A while back I did a guest post on Scott Kelby's blog about my photography workflow. In that post I also talked about backup and offsite backup. At the time my offsite backup method was simply rotating two external hard drives to/from my safe deposit box at the bank. While this method certainly works, it does require me to actually make the trip to the bank. As much as I would have liked to do this on a weekly basis it was turning more into a monthly or bi-monthly trip. Although an old backup is better than no backup I wanted something a little more automated. It was suggested in the comment section of that post that I look at cloud backup, so I did. The first company I looked into at the time was Carbonite. However, Carbonite was a non-starter for me because of their stupid policy (at the time) of not allowing you to backup an external drive from a Mac. Really? Seriously? What difference does it make if the data is on the internal drive or an external drive? Charge for the amount of data being backed up and be done with it! I confirmed this stupid policy with their customer service and ended up going with CrashPlan instead.

CrashPlan gets it right

My initial experience with CrashPlan was excellent. I had no problem getting setup with their CrashPlan+ Family Unlimited Plan. This allows me to backup every computer I own and there are no silly limits on which drives the data has to be on. I knew going in that backing up TERABYTES of data over the internet would take a long long long time and well it did! It took MONTHS to backup my two servers. These two Macs (with Drobos attached) contain all my photos, music, movies, documents, etc. In other words, my digital life. 

How long did it really take?

I signed up for CrashPlan on January 13, 2011. I set it to backup both computers, but I did limit the bandwidth that it uses AND I set it to only run at night while I was sleeping. This way it would have no impact on my day to day internet use. By having it run only half the day and at a limited bandwidth, it took about 6.5 months to complete the backup of 1.7TB. Now I have it backing up another computer now that the main backup is done.

There are other options for the initial backup and restores

I was in no hurry for this backup to complete because I already had an offsite backup solution in place. However, if you want your initial backup to not take weeks or months then you could pay for them to send you an external hard drive. This way you could backup your data in a matter of hours instead of days,weeks or months. Once you return the drive to them they will add your data to their servers and give you instructions on how to connect your account to that data for continued backup. 

What's the advantage of cloud backup?

Now that my initial backup is done, my new/changed files are backed up every night automatically and OFFSITE. If a disaster strikes my home (flood, fire, theft, etc.) I would be able to get my important data back once I'm up and running again on a new computer/hard drive Yes they offer the ability to send you a drive with your data on it so that you can be backup and running sooner). Another advantage is having web access to ALL of my files no matter where I am in the world. If I need an import file off my server at home I could of course access my server via the internet because I have remote access setup. However, even if I didn't have remote access available I could always log into my CrashPlan account via the web and download any file that I want. 

The Bottom Line

There is no such thing as being too backed up when it comes to irreplaceable files such as digital photos. I backup my computers internally with things like Time Machine and SuperDuper!, but I also like having a backup that is offsite too. CrashPlan offered the most bang for the buck with unlimited data plans and no restrictions on where my data had to be stored in order to back it up. You can find out more about CrashPlan here.

If you've attended any of our tour stops on the Adobe CS5 Evolution Tour or if you were at the Adobe Photoshop World Keynote in Orlando, then you may have seen us do a live poll of the audience. Rather than simply asking for a show of hands, audience members participated with their mobile devices. Polleverywhere.com is a web based service that allows you to setup and conduct Live Polls in real-time. The cool factor is that the poll results come in and can be displayed in real-time. This usually gets people a little more involved when they see that they can actually drive the results right in front of their eyes.

Another option is the ability to create a custom URL where your users will go on their devices and instead of keying in the onscreen codes, they'll actually see the poll questions on their own screens and the responses are then tappable. When you switch to the next question their browser will update on the fly.

How does it work?

Once you setup an account, you can then start to create your Polls ahead of time. During your event, class, seminar, etc. you can then bring up the site, go full screen and people can answer the questions by either using SMS texting (standard text messaging rates do apply) to a local/regional number for the area that you are conducting the poll in OR they can simply go to the mobile friendly poll4.com web page on their device and enter the codes there for free. You can even enable the Poll via Twitter so that people can Tweet their responses and lastly there is the option to have a Private Link like this one. The page uses Adobe Flash to update live and in real-time. As the votes come in the bars will move for all to see. The data is saved to your account and you can close the polls whenever you like to prevent further voting.

If you don't want to do it live there are several options for embedding the polls into your website, like I've done here (click on your answer):

The results can also optionally be embedded for all to see as either LIVE update via Flash:

Or the results can be a static image that doesn't require Flash but of course will not update live and you'll need to refresh your browser to see the updates:

How much does it cost?

You can get a FREE account, but your free account will be limited to 30 responses per poll. If you need more responses then you'll have to sign up for one of their paid plans. You can upgrade or downgrade the plans as needed. In my case I went with a higher plan for a couple of months and then downgraded it once I was done.

Find out more, including pricing options here at Polleverywhere.com

photo compliments of iStockphoto.com

Facebook has been growing by leaps and bounds and with over 500 Million Users it's no longer just for kids nor can it be ignored. I've noticed that more and more companies are not only staking out a presence on Facebook, but they are even using their Facebook Pages in lieu of their corporate sites when they advertise on TV and in print. All of these screen grabs (Pepsi, Gerber, Carnival, etc.) were from the last frame of their respective TV commercials…

People don't wake up to go your site every day

One thing I came to the realization of last year was that while we may flatter ourselves in thinking that our customers love to come to our sites on a regular basis, chances are the vast majority don't visit your corporate site each day. Think about it. You probably go to most corporate sites when you either have a problem or you're ready to buy something new. It's probably not your daily hangout. You probably don't think to go there to "connect" with the company. On the other hand people go to Facebook EVERY DAY with the sole purpose of connectingt with others. While I definitely appreciate those of you who come here and read my posts, I know that there are millions of people out there that will NEVER come here. In 2010 I had the goal of "being everywhere." What that meant to me was expanding beyond my own .com and placing my content in more places. I was very happy with the results. I now have over 8,000 Twitter followers and over 3,000 Facebook Fans (Likes). I also have over 3 Million views of my YouTube content as well as millions of downloads of my content on iTunes. In most cases many of these users would never see my content on the other/opposite sites. 

Why are more companies using Facebook?

Besides the obvious reason of there being a potential audience of 500 million users, Facebook makes it easy for companies to have DIRECT contact with customers without resorting to spam, opt-in policies, building microsites, etc. Also existing Facebook users are more likely to check out their favorite brands on Facebook.com than they are to visit those same corporate sites on a regular/daily basis.

The other benefit is that while many of these companies have their own "forums" for direct communication, users don't have to setup logins for multiple sites. Just log in once to Facebook and visit any company you want and post on their wall. I think that another reason why companies are putting themselves on Facebook is that it's much easier and faster updating a Facebook Page than it is going through the usual red tape, legal, political fronts getting the main corporate site updated. Usually the larger the corporation, the harder it is to get something on the official company website. Sometimes I think the US Congress moves faster! Companies tend to be a little more lax and "casual" when it comes to their social media presence and that's actually a good thing! It feels more "friendly". 

You have to be prepared to take the bad with the good

The internet gives everyone a voice (whether they can use it intelligently or not )and people on the internet can be rude, insulting, immature, and brutally honest. If you make a product and they don't like it or have a beef with you, they will let you know as well as the rest of the world. So you have to be prepared to take the bad with the good. Luckily, there is usually more good than bad and more importantly you'll have a good idea of how people "really" feel about your product/services. Taking into account that some of these comments could be coming from competitors and known enemies, you do have to weigh the total sentiment being expressed.

The Bottom Line

Facebook not only gives individuals an easy to use social networking presence, but it also gives major corporations a way to connect with their customers who may never actually visit their corporate websites. I've even seen companies like American Express direct you to Facebook first before sending you to their corporate site to register for contests/deals. Even though there are lots of companies that haven't gone as far as to point people to their Facebook page instead of their corporate site, in most cases they DO have a Facebook presence.  Like it or not, Facebook is a major force on the internet and if you choose to ignore it then that probably says a lot about how "in touch" you are with your customers.

Like me on Facebook here: facebook.com/terrywhitefans

Now you can review Video Projects online with your customers and colleagues even if they don't have any video editing tools or knowhow. Adobe CS Review has now been integrated into Adobe Premiere CS5 allowing you to do review and commenting online of your various video projects. So now in addition to reviewing your Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign projects your clients can review and provide feedback on your videos too. Check out my demo here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61hEwIAH6R0

Find out more about CS Review here.

In light of yesterday's post about ratings, I decided to return to a product/topic that I wanted to give everyone an update on. With each iPhone OS update that has come out since Apple switched .Mac to MobileMe I've tried to use it to wirelessly sync all my data between not only my Macs, but my iPhone as well. Each attempt in the past has lead to problems. One of the most frustrating problems I had over and over was the loss of ringtone associations with the 50+ contacts that I assigned custom ringtones too. Since you still can't assign ringtones to a group of contacts, I would have to manually go in and reassign them each time. I would typically get so frustrated that by the 3rd time this would happen, I would go back to syncing manually in iTunes. 

Now it works!

Apple has been tweaking (ie. fixing bugs) MobileMe all along. So I tried it again when the iPhone OS 3.0 update came out. It's been working fine ever since. I've not once lost my ringtone/contact associations and it's been syncing flawlessly between my iPhone 3GS and various Macs. For me, it's finally working as advertised and I'm happy! 

Much too often people are quick to tell you that something doesn't work! So I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you that MobileMe does work.

Yes, there is still room for improvement

Although MobileMe syncing is now working for me as advertised, that doesn't mean that the service itself couldn't be better. For example, I'm still stunned that to this day the iPhone doesn't support syncing of To Do items in iCal/Outlook without a 3rd party App (I use ToDo) and even more stunned that although you can finally sync Notes from Mail, that you can still only do so via the USB cable and iTunes. Notes themselves seem to sync up to the MobileMe cloud so why is it that we still have to plug in to get them to sync on the iPhone/iPod touch?

I could go on and on about things I would like to see implemented or improved, but for the most part I'm happy that it finally works the way it's supposed to.

You can get MobileMe here at a discounted price. It works on both Macs and PCs.

While I love recording some of my reviews via HD video and sharing them on YouTube, I can't get over this really cool service that my buddy Jack Beckman turned me on to with his review here.

What is Livestream?

Livestream.com is a website that allows you to setup your own internet broadcast channel for free. You can go on the air whenever you want and broadcast your message. It could be used for regular shows, broadcasting meetings and events, webcam monitoring, whatever you can imagine. 

How is this different from YouTube, Vimeo and others?

All of the others that typically come to mind allow you to share your message, but only after you first record it and upload it as a video file. Livestream is BOTH live broadcasting with the ability to record it for later playback (video on demand VOD). Livestream even has support for multiple cameras. You can even bring in video that you pre-recorded or have posted elsewhere such as YouTube or your podcast. There's a whole studio environment included.

Why is it FREE?

Like most free services including YouTube, there is money in advertising. So while people are viewing your channel there could be ads on the side, top or bottom of the viewer window. There is a way to eliminate the ads with the paid version that starts at $350/month! Most people will be quite happy with the free version. Also there is a limit of the number of people that can watch your broadcast until your account is verified. The limit is 50. That is still pretty good for an unverified account! Verification is beyond simple email verification. You have to prove yourself worthy by putting up some content first. This gives the verification committee at Livestream a chance to see what kind of content you plan on broadcasting. I tried to have my account verified right away and it was declined because I didn't have any content up yet. 

Just to try it out I went live with the message below. There was no one watching my channel, but I was able to easily record it for later playback here:

The Bottom Line

If you need to go "Live" with your message to lots of people in a one way fashion, this is a great option! I could see this being used for all kinds of social events, reunions, meetings, etc. Also since it's Flash based that means that just about anyone can view your broadcast without having to install anything special first. Over 98% of computers on the internet today already have the Flash player installed. Check it out by heading over to Livestream.com.

This is my 3rd installment on showing off your Photography. First I talked about Moo cards and then yesterday about Gelaskins. If you have a shot that you really want to show off in your home or office, why not go the extra mile and have it printed on canvas in the form of a Gallery Wrap? I'm really addicted to this kind of print/mounting done by MPIX.com. First let me tell you that it's not cheap! Before I even consider having a gallery wrap done, I have to really be in LOVE with the shot. Otherwise I'll just stick to traditional prints in frames. Gallery Wraps are for those shots that are really important to you. The ones that you just can't stop looking at. 

MPIX Pro

Once I got approved to become an MPIX Pro Customer, I was lucky that MPIX had a sale on Gallery Wraps. I thought this was my chance to get a few of my favorite shots mounted this way and save a little money at the same time. Whether you're an MPIX Pro customer or regular MPIX customer the quality is equally the same — OUTSTANDING! I've gotten several compliments on the ones I've gotten done so far and the next thing that they want to know is "where did you get those done?"

Sticker shock alert – Like I said, these aren't cheap. The smallest size is an 8×10" and it's $55. They go all the way up to 24×36" for $170.00. I got four 11×14"s, which normally go for $70 each. I will say that the larger you go the less expensive it starts to feel. Also keep in mind that this is canvas not paper!

I liked them so much that later I got another done as an 16×20". I got 3 of these and gave the other two away as gifts to family members. 

The Bottom Line

Gallery Wraps give your photos a classy, professional art gallery feel to them. Something you would easily want to hang on the wall as a show piece. If you have a photo that is outstanding, I highly recommend giving it the Gallery Wrap treatment.

MPIX offers a full range of printing and mounting services/products. I plan to try their metal prints next. If you're a NAPP member check the members page for discounts.

Yesterday I talked about showing off your Photography with Moo Cards. Today it's all about skins. My guess is that you have a cellphone, mp3 player, laptop or gaming device if not all of the above. So why not add some custom bling to your electronic devices.

Gelaskins has been around for a while selling all kinds of creative looking skins for your various devices. Honestly I'm not really a skin kind of guy. The reason is that I usually don't find an image that I like so much that I want it on a device that I use/look at every day. However, once I found out that they now allow you to use YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY, I couldn't get the site fast enough. 

I wanted to try a couple of images first to see if I would like the product. So I uploaded two photos from my Lightroom library and anxiously awaited my new skins to arrive. The two skins I ordered were for the iPhone 3G/3GS. When they arrived, I was floored. The color really popped and they were extremely easy to put on without the infamous "bubbles". I also like the fact that they aren't permanent. You can just as easily peel them back off.

The Bottom Line

If you want to dress up your electronics and showoff your photography, Gelaskins is a great option! There's a nice protective coating over the skin so that your photo doesn't get all scuffed up and at the same time it protects your devices from those same scuffs and scratches. So if you've got a cellphone (doesn't have to be an iPhone) or other electronic device and you want to customize it with your own photos head over to gelaskins.com and place your order. My next skin will be a nice landscape shot for my MacBook Pro.

As a photographer I'm always looking for creative ways to showoff my work. So I thought I would spend the next day or so showing some of the products I've recently discovered or been turned on to to do just that. It's pretty common to have photographic business cards these days. However, the hard part is picking the one or two images that you'll use. Of course the minute you submit the order, you'll take an even more impressive shot the next day. So when my buddy Scott Kelby turned me on to Moo.com I was all over it. 

Pick your favorite 50!

That's Right Moo.com lets you design your business cards with up to 50 different images. You can get 50 different business cards for only $21.99. Now you don't have to have 50 different images. That's the max. However, let's say that you have 10 images that you love. You can get say 200 cards with those 10 images and you'd end up with 20 cards of each image. For example, I picked 48 of my favorite images (I know, but I just couldn't come up with 2 more that I would want on a card) and I ordered 200 cards. I ended up with each image at least 4 times and two of the images ended up on 6 cards instead of 4. 

So now when I want to give out a business card I can choose one based on either landscapes or portraits. The opposite side of the card, which contains your information is the same for every card. 

The Quality, Cost and Ordering

The card stock used is very good. I've had as much praise over the quality of the card and printing as the images that are on them. Ordering was very easy and straight forward. I was glad and impressed that I could upload all the images at once. The prices are 50 for $21.99, 100 for $43.98 and 200 for $69.99. Head over to Moo.com to place your order. Turnaround time was very quick.

If you know anything about computers, chances are you have a friend, relative or colleague that knows less than you do and they come to you for help. I have a couple of friends that come to me from time to time and ask me "how do you do______ again?" Usually it's something that they actually have done before but they've either forgotten how or they've missed a step. Well if you've ever tried to help someone remotely with a computer problem before you know that half the battle is for them to explain what's going on on screen or what the actual problem is?

Look at their screen over the Internet

There's actually a way for you to see EXACTLY what's going on as long as you and your friend have access to the Internet. Adobe provides this service FREE of charge and it's called Acrobat Connect Now. As a matter of fact if you're in one of the CS4 products you can get to it even quicker by choosing "Share My Screen" from the file menu. However, even if you're not in a CS4 product and even if you don't even own an Adobe product you can still use this great service for FREE. Just head over to acrobat.com and sign up for an account. If you already have an Adobe I.D. then you're all set.

How does it work?

Once you setup your account on Acrobat.com you can login and access Acrobat Connect Now. This is a Flash based technology that gives you a persistent meeting room for doing your own online meetings and presentations for up to 3 people/locations. However, in addition to sharing your screen and ANY app that you may be working on (doesn't have to be an Adobe app), you can also "request" to see the screen of any other meeting participant including the person you're trying to help.

The other person doesn't need an account! They just need to go to your meeting room via your meeting room URL. Once they are in your meeting room live with you you can then request that they share their screen/desktop with you. Up until this point the other person doesn't need to install anything at all. However, if they are going to share their screen/desktop with you then Acrobat.com will ask to automatically install the Connect Now Add-In. This very very small plug-in will download, install, and launch and log them back in automatically. At that point they can share their screen with you and you can see exactly what's going on. 

Take Control!

Once the other person is sharing their screen you can of course walk them through what to click on to solve their problems. However, it may be faster or easier for you to just do it! So you can also choose to "Request Control". The other person will have to grant your request via the dialog box that will popup on their screen. At that point you can use your mouse and keyboard to control their computer as if you were sitting there. This is a consultant's dream. You can offer this as an additional service offering or help desk type support.

Giving Control Scares Me!

At any point you can take back control. Also you will see exactly what the other person is doing as you are still sitting in front of your computer. Once you leave the app/meeting room they no longer can do anything to your computer via Connect Now. Not to mention you're asking this person for their help so I assume that you trust them.

Can I see and talk with them too?

This question always comes up. So let's review the options for voice. Connect Now has VoIP built-in. So you can (as long as you have a mic on your computer) use the VoIP features of Connect now to talk in real time with your meeting participants. Acrobat Connect Now also comes with a Teleconference Phone Number and Passcode. So you can get on the phone and have everyone dial into a conference call at no additional cost than what it takes to dial the NON-toll free (Long distance) number. You can also use your webcam to project your image or anything else you're trying to show that isn't on your screen. They can share their webcam with you as well. There is also a Chat pod so that you can text chat back and forth and lastly you can of course use your own phone and just call the person directly. They probably called you in the first place for help anyway. Just keep them on the phone while you jump into Connect Now.

The Bottom Line

There is no better cross platform solution that allows you to do this. Especially for FREE! That's right, it doesn't matter if you're on Mac or PC or if they are on Mac or PC. This solution is platform independent. Now granted the performance will be at the mercy of your internet connection. However, if you both have a decent speed internet connection, this should work out great for both parties. So end your frustration by not understanding what the other person is trying to explain to you. Just look at it for yourself.

When I saw this story come across my RSS reader, I almost spit out my drink. It seems that Blockbuster (in an attempt to remain relevant) is trying all kinds of new things. Let's face it! Netflix kicked your butt and you're in a fight for your survival. I get it. However, you have to realize that while you were hell bent on charging me obscene(more than the movie cost) late fees back in the day that someone (Netflix) figured out a way to eat your lunch by letting customers keep their movies as long as they wanted for one flat rate. Netflix continued to grow their business by moving BEYOND THE DISC (MEDIA) MODEL and partnered with every company they could on delivering (TiVo, Sony, Microsoft, etc.) streaming movies.

The fact that one of your newest ideas involves customers walking up to a kiosk and downloading a rental or getting a rental on a memory card shows me that you still don't get it. The "drive to my local movie rental store to pick up media" model has a very short life ahead of it. Maybe it's just me, but I think you should be investing more towards getting movies into the hands of your customers via the Internet and on mobile devices. You made a great first step by hooking up with TiVo. Although I'm happy with Netflix and iTunes I did cheer for you. You should really continue in this direction!

iTunes isn't going away!

The fact I can rent a movie right on my Apple TV in my living room should make you guys really nervous. Partner, Partner, Partner. This will be the key to your survival. Look at the boxes people are buying and hooking up to their HDTVs and do whatever it takes to get on those boxes at a reasonable price to your customers. Competition is great! Compete!

I love social networking! I'm on Facebook and Twitter and I find these sites really useful to get the word out about things that I'm doing or working on and where I'm going to be presenting. However, I do work a day job and can't be spending all my time tweeting and facebooking (yeah it's a word now) all day long. However, sometimes I want my message to get out at specific times during the work day. With my blog or podcasts it's easy! I can write a post any time and schedule it to go live any day or time that I want. However, for Twitter.com it's not so easy. The Tweets are in real-time.

That's where FutureTweets.com comes in

Thanks to my friend Stevie Lynn for sharing this site with me. If you login at FutureTweets.com you can schedule your tweets (announcements) to go out whenever you want. It's that simple. So now you can have the appearance of never sleeping.

What about Facebook Status Updates

If you tie your Twitter account to Facebook, you can have your Tweets show up on Facebook as Status Updates. Since I didn't want every tweet to be a Facebook status update, I used the "Selective Twitter" app on Facebook instead. This way if I do a Tweet (live or via Futuretweets) and I do want it to be a Facebook status update, I just put the #fb hashtag on the end of it and both Twitter and Facebook fans get the same update.

The Bottom Line

Twitter and Facebook can be useful tools for getting your messages out. However, they are not worth getting fired over So use FutureTweets.com (it's FREE) to do your updates throughout the day while you concentrate on the work/job that pays your bills.

Follow me on Twitter and Become a Fan on Facebook.

P.S. I was never here.

As promised (late!) AT&T/Apple released the necessary Carrier update to allow MMS (Multimedia Messaging) on the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

When you plug your iPhone 3G or 3GS (not compatible with the original iPhone) into iTunes,  and check for updates you should now see the update for Carrier Settings is available. I downloaded and installed the update which only took literally about 10 seconds to download and install.

I didn’t notice any change at all until I powered the iPhone off and back on again. Once the iPhone came back up the preferences were there for MMS as well as the Camera icon in the Messages window.

It’s not soup yet

As I expected everyone must be doing this all at once and of course testing it all at once and the servers are slammed!  From my iPhone 3GS I get an error each time I try to send an MMS message although regular SMS messages go through. AT&T warned some customers (via an SMS message yesterday) that it may take time for the feature to actually work and it wouldn’t affect sending SMS. Well I’m seeing that "not working" that they mentioned. I tested another iPhone here and tried using it to send my iPhone an MMS and while it did send, I still haven’t received it yet on my iPhone 3GS (10 minutes has past).  So once again we/I wait….

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UPDATE! Turns out my initial sending problem was AT&T account related (old data on the account). Called them and they corrected everything. All set now.

What’s your experience been with this update/feature?

I’ve spent the better part of this week doing a 3 part series on some of my favorite travel tips and accessories (see Part 1, 2 and 3). So I thought I would wrap things up this week with one of my new favorite Apps: Taxi Magic.

True Story

I was in a meeting in San Jose and during one of the breaks I checked my Genius App Recommendations and one of them was Taxi Magic. So out of curiosity I decided to take a look. First off, this app was getting hammered in the reviews. However, I didn’t let that stop me since the app was free and also one of the biggest complaints was the $1.50 charge if you pay for your Taxi with your credit card. I wasn’t too worried about that, so I downloaded the app.

At the end of the day I needed to go from the office in San Jose to the San Jose airport and I was going to go by Taxi. So I decided that this would be as good of a test as I could give it. I didn’t have much time and quite frankly if the app didn’t work, I may have been late/missed my flight. Risky, I know. 

I fired up Taxi Magic at 6:20 PM. Keep in mind that I had already configured it with my credit card info and account setup prior. It did a quick Location check and I then keyed in my pickup address. Next I requested a Taxi to pick me up "Now" (you can schedule it later). After putting in the details and tapping "Book". I got a confirmation in about 20 seconds and was blown away that not only did it show me that my Taxi was on the way, but it showed me how long it was going to take to arrive and where it was at the time! Real-time updates! Note the new version that just came out yesterday now shows your taxi’s location on a map.

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The taxi showed up about 2 minutes later and when the driver got out he asked for me by name. Whoa! I got in and was on my way to the airport. 

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Once we arrived he told me my total and I decided, "why stop here? Let’s see if I can pay with the app?" So I tapped the Pay button and keyed in the amount I wanted to pay (fare plus tip). I got a confirmation number in a few seconds and read it off to the drive. DONE!

How does it work?

If you in one of the cites serviced by RideCharge then when you launch Taxi Magic you’ll either be given a large button to tap called Magic Book and this will allow you to make your booking directly with the Taxi company’s dispatch system. This worked perfectly in downtown San Jose, CA.

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However, once I got to Seattle (one of the covered cities). I tried on several occasions to see if the Magic Book option would come up and it never did (the second biggest complaint of other reviews on iTunes). In that case you’ll simply be presented with a list of cab companies in the area and have the opportunity tap to call any of them. This of course leads to the one of the main criticisms of the App and that is it’s really hit or miss as to whether or not you’ll be able to use the cool Magic Book feature. However, the way I look at it is that the app is FREE and if you are standing in a spot that Magic Book works, GREAT! But even if you’re not you can still have direct access to the local taxi companies and call them the old fashioned way. So really what do you have to lose?

At the end of the process. The app lets you tap an "End" button, which will stop the taxi tracking feature and allow you to book another Taxi if you like or simply exit the app. Since I paid by credit card, not only did the drive hand me a receipt with the confirmation number on it, but RideCharge mailed me a VERY DETAILED PDF receipt with not only all the charges, but also a small map with the route that was taken and mileage. It’s clearly the most detailed ground transportation receipt I’ve ever received. 

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Yes, there is a charge to pay "magically". You have the option of ether paying cash or paying by the credit card that you keep on file with the app/RideCharge. If you pay by Cash, that it. You pay your fare/tip and you’re done. However, if you do pay by credit card, which I prefer, you will be charged $1.50 on top of the fare. Some really balk at this and of course it’s your money (or your company’s money) so you have the right to not want to pay it. Again, for me I don’t have a problem with the $1.50 fee because it’s just easier on the back end for doing expense reports if my taxi charges are all charged to my corporate card. Since I didn’t pay by cash.

The Bottom Line

If you’re in one of the supported cities for this App and you need to have a Taxi pick you up, this app rocks! If you are in one of the Magic Book zones, then it truly is like magic. You can download Taxi Magic here from the App Store:

For the Northern Hemisphere, as in the United States, Canada and most of Europe, Fall begins on September 22, 2009 at 5:18 pm EDT.

AT&T promised us that we would have MMS messaging for the iPhone this "Summer".  Although AT&T did recently announce that MMS is coming on September 25th (3 days after summer officially ends), there is still no word on Tethering support (which was given no timeline at all except for "in the Future").

I’m not a fan of AT&T nor do I hate them. I’ve had AT&T service for years before the iPhone. However, I’m starting to see WHY so many people complain about their service. The mere mention of AT&T in a public setting will usually get you a few glares and eye rolls.

We can speculate and take AT&T at their word that in order to allow for iPhones to do MMS, they had to do some network upgrades. However, the odd thing is that MMS is hardly new technology. All other AT&T phones can do this and have been doing this for years. Tethering is also not a new thing. Again, other AT&T smart phones can do this. What this really says is that although AT&T allows both MMS and Tethering on other phones, these features must either be rarely used by non-iPhone users or that they are so hard to do on other phones that most people don’t ever use these features. So it was OK to offer these features with the existing network to non-iPhone users because they couldn’t handle the traffic. Studies have shown that because the iPhone is so easy to use that 80% or more iPhone users do web browsing and email REGULARLY on their iPhones. So it’s a sure bet that iPhone users will also be using MMS too!

Note to AT&T: Advertising that you have the biggest, fastest 3G network doesn’t really mean much if you can’t actually do anything on it!

We all know that the minute Apple announces iPhone availability on another US carrier such as Verizon, that they will see an immediate increase in market share especially from those hold outs that have refused to go on AT&T’s service. Now what will really be interesting is how many people will LEAVE AT&T to go to Verizon for their iPhone service?

UPDATE: Seth, the AT&T Blogger responds!