PhoneTag transcribes your voicemail and emails the results
November 21, 2008
For the last month I’ve been using a service called PhoneTag. When I receive a voice message my system (Gotvmail) automatically sends a copy (WAV or MP3) to a special address that I’m assigned at PhoneTag.
Then the service has my voice message transcribed and sent to me via email. This usually occurs within 5 minutes of the voice message being left.
Transcription isn’t perfect. People’s names can be tricky to transcribe. Whenever there is a word the system doesn’t understand it will put a (??) next to the word so you know that it may not be correct.
The big benefit of PhoneTag is that you can now read all of your voicemail instead of having to find a quiet place to call into your mail and listen to messages. In many instances this lets me know at a glance of my iPhone or BlackBerry Bold screen whether I need to excuse myself from a client apointment to return an emergency phone call or whether it’s only a routine message.
PhoneTag costs $9.95 per month for 40 transcribed messages (.25 per message overage fee). If you need more they offer an unlimited plan for $29.95 per month. Those who prefer to pay as they go can elect to pay a flat .35 per message transcribed.
I’ve found PhoneTag to be indispensable and a great tool for helping me manage my voice mail when I’m on the road.
Link: PhoneTag
BlackBerry Storm review summaries
November 19, 2008
Thinking of getting a new BlackBerry Storm when it’s released on Friday? The first reviews are starting to trickle in with the Wall Street Journal posting the first official review.
Unfortunately Walt Mossberg of the WSJ spends a large amount of time reminding us of why the BlackBerry Storm is different from all other BlackBerry’s (anyone not know the answer here — hint - look at the picture and try to find a keyboard).
Overall he pronounces is faster on high speed cellular data than the iPhone but couldn’t test it on Wi-Fi — because the BlackBerry Storm lacks any Wi-Fi capabilities. Unfortunately he also doesn’t say much about the multimedia capabilities of the phone (only one sentence).
As more reviews are released, I’ll compile them below so you can access them easily.
Note: Most reviews of the BlackBerry Storm are under embargo meaning they cannot be released online until a date set by Verizon. As soon as we spot sites posting their reviews (which should be soon given that the Wall Street Journal already has published) we’ll be linking them below.
Wall Street Journal Reviews BlackBerry Storm
Summary: Cursory review that focuses on reminding anyone living under a rock the past year that the BlackBerry Storm is different from prior BlackBerryies because it has no keyboard. There’s no analysis (save for one sentence) of multi-media capabilities or any discussion of APPS that are unique to this new touch device.
Rating: Duh.
Link: WSJ BlackBerry Storm Review
Mobility Today Video Review
Additional Reviews We Like:
BoyGenius Report - Verizon BlackBerry Storm review
Wired - RIM’s First Touchscreen Device Almost Eclipses the iPhone
ZDNET - Hands On: The BlackBerry Storm
JkOnTheRun - BlackBerry Storm, yes it can cut and paste (includes video)
CrunchGear - Review: BlackBerry Storm for Verizon Wireless
BlackBerry screen capture software eliminates the need to cable to grab a screenshot
November 16, 2008
Last night I stumbled across CaptureIT software for BlackBerry devices running OS version 4.3 or higher.
The program does one thing that I had been wanting to do for quite some time. It allows you to take screenshots of your BlackBerry device WITHOUT needing to cable it via USB to your computer.
This is the first time I’ve noticed a software only solution for BlackBerry screen captures. The prior solutions required that you cable your BlackBerry to a Windows PC and run a Javaloader application. Under the old method your screens would be captured and saved onto your PC. With CaptureIT the screen image is saved right to your BlackBerry’s media folder.
From the media folder you can email yourself the photo (or even better email it out to Flickr for hosting).
Link: CaptureIT OTA (over the air) download via BlackBerryForums
Blackberry Storm Manual Online
November 1, 2008
The user manual for the Research in Motion’s first touch screen device has just appeared online. The Blackberry Storm has yet to be priced and there’s no formal release date. Expect to see it on Verizon Wireless in the US - possibly before the Thanksgiving Holidays.
Blackberry Storm Manual Online (PDF) download via: Crackberry
Schulz Consulting office manager makes the front page of Gizmodo
October 31, 2008
Some of you know that Wayne Schulz is an active team member over at web site Geardiary.com where he reviews and writes about technology, deals and the occasional offbeat article.
Last night Google added free outgoing SMS text messaging to their Gmail Chat service. Wayne did a story on that over at Geardiary. He used the image of a contact record for Pat (our office manager) in this short news article.
Gizmodo, a popular gadget blog with over 6 million monthly readers worldwide, picked up the image from the article - turning Pat into a mini-celebrity of sorts.
The autograph line starts by the coffee machine this morning…
Gmail offers free SMS text messaging to US phones
October 30, 2008
Google just introduced a new feature that allows Gmail users to send free SMS text messages to their contact’s cell phones. These short messages can be sent while using the Gmail chat feature which is part of the Gmail interface. Unfortunately these messages can only be sent to US phones and it is send only — you won’t receive replies.
In order to use this feature you must first enable it via the settings tab in Gmail. Since this is a Labs feature - you should consider it experimental.
At this time the capabilities have not been added to any of the Google widgets or instant message clients, though I would expect that they’d appear soon.
via: Geardiary
Sage Tip: Get alerts when new messages are posted to Sage MAS 90 message board
October 29, 2008
One of the most convenient ways to read content on the Internet is via the use of RSS feeds. With an RSS feed you can quickly skim the titles of different articles that have been published online. Most sites - including the new Sage Software Message Boards - support the use of RSS feeds.
For those of you who may be more casual users of the Internet or who don’t want to log onto an RSS reader to check messages - here’s an interesting solution that I’ve been using for the past three months.
The service is called Pingie. It’s presently free and in beta with a limitation of 5 different feeds that may be added to each individual account.
What Pingie does is watch your RSS feeds and send out an alert each time the feed is updated.
This is useful for times when you would like to know that a new message has been posted into a specific forum without having to constantly log into the site and view the list of new messages on your computer.
Here’s an example of how to setup the Core Financial Message Board in Pingie so that every time someone posts a new message (or reply) you will get a notification.
Note: These notifications can be sent to either your email address or to a cell phone via SMS.
Link: Pingie
How to read the new Sage MAS90 Discussion Forums via RSS
October 28, 2008
One of the best new features of the Sage MAS90 Discussion forum is the ability to read all of the messages in an abbreviated format known as RSS.
Click on the image to the left to see an example of my RSS feeds (as shown in Google Reader) that I use to keep up with technology. Notice that only the headlines of each article are shown.
RSS stands for Really Simply Syndication. In it’s most basic form what it means is that instead of reading the lengthy articles (message posts) you can use a special type of software to read the headlines. When you find a headline that is of interest you can click to read the entire article. (Read more about RSS at Wikipedia)
Fortunately you don’t even need to load any special software (although there are dedicated software RSS feed readers). Google has a free reader that is very popular both because it is simple to use and can be accessed via any web browser.
To setup your Google Reader account:
- Log into the Google site via http://www.google.com/reader.
- If you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll be prompted to create one.
- Once you’ve created a Google account, click on any of the links below (I’d recommend adding them all) to have the RSS feeds from the new Sage Software MAS 90 Discussion Forum automatically added to your Google Reader.
A list of the Sage MAS 90 RSS feeds are as follows:
(After you’ve setup Google Reader - clicking any of the links below will add them to your feeds so they can be read at any time)
Distribution, Manufacturing & Internet Modules
Customer Relationship Management
Unique Business Challenges and General Discussion
Personalization, Customization & Productivity Tools
Technical and Installation Discussions
Time Tracking & Job Costing Modules
Best Buy prices the Blackberry Bold at $399 with 2 year contract
October 26, 2008
There’s been a lot of speculation over not only the ship date for Blackberry’s latest flagship model - the Blackberry Bold - but over what the ultimate pricing will be.
It looks like at least one major reseller will be pricing the Blackberry Bold at $399 after a 2 year contract.
(NOTE: After visiting the Berlin CT Best Buy, I am convinced that even though the sales circular lists $399 as the price for the Blackberry Bold — the store price will be $299 for new activations on a plan of $65/mo or more and $349 on a plan that is less than $65/mo).
If you are an existing AT&T customer eligible for an equipment upgrade you can get the device at only $20 more - or $419 the price is $349. If you’re not eligible at all for an upgrade then you’ll pay the full boat price of $659.
This pricing is surprising because AT&T had announced that their price on the Blackberry Bold would be $299 when it is officially released in their stores nationwide November 4, 2008.
This will be an interesting story to watch. The wildly popular iPhone is a cheaper choice at $199 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB. Arguably the iPhone has more capabilities with a vastly larger inventory of downloadable programs and the same (or similar) monthly data service pricing.
Will a $399 $299 Blackberry Bold sell into an economy that is facing more bad news each day? Will Best Buy lower their pricing to meet the AT&T announced pricing?
Click the photo at left for a larger image of the Blackberry display in the Berlin CT Best Buy. If you look closely at the price tag you’ll see the advertised pricing for new plans, upgrades and outright purchases.
Metro North (MTA) Grand Central train schedule for your iPhone
October 24, 2008
Do you ride the Metro North commuter train into New York City? Do you have an iPhone?
If so, here’s a way you can take the full schedule into and out of Grand Central Terminal on your iPhone. There’s no internet connection required to read the schedule as everything is stored on your iPhone.
To use the program you key in whether you are going into or out of Grand Central (one flaw is that you can’t use this schedule to show intermediate stops such as whether the train stops at a certain station on the way into Grand Central Terminal).
The resulting schedules is displayed on your iPhone which also includes the estimated travel times and whether the fare is considered to be peak or off peak.
This is a nice little application for those of us looking to eliminate some paper and make fuller use of our iPhones to carry useful information.
Link: Station Stops (iTunes)
Link: Station Stops Web Site
