Hi folks, sorry, it has been a while since I posted anything on this blog. I promise to increase the frequency. :-)
Things have moved along and we have been working to improve the Syner-G system and provide more services. Recently we introduced the option to E-load your contacts without even needing to log into your Syner-G account. All you have to do is send a text message to 1-671-988-7964 with the name of the contact and the amount to load(100p or 300p). We can E-load all the major wireless carriers in the Philippines.
So remember to give the gift of E-Load to keep the text conversation going.
Visit Gabriel Technologies, Inc. for more information.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sunday, June 29, 2008
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...
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.
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...
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.
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!!!!
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.
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.
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