Digital Living

Quick tips on how to activate Facetime on your iPhone 4

Some people wonder how they could "activate" Facetime on their iPhone 4. 

They got "confused" because they couldn't find "Facetime icon" on their home screen. And there seem to be no "activate Facetime options" on the Settings panel as well.

Well, a couple of "hints" of how Facetime being activated; and how you can use it to make video-call is as follow:

1. At its current release, Facetime only works on Wifi; As such it only become automatically activated once you connect your iPhone 4 to the net via Wifi. 
2. If your iPhone has not connected to Wifi yet, then your Facetime will still be inactive.
3. In such case: the first thing you need to do to start using Facetime, is to make sure that your iPhone 4 is connected to Wifi. You can do so, by choosing Settings/General/Network, then select the relevant Wifi option.
4. Please notice that if you already activated your 3G or data plan, but still not yet connecting via Wifi, then your Facetime will still be inactive.
5. Once your iPhone is connected via Wifi, Facetime will automatically be activated.
6. Now, to start using the already activated Facetime, click your Phone icon, select Contact, then choose the person that you would like to call via Facetime.
7. The person information will appear on your screen, and you will see several options of how you can reach the person you have chosen:

1. Mobile.
2. Text Message.
3. FaceTime.

Choose Facetime, and you shall be on Facetime in no time.

Hope this helps. And have fun connecting.

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Click here if you want to download FaceTime for Mac

http://www.apple.com/mac/facetime/

Enjoy and have great fun connecting to people and family that really matters to you.

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The New MacBook Air -- Yikes!

Apple definitely know how to produce continuous innovation that matters. In their most recent "Back To The Mac" event announcement, their new MacBook Air looks wonderful, their new iLife apps is awesome, their integrated Facetime is fascinating, their upcoming MacAppStore would be pheonmenal, and their upcoming Lion would be superb.

Apple simply built a better mobile devices, and computers.

Awesome.

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The Last Of The "Mohican" -- Ray Ozzie soon will leave Microsoft

Where have all the great Microsofters gone?? 

To me personally, after Bill Gates leaves Microsoft a few years ago, Ray Ozzie is the only hope that the seed of innovation (at least in the area of Office, Messaging and Collaboration -- Unified Communication, Office "Server") will continue flourish at Microsoft. Ray Ozzie seems to be the last brilliant (and strategic) stamp of act that Bill Gates put, to revive (and ensure) Microsoft greatness and exciting future, after his departure.

Yet now as the "last of the great warriors that Microsoft would soon be gone too", after the departure of Gates himself, J. Allard (the father of XBOX and the supposed new 'pen computing initiative -- among many), Brad Silverberg, Charles Simonyi, Paul Allen, and many others, seems Microsoft's most unique and differentiating feature as a "place full for both technical wizard and most brilliant business strategist" seems "all gone".

Seems Bill Gates really need to be back at Microsoft, then it will once again have the "complete tech + brilliant strategist" stature once more (which characterize Bill Gates persona and most competitive features himself), and become the superb, great, innovative and exciting Microsoft once more.

After all, at heart Microsoft was once a small, super brilliant company, runs by a very technical leader that really know what its strategic business intent is, was, and shall be. It was a small company that know how to create "practical magic" and how to "position" it correctly to win the biggest marketshare.

Bill Gates definitely have such capability. And "Microsofters of Bill Gates era" reflects that. As with recent departures of even the last of the last great tech + brilliant business strategist at Microsoft, it would be interesting to see what the future of Microsoft "innovation style and scheme" would be.

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Within a week, Apple will reveal something "truly fascinating again" about Mac!

We don't know yet for sure what it would be about. My prediction, it might, perhaps, probably, would be, covering something of the following subject:

• Introduce the next successor of MacOSX "Snow Leopard" (Would it be called "Lion" ??) ;-)
• Introduction of the next iteration of MacBook Air. (Would it be a thinner & even smaller -- 10/11" MB Air ?? -- hence make it even more portable??)
• Introduction of the next iteration of iMac. ("iMac Touch" which combine the power of the Desktop with the power of touch??)
• And above all: would we start seeing "Facetime" software available on latest Mac model??

We don't know for sure. But definitely something that is worth waiting and anticipating.

This quarter Apple seems to be on the way to make it's quarterly revenue of USD 20 billion (due to its highly successful iPod, iPhone and iPad products). If the next iteration of Macs (and MacOSX) proven to be equally powerful; then may be the consumer would again respond very favorably. Apple might soon be on its way to become the largest technology company in the world, in terms of both market valuation, as well as sales revenue. 

The next cool innovation might be on the way. This time it might happen both on the product side, as well as on the business side altogether.

Yikes!!

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Windows Phone 7 -- So far seems not REALLY that impressive :'(

The new Windows Phone 7 interface seems respectably really try hard to be better than the older versions. But I feel it's not strongly there yet. Glancing at the UI, UX and its interface concept over screenshots and videos that spreads across the the web, so far I can't feel anything yet that makes me think that it would be appealing enough to drive people away from the practical & functional Blackberry; nor to wipe people away from the magical & wonderful Apple iOS/iPod/iPhone/iPad interface.

The only competition it can knockdown probably the awkward and outdated Nokia interface; the older Windows Mobile market; or the lauzy implementation of the potential Android market. In other words: it might be suitable initially to compete in the lower end smartphone market. Mid and high end segment, it doesn't seem to have the "class" yet.

We'll know whether such "targeted towards lower end smartphone market" assumption is true or not, when we start seeing the many models, brands and price range that will soon be launced and introduced in the real market.

The teaser advertisement seems can not resonate anything exciting much also. With its "Really?" punch line, I seriously think it a pretty awkward, confused, convoluted ad. Compared to Apple's Ad, it's dose of magical effect, tone, emotion and magnetic appeal is 10 (for Apple) to none.

With all these, I consider Windows Mobile 7 a "pretty so so upgrade" to the old and already boring interface of the old mobile phones. Compared to the older Windows Mobile interface, indeed Window Mobile 7 interface is probably fresher and "better". But compared to the Blackberry and the iPod/iPhone/iPad interface, it's perhaps still not yet worth to consider.

My vote -- for what (and who) made Microsoft truly great in the past (and truly great once more in the future) -- still towards the splendid Bill Gates. Seems Microsoft seems really need Bill Gates to be back. Then we will start seeing something truly innovative and exciting again coming from Microsoft.

I will give the device a friendly try when the real device start to come out in the market. Microsoft PR machine try to convince us that Windows Phone 7 is great, because it offers better ways to discover and organize information we really care about. Same with Microsoft's own ad, my comment -- for now -- would be: "REALLY??"

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It starts to happen: Skype TV!

I still use my computer to "Skype around". But increasingly I use my TV screen (attached to the computer) to have a bigger view.

In the near future, such practice might become "obsolete", as the TV might eventually be "Skype ready" from day 1, without any computer attached to it.

Such would be a tremendously exciting future.

I imagine when one day Skype also becoming "Facetime ready", and/or Facetime also becoming "Skype friendly". When such day happen, we might excitingly have a real time, always on, "anywhere anytime face to face communication device ever" in our hand.

That would mean that our work and living live would become even more connected than ever.

Truly exciting!

Posted via email from arvino's posterous

It starts to happen: Skype TV!

I still use my computer to "Skype around". But increasingly I use my TV screen (attached to the computer) to have a bigger view.

In the near future, such practice might become "obsolete", as the TV might eventually be "Skype ready" from day 1, without any computer attached to it.

Such would be a tremendously exciting future.

I imagine when one day Skype also becoming "Facetime ready", and/or Facetime also becoming "Skype friendly". When such day happen, we might excitingly have a real time, always on, "anywhere anytime face to face communication device ever" in our hand.

That would mean that our work and living live would become even more connected than ever.

Truly exciting!

Posted via email from arvino's posterous

Larry Ellison's comment on HP's new appointed CEO

From the Wall Street Journal Blogs

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/01/larry-ellison-“speechless”-over-h-p’s-new-ceo/

Written By Ben Worthen

Larry Ellison, the outspoken CEO of Oracle, said he is having trouble finding words to describe his reaction to H-P naming former SAP chief Leo Apotheker as its new top man–and then found plenty of them.

Bloomberg News

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison

“I’m speechless,” he wrote in an email to the Wall Street Journal. “HP had several good internal candidates…but instead they pick a guy who was recently fired because he did such a bad job of running SAP.”

An H-P spokeswoman said Ellison’s comments don’t “deserve the dignity of a response.”

H-P declined to make Apotheker available.

Ellison is hardly an impartial observer. SAP, where Apotheker worked for more than 20 years, is Oracle’s largest competitor for business-application programs, and Ellison seldom misses an opportunity to take pot shots at the company.

And Ellison has become a thorn in the side of H-P since it forced out Mark Hurd, its former CEO. First Ellison criticized that decision in an email to the New York Times. A month later he hired Hurd, a move that provoked a lawsuit from H-P, which was later settled.

Ellison issued a statement with harsh words for H-P’s board after the lawsuit was filed. He lashed out at the board again in his email regarding Apotheker.

“None of the HP board members own much HP stock so they have little to lose,” he wrote. “But the HP employees, customers, partners and shareholders will suffer. “

He added: “The HP board needs to resign en masse … right away.  The madness must stop.”

When Oracle and H-P settled the lawsuit regarding Hurd’s hiring, both companies put out statements lauding the other as a valuable partner.

That peace didn’t last long, evidently.

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People says that "ONE Exciting Thing" will be coming soon from Cisco!

News spread across the internet that sometime next week Cisco going to announce their "mass conferencing" device. 

This would be totally exciting! Can't wait to see what it will offer (and how it will look like).

Would be curious also to hear (later on) how Skype would respond to such. 

Come on Skype, you pioneer all these -- long before Facetime, Cius, etc, emerge in the marketplace -- I guess it's time for Skype to stand up (once again). This time: real fast.

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