Super Bowl Sunday is a day of worship in my house. I can't imagine not viewing the entire game from my or a good friend's couch. But I'm sure there are plenty of people that have to work...or will be in transit that day. Thankfully, Sprint has got them covered. The carrier has teamed with the NFL to offer the NFL Mobile Live service, connecting fans with the game wherever they are. According to ProFootballTalk.com, a Sprint partner, the carrier has pulled out all the stops to make sure your Super Bowl XLIII experience is a great one -- including putting temporary towers in high traffic locations. Wherever I end up watching the game, I hope Warner will lead the Cardinals to a sweet victory.

-posted by Lindsay

Oh-ver-whelm'd!  That's what come to mind when looking at the new Puget Sound Tech Universe Map create by the WTIA. But, dig a little deeper and it's a treasure chest of information and history. Heck, I located Action Engine, which lead me to current client Perlego System, all under the Microsoft cluster.  Where do you fit in?

Check out the entire map in detail here:
https://www.washingtontechnology.org/pages/resources/resources_publications_techposter.asp




-posted by Justin

Amazon is holding a party in New York City on February 9.  The occasion?  Well, we can only speculate at this point. According to Forbes, the company will likely introduce a sleeker and more powerful Kindle electronic reader.  Rumors are swirling around faster performance, a touchscreen and better access to content. Oprah named it her "favorite new gadget" in 2008, which I'm assuming sent their sales soaring. As a thank you, maybe she had some input on the new features.  Can you imagine GPS (Gayle Positioning System) or SMS (Stedman Messaging Service) added?



-posted by Lindsay

This story reminds me of the late great John Candy's last movie, Canadian Bacon.

After my colleague, Stephanie Martin, blogged about President Obama's refusal to give up his Blackberry, I found a little nugget to follow up on that story. This week, The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft's Randy Siegel, who oversees the company's mobility strategy and relationship with the U.S. Federal Government, questions President O'Bama's use of a Blackberry.  Keep in mind that the company behind the Blackberry device and network, Research in Motion or RIM, is based in Canada. Siegel is quoted as saying “You would be sending your data outside the country. We wouldn’t want the casual musings or official communications of the most important person in the world being intercepted by others.” Siegel argues that a better alternative would be a National Security Agency-approved device, such as the Sectéra Edge. Made by defense contractor General Dynamics and powered by Microsoft’s Windows CE software, the Edge is 12 ounces and costs about $3,350.

Whether it's good or bad publicity, Microsoft has certainly brought some attention to the company surrounding President Obama's first day in office. To Blackberry or not... you make the call.

-posted by Andrew

"Photo books is the most lucrative product category in photo merchandise, both in terms of revenue and growth opportunity, and is already generating more revenue than photo cards in both the U.S. and Western Europe,” said David Haueter, associate director of InfoTrends’ Photo Printing Trends Service.

On Wednesday (1/21), RPI announced that it set an industry record through the production of more than 1.3 million photo books in 2008.  This brings RPI's overall production tally to three million photo books since the product’s launch, representing a 60 percent year-over-year growth. With its recent expansion of corporate and manufacturing space, RPI is positioned as the largest digital printer on the West Coast and is capable of scaling to meet the increasing manufacturing and fulfillment demands of the rapidly growing photo products market.

Congratulations, RPI!

-posted by Shawnna

Looking for a token of love for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day that wont leave you feeling more robbed than romantic? VOXUS' client, RPI, which handles the manufacturing and fulfillment for consumer print-on-demand products for many of the leading ecommerce photo product websites, provides tips on how to create personalized gifts that are quick to create, fun to give and receive, and affordable for even the most frugal of us.

“Cupid might have to cut costs, but that doesn’t mean sweethearts should be showered with less meaningful gifts,” says John Perez, CEO of RPI. “This year, photo and memory books are extremely popular, and can be created for under $5. What could be more affordable than that?”

Perez points to four fabulous gift finds for under $10:

• Personalized Stationery Packs: Choose coordinating designs for notebooks, notepads and note cards to create a personalized stationery gift pack. Spiral bound notebooks come with a personalized cover and page options including designs for a wedding planner, baby book and a day planner. Snapfish by HP offers notebooks and notepads for $7.99-9.99, and note cards for as little as $1.08 apiece.

• Photo books: Make the perfect memory book for your partner by pulling together photos from exciting escapades and romantic rendezvous that have taken place during your relationship. Create a mini photo book with 12 double-sided full-photo pages at Walgreens for $5.99 per book.

• Memory books: Make a softbound memory book with your everlasting love letters or poetry at Wal-Mart for only $3.88.

• Calendars: Mark the dates for birthdays, anniversaries or other significant events with photos from throughout the year. Not only will personalized calendars help recipients remember special occasions, but will also remind them that you’re thinking of them 365 days a year. Calendars are available at Costco for $9.99 each.

• Stickers & Seals: With personalized photos and/or text, adhesive stickers add a personal touch to love letters as envelope seals or to decorate gift packages. Buy one sheet of 20 stickers from Costco for only $2.99.

-posted by Shawnna

Will President Obama get to keep his beloved Blackberry? Well, sort of. During the 2008 election, President Obama was not shy when discussing his love for his BlackBerry, even responding to an interviewer asking about his worst habit with, "Checking my BlackBerry." However, when he secured his spot in the White House, the future of his trusted gadget was unclear.

But alas! The President has already won this one, and has been given the okay to use a special, security-enhanced BlackBerry on a day-to-day basis, to keep in touch with both his senior staff and close friends and family (only a select few will be given his email address). According to an article by the Associated Press, Obama will be the first sitting president to use e-mail, as some previous presidents have chosen not to correspond via email, as all messages can be subpoenaed by Congress, courts, and may be subject to public records laws.

A cool article from Network World breaks down the security features the special BlackBerry might need. President Obama seems to be pretty in-tune with technology... maybe an ObamaBlog is on the horizon....?



(Image courtesy Computer Weekly)

-posted by Stephanie

On this day, January 22 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh personal computer with it's now infamous 1984 Super Bowl advertisement. According to Nielsen Media Research, the ad reached a whopping 46.9 percent of all American households although it did air during the 3rd quarter of a blowout between the Washington Redskins and then Los Angeles Raiders (read between the lines, some people might be concentrating on the dip or taking a siesta at this point). Some more interesting facts, Ridley Scott directed the commercial and then little known ad agency Chiat/Day produced it at a then unheard of enormous budget of $900k. Microsoft's board originally didn't want to air the ad, but eventually gave in. As a refresher, the ad is a take on George Orwell's book "1984" in which Big Brother takes over and is shown on a huge television screen. In the ad, a heroine comes to the rescue and throws a sledgehammer through the TV screen meant to show how Apple will shatter conformity in support of individualism. The commercial concludes with text which reads: "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984." 25 years later, do you think Apple has followed through on their original promise?

-posted by Andrew

Seattle-based FriendlyFavor launched its beta site this week, and the company is attempting to deliver just what its name implies. If you're so tied to the Internet that you'd use it to find a last minute babysitter, get recommendations for a hotel in another city, or find a new home for grandma's old feather bed, FriendlyFavor might be just the site for you. As a member of this social network, you can ask for something, offer something or just start racking up favors to your account. According to its founders (Scott Larson and John Patton), FriendlyFavor is intended to be more efficient than email for reaching out to a trusted network, known as your "peeps."

So now I can use Twitter to tweet and FF to send out cheeps to my peeps.

-posted by Rachel

Boost eLearning recently announced results of a new survey that indicate employees are not leveraging Google’s basic search functionality for business research. The online survey reports that most employees are unfamiliar with such basic search techniques as synonym finder, site search, or even how to limit by timeframe or file type. As a result, Google business research queries either fail to provide the desired results or waste valuable employee time by burying key information. This research follows the company's earlier finding that 39 percent of all Google searches fail, leading to more than 40 hours of lost productivity per user per year(!).

Google is an extremely powerful business research tool, but employees that lack basic instruction on its use are both losing time and missing opportunities, which could far exceed the value of the lost hours. To get employees up to speed (and fast...) Boost eLearning has released a new course, Boost eLearning Google Search Training Quick Lessons, that focuses on key business research techniques, saving companies valuable employee time and materially improving search results.

-posted by Lindsay

Mobile video consumption is on the rise, leading experts to estimate the market will exceed $15 billion in worldwide revenue by 2012. Driving this market forward is VOXUS' own Ortiva Wireless, developer of the mobile Video Optimization Gateway (mVOG). On Tuesday (1/20), the company announced a commercial deployment with Vodafone Portugal, a tier one European carrier with more than five million subscribers. mVOG is helping Vodafone Portugal dramatically increase the efficiency and quality of mobile video across its network, ensuring a superior viewing experience for its growing Vodafone live! customer base.

“To build strong subscribership in mobile video, we must deliver amazing video quality from the start,” said Jorge Bento, IN and Service Development Director at Vodafone Portugal. “Anything less falls short of our commitment to providing the high-quality, mobile video services our subscribers demand. Ortiva met this requirement in testing, even during noisy network conditions. mVOG will be an essential component to our ability to improve subscriber interest in mobile video services.”

Ortiva's unique combination of operator and subscriber benefits is helping carriers worldwide quickly accelerate mobile video revenue using existing networks. Check them out on their site or in Barcelona, Spain at Mobile World Congress (Booth #1H33, Hall 1-0).

-posted by Lindsay

Being a Mac user, I love this story from TechFlash, way of the Washington Post:

"Thursday's Washington Post has a fascinating story about the technological challenges faced by the Obama administration as it moved into the White House following the inauguration. Mac-loving Obama staffers were flummoxed by all the out-of-date Microsoft software left over from the Bush administration -- to the point that they couldn't complete the most basic of online tasks."

Why does this not surprise me!!



-posted by Justin

With all the excitement slowly fading away now that inauguration day has passed, I came across some cool images from Popular Science (http://www.popsci.com) that show the crowds in DC from space!  That's right, some crystal clear space images of millions of heads.

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-01/inauguration-day-space




-posted by Justin

In my constant hunt for the latest tiny high-tech devices, I just came across one that was on display at CES recently. It's Nokia's BH-804 bluetooth headset and it fits in the palm of your hand at an estimated 1.6-1.7 inches long. The Street has a pretty good video demo of the device. Nokia says it's available broadly in the U.S. in Q1 of '09 for $99-$119.

Ben Stiller's character from Zoolander (yes, I'm referencing one of my favorite movies AGAIN) would be proud!



-posted by Andrew

Think there's no such thing as a free coffee? Starbucks says it will give away free tall brewed coffee between January 21-25. The catch: you have to sign a card pledging to donate five or more hours of community service. You can learn more here.

-posted by Rachel

I recently upgraded to a new cell phone (okay, it's an iPhone -ed) , and one of my favorite features is that it is a touchscreen. It makes the phone so sleek and stylish looking, and really makes it much easier to maneuver around on the Web. However, I absolutely distain the tiny touchscreen keyboard -- whoever created it must have had tiny hands or used only their pinky fingers to type -- its nearly impossible to properly type out a message on that thing! Luckily, a local Seattle-based company, Jott Networks, has come to the rescue with a service that allows you to capture notes, set reminders and calendar appointments, text message contacts and even transcribe your voicemail messages... all with your voice! I really wish I had this feature on my new phone...

Hands-free Email & Text Messaging:


-posted by Shawnna

I couldn't resist posting this short blog entry, but boy is this cool. I'm a self proclaimed neat freak and there were some neat TVs unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Neat in the fact that 1) They're really cool and 2) They don't take up much space. Panasonic showed off a prototype set that was 8.8 millimeters thick and Samsung gave a glimpse at a TV that measured in at 6.5 millimeters. Forget about what I write though, take a look for yourself at a Washington Post article and Seattle Times blog from our friend Brier Dudley.

Thin is in!

-posted by Andrew

I love it, I love it, I love it. Sacrifice in the name of beef. That's right, Burger King offers a Facebook application that allows you to sacrifice (or delete) 10 of your friends. In doing so, you get a free Whopper. BRILLIANT!!! No group to join, no fan page, just get the application at http://whoppersacrifice.com/

As I look now, so far 232k people have been axed in Facebook in the name of beef. This is marketing at its best...and integration with social media makes this advertising campaign a super hit. A++

Now, let's see....c'est la vie Paul, Rachel, Lindsay, Andrew, Stephanie, Shawnna, Nancy, Marcel, Kirsten.....and Brie.

-posted by Justin

For those of you looking for a tech-related job in Seattle, there's a new resource on the scene. Eggsprout debuted earlier this month with the mission of helping everyone land a job that they love (pretty ambitious!). But what's most impressive is the fact that the founding team members, while ex-Zillowites, are barely out of college -- Brian Ma, Hsu Han Ooi, Ian Ma, Austin Carol and Hsu Ken Ooi all look like they could be in a boy band. Currently, the site features jobs at Grapevyn, Tableau Software, Google and Microsoft.

-posted by Rachel

Australia's Queensland tourism department is now accepting applications for the "best job in the world." And they aren't kidding. According to an article in BusinessWeek, the tourism department is seeking one person to live on Hamilton Island, along the Great Barrier Reef, for six months, during which the new-hire will be required to walk along the sandy beaches, snorkel, swim... basically live the hard life. Oh, but there's a catch! The employee will be required to blog about their experiences weekly, including photos and videos of things they do around the island. So, blog-aphobics need not apply... unless you can be swayed by the $100,000 (150,000 Australian dollars) paycheck that comes along with the six month "job."

This doesn't sound too shabby...

Applications are being accepted until February 22nd, and the job will begin on July 1st. If you think you could handle blogging from paradise for $100k, apply at www.islandreefjob.com

-posted by Stephanie

I love my iPhone, but would love a cuter, smaller version even more. Recently, Engadget helped spread the Apple iPhone Nano rumors a little further. Covering a story in DIGITIMES, the Engadget article reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is poised to secure chip orders for a mini-sized iPhone Nano. Rumored to be a low-cost, entry-level version of the original, whispers of a Summer launch have got me on high alert.

Update: President of VOXUS and Apple enthusiast Paul Forecki has just crushed my dreams for the iPhone Nano. He says if the iPhone Nano is ever launched, it certainly won't be this Summer.

Apple: let's prove him wrong.

Paul: confident enough to bet me one iPhone Nano?

-posted by Lindsay

Looks like there's finally a cost-effective option for turning your car, truck or van into a mobile hotspot – Autonet Mobile. Autonet Mobile is the first wireless Internet Service Provider designed for your car. The Autonet Mobile router will turn your car into a WiFi hotspot, allowing multiple passengers to connect their own WiFi enabled gadgets to the Internet at the same time. Very cool and cheap. Only $29 a month!! The router’s sleek form factor was designed to be easily installed in the trunk of your car or the cargo area of your SUV.

-posted by Justin

According to a new Wireless Week article, most of us are phone dummies. That is, many users are not taking advantage of all the extra features phones deliver, like cameras and calendars, etc. NPD reports a whopping 45% of U.S. mobile phone users "just make telephone calls." This definitely isn't the crowd I hang around with...but I could see that being the case for older generations. Calculators, text, GPS and other apps would improve the life of so many. Perhaps users just need an in-depth how-to lesson (the quick demo at the store doesn't count) and some pocket size cheat sheets to get on board.

-posted by Lindsay

As the minutes tick down for the baton to be passed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, I can’t help but let my mind wander to a time when Gates was king. This year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will keynote CES after years of Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates assuming those responsibilities.

Gates was known for his list of celebrity guests which included Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, The Rock and more. TechFlash has a great retrospective on these star-studded events.

Having been privy to take part in one such keynote at CES 2007 when doing PR work for Microsoft, I learned first-hand how Gates’ keynotes resembled more of a rock concert than a meeting of some of the world’s greatest minds. It’s that buzz that led to Gates’ selection year after year and now to Ballmer’s succession.

This year, Ballmer takes the stage. While he seems to garner a lot of attention himself through antics like his now infamous monkey boy video, something tells me he’s not going to steal the limelight quite like Gates.

-posted by Andrew

According to our favorite third-party tech blog, TechFlash, Internet Explorer continues to lose market share to other Web browsers, including Firefox and Safari. Not a big surprise here... we use both Firefox and Safari in an attempt to stay away from that horrible mess called IE (can you say vulnerability). While IE still has 68% of the market, that's down 11% over the previous year. Losing more than 10% market share in a year is HUGE (at least in my book), especially when you consider that back in the early days, IE held more than 90% of the share. Also worth noting, Google Chrome has 1%, which sounds like nothing, but as the TechFlash folks point out, it was introduced in September (not bad for three months work).

-posted by Justin

The Northwest Entrepreneur Network is looking for a new executive director. The current leader, Peter Quinn, is leaving at the end of January to join the Northwest Maritime Institute in Port Townsend. So if you've got skills in strategic planning, community relations and volunteer coordination, you might want to take a look here. The deadline for applications is January 12.

-posted by Rachel