Google Mobile images

Originally uploaded by factoryjoe

The latest update for the Google Mobile app on the iPhone includes a ninja. They call this out as specific feature update. You can find the ninja by opening the application to the search screen on your iPhone. You’ll see the Ninja appear as one of A. Googlers comments. Be patient, it might take awhile for him to show up. Trust me, he is there.  I would like to thank @chrismessina for pointing this out to me. Chris was also one of the first people to find the Bells & Whistle Easter egg in the previous Google MoApp update prior to Google announcement.

Check out the screen capture of the mobile ninja on my phone:

iPhone Screen Capture of Google Mobile Ninja

UPDATE: If you want more Google Ninja, check out the ninja shirt I made at Zazzle.com.

It took me awhile, but I finally figured out how to set up my Ping.fm account in Tweetie. I thought I would take a moment to write up a quick guide to walk you through the process of setting up your Ping.fm in Tweetie in case you are having trouble. The process is simple you just need to have faith…

 Learn more about the iPhone Twitter app Tweetie. (You’ll need iTunes to to view this page.)

A Step by Step Guide to Setting Up Ping.fm on the iPhone Twitter App Tweetie:

1. Launch Tweetie on your iPhone. (Please Note: The settings for Ping.fm are not located in the Tweetie Settings under Settings. But, you will need to have the multiple accounts option turned on for this to work. That is found under settings.)
2. Tap the Accounts button in the upper left corner of the app.
   
   
3. Tap the Edit button in the upper left hand corner of the app.
   
   
4. Tap on the Twitter account you would like to attach to your Ping.fm account to. Do not worry touching the account name will not “Delete” the account.
   
   
5. Tap on the Advanced options.
   
   
6. Tap on the Ping.fm option.
7. Enter in your Mobile Key from Ping.fm. Go to http://ping.fm/key to get your key.
   
   
8. Success!!! You should now see an Authorized alert pop up.
   
   

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

P.S. I don’t know about you, but I’m really digging the new Dark theme for Tweetie. It’s Nice.

In celebration of completing the upgrade of my site to WordPress 2.7, I thought I write my post using the the iPhone mobile WordPress app. It’s not a bad little app. I can add photos. I cannot add links within my posts. I’m still getting used to typing on this thing vs the blackjack. It’s not bad considering I have big thumbs.

The upgrade process was pretty easy. I went from WP version 2.1 to 2.7. I really enjoy the new admin UI. It was pretty easy to set up the plug-ins with integrated download plug-in feature. I’m going to leave the default theme in place until I can design my own.

Now that I’ve completed the upgrade I’m going to start on the redesign.

I’ve been toying around the idea of creating an official website dedicated to my interests in mobile technology, mobile web marketing & m-commerce. I don’t want to use my personal name domain as a platform for something that could easily grow beyond my personal thoughts and ideas.

 The idea for mobLine hit me during Alan M. Weber’s keynote address at the 2006 LinkShare Symposium in New York. Alan shared his thoughts on how to successfully lead a business into the new era of commerce fueled by a global economy. He covered a wide range of topics during his keynote, but a few things really struck a chord with me; the use of information as a catalyst for change, the importance of speed in innovation, globalization is something to embrace, the way we do business is going to change and the world is shrinking because of The Internet. Even though his keynote was a bit ominous, I agreed with assessment of the future. Near the end of his keynote, Alan made a statement along the lines of; “The invention of The Internet was just the start. The next great innovation will come sooner than you think.”

Overall his keynote was thought provoking. It got me thinking about how I could embrace this new era of commerce in a global economy. I really liked the idea of making use of web enabled mobile devices to help create my stateless business. Then it dawned on me how open the mobile web was ripe for new business ventures. I viewed it as Columbus’ New World, an undiscovered country with huge potential. I thought of the name mobLine as a cleaver play on words to distinguish / brand the difference between shopping on the World Wide Web and shopping on the mobile web. Instead of shopping online with your computer, you would be shopping mobLine (Mobile + Online = mobLine, get it?) with your phone. Unfortunately I got wrapped up with other things after the conference and I never did anything with this idea.

4Q of last year I launched a mobile version of The Woodwind & Brasswind website on the mPoria Mobile Commerce Platform, which I highly recommend if you are looking for a painless solution for mobile ecommerce. Two things quickly became very obvious to me; people are willing to buy musical instruments from a mobile commerce site and true multi-channel integration is tough because the tools, services and technologies are still young.  As an example I want to create a mobile version of my email to add into my multipart newsletter. I think it be great if someone subscribed to my newsletter and when they viewed it from a web browser they got my .com links, but if the viewed the same email from a mobile device it would have my .mobi links instead. Current web standards for email do not allow me to pull this off. 

The mobile industry is still young and standards are still being defined.  My goal with mobLine.org is to create a shared resource for all things m-commerce. The site is not live yet, but it should be soon. I’ll keep you posted as things develop. I’m looking for help if anyone is interested.

I wanted to share with you how easy it was to extend WordPress to create my own moBlog by using an opensource mobile blog software plugin called WordPress Mobile Edition. In short WordPress Mobile Edition is a plugin that shows a different user interface designed specifically for use on cell phones and other devices. When a user visits your blog from a mobile device, they will see a simplified version of your blog that looks great on most mobile phones.  Most mobile web browsers are automatically detected. Wordpress Mobile Edition requires no configuration by the user.

I give this wp plugin 5 stars for ease of use and setup.

You can download WordPress Mobile Edition from the Plugins Directory at Wordpress.org. Click here to learn more about this great little plugin.