2008 - what will remain?

This post is mostly for my kids, grand kids and generation of Seroussi's to come. No one will ever forget 2008. Like I studied about 1776, 1929, 1939, 1945, 1974, 1979 and 2001, 2008 will be one of those dates. A year where world has changed.

CHANGE because an African American was elected President of the United States of America, CHANGE because 'money' has switched hands, CHANGE because crude oil price is not ruling our world anymore, CHANGE because Europe is finally born, CHANGE because China and India have awaken, CHANGE because Madoff created a Big Bang in the world of finance, CHANGE because we will never think the same anymore.



I know this year was rough for everyone but I personally feel very lucky to be part of this historical moment. Looking at the big picture, my friends, will help us get through those times.
The important moment of your life is NOW - reconstruction. How changes are going to affect our everyday life? How we will behave in future and how we will 'run' our world.

I'm hopeful new values are arising. Respect and work will take over arrogance and ignorance.
There is no second chance in a global world where butterfly effect is part of our life!
CHANGE is not a concept unless you want it.

We need to rebuild for generations to come a safer and better world. My most sincere wish for 2009 is for everyone to CHANGE. Think different - think POSITIVE.

My favorite song

Jason Mraz - I'm Yours -

The One

I wonder how stupid McCain advisers feel when they look again at this vicious ad!!
Either you like or don't like Obama you shouldn't compare him to Moses and add this statement : 'Is he ready to lead??'.
Wrong message all the way...

Georges Bush ducks to avoid flying shoe

Amazing reflex from Bush on this one. He is very calm and even stops a security agent running toward him.

I think secret service agents will need to be much faster to protect Obama.

Android on HTC Touch

If you happen to have an old Windows Mobile HTC you can install Android on it. It works like a charm as you can see on this video.
This install is a dual-boot WM and Android made possible by XDA-Developers.
I was very active on XDA forums 5 years ago but I lost interest in Windows Mobile machines after my first BlackBerry. But if we can have Android on those devices...I might give it a try.

Test of Insignia HD camcorder.

This test is not really accurate for the following reasons:

- Original was an Avi converted in Mov via Quicktime
- HD was lost in the conversion.
- It was edited on iMovie and re-exported in mp4
- All shots in this video were taken on bright daylight behind a tinted windshield.
- Camera was not steady as I was holding it.
- Road was bumpy at some point which caused some distortions.

But overall it gives a good view of this tiny camcorder sold for $99 at Best Buy. It has a lot of potential and I will try to improve shooting and editing in next posts.

2008 My Social Media Year in image

This year was a tough year for everyone and the only person who knew something was happening was Jeff Pulver. Back on December 27th last year, Jeff hosted a SoFla [South Florida] social media breakfast and his prediction for 2008 happened to be very accurate. Watch and see for yourself.

I was on the road most of the year traveling to France, Spain, Switzerland, London, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Monaco, Nice, Tel-Aviv, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Montreal, Bahamas, Arkansas, Boston, Houston, Seattle, Vancouver, and lots of other places I cannot name for confidentiality reasons.
Here is a mock-up of 2008 in videos and pictures:

Seattle in January

Later in January we had an important meeting in Mountain View:

One of best moment of 2008 was Barcelona GSM World Congress in February. I really had a great time with Jenny our COO, Bhaskar Roy co-founder of Qik, Paul Walsh from Segala, Loren Feldman video blogger 1938 Media, Jeremie Berrebi CEO Zlio, David Marcus CEO Zong, and Pat Phelan friend and business partner.

Pat Phelan and Bhaskar Roy

Vonx San Jose March 2008

St Patrick MaxRoam party



Circle Qik

April in Vegas:

You can admire Bellagio water show from one of their most prestigious suite

Cork, Ireland in April:





Tel Aviv in May where I received a nice gift from our partner:




And Monaco where Vodafone invited me to Formula1 GrandPrix :



And VIP access to Cannes Festival

Paris few weeks later in June with buddy Pat Phelan:

One of my favorite pictures in July. Our customer service team has a new silent tagline:



So I had to pray to make sure everything would work:


Jerusalem July 2008

Back to the Valley in August for a diner at Village Pub:


Jackie Danicki, Pat Phelan, Bhaskar Roy, Florian Seroussi

Highlight of 2008 was TechCrunch 50 in San Francisco:


Jeff Nolan, Pat Phelan, Florian Seroussi, Jackie Danicki

I must admit this was fun. Pat Phelan had the bright idea to offer free iPhone unlocking and he ended up by bricking Mike Arrington - CEO TechCrunch - iPhone. Funny part is that I was holding the iPhone when Mike walks back. Pat's face that day was just incredible. Watch this video:

Less funny - I had to go to New York and it happened to be the day all markets crashed.



Fall in Paris in October:



I'm just back from a short trip in the Valley:



For most of my readers it sounds like a dream - it's not. Jet lags, long flights, security hassle, packing unpacking, huge temperature difference, short nights, getting into a 4 hour meeting after an overseas flight, kids too far away....all those things are not on those pictures...but they exist.

It's my choice. I don't complain. Let's see how 2009 will be...

3 must have add-on for your Mac

Like many others I moved to Mac about a year ago after 25 years of Windows era. It was not easy and I think Apple could convert more users with some minor changes. First obvious change is the mouse. Windows users like right/left clicks. But Apple has decided NOT to change their strategy. On the contrary they went to 0 click on their new Mac...Good for some Mac junkies but very bad if you need to convince more Windows users.
On a software level here are 3 plug-ins Apple should bundle in OS X. A must have for ex-Windows_ers.

1. Email notification. Native mail app on OSX does not give you any notification of new incoming emails. Unless you check you masked dock every 10 minutes or so - you might not see an important email coming in. I use Mail Appetizer. It's free and does the job amazingly well.
2. Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. I really wonder why a company full of cash like Apple would not take their checkbook out and buy this first-class must-have add-on!!
3. Wireless panel on OS X is very basic. Too simple for most Windows users. We like to tweak and here we basically have 2 choices. Turn Radio on or off. Well try Air Radar. It has it all. Perfect to find a good hotspot while on the move.

By the way. Those 3 plug-in are 100% FREE and only ask for voluntary donations. We need to support them. Even $1 can help.
I could have listed many other apps/addons but those are so basic for me I wanted to keep the list short and relevant.
If you have some good tips about things I missed - please feel free to educate me :) I'm a new Mac user.

MoMa style

Babies at pool

Babies at pool
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry Bold from www.CelTrek.com

Positive beautiful commercial

So refreshing. Watch it twice to enjoy fully!

3 Free must have apps for BlackBerry

There are 3 applications you must have on your BlackBerry. And best there are FREE.

BerrySpeedy: BerrySpeedy is a free app that acts as a speed test for your BlackBerrys internet connection.


OTA Download: http://ota.deltatech.com.mx/

CaptureIt: It is a simple screen capture utility for Blackberry devices with 4.3 or higher. You simple assign the the application to a Blackberry connivence key, and press the key on the screen of your choice. this is very useful for tutorials, or just to capture you call log.


OTA Download: http://www.thetechmogul.com/CaptureIt/CaptureIt.jad

TinyLock: TinyLock is a small utility for BlackBerry, lock the BlackBerry keyboard when the backlight turns off. You can customize it as you wish. Saves your battery and accidental calls.


OTA Download: http://www.handrapid.com/download/tinylock.jad

I love this Motrin ad

I know a lot of moms didn't like the idea of this commercial but I really don't see anything wrong with the ad.
In my opinion we only hear moms that didn't like it - so I assume all the other ones were not opposed to it. That makes a lot of moms and Motrin should not have pulled it off.
What about dads and back pain?? Motrin you should make the same commercial with dads instead of moms. Men are usually more open moms than most moms :)
As often Loren Feldman made some good points in this videocast. Not exactly vocabulary I'd be using on my blog but his analysis is valid!
I hope this will not stop Motrin from trying to be innovative in their ads.

Blackberry Storm from Vodafone - How it works

Very nice video on YouTube on how to use the BlackBerry Storm. Well presented - it gives a nice overview of the Storm. Mine should be in my hands this week :)

If you never heard about recession...

You may want to get one of those.
Tag price: $2.3M

Why I love USA

Is there another country where presidential candidates can be that funny!!

New 4.5.0.03 OS for BlackBerry 8110, 8120, 8310 and 8320

Update on links for latest 4.5.0.93 OS for BlackBerry 8110, 8120, 8310 and 8320:

8110: http://www.mediafire.com/?w2nqgyay2d2

8120: http://www.mediafire.com/?eedn2olmyd3

8310: http://www.mediafire.com/?1mtkgi3wigm

8320: http://www.mediafire.com/?mtdnygyjwaj

Do you hate your iPhone?

Sometimes I hate my iPhone so much I feel like taking it apart. But unfortunately iPhone is made in such a way you can't open it. I found a little video online showing how to take it part. Very well explained. So if you are adventurous you may want to try it out...

BlackBerry Curve and Pearl OS 4.5.0.93

I know most of you are looking at my blog only for OS updates. So here you are:

8100: www.mediafire.com/?w3mt2e4jzg3

8300: www.mediafire.com/?zymitny2mgz

Do not upgrade if you don't know what you are doing. You have been warned :)

BlackBerry Storm - first real iPhone killer?

See this exclusive video footage of the Bold in action during a presentation to Vodafone executives. Media player looks very nice, widgets are also similar to iPhone. Check it out here:

What about voting for me??

Official OS 4.5.0.81 For 8300, 8310 and 8320

Stop looking for warez. Vodafone has released 4.5.0.81 here.



You still need to delete vendor.xml on your PC to be able to update.

Direct link: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=B86E8D03FE992D1B0E19656875EE557C

BlackBerry Storm - I want one!!

I love my iPhone but i'm not using it. For many reasons - 1) no push email not just Yahoo! - anyway who uses a yahoo! email for business?? 2) battery...OMG this is really bad on the iPhone + no additional batteries 3) keyboard. I can't type with one hand like on my Bold 4) flaws and upgrade on the iPhone are legend. Can someone tell many how many firmware update we went thru with Apple in 1 year??

BlackBerry is coming out with Storm- a killer device to be launched maybe as early as November by Verizon. Very bad news for ATT who is to release the Bold in the next days. RIM should be very careful not fooling around with carriers. US is not Canada. We have competition down here Mr BlackBerry - watch out!!

iPhone did boost creativity from phone manufacturers. Finally our devices are becoming smarter, lighter, sexier and affordable. I remember the old days when a Sony Ericsson P800 was around 1000 euros...BlackBerry is among first to fight back, Nokia should launch their 'Tube' early October and HTC Dream G1 publicly available by October 22nd.

Anyway I want a Storm although it doesn't solve the keyboard problem. But I'll get my Storm like I got the Bold and the iPhone. Part of the geek syndrome. So far best device I had was BB 8320. Not perfect but a solid 90/100.

The F#ck you answer from Bill to Steve - AWESOME

Mac is cool and PC is stupid is finally over. Microsoft has intelligently responded to Apple in one of best ad ever. Simple. Nothing technical. HUMANS. Yes PC users may have glasses - so what Mr Jobs??!!

I think Microsoft has changed, obviously competition is driving the economy forward and Apple vs. Microsoft proves it again.

In the ad below, you will notice Eva Longoria, her husband, basketball star Tony Parker, musical artist Pharrell Williams and Bill Gates among a crowd of ordinary people. A must see.


Disclaimer: I stick with my MacBook Air for now but nothing is for definite in life ;-)

TechCrunch 50 is over. See you next year :)

I just spent a week in San Francisco for 2 events. TechCrunch 50 and CTIA Wireless Entertainment.



TechCrunch is an excellent start for entrepreneurs looking to test-drive their product or services. You must be fully ready to participate to the event. Some came with almost nothing and will certainly end up by folding their project very soon. But some others were really good at it.

Among my winners and interesting companies - no special order of preference:

Producteev - Social Project Management
PeopleBrowsr - Social network aggregator in a web app
Swype - new predictive touch key solution on tiny screen
TrueCar - change the way cars are being sold
Zong- mobile payment system enabling web publishers to bill
Popego - another web social platform.

Lots of people were complaining – including Robert Scoble – about poor execution of companies presenting at TechCrunch. I don’t think TechCrunch is to blame. The market is just saturated of low-ball ideas with lousy execution. I think TechCrunch took what was out there. I wonder how many ‘bad’ projects were submitted :)

The worst on stage was IMINDI. How did they make it to the stage? What happened there? I can’t believe Mike and Jason were reviewing this!

Anyway the event was a great opportunity to meet friends, colleagues and entrepreneurs – no preference in order of appearance:

Bhaskar Roy, Jackie Danicki, David Marcus, Jean David Benichou, Loren Feldman, Jeff Nolan, Loic LeMeur, Mike Arrington, Jeff Sass, Jeb Brilliant, Iain Dodsworth, Daniel Brusilovsky, Sol Lipman, David Speiser, David Smith, Christine Lu, Ouriel Ohayon, Jason Calacanis, Robert Scoble, Ilan Abehassera, Arik, Orli…

And of course my buddies Pat Phelan, Bernard Murphy, Marc Rochman and Chris Kennedy –special thanks to you Chris, you did a fantastic job.

TechCrunch thru my eyes on Flickr. And you must watch this exceptional moment when Mike Arrington found out Pat broke his iPhone:



Disclaimer – I’m a shareholder in Producteev. And I really support their dedication, execution and hard work.

New OS 4.5.0.69 for BlackBerry 8100, 8120, 8130, 8310, 8320 & 8330

Here are the links for OS 4.5.0.66 and 4.5.0.69 for BlackBerry devices:

Pearl 8100:
4.5.0.69

Pearl 8120:
4.5.0.69

Pearl 8130:
4.5.0.66

Curve 8310:
4.5.0.69

Curve 8320:
4.5.0.69

Curve 8330:
4.5.0.66

Of course you know the disclaimer: if you break it - you are on your own :)

The one phone call I should have not picked up

I wanted to share a crazy story that happened to me last week. Around 1AM E.T. here in Miami - when my cell phone rang.

The dialog below is a fair reconstitution of the facts:

Me – Allo.
The Girl – hello
Me – who is this? Jenny?
The Girl – no. Who are you?
Me – allo. Is this a joke? Who is this?
The Girl – you don’t know me.
Me – Listen Lady, Its late, I’m tired and don’t have any time for this kind of BS
The Girl – Wait. Let me explain!! I don’t know who you are and you don’t know me but your number is not random it belongs to my husband.
Me – well obviously you dialed a wrong number as I AM NOT your husband.
The Girl – I know – my husband died in car crash last year. I keep hoping he will answer his phone. So I called!

BIG SILENCE

Me – I’m sorry for your loss. But I don’t see how I can help you.
The Girl – can you tell me your name?
Me – Florian
The Girl – can I call you Tim?
Me – I feel very uncomfortable continuing this conversation. What happened to you is dramatic and you need to speak with someone that can help you. Myself I can’t do much.
The Girl – Thank you. You are very patient. It reminds me Tim.

Since then – I can’t sleep. Very disturbing phone call. I wish this girl a lot of strength to recover from her tragedy.

PS: One thing I learned - better not answer unknown calls in the middle of the night.

TwitterFone V2 up and running

It has been an amazing week. First we got TwitterFone V2 featured on TechCrunch with a nice demo of Michael Arrington himself :) and second we finally have a commercial packet Data version on CelTrek SIM cards.
Pat Phelan, David Marcus, Sean O Sullivan and Ivan MacDonald are great guys to work with. Perfect harmony in productivity - best possible mixture.
Here is a short video of what you can expect from TwitterFone V2.



Below formal press release:

Twitterfone becomes more social, outlines expansion plans

Twitterfone, the service that allows you to call/phone in your message to twitter has announced new add-ons to their popular service.

The new additions to Twitterfone now allow people to listen to the last 10 messages from their friends all via their phone and directly respond to these messages or send a private message their followers.

Speaking about the new changes, Twitterfone CEO Pat Phelan said:
“The main feature request from users was the ability to not just speak to Twitter but also to listen to their friends’ Twitter messages via their phone. So I’m very pleased that Twitterfone now enables two and multi-way conversations on Twitter using any phone while you’re on the move.”

Twitterfone doesn’t need to be installed on a phone, does not need to be downloaded from the iTunes Appstore and can be used on any mobile phone on the planet. You don’t even need a screen! It’s the most accessible interface for the Twitter service.

On future expansions Phelan added:
“We’ve received a huge amount of feedback from our hyper-enthused users and we hope to provide them with what they want and we’ll be seeking some outside funding to do this. Twitterfone has become something much more than the proof of concept we initially launched.
We’re really excited about the relationship we have with our users and how we’re building a better product together.

* About *
Twitterfone Inc is privately owned Twitterfone is a US corporation with operations in the USA and Ireland. Its shareholders come from a mix of technological and telecoms background. Pat Phelan of MAXroam, Florian Seroussi of Global Roaming, David Marcus of Echovox (Zong) and Sean O Sullivan/Ivan MacDonald of Dial2Do.

* Using Twitterfone v2*
How the new Twitterfone magic happens:

You dial the TwitterFone number, press 1 and now you’ll hear your friends last 10 tweets from your home page. Simple.

Replies and Private messages? No problem:

While listening to a tweet from a user, you can send an @ to them by just pressing 2 and recording your reply. Likewise you can send them a private d message by pressing 3.

* Twitterfone Statistics: *
Twitterfone is currently available in 18 countries and will expand to many more in coming months.
Over 20,000 people have signed up to Twitterfone since it launched in May.

BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.55 for Cuve 8320

This latest version of OS 4.5 should add more stability to previous releases. 4.5.0.55 is reducing the 'unexpected general error' on BB Messenger.
Only valid for 8320 owners.

http://rapidshare.com/files/132732724/8320AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel81_PL2.7.0.68_A4.5.0.55.exe.html

Enjoy.

SLYDIAL and YOUMAIL

SLYDIAL:

A bad news to break? You need to confirm a meeting but don't want to start a 45 min conversation? Slydial is the best solution - a free voice messaging service called that connects you directly to someone's voicemail so you can actually leave a message.
You just need to sign up for the service—free with ads tacked on, paid to skip them—and dial 267-SLYDIAL to leave a pre-saved contact or any phone number voicemail without their phone actually ringing. If you know someone's busy and want to leave a note for later, or you're just running short on time and can't afford a back-and-forth, SlyDial's a pretty handy service (especially if you pay to skip a 30-second ad).


YouMail:

Best mobile service add-on. I’ve been testing the YouMail voicemail service as a replacement to the standard, boring mailbox that comes standard with all mobile phone plans. So far, I am impressed. It’s good and free.
The most compelling features are the text message and email notification options. YouMail will text message you info about the caller, their carrier, and location even if they do not leave message. The option to receive voice mails as email attachments is great for archival and review. I have an unlimited data plan which allows me to retrieve new voicemails without wasting my peak minutes. You also have the possibility to block some callers to leave you voice mail - so useful to avoid automated phone calls.

I have been using visual voice mail for over 2 years thru Spinvox. YouMail is 3 steps ahead of their competition because :

1- IT'S FREE
2- Notification of missed calls with carrier, location, and caller ID
3- Different greetings for different callers
4- Excellent speech to text engine
5- FAST.




Voicemail is definitely not dead!!

Pandora Internet Radio block users outside the US

Pandora Internet Radio block users outside the US
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI

Fake BlackBerry commercial. Very funny :)

A must see.

New Exclusive BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.52 for Curve

Be the first to try new Beta OS 4.5.0.52 for curve. Last version I published was build 46. This new version is more stable, UMA works like a charm and device is slightly faster.

Here are the download links:

Curve 8300:
http://rapidshare.com/files/128261869/8300M_PBr4.5.0_rel75_PL2.7.0.66_A4.5.0.52.exe

Curve 8310:
http://rapidshare.com/files/128308375/8310M_PBr4.5.0_rel75_PL2.7.0.66_A4.5.0.52.exe

Curve 8320:
http://rapidshare.com/files/128259380/8320AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel75_PL2.7.0.66_A4.5.0.52.exe

Enjoy!!

UPDATE:

Link for 4.5.0.52 for 8100

http://rapidshare.com/files/128822694/8100M_PBr4.5.0_rel75_PL2.7.0.66_A4.5.0.52.exe

$10.000.000 per day for you...

This is how much US carriers are spending in advertising to convince you to use their services. According to this study US carriers are spending over $4b per year on advertising. $10 Million per day to which we should add advertising budget of manufacturers like Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, LG, BlackBerry and Apple.

Advertising budget of mobile industry exceeds $10b per year in North America. I will not start to argue how those heavy dollars could change poverty in the world - although it could. But I will certainly argue on how wrong those carriers are to promote their services before upgrading their network.
US market is a third world market for Telecom experts. We still do not have 3G - except AT&T at a lousy speed and not everywhere. No MMS for Apple, mobile portals are old looking Wap sites, quality of service is poor, GSM coverage limited to large cities, range of devices on the market is nothing compare to Europe.
That also explains the large success of the iPhone in the US. It's like going from a 1967 VW Beetle to an Aston Martin DB9. American people are still amazed by services offered on the iPhone such as weather, stock and others.
France Telecom Mobile 10 years ago was providing such advanced services to its Itineris subscribers in France.

Here is how US carriers could spend their dollars wisely:

- Upgrade your network infrastructure.
- Give us better coverage, faster internet, more content, better pricing…

Out of the $300M you spend every month on advertising could you allocate 0.3% to charity please?

Don’t worry too much for your business US carriers – Telecom is a recession resistant industry in case you didn’t know!

One positive things about operators ads. They are beautiful. Check this TV ad of Orange in Thailand.



Source: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/31374.php

Why Sprint don't get it!

It's wrong to buy your videos.

First of all they are going to get millions of wackos trying to kill themselves to produce the *best* video. Second because sharing IS NOT about money.

Sprint don't seem to understand anything in Social Media. Nada.

Do they actually have a CMO - Marketing officer?? Who came up with such a stupid idea?
They should open a channel on YouTube and simply ask people to send their videos there.
Public - you and me- would vote for the best video. No money involved, interesting content would received more viewers and everyone is happy.

Paying mass content is wrong.

If they want a state of art mobile video - they should ask Steven Spielberg or Georges Lucas and pay the price.
My friends at Qik.com must really laugh at Sprint now. They get hundreds of real time videos on their website and they don't even pay them a dime. In fact I'm pretty sure few users would pay for a premium service offering nice placement, high bandwidth and HD resolution.
Sprint is also wrong to use a SAMSUNG in their ad. SAMSUNG is to video what Sprint is to Telecom. A bad product based on a bad technology. CDMA...pffff

BlackBerry OS 4.5 Links updated and .46 version available

Curve 8300:
http://www.shareonall.com/eight300AllLang_4.5.0.fortytwo_sfzw_exe.htm

Curve 8310:
http://rapidshare.com/files/125870303/8310_4.5.0.46.exe

Curve 8320:
http://rapidshare.com/files/125868326/8320_4.5.0.46.exe

BONUS by request

Pearl 8100:
http://rapidshare.com/files/125872378/8100_4.5.0.46.exe

Pearl 8110:
http://www.shareonall.com/8110AllLang_4.5.0.42_jlpe_exe.htm

Pearl 8120:
http://www.shareonall.com/8120AllLang_4.5.0.42_nkvp_exe.htm

8700:
http://www.shareonall.com/8700AllLang_4.5.0.42_plnn_exe.htm

8800:
http://www.shareonall.com/8800AllLang_4.5.0.42_apnm_exe.htm

8820:
http://rapidshare.com/files/125873990/8820_4.5.0.46.exe

AIR Adobe Showcase

Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system runtime that enables you to use your existing HTML/Ajax, Flex, or Flash web development skills and tools to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop.


For dummies: a cool browser that runs nice looking services on your MAC or PC. One thing: you must be online for most services offered.

Few services I like:
- Twhirl
- Adobe Media Player
- AOL 100 videos
- Google analytics THE BEST

Check out those 2 websites for showcases http://freshairapps.com/ and http://flex.org/showcase/

Here is a small video embedded here thanks to AOL 100 Videos.

Vlingo Voice to Text application for BlackBerry

My best friend is my BlackBerry. It's reliable, fast, and efficient. One thing that has been missing on BB are applications. But lately developers have worked hard to provide better mobile apps on RIM devices.
Today I will present Vlingo a cool application. Just watch the video and enjoy.



Download application here:
-- www.vlingo.com/vlingo/download.jsp
-- m.vlingo.com (OTA)
-- www.vlingo.com/getvlingo (OTA)

BlackBerry Curve 8300/8310/8320 - Pearl 8100/8110/8120 - 8800/8820 - 8700 OS 4.5 Beta 42

I just received a major update of OS 4.5 Beta Build 42. Some important upgrades here:

• BlackBerry Maps with Points of Interest
• Improved media player with playlist support and automatic playlist generation
• Voice note recording
• Video recording on Curve models
• Streaming support for YouTube and Sling Player
• Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo
• Native format attachment downloading - ONLY FOR BES USERS
• HTML e-mails - ONLY FOR BES USERS
• Over-the-air device upgrades - ONLY FOR BES USERS
• Free/busy calendar lookup - ONLY FOR BES USERS
• Searching the server for old e-mail messages - ONLY FOR BES USERS

Curve 8300:
http://www.shareonall.com/8300AllLang_4.5.0.42_hudx_exe.htm

Curve 8310:
http://www.shareonall.com/8310AllLang_4.5.0.42_ghys_exe.htm

Curve 8320:
http://www.shareonall.com/8320AllLang_4.5.0.42_hhky_exe.htm

Pearl 8100:
http://www.shareonall.com/8100AllLang_4.5.0.42_iasd_exe.htm

Pearl 8110:
http://www.shareonall.com/8110AllLang_4.5.0.42_jlpe_exe.htm

Pearl 8120:
http://www.shareonall.com/8120AllLang_4.5.0.42_nkvp_exe.htm

8700:
http://www.shareonall.com/8700AllLang_4.5.0.42_plnn_exe.htm

8800:
http://www.shareonall.com/8800AllLang_4.5.0.42_apnm_exe.htm

8820:
http://www.shareonall.com/8820AllLang_4.5.0.42_hfyv_exe.htm

Enjoy!!!

Keep in mind to backup your device BEFORE starting the upgrade process!!

BlackBerry Desktop Update 4.6

I posted BlackBerry Media Desktop 4.5 Beta last week. Here is an updated version 4.6.
Feel free to give it a try here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/121762453/BlackBerry_Desktop__460_b008_MultiLang.exe

MMM aka Mobile Monday Miami

Last night I visited Nokia's new HQ in Miami. Beautiful work space next to Miami Intl Airport. Mobile Monday Miami was held there. About 50 attendees - all very interesting people looking for opportunities to develop business relations with local/regional Florida companies. Alex de Carvalho (@alexdc) hosted the show in a state of the art showroom. Unfortunately Nokia did not display any of new smartphone. Latest phone on display was a N95 :(

Here is a short interview of Alex after the event.



For more information : www.momomiami.com/mmm

New BlackBerry Desktop Manager 4.5 Beta

Back again with more of unleashed released of BlackBerry. 24.000 downloads of Beta OS. That's a lot. Well today I'm going to post new BlackBerry Desktop Manager Beta 4.5. Nothing much to what you already have to be honest. Except a nicer interface and at last a media manager for your photos and videos.
So here is the link to download the new BlackBerry Desktop Manager :
http://rapidshare.com/files/119957560/BlackBerry_Desktop_450_Bundle14.zip

You can now upgrade your BlackBerry OS with latest beta here!

I have been using Blackberry for the last 5 years and I still think BB is the best mobile corporate solution for emails. Nonetheless RIM did not step into the smartphone business. The made a bad choice and are desperately trying to catch up. We all know they have an updated version of their OS. Lucky ones - like me- have had access to beta version since February.
In march I posted a 90 sec video on YouTube and to my surprise it drained 6000 viewers and 250 comments. WOW!



I never thought so many BB users were as frustrated as I was.

So now I decided to make a step forward and share my Beta versions with my friends.

Of course those are BETA versions. You are sole responsible for any damage to your device. Sorry for the disclaimer - we are in America :)

Instructions for updating your BlackBerry OS:

Make sure you have the latest version of Desktop Manager 4.3 installed.

Download the latest OS for your BlackBerry model to the PC then install it to the PC by running the file you downloaded.

Go to \Program Files\Common Files\Research in Motion\AppLoader and DELETE the Vendor.xml file.

Plug in your BlackBerry via USB and Open Desktop Manager. You should be prompted to upgrade.

Be patient, it can take more than an hour... Mine took nearly one hour.

DO NOT DISCONNECT THE DEVICE.

If you end up with a white screen with small icons and the number 507, re-connect to Desktop Manager again and run the application loader and it should load the OS to the device.

Curve 8300:http://rapidshare.com/files/117863222/8300AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Curve 8310:http://rapidshare.com/files/116659709/8310AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Curve 8320:http://rapidshare.com/files/116666243/8320AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Pearl 8100:http://rapidshare.com/files/117876039/8100AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Pearl 8110:http://rapidshare.com/files/117879253/8110AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Pearl 8120:http://rapidshare.com/files/117867249/8120AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

8700:http://rapidshare.com/files/117869867/8700AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

8800:http://rapidshare.com/files/116782583/8800AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

8820:http://rapidshare.com/files/117873045/8820AllLang_PBr4.5.0_rel52_PL2.7.0.55_A4.5.0.37.exe

Puff Daddy and Me

Puff Daddy and Me
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI

Really cool guy in the VodaFone Motorhome of MacLaren in Monaco during Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Puff Daddy and my wife

Puff Daddy and my wife
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Amazing picture during Grand Prix of Formula1 in Monaco 2008.

CelTrek now advertising on National TV

I worked hard to bring my company to where it is now. After a successful reverse merge last year we have now gone mass market. This first TV and Newspapers campaign is to alert consumer of alternatives to their actual cellphone provider. We - at Global Roaming- offer a better product than T-Mobile and ATT for travelers. You keep your local phone number, travel the world and pay about 90% less than with your actual carrier.

It was not simple to define an ad for us. Final result is very educational. I like it. For sure next round of ads will be more artistic.




CelTrek - Global Roaming Distribution TV commercial.

My new venture : TWITTERFONE

* Allows anyone to send updates to Twitter by calling a number
* Voice is automatically transcribed to text

Twitterfone www.twitterfone.com - an Internationally backed voice to text message service launched today in the US, UK and Ireland.

Twitterfone voice-enables Twitter, a text message rebroadcast service and the hottest social networking service at the moment. With Twitterfone, people can dictate text messages via their mobile to be sent out to everyone on their Twitter social network.

Twitterfone investor and Cubic Telecom President Pat Phelan stated “Right now the million active users of Twitter use cell phones or computers to send and receive short bursts of texts to each other. Millions of messages each day are sent like this but while Twitter is one of the truly mobile social networks out there, there are times when users on the move cannot stop what they are doing to key in a message.

Twitterfone improves upon Twitter by allowing us to make a voice call which is turned into text and sent out to our network of friends. This only costs the price of a local call, no matter how many it is sent to. With hands-free kits common in cars it now means we can text each other without taking our eyes off the road and our hands off the wheel.”

How Twitter works:

Once people sign up to Twitter, they can subscribe to receive updates of users and receive them via the web or a text message. Web gurus Jason Calacanis and Robert Scoble have over 20,000 subscribers each and even the Los Angeles Fire Department and the English Government are now sending out text updates to people via their Twitter account.

An alliance of international high-tech and telecom companies provide the technology platform behind Twitterfone. Geneva-based VOX telecom provides calls routing, Redwood City, California-based Zong powers mobile enrollment and transactions, MAXroam powers the telephony intelligence system and Dublin firm Dial2Do supplies the core speech recognition which is at the heart of Twitterfone. Dial2Do CEO Ivan MacDonald stated

“We’ve been involved in the space where the phone system meets the web for a long time now, and naturally we’ve been fascinated by the rise of Twitter. Increasingly, we’ll see “web 2.0″ services that people use primarily from their phones. Projections are that mobiles will become the dominant way of accessing the Internet, and a lot of this will be done via voice interfaces. We are very pleased to see Dial2Do add even more value to an already extraordinary service.”

Phelan added “We built this because we are all avid users of Twitter and have made some excellent business connections and friendships from it. We decided to see what we could contribute to the service and with our telecoms backgrounds the Twitterfone idea fitted perfectly”.

Twitterfone is in invite beta at the moment meaning that only those that have been sent invites can join up. There will be regular releases of invites and Twitterfone says they have planned for a million sign-ups over the next year.

Twitterfone is a private company.
Its owners are Pat Phelan, Sean O Sullivan, Ivan MacDonald, David Marcus and Florian Seroussi.

I am in the Sun Sentinel :)

Etan Horowitz wrote a nice article on video streaming. He interviewed me last week on the usage of Qik. As I mentioned to him; Qik is a perfect tool for sharing real moments in real time. You can check my Qik page on www.Qik.com/florian. Sun Sentinel article HERE.
Enjoy one of my Qiks:

Who broke my Twitter?

Twitter is a conversation tool – I consider it to be a revolution. 140 characters long messages to say it all. No bullshit, no turning around. Just plain instant thinking.

I’m a big Twitter fan – that’s no news to you. 1200 followers, 4000 tweets, 700 direct messages…impressive you think. Well no!!

Some guys decided to break the rules –yeah…I know there are no rules. Anyway Jason Calacanis decided to be #1 tweeterer and offered a free mac book Air to reach 20.000 followers. Since then Twitter has turned into a racetrack. Schumacher aka Scoble was leading for many months, Barack Obama came in and broke all the figures with over 23K follower…and no ones give a shit…

Twitter is hijacked from its primary purpose. Here we go with EgoTwitter. Mine is bigger than yours 

So you can ask me the difference between my 1200 followers and that new guy who registered last week and already has 2000 followers- and the answer is: NETWORK. Like many-hopefully-we build a network over time creating an interesting noise; sharing tips; helping out. Like a relationship.But you can’t buy friends. Never worked!! Twitter is no exception.

Paul Walsh is launching a new venture and to drag new users- he uses that stupid trick: Buy the audience. It doesn’t look too good for a start- unless your business is boring… Sorry Paul !

I’m not against giving away prizes…or receiving prizes…in fact one idea will be to have a group contest where all prizes would be presented. Few mac book Air – Steve Jobs will be happy; cards; travels; phones; plasma…I think its called eBay

But here – if you want to break Twitter and get 40K followers you can do the following. Register @HugeBoobs, upload a picture of a nice blond with prominent 00 and start twittering of your loneliness; add every single user on public time line for 3 weeks and BINGO!!I can guarantee you’ll end up in top 10 users. No give-away – just grabbing the attention.

Moderation, no moderation THAT is the question! I followed Shel Israel’s interview of Twitter founders –BTW Shel was really good on this one; Loren Feldman really saved Shel he just doesn’t know it yet. Anyway - I saw a product manager giving numbers; stats; I hate that mostly in a conversation tool. Do you do statistics about your friends? How many time they called you today? Do you rank keywords in your conversation? That’s bull…

There are 2 kinds of usage. First one I’ll call it Broadcasting Mode. Fucking annoying. I un-followed Guy Kawazaki for this reason.200 tweets per day with hyperlink.Duh!! Have you heard about RSS feeds?? What are you trying to do? The worst usage someone can do of Twitter is definitely Broadcasting. At least if you think of getting into it be very specific in your profile and avoid: “prolific blogger avid for new conversation…”.

Second is called Conversation Mode. The only interesting one. Open text message platform making an incredible noise based on sharing; debating and creating content. Everyday I find interesting stories cool links helpful tips and meet incredible people. I selected 3 service providers found on Twitter. Just like that! Twitter is delivering 5% of its potential; we can do much better if we de-pollute our timeline.

I understand they have a business to run BUT they must understand Twitter is driven by its population – not the other way around. We decide what we want it to become. No one else! If I had the audience I would prove it by launching a strike. No tweets for 4 hours to stop few egocentric guys from using OUR tool as a self-promotion platform.

I may be naïve - you’re right I can hear you- everyone is promoting himself on Twitter. Ok ok…but let’s put some efforts into it. Start a conversation. Do not buy my friendship with a laptop or a GPS! Buy it with words; trust and confidence.

You can have no rules when there is an auto regulation – Wikipedia kind of. Twitter does not have it yet! I hope they’ll get it before it looses its momentum. This is the only place where I see a failure.

PS: 2 things I want to add. Don’t ask me for lists. Black list; white list is not my cup of tea. I’d rather change people than ban people. No one deserves to be put aside. Secondly I don’t like boycotts. Something I can’t and won’t do.

1st drinking campaign??

1st drinking campaign??
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Incredible invitation to drink alcohol in Ireland. Sad.
Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

Bellagio night shot

Bellagio night shot
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

Exceptional view

Exceptional view
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

Bellagio Vegas

Bellagio Vegas
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

CTIA 2008

CTIA 2008
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Just made it to Vegas for CTIA show. It's going to be a busy week. More to come soon!
Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

Delta 1774 to Las Vegas

Delta 1774 to Las Vegas
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

New SIM version is around the corner

VONx video panel

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VONx

VONx
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

M6 [2]

M6

IMG00075.jpg

IMG00075.jpg
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

IMG00066.jpg

IMG00066.jpg
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com

IMG00065.jpg

IMG00065.jpg
Originally uploaded by Florian SEROUSSI.

Sent via BlackBerry 8320 WiFi powered by www.CelTrek.com