AOL launched a mobile version of it’s once king AOL Instant Messanger (AIM) the other day and initial findings are promising but they’ve got a ways to go. ReadWriteWeb thinks it’s a must have app for Windows Mobile devices and I tend to agree if they make some changes. However, hands down it beats what Google is offering for my mobile phone without downloading a third party application…a big fat goose egg. I understand they’re pushing their own mobile operating system but come on! Blackberry has one and Bill Gates isn’t even running the day to day operations at Microsoft anymore so let bygones be bygones. But I digress. I know it’s still in Beta but here are some thoughts.
IT’S A HUGE BATTERY KILLER!!! I know the TREO 750 already has ‘poor’ battery life according to critics but this drains it faster than Britney Spears bounces in and out of rehab. I can normally get through a full day with moderate email/phone usage but when I’m running Mobile AIM my battery is ready for charging by 11AM - that’s roughly 3.5 hours of use for you bean counters. This has got to be fixed before launching the final version.
IT’S A MEMORY HOG!!! I’m not sure if it’s just intense processing or if it’s an actual memory leak but I gained 12MB of memory after shutting down AIM. Gained means it allocated it back to usable memory when I shut it down…it was using 15% (give or take) of my processing power. On a mobile device that’s a HUGE amount of processing power!
It doesn’t give external notifications (other than sound which is just obnoxious) when you have a new IM. If you choose to turn on sound it will play the standard new IM sound. However, if your phone is on vibrate it doesn’t do anything to alert you.
The interface is visually pleasing and mostly functional, here are a few comments:
Good:
Navigating between various conversations and your buddy list is extremely easy, especially if you have a touch screen. I think without a touch screen many of the features I enjoy would be difficult
You can add/edit/delete groups and friends which is pretty slick for a mobile Beta release
You can easily toggle between available, busy and invisible (major plus considering Google Talk hasn’t even got that right in their desktop client yet)
Setting messages (away or status - however you use them) is a breeze
Bad:
There are some issues with how it ‘pages’ when you scroll through your buddy list - it’s a little clunky. This may be attributed to the fact that it’s using so much processing power and the system chokes a little when you try and scroll
When you’re in the conversation mode the ’send’ button is on the wrong side - at least compared to the TREO 750. Text messaging on the TREO is displayed a lot like IM conversations and the send/close buttons are on different sides than AIM Mobile has them. This is big from a usability stand-point - I’ve already had several messages that didn’t get sent because I clicked the wrong button. Just takes getting used to I suppose…
There is an ‘alert me when’ option on the menu that I can’t seem to activate. Not sure how it would work given the fact that I don’t get notified of IMs unless I’m physically in the application
There isn’t an automatic updater. Not a huge deal but definitely an inconvenience. Now I have to go to the Beta site and download the new version every time they release a fix. They have said an update notification is on it’s way in a future version though. In the mean time it would be nice if the site included dates/times of the most recent release so I could guesstimate whether I should install again. Maybe I’m just missing it because that seems like common sense.
Here are a couple things I’d like to see them add on top of general usability/performance:
Add an option to my photo menu to set a particular image as my AIM icon
Add an option to my photo menu to send images to AIM buddies if I’m logged in
Allow me to add a link to my Windows Today screen that will take me to a new IM if there is one
My current client has blocked AIM/Google Talk so if you’re in the same boat this is definitely worth the download. Here’s a shot of the user interface from the AIM Mobile site.
Ok, first of all, it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted. I apologize but any complaints can be sent directly to my boss who has kept me absolutely swamped the last two months. I promise I’ll be up and posting again shortly. I’ve actually got a couple notes written that I want to turn into posts.
So I don’t use Twitter all that much but I definitely enjoy the occasional tweet (as they so affectionately call my posts). I also like to browse through what others are posting and catch things here and there that I wouldn’t normally have seen. Anyways, their lack of technical ability has reached absurdity. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the service is constantly slow…at least for me…apparently they’re ’stressing out’ today. Here’s the gem of a message that I got when I tried to look at my ‘replies’.
Sorry for the poor quality. I’m on a machine (hint: not my personal laptop) that doesn’t have Photoshop. As pathetic as this is I had to resort to Paint to get the image. Btw, 1995 called and it wants it’s software back.
Anyways, back to my rant. I’m officially putting my use of Twitter on probation. Not that it’s a big deal since I don’t use it too much but now I’m just not going to bother. Maybe I’ll pick it up in a few months when they get their act together.
Google and Salesforce announced a partnership the other day that will bring a combined Google/Salesforce business suite to it’s users. The service is called “Salesforce for Google Apps” and touts “powerful yet easy-to-use productivity tools for smarter management of customers, sales and marketing.”
There is the obviously emphasis on collaboration and communication between team/project members. My ’sales’ experience is relatively limited - I managed a newspaper in college and filling in for the occasional employee is about the extent of it - but the functionality seems practical.
One key feature I liked is the fact that email being sent (from the Gmail interface) can automatically be sent to a customers CRM account. This provides you with a worry-free audit trail and allows your boss or someone covering for you (if you’re out sick or something) to quickly pick up where you left off. Likewise, you can send customer emails directly within Salesforce. I also liked the fact that you can attach/create Google Docs directly from Salesforce. The uses for this are obvious and I think it will really be able to help the sales process. Everything from quote notes, sales presentations and final contracts can be created directly from the Salesforce interface.
It didn’t look like the interface was the same between the two systems which is disappointing but I haven’t signed up for a test account yet so that’s just speculation based on the tour. I think that offering a consistent interface between Google and Salesforce is a must and could help adoption among small businesses.
I don’t know much about Salesforce’s push for mobile but Google has mobile versions of Gmail and Docs and continues to improve them. I’m curious to see what kind of mobile sales/business applications they make available to their users. Anything less than full functionality is unacceptable, but that would be a pretty major project. I’d also like to get some information on what the security architecture looks like. ZOHO just announced an enhanced architecture as part of it’s enterprise CRM which is a little more inline with what I see as an SAP consultant.
Simply put, the decision makes sense - Google is trying to break into enterprise business, Salesforce has a great customer base (and from what I read a decent set of applications) and both are competing with Microsoft in some fashion. The partnership allows them to put the full-court press on Microsoft who has been slow to adopt a web-based business model.
It will obviously take time for larger corporations to make the move given the obvious security concerns (mostly on the Google front) and the fact that the majority of business users are still not comfortable with online applications. One thing that could help Google’s case for enterprise applications is the fact that Vista has had so many bumps along the way. The rate at which corporations have been moving to Vista has been slow at best. I work for a technology company and we haven’t even heard rumor’s of a potential migration.
Google Docs rolled out a pretty necessary feature today if they intend to get people using their presentation tool. They rolled out the ability to save your Google Presentations as PowerPoint (PPT) files. Honestly, I’m a disappointed it took so long but I understand their quest to take over the world and keep people inside their applications.
Like it or not, Microsoft still commands a huge share of the presentation software market with it’s PowerPoint product. In order for Google, or any of the other start-ups, to ease the transition for users it’s imperative they allow users to save in the traditional PPT format. If users know they won’t impact how other people have to view something, they’ll be a little more likely to make the move from desktop to webtop.
I personally like the online collaboration features that Google has built into the ‘Docs’ application but not many of my friends and family are into it. And for those of you that work in large corporations, let’s be honest, you’ll be sending out presentations as attachments for a while longer.
I’m relatively new to Twitter, I just signed up a couple weeks ago but I’ve already started realizing its potential. I’ve used it to give TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington a heads up that the Google April Fools jokes were being rolled out and I get updates when friends post messages. It’s great, I can update it from the web or via text message.
Almost a month ago Mashable covered what seemed to be a marriage proposal on Twitter. I obviously don’t know the couple, but after poking around their twitter profiles it seems rather fitting. Shortly after that I figured I should sign up and see what all the hype was about.
That, and I was on a quest to stop developing solutions and start using readily available methods for ’status updates’. Some of you may have noticed on the old version of my blog I had a status section. I’ve since discontinued that custom work and I’m working to integrate my Twitter updates into the blog.
My Twitter activity has taken off relatively slow but I get the random ‘xyz is following you’ emails where someone has elected to follow my updates. This means they get to view my updates in their feeds and keep up with what I’m saying. After browsing profiles of some of the people that have decided to follow me, I noticed that they’re on a quest to grow their Twitter network and become wealthy (as stated in their bio’s at the time).
While I admire their goals, I question how they’ll reach them on Twitter. To my knowledge, Twitter doesn’t have any kind of revenue sharing model for the people that visit your feed. I guess they could build their network and hope for TV and product success like Tila Tequila from MySpace but that’s a 1 in 100,000,000 chance (or 1 in however many users MySpace has). Without underlying content to distribute through a blog or products to push through an online store I don’t think a large Twitter network will bring wealth.
It’s a great service and is a nice utility making and maintaining connections and finding/announcing breaking news but without a foundation of products or content I don’t see the wealth accumulating.
What are your thoughts? Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments!
Update: See the comments for further discussion. Warren suggested I expand a little on my thoughts of how millionaires can be made.
In a bold move, Google is planning to roll out AdSense for conversations to help you monetize your daily interactions with…well…everyone. The new AdSense system displays contextual advertising on an “unobtrusive screen” (below) mounted to your head. Apparently, when you sign up for the service they’ll send you an adjustable screen that you can customize.
If there aren’t any relevant ads displayed, they suggest repeating yourself or to continue rambling on until the system picks up your conversation. They’ve implemented a pretty neat click process - they transport you directly to the site with their Teleportation Technology. They also mention that you can opt to have the product placed directly in your hands, though they are not clear what kind of setup configuration is required for this.
I think AdSense for Conversations is by far the best April Fools joke Google managed today. However, I will admit that I enjoyed the fact that they admitted to using the e-flux capacitor to solve causality issues in Gmail Custom Time.
