Life blog

Q Glastonbury Blog

Lifeblog was all over Glastonbury.

Link: Q Glastonbury Blog.

Nokia Lifeblog now available for the N90 and N70

Dan Goodall, product manager for Nokia Lifeblog, has told me that there's been an update made to Lifeblog PC and that there's a new version of Lifeblog mobile that is compatible with the Nseries phones N90 and N70.

Because I haven't been able to play with any of the Nseries phones (never seen a working version of the N70 or a prototype of the N91) I don't know too well what the improvements to Lifeblog mobile are. But, what I have seen has been really cool, such as mpeg4 support, landscape viewing on the large N90 screen, fresher look, more file info available, and some other cool things that I've seen them talk about.

I will admit that I prefer the Nokia 6680 over the N70 (mostly because I know it better), but I would change to an Nseries phone just to have the updated Lifeblog.

Oh, and almost forgot. I think Lifeblog is free to Nseries users. Woohoo!

NetEconomie :: Anina.net : "On peut être un mannequin et s'intéresser aux technologies mobiles"

I might not be involved in promoting Lifeblog as my work any more, but who needs me any more, if Lifeblog has Anina - a real evangelist with enthusiasm?

What makes her tick? Read this article in NetEconomie. My favorite quote among many - 'I want to, in the end, show one can be a woman, a model, and have a true project linked to new technologies.'

And that's the magic of Anina.

Link: NetEconomie :: Anina.net : "On peut être un mannequin et s'intéresser aux technologies mobiles".

Je veux enfin montrer qu'on peut être une femme, un mannequin, et avoir un vrai projet lié aux nouvelles technologies.

Brazilians are lining up to blog

Link: Brazilians are lining up to blog photos.

Only 500 people per country can join each day. I just joined and was the 149th American today. But Seifer says the Brazilians tap out their 500 within the first 15 minutes after midnight.

I just came back from Brasil and spoke with the leading service providers and operators there (in Portuguese, natch). Blogging is really big. Mobile blogging is, too.

A few things I saw:

• There is a service provider, UOL, that really gets mobility - they not only have mobile blogs, but their blogs are easily read from mobiles or PC web browsers. That's great.
• I heard that Fotolog (mentioned above) actually has a huge percentage of Brasilians on their service.
• I heard that Buzznet also have a large number of Brasilians on their service.
• Orkut, from Google, apparently is mostly made of Brasilian users. Go figure.

I bet Brasilian-Portuguese is the 3rd most common blogging language (after American-English and French-French). In all my travels, I have never seen such a deep penetration and understanding of blogs outside of the US or France (don't get me talking about Europe in general).

Indeed, I think the US, Brasil, and France show best the different aspects of where blogs have come from, what makes them successful, and where they are going.

TheFeature :: So We Do Use Our Phones To Communicate?

Mike keeps tracking this topic and keeps coming up with more and more proof. We are active creators of content, not passive consumers of content We use our content for ourselves and to communicate with (conversational content).

Link: TheFeature :: So We Do Use Our Phones To Communicate.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that studies are showing people still mainly use their phones for communication purposes, including voice calls and text messaging. When it comes to specific content on the phone not for communications purposes, it's mostly for self-created content for the user: taking photos or using personal information management tools. Broadcast content consumption comes in with only about 6% of phone usage -- well behind the other two uses.

Billions in lost features on mobile devices - are we over-serving the customer?

Another interesting tid-bit from Ovum’s report (Next-generation devices: the impact of convergence) got me thinking – that mobile devices are starting to over-serve the user. Indeed, most folks I know who use any device only use a small fraction of the device’s functions, mostly because they are satisfied with what they do know of the features and aren’t seeking more. In our (power techno-weenie) eyes, we think it’s ignorance. I’ve learned that it’s just that there is no compelling desire to search further into the device’s features.

But, here’s the kicker – Ovum thought of these features in terms of price. Say that there are 5-10 € of unused features on every phone out there. That’s about, oh, 5 billion € of unused features.

So, next time you read a Russ Beattie post on all the features and apps he uses on his phone, remind yourself – he’s not just not the average user, he’s way off the curve on typical use (see some comments of mine here).

Will devices focus on single features or keep growing multiple mega-features? Are we over-served by mobile devices? How will that affect new device sales that manufacturers depend upon? Should we just make simpler devices instead of ovewhelming users with new features every few weeks?

Play shifting - the need for good synching and personal content management solutions

I recently read a report from Ovum titled – Next-generation devices: the impact of convergence. It’s a really good overview of mobile devices in general and where they need to pay attention to succeed in the next few years.

One issue that is dear to my heart is the issue of folks wanting to have and use their content on multiple devices. Basically, it’s a ‘play shifting’ that one sees when one has a CD at home to listen to, but also want to use it on the road on a mobile device, or on one’s laptop.

As expected, Ovum pointed out the importance of synchronization and personal content management. Right now we have iTunes or Lifeblog managing subsets of our media and content. Ovum didn’t seem confident that things will improve, partly due to complexity and lack of standardization, but also due to media providers leery of their stuff living in so many different places.

How many media managers will we end up with? Already I split my life between Lifeblog on my work PC and iTunes on my home Mac. Will I have to make choices based on my preferred platform rather than my preferred mobile device?

Link: Next-generation devices: the impact of convergence.

Now is a good time to pause and take a look across the whole device landscape from the consumers’ perspective – and that is the purpose of this report. We highlight some product opportunity areas that emerge from the analysis, and also some areas of technology that do not seem to be getting enough attention.

This report looks at:

• the impact of consumer behaviour on devices
• the emergence of certain devices as hubs
• the effects of content going digital
• the opportunity areas and technologies needed to support the opportunities
• the possible evolution of device form factors.

Comverse launches LifeLog

Link: Comverse.

LifeLog enables subscribers to easily create a personal log of their lives anytime, anywhere, by offering a seamless synchronization experience between the mobile device and the PC

Sounds a lot like a network version of Lifeblog (and what a great name!). The press release promises a lot (sharing and notification, insurance, seamless synch with mobile and PC), too, but I can't seem to find any substantial info on the product anywhere else. Feel free to leave a link in the comments.

One thing comes to mind - who is paying for the data charges? My other caveats for a service like this - the time it takes to upload a megapixel image or a 1 minute video, the cost of storage online, the user experience in general, ownership of data, the user lock-in - can be dealt with in different ways, but I don't know if these guys address those issues either.

I don't want my former association with Lifeblog to make you think I'm trying to put these guys down. I think these guys are many years ahead of the curve. I hope that they achieve all their goals with this product.

Talking blogging in Rio and São Paulo in Brasil

Vista da Lagoa apartir da trilha do Corcovado

It will be fun to spread the word and meet enthusiasts. I'll be in SP Wed-Fri and hop over to Rio for a fun night (the customers ended up coming to SP instead). I head back to Finland on Saturday. Wish I could stay longer.

Significance of photo from Rio - I used to live on the lake, in the upper left corner, between the hills. Sigh.

Seth's Blog: Small is the new big

Before I joined Nokia, I worked for a company of 1 - me. Everything I created, was created by me. It was great, and I was really growing personally, on the path to creating some more great stuff.

When I joined Nokia, I think they had over 60,000 employees (now I think they have about 54k, in 60 countries). It was my first office job. A very different experience. My advantage in the company, in some ways, is that I think as a little guy working with, not for, a big guy. It gives me a bit of a rebel attitude, allowing me to ignore the big company stuff, while delivering the speed and savvy that a little guy can bring. On the flip side, I have been constantly frustrated by things that small shops do that I can't do because I work in a 'beeg' company.

But sometimes I think, if you're shooting to ship a few hundred million units of electronics in 365 days, I think small might not cut it. Maybe.

Sigh. In what I do (wordsmith and imagineer) maybe small is just as good, if not better. Maybe even just a better proposition for me. Right?

Link: Seth's Blog: Small is the new big.

Don’t wait. Get small. Think big.

Wireless: For those often on the go, blogging from a cellphone - Technology - International Herald Tribune

Link: Wireless: For those often on the go, blogging from a cellphone - Technology - International Herald Tribune.

Six Apart's mobile blogging software depends on the operating system of the phone rather than on individual partnerships with mobile phone operators. Its application is the power behind the Nokia Lifeblog and therefore must be run on a Nokia Series 60 phone.

Blogs: What do corporations want?

A great little commentary on the same things I have been observing: there is an great uncertainty as to the who, what, how or corporate blogging.

Link: Guidewire Group - A Social Media Enterprise: What do corporations want?.

Interestingly, there was little discussion about corporations and the blogosphere at these events. Based on conversations I had over the course of the three days, it’s clear that there is very little mutual understanding between the entrepreneurs, geeks and enthusiasts on one side and the mainstream corporate marketing and communications professionals on the other. Which makes me feel like a U.N. interpreter.

Nokia Data Mover

In the past few months I've had to migrate from a Nokia 7610 to a Nokia 6680, and then again from a Nokia 7610 to a Nokia 6630. Having had to change phones so many times, I wanted to try Nokia's little Data Mover that comes with the new Series 60 phones.

The move to the 6680 was a charm. Basically, everything moved, I didn't suffer any duplications, everything was set the way I had set it on my 7610. I don't recall what I did with my Lifeblog data, though, so I don't know if Lifeblog behaved during the transfer.

But, hey, it was easy to do - start the app, transfer part of it to the old phone, transfer patiently, and that's it.

I just want to mention that it didn't go so well when I went from the 7610 to the 6630. first of all, I wanted to go from the 6680 to the 6630, but the Data Mover didn't work I think Data Mover is a one time deal and might prevent moving data to a next phone. Not smart if I am going to want to move my data to an even newer phone.

So I had to uninstall the little Data Mover app from my old 7610 and do the process all over again with the 6630. Turns out the 6630 transfers less stuff than the Data Mover on the 6680, so obviously there was some evolution of the app in the mean time (the 6630 came out before the 6680). But, that also meant that the experience wasn't the same. And when I did transfer, it was a mess, since the Lifeblog thumbnails and such confused the whole issue.

Sigh.

At least I know that this nifty little data mover app is getting better and better. Indeed, with all the data we are starting to carry on our phones, upgrading and moving all personal data should be painless. Data Mover is certainly on the way to making it completely painless.

Lifeblog on the Mac, anyone?

Anyone up for working up a Lifeblog-like client for the Mac? It'd entail writing a PC and mobile client and using Apple's iSynch tools.

I've modeled it in different ways and complexity that I think most of the cool Lifeblog features could be copied on the Mac pretty easily (except for the true sync part - that's never easy).

Anyone game?

ADDED 10 June: Before anyone gets too excited, this has nothing to do with Lifeblog (I left the team) or Nokia. It's a personal wish. In any case, I have already received some direct queries. So let's see.

Posting multiple items - tooting my own horn

OK, so I am not on the Lifeblog team anymore, though I still work for Nokia, but there's really no pressing need to tout the app anymore. But, I will.

My mom is an insane quilter and she takes a ton of photos and wants to share them with her quilting buddies. She's absolutely frustrated with TypePad and posting multiple photos. There is not easy way for someone who doesn't want something complicated to post multiple items - the browser interface only allows one at a time, and the Windows Explorer only works with albums.

She wants to easily post multiple items to her blog!

I haven't set her up with Lifeblog, yet - no time, and it's a bit more complicated if you don't have a phone, but just a camera. But I did install it on her PC and show how easy it was. Badabing-badaboom.

Yes, Lifeblog makes it stupidly easy to post multiple items onto TypePad.

She's been bugging me ever since to show her how to use Lifeblog with her digital camera.

Do you feel the need to post images immediately?

Of course, I use Lifeblog to post to my blog. Indeed, I almost exclusively post from the phone.

One thing I noticed, now that I can post anything from anywhere, I feel a bit more rushed to share moments via my blog. Basically, if I don't post the video or photo soon after I capture the moment, I usually don't feel compelled to do it later.

I don't know, but I think it's because my style of posting is to share a moment as I felt it. If I wait until later, the feeling is diminished. Most certainly, it's not a rush due to thinking my site gets so many visitors and I need to keep it going. It's just that my push to post is usually most felt when I capture the memory.

How do you feel when posting old images? Do you wish that your on-line site reflected you phone content immediately? How has being able to Flickr from the phone changed the way folks take and share pictures and videos?

Hmm.

Does anyone understand trackbacks?

Trackbacks are a great way of sending a ‘ping’ back to another blog saying that you are talking about them.

When you write about another post, you usually put a link to the blog so that your readers can go and see what you are talking about. But, there is no easy mechanism for the blog you linked to to know that you wrote about them using just URLs.

Trackbacks were devised so that you can notify the other blog. When you read the other blog, at the end of the post you want to link to, there is usually a special trackback link. Copy that link and put it in the appropriate trackback field on your post. Then, when your post goes live, the other blog will have a link to your post.

That way, there is a two-way conversation. You send your readers to the other blog, and the other blog has a way of letting their readers know that there is another relevant post elsewhere.

It’s really great. Use them often. I find it actually a matter of good citizenship and also a good service to the readers at yours and other sites.

Wikipedia, of course, has a definition. And if that is not clear, hear it from Six Apart for a more technical explanation - here.

Another Lifeblogger - I hope it all goes well ;-)

Link: My New Toy by Scaryfast.

I don't know if this is just me, but I miss all of that stuff. I would love to have all those little memories stored away on my computer for old time's sake.

Little messages of love and lust and hate and despair from a time before I became boring, settled down and stopped chasing...

I dunno... Is it just me?

Nokia - In Focus - My First Lifeblog

Link: Nokia - In Focus - My First Lifeblog.

The Lifeblog software automatically organizes your cameraphone's photos, videos, text messages, multimedia messages, and notes into a timeline. You can then browse, search, organize, and share this timeline with friends, family, colleagues, whoever.

3 Launches UK's First Mobile Blogging Service?

Uh, where have these guys been? I take it the millions of photos and videos on TypePad, Flickr, and Text America (just to name a few) are just chopped liver?

Can someone tell me what the 'first' here is? Heck, I've been blogging from my mobile for a while now.

Link: 3 Launches UK's First Mobile Blogging Service - Digital-Lifestyles.info.

The service, called ‘My Gallery’, integrates 3G technology and Web blogging, with pictures or videos sent from a video mobile instantly published to a customer's unique Web site, hosted by Yospace's Media Community Platform.

Now that I think of it, I've met some guys from 3 when I was in London talking about, what?, blogging from mobiles! Hey, it's cool and all, just don't call it 'first'.

Emilia & Erika: Lifeblog users

Beach volleyball players from Finland who use Lifeblog in their daily life.

Link: Emilia & Erika.

A pause for station identification

As of 01 June 2005, I am also no longer part of the Lifeblog team. I wish them fun and luck in their new digs and that they can keep kicking butt and creating great stuff.

In the past month or two I have been preparing the way for my departure. That might explain why for some, I haven't been so receptive or direct as usual. I have closed some projects, put some in some sort of stasis, and some I have found another owner to maintain continuity. I hope that the efforts I have put in to build the Lifeblog market and ecosystem, efforts which have been starting to build a good momentum, continue in Multimedia business development and marketing.

I, too, have had a great time working on the Lifeblog team and have learned so much. I have been doing venturing in Nokia for the past 4 years in different ways and this last round has really proved to me that I like the early stages of projects, where speed, excitement, rewriting the rule, and kick ass wasabi are needed.

The Finnish summer is around the corner and I am looking forward to it. We have a new puppy, friends are visiting, and I have made a list of fun projects – from starting to write a book or two to fixing the toilet ;-) – that I think this summer is going to be great.

Oh, yes, I need to figure out what I’m doing next, too.

Nah, maybe that can wait 'til August.

Link: ChristianLindholm.com: As Nokia Lifeblog transfers from Nokia Ventures Organization to Multimedia Business Group it is time for me to look for the next big thing..

Today Nokia Lifeblog has transferred to the Multimedia group to become a central component in the Nokia Nseries experience.