Legal Tech Discussions

Since my last post (sorry for the hiatus – holiday season and work interfered), quite a bit has happened on the tech scene that impacts the law practice arena. Some of them (in no particular order) are:

Google Buzz

Google dropped a major surprise on the internet arena when it unleashed its Buzz service last week with no advance warning. Buzz is a social media service, that allows posting of comments, topics, etc. to either the entire public or to groups of those who “follow” you, and allows comments by those followers on your posts and those of others. Google says that “New posts and comments pop in as they happen. No refresh required.” Like Twitter, Buzz allows you to follow the “buzzes” of other subscribers to the service. It presently can link to (and import content from) Twitter, Picasa, Flickr and Google Reader. The Google Buzz service can appear as a tab in your Gmail account.

The initial release of Buzz was bumpy because Google had only tested the service in-house. Consequently, its launch process by default posted each subscriber’s contacts (or persons they “followed”) to their public profile. That led to a storm of complaints and, in turn, Google revised and corrected the default sign-up parameters within about 2 days of the product’s launch.

When someone first subscribes to Buzz, unless they are very careful all incoming “buzzes” will appear in the Gmail account. However, there is an option when initially subscribing to specify that “buzzes” will not appear in the Gmail account (and therefore will only appear on the Buzz tab).

Buzz offers other new and innovative features: “buzzes” can contain images (per Google, “Photo friendly – See thumbnails with each post, and browse full-screen photos from popular sites”). It also allows you to run it as an app on your smartphone, with the added capabilities of geo-tagging your comments and viewing the location of “buzzes” as an overly on a map (showing “buzz around you”).

Google’s Nexus One phone

Google has also released its Nexus One phone. That phone runs Google’s Android phone operating system. The device is sold unlocked (not restricted to use on a single network provider). Google currently offers it for use on the T-Mobile network in the United States; a version for use on the Verizon (US) and Vodafone (European) networks is expected in the second calendar quarter of 2010. Engadget has reported that a recent FCC filing also suggests the phone may be released in a version supporting AT&T’s 3G data networks in the future.

The Nexus One offers multi-touch capability similar to that of other multi-touch enabled smartphones (iPhone, Palm Pre, etc). It also has pinch-to-zoom functionality in the phone’s browser, gallery and maps applications. Third-party apps that support multi-touch gestures are readily available (there is a NexusApps website from which apps can be downloaded). The phone also integrates tightly with all Google applications (such as Gmail, Google Contacts and Google Calendar). It offers full support for push email, calendar, and contact sync when working with a variety of Microsoft Exchange Servers.

Mobile World Congress

The annual Mobile World Congress was recently held in Barcelona, Spain. This yearly meeting features all of the mobile device manufacturers and showcases the newest technology and developments in the mobile phone arena. Perhaps the biggest announcement was “Windows Phone Series 7″ – Microsoft’s new release of its Windows Mobile platform for smartphones, renamed to play off the success of Windows 7 and to avoid any reference to the dismal Windows Mobile devices that preceded it. I have linked to a report on the conference by Sasche Segan of PC Magazine.

The “Windows Phone Series 7″ software is totally new and is a complete break with the prior Windows Mobile software platform. It is only “vaporware” so far, though, as phones with this software are not going to be available until what Microsoft is calling the “next holiday season” – presumably the Christmas shopping season. Microsoft has a website dedicated to the product. Here’s a PC Magazine early review of the software entitled “What Windows learned from Apple”.

Another big announcement at the Mobile World Congress was that Verizon will offer Skype. “Verizon to Offer Skype on Cellphones.” That availability will offer big savings to Verizon customers making long distance and overseas calls. PC Magazine has published a review of the “best Verizon phones for Skype.”

One list item from the Mobile World Congress that intrigued me:  Texas Instruments is on the road to creating 3-D displays for cell phones (and other hand-held devices, I presume). “Eyes on with TI’s Amazing 3-D Phone Display“

Social Media

Lastly, for those who haven’t yet caught on, social media is booming. Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Google Buzz, Flickr and Youtube are just some of the services. Aggregating tools are also big – Friendfeed, Tweetdeck and Soocial are just three. Microsoft has just entered into this market with its Outlook Social Connector. a plug-in for Office 2010 that links Outlook to the Linkedin, Facebook and Myspace social media sites. Here’s the Microsoft blog announcement of the product.

Future posts:

• are you safe in the cloud?
• making sense of Google online services – accounts, tools and rules