Sunday, June 29, 2008

Twitter

Parts of the Twitter service has has numerous downtimes this month and is developing a reputation of been down a heap. Now I hear there are multiple high profile Twitter users making the switch to FriendFeed.

Could Twitter be the next Friendster? The Twitter user base is a relatively small, highly niche market, and the are basically operating without a valid business plan so the possibility is there. So, every day that passes with problems, this possibility increases.

I strangely find it so interesting that I have to check the stats.twitter.com everyday to see if anything interesting happened on that day, sort of like a reality show. I will just have to watch the unfolding drama. Until the next episode...

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Downtime

Our SMS service was down from 3am to around noon today due to connectivity issues at the Philippine end. We are back online but the system may take a little while to normalize. Thousands of messages queued as a result of the loss of connectivity but will be delivered shortly.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Syner-G SMS Services

Funny thing happened a couple months ago when we met with the management of one of the leading wireless carriers here on Guam, we got around to comparing numbers. Apparently we do more SMS traffic to/from the Philippines on one day than they do in one month. We could literally see their jaws drop at the numbers we were giving them.

Given that we met with a leading wireless carrier(maybe the biggest) and there are only around 5 carriers here, the numbers of the other carriers would not be that far off. If we multiplied the monthly average for the carrier by 5, the multiple would still not equal our daily average. Very cool.

Now admittedly, SMS is not a big money maker for the carriers. They sort of just leverage SMS to get the voice traffic, so while our traffic is high, they are still the one making the money.

We love the fact that we are disrupting the communications industry on Guam with our tiny (3 person) operation. Not bad for a service that was built from scratch by us. I can only imagine what we can do if we had the money/budget of the big communications companies.

Be sure keep a watch out though, we are still building enhancements and new services all the time. Maybe we can disrupt another industry...

Monday, May 5, 2008

MicroHoo No More

If you haven't heard, Microsoft withdrew it's proposal to buy Yahoo. Too bad, it would have been interesting to see what Microsoft would try to do with it. IMHO it would have been an EPIC FAIL but fun to watch just the same.

Supposedly Yahoo was going to be the vehicle Microsoft would use to try to catch up to Google in Search, and they missed the bus. What is Microsoft to do now? The thing for them to remember, is Search is still in it's infancy and is essentially confined to the PC.

Personal life stream search accessible on any device will be the future.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Microsoft Loves Xobni

Techcrunch has an article about Microsoft signing a Letter of Intent to to buy Xobni. Xobni has an Outlook plugin that turns your inbox into your own personal social network. It looks like a pretty nifty program although I haven't used it myself. It is still in Beta Invite mode.

What is interesting to me is the question posted by one of the readers. He asked why didn't Microsoft just buy Plaxo instead, since to him it fit more into Microsoft's strategy. I posit that there are two main reasons.

First, Xobni is an Outlook plugin, if it experiences a significant uptake then there is immediately more reason to use outlook. Tie-in means market share.

Second, buying them means Xobni won't port the plugin to other mail clients, effectively killing the possibility of a Xobni user to move to a different mail client or even OS.

Hmmm... Maybe that should be the strategy for startups that have a cool idea and want to get bought out quickly.

1. Build something on the Microsoft platform exclusively.
2. Build some buzz about your product.
3. Get a LOI from Microsoft. Cha-Ching!!!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Windows 7

There has been a lot of talk about Microsoft's coming "Windows 7" OS and whether it will be modular. Meaning you will pay once to get the base OS, then pay again to get the features you need. Presumably this ends up saving the consumer money since you will spend only on the stuff want in your system. In addition people see it as a way to get the monopoly monkey off Microsoft's back.

Looks good on paper but I say nay! Not gonna work fellas. First off, nobody wants to pay twice to get a product that should have been complete to begin with. Secondly, it is the control of the kernel that the monopoly watchers are really looking at. Since Microsoft has strict control of the kernel, from its APIs, to its development, to its documentation, no one can ever hope to really compete on a level playing field.

In my opinion, This is what Microsoft should do:

1. Release the kernel in Open Source - this will lift the Monopoly hammer, and as an added benefit, the Open Source Community will be automatically enlisted to find and fix any bugs in the kernel.
(Note, this will not work for kernels of existing products, you will just be inviting trouble from hackers looking to find exploits. It would work much better for future release kernels. In fact, making or using an Open Source kernel from the get go may be the best option.)

2. Build then distribute the base OS pack for free. This should include the kernel, drivers, a basic interface and a SDK. The SDK is needed to get Developers excited about building products for your OS. (Remember, there is always going to be more developer outside your company than within, no matter how big your company is, also think about your recent brain drain.)

3. Build enhanced features. In particular, build features that take advantage of the cloud(online storage, enhanced communication and online backup come to mind), then charge for the features, something like $10 per year for home users and $20 per year for business users. Low enough to entice everyone to pay instead of having to forgo the use of the extra services. A killer app may be needed here.

4. Then there are server services for companies/organizations that you can build and charge for, such as mail and collaboration.

These steps particularly good at getting rid of the piracy problem since you are no longer selling products. Services are going to be your game.

So Microsoft, if you need help implementing this don't hesitate to contact me, I don't mind being hired as a consultant.... hehe.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Incrementalism

I really enjoyed Jeff Nolan's article entitled "Incrementalism and The New New Thing ". It was also a sentiment echoed by Om Malik in a blog post referring to Jeff's article.

It is a thought that I am sure a lot of us have had for a while. The 2.0 startup crowd seems to have adopted a "With A Twist" strategy. i.e. Take a look at what website is hot and build a clone with a slight twist. The twist, more often than not, is nothing more than an improvement or added feature in the service. Real innovative web services are still few and far between. Now either we are running out of big ideas or entrepreneurs are just trying to make a quick buck. I really hope it is the latter.

On the flip side, it is kind of interesting that two of the biggest things to blow up in the past two years, Facebook and Twitter, still have to find a viable business model.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Apple's World Domination Ambitions

A couple days ago John's Blog added an entry about Apple and the recent software update addition. It has people up in arms.

Their worries? The fact that Apple was kind of underhanded in the way they were trying to get users to start using Safari as their browser. But can you really blame them? They were just leveraging their domination in one area of the desktop to try to get into another vertical. Any company worth their salt will try things like this. Although I do think they should have been more upfront about it and not try to sneak it in as a software update to iTunes. A splash dialog maybe?!?!?

More important is what all this signals. It seems that this is just the latest salvo in the war that Apple is waging on Internet user with the ultimate goal of dominating the Internet. Other shots included the iPhone itself, only being able to develop web apps on the iPhone(at least initially), no Flash, and Safari's move to Windows, among others.

But why? Because they want developers to think of the Mac/iPhone platform first when building the next killer web app. Initially only allowing developers to develop web apps on the iPhone was specifically designed to encourage this. When the next must have web app runs best using a mac or iPhone, people will be encouraged to buy those products. Think monopoly. This may not be all bad because Apple does build awesome products, but diversity is the Spice of life.

Let's just hope they don't try to develop their own Flash like platform or start encouraging developers to put "Best Viewed in iPhone" tags at the bottom of pages. Hehe.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Superb Attention Grab

Paul Kedrosky's blog entry entitled "Google Announces Layoffs" is simply brilliant! ...well the title is brilliant at least anyway.

A throwback to the practice of old media, it makes you go WHAT!!! and forces you to immediately click on it to find out more.

Hehe, Mr. Kedrosky, you got me.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

MyTexMoCo

Hi Everyone,

We just released a beta product called MyTexMoCo. Basically it is a script that you insert into your webpage or profile page such as Facebook, MySpace or Friendster. People visiting your page can send and receive text(SMS) messages to and from you even if they don't know your cell phone number.

Currently it is only available to Syner-G users. For more information, log into your account at the Gabriel-tech homepage then click on the Syner-G Apps button. Or check this out.


Thanks,

GTECH

Monday, March 3, 2008

Yahoo!

PinoyTechBlog reported yesterday that Yahoo! is setting up an office in the Philippines. Very cool considering all that is happening with Yahoo! right now. Just recently I read somewhere that one thousand people were let go in Yahoo! in the US.

I guess they are making a pretty penny from the Philippine community. Yehey!!! Uh... I mean Yahoo!!!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Google Under Fire

There are lots of reporters and bloggers reporting today on the downward trend in paid clicks and Google in particular. Is anyone really surprised? Even the fine folks in Google were probably thinking, when the f*ck in this sh*t gonna calm down!?! All the fluff pieces about Google in the media has skewed the stock into keeping on flying up, up, up and away.

For a while there some people were probably thinking Google can buck the economy's downturn. Sorry. They are good, but not that good.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Click Fraud

TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld has an article on the rising rate of click fraud industry wide. It is now at a whopping 28 percent. Wow!!! Are the gamers(ad click gamers) winning? It seems so.

If I was a potential advertiser, that number would certainly cause me to take a step back and to really evaluate the risk versus reward. Something needs to be done about it and fast. Although online advertising still has a huge advantage over old media advertising, an increasing click fraud rate could potentially negate it and stall the switch of advertising dollars.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Social Networking Hiccup

BBC has an article citing that the major social networks like Facebook and MySpace registered a user base drop. Interesting... Although the general trend should still be growth in the sector, I fear there are going to be more hiccups along the way. Remember folks, consumers are fickle, fickle, fickle, and the some rumblings of an anti-social network sentiment.

Facebook's numerous major missteps are not helping either.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Microsoft Eats Yahoo!?

Whoa!!! Microsoft just announced the offer to buy Yahoo! for almost 45Billion. I wonder what Google's reply will be... Hmmm.... An attempt to buy Gabriel Tech maybe? hehe.

Play Sample OPM Music on gustokoh.com!

Our partner pinoy business CD Outlet will be uploading the Music Samples for select albums which means that you guys can pick one for example Sarah Geronimo's "Taking Flight" and the system will give you the capability to listen to 30 second samples of the songs of that album.

Just like you do when you go into a store and use their player to listen to music samples before you buy them. Cool Huh?

Anyway I hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to buy now while the Promo lasts.

Hey it's another thing to be imitated, just wait, he he he. =P'

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Would Wii like to Come Out and Play? Maybe After Supper.

CNet Blogger Don Reisinger had a blog entry entitled 'If people buy consoles for software, why is the Wii so popular?', interesting, but I think it's popularity cannot be drilled down to one single reason. I think the more interesting question is 'Why can't Nintendo keep up with demand for the Wii?'.

To that query, here is what I think. I actually think they don't want to meet demand. Huh?!? you say? Bear with me as I explain my theory. Here we go: It's a conspiracy run by Nintendo itself. To them, the lack of supply, serves two purposes. First, and most obvious is the 'you want what you can't have' syndrome. Lack of supply creates more demand. This actually plays into the popularity card very well.

Second and less obvious, is the fact that the people from Nintendo do not want you to have a Wii just yet. Some where down the line they realized that the only way to keep people interested in the console is to keep them busy with a slew of awesome games. Currently has a couple 'Must Have' games but that will not last long with consumers.

Our ADD is causing us to move to the next new thing quickly once we grow tired of something. That is not good if you are trying to make something like the Wii a mainstay of the customers' lives. If customers grow tired of the games available on the Wii, they will buy a new console. Therefore the next time the customer buys a game, they will not be thinking of the Wii when they buy, game over.

So I think Nintendo will wait a little longer until it has a couple more blockbuster games in it's lineup before actually try to 'catch up' with demand for the console. All under the guise of manufacturing issues.


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Facebook Founder on 60 Minutes

Did you catch the 60 Minutes interview Lesley Stahl had with Mark Zuckerberg(Click Here to Watch)? Buzz around the net was that interview didn't exactly endear viewers to the Facebook founder. In fact at one point, there was extremely awkward moment when Ms. Stahl asked Mark if he was replacing the Google boys as Silicon Valley's new King of the Hill. Come on Mark, at least try to mask your arrogance.

Not only did it fail to impress but it even failed to give any reassurance that Facebook would pro actively protect private info for its users. Being of Filipino decent, I have the obligatory Friendster account so right now I don't think I am going to get a Facebook account just yet.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Experience the Power of Information at your Fingertips with InfoTeXt Beta!

Last quarter last year we launched InfoTeXt Beta which is a FREE Service.

As we get more users who appreciate the Power of this system I just wanted to make sure that we don't forget about it!

Remember, with simple SMS from your mobile phone, you have 24-hour access to:

Limited Directory
Guam Movie Schedules
Limited Dictionary
News Updates (Guam and US)
Sports Updates
Pinoy News Updates
Current Peso Rate
Guam and Saipan Weather Alerts
and more!....

and it's FRRRREEEEEEE!! =D

For more on this click HERE.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Buy OPM CDs (Original Pilipino Music) now from GustoKoh.com!

For Gabriel Technologies, Inc. [Est. 2001 ;) ], New Year = New Technologies and Services!

As mentioned earlier, we are in Private Beta of the CallMoCo Service. You'll learn more about that in the coming posts.

But for now, we are proud to introduce to you, ANOTHER FIRST ON GUAM, a SECURED Dynamic Online OPM CD Store! =D Gabriel-Tech partnered up with one of the Pioneers in OPM Music Distribution who shall remain nameless until I get the Green Light to mention it. ;)

Ano? Gusto moh? Punta ka lang sa gustokoh! at http://www.gustokoh.com/

More about this later, check it out see what we have in stock, if we don't have it, send us an E-mail and we'll get it! As an added bonus for all of you on Guam, you won't have to pay for any Shipping Fees, you can just select the option at the Checkout Page to Pick Up. This way you can just pick up your CD when it is ready. =)

Right now we have Original Pilipino Music CDs and hard to find Imported CDs.

Some random samples of OPM CDs Available:

Nyoy Volante, Freestyle, Mayonnaise, Slapshock, Sitti, Amber, Lani Misalucha, Rivermaya and MUCH MORE!!

Some random samples of hard to find imported CDs Available:

Almost Kinda Acoustic, Modern Love 2, Marigold in the House, PBB Celebrity Edition, Search for Star In A Million, I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet 1 & 2 and MUCH MORE!!

You can Browse through our catalogues or Search for a specific Artist, Album or Song.

Please keep in mind that this Service is in Beta and it is continously being updated. Also it was optimized for INTERNET EXPLORER 7 and above so if it doesn't look right, use IE7.

Here's to a New Year of New Great Services to go along with our existing Services Since 2001 Mind you! ;D

Of Scumbridges and Things that Reek...

I need to get something off my chest so please excuse the RANT.

A couple months back, another company, let's just call them SCUMBridges, started a service similar to ours(Syner-G, low cost messaging to/from the Philippines). To me, this is honestly fine since it is better for the market and better for the customer to have a choice. The world is better served when there is a Pepsi/Coke, Nike/Adidas, Ford/GM rivalry to keep things honest.

It irked me somewhat that they were entirely sneaky in the way they conducted themselves
leading up to their launch. They were actually a reseller of our service so I had a good standing relationship with the owner and his store personnel. (Unbeknownst to me he was getting ready to stab us in the back)

We found out about their rival service about a month before their launch(Our customers who went to their store told us). Apparently they were informing OUR customers that went to their office to reload that they are coming out with their own service. Sneaky... but not illegal mind you, it just business ethics at its worst(This should a warning to all those that might be looking to partner up with them).

AND THEN... when they officially launched their service, they put out radio ads specifically designed to confuse our customers into thinking our RIVAL services were one and the same in an attempt to confuse our customers into going to their store. When the customers gets there, they would explain that the services were different and they should sign up with them. Bait and switch. Sneaky and I think there are some legal issues there.

Now, those things I can let pass. What really got to me, and I what can never forgive, is what he has been telling anyone would listen. He started claiming that he first came out with the idea for the service and we just built with help from him. I CALL BS!! We didn't even know him when we first started our service. When he called us up to ask if his store could resell our cards, we were already in full operation. In fact, when I met the guy, he told me, "Ang galing ng idea nyo ah!" (Your idea is great).

Basically I am all I am saying is: Stop poaching someone else's ideas and passing them off as your own! That is just wrong.

Remember :
"It is better to FAIL in originality than to
succeed in IMITATION.”

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Callmoco

As some of you may know, we are in closed BETA with a new service called CALLMOCO. Basically it is a lower cost long distance service for calling the Philippines. We will opening the BETA for more public use in the next couple weeks so be watching. :-)