Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnov8 Gang 46: Addicted to Twitter, Chatter about FanChatter & More

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twitter-addictOn this week’s show we talk about Twitter being down and how people realized they are social media addicts, FanChatter, controversy over iPhone apps being rejected and much more.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:12 — 26.9MB)

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Discussed during the show:

+ Twitter down (and Dragnet’s “Blue Boy” LSD episode); FanChatter; Blog comment addition vendors: Echo and BackType (and BackType Connect for WordPress); Minnesota startups BusinessCard2 and Extendr as well as Retaggr

+ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) looking in to Google’s Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board (now potentially a moot point)

+ Pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceedings regarding wireless open access and handset exclusivity are in motion, and as part of this the FCC requested more information from the Google Voice app rejection by Apple (good overview of the controversy–and Apple’s overall app rejection policy–in this BusinessWeek article)

FCC’s letter to Apple
FCC’s letter to AT&T
FCC’s letter to Google

+ HTML 5 and the open source video codec rejection; Google acquiring On2 and conjecture it was a strategic move to open source On2’s codec, move away from Flash (and minimize the possibility Adobe could make it a ubiquitous application platform as well as continuing to extend its reach as one for video) and not require licensing H.264

+ The MiFi device and the Wired article referred to by Tim; Comcast getting in to wireless broadband

+ “Social Media on a Stick“: Social Media Breakfast, Minneapolis/St. Paul (SMBMSP) is meeting at the State Fair

+ Blogwell is next week! This is positioned as a must-attend event for anyone interested in corporate social media use

+ Evocam: Steve’s geek fun this weekend.

Minnov8 Gang 44: Tech Stuff & Mobile Trends

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mobile-n-stuffFor half of the show, the Gang discusses several tech topics and then welcomes Lisa Foote, CEO/cofounder of Kwingo.net, the mobile solutions company here in the Twin Cities, to talk about “Mobile Trends to Watch“, a key trend since the I.T. consulting and analyst firm, Gartner, predicts that in 2012, smartphone sales will reach over 700 million units, accounting for 65% of all handset sales. This rate will represent a nearly $200 billion market.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson. (Note: I apologize for the unfortunate ‘clicks’ heard in Lisa’s audio which were indeterminate)

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 49:54 — 29.1MB)

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Discussed During the Show Notes:

+ The music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network, the song is PJ style Blues by artist AjT, a 39 year old french geek and Apple lover.

+ Crunchpad and Mike Arrington on Charlie Rose

+ Twitter 101 and how Ashton Kutcher has come out about the fact that “Twitter Will Change Media”

+ Best Buy:

  • Twelpforce: the Twitter account and a Techcrunch article
  • The Twitter fight between Doug Beacham & Best Buy CMO, Barry Judge (and social media thought leader, Chris Brogan, has his own take on it here)
  • Best Buy Social Media Director job that was crowdsourced and an update #2 on it here

+ The iPod as a multi-function device (can tie Touch to local app devs)

+  BlogWell on August 13th at General Mills (get Minnov8 discount code in this post)

+ Our guest, Lisa Foote, sent over these links for our show notes:

+ Finally, as a special tribute to Phil Wilson’s curious and instant recognition that the bumper music for this week’s show was, in fact, very “Cialis commercial-like,” I offer up this Cialis spoof video starring the actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. (possibly NSFW) in honor of Mr. Wilson.

Google I/O Conference Videos & Presentations

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googioIf you weren’t able to make it to the Google I/O conference in May, they offered 80+ sessions featuring technical content on Google Wave, Android, App Engine, Chrome, Google Web Toolkit, AJAX APIs, and many more.

The available session videos and slides from each track are listed on this page and they’ll be updating this session list with all the sessions for Google I/O so check back frequently.

The categories are:

  • AJAX + Data APIs
  • Social
  • App Engine
  • Enterprise
  • Google Web Toolkit
  • Tech Talks
  • Wave
  • Mobile
  • Client

MN’s Own CodeWeavers Releases ‘CrossOver’ Version of Chrome Browser for Mac and Linux

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Talk about a brilliant move to get some attention. St. Paul-MN based CodeWeavers has extended the Google Chromium browser launch beyond Windows by announcing the release of “CrossOver Chromium” for Mac and Linux, available immediately as a free download.   Here’s the press release. (Note: To date, Google has only made the new browser available in a Windows beta version, which was announced on September 2, 2008.)

CodeWeavers says it is offering its version as a proof-of-concept “so Mac and Linux users can try firsthand the power and flexibility of the new Chromium open source browser.”  CrossOver Chromium also showcases the power of Wine, which allows CodeWeavers to rapidly migrate technology from Windows to alternate platforms. (Here’s more about The Wine Project.)

“We did this to prove a point,” said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers CEO, in the press release. “The message is very simply this: if you are a Windows software vendor, and you want to get your product into new markets, you should pay attention to Wine. Wine is a very powerful tool for bringing your product to new audiences in the Mac and Linux spaces. And in many cases Wine is faster and more economical than doing a native port.”

You have to love White’s latest blog post, Fire Drills and Proving a Point, which tells the story of how they pulled off their Chrome version.  An excerpt: “So in a CodeWeavers management meeting one day, we were looking for a way to show off Wine’s new maturity, particularly for porting applications.  What we needed was a freely redistributable application; one that didn’t exist on Mac or Linux, but one that was readily understandable….And then a little bird flew in the Window and chirped ‘Chromium’, and we knew we had it.”

CodeWeavers is no upstart. Founded in 1996, it brings expanded market opportunities for Windows software developers by making it easier, faster, and more painless to port Windows software to Linux. The firm is recognized as a leader in open-source Windows porting technology, and maintains development offices in Minnesota, the UK, and elsewhere around the world.

This announcement is just another example of the creativity and expertise in Minnesota’s developer community. Congratulations to CodeWeavers! I can hardy wait to hear how hard their site will get hit today with Mac and Linux users all trying to download the browser at the same time. Glad I got in early and got mine!  It will also be interesting to watch for Google’s reaction. I gathered that a Mac version was still quite a ways off, and here CodeWeavers does it in a week…   🙂