Makes me want to eat something...now

A PCMag joint

I do love food but I’m not really a “foodie”. There are others swear by the title. I am a smartphone fan, so I feel it’s my duty to let all you mobile foodies know that Foodspotting, the premier app for discovering new cuisine, has released version 3.0 that claims to offer a whole new experience, in addition to adding a BlackBerry version to the fold.

The main focus of the new app is to create a personalized picture menu for every Foodspotting user, anytime, anywhere in addition to giving people smart dish recommendations based on personal preferences and friends’ recommendations.

Read the entire story on AppScout.PCMag.com

I’m trying not to run the risk of bombarding your RSS Feed, Twitter timeline, Facebook news feed, or Google+ stream with any more “Jobs Leaves Apple, the company is doomed” news than you’ve already been subjected to. On the flip-side, this very post does just that, with the exception to trying to pull some dramatic hypothesis out of my ass just for the sake of some Retweets, likes, +1′s, etc. Although, I wouldn’t be too opposed if you did so anywayz…

I digress

What I just wanted to say about Steve Jobs leaving Apple is that there is NO WAY Apple is going to change now that its gangsta visionary leader has stepped down. All the success Apple has created for itself over the years, all of the influence the company has over the technology industry – The company is NOT going to change directions all willy-nilly. Yes, other companies has shifted its focus as a result of the “changing of the [CEO] guard”, but none of those companies were Apple.

You can call me a fan boy if you want to, but if you were the CEO of a company household name like Apple, my guess is you would run that company with the same “take no prisoners” attitude that has Apple currently labeled as “The most valuable company in the world”. I’m pretty sure Tim Cook, Apple’s COO that has stepped in the place of Jobs as CEO will do the same.

Case and point, this leaked internal email that Cook sent to Apple employees via a source within Ars Technica:

Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim

In other words, it will be “business as usual” for Apple now that Steve Jobs will not be heading day-to-day operations. Even though he’s not “in charge” you bet’s believe will be closely involved, especially with the upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 3. Additionally, he will be chillin’ at his new spot as Chairman of the Board at Apple, so there won’t be too many major decision going on without the Jobs Seal of Approval.

So take a step back, relax, and trust that the same Apple we have come to love (or vehemently loathe) will be the same Apple for YEARS to come.

“It’s not that deep”

Softies Need Not Apply

For those of you who don’t know, Palm dug deep and created the WebOS mobile platform back in 2009 only for it to fall short of expectations mostly due to crappy hardware (Palm Pre, Pixi, etc.), and was almost knocked out of the mobile OS race before it REALLY got a chance to shine. Luckily, HP bought Palm last year and gave it yet another chance at life…only to be all put tucked away a little over one year later at HP’s failed attempt at the TouchPad tablet, Veer, and Pre 3 smartphones running WebOS.

HP says that it wants to “explore all possible options for WebOS” Meaning, it wants to license it out to companies who MAY be interested in using it their products. But let’s be real, in order for a mobile platform to shine in this INSANELY HEATED battle of mobile supremacy that includes the likes of Apple (iOS), Google (Android), RIM (BlackBerry) and Microsoft (WP7), you can’t half-ass it. You have to be FULLY COMMITTED to the platform!

From $499 down to $100 in 45 days!

Which, in my opinion, is the REASON why WebOS is dead. Palm couldn’t afford to invest HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of DOLLARS into the platform, and it looks as if HP was either too scared or didn’t see the same fast money that Apple saw with the iPad…What did the folks at HP expect…HP is NOT Apple. Apple invested YEARS into iOS, HP only gave it a year…and a couple of failed TouchPad release attempts.

- HP released the TouchPad in July 2011

- Quickly announced a software update mid-July (some say this was the REAL launch)

- Tried to release a 4G version

- Tried to reduce the price…twice

- Called it quits mid-August 2011

REALLY? That’s all the time you thought you were going to need to make crazy-stupid iPad money? Word on the street is that HP knew the end was near when it did a large re-organization of management shortly after the TouchPad’s release…which makes matters even worse. They saw the end way before they admitted to the public.

On the flip-side, shout-out to HP finally owning up to its mistakes and pulling the plug instead of wasting any more time or money on WebOS. But I think that’s what WebOS needed to be a major player in the mobile platform industry – More time and money. We ALL know that competition is great for the consumer, so it would have been nice if WebOS was finally publicly proven a winner (via sales numbers); something that we geeks knew along.

I guess with all the patent, licensing, “smile in your face, but talk bad about you as soon as you turn your back” battles that Apple, HTC, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and others are having (in addition to all the plain-old back luck RIM is having), maybe HP didn’t want to get into all of that and decided to pull the plug.

Whatever the reasoning for WebOS’s downfall was, one thing is for sure – To any mobile device makers, mobile OS/app developers, etc: If you’re going to compete in the mobile platform/ecosystem game, you better go hard or go home!

Can you spare an Invite?

An Atlanta Post Report

As a techie and a general source for technology information, it’s [somewhat] easy for me to quickly jump on any new social network and find the pros and cons…just for the research and the ability to share with others. I can imagine there are people out there who are not as into social networking as I am, but have heard of the benefits and want to dive in. I can personally attest to the benefits of expanding your reach to more people than just those who are in your immediate circle. All of the resources I have found, all of the connections I have made, all of the free marketing I have received; makes social networking a beast, and I would strongly suggest that anyone looking to get into social networking either personally or professionally should dive right in.

On the flip-side, it is very easy to slip into Social Networking Overload. As fast as technology moves these days, it seems as if you’re not where everybody else is, you’re losing. [Quote] Social Media Experts [Unquote] and others (myself included) will tell you that you need to get with the latest and greatest. Even then I have to back myself down off the “early adopter high” that comes with getting in on the ground floor of seemingly every new social networking platform known to man. Being everywhere at all times is time-consuming. So to help you avoid suffering from Social Networking Overload, I will dish up a few simple “affirmations” that will help you focus your efforts and help you decide what sites you will jump in on, or pass up.

Read the entire story over on The Atlanta Post

Alright, I can’t hold my excitement in any longer, A Brotha has been invited to cover the 2011 Essence Music Festival (July 1st-3rd). Now I know what you’re thinking: “What’s a tech-geek doing covering the Essence Music Festival?” That’s the WHOLE point actually – To raise more awareness about technology at major African-American events like Essence…and they couldn’t have picked a better Techie for the job.

Essence on the go

Don't walk around in circles

"Don't worry, it was a wooden smartphone"

Technology is EVERYWHERE!!!

Case and point, an AMISH man was busted after a sting operation was set up to arrest the guy who sent three sexually-explicit pictures of himself to a 12-year old girl. The girls parents confiscated their daughter’s phone and turned it over to local police who sprang into action and setup the sting to catch the smartphone-wielding, Amish man looking to score with the adolescent.

You can’t make this next part up, so I am gonna quote from CNN:

The suspect arrived, in a one-horse carriage as he said he would, was identified by the undercover officer confirming his identity and was taken into custody without incident,

Yoder was taken to Fayette County Jail, about 60 miles east of Indianapolis, where in a videotaped statement he confessed that he sent video messages, naked pictures of himself and lewd text messages.

According to Pennington, Yoder said he believed he was going to have sex with the girl, that he realized it was a bad decision and that he had never done anything like it before.

Chis Hansen may have to bring his “To catch a Predator” show out of retirement now that the Amish have found a way to get in the sexting game.

Technology [and the down-right creepy] is EVERYWHERE!!!

Well NOW it is...

Well, not really. T-Pain single-handedly put Auto-Tune on map, but is now “on to the next one” with a new iZotope sound-processing technology that according to the folks behind the technology will “evolve his sound through our award-winning technology.

Together, iZotope and T-Pain will bring new vocal processing possibilities to mainstream and professional products worldwide.”

Why the split you ask? (that is, if you even care) All signs point to T-Pain is looking to brand his own sound “the T-Pain effect” instead of the general Auto-Tune classification of the style he (cha-ching!). Together, iZotope and T-Pain plan to remake and upgrade the one-of-a-kind sound for the enjoyment of future generations…

“One cheek at a time”

Oh boy….

If you haven’t heard of The Innovators yet you’re not too late. The project led by journalist Faye Anderson is a web documentary that aims to show the changing face of innovation. Her goal is to raise $25k to fund the project. Take a look at the trailer she produced to help raise awareness for the documentary:

Read the entire story over on Black Web 2.0

As a small business owner, freelance writer, and recent startup founding member/entrepreneur, I would definitely want folks to support something I am passionate about. So I feel it’s necessary to support my peers in their endeavors. If you want to contribute, click “The Innovators” badge in the sidebar of my site, or visit Faye’s Kickstarter Page. There is still time left.

“I give because I have, and I have because I give. For these reasons, I am never without”

Really? That message can’t wait until you’re inside?

I was reading an article somewhere on the interwebz (Thanks Adria for the word) and in the article, the author mentioned something to the affect of “You can turn down the volume on your keyboard, we all know you have an iPhone…”

Since reading that article, I have muted my keyboard. I didn’t think twice about it until then, but I didn’t want to be labeled as “One of those guys…” Which made me wonder if people purposely leave their keyboard volume cranked up to the max as some narcissistic way to promote to the world that they are influential based solely because of the type of smartphone they have; or, based off of the fact that they are SO important that their emails must be responded to, even if the flight attendant (and one agitated passenger) repeatedly told them to “turn off all electronic devices”

How many people out there with touchscreen smartphones crank up their keyboard volume to type? Where you like me and didn’t even know there was moniker that went along with the practice? (If there isn’t one…you’re welcome) If you were aware of the phenomenon, do you get annoyed if you constantly hear somebody pecking away profusely at their smartphone as if that last chapter of the book/script their writing MUST be submitted to their editor within the hour and they have no choice BUT finish it up via their smartphone? I mean, do you consider it common courtesy to lower/mute the volume of your smartphone keyboard for the sake of others, or doesn’t it even bother you at all?

So many questions

Personally, (now that I think about it) I akin the “Smartphone douchebag” to the guy/gal who keeps their Bluetooth earbud in their ear…even if they’re not talking to anyone: the “Bluetooth Douchebag” who is ALWAYS on the phone “closing deals”

Gettin' Hitched and Closin' deals!

What say you? Am I in fact, reading too much into this, or do you believe in the Smartphone Douchebag?

While I was surfing through my RSS Reader’s feed for ideas on tech stories to write about, I came across this article that featured a roundup of various [very luke-warm] reviews of the upcoming BlackBerry Playbook tablet set to be released later this month. The article included several heavy-hitters when it comes to tech news and I thought to myself “One day, I will be on this list”.

This is monumental for me, because for whatever reason, I really don’t like tying myself down to just one ideal, one goal, one destiny…which therein lies the problem. My “I can do anything” attitude sometimes leads my inability to just do something. In other words, I currently have several of “irons on the fire”, but have yet to pull one out and brand something.

To “circle the wagon”, (excuse all the western references) by just skimming the PCWorld article and getting a feel for who the publication considers credible sources to mention in their story, I now know that I want to be one of those credible sources that major tech publications look to for the latest and greatest (I call it the “Low Down”) in gadgets, consumer electronics, and related technology.

Whether it be working my way up the chain and writing for a major tech shop, or building my own enterprise via BrothaTech.com or another startup site, I think I have found my career goal. Now I just need to find my stride and figure out how to get there.

Maybe in some of your eyes, I’m already making great strides to obtaining that goal. To that I say I am more-than-thankful for the support and I hope to make you proud in my future endeavors.