Google Buzz was released 2 days ago. 2 days later nets over 9 million posts according to the Google Gmail blog.
Wow. That is a lot faster growth than I had anticipated. Additionally Google is stating it is seeing over 200 posts per minute from mobile devices. Very exciting news for sure.
Google officially announced Google Buzz, the Google push into the social media irruption. Google Buzz is kind of a combination of Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp and integrated directly with your Gmail and Google Talk. That certainly sounds like a mouthful. In other words, Google has updated your Gmail email to allow you to share with those that you email and chat with most, all of your online updates, photos, and videos. Your Gmail contacts and Google Talk friends are automatically added as people you are following and allows you to share your items publicly to the world or privately with users you email and chat with.
Google Buzz integrates with your inbox and sends updates to your email and allows the conversation to continue with responses directly from within the email making comments updating in real time. @replies are also supported so you can send responses directly to someone’s email sending a buzz to their inbox.
One of the most compelling aspects to Google Buzz is that it can utilize your phones GPS location (or nearby location) to share with others where your Buzz was started. You can also go to the “Nearby” tab to see what others nearby are Buzzing about.
Most of you might be thinking, is this the new social media to take over Facebook and Twitter? It’s hard to say, especially with Facebook surpassing the 400 million user mark. Facebook is undoubtably the dominant player and additionally announced that Facebook will be eventually be launching its own webmail service. It will be interesting to see how many people will be ok with Buzzing while providing their whereabouts.
You can make your voice be heard by voting in the poll below and joining in the debate.
Image via gdgt.com
After numerous years of rumors and speculation, Apple Inc. unveiled a new tablet computer called the iPad at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Price for the iPad starts at an unbelievably low price at $499 and up to $829 (for all of the options) and will be available in 60 days (90 days for a 3G model). I am VERY excited about this and cannot wait to get my hands on it firsthand.
There’s so much to say about the iPad. I’ll first start with the highlights on the iPad specs and at the end go into how to use the iPad.
iPad Specifications:
Internet on the go is available at additional pricing through AT&T on the 3G network. There are two price plans. First is a 250MB per month plan at $14.99 per month. For some users 250MB per month may suffice. For more “power users” an unlimited plan will be available at $29.99 per month. Both do not have any contract and can be canceled at any time.
Two accessories were announced which are very exciting! The first is a keyboard dock/charger. You slide the iPad onto the keyboard dock so you can use a full size keyboard and charge the iPad at the same time. The second accessory is a cover for the iPad which doubles as a slightly tilted stand for desk use.
The interface for the iPad is very similar to the iPhone. The iPad utilizes full capacity multi-touch, enabling you to interact with the screen without the use of a pen or mouse using your fingers directly to the surface of screen. The keyboard is onscreen (like the iPhone) and takes up the bottom half of the landscape mode. It is large enough to use two hands like you would on a regular keyboard, but slightly smaller.
The iPad comes with a wide array of applications standard. Additionally, ALL apps from the App Store work as well!
Some of the default apps include:
iBook is a new application that allows for the discovery, purchase, and download e-books. It is much like the Amazon Kindle but on steroids.
Following are some more images of the Apple iPad
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Image via gdgt.com
Everyone knows what surge protectors are… but are they really necessary?
The simple answer to this question is “Yes, absolutely.”
Power spikes are quick, short duration overvoltages of electricity and are typically caused by lightning strikes, power outages, tripped circuit breakers, short circuits, and malfunctions caused by the power company. These overvoltages do not occur often but they can occur and you should protect your electronic investments with a surge protector.
Surge protectors range in price and quality. How “good” of a surge protector do you need?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple.
The main factor to consider when purchasing a surge protector is to look at what will be plugged into it. For example, when protecting your computer, big screen TV, or home theatre equipment, you wouldn’t want to spend five dollars on a basic surge protector. Conversely, you also wouldn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a battery backup unit for your alarm clock. (Some people may argue differently on that one but I think you get the picture)
A basic surge protector, or power strip, offers minimal protection to sensitive electronic equipment and typically provides an easy way to plug in multiple devices into a power outlet. This is not recommended to be used for sensitive electronic equipment. (Ie. computers, TVs, or home theatre equipment)
The next step up resembles a basic surge protector, or power strip, but is intended for sensitive electronic equipment. You can easily find a quality APC brand surge protector in the mid twenty dollar range at a local Best Buy.
Another jump up in protection is called a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), also known as a battery backup, which provides emergency power to your electronic device (Ie. computer and monitor) in cases where there is power interruption. Typically, there is enough emergency power available to save any unsaved documents as well as safely shutdown the computer. A quality APC brand UPS can be found in the sub one hundred dollar range at a local Best Buy.
That time of year is upon us and it feels as if the holidays are racing towards us faster than ever. Thanksgiving is here and then it’s Black Friday shopping madness which leads to continued waves of shoppers, and all seem to be a bit more pushy each year. Technology can be a wonderful thing and drastically ease this process. For some, technology eases the process of browsing and purchasing gifts. For others, technology wrapped up with a bow is what brings a smile to their face. And for others of us (i.e. Me!), technology involved in every step of the process is the only way that we survive.
Many of you may be familiar with Shutterfly.com for their online print, editing, enhancing, and sharing services. Their products range from cards and stationary, photo books, and calendars, to miscellaneous gifts like mugs, mouse pads, magnets, coasters, etc. I always enjoy playing with the image editing and enhancing online software. It’s easy to use with their slew of products. For more information check them out at http://www.shutterfly.com. Their holiday cards are a quick and easy way to get great looking cards.
One thing that has found its way into many homes these days are digital photo frames. And why not? They bring new life to your memories adding style to the sharing of photos and memories. The pricing on photo frames have been coming down over the past year and I have seen a leaked Black Friday ad for an 8” digital photo frame for $29 at Walmart. Some digital photo frames offer various features such as image and video formats, multiple memory card formats, slideshow modes and built in speakers.
Some people are asking me whether I think the standard-definition DVD is good enough. If you are sitting on the couch staring at your HDTV watching a movie on a Saturday night with your DVD player – I am sorry to say but you are missing out! I admit that when Blu-ray was released and the price tag on that was around $500+ I figured I’d hang out and wait it out. Well, the wait is now over for the price on Blu-Ray players to reach sub $100. A Black Friday Walmart ad has been leaked for a Blu-ray player at $78. However, I must warn that less expensive players are prone to slower load times and lack certain features. The basics behind Blu-Ray is that there are three profiles available: 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 profiles. Profile 1.0 is the basic profile which allows basic playback of Blue-ray movies. Profile 1.0 players are no longer being made but are still being sold today. Profile 1.1 (also known as BonusView or Final Standard Profile) enables advanced features like picture-in-picture video commentary. Profile 2.0 (also known as BD-Live) requires that the player have Internet access which allows for content to be downloaded (i.e. Downloading of movie trailers).
I hope this glimpse of technology in the holidays helps ease the shopping frenzy and allows you to spend more time with family and friends.
Microsoft Corp has launched its newest operating system, Windows 7 yesterday. Many PC users had decided to wait on pulling the trigger on moving away from their trusty Windows XP to Windows Vista. Some waited due to the lack of “polish” Windows Vista sported and others waited due to the rather tall price tag that came along with. The question now is whether it is time to upgrade to Windows 7.
Most of you that know me know that I have been a “PC guy” for many years. Its only been within the last several years that I began looking closer at Macs. While there is much that can be said on that topic, I will try to keep focussed on the subject at hand. I upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista and was expecting a lot and therefore disappointed when I finally got up and running. When I began running an evaluation copy of Windows 7 back in April of 2009, again, I had high hopes. Only this time I was very impressed!
Windows 7 picks off right where Windows Vista fell short. The interface is similar to Windows Vista. The Start menu has a comprehensive search for programs and files and there are links to everything you need in an organized fashion. The Taskbar has been redesigned to increase the size of icons and displays a thumbnail windows view called “Live Preview.” One of my favorite features is the ability to drag a window to the left or right side of the desktop (shortcut keys are “Windows + Left Arrow” and “Windows + Right Arrow”) and it will automatically resize to one half of the width of the screen. This allows for you to have two windows side-by-side without the hassle of manually resizing each window.
So after a quick few paragraphs of my thoughts I am sure all of you want to go out and immediately purchase your own copy of Windows 7. Okay, that probably isn’t exactly the case. However, if you are pondering the idea I suggest you start by looking through the Windows 7 Frequently Asked Questions and the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.
Recently I’ve been asked for my two cents on the matter of selecting a new notebook computer. I am partial to two laptops – Dell for PCs and MacBook Pros from Apple. I don’t tend to care for other manufacturers for a variety of reasons.
Right off the bat you may decide to go with one or the other simply because of the operating system choice of Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. One advantage with the Mac OS X is that you have the capability of installing Windows on the Mac using VMWare or Parallels. This requires a bit more of technical knowledge in being able to setup but it enables you to run your Windows applications on a Mac. Another main difference between the two of them is their price. Often times, Dell will offer notebooks starting at $499. The starting price point for a Macbook is $999. One can make the argument that the two prices are not comparing apples to apples (no pun intended). Pound for pound, I feel that the Macbook Pro is a better machine (hardware and software).
Dell offers a phenomenal warranty program with next (business) day and onsite repair for hardware issues with your computer. Apple does not offer that, but instead requires that you bring your laptop to an Apple store. Any issues found may be resolved at the Apple store while other repairs could take several weeks to resolve.
For the Apple products, it is relatively easy to select your choice. You are fairly limited with choices between two models (Macbook and Macbook Pro) both of which come with many items such as wireless, ports, etc. as standard items while they may be considered “add-ons” by other computer makers. The Apple stores are a great place to see and hold the models first hand. The Apple store staff is usually very helpful and knowledgeable. The Dell site offers roughly a dozen models, all of which allow for customizations.
I hope this helps in your notebook search!
After a full week of CAR Conference related activities in San Jose, I left feeling exhausted and quite honestly a bit weary about the road ahead. I visited ReBarCamp Silicon Valley, Tech Tuesday, the CAR Expo and a number of networking events where the talk often turned to the economy, questions about how to implement the vast array of “must have” technologies” touted by “gurus” and the dwindling attendance at this year’s event.
I began to feel a sense of despair… we had so far to go through a rough economic climate, how would we survive and, moreover, how would we thrive? I decided to take a step back and to regroup, so I headed out to find a cup of coffee and my sanity.
While I sat there thinking over the hurdles we have yet to clear – getting everyone a base level of online training, integrating existing marketing practices with the new ones to come, and creating a solid focus for the industry to foster a high standard of excellence for the real estate profession – I found hope. I looked around at the people that had taken the time and money to come to the conference, the fervor of agents of all ages to learn new things, and the mentoring of generations throughout the field, and thought, at least we’re on the track and getting into the race.
So, how can we get things running smoothly? Here are some things I would recommend for conferences and any other training:
People love seeing people, places and things they recognize on film. This isn’t a groundbreaking statement, yet most Realtors still aren’t integrating video with their home listings.
WHY NOT!? (Sorry, I’m just shocked by it.)
Video cameras are too expensive? – False. You can get a FlipCam for under $200 and it plugs straight into your computer, shoots in high definition, and will take up to two hours of filming.
You think it won’t work. – False. Being able to virtually walk through a property gives potential buyers a stronger sense of the home than seeing static pictures. This also means they know more about the home before contacting you, fewer unqualified leads.
Sellers don’t care. - False. You tell people that you’ll be featuring their home listing on a video and syndicating it out on YouTube, Dailymotion, and MetaCafe – which can provide billions of views per day – they will be excited to work with you. They’ll want to pass out the video to friends, family and colleagues!
At Realty World NCA, we provide a professional, full service video team that will come to your town, property and/or office and create videos for you. The kinds of videos we offer include: listing videos where you can be on camera or simply tell the videographer what you may like and they will narrate, city videos where you show off your community and provide it to incoming buyers to get them acquainted with the area, and office videos that serve to allow new recruits and potential clients to get to know you and your staff a bit better.
If you don’t have these services, consider investing in a FlipCam by Flip Video. The tool is easy to use, smaller than most cell phones, and makes videos on the go a cinch.
Got questions about videos? Contact me and I’ll answer your questions or put you in touch with our video professionals for more technical issues.
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Erin, Hilda, Aaron... the Erin/Aaron sandwich!
Yesterday I attended my second real estate barcamp event – this one at ReBarCamp Silicon Valley (#rebcsv for you Twitter fans) before this week’s CAR Conference in San Jose. Admittedly, the first was during my second week of work in real estate at the annual Inman Conference and I spent most of my time in that initial experience with my mouth agape and senses reeling.
I’m a barcamp veteran in the technology industry, but there are some vast differences from the barcamps I’d attended featuring deep dives into widgets, application builds and cloud computing and the world of real estate.
Here are a few similarities and differences I noticed:
Difference: Formal v. casual wear. You guys came dressed up in suits, shiny shoes and wielding business cards. In tech barcamps the attire is jeans or shorts, t-shirts, sweatshirts and you can’t get someone to look up from their smartphone long enough to give you a business card.
Who wins? Tech. Realtors have to come in comfortable clothes (it’s only other agents, no worries!) because often times the sessions are outdoors, on benches, folding chairs, etc. You won’t pay attention as well if you’re sweating bullets in that suit!
Similarity: Everyone is on a cell phone/laptop. At tech and real estate barcamps alike, I look at people through the lens of their camera phone as they snap pictures for blogs or Twitter, or I stare at the back of their laptop, netbook, etc. as they feverishly look up the new technologies mentioned, add me as a friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter (and catch up on a few emails of course).
Difference: Humility. In tech, we can’t admit we don’t know about tech very easily, so you’ll see a lot of us thoughtfully nod and then jot down notes furiously on acronyms or websites to look up when we steal a few moments away from the myriad of prying eyes (we’re a paranoid bunch) but you won’t see us ask a lot of “basic” questions. At real estate barcamps it is refreshing to see people question the basics and slow the pace down to make sure they aren’t left behind!
Who wins? Real estate. Knowing that asking questions without being afraid of what your colleagues will think serves Realtors well, as it ensures the entire group gets a good education.
Similarity: We all like the “bar” part of barcamp. It is a universal truth that most of us look forward to the part of the day where we open up some wine, have a beer, or in our case yesterday – a handle of Johnnie Walker, and kick back and talk about what’s up in our industry. At the end of the day, barcamps are not just a place for education, but also a great place to connect with those in the industry who are passionate about integrating new media and methodologies into our lives.
I highly recommend checking out barcamps if you have the opportunity – come to learn, share information, ask questions and meet people… because the best way to make the most of social media is to actually be social.
Erin Robbins
Social Media & Marketing Director
erin.robbins@rwnc.net
