New Directions in High Tech Home Building

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla Pierre Martell: Bridging home building and high technology for the benefit of customers "I think our clients like that we are only a "click" away, and they are always in the know of what is happening with Martell Homes, I believe this provides a sense of comfort that we are not a fly-by-night company, we are here to stay and if they need anything they know exactly where to find us," says Pierre Martell, co-founder of Martell Home Builders from Moncton, New Brunswick, whose high tech approach to home building has made successful use of today's social media tools. By involving their customers in each aspect of home building, Martell Home Builders manages expectations and communications by keeping them in the loop. "We all have, iPhones and Macbooks, use Twitter, Facebook and use 37 Signals for our CRM, SmugMug for online photo sharing, Smugshots for mobile photo uploads (this actually geotags the photos) gotVmail for our toll free number and online messaging, Skype and Tokbox for video conferencing, Google for calendar and document sharing and GMail for email," Martell explains. The integration of all this technology with a client-oriented approach has enabled Martell Home Builders to grow their business and deliver on their promises. A rare thing in the contractor and home builder industry where delays, budget bloat and communication problems are common occurrences. "We have completed 42 homes, currently we have 8 in the works that construction has begun on or will begin soon," Martell declares. He explains that client management has been a big factor for success but aside from offering high-tech monitoring options he also credits building close relationships with each client as a key for their success. "Pierre treated us like we were his friends and we felt very comfortable approaching him with any questions or requests that we had throughout the home building and buying process," explains Lisa Rice, a satisfied customer. Customer satisfaction comes, in part, from the company's 99-day countdown system. "For homes under 2000 square feet, we give our personal guarantee that once construction begins on your new home, you will be in it within 99 days, we have not missed a closing date yet," Martell explains. Another advantage developed by Martell Home Builders is enabling customization and interactive design tools for the clients to use in their home building process. "I think both aspects of our model (customization and interactive approach) appeal to our customers, the fact that they are in control over the build of their home where they make decisions, have choices and feel they are being heard and really be a pivotal part of the whole process," Martell explains. The company foresees growth and is expanding to the Saint John and Fredericton markets for 2009. The most challenging part of their business, according to Martell, is "ensuring the MHB team meets all our own deadlines and expectations." On the flipside, the company finds that the most satisfying part of their business is, "definitely closing day, when we hand over the keys to the new homeowners, seeing their excitement first hand makes every bit of hard work absolutely worth it." In this economic downturn, Martell has some advice for would be homebuyers. "With the interest rates as low as they are, I would encourage would-be homebuyers to hop on the homeowner bandwagon, but keep within their means, your first home doesn't have to be a mansion, it's best to start with what you need based on age, income, family size."

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Red Rocket TTC iPhone App - Review

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla One of my recent finds at the iPhone App store was the Red Rocket TTC app. A must-have for commuting iPhone owners, the $1.99 (at the Apple App store on your iPhone or iTunes). The developer describes the application in the following way. "Red Rocket puts the TTC in your pocket. It's a perfect companion to the Toronto public transit system. Find out when your bus is leaving. Plan a route with the streetcar-subway map. See routes and stops with Google Maps. Waiting for the streetcar? Use GPS to find departure times for your stop. Stay up to date with service advisories and transit news on the latest happenings in Toronto and the GTA." More after the jump Offering up real time information on route schedules, TTC advisories and Google Maps integration, the Red Rocket app can access information even without Wi-Fi or 3G connection. The application is intuitive and quick to access information, commuters can also save their favourite routes for future reference. The best part of this application is that it uses the full range of the iPhone 3G's features such as GPS, 3G or EDGE connectivity and does something really useful with them. We managed to find information on streetcar routes, projected arrival times and use the included subway map quite easily. Red Rocket is ideal for those times when you need to suddenly get to somewhere you may not be familiar with. We think it is a great example of a localized application that makes the iPhone 3G a truly valuable tool. For the $1.99 price, its a great deal. Much better than a lot of the junk that we've run across in the App store. If you use the TTC on a regular basis, have an iPhone and need to cover a lot of ground, the Red Rocket is a must have app. It will help you keep on track and give you as close to real time information on your next ride. Kudos to developer George Talusan for this truly useful tool.

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Origami Unfolded: the demise of the UMPC – Analysis

Origami Unfolded: the demise of the UMPC – Analysis By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla It’s been two years since Microsoft made a bid for Ultra Mobile Computing or UMPCs with their then codenamed Origami Project. The UMPCs were next generation devices which would offer full PC computing power in a slate-like device between the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and the TabletPC form factors. UMPCs were aimed at savvy users who wanted lightweight portables that would replace their notebooks. UMPCs were also designed to have enough muscle to be used as desktop machines when hooked up to external monitors, keyboards and mice. It was an exciting proposition and some of the early prototypes offered a compelling feature sets for a traveling computer that’s no bigger than a paperback book and which can manage communications and basic computing. Already there were micro-computers from OQO and Sony which were pushing the envelope on how small a portable device could be but these specialty devices were too expensive for mass consumption. Continue for the rest of the story. Enter Origami Soon, devices from Samsung, TabletKiosk, Raon Digital, ASUS and others showed up running Vista on low-consumption VIA, Intel Celeron and AMD Geode processors. The prospects looked good and interest was apparent. The reality, however, was that the ultra-mobile platform left a lot to be desired. For one thing, the slate form factor without a keyboard was a challenge for new users who were not too familiar with the TabletPC interface. Battery life, a biggie, proved to be another stumbling block. Many of the devices shipped with batteries that struggled to cough up two hours of usage. Considering that these devices relied on Bluetooth, wireless Internet and batteries to be truly mobile, the impact of compromised battery life was palpable. There was also a wide variety of form factors, most UMPCs were slates but a number of them integrated thumb boards or keyboards but due to their diminutive sizes were hard to use. Still, small keyboard is better than no keyboard, especially if you consider that these devices are primarily for email, instant messaging and communicating via the Internet. Expectations unmet We personally had the chance to review some of these devices. While there was no denying their compact footprint, the novelty soon wore off. Working with a stylus is not for everyone and certainly not for journalists, students or anyone who needs to input large amounts of text. Cost was also an issue with most of the UMPCs, many tipped the $900-dollar ceiling that most people were willing to shell out for a “tricked out” PDA. Some of the current models cost double that, tipping the scales at close to $2,000.00 – clearly within premium notebook territory. The high cost, underpowered performance and meager battery life spelled disaster for the UMPC niche even as newer models espoused the ability to run Vista and integrated faster processors, SSD (Solid State Disk) drives and the ability to run on EDGE networks via SIM cards. The entry into the market of affordable netbooks, the first wave of which sold at the fraction of the price of UMPCs gave users a more affordable option for secondary computers. Netbooks offered keyboards, functionality that was closer to traditional PCs and lightweight Linux operating systems that managed basic computing tasks and lowered the purchase price. Two years later, the big story is the ascension of the netbook. Manufacturers are falling all over themselves trying to come out with the right mix of price and features. With all the sub $500 netbooks on the market, similarly outfitted UMPCs, often selling for three times the amount, are left in the wayside as curious odds and ends that appeal to a shrinking niche market. A Blurry future for UMPCs The fate of the UMPC is in the balance. Microsoft has not actively updated the platform and this is likely because of Vista’s perceived weakness and the introduction of the upcoming Windows 7 OS. The new OS, which is essentially Vista done right, will hit stores by fall 2009, it will be interesting to see if Origami or UMPC initiatives will be tied into this new release. You have to think though, that by 2009, the netbook phenomenon might be hitting critical mass. That, and the cloud computing direction that Microsoft hopes to take with its Microsoft Azure online services initiative might have something else in store for us. UMPCs are partly responsible for the ramping up of usable, low-consumption components and the commoditization of the computer into a personal device. All the R&D that went into Origami and UMPC certainly did not go to waste, you only have to look at the $300 netbooks made by the same manufacturers and realize that they simply paved the way for things to come.

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