The Digital Age requires Digital Choices

With so many companies starting to realise that they need to get their digital act, I thought it a good time to review a few key pointers thus far.

1.  What ever your companies strategy is, I assure in that in some way or the other digital is involved, from the butcher getting a website to advertise what he has on offer to the SAPS upgrading servers and improving communitcation methods. It’s happening all around us and people need to adjust their attitudes and accept the reality.

2. Preparation – whatever you do, it always works better when you are prepared. This is a given and works the same in the digital world, however in an effort to be prepared don’t miss the gravy train. Alot of companies get so caught up in have the very best and most perfect digital enviroment, that it takes them years to accomplish and by that time there are new better systems that are cheaper and work better. The point is be prepared but do it with speed.

3. Right skills in the right position – I cannot stress this point enough! You cannot hire a baker to fix your car. He will bake you and cake and stuff it down your petrol tank. No matter what the business, you need the right people in the right positions. An accounting firm needs accountants, a bakery needs a baker, a web team needs web designers and web developers, it’s a given. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can wing it, sooner or later you will realise what a big mistake it was!

4. Excellence does not come cheap – Want a Mercedes Benz, then you will pay a Mercedes Benz prize, it is not that it is expensive or overprized – NO! It is that way because of it being a premium brand. You are paying for quality and a car that is well worth the money – same with your employees, if you want the very best you will pay for it. But also bear in mind that for the purpose of a car (which is to take you from point A to point B) a Toyota or VW will do just as good a job, it may not get you as noticed as the Mercedes, but it will take you were you want to go. The Mercedes is for getting there in style and if that is the nature of your business, then, get out your wallets and cough up the cash.

5. You Hired Them – Now Trust Them, the worst thing about businesses today is when key persons are hired to just fill seats. You cannot hire the baker and then not listen to him when you tells you don’t use so much sugar or put more flour in. You have to trust the people you hire. That’s a given.

I hope starting 2010 that these simple principles are followed. If you want to lead a successful team, start here!

iPhone 3Gs – The honest review

Hello and welcome to 2010 – the year we hopefully get more bandwidth in SA. We ended 2010 with me all excited after getting my Nokia N97 32GB, the phone is amazing and has some really cool features that makes it well worth the buy and at half the price of an iPhone 3Gs makes it just that much more exciting.

I decided that I have been pretty harsh on the iPhone and took the bold step to get myself the new 3GS. The first thing that gets you is the cost at double the price of the N97 and even if you’re on contract it is still at least a R5 000 pay in even on a business contract.

Is the cost justified?
I’m not sure, I’ve jailbroken it this morning but the jailbreak is not perfect so everytime I need to restart the phone I have to basically jailbreak it again. Which sucks because you would jailbreak it and then while chilling at home try to mod a few things using cydia.

After you install stuff through cydia you are asked to restarted the phone and off course the phone starts in receovery mode and you pretty much can’t do crap with it.

Trying to get Blackra1n to work was a pain as well. You find the software easy enough on the net but then once installed trying to get cydia, rock and snow to download on your 3g is a real pain. After hours of trying it finally just downloads and the best part I have no idea what I did.

So far it’s been a pain – the guys at the office love it and yes it still have the cool factor but if it cannot function as intended it is a waste to me. So I will put it to the test and see what I can come with.

Will let you know how it turns out and include the softlinks soon.

Say Hello to my new friend – Nokia N97

With mobile phones changing so quickly and with manufactors like Nokia, you have no choice but to either change or switch manufactors. Try Motorola, their mobile phone shape changes but their operating system has not changed for years.

Anyway I have now got myself the Nokia N97. First noticable change is that the connectors are all mini-usb, so whether you want to charge the phone or connect it to your pc your will use the same mini usb. I like that.

My first use of the touch screen is – wow, what a big difference from the Windows Mobile interface, I am inclined to say Nokia have got the touch screen right in comparison to the iPhone. It is still early days and I will only really know what this phone is made off after a day or two. For now it’s play, play, play!

O yes and there is an industry trend at the moment in South Africa with Web Design and Mobile applications. Web Design has moved away from tradional web pages, if you know what mean – if not, basically if you needed 20 web pages worth of content, tradional answer would be to make 20 web pages. Yet with the advancement in technology and for some time now, Web Designer and Developers would use a smarter way of doing it, an example would be to create a database and one web page that just references the 20 pages worth of content from the database.

Another addition to this is the no click away idea, when you want to view a piece of content on a web page, instead of being re-directed to a new page, a screen overlay appears and you view your content without being navigated away.

The screen overlay trend is hitting everywhere. Some you are very aware of and others, you see but don’t realise it. Facebook is a good example, whereever you want to poke someone, instead of being navigated to a poke page, a small box overlays the screen and you poke whoever.

The N97’s interface is built on that, whenever an actions is required, the scren dims out and your focus is then on the overlay. If you have used Opera 10, you will see the same thing.

It’s where digital is going in many fronts an I am glad Nokia are leading the Mobile Phone battles with this idea.

Ok, time to play, chat later.
EJC

The HTC Touch Pro – Rom, Rom and Roms

Ok,

So over the last few days, I got my Touch Pro back I loaded a cooked rom which was a preview of Windows Mobile 6.5. the interface is great and it looks like Microsoft are heading in the right direction, getting the basics right. Such simple things as bigger buttons for easy finger navigation.

That being said the cooked ROMs I have used all work ok – There are always bugs and little things that either have been left out or simply don’t work.

Because of this I have re-loaded my stock version of Windows Mobile 6.1. and hopefully wait for the official release of Windows Mobile 6.5. Even if Microsoft don’t port it for the Touch Pro, once it releases you can be assured that the cooked roms released thereafter will be more stable and better to use.

If you want a cooked ROM, drop me an email and I will provide the link details.

Cheers
EJC

HTC Touch Pro – The Return

Hey, hey, hey – thats right I got my Touch Pro back from Lab88 and after a day there are a few interesting points to note.

My phone got repaired free of charge, and that is great in any lanuage. You would recall that it was bricked and I tried everything to resolve the matter on my own but no luck. I booked it in for nearly three weeks and in those three weeks, HTC has to replace the motherbaord or main board, reload the software and replace the speaker.

Now that it’s back I’m doubled minded about it. I have the BlackBerry which is working great given the fact that is it not 3G, and that my service provider has not activated my BlackBerry Internet Solution and there is no gps license with Vodafone anymore.

The Touch Pro has 3G, video calling, and there are plenty of gps software that would work great on the Touch Pro.

Since I got it back, I have loaded a new rom, so it is no longer Windows Mobile 6.1 but rather Windows Mobile 6.5. The rom I loaded works much better than most 6.5 roms out there, I will provide links to the rom tomorrow. I will also include detailed instructions on what to do when flashing your rom.

Lets hope it all goes well.
EJC

Empowering People

I find it so strange that this is such a misunderstood topic. So much of a companies success rests on having motivated staff and in the last few years I have seen how empowerment affects people and their motivation.

Here are the simple truths, that no one can argue with:
The software, hardware and even technology you use can be easily copied by your competitors. I have even seen companies that were not direct competitors copy promotions and even structure. This is the fact of the matter.

Yet what no competitor could ever copy is the vibe, energy and fast pace that motivated, empowered people create. It is this that seperates your business from the rest.

So therein lies the key, empowered, motivated staff. Empowerment makes the difference between a successful promotion and one that was done because it’s a JOB. (If you understand what I mean.). Empowerment is what causes your staff to want to reach further and look to improving simple things like processes.

The Human element of life is what causes the initial problem. Managers just don’t know what empowerment is about. I have heard that empowerment means making our staff a manager – That thinking is plain crap. Hopefully by the end of this section you will understand what this empowerment is about.

Managers have some real fears when it comes to empowering their staff,
   1. Can the staff member handle more responsibility?
   2. What if the staff member excels further than the manager?

Empower starts like anything in life, small – simple things like keeping a neat office, is empowering. Looking at old processes and old promotions and trying to streamline it is empowering. Involvement in the way budget is spent is empowering. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean hand over the finance department to the sales team, that will end in failure – no I am referring to simple matters, like talking about new hardware, software. Deciding on what’s best for the department and then following through on it.

A big part of a managers job is to keep your staff motivated, in many cases this is easier said than done. You can throw money at the problem but in the long run you need a more permanant solution. Money resolves the matter briefly.

As a manager, one of the other tasks that is pretty important is finding ways of improving and developing solutions. Managers aught to lead by way of example and should be able to identify when your staff need to be empowered.

A gribe I have is when your staff have to tell you or remind you to empower them, this shows a lack of interest from you as a manager and is never a nice situation.

Empowering is listening to ideas and taking advice. A manager should by now also know that your well trained, skill staff need little or no supervision.

For empowerment to work, your staff as well as your managers need to be ready for a change of mindset. Only when both parties are ready can you continue.

Every employee wants to be empowered, not every employee is skilled enough or trained enough or ready enough. You has a manager need to judge for yourselves.

Bye

 

Vision for Digital

In life there will always be leaders and followers, it’s true with every nation, with every business, with every family. What generally needs to happen is that forsight and forwarding thinking need to be nutured and developed. Having this kind of vision become priceless in the industry.

Why – Why is Vision so important?

Because most careers are not the actual job a person wanted, I’ll give you an example. While I was growing up computers were taking off, at the time the best on the market was a Pentium 3  - 600mhz, people were still using windows 3.1. Anyway at this point I.T. started picking up and the need for I.T. professionals. Everyone saw this as an opportunity to make some good money, yet they did not really want to do I.T. but because industry was going in that direction, they got themselves an A+ and N+ certification and got thrown into the world of I.T.

The only problem with that is that these people had no passion or vision for what they were doing and could only do what they were taught and nothing more.

This is why vision is so important.

In the digital space, the rules bend and change and can even adapt if you want to yet if you don’t have vision to see that then all you will be able to do is design HTML 101. Your thinking will also be confined to what you have seen down and very rarely will you try to test your ability and skill.

People with vision will know exactly where digital is going. I say digital because this space of creative design includes more than just websites and mobile site. There is WiFi, WAN’s, Bluetooth, holograms, USSD, and a whole host of other mediums that are available to be used.

America in most cases sets the direction in terms of what the future holds for us South Africans in the digital space. Hope of cheaper bandwidth, better internet connections, WEB 2.0 and 3.0 styled websites and so forth. A person with vision is be continually digging to find out more, to test and try and use and learn and fail and try and try and try. The idea and concept may be 2 years to soon but it will come.

Visionary people need to be embraced and need to be used as best possible. Not everyone is a visionary which is why they are so important.

Being a visionary does not end there it also requires the visionary to have understanding, in that what they envision may not be in the best interest of the business right now or even ever. Your visionary needs to see that and understand it.

Plan ahead, use the future information available and make plans for the future. Increased Bandwidth expected in South Africa, are you ready for the boom in internet, in online shopping, in online crime? Have vision enough to see that you need to be ready and you need to use all the information you have.

 

The time of the BlackBerry

Have you noticed how when you see 1 pregnant women within the next week or so you end up seeing a few others. It’s like some unwritten law I tell you. Anyway I kinda got this feeling this past week after getting my BB Curve 8900, within the week 2 of the guys I work with also got BlackBerry’s. I thought it bit strange and even fascinating because they both had very different reasoning as to why they got the mobile.

To add to my thinking, I got a call this afternoon from my boss asking my advice on getting a new mobile. She has a HTC Touch at the moment, but she has had it for nearly two years I think. Anyway I advised her to stay with HTC, but she asked about what BlackBerry would be great for her – I told her in that case check out the BB 9700 Bold. The only problem is that Primedia does not have a BES (BlackBerry Enterprize Server) so she would not be able to hook up her mobile to receive emails like she has had on the HTC.

Anyway the point is, that the world (in this case South Africa) is changing. At one stage the iPhone was the hit of the town but the it has changed and people now look to the BlackBerry for that.

My first blog about the BB was pretty simple, I had never used one before and was not aware of all the features. Yet it stands to reason that the fame of BB is because they were the first to take emails to mobile phones and they always design and build QWERTY keyboard phones. I’m not sure why I had the iPhone pride when I got my BlackBerry but I did and it seems more  and more people are following the path.

I still stand with the believe that the mobile you have must fulfill what you need it to, the BlackBerry still falls short in that the one I have is not 3G and I still cannot hook my email up.

That said – We should be watching what BB have in store for us. The South African market is ready and waiting for the next BB introduction.

Cheers

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Applications & OS list

BlackBerry Curve 8900 running OS 5

Now that I am sick with the stupid flu, what better time to create a list of the best application out there for the BlackBerry Curve 8900. I only intend to list applications that I have actually used.

Let’s start with the new OS – As found on YouTube, here is the link the guy provided: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HL78RPQR

Some Additional Programs:

1. Weather – Click Here to Download ***Please note that you will get an error message when you launch the program, follow these instructions to get it working.
     a) Press trackball ONCE to get rid of message
     b) Press trackball again to open the application menu
     c) Go to options in the menu
     d) You need the Location ID – If you are in South Africa, here are the three major cities location ID’s
                    1. Johannesburg = SFXX0023
                    2. Durban = SFXX0011         
                    3. Cape Town = SFXX0010
                    *** To find your location ID, click here ***
     e) Finally, select the box that says Disable MDS Proxy
     f) That should have your weather working perfectly.

2. Opera Mini 5 (beta) – Download here or visit http://m.opera.com/next

Ok, those for now, new apps added soon.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 (Javelin) on VodafoneSA

BlackBerry Curve 8900 (Javelin)

While I wait on my Touch Pro to get un-bricked (hopefully) I got myself the BlackBerry Curve 8900. I must confess that I have never been a fan of BlackBerry just because the BIS (BlackBerry Internet Solution) seemed like a way of RIM (Research In Motion) making more money of us poor saps.

Anyhow I finally just asked the guys to explain it to me. In my honest opinion I think the guy bullshitted me for about 60% of the conversation, but he did explain how BIS works.

BIS gives you access to unlimited browsing and email basically most types of internet connections, you know Facebook, Twitter and even MXit. For a guy like me that is amazing. If you live in South Africa you can get the unlimited internet for R59 per month if you’re on pre-paid or R69 per month if you’re on contract.

Anyway I signed up and have been using the phone now for a day or so. I have to tell you that owning a BlackBerry has a certain cool factor to it. It’s kinda like the feeling you get owning an iPhone, gives your ego the impression that you are the man!

But as you know I am not just about ego’s. Form should always follow function and so here’s what I have seen so far with the BlackBerry Curve 8900.

Overall the phone is great and has great features with it. Riding of my last mobile, the N96 featured a 5mp camera, the BB (BlackBerry) 8900 features a 3.2mp camera. Yet don’t dismiss it, the quality of the pictures are excellent. I am certain the only time you will have a problem is when there is poor lighting conditions. Also using a phone wide screen is a new experience as well. By Wide Screen I mean the phone is designed with a longer length than breath which is great.

It comes with a 1gig SD Memory Card and after 5 minutes I bought my own 16gig and put that in. I was told that is as high as it goes. Which is great and matches up nicely with the top end Nokia’s and HTC’s. Plenty of space for my music and movies. The desktop manager has a nice little feature of converting your movies for you. If you are like me and have a collection of movies that you like having on your mobile just incase you’re stuck in traffic or whatever, you know you’ll never be bored.

I am pretty comfortable with the QWERTY keyboard and most people would be even if you have never used one before. There is also this really cool feature where your you can specify the way your phone reacts when it is in the carry case. Yip the BlackBerry can detect if it is in your carry case or not and so when it’s sitting in your pocket at the mall in the carry case, you can tell the phone to vibrate so you know it’s ringing but if it’s lying on your desk you can cimply tell it to ring out loud. I thought this was pretty cool.

Ok the not so cool stuff:

1. NO 3G - What were BlackBerry thinking? The guys at the shop tried to convince me about how GPRS on the 8900 works just as fast and I’ll never notice the difference and blah blah blah blah. The truth of the matter is, 3G is 3G and if you spend alot of time browsing they you need to make a cll on whether the 8900 is for you. You have to decide on when you browse what is more important, speed or amount of bandwidth? If you need speed surfing the net, this is not it. Don’t be mistaken though, for the time I have had the phone, the GPRS works well and and downloads at an ok speed.

2. Getting your email to work - BlackBerry were the first company to bring email to mobile phones and generally when you get a BlackBerry you are getting so that you are always connected. I have been struggling and struggling now and have had no luck. Vodafone eForum has been trying to assist me but email communition between different countries has it’s own time issues. If your company does not have a BES (BlackBerry Enterprize Server) I am afraid you are going to end up having trouble like me. Let’s hope by Monday I resolve the email issues.

3. Interface Styling – the main interface is awesome you seem some really clean graphics and nice icons and so forth but once you get in there it becomes very poor. The options menu is just a black and while list of words, which is horrible to look at, functionally it works but asthesically it is terrible. Likewise for the messages (SMS / MMS) the layout is very poor with no ability to change anything. The main interace also has a line of icons by default similar to the Nokia N series however on the BlackBerry I have not been able to change the icons.

That’s all the bad I could see so far. Guys again I have to say that the 3 bad things above will differ from person to person. Many people have no idea what 3G is and so it will make no difference to them and so forth which is why I have to give the BlackBerry Curve 8900 my thumbs up. It’s great and with such cool features it’s easy to see why I am blown away.

All BlackBerry have to do now is throw in 3G, Video Calling, Modify the Rom with better lower lever interface and pick up the camera and damn, the competitors are going to cry.

Final Note – For those of you who say get the Storm for 3G, have you even seen how that touch screen works? Go see before you comment.

Cheers