Erich Stauffer

Tag: Apple

  • Pebble Watch Applications for Dentists

    Pebble Watch has Hands-Free Applications for Dentists and Doctors

    While the Pebble Kickstarter campaign ended with much fanfare on May 18, 2012, as of March 18, 2013 you still can’t get a Pebble watch. But that’s not why I’m writing. I know the Pebble watch will eventually come out by either Pebble or some other company so I’m writing to explain how this watch could be helpful to doctors.

    Pebble Watch Notification AlertsAccording to their website, Pebble watches have “notifications, messages and alerts,” for:

    • Incoming Caller ID
    • Email (Gmail or any IMAP email account)
    • SMS on both Android and iPhones
    • iMessage (iOS only)
    • Calendar Alerts
    • Facebook Messages
    • Twitter
    • Weather Alerts
    • Silent vibrating alarm and timer

    It’s not just for active individuals or sly students, this is perfect for doctors and dentists who can’t stop to scrub off again after checking their phone or pager. This is similar to the reason Bluetooth technology was developed for Windows authentication – doctors no longer have to press CTRL+ALT+DEL and enter their username and password every time they walk up to a computer. As long as they have their Bluetooth-enabled device, the computer automatically logs them on. It uses a Bluetooth protocol for wireless sensor authentication that is HIPAA-compliant.

    Would Pebble watches be HIPAA-compliant? Possibly. A company called MyCareText is already counting on delivering their text messages to doctors wearing Pebble watches and Pebble seems to like their idea. I have to give credit to a dental assistant named Brandon Kollar who works for one of my clients, a local Indianapolis dentist. He wanted to invent a watch that would allow him to get his text messages and Caller ID notifications on a watch via Bluetooth. I didn’t realize this had already been done until I re-watched the video on 3D printing. When I sent him the link, he didn’t reply. He’s always coming up with new ideas so maybe one day he’ll hit on one he can run with – or maybe he can write an app for it.

    Pebble Watch SDK

    According to Mashable, the Pebble Watch software development kit (SDK) is coming out in April, 2013. A (SDK) is a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package or hardware platform. Mashable writes, “In this initial release, the SDK will be fairly limited; developers won’t yet have access to the accelerometer or communication between watchfaces and smartphones.” Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky said in a Kickstarter post, “I know we have communicated very poorly to developers up until this point, but we hope that you’ll understand how important it was for us and for Pebble as a platform to have the initial release of the hardware go well.” More than 40,000 Pebble watches have been built for it’s initial 70,000 backers and of those, approximately 30,000 have shipped leaving backers waiting over 6 months to get their watches. As one commenter on Hacker News (HN) stated, “From a startup perspective, Pebble is an example of how to ruin an opportunity to build a community around a product offer.” Pebble may have inadvertently created both a new market and an opportunity for Apple to strike.

    Apple Smart Watches

    Another HN post commenter writes, “One thing the Pebble has convinced me of is that smart watches will be a popular product category in the near future. There’s just too much potential, and even my very basic, very early-stage Pebble has already become one of my favorite gadgets.” In case you missed it, Pebble raised over 10 million dollars for a watch that didn’t even exist yet. Pebble wasn’t the first company to develop a smart watch. Sony has the MN2SW SmartWatch and the Ericsson LiveView and Motorola has the MOTOACTV Sports Watch. All three deliver text messages to your watch via Bluetooth from your smart phone, but let’s think for a second. Who is the 800-pound gorilla in the room of mobile devices? When the sleeping giant wakes up to a new revenue source to further tie their dominant platform of iPods, iPhones, and iPads together with a new iWatch, people will be saying “Pebble who?” Apparently this has already happened and Apple will be releasing a smart watch this year (2013). It looks like it will be more like a band with a flexible touchscreen display, but only time will tell.

  • Why Warby Parker Will Be the Next Apple

    Warby Parker, the fashion company specializing in discount, specialty eyeglasses, is in the perfect position to take over the next wave in personal, wearable computing via Google Glass.

    After recently raising almost $37 million in venture capital the eyeglasses company, Warby Parker, seems poised to do more than just make ultra-hip eyewear with a side of delicious customer service. Investors are known for looking ahead to future trends and it’s now become obvious that augmented-reality glasses are the new future of mobile devices. The popularity of Warby Parker and Google’s need for an existing market base makes them good partners as product designer, McKay Thomas, pointed out on September 11, 2012, stating, “Like any new piece of hardware looking for its first customer base, Google Glass, Google’s heads-up display device, needs a distribution platform. A platform for Google’s eyeglasses attachment could offer a sales channel, as well as type of social proof that it is acceptable to use the new wearable computer.” Filmmaker, Albert Art, agrees, stating, “IF Google decides to team up with an eyewear company, might I suggest Warby Parker.”

    As LeVar Burton once said, “But don’t take my word for it.” Warby Parker is hiring a “Principal Software Engineer, Computer Vision” who can “develop computer / machine vision applications that make our company succeed.”

    Why Compare Warby Parker to Apple?

    As Marc Andreessen said on August 20, 2011, “Software is eating the world,” and as David Kirkpatrick argued in Forbes, “Every company is a software company.” Warby Parker is no exception. At their very core they are a e-commerce store, which is it’s very nature, software running on a web server, but it’s more than that. They have “virtual try-on” functions on their website that allow you to upload a picture and see what you look like without every touching a frame. They have developed a pattern for making money and an e-commerce blueprint for how to be successful in 2013 and beyond. This includes doing things like hiring directors of Data Science, Software Engineering, and Computer Vision. Nokia was the number one smartphone manufacture for 15 years and until Apple started making the iPhone they were pretty hard to unseat. Warby Parker has already begun to unseat Luxottica in a $16 Billion dollar industry. If they can develop a platform for Google Glass or other wearable, augmented reality applications from Microsoft like Apple did with iTunes, they can create the one-two punch of selling the hardware and the applications developed for them. It’s safe to assume Google will want to do the same with Google Play, but unless they go the route they did of developing their own Nexus smartphones and purchasing Motorola they are unlikely to control the eyeglass market and will need someone like Warby Parker to deliver their products.

  • As the iDisk Dust Settles

    According to Computer World, iCloud is Apple’s replacement for MobileMe, but what is/was MobileMe?

    According to Wikipedia, “MobileMe is a subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. Originally launched on January 5, 2000, as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9, Apple relaunched it as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription service primarily designed for users of Mac OS X. Apple relaunched the service again as MobileMe at WWDC 2008 on July 9, 2008, now targeting Mac OS X, Windows, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users. On February 24, 2011, Apple discontinued offering MobileMe through its retail stores. The MobileMe retail boxes are also not offered through resellers anymore. Apple is also no longer accepting new subscribers for MobileMe. At the WWDC 2011, on June 6, Apple announced it will launch iCloud in the Northern Hemisphere Autumn 2011, which will replace MobileMe for new users. MobileMe itself will continue to function until June 30, 2012, at which point the service will no longer be available, although users are encouraged to migrate to iCloud before that date.”

    Since iDisk from MobileMe is dead, that leaves services like DropBox and Microsoft’s SkyDrive winners. How does DropBox and SkyDrive differ from Carbonite and Mozy back-up services?

    DropBox and SkyDrive are online storage services, but Carbonite and Mozy are online backups. So what is the difference between online storage and online backups? Automation and availability mostly. With DropBox and SkyDrive, you store files on a one-off basis, just as you would copying files to a flash drive, but with Carbonite and Mozy, you set up plans, syncs, and can file version – meaning you can save multiple versions of a file to capture older vs. later files. Essentially, you could use an online storage service as an online backup service, but it would be more work.

    Read more about Dropbox for business and how it compares to SkyDrive.

  • How to Auto-Forward Text Messages to Email in Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre, and the iPhone

    It may seem counter-intuitive to some to forward a SMS message to an email address when most devices that can receive text messages can also receive email, but sometimes you don’t have access to your phone, yet you still need access to the text messages. This could happen if you lose your phone, leave your phone at work or in the car, or simply not be able to bring it to work or some other restricted location.

    I personally started using it when my customers started texting me long requests that I’d have to retype or manually forward to get into a usable form on my computer. It could also be useful for those of you who run a business on the side and want to keep your day job. You can use tools like this to forward text messages as emails to a personal assistant or your partner. For whatever the reason, you’re probably here looking for the answer, just like I was before I found the solution.

    Below are solutions for how to auto-forward your text messages to email for Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre, and Apple iPhones.

    Android Phones

    TextBusy by Gatehill Software – $1.23

    I use TextBusy, which works great. It requires you to use a Gmail account to forward the emails so all of the SMS messages will be coming to you from whatever address you specify. Whatever bad reviews you see out there from August – disregard as those have been fixed by now as you can see by the latest review on September 15th. For $1.23 it’s well worth the money. It currently has 9 reviews on the Android Market.

    txtForward by Electric Pocket – $3.19

    txtForward txtForward automatically sends a copy of your SMS text messages to any email address you specify, for backup or as a handy way to get your messages at your desk.
    Send your SMS messages automatically to any email address, and easily back them up or read them from your desktop email client. It’s available for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile too. It currently has 38 reviews on the Android Market.

    SMS2Gmail by EireApps – FREE

    SMS2Gmail forwards SMS and missed call information to Gmail account. This application allows you to forward your SMS messages and missed calls to a user defined gmail account, and you can activate it remotely. If your phone is at home for example and you are not, send it an SMS from a friends phone or webtext and activate this service. It currently has 57 reviews on the Android Market.

    Blackberry Phones

    SMS Auto Forward to Email Pro by Value Apps – $3.99

    SMS Auto Forward to Email lets you forward all incoming SMS messages to an email address automatically. Very handy if you keep changing your handsets or like to delete your text messages. Keep a log/backup of all your text messages. Once installed and running, you don’t need to do anything. The app runs in the background and send every incoming text message automatically to an email address of your choice.

    txtForward automatically sends a copy of your SMS text messages to any email address you specify, for backup or as a handy way to get your messages at your desk.
    Send your SMS messages automatically to any email address, and easily back them up or read them from your desktop email client.

    Windows Mobile

    txtForward automatically sends a copy of your SMS text messages to any email address you specify, for backup or as a handy way to get your messages at your desk.
    Send your SMS messages automatically to any email address, and easily back them up or read them from your desktop email client.

    Palm Pre

    SMS Auto Forward/Reply by Grabber Software

    NOTE: This app does not work on webOS 2.x. SMS Auto Forward/Reply forwards text messages to the mobile number of your choice (number must be in your contacts). You can also send an auto-reply message to the sender. Your phone must be turned on and in coverage for this application to work. While this isn’t text-to-email, it may be the best a Palm Pre user can get. If you know of another app for Pre’s let us know in the comments.

    Apple iPhones

    Unfortunately, there are no apps to auto-forward text message from the iPhone (this is an opportunity for app developers!). For iPhones using firmware 3.0 or higher, manual forwarding of SMS messages is a built-in feature. To manually forward a text message, simply:

    1. view the SMS text message you’d like to forward
    2. select EDIT at the top of the screen
    3. check off the message(s) you’d like to forward
    4. tap FORWARD at the bottom right of the screen

    iSMS/weiSMS

    For those using older firmware, there is a third-party application for the iPhone, iSMS/weiSMS, with which it is possible to send text messages to multiple individuals as well as forward text messages.

    SMSD

    SMSD is a free and easy to use iPhone SMS management application which lets you delete individual Messages, backup all message through mail, manually forward messages, and manually Send/Forward messages to multiple contacts.

  • Best Android Tablet PCs for Any Budget

    If you’re in the market for a new Android tablet PC, Tablet Comparison has compiled a list of the the best tablet PCs under $300 and the best tablet PCs over $300. You may be surprised how far your dollar can go this Christmas season. Most are Android tablet PCs with the exceptions being Apple’s iPad 2, which runs Apple’s iOS. In the tablet market, Android is like Microsoft Windows and iOS is like Apple’s Snow Leopard or Lion OSX.

    While there are many Android tablets under $300, there were only 5 tablets listed over $300 and of the five, the top two models, Apple’s iPad 2 and Motorola’s Xoom battle it out. While at first glance, the Samsung Galaxy Tab may have seemed like an iPad-killer (especially due to the pending patent litigation in multiple countries between Apple and Saumsung) and more recently, the Kindle Fire, the people actually buying these tablets are the one doing the most comparing between the iPad 2 and the Xoom. The one reviewer who compared the iPad and the Xoom to checkers and chess said it well. If you want easy and repeatable over time, get the iPad, but if you want a more in-depth experience over time, you’ll want the Xoom. The Xoom is an Android tablet. You could just as easily compare any Apple device to any Android device with the same chess/checkers analogy and be right. This is how Apple wanted it to be (and vice versa).

    Of the Android tablets under $300, the three that stick out to me are the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Coby Kyros, and the Nook Tablet. Of those three, although the Kindle Fire is only $199, the Coby Kyros Tablet may just be the best value as it’s models range from $205 for the 10.1 inch tablet to $157 for the 7 inch tablet. For comparison, the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet are both 7 in Android tablets. Not that size or price is the most important factor in choosing a tablet PC, but out of 352 reviews, the tablet is averaging 3.5 out of 5 stars, 107 of those being 5 stars.

    One other factor to consider is the availability of covers, cases, and accessories for your tablets. The Apple iPad 2 and Nook Tablet both have the same form factors as their iPad and Nook Color predecessors, but the Kindle Fire, Motorola Xoom, and Coby Kyros tablets are new form factors that accessories makers may be behind in creating new after-market products for. A new website, MID Tablets plans on covering the different Coby Kyros tablet models (each prefaced with a different ‘MID’ which stands for mobile internet device) and the availability of Coby Kyros cases, chargers, and accessories. The same people who brought you Nook Share, which covers the Nook line and their accessories, are the ones behind this new MID Tablets site and the Tablet Comparison site.

  • Apps and Services to Find Your Phone or Mobile Device

    Have you ever lost your phone or laptop? It’s a horrifying feeling. Thankfully there are some things you can do about it before it happens to you.

    The following apps or services will help you find your smartphone or notebook if they are lost or stolen. They can also be used to find the person using them if you’ve lost them – whether or not they want to be found.

    Some of these are free and some are not. Whichever one you choose, it must be enabled before your phone or laptop is lost – and you must understand the security risks you’re taking to make your mobile devices more secure.

    Platform Device App or Service Description Price
    iOS iPhone Find My iPhone Displays your phones location on a map. Must use from another Apple device Free
    Android Smartphones Where’s My Droid Text the phone to get its GPS or Google Maps location via text. Free
    Android Smartphones LookOut Security and Antivirus Antivirus, Phone Locator, and Data Backup app. Free
    Android, Blackberry, iOS, OSX, and Windows Smartphones, Laptops, and Tablets GadgetTrack Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. $19.95 per year
    OSX and Windows Laptops LoJack for Laptops Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Service is guaranteed. $39.99 per year
    Windows Laptops Laptop Cop Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Requires police report to enable. $49.95 per year
    OSX Laptops Hidden Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. $15.00 per year

    The Hidden app, whose name itself makes it hard to find, got notoriety when a blogger posted pictures online of the man who allegedly stole his Macbook laptop (below), but for Android, Blackberry, and Windows users, GadgetTrack does something similar. Hidden is only for Mac operating systems, OSX.

  • Should Amazon.com Go Brick-and-Mortar?

    Those who remember walking into a Service Merchandise may recall the assortment of toys, electronics, and fine goods where the selection was larger because there was only one of everything. That’s because you ordered your item in-store and picked it up from a warehouse in the back. It was the pre-Internet version of Amazon.com and it could be Amazon’s next move.

    On May 15, 2001, Steve Jobs led a group of journalists from a hotel in Tysons Corner, Virginia to Apple’s first store in the second level of Tysons Corner Center for a commemorative press event. The first two Apple Stores opened on May 19 in Tysons Corner and later the same day in Glendale, California at Glendale Galleria. Around the same time Service Merchandise was going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and by the beginning of 2002 they would be out of business. Apple now has over 200 stores and Service Merchandise is now online-only. So what can we learn from Apple’s success and Service Merchandise’s failure and what does it have to do with Amazon?

    Service Merchandise was a catalog showroom, which meant it showcased a lot of high-end goods and sold them to people who may not have bought them otherwise. I can remember salivating over their boomboxes and Casio watches, things I would never have been exposed to otherwise. This is how the Apple Store has leveraged their retail outlets. Apple used the iPod to get people familiar with Apple products and to come into the store. There they were exposed to Mac computers and any new innovation that came along (think iPhone and iPad). By situating themselves in high-end shopping centers, Apple made sure that the trend-setters were well taken care of and that is partly why there are sometimes more employees inside an Apple Store than customers. What if Amazon opened a catalog showroom in upscale malls around the country like in Glendale, California, Carmel, Indiana, or Manhattan, New York, and showcased their upscale goods – the ones they stock, but people don’t see – and helped change the way people think about Amazon from being an online bookstore or even an online version of Wal-Mart to being the best way to buy anything – including high end goods like watches and jewelry. Could a retail outlet store like Service Merchandise do that for Amazon.com?

    Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • iPhone App Builders

    iOS apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad are in strong demand right now, but not everyone knows how to make one, or even how to find someone to make one for them.

    A friend of mine pointed me towards Mobile Roadie, which has made apps for “the world’s top publishers and brands,” like Taylor Swift and the Miami Dolphins. Their main selling point is that they make making an iOS app easy using templates. The trade-off is that you may end up getting an app that looks like a template – or worse, just like someone else’s app. But this is how web design got started once it became more accessible and popular to make your own web sites. Not everyone could code their own web sites and not everyone can code their own iOS apps, so then, like now, template businesses are helping users create things that they couldn’t otherwise do.

    Other sites like Appiction will make an app for you using their designers and coders, but the price is higher. Expect to pay in the thousands for a custom-developed web app, much like you would for a custom-designed web site. Remember, the app is going to be used by hundreds, if not thousands of people – and if you’re lucky – millions. So you want your app to work well, be pleasing to the eye, and have a good interface – basic rules of design there. To compare different iPhone app developers and get a quote, visit iphoneappquotes.com.

    If you’re interested in developing your own iOS app, The Daleisphere has an article about how to start. He goes over the hardware, software, and knowledge you’ll need to get started. Basically, it takes a Mac (you can’t write iOS apps on a PC*), an Objective-C (Cocoa) writer, and an iOS app compiler. He references several books and guides to help you get started and has several key links you’ll need like where to get signed up to become a developer. The most popular iPhone development book on Amazon.com is Beginning iPhone 4 Development: Exploring the iOS SDK so that is something to get you started.

    *You can write iOS apps on a PC, but it violates the EULA with Apple (because you have to jailbreak an iPhone), however for those willing to accept that risk, there are programs like DragonFireSDK that will help you write iOS apps on a PC as long as you know C/C++.

  • From AT&T and the iPhone to Sprint and the HTC Hero: The Journey Begins

    As I write this my wife is in the process of switching mobile cell phone carriers from AT&T, who we have both been with since 2001, to Sprint. My wife is switching from Apple’s iPhone 3GS and I am switching from an LG Shine slider. We are both getting the HTC Hero which has wifi, visual voicemail, video, a 5 megapixel camera, GPS, tethering via USB, a touchscreen, and it runs Android. It’s not an iPhone. It’s more than an iPhone. And it’s not AT&T.

    Plan Pricing

    Sprint offered us 2 lines with unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes (regardless of carrier), unlimited data, and unlimited texts for $130 a month. For both of us to get an iPhone on AT&T’s network it would cost us around $170 a month for the same plan. Sprint’s plan also comes with 1500 landline minutes. Sprint coverage is so much better than AT&T in our area that it was a no brainer.

    Reservations

    We weren’t without our reservations. Sprint, unlike Verizon and AT&T, still charges for roaming, but we wouldn’t have signed up if we didn’t live in an area with plenty of coverage. And my wife and I are avid iPhone users and fans. In fact I’m typing this article on a first generation iPhone I’m using as an iTouch (it has no phone plan). I was a little worried that my wife would hesitate to give up her iPhone, but once she found out that the HTC Hero had similar features and more she was hooked. I’ll have to post a review of the HTC Hero in the near future to let you know what I think, but because it has 3G, direct to Youtube, and WordPress app functionality, this Internet marketing business analyst entrepreneur is happy. Thank you, wife!