Tag Archives: Microsoft

The value of Social Media

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Mark Zuckerberg is about to join the billionaires club when Facebook floats in a couple of weeks at an estimated value of US$77 billion to US$96 billion. This is after he purchased Instagram for US$1 billion dollars the other week. and after Microsoft bought Skype for US$8.5 billion (which arguably isn’t a social media platform but let’s not split hairs…).

No matter which way you look at it, there is some serious coin being thrown about. Which got me thinking about why. Why is Facebook worth more than the total national debit of New Zealand? Why is the modern day equivalent of a Polaroid camera worth, well US$1 billion more than Polaroid? At the end of the day they are just lines of code sitting on a server somewhere right? And then I though about Niall Cooks 4C’s of Social media, you know the ones about communication, connection, collaboration, cooperation. These purchases have now, for me at least, put a value on these four points. Which then got me thinking, magazines & newspapers communicate, why is no-one buying APN for some obscene amount?

Can it really be as simple as allowing people to talk to people and share ‘stuff’ (the other three C’s) or is there more to it? If that is the secret then why are we not seeing more start-ups being sold? I don’t know the answer to those questions, wish I did.. as I am sure the thousands of developers sitting in garages and bedrooms creating ‘the next big thing’ right now would.

The eyes have it

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So it looks like the next tech battlefield will be our eyes, with first Microsoft last year and more recently Google announcing plans to make information more readily available to us through platforms that are literally ‘in our faces’.

This week Google unveiled their Google Glasses aka ‘Project Glass‘ which will enable the projection of information right in front of our eyes as we need it. Last year Microsoft Research announced ‘smart’ contact lens that could be used to not only display data but also support people with Type 1 diabetes to monitor their blood glucose levels. For those that haven’t seen the promo for Google Glasses here it is
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Both of these, and I am sure any competing products that are in the pipeline, will be truly disruptive developments. Education will finally get the shake-up it needs – imagine being able to just look at an item and then gain access to information on the Internet about it without having to open a stuffy textbook. Exams will never be the same again, somehow I cant see teachers asking students to remove their glasses or contact lens before entering an exam can you?

Advertisers and marketers will have a whole new way of interacting with consumers, literally popping their marketing message in front of us in a way we can’t avoid unless we close our eyes. Driving will be radically altered. We have a ban on using mobile phones in New Zealand unless it is through an approved hands-free kit. What will happen when emails and other data starts appearing in front of us? Sure aviation has had HUDs for years, but in fairness the skies at 30 000 feet are not as crowded as a downtown street! Will we need to have smart cars that can block signals as soon as we step into the vehicle?

For your average consumer on the street there are potential benefits, such as map directions right in front of you and augmented reality games. Have to wonder though, people are already walking around like mindless zombies staring down at their phones, will this just make them worse? And what about information overload? We are already more connected than we were 50 years ago, what potential health risks will being plugged in 24/7 create?

To quote Bob Dylan, the times they are a-Changin’ – only time will tell if it is for the better or worse, but one thing is certain, they will be transparent.

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Extending the Nokia Lumia 800 battery life

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I have been really impressed with Nokia Lumia 800 since I got it, but one thing that started to be an annoyance was the battery life. I would charge it in the evening then find it was down to 20% in the morning. Wifi and Bluetooth are both off, and Microsoft Exchange email is set to push – the same set-up I had with my Samsung Galaxy. I decided to play a little with some settings and the first thing I changed has had the biggest impact. That was turning off ‘Feedback to Microsoft’ – turns out that is constantly running and therefore draining the battery. Turning this one thing off has taken overnight usage from 80% to a measly 10-12%. Here’s how to do it.

From the home screen, slide left to show the menus, then down to Settings

In Settings, go down to the bottom, until you see Feedback

Tap into the Feedback option and slide the indicator to ‘Off’

As much as I like to send feedback to Microsoft to help improve the product, battery life is a lot more important to me.  Nokia has scheduled an update to improve battery life (see image below for release in NZ or to click through to the Nokia site for other countries) but I see my Lumia is already on that release.

Has anyone else got any battery saving tips they can share?

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