Obama the Rock Star

I was lucky enough to sit right behind the President on stage in Raleigh yesterday. I had never seen a US President in person before, it was a great experience. Politics aside, it is truly amazing to look the President in the eye as he speaks. His followers are so excited to see him, he really is a rock star, very iconic.

Whether he can sustain good policy for our country or not, he will no doubt always be remembered for his charisma and charm as a speaker.

When I first arrived there was a gal in line that I stood next to with a Blackberry. She was talking to her friend and she said "this device has truly transformed my life" Her friend soon after took a phone call herself. I could not help but now ask her about the phone and why she said that. She said her family never believed she would actually use it. But she talked about Internet access, e-mail, the ease of texting, doing business on the run.

I love hearing those comments. Ordinary people using technology to make life easier. That is what Blackberries or technology in general are designed to do.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

Verizon and Alltel

Verizon has purchased Alltel, we know that now. But there are several pieces of information coming to us day to day.

Sometimes I wonder if Verizon or Alltel truly know what is right or wrong. The end users lose the stockholders win. In North Carolina Alltel customers bills now read Verizon. But that may not be the case in another state. But coding/rate plan wise they are still Alltel. Their agreements and hardware are with Alltel until the contract ends. Verizon is offering deals/discounts to Alltel customers to move them completely over to Verizon. They are waiving early term fees and activation fees.

Alltel phones currently work on the Verizon network but data features may not work properly so at some point it will be wise to switchover. Business customers are being treated differently than consumer accounts. The Verizon friends and family feature was offered now to comply with Alltels my circle feature. But it is not offered with all rate plans. You must meet minimum rates to get that type of service added to the rate.

Ask questions, find agents that follow the carriers. They typically get detailed information faster through their resources than the direct teams do. The agents that deal with businesses are pushing to obtain that information because the customer is demanding it.

I hope this is the last merger for awhile, the confusion is too great for everyone involved.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Power cycle

Have you ever been instrcucted to restart your PC? It gets locked up, it needs to be refreshed. Cell phones are the same way. Does your phone ever act up on you? Always power cycle (turn the phone off and back on) at least once a day. It is like giving the phone a nice shower without having to make an insurance claim! Phones need to reregister with their perspective networks.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

GPS vehicle asset management

You own several vehicles or trucks. Fuel prices go up and down. It is 2009 and most major companies with fleets are using tracking technologies to manage these assets.

What is so great is there are a host of financing options out there. There are great leasing programs, and rental agreements. Competition has brought lower overall prices on both the hardware and the monthly live services.

Track the vehicles, dispatch the closest vehicle, run route reports, customer visit reports, take charge of the fleet. The fuel and time costs are enormous. Imagine riding with every driver every day everywhere they go. Reduce idling and speed to reduce fuel costs. Reduce risk management with seat belt requirements and insurance premiums go down. Customer service is precise, and billing is accurate. After hour use is eliminated saving fuel costs.

It is 2009, get on board, this is a technology that will be as common as a cell phone in a couple more years. Your competitors have it.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Smartphones still on the Rise

What an exciting time for smartphone manufacturers. Turn on any stock analyst show and you will hear mention of this segment in our markets. Even though RIM introduced the new Tour world phone, Research in Motion's stock is sliding today because of more competition. I am a big RIM fan but this may not be such a bad thing. Apple is introducing its new I-Phone, Google's G-1 Android phone has sold over a million devices, Samsung just announced 4 new smartphones, and Palm introduced its Pre on the Sprint network. What is next, Nokia gaining demand domestically again?

The winner in all of these new launches is the you, the consumer. We are seeing a more universal approach by the carriers to offer devices that meet our needs. Social media browsing, browsing in general within the data plans are becoming easier to use. There is plenty of memory and the data speeds are improving, 4G is also around the corner. The quality of the camera's are catching up to what Best Buy puts on its digital camera selection. You can post a video on YouTube in minutes. We are an e-mail centric nation now, how does anyone live without e-mail in their hands? This one factor alone is pushing demand.

I think there is a cool factor also here. It is a less expensive way of "keeping up with the Jones" People cannot be approved for refinance their homes so why not flash their smartphone bling. But there is no doubt a more effective approach to communicating with these devices. What was once an Enterprise device only, now the smartphone has caught the attention of the masses.

The market share for smartphones is less than 20% of the market. So there is plenty of room for growth for these manufacturers. The economy dominated with recession yes but it sure is impressive to see this segment prosper. The Internet is literally in our hands now and regardless of the soft economy, the demand continues. Buy their stock or buy their devices, either way, but do not let this momentum pass you by.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

GPS- Navigate or track?

GPS. Global position satellites. It is often misunderstood. But GPS can mean either tracking or navigation.

There are 2 totally distinct conversations to have. Navigation would be like using google maps for Blackberry or a Garmin Nuvi to find your way from one point to another. You may just want to see where you are at on a map. You can use Google maps before you leave an office or home to gage your trip. You can even e-mail those directions to your Blackberry before you leave. There really are no excuses for being lost anymore.

Tracking on the other hand comes in the form of vehicle asset management. The goal for a company is to reduce fuel costs, create better customer service, in a nutshell improve the efficiency of the fleet as a whole. What would happen to your productivity or fuel costs is you were riding shotgun every day with each and every driver? GPS tracking is becoming a significant technology. It will be ordinary in 5 years to have this type of technology in a vehicle. The stakes of employee misbehavior and fuel costs are too great for an owner to worry about the politics of being called "big brother". On top of their business seems more appropriate. So the next time you are thinking about jumping in that vehicle and driving down to the beach, or going to the park or even running that extra errand, remember there may be an e-mail arriving in your managers inbox once that vehicle so much as moves. Scary but very useful! Putting one in your wife's car you ask, I am not going there!

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Blackberry still on top

Well, once again I read that 3 out of the top 5 selling smart phones are produced by yes, Rim Blackberry. The Apple I-Phone and the new Google G-1 Android also made the list. If Google and Apple would expand distribution beyond only ATT (I-phone exclusive) and T-Mobile (Google exclusive) they would certainly penetrate the market more effectively.

In a market with negative feels about it, smart phone technology continues to prosper. E-mail, GPS navigation,Outlook sync capabilities, browsing being just some of the "extra" features. While I was at lunch yesterday my buddy said to me, "I just do not know what I would do without this Blackberry anymore" For the record, I agree.

Heck Rim's stock was at $43 a share just 30 days ago and is trying to break through 80! What recession?

Welcome to the future.

Mike