SMS is a Suitable Technology for Wireless Applications to Build on

SMS is a Suitable Technology for Wireless Applications to Build on

Here are some of the reasons that make SMS a suitable technology for wireless applications to build on:

• Firstly, SMS messaging is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Building wireless applications on top of the SMS technology can maximize the potential user base.

• Secondly, SMS messages are capable of carrying binary data besides text. They can be used to transfer ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, VCards, VCals (calendar entries), etc.

• Thirdly, SMS supports reverse billing, which enables payment to be made conveniently. For example, suppose you want to develop a commercial ringtone download application that charges a fee from the user for each ringtone downloaded. One way to accept payment is to use a reverse billing phone number obtained from a wireless carrier. To buy a ringtone, the user will write an ordinary SMS text message that contains the ID of the ringtone he/she wants to buy and send it to your SMS application's reverse billing phone number. Your SMS application will then send back one or more reverse billing SMS messages that carry the ringtone. The user will be charged a fee for the reverse billing SMS messages he/she received. The fee will be included in the user's monthly mobile phone bill or be deducted from his/her prepaid card credits. Depending on the agreement between you and the wireless carrier, all or part of the money received will be given to you.

http://www.developershome.com/sms/sms_tutorial.asp

A good interview about usability & UI

http://goodexperience.com/2002/10/interview-marissa-mayer-produc.php

Liked this few lines - they kind of epitomize everything

When you see a knife with all 681 functions opened up, you're terrified. That's how other sites are - you're scared to use them. Google has that same level of complexity, but we have a simple and functional interface on it, like the Swiss Army knife closed.

The Oracle In India story- 15 years!

http://www.oracle.com/global/in/pressroom/OracleinIndiaStory.html

 

While some multi–national companies outsource work to teams in India on a project basis, Oracle takes a different approach. The India development teams belong to the same organization as their U.S. counterparts, and have as much input into product design and direction as developers at the company's headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. There is no distinction between developers in the U.S. or India when it comes to working on the latest cutting edge technology and strategic development that is critical to the continued growth of the company.

This is what I think every Indian company / Indian arm should am for  - becoming a part of the global fabric of operations than just doing a back-office job! And its not just for the MNC's but even Indian IT Companies need to make themselves valuable and able enough so that their clients would trust them with job that they would otherwise give to an Accenture or IBM.

Screens Round the web

Implementing 2.0 tech

Recession Tech
 

The whole point of emergence is to start with something close to a blank slate, then see what…  emerges. It makes sense, of course, to seed the platforms with initial content that will be compelling, draw in users, and encourage contribution, but this is entirely different than setting up CRM, ERP, SCM, and the other technologies that impose structure on collaborative activities. It takes a great deal of time and money to get these structuring technologies ready to go live.

From my other blog

Sourced from: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Ogilvy

• "When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants."
• "Always hold your sales meetings in rooms too small for the audience, even if it means holding them in the WC. 'Standing room only' creates an atmosphere of success, as in theatres and restaurants, while a half-empty auditorium smells of failure."
• 
  
• "It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement, and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look and read. Therefore, study the graphics used by editors and imitate them. Study the graphics used in advertisements, and avoid them."
• "We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost -- for support, but not for illumination."
• "The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her."

All of the quotes above are for advertisers - but I think they are equally relevant for people involved in web development, product development, recruitment .... any kind of business management (especially the first one!)

Share anything. Anytime. Anywhere.

From: http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2008/05/share-anything-anytime-anywhere.html

Have you ever wanted to share something that you were reading, but you didn't want to go through the hassle of subscribing to a whole feed for a single interesting article?



Share anything with a bookmarklet - Just drag this link from the Notes page up to your browser's bookmark bar and click, click, click your way to easy, no-subscription sharing in Reader. You can share any content from any web page, even if the site doesn't have a feed. For even more control over what gets shared, select some text from the page before clicking the "Note in Reader" bookmarklet and your selection will appear as the item's body.

Omnidrive CEO Nik Cubrilovic: We're Not Dead. Again.

I found this comment important:

Why did Omnidrive fail in my opinion? Something strange can happen in the valley and I think Nik got trapped by it completely. Too many parties, too many conferences, too much working between 1-4am, not enough working normal business hours, too much socializing, not enough focus, no business development, and not enough follow up and delivery.

Reference: Omnidrive CEO Nik Cubrilovic: We're Not Dead. Again.

via Hacker News on 5/5/08