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Thanks to the Nokia Blogger Relations Program, I received a Black N82. The N82 has much of the same features as the N95 including on-board GPS, WiFi capability, and a 5MP digital camera.  The wonderful thing is all this is in a candy bar type phone.  Personally, I’m partial to candy bar style versus the slider form factor that the N95 has.

In terms of initial impressions:

• The response time and general speediness of this device is fantastic
• Taking images is quick and responsive.
• Rock Solid - this device has great built quality
• Love the auto-screen rotation

As I reported on GigaOm, local web application developer Ryan Williams‘ NetworthIQ has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by Strands, a Corvallis based startup who is heavily involved in social recommendation software.

Strands, formerly MyStrands, is a company known for social recommendation technologies mainly surrounding online media.  The company’s core product is a music recommendation engine that allows users to discover new songs.  Today the company has announced the acquisition of NetworthIQ to enhance the functionality of their private beta moneyStrands personal finance application.

Today’s news, combined with the previous acquisition of Expensr, shows that Strands is seeking to expand its social recommendation engine to other content areas, namely personal finance.

In my interview with Gabriel Aldamiz-Eschevarria, Strands’ VP of Communications, stated Strands’ intention to bring real solutions to the issue of Internet content overload and fragmentation.  For example, in the finance space, a person can see their checking account balance on Bank of America’s website, but have to go do American Express to see how much is owed.  moneyStrands will seek to aggregate these silos of content, give users insight into their finances, and with NetworthIQ’s functionality - compare these anonomously for financial benefit.

NetworthIQ’s functionality will be integrated into moneyStrands, Strands’ private beta web based personal finance application.  NetworthIQ was launched in 2005 by Furio and allows individuals to track their net worth on an aggregate level and share it with other NetworthIQ users.  This financial social networking site enables its users to gain knowledge based on the community’s financial experiences and insights.  This is done by exposing new ways for you to track, spend, and save your money, based on other’s experiences.

On the surface, NetworthIQ and Expensr (Strands’ previously announced acquisition) may seem very similar in nature.  However Expensr is focused on tracking expenses so a person knows how much they spend on a monthly basis.  NetworthIQ, rather, is focused on giving you a community for help and motivation regarding your investments and spending habits.

Strands has had phenomenal success building a mobile strategy into their music platform.  Aldamiz eluded that moneyStrands will have a mobile component that will include versions of moneyStrands for iPhone, Nokia (S60) browsers, and BlackBerry.  moneyStrands will allow users to quickly check their financials on the web.  Aldamiz noted that financial institutions today do now have an impressive presence in the mobile space and Strands’ seeks to change that.

moneyStrands faces competition from existing sites such as Wesebe and Mint.  With Strands’ treasure chest it will be interesting to see how they develop moneyStrands into a cohesive and usable product.

Up until just recently, Williams was working at a Tigard-based firm as a software developer.  NetworthIQ was a side project he worked on and built a business around with some colleagues at Fourio.  Let this serve as an example of how being passionate about a side project can translate into being able to someday have your side project become a full time job.

When I asked Ryan about his transition now working for Strands, he said,

Joining forces with Strands presents a great opportunity to utilize
the Strands recommendation platforms to help people make better
financial decisions, providing insight into the best ways to track,
spend, and invest their money.  Personally, it’s such a thrill for
NetworthIQ to be acquired and to join the Strands team.  When my
Fourio partners and I launched NetworthIQ in 2005, we were excited
about its potential, but weren’t really sure how it would turn out. If
people would really want to open up about their money this way, and
whether we’d find the time and enery to keep it going with so many
other events going on in life.  But people did and we were able to
carve out a simple and effective solution to help people manage their
money.  Considering how global the web is now, it’s pretty exciting to
find this match practically in my own backyard, with Strands being
headquartered in Oregon.  I’m really looking forward to working with
the Strands team on the moneyStrands project and seeing what we can
do.

Nice job Ryan!  We can’t wait to see what awaits with Strands and the new moneyStrands product!

I almost had a hernia from laughing so hard when I read this in my newsreader this morning.  According to Symbian Freak, Microsoft wants to attain 40% market share of the smartphone market by 2012.  I’m sorry Microsoft, but you’re a loser in the mobile field.  Between the Apple iPhone, Nokia s60 devices (which currently hold 40% worldwide market share), RIM BlackBerrys, and upcoming Google Android devices, Microsoft Windows Mobile is a clear outsider in this market.

Personally, I have tried each of these platforms and Windows Mobile is the slowest, buggiest, and unstable mobile phone operating system in the current market.  Windows also does not have an eye in making a cohesive user experience.  This is a space Apple is winning hands down, currently.

If you disagree, I look forward to a lively discussion in the comments 

Andy Abramson just posted an insightful article regarding WiMax, Skype and a the potential for a Skype killer, and what telcos need to do.

T-Mobile customers have been waiting for what seems like years for the cell service provider to give us a 3G data network.  Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and AT&T have had 3G networks for quite some time, giving us mobile broadband access to the Internet.

T-Mobile has finally started the rollout of the 3G network, starting with New York City.  The new UMTS/HSDPA network will appear in other markets as the year goes on, hopefully in Portland where I could get access to it.  Currently, according to Om’s post, there are only 4 handsets available for T-Mobile’s 3G network.

However, thanks to the Nokia Blogger Relations program, I have a Nokia N81 8GB.  I would *love* to use this phone on a 3G network here in the States.  It won’t work on AT&T because they use a proprietary HSDPA network.  My hope was that T-Mobile’s network would be compatible with this Nokia phone.  Unfortunately, it’s not, because like AT&T, T-Mobile has chosen to “lock-in” customers by also employing their own proprietary 3G network.

This means that handset makers such as Sony/Ericsson, Nokia, and others who want to build a 3G handset are going to have to make 3 versions.  One for the Europe market, one for AT&T’s US network, and now one for T-Mobile’s 3G network.

This also means if I have a handset that works on the 3G network here in the States and I travel to Europe, I won’t have 3G access to the European network.  *Shrug*

I’m trying to process the information coming out of the newswire and blogosphere regarding the ClearWire/Sprint story.  For those unaware, an interesting batch of companies is coming out of the woodwork to contribute to the new company and in effect help build a wireless network.  As Om points out, Google and Intel have contributed $1 Billion, $500 million came from Time/Warner and Comcast, and $100 million has been put out by Bright House Networks.

Speaking to VoipWatch’s Andy Abramson earlier today, we briefly discussed the interesting mix of companies coming together for this venture.  I can see why Intel has jumped in as they have a large amount of capital invested into WiMax so they’ll do just about anything to see the technology prosper and be profitable.

However, considering ClearWire’s product is a fixed wireless alternative to other Internet service providers such as DSL and cable modems, what is Comcast and Time Warner’s interest in the deal?  Why would these players want to present another option to their broadband Internet services?  The only play I can think of is to be able offer a type of Internet service where their government-sponsored monopolies don’t exist.  Or perhaps to offer cell phone service that is re-badged, like a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)?

With WiMAX’s new resurgence, it’s definitely as a player in the 4G space as an alternative to cell phone carrier’s upcoming LTE network.  In the US, Verizon and AT&T have said LTE will be the technology of choice for their 4G networks.  How will WiMAX shake things up?

I was watching Survivor on our local Portland CBS affiliate last night when I spotted what looked like a Mac/PC ad from Apple.  Instead, Greg Macpherson, running for Oregon Attorney General, used the Apple ads as a template for his political ad.  Pretty funny.

What are your thoughts…it is smart or a cheap rip-off?

Nokia, the world’s number one mobile phone manufacturer, has launched a new blog called Nokia Conversations.  While it’s taken a while for Nokia to engage the conversation, I’m happy with this new development.

A few of us in the Nokia Blogger Relations program were given early access to the new site and there’s some interesting content on the blog.  Nokia has a new Social Media person, Mark Squires, on board and I’m looking forward to see how else the Finnish company decides to engage with their user base.

When the new site is up, I’ll update this post so all of you can see what the new blog is all about.

I just posted about Jive Software’s Clearspace product over at Web Worker Daily.

Basically, it’s a fantastic workspace collaboration tool that is focused on people, not word/excel/powerpoint documents like Microsoft’s SharePoint.

It’s been said in the blogosphwere that Jive wants to be the Apple Computer of the collaboration space and ClearSpace 2.0 is putting them in that realm.  Great work, Jive!

Adobe has released a public beta of Adobe AIR for Linux.  What is AIR?  It stands for Adobe Integrated Runtime and allows an HTML/JavaScript environment for developers to make awesome applications that look great and run on Windows, Mac OS X, and now Linux.  The applications developed in AIR also have the same look and feel, adding to their cross-platforminess (yeah I just coined a new term).

I use Adobe AIR applications, including Twitter clients Snitter and Twhirl, Google Analytics, and a few others.

If you’re a linux user, check out AIR - you won’t regret it.