. The Nokia Car Kit CK-100 and Nokia DisplayCar Kit CK-600 offer convenient handling, simplified installation andsoftware updatability. The Nokia Car Kit CK-100 features Nokia Talkvoice guidance and a remote control, while the Nokia Display Car KitCK-600 features a removable color display and a remote control withilluminated keys for active call management. For increased mobility,Nokia also announced the sleek Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-212, as wellas the Nokia Mobile Holder CR-106 and Nokia Mobile Holder CR-105designed to complement the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 respectively.

Mr Wong Soon Nam, Vice President, Consumer Marketing, SingTel, said:"Our customers will enjoy a superior, cost-effective wireless emailsolution with SingTel’s Broadband on Mobile and the new Nokia Eseriesdevices. These will give them a competitive edge and the ability toeffortlessly retrieve important information on the move, making theiroffice truly mobile."

“The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 carry the promise of the Nokia brand,which revolves around quality, reliability and usability,” said MrGolinelli, Executive Vice President, Sales, Consumer Domestic MobileServices, Telecom Italia. “Our wide range of customers is interested infuntionality but also in design and the Nokia E71 is the right and newconcept for a new way of working.”

“With the growth of corporate mobility adoption, the users’ demandsfor new solutions and devices get stronger. The new Nokia Eseriesdevices, Nokia E71 and Nokia E66, attend to our consumers’ differentprofiles and needs, due to their design and features, which fit bothusers’ daily work and leisure moments in this connected society,” saidPaulo Cesar Teixeira, VP, Operations, Vivo.

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Palm Centro coming to Verizon this week

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:24:58 +0000

This is unofficial at the moment, but Engadget Mobile reports a tip that Verizon customers can get the Palm Centro experience this Friday, June 13th. Hmm… a phone launch on Friday the 13th? That might not bode well. Actually the pricing may not bode well either if you go by the anticipated pricing: $269 with 2-year contract, $339 with 1-year, and $389 full retail. There’s some hoo-ha in the EngMobile comments about $100 discounts with a data plan coupled with an expected mail-in rebate of $70, so we still might see a $99 Centro on VZW. I’d also expect to see 3G connectivity like the Sprint model… something that the AT&T Centro didn’t have when we took a first look. With EV-DO likely, you’ve got a pretty capable little smartphone, for possibly under $100. I’d still wait until Saturday the 14th before buying though. Just in case.

(via Treonauts)

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Could first-gen iPhone owners benefit with a lowered data plan rate?

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:30:31 +0000

So the big Apple product announcements are over and by now you’ve already seen all of the details of the 3G iPhone that becomes available on July 11th. We’re not going to rehash them here but we will be covering some of the features in terms of what they can do for you, how they compare to similar, non-Apple offerings, etc…

For now, I’m still stymied by no mention of the actual data plan cost for a 3G phone. Yup, it’s possible that the same $20 a month you pay for EDGE service will get you HDSPA. I’m still a "doubting Thomas" on that one considering that the new iPhone prices are $199 and $299 for 8- and 16-GB of storage. In fairness, today’s announcement are at a developer’s conference which isn’t the best platform for all the details of a consumer product.

Here’s one last outrageous thought on the data pricing. If higher priced, EDGE-only iPhones won’t be sold any longer, is it possible that first-gen iPhoners will get a break on their data plan, say: $10 a month going forward? That’s one way to leave open a $20 3G plan. Plus we’ve paid enough, me thinks. ;)

Update: TechCrunch reports that data plans for the 3G iPhone are $30 a month for residential customers, so although you pay less for the iPhone, you’re paying $240 more for the data over the contract life.

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What is the model for cloud computing?

James Kendrick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:17:50 +0000

I have been watching Kevin’s "working in the cloud" experiment with great interest as it’s an area that has the potential to benefit a great many mobile professionals. Equally as interesting are the comments that are being made about Kevin’s challenge and all of this together has me thinking about the cloud model of working. It is apparent that working in the cloud is so new to so many of us that like many things we often have different views of what it is and why it is important. It’s worth a discussion to see how we all view working in the cloud.

First up we should probably look at defining what working in the cloud is exactly. I know that Kevin and my views on this differ and from the community comments so do those of many of you. So what is it? I view working in the cloud a lot simpler than some I’ve seen. For me it largely entails keeping my data in the cloud so I can access from anywhere and anything. I use a lot of systems in my work and keeping my data in the cloud could allow me to easily pick up where I left off from any system in the mix. In this model of cloud computing applications and OSes don’t really enter into the mix that much. Maybe all the systems are the same OS, maybe not. Maybe the same application software is installed on all the systems in which case the cloud model is just to provide remote access to the data. This is certainly the simplest scenario and in large part what I would look for most in cloud computing.

I won’t speak for Kevin but I know from conversations we have made on the topic he looks for more from the cloud. He is not alone in that thought process based on the commentary we’ve seen so far and we should delve into that a bit. Some folks view cloud computing as being totally OS agnostic, i. e. not just remote data access but also application and OS independent. That is a valid POV and if that is the primary goal of the cloud computing challenge it greatly complicates it. That would basically mean that everything you do must be browser-based since that is the only method that is totally independent of the system being used at the time. Even that approach is not viewed the same for everyone as some have indicated that using browser extensions on a system to increase the local computing capabilities is "cheating". That viewpoint is interesting to me because apparently those who feel that way believe that a plain-jane browser is the only application that you can expect to find on any computer and so that is what you must use to make a serious run at cloud computing. I can understand that POV but I’m not sure I would agree that it is the ultimate goal with cloud computing.

I have long felt that to be the most productive you can be you must use the right tools for the job and use them efficiently. Is foregoing the use of all tools (applications) at your disposal simply to work totally in the cloud the best way to approach your work? See how quickly this whole cloud computing concept gets complicated and I’m not sure there is a "right" answer. What do you think about cloud computing and how would you approach it if you were undertaking the challenge with Kevin? Even further, how do you even define cloud computing and why? This is getting very interesting and we need to share ideas and thoughts on this.

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SanDisk wants you to forget Intel when it comes to SSD

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:33:20 +0000

As I was flying through feeds, I saw this picture of a Solid State Disk module and figured it was the Intel model we just saw this morning. Closer inspection showed the SanDisk logo on it of course, but other than that, there’s not much difference. The SanDisk pSSD offers a very similar form factor and the same parallel ATA interface of Intel’s ~~C3-PO~~ Z-P230. You’ll see 4-, 8- and 16GB pSSD products in August, although SanDisk is mum on the price just yet. Since these are multi-level cell (MLC) flash storage modules, I’d expect them to be relatively price-competitive to Intel in the $6 or $7 a Gigabyte range. Regardless of price, the pSSD does claim faster read and write speeds over Intel’s product: SanDisk says you can expect 39 MBps reads and 17 MBps writes while Intel’s flash maxes out at 35 MBps for reads and 7 MBps for writes.

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SuperTalent’s MasterDrive KX: almost affordable 1.8-inch SSD drives

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:57:51 +0000

Looking for a small form-factor Solid State Disk for that UMPC, sub-notebook or mobile thingamajig? SuperTalent has the goods and the prices are way down from what they were a year ago. The company has MLC or multi-level cell flash-based drives in a 1.8-inch size with a 5mm height that should fit anywhere you can find a micro-SATA interface in these three capacities:

30 GB for $299
60 GB for $449
120 GB for $679

Access time is a speedy 0.1ms and you’ll get sequential read and write speeds of 120- and 40 MBps from the MasterDriveKX. Folks at Computex can see the new drives this week. The rest of us can hit up online retailer NewBiiz and order us some speedy SSD.

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StyleTap’s Palm emulator officially coming to the iPhone, Touch

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Since we were just discussing Palm and their smartphone market share increase, now’s a good time to share the news about StyleTap. Back in February, we saw video of an experimental version of this Palm OS emulator running on an iPhone. As they say: give the people what they want. That video has been watched over 800,000 times, so the StyleTap folks figure there’s a marketable product here. You won’t be able to run your Palm apps on an iPhone our iPod Touch until next month at the absolute earliest: that’s when the deets become available on pricing and availability through the iTunes store.While we wait: what’s the value of such a program for you? $10? Not a dime over $25? Better yet: what are the first Palm apps you’ll be running on your Apple device?(via IntoMobile)

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Western Digital to release faster, bigger notebook drives

James Kendrick — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:50:28 +0000

You can never have enough disk space, something that is even more true with notebook computers than anything. We’re now all carrying more and more data around with us and a big drive is important to have. Western Digital is announcing a solution for that storage problem with the release of the new Scorpio Black drives. These new drives all spin at a fast 7,200 rpm and come in capacities of 80 – 320 GB which is very nice. The Scorpio drives are 2.5 inch drives so you won’t likely see them in the mini-notebooks that are all the rage but most notebooks can use that size peripheral so I expect we’ll start seeing OEMs using them soon.

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OS X 10.5.3 update success

James Kendrick — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:19:41 +0000

I wasn’t the only one who reported an initial problem with the latest update to OS X 10.5.3 but I’m happy to report a success the second time around. Last night I decided to give the update a second try since I had rebuilt my MacBook Pro after the first failed attempt and it went without a hitch. Interestingly there was a big difference in the Software Update procedure the second time around which I believe is why it worked that time and not the first. The first failed attempt was also performed via the Software Update route in Leopard and the download was only 16x MB. We know that didn’t work so this second time around I was paying close attention to the process to spot any differences and this time the download was the full 465 MB. That apparently did the trick and the update went fine, installed, booted twice and came right back up. Now to see if I notice any improvements due to the update.

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Sierra Wireless Compass 597: itty-bitty EV-DO modem

Kevin C. Tofel — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:28:11 +0000

When I purchased my USB 727 EV-DO modem a few months back, I was thrilled with how small it is and compared it to the clunky HSDPA modem it replaced. I don’t know if size matters to you and your modem, but if it does, you’ll want to check out this review of the Sierra Wireless Compass 597 that Geek.com just ran. This USB modem runs on Sprint’s EV-DO network, although I’d expect to see one for Verizon Wireless eventually, and isn’t much bigger than a standard USB flash drive. Like my USB 727, it has a microSD card slot which comes in handy if you want to transfer files from SD to your computer and don’t have an integrated card reader. As stubby as the Compass 597 is, you’d think a minimal antenna would impact wireless broadband speeds, but based on the test results, it appears that’s not the case. With a good signal, speeds were around 2.2 Mbps down and nearly 500 kbps back up. Of course, your mileage will vary based on your coverage area. I like the “TRU-Install” feature: the drivers and software for PC and Mac are stored within the device so you can plug, install and play.As far as the word “Compass” in the product name goes: this modem does offer Assisted-GPS functionality. If this modem finds its way to VZW, I suspect you won’t be able to use that. My USB 727 has integrated GPS features, but Verizon has disabled it, unlike the same modem on Sprint’s service. That might explain why I usually feel lost…

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The Mac is back!

James Kendrick — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:25:52 +0000

Much to my surprise at 4 this afternoon I got a call from the Apple store telling me the MacBook Pro repair was complete and I could pick it up. I had an hour before our holiday guests started arriving so off I went and picked it up. At the store I fired it up to make sure that it would boot (it would) and that it still had the 3 GB of memory it started with (it did). I brought it home and spent a few minutes to make sure everything was working and all my data was still there and so far so good. I’ll have to keep an eye on it for a while to make sure there’s no intermittent RAM problem still but hopefully all has been repaired. They replaced the logic board with one with the same specs as the bad one and said the repair took so long as they had too many Macs to repair ahead of mine. That doesn’t sound too good and they should be a little more realistic when they quote expected repair time from now on.

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Life in Mobile Tech Manor- a day of solutions

James Kendrick — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:20:54 +0000

Today should be a very good day here in Mobile Tech Manor if things go as planned, and we know that things always go as planned, right? This morning should see the arrival of the replacement v740 EVDO modem from Verizon, something that I have been anxiously awaiting. What started as a good tech support experience digressed quickly as Verizon had no replacements in stock so instead of receiving this middle of last week I have been EVDO-less for a week. This has impacted my work and getting this new modem will be a breath of fresh air. I have been able to fall back to my redundant plan by using the HTC Advantage as my modem by connecting to my computers via Bluetooth using Windows Mobile 6 Internet Sharing. This has saved my bacon this past week but it will be much easier to have my ExpressCard modem back.

Today should also see me picking up the repaired MacBook Pro. I returned to the Genius Bar yesterday and worked with the Genius to determine that the top RAM slot was indeed now bad on the MBP so they are replacing the logic board. I wish they had done this a while back but I understand that an intermittent problem complicates the ability to provide a definitive diagnoses. They had a logic board in stock and while they felt they might get it replaced late yesterday it would more likely be done this morning so hopefully this afternoon I’ll get a call to go pick it up. I’l be keeping a close watch on it to make sure my RAM problems are resolved, I can tell you that.

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Current Dragon contests still going strong

James Kendrick — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:34:14 +0000

Don’t forget to get your entries in for the sites currently running the 31 Days of the Dragon contest so you can win your very own HP HDX Dragon notebook. Our own winner Stefano must be enjoying having a Dragon living in his house by now. Don’t be a stranger, Stefano, let us know how you like that little notebook computer. Here are the sites currently running contests:

13 May -20 May www.geekstogo.com
14 May -21 May bink.nu
15 May -22 May www.mediablab.com
16 May -23 Maywww.last100.com
17 May -24 Maywww.labnol.org
18 May -25 May www.notebooks.com
19 May -26 Maywww.slashdotreview.com
20 May -27 May www.neowin.net

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A typical day in the life of jkOnTheRun- too many gadgets

James Kendrick — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:50:00 +0000

With all the cool stuff that comes through Mobile Tech Manor on a regular basis I change gear like some people change socks. It’s a great way to work as I am constantly considering what gadget would make a good difference in my work style and I can easily try out new things. For that reason it’s time for another "Day in the Life" articles that details a typical day I spent recently and what I used to get through it.

This particular day my schedule was a bit lighter than most with morning meetings the call of the day and an afternoon devoted to writing. This is my favorite schedule because it means I don’t have to wake up until 5:30, a full hour later than many days believe it or not. I rose with the alarm and headed downstairs to get some java and connect to the interwebs for the first time of the day. I picked up the Fujitsu P1620 out of its dock and turned it on so it could resume and finish the typical Vista disk thrashing while I poured my coffee and settled in front of the morning news. I have to check the news for any traffic situations that might affect my running around later.

I used the Fuji in portrait slate mode as usual for this and fired up Google Reader to check my feeds. Only 300 items were waiting for me this morning, a light overnight activity. I used the Fuji’s scroll arrows on the side of the screen and was able to go through my feeds quickly. I tap on the Star icon for any items I wanted to save to read later and as I paged down Google Reader dutifully marked passed items as read. I love this system for checking so many feeds, it’s the bomb. When I had emptied my feed basket I went to the starred items and began reading them individually. When I finished an item if it was not something I wanted to write about later I unstarred it to drop it from my basket and moved on to the next one. I wanted to post a couple of quick items for jkOTR so I swiveled the screen around to laptop mode and wrote away. I always use a keyboard when I write stuff as it lets me concentrate on the writing and not the mechanism of trying to ink it with the TIP. Once that was done I headed to the shower to get ready for the day.

Once I was properly showered and ready to begin the day I headed to the study and fired up the HP 2710p. I had already decided to take the HP with me today as it is such a great Tablet PC but also has that full-sized keyboard should I have a few minutes to steal between meetings writing articles. I might not need to but the great thing about having so many devices to choose from means I can do so. I got the HP fired up and let Outlook sync with my Exchange Server so it would be ready to go when I pulled it out of the bag at my first meeting. While Outlook was syncing up I popped in the Kingston MobileLite 9-in-1 card reader that is my most heavily used accessory. This little USB card reader is small and light and accepts every type of card I use in my various devices, making it a breeze to transfer files from device to device. I keep my Patriot 16 GB SD card in the proper slot in the MobileLite so it’s always ready to go as I use it to keep my documents in sync from device to device.

I use Karen’s Replicator to do this as it’s free and offers the fastest sync process I’ve seen. Since I had carried the Fuji with me the day before it meant that my OneNote files and my time billing files were up-to-date on that device so I’d need to sync them with the HP before heading out. I popped the MobileLite into the USB port on the Fuji and ran my predefined sync job with Karen’s Replicator and in two minutes it had synced yesterday’s changes to the MobileLite. I then popped it into the HP and ran that job and in a minute the HP files were up to the minute good. I put the 2710p into Sleep mode and dropped it into my bag and headed out the door.

I arrived 10 minutes early to my first meeting across town and needed to wait for my colleague to arrive so I popped the Verizon AirCard, the v740, into the ExpressCard slot and tapped into the 3G network. I caught up with my email while waiting and responded to a few and when it was time to head upstairs my inbox was empty, a very nice place to be. Once in the meeting I pulled the HP out and fired up OneNote to take notes at the meeting and all was right in the world. I was able to use the OneNote searching to find previously inked notes about this project as needed and refer to various maps and PDFs I had printed into OneNote using the Send to OneNote feature of the program. This made the meeting very productive and kept it moving along as I was able to find stuff in seconds to keep the discussion flowing. When the meeting ended after an hour it was time to head out to meeting #2 at a different location.

I drove to the next meeting and was able to check email again in the lobby while waiting for colleagues. I then spent five minutes checking my RSS feeds to get up-to-date in that area too, using the same method from earlier in the morning. I tagged several items with stars to come back to later as I always do. I then put the HP into Sleep mode and headed up to the meeting. This meeting was relatively short as it was mainly a status update and when it was over it was time to get some lunch.

I headed to a nearby restaurant to refuel and once I had ordered I pulled out the HTC Advantage and opened it into mini-laptop mode. While I ate a nice lunch I read my current ebook using eReader and it was a pleasant lunch. Using the Advantage in laptop mode this way means I don’t have to hold the device while I eat and I can simply turn pages by pressing the arrow key on the little keyboard. Nice and simple and very enjoyable I might add. When I finished eating I tagged the current page with a bookmark and opened Messaging on the HTC and caught up with my email. I responded to a couple that needed a quick response and then I opened up Opera Mobile and hit Google Reader again, like I do many times a day. I quickly spun through a lot of headlines and tagged a few for later referral (sound familiar?) and when I was ready to go both my email inbox and my RSS feed bin were both empty. So nice. :)

My work meetings done, it was now time for my favorite part of the day, writing about tech. I decided to head to my home office and drop off the HP into its dock so it would charge up. I picked up my latest ~~toy~~ tool, the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 and dropped it into the bag before heading out to the local coffee shop. I really like writing on the Lenovo as I find the keyboard to allow me to type with blazing speed and very high accuracy. I attribute this to the oversized key caps which lets me hit the right key even if I’m off-center a little bit. One thing I have been accused of before is that I am off-center, so this works just fine for me.

When I arrive at the coffee shop and get my beverage of choice I sit down at the work table and pull the Lenovo out of the bag to get to work. I often have to spend 5 or 10 minutes answering questions about the U110 as it attracts attention from the other regulars and this day was no different. The first thing I do when someone expresses an interest in the IdeaPad is to hand it to them and that always elicits an excited response. I appreciate their response because even though I’ve been using the Lenovo for a few weeks now I am still blown away how thin and light it is, even with the 7-cell battery attached like it usually is. I get 4-5 hours of battery life with it and still the form is so thin and light and this never fails to amaze those I hand it to. Once the excitement dies down I am able to get down to the actual work at hand and I connect to the hotspot and get to work.

I do a lot of web research in this session and start two articles using that information. I find that while working with the Lenovo U110 that it is so well designed for actual usage that I don’t even think about the device while I am working away. This is wonderful as it means my entire small brain is focused on the writing I am doing and not futzing with the gadget at all. This is priceless to me and why I love using the IdeaPad so much. This is rarely the case with most devices as I find they have some compromises to achieve good mobility and those get in my way from time to time. There are no compromises with the U110 and why I love using it for my work. The fact that it is a fast performer is icing on the cake and lets me steamroll through my work in the shortest amount of time possible. So I have a very productive work session in the coffee shop, even with occasional stoppages due to interested bystanders. It’s a very good afternoon for me with my time very well spent.

All too soon it’s time to head home which is only five minutes away. I drive past the major HP complex on my way home and like I always I am in wonder just how big this facility it. It’s the original Compaq world headquarters and it occupies blocks and probably a couple dozen buildings. I drive past and when I get home I plop the Lenovo onto the work desk and plug it in to charge. If you haven’t noticed by now I never, and I mean never, carry an AC adapter with me during the day. I do not ever think about finding an outlet nor pay much attention to my remaining battery life because I always have a second battery for every device I carry. This is pure joy to work without worrying about it and I absolutely always order a second battery when I buy a device. It’s another thing I like about the Lenovo, it ships with both a standard and extended battery in the box so when I headed out I just threw the little standard battery in my bag. It was unlikely I would kill off the extended battery while working but for redundancy sake it’s good to have the other in the bag. It would have supplied me with another 3 hours had I needed it, and I probably could have gotten away with just using it but the extended battery was already on the U110 anyway. Plus like I said it’s still thin and light with that battery attached so frankly I just leave it on the device.

Well, that’s it for my work day. It’s been a pretty boring day for you to read about but a pretty typical day for me. It accentuates to me how lucky I am that I have access to all of the many mobile devices I get to use and I realize how unique it is to be able to have to decide which one to take with me on a given outing. It’s good to be me in this regard. :)

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