Pete Dudchenko

I like music. I’m not sure that I can say I like good music, that’s subjective, but regardless of your opinion, I think I’ve found a pretty good way to listen to your favorite set of tunes. We’ve all heard of Bose but the amount of money they charge is pretty high. I won’t argue on the quality, although some audio snobs might, but I will propose to anyone out there looking for a set of quality headphones to check out audio-technica.

I recently bought their answer to the Bose Quiet Comfort Headset and I’m blown away. For $110 you can own a set of noise canceling headphones that are just as good, or arguably better than Bose, which charge $300 or more.

Check out the audio-technia ATH-ANC7 headphones.

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I picked up the BlackBerry 8310 (Curve) phone the other day and I’m hooked. I love having everything together (email, IM, phone, SMS) in one place and not having to load up my laptop every time I want to check email.

I have put together a list of my favorite BlackBerry applications as well as BlackBerry applications that I would like to see:

My Favorites:

Google Maps – Not only does this allow you to quickly find directions while on the go, but with the recent addition of GPS support (which the Curve has) I don’t have to know where I am to find out where I need to go. My phone tells me within a few meters where I’m at.

Viigo – Think Google Reader but made specifically for mobile. This app not only allows you to import in your current RSS reader subscriptions but it can be set to automatically update in a time frame you set (2 hours, 4 hours, etc). That means that when you run the program, your feeds are already up-to-date

JiveTalk – Trillian or Pidgin for your phone. Do you use multiple IM clients like Yahoo IM, MSN Messenger, Google Talk and others? This is the mobile IM client to use. It’s not free, but I’ve been playing with the trial version and it may be worth the money. The interface is clean and easy to use which is nice considering how complicated it must be to fit all contacts and conversations onto a small screen. Plus it only uses data which means no SMS charges.

BBWeather- A simple weather application that allows you to track multiple cities and view current conditions as well as forecasts. The nice thing again is the automatic updates so when you launch the application, you know it’s current.

Of course there are plenty others that are more popular like Gmail, Google sync and Opera Mini.

And what list would be complete without some wishful thinking? Here are some apps that I would like to see:

Download Podcasts Directly to your BlackBerry – Why not? We already have a data plan, the Curve is set up with a media player, this just seems like something that would be out there already. I did notice on the Viigo website a mention of Tango, which seems to have audio in the picture but I’m not sure what that will mean exactly.

Telenav for Google – Did someone just call me cheap? I haven’t tried Telenav yet but it looks awesome. For those not familiar, Telenav offers GPS real-time navigation for your phone. The only reason I haven’t tried it is the price. I would think that Google would offer something close to this as a next step for Google Maps for Mobile, which would make it free. It seems like a logical next step for Google as they already offer turn-by-turn directions and GPS support. Why not bring the two together for real-time directions. From an advertising standpoint, wouldn’t it be beneficial for customers to find your store and have an easy way to locate you?

Integrated To Do List – I use online to do lists like Remember the Milk rather than Outlook’s Tasks so I can’t easily sync my tasks onto my phone. Sure they offer mobile access but when I want to quickly check something, it takes time to load a browser, navigate to the list and check it off. Why not offer a mobile application for BlackBerries like they do for Windows Mobile already? Or better yet, let it sync with the native task list on my curve.

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Google Maps for your phone has a new beta feature called My Location that been released that can determine your approximate location, EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GPS PHONE! Without getting technical, it can triangulate your position using the different cell phone towers to get an idea where you are. A lot of you may have heard about this with some of the 911 technology for cell phones. And if you have a GPS phone? Even better, it can determine your exact location.

So no more endless typing into your cell phone where you are and what you are looking for. Just hit “0” on your keypad and let the application do the work for you. Since it’s in beta, not all phones are supported.

The Google Help Page offers the following phones as currently supported, I have an SE phone but, alas, I’m not lucky enough to try it out yet.

• BlackBerry devices


• Some recent Motorola devices


• Some recent Sony Ericsson devices


• Many Windows Mobile devices


• Nokia Series 60 3rd Edition devices

Anyone have a chance to test it out? Please let me know what you think.

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I present to you the Crazy Cat Lady action figure, complete with 6 additional cats…

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Jott announced some new features today from their email sent out to beta users. If you haven’t used Jott before its a pretty simple but helpful concept. You call their toll-free number, after registering, and leave a voice message. That message is then transcribed into text to be emailed to yourself or someone else. It’s great for leaving yourself or others tasks, reminders, or communicating to groups. Below are some of the new features added:

Jott Links: Now you can update your blog, Twitter™, add to your 30 boxes™ to do list or send a message through Yahoo Groups™ – all with Jott! For example, when Jott asks you “Who do want to Jott” just say “Twitter”, speak your message and your update will appear in text on Twitter…

Jott Reminders: With the new Jott Reminders, Jott can remind you of important events 15 minutes before they start. Just say “Reminder” and Jott will ask you for the date, time, and subject. Now you can stop worrying about remembering those important appointments in your busy life.

Jott Folders: With Jott Folders you create preset categories for your Jotts to self. Set up folders for family, expenses, to-do list, or anything that you want. Then simply say the name of the folder the next time you leave a Jott and it’ll be waiting for you in that folder.

Personally I find this useful in the car or on the go. I can easily set a task or reminder and have it sitting in my inbox the next time I log onto my computer.

Link: Jott

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I recently reported on a site that makes a South Park character of you, here’s another one for The Simpsons…does this look like me?

Link: Simpsonize Yourself!

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I’ve got to admit that my secret wish is to know how to play the guitar. Unfortunately, given my job, a wedding coming up, trying to hit the gym more than once a week, and football season starting, there are higher priorities that take up my day. Truth be told, my desire to learn how to play the guitar isn’t nearly as strong and my wish to just know how to play it. Plus any dreams of becoming a rock star went out the window long ago so really, it would just be fun to be able to play some of my favorite songs.

Well there’s a new beta site out there that tries to help those of us that, like me, just want to know how to play a couple of songs. Songs are rated based upon difficulty and there’s video instructions on how to play. Granted, the song selection is limited right now but hopefully that will change.

Link: Now Play It

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