Recently, I had the opportunity to test drive the new Naite cell phone from Sony Ericsson.
Naite is part of Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart line of products which promises to reduce negative environmental impacts through its products.
Here are my impressions of this handset:
Firstly, this is not a phone for seasoned tech veterans. The Naite does not have a QWERTY keyboard nor does it have a touch screen. Although it is Facebook and Twitter friendly, if you've been using a BlackBerry or iPhone for any length of time, the Naite will leave you longing for more.
The Naite has been made for the individual who is into social media, is eco-conscious and is looking for a mobile device that mirrors this mindset. Some of the cool "green" features are a carbon footprint calculator and an e-manual in the phone.
Should you go out and buy this phone? Not if you presently use a smartphone that you can't part with. But if your kid needs a phone...
Toronto's tech scene will be busy again this week. Here are a number of technology and social media events happening this week in Toronto:
March 24. 6pm-9pm. Sprout Up featuring guest speaker Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of professional Twitter client Hootsuite.
March 24. 6pm-10pm. ING DIRECT Canada will be hosting another social media event called Save Outside The Box. This event features rising music star, Lights.
March 25. 8pm-11pm. NotableTV.com presents the Canadian Launch of the Samsung 3-D TV.
March 25. 7pm-LATE. Twestival Toronto. Join hundreds of cities around the world in using social media for social good. Join the Toronto Twitter community IRL to rally behind the important cause of education for @Concern.
If you have an event for the technology and/or social media community of Toronto, please visit the events page and add it.
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Busy week in Vanocuver for events with Third Tuesday reflecting on the 2010 Games, the Vancouver Enterprise Forum tackling Cleantech, the Bootup Entrepreneurial Society hosting two events at their new space in Gastown, and the Social Agency's Appy Hour wrapping up the week.
Insights from the Silicon Valley: Building Revenue and Market Mindshare from the Ground Up
VEF presents Winning the Cleantech Game – Real Growth Stories Hosted by Kirk Washington
Third Tuesday - Social Media and The 2010 Olympic Games: The Future of Citizen Journalism
PhoneGap Hack Session with Nitobi
If you have a tech event that you would like listed in our weekly event summary, make sure that it is in the Techvibes Event Directory and we may do just that.
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IBM has launched a new service that lets outside enterprises indulge in software development and testing on its Cloud Platform. IBM currently hosts services on the web like Lotus Live along with a Private cloud option that it launched in 2009. Since then it has steadily expanded its cloud portfolio to include hosted test environments, storage and other associated services. Now along with Product testing and development, IBM is targeting the whole Infrastructure space offered as a service on the cloud (IAAS). Big Blue has clearly ventured into commercial Public cloud terrain complete with a Partner ecosystem like Amazon EC2’s. Its channel partners will be able to build their services over IBM’s cloud allowing it to offer a suite of web based Software applications.
The new offering comes with support for Linux via Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell and Java. But what has captured the Industry’s attention is the fact that it has decided to go with Red Hat for its cloud virtualization needs. The Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is built on open source KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) software.
KVM has been considered by many until recently as not yet fully mature for mainstream enterprise implementation as compared to the likes of VMware vSphere or even Microsoft Hyper-V .Now with IBM’s vote of confidence in KVM for its mission critical initiative, it could get a facelift as a cheaper alternative to VMware’s virtualization wares along with its open source counterpart, the Citrix owned and Novell and Oracle backed Xen hypervisor.
A few short years ago the now Xen hypervisor was touted as the only viable open source virtualization alternative by big names like IBM and Red Hat. After Red Hat acquired Qumarent, the company that founded the KVM project in 2008, the Raleigh Company completely shifted its focus away from Xen and onto the Kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) hypervisor embedded in the Linux kernel. The lightweight KVM which includes the latest Intel and AMD chipsets attracted a lot of developer attention last year and benefitted enormously from dedicated Open source projects and even managed to upstage Xen in many respects. With the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 release, KVM is also officially the preferred method for virtualization on Red Hat’s platform. Until now what it lacked was an official vendor ecosystem, along with centralized development and support services. With Red Hat which has collected an enormous market presence even through recession, championing KVM’s cause along with IBM ‘s validation, KVM seems poised to lose its experimental status and ready for intensive, distributed enterprise workloads. Through Big Blue’s new offering, vendors like PayPal get to sample KVM and enlist their support for the technology. PayPal says that it is using IBM cloud test and development service to extend its online payment model into the mobile platform. Portland Oregon company, Collaborative Software Initiative also has used IBM’s latest service to deliver the Department of Education's new Open Innovation Portal .
The Smart Business Development & Test on IBM Cloud will be available in the second quarter of 2010 in The United States and Canada, and it will roll out globally throughout 2010.
Bloggers, open source aficionados and virtual map makers descended upon Goldfish, Yaletown's upscale seafood restaurant last night to attend the Open Data Vancouver Shindig, a showcase for the best open source apps currently drawing on Vancouver's Open Data Catalogue.
Amongst the apps shown were Vanguide, OData, May Way, Free Finder and the Vancouver Parking app. Nitobi also showed a video (disclosure, I shot the video for my main gig, Freyburg Media) to highlight Vanguide and their hard work bringing Open Data to the masses, at least in Vancouver.
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Now in its 9th year, FITC Toronto is one of the largest and longest running design and technology events in the world. With some of the most unique and engaging presenters from around the globe, FITC Toronto is an information blitz of presentations, demonstrations, and panel discussions, sandwiched between our legendary FITC parties and abundant networking opportunities. Topped off with the FITC Award Show, it's three days and nights that will leave you inspired, energized and awed.
To promote their upcoming April event in Toronto, FITC organizers with the help of Saatchi & Saatchi Canada, Lunch, and Tool have put together a video called The Last Advertising Agency on Earth.
What will the future of advertising look like? The answer depends on whether or not traditional advertising agencies truly embrace the power of digital to reach consumers and build brands in new, exciting ways. 'The Last Advertising Agency on Earth' is a film is about what might happen if they don't.
The message: Don't become the last advertising agency on earth, attend FITC Toronto on April 25th - 27th and get 10% off by using discount code 'lastagency'.
Earlier this month the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) asks Canadians to show off their .CA website in their Showusyour.ca video contest.
The deadline to enter has now passed, CIRA has shortlisted the finalists, and now they need your help picking the winners.
The grand prize winner will receive a MacBook Pro and will be featured in a future .CA marketing campaign - a pretty big deal considering CIRA's National marketing budget. As well as the grand prize, the first runner-up will receive a 64GB iPod touch, and the second runner-up will receive a Flip UltraHD camcorder.
Voting closes on March 26th, so head over to Showusyour.ca to vote today.
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In a world where we find our personal privacy slipping away First Orion PrivacyStar’s mobile app allows people to take control.
Available for Blackberry, the simple app allows users to block all unwanted calls, ID unknown callers using their caller lookup and makes is simple to report those annoying and unwanted telemarketing violations with all the information needed for the law and regulatory authorities to take action. This is the first and only app available to provide this type of functionality regarding telemarketing calls and it is now available through MobiHand in Canada.
The app became available a few weeks ago and has already seen significant growth in their user base. In the digital world where people are giving away their privacy like never before this app allows you to take some of it back.
First Orion CEO Jeff Stalnaker reports that their data has shown that people are using the app to identify unknown callers with the caller look feature and then they can choose to block the caller or add them to their address book.
What makes this product unique is how it handles telemarketing calls. It is the only application that gets all the information needed for the authorities to investigate. The application also has a personalized web portal that can help you to manage your blocked caller list and provide additional details on potential violations while helping you to manage your PrivacyStar account.
Their partnership with MobiHand will allow Blackberry users in the US and Canada to tap into the power of this app. The PrivacyStar app is free for the first 30 days, after the trial the service is available for USD $2.99 a month. In addition to getting the app through MobiHand, it is also available at the PrivacyStar website, through Blackberry App World or by texting “myprivacy” to 74700.
Yesterday Vancouver's Indochino shed a little light on what happens after you order a custom-made suit online with a behind-the-scenes look at the handcrafted construction.
Capturing the entire process from click to fit, the video follows the purchase of a three-piece suit showcasing the unique production model, meticulous craft of Indochino’s master tailors in Shanghai and speedy two-week worldwide delivery.
Great looking video that should go a long way to helping potential customers just what's involved in making an Indochino purchase.
The video was made in collaboration with Fly Films - a production company whose clients include Dunhill, Christian Dior and Nike. Pretty good company for Indochino but then again they are one of America's Most Promising Startups.
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Twestival Toronto is less than a week away and the Toronto tech and social media community is getting very excited. This year promises to be larger and raise more money than last year's inaugural TwestivalTO.
However, none of this would be possible without the generous support of the Toronto tech community. We had the opportunity at talk to two such sponsors:
Luke Southern is the Digital Strategist for GCI Canada:
This will be the second time that GCI Canada has sponsored Twestival. We think the event is great way to support a charitable cause, and an opportunity for us to engage directly with some of the thought leaders in the world of social media… I am looking forward to meeting in person all the people that I follow on Twitter!
Alkarim Nasser (aka Alex) is with bnotions.ca and Yorkville Media Centre:
Sponsoring TwestivalTO was a no brainer. Helping support the community and supporting larger worldly efforts looking to establishing education in the most impoverished regions requires as much momentum as we can feed it. TwestivalTO is offering organizations a unique opportunity to create brand awareness across the elite tech, marketing, arts and PR communities. It is a chance for organizations to show their values and stand up for a cause that has continued to attract the attention of thousands of their customers.
For more information about TwestivalTO and how you can become involved, check out TwestivalTO.
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