Facebook buys Instagram: This is how to transfer your pictures out.

When I heard that Facebook had brought my beloved Instagram; I was shocked, angry, sad, and finally at peace. Someone told me those are similar emotions felt when you lose a loved one. It was enough to open the floodgates to Android. I was happy for that move but to sell out to Facebook is taking a big plunge into the unknown. Everyone is aware of the privacy issues Facebook has. That is the reason I hardly use the social network.

Instagram is a model of what all programs hope to be. Loved and valuable. Instagram managed to attract not only a loyal but dare I say rabid fan base. The side effect of that success was the release of a plethora of clones on the AppStore harping for some of the spotlight. None however could manage to shine brighter than the original.

What I noticed right away was that Instagram had no advertisement. No pop-ups, not so much as a in app upgrade feature. The app it’s self was free to download. So, that’s millions of users on a nonmonetized app. Surely there must be a plan to cash in. It seems there was a plan brewing behind the curtain. One wonders how many meetings Instagram had with Facebook before papers were signed. Was the release of an Android app a stipulation of the deal or was it a show of good will? Did millions of downloads overnight jack up the asking price?

1 billion dollars!? That’s $1,000,000,000 for what can best be described as Flickr with filters mixed with Twitter. To be fair, to Facebook that’s pocket change. Never the less, Facebook does not spend money without a plan. Look for tight integration between Instagram and Facebook. Further integration means full out control by Zuck and company. That is a red flag for me. I’m one of those people that like to get into things before they become trends and ruined; I mean part of pop culture.

Instagram has lost that hip and exclusive feel for me. Not to mention my concerns with how Facebook will analyze my pictures. If you’re like me and want to jump ship but need a lifeboat for your pictures; rejoice for there is hope. Like the Holy Trinity there are 3. Three options to take your pictures with you. Copygr.am, InstaBackup and Instaport. The latter has gone down due to high traffic. I tried all three and Copygr.me had all my pictures, over 400 of them in my inbox within 5 minutes. Don’t frank out, you get a zip file. Even if you don’t leave Instagram, it’s good practice to backup your pictures before Facebook closes the API.

RIM Blackberry 10: iPhone iOS clone?

 

Research in Motion has already confirmed that BlackBerry 10 smartphones won’t be shipping until late this year. This will not help them if they are trying to get into the good graces of Smartphone buyers.  CrackBerry showed a preview of what’s to come. They will have home screen widgets. They also have  iOS-styled folders and integrated video calling.

The new BlackBerry 10 widgets look like they were cut and paste from Windows and Android. The new folder icon shows you a preview of the applications inside and a dedicated video chat button. The BlackBerry 10 OS looks like it is years ahead of  RIM’s current OS but will it be enough to get people to buy a Blackberry? I think the answer to that is no. It is way too late in the game right now. They would have to do something that is a game changer. BGR reported that the BlackBerry London will be the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to market. It  is scheduled for a late September release but realistically it’s looking more like  October.

CES 2012: Rubens Saintel Interview with Line2 CEO, Peter Sisson

I was able to catch up with the CEO of Line2 Peter Sisson. We had a in-depth conversation about the future of the VOIP app on all platforms. What is next for the company and how it compares to other companies our there with similar services.

Peter Sisson is a telecom geek disrupting mobile communications by using social, calendar, and location information to make calls more productive and lifestyle-friendly. Line2 is Peter’s 4th company. His last company, Teleo, was acquired by Microsoft in 2005.

Peter Sisson, CEO of Line2 (also known as Toktumi), is an entrepreneur and VoIP pioneer. He has been on the forefront of the Internet industry for 15 years, starting four companies and nurturing many others through advisory roles.  He was named one of the top 10 “people to watch” by CNET, and won the Arthur Anderson Best Practices Award for Strategic Leadership with Wineshopper.com

BlackBerry has been going downhill for awhile now. It’s new low being, dethrone as top smart phone in the Enterprise workspace

BlackBerry has been going downhill for some time now. The two headed CEO leadership just keeps saying everything is alright. We are still “King of the World” like they can’t see what everyone else sees. The near death of a once untouchable market leader. The service interruption might have been the last straw that pushed users and businesses over the edge. The timing could not have been better for other phone manufacturers looking to take a bite out of the enterprise space.

The release of iPhone’s are always a big deal for everyone this time around. Many Telecom, IT and just people who are forced to carry a BlackBerry thought long and hard this time around about making the switch. It seem to have worked. According to a report by iPass you might see an iPhone around the office more than you see a BlackBerry. Truth be told I see more and more of them everyday in the office. Most people where I an issued BlackBerry and a person iPhone on their hips gunslinger style. What the Mobile Workforce Report from research firm iPass is saying is that people are now actually being issued iPhones instead of a Blackberry.

The report states 45% of the enterprise workforce carries an iPhone, up from 31.1% last year. BlackBerry market share has only 32% Android’s market share doubled year over year to surpass Symbian. I tend to take Android numbers with a grain of salt since everyone and their mother makes a phone for the platform. Nevertheless they have 21% share of the enterprise smartphone market. So they soon as next year could pass BlackBerry as well since only 2.3% of workers have plans to buy a BlackBerry next year.

The iPass study also shows that found a number of other compelling tidbits: 40% of mobile workers would feel disoriented if they didn’t have a smartphone for a week. I feel that way if missing my iPhone for an hour. The iPass study was based on a survey of more than 2,300 workers around the world. Feel free to read the report at iPass. Note that it is a PDF.

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis Gives a public apology for ongoing World Wide BlackBerry outage

Lazaridis said “We’ve let many of you down. You expect better from us. And I expect better from us. We are working around the clock to fix this.” RIM had thought the issue was resolved late Monday. They were wrong the service interruptions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa led to a back log of data. This is what the current issue is. The main core switch failure issue has been taken care of but all that back log of emails and text have to catch up. It’s like a clogged drain of data right now for RIM.

Lazaridis said said that “normal BlackBerry service levels” in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa where it all started are back to normal. The co-chief warned that RIM is not out of the woods yet. That is correct it is going to take a while for all that data to get back to normal. There are a lot of companies and most of the US government use RIM daily. Productivity should be at a all time high. People can go old school and hands on. Make phone calls, remember that, a voice not a text?   This is not a good time for this to happen. The iPhone 4S comes out Friday. I look for a lot of people to jump ship on the failing company. Unfortunately Enterprise do not have that luxury.

Blackberry: Black & Blue year continues. Service out for 3rd day

BlackBerry users across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and even some areas in South America are still without access to the Wen or messaging services for the third consecutive day. BlackBerry had said the issues were resolved following one day of service interruptions to millions of users.

Research In Motion confirmed earlier that a bug on a Blackberry server was responsible for the issues they have had.  There were millions offline on Monday. Than on Tuesday that the interruption continued. The bug that is the caused a core switch failure is still not fixed. RIM now says the outage has caused a large backlog of data that must be cleared before service can return to normal. No firm timeline has been issued.

 

RIM says on the support website: Service update

Although the system is designed to failover to a back-up switch, the failover did not function as previously tested. As a result, a large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to many of you and we will continue to keep you informed.

BGR publishes open letter about RIM. Less than 24 hours later plans to spit Co-CEO role. Coincidence I think not!

 

 

RIM seems to have listen to the Open Letter that was published on BGR. RIM said it would consider splitting its Chief Executive and Chairman roles. That partnership has worked well for RIM. According to RIM, they ship 100 phones  per minute. While very success overseas is great, in the United States RIM is perceived as “old school.” It’s the phone your father was forced to use for work. It at one time was the very definition of a smartphone. The times have since changed but RIM along with other one time innovation leaders seem to be stuck in a rut.

Why is RIM doing this change ahead of its annual shareholder meeting next month? Simple, RIM has been under a lot criticism from shareholders about Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis who both share CEO roles. Now keep in mind that RIM is only forming a committee to study the CEO and board roles. That means nothing might happen other than hope it’s enough to get the monkey of their backs for a little bit.

RIM and NEI Investments Announce Withdrawal of Shareholder Proposal; RIM Committee to Review Matter Raised by Proposal

Waterloo, ON -

Research In Motion Limited (“RIM”) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. (“NEI Investments”) announced today that, following discussions between them, NEI Investments has decided to withdraw its proposal that was to be considered at the RIM Annual General Meeting. The proposal asked that RIM’s Board of Directors adopt a policy that divides the role of Chair and CEO, and that RIM have an independent Chair.  The parties have agreed that RIM’s Board will establish a Committee of independent directors whose mandate will generally be to (i) study the appropriate balance between an independent lead director or chair with full and exclusive authority customarily held by such an office holder, (ii) determine the business necessity for RIM’s Co-CEOS to have significant Board level titles to assist their selling and other responsibilities with certain large customers in overseas markets, and (iii)  propose and provide a rationale for a recommended governance structure for RIM, which will include clarifications of the Co-CEOs and Chair roles, as well as the Board’s mandate. The Committee will consult with NEI Investments in developing the specific terms of reference for this mandate and before it issues its report by January 31, 2012. The Board will publicly respond to the recommendations of the Committee within 30 days.

As a result, the proposal will no longer be presented at the Annual General Meeting and no vote will be taken on the proposal at the meeting. RIM and NEI Investments are pleased to have reached an agreement on this matter, and these important issues of corporate governance will receive further consideration at the RIM Board level.

April 16th in New York City is Foursquare Day

16 is squaring four therefore April 16th now Foursquare Day. Foursquare users built loved the idea of dedicating a day to the online check-in service.  Foursquare’s founders loved the idea too.  New York City Mayor Bloomberg has given the idea the NYC seal of approval. He even delivered a Mayoral Proclamation at the Foursquare offices. There are other cities that are also doing events as well if you take a look around the web.

BlackBerry Messenger will finally be on Android & iDevices

BGR is reporting that  Research In Motion (RIM) is bring BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to Android and  iDevices.  When? We have no idea. Sometime this year is a pretty forgiving time frame. According to BGR’s sources, RIM has not yet come up pricing but it might be free. I do not think it will be free. They would have to charge for it. Just a reasonable one time fee. It would not be a smart move to charge a monthly fee for it. Less they want to give Apple a 30% cut each month.

RIM will offer stripped down versions of the BBM experience found on BlackBerry devices.  That means they would not be able to share photos, location, or videos. So it will be just text. Which all I want anyway. If you want to full deal of everything BBM has to offer you would have to get  a BlackBerry device.

Pay Starbucks via iPhone

Just enter your Starbucks Card number and your iPhone becomes your Starbucks Card. You can register your card, check your balance and track the Stars you earn toward free beverages through My Starbucks Rewards.

You can pay for your drink using the Starbucks Card Mobile app.  Enter your card number and your device will display a barcode you can use as your Starbucks Card to make purchases. It’s fast. It’s easy. And it’s a revolution in mobile payment. Mobile Pay is available at more than 7,500 Starbucks stores, including all Target Starbucks stores, in the United States. To find a store, use our Store Locator and select the Mobile Payment filter.
Real world Note** Cashiers will have no idea why you are handing them a phone. You may need to explain this to them.

Download here for iphone/iPad: Starbucks

Download for Blackberry Tour, Curve or Storm :  Text GO to 70845.