Do You Want A Curved iPhone 6 In 2014?

The hot, early rumor is that Apple is finally going to make good on the curved iPhone rumor by introducing an iPhone 6 with a curved screen. But is this really something you’re dying for?

You knew it wouldn’t be long before the rumor mill churned up the “curved iPhone” rumor once again. It’s like a broken record — with each passing year, we hear that the new iPhone will either have a convex screen, designed to sort of “wrap” around the user’s head for more ergonomic calls, and/or a curved or “teardrop” shaped back, making for an endlessly wobbly, spin-able iPhone.

Hey — at least it could be used to play “spin the bottle” or make a random selection of who has to take out the trash. Only the “spin the bottle” or “app to randomly decide who takes out the trash” app designers would bemoan a curved-backed iPhone.

All last week, tech analytics dueled over this new rumors, with some asserting that the curved iPhone 6 is a lock, while still others balk at the idea. Considering that their assertions of a low-cost iPhone fell way flat with the iPhone 5s, I’m disinclined to believe them either way — especially this early in the iPhone 6 rumor cycle.

But all of this leads to an interesting question: are you, dear iPhone user, jones’ing for a curved iPhone 6?

Like so many rumored features and upgrades, it’s hard to see the real point of such a feature, beyond aesthetic value. The Android universe has experimented with curved displays already, and yet the flagship Android devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy, Nexus, Droid Razr, HTC One, etc., have steered clear of the design. In fact, Android smartphone designers have experimented with a ton of novel features (remember 3D cameras?), the vast majority of which have fallen flat on their faces. To this end, the “flat faced” smartphone remains the standard.

For my part, I don’t think that Apple introduces risky, expensive, new features to the iPhone without them having a bigger purpose. Case in point: the Touch ID. The fact that it debuted on the iPhone 5s and not the iPad Air tells me that that feature is slated to integrate with iWallet down the line, which will be powered by the iPhone (maybe the iPhone 6?). At present, it’s not really a needed feature — but it will be, once people’s money is virtually wadded into their iPhone.

Even a larger display on the iPhone 6 has purpose — bigger real estate, better video viewing, better gaming — you name it. But what will a curved screen really add to the iPhone 6? Is the straight design of the current iPhone a “problem” that needs to be solved through the development of a convex screen? I think not.

 And what if Apple decides to keep the display flat, but makes the back of the iPhone 6 curved? Does that have purpose?

Maybe. It might feel better in one’s hand — it may conform to the contours of the palm a bit better. But what Apple gains in ergonomics it would lose in security. iPhones, after all, spend a good amount of time sitting on desktops and tabletops. There’s something to be said for the iPhone being able to lay flush on a flat surface. Would a wobbly iPhone be a good idea?

The curved iPhone rumor heated up years ago, when Cupertino invested in those fancy glass-cutting machines. But remember, Apple also invested in LiquidMetal as well, and still has yet to utilize that investment, either.

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Learning to Say “No” Is Part of Success

Success* is often built on a reflexive habit of saying “yes” to opportunities that come our way. We’re hungry for any chance to prove ourselves, and when we’re presented with one, we take it, even—or especially—if it seems daunting. (A lesson I learned years ago was to say yes to opportunities that made me feel nervous because the anxiety was a sign that I’d learn something useful.) We may also tend to say “yes” out of a fear that turning down an opportunity even once sends a message that we’re not interested, and we’ll stop getting additional chances in the future.

But success tends to attract bigger and better opportunities. As we succeed, a key challenge becomes prioritizing the many opportunities that present themselves. We often try to do this without saying “no” definitively—we still want to keep our options open. Inevitably, though, this results in a lack of clarity and overcommitment, and we wind up disappointing people, exhausting ourselves, or simply failing. To prevent this we need to learn to say “no” gracefully but firmly, maintaining the relationship while making it clear that this is one opportunity we’re choosing not to pursue. And success in this effort is founded on the ability to manage the emotions that come up when we close a door or extinguish an option.

These emotions can be subtle: a twinge of regret, a trace of anxiety, a faint voice that whispers, “Are you sure you want to turn this down?” We often respond reflexively to such emotions, driven to eliminate the discomfort they evoke. So we say “yes” and feel some relief—until later, when we realize the costs of the commitment we’ve now made. A critical step in managing these emotions is training ourselves to resist that initial reflexive response; I often describe this to clients and students as “becoming more comfortable with discomfort.” We notice the discomfort provoked by the possibility of saying “no,” and yet we can tolerate it. We’re not compelled to take action to eliminate it.

There’s no magic formula for saying “no” more effectively, but here are three steps that can help:

1. Slow down. Feelings of anxiety generated by the possibility of saying “no” can escalate into a full-blown threat response, an emotional state in which we have diminished capacity to process information and consider options. Slowing down the pace of an interaction or a decision-making process can allow us to catch up and make the choice that’s right for us, not merely the choice that alleviates our anxiety in the moment.
2. Recognize our emotional cues. We experience many emotions before we recognize them in conscious awareness, but feelings often have physiological markers that can help us identify and name the emotion sooner. Once we’re aware of an emotion, we can take action to influence how we respond. What do we feel—physically—when we consider saying “no”?
3. Practice. Saying “no” is like any other interpersonal skill—it feels clumsy and awkward at first, and we improve only with repeated effort.

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WHY FACEBOOK AND TWITTER ARE NOT MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

BOTH COMPANIES HAVE TURNED THEIR FOCUS AWAY FROM USERS AND TOWARD SHAREHOLDERS TO GET BIGGER, NOT BETTER. REVENUE IS GREAT, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PRODUCT.

The simplest reason Facebook andTwitter are not on this year's Most Innovative Companies list: Neither produced innovations worth celebrating. A spot on MIC, as we call it, is not a tenured position. Every year, we assess innovation and the impact of those initiatives. In the history of our list, fewer than one-third of the companies return from one year to the next. This year, only seven are consecutive honorees, an indication of how more companies in more corners of the world are innovating to seek a competitive edge, with the stakes only getting higher.

Facebook and Twitter deserve special comment because they have been among the rare perennials, and their recent moves reveal two companies engaging in innovation's evil twin: short-term thinking at the expense of long-term value. Facebook's most notable product achievement in 2012 was Poke, a facsimile of Snapchat, the trendy-with-teens (and sexters) photo app. Poke stumbled almost immediately. In fact, Facebook has made a cottage industry out of chasing hot Internet services (Pinterest and Yelp included), instead of developing new ideas to delight its billion users. Similarly, Twitter's product strategy feels wholly defensive. Its most notable new feature is photo filters, a plainly unoriginal addition.

Both companies have turned their focus away from users and toward shareholders to get bigger, not better. Revenue is great, but not at the expense of the product. Twitter's focus on improving ad revenue requires a consistent experience across the web, smartphones, and tablets, so it forced its once-elegant mobile apps to conform to a clunky desktop look, because that model works best for advertisers. That's the exact opposite of how product development is supposed to go.

Facebook, facing the strain of a tumbling stock price last summer, has transformed the implicit understanding of the site--my posts will be seen by those who want to see them--into an advertising opportunity. It freely admits that only a small percentage of posts make it to friends and fans, but it can fix that if you buy ads. To compound matters, Facebook's aggressive mucking with its privacy policies has bred a deep distrust of how the company uses the content shared on Facebook (and Instagram) among a significant, vocal segment of its users.

Neither service is a lost cause. Yet. But both would be well served to revisit what made them special in the first place: engaging with peers, not merely consuming content from brands and celebrities; being a creative platform for developers; and championing social media where users, not advertisers, call the shots.

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Apple Rumored To Be Testing 4.9 Inch iPhone 6

The iPhone 5S hasn’t been available for very long, yet we’re already hearing more and more about its successor, the iPhone 6. Rumors of the next iPhone have been swirling around even before the 5s was announced, as the number bump has a tendency to bring many more enhancements, features, and tweaks than any ‘S’ iPhone model. Well, while we’ve heard it before, another rumor surrounding the iPhone 6 has surfaced, claiming that Apple is indeed testing out a model with a 4.9 inch display.

CTech is reporting from an insider tip that Apple is set to launch the iPhone 6 with a 4.9 inch display. That’s not all, though. If the insider is correct, we may also see the successor of theiPhone 5C get a screen bump as well.

We’ve heard quite a few rumors of Apple testing out iPhone handsets with larger displays, and it looks like the company will likely pull the trigger this time around. Whether or not we’ll see a 4.9 inch screen on the new iPhone remains to be seen, but we would be surprised if we didn’t see at least a 4.3 inch display on the next iPhone handset.

With a ton of Android handsets reaching or exceeding the 5 inch display mark, some iPhone users may be craving for more screen real estate. If the rumors turn out to be true, they just might get their wish.

Do you want to see a larger screen on the iPhone or are you happy with the 4 inch display on the existing model?

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Google opens up Mirror API to all developers, even more Glassware incoming

Earlier this week Google gave us a sneak peek at their upcoming Google Glass Development Kit (GDK), a set of tools developers will use to hit the ground running with Glassware ( Google Glassapps). While the GDK still isn’t ready for prime time, Google Developers did announce via their G+ page that the Glass Mirror API has finally been opened to all.

The Mirror API — while not as full featured as the GDK — utilizes cloud APIs to build web apps for Glass, not apps that run natively on the hardware. These are the type of apps we’ve seen “running” on Glass at the moment. Although we’re hyped for the release of the GDK, there’s still a lot that can be done with the Mirror API. The more Glassware available on Glass the better.

[Google Developers | Google Glass API]

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App Translation Service Now Available to All Developers

The App Translation Service is now available to all developers. Every day, more than 1.5 million new Android phones and tablets around the world are turned on for the first time. Each newly activated Android device is an opportunity for you as a developer to gain a new user, but frequently, that user speaks a different language from you.

To help developers reach users in other languages, we launched the App Translation Service, which allows developers to purchase professional app translations through the Google Play Developer Console. This is part of a toolbox of localizationfeatures you can (and should!) take advantage of as you distribute your app around the world through Google Play.

We were happy to see that many developers expressed interest in the App Translation Service pilot program, and it has been well received by those who have participated so far, with many repeat customers.

Here are several examples from developers who participated in the App Translation Service pilot program: the developers ofZombie Ragdoll used this tool to launch their new game simultaneously in 20 languages in August 2013. When they combined app translation with local marketing campaigns, they found that 80% of their installs came from non-English-language users. Dating app SayHi Chat expanded into 13 additional languages using the App Translation Service. They saw 120% install growth in localized markets and improved user reviews of the professionally translated UI. The developer of card game G4A Indian Rummy found that the App Translation Service was easier to use than their previous translation methods, and saw a 300% increase with user engagement in localized apps. You can read more about these developers’ experiences with the App Translation Service in Developer Stories: Localization in Google Play.

To use the App Translation Service, you’ll want to first read the localization checklist. You’ll need to get your APK ready for translation, and select the languages to target for translation. If you’re unsure about which languages to select, Google Play can help you identify opportunities. First, review the Statistics section in the Developer Console to see where your app has users already. Does your app have a lot of installs in a certain country where you haven’t localized to their language? Are apps like yours popular in a country where your app isn’t available yet? Next, go to the Optimization Tips section in the Developer Console to make sure your APK, store listing, and graphics are consistently translated.

You’ll find the App Translation Service in the Developer Console at the bottom of the APK section — you can start a new translation or manage an existing translation here. You’ll be able to upload your app’s file of string resources, select the languages you want to translate into, select a professional translation vendor, and place your order. Pro tip: you can put your store listing text into the file you upload to the App Translation Service. You’ll be able to communicate with your translator to be sure you get a great result, and download your translated string files. 

After you do some localization testing, you’ll be ready to publish your newly translated app update on Google Play — with localized store listing text and graphics. Be sure to check back to see the results on your user base, and track the results of marketing campaigns in your new languages using Google Analytics integration.

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Intrestengly Microsoft is selling Anti-Google ‘Scroogled’ Tees and Mugs

Microsoft has long started an anti-Google smear marketing campaign with the ‘Scroogled’ motto, but now it takes it to another level by actually launching a store where you can buy real t-shirts, mugs and hoodies telling the world that it’s getting ‘Scroogled’.

Prices vary, but for as low as $8 you can get a mug that says “Keep calm while we steal your data” and for $15 you can proudly wear a “Scoogled” hat.

It’s quite shocking to see such straight-forward aggressiveness towards Google from Microsoft. The ads were one thing, but we have a hard time imagining people actually wearing this, and the smear attack looks a bit out of place in the context of the looming Holiday spirit of thankfulness and forgiving.

It’s just business, of course, and we’ve seen Microsoft mock the Chrome browser, blame Google for reading people’s Gmail accounts and it all now culminates in this store of real apparel. What do you think about all this, would and should anyone be buying these?

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Source:Shop Scroogled

5 biggest myths about Android

Fear, uncertainty and doubt, or FUD, is a common tactic in marketing and there’s a fair bit of evidence that negative advertising works. Competitive companies are backed up by legions of fans invested in their wares and everyone feeds their thoughts into the biggest rumor mill ever devised – the Internet. It is fantastic at perpetuating myths and spreading lies, whether it’s the latest fake celebrity death, or the idea that PC gaming is dead. Once you put an idea out there, even if it’s an outright lie that you later retract, it takes on a life of its own.

There are some big, persistent myths about the Android platform that simply will not die. Here are top five of them.

Android lags and crashes are worse than the competitors (iOS and Windows)

In the early days of Android there was a lot of talk about the platform being laggy and it’s never really gone away. There have also been claims that Android apps crash more often than the apps on other platforms. All the mobile platforms suffer from lag and crashes from time to time. Problems tend to be worse just after a major platform update because it takes time for the app developers to catch up and optimize.
Various studies, like this one at Forbes based on Criticism data have shown that iOS apps crash more often than Android apps. A year later and Forbes reported that apps on iOS 6 crash less than apps on Jelly Bean. It’s very difficult to get reliable independent data on this topic and it’s tough to properly compare platforms.
Lots of people on every platform encounter crashes. Complaints about it being a particular issue on Android could be related to our last point about cheap hardware. Underpowered hardware, manufacturer UIs, and carrier bloatware could all have an impact, but they don’t point to any instability or performance issue inherent in Android. Good Android smartphones or tablets do not suffer from significantly more lag or crashes than devices on any other platform. It’s also worth pointing out that “good” doesn’t necessarily mean the best specs. Today's top android dogs like HTC One, Nexus 5, Xperia Z are as butttery smooth as iPhone 5/5S or any Windows phones like Lumia 1020 etc.

Android is complicated

According to the latest figures from IDC Android pushed past 80% worldwide market share for the first time last quarter. Surely we can put the idea that it’s complex, hard to get to grips with, or only for hardcore techies to bed now? It was only a couple of years ago that Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said “You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone, but I think you do to use an Android phone.”

Right from day one the idea that Android was not intuitive, or that there’s a really steep learning curve before you can master it, was pure nonsense. Most people came to Android from feature phones. The platforms we used before were filling up with perplexing icons and layers of hidden menu options. Android was extremely intuitive by comparison, and the user experience has been streamlined further with each new version.
The idea that the Android platform is too hard for the average user to figure out is seriously insulting to the average user. There is no significant difference in usability between any of the major mobile platforms and even android has become more user friendly and easy to use after major update of Ice cream sandwitch 4.0 onwards.

Android malware will infect your phone

There’s no doubt that malware exists and there are plenty of people trying to infect your smartphone, but for the average user Android is secure enough. It’s not difficult or complicated to protect yourself from threats. Every app that is installed on Android has to ask for permissions and you can review them before you decide whether to install.
If you feel like that’s too much hassle then there’s a very simple alternative. Start by installing a security app, the independent security institute, AV Test, does a regularly updated report on the best options and most of them are free. Don’t go outside of Google Play for apps, most malware comes from third-party stores or other sources. Since it takes time to identify malware you can drastically reduce your risks by not downloading the newest apps, stick to things with plenty of reviews and download numbers. Apply the same common sense you would browsing the web on your computer – don’t click on suspicious links or open suspicious email attachments. Don’t root your phone.
Eric Schmidt got laughed at when he said Android is more secure than the iPhone, but the real point is that the user is the weak link. If you choose to bypass the layers of security built in to any good mobile platform (Android, iOS, Windows etc) then be aware that you’re choosing to take a risk.

Android is the same on every phone

We’ve all seen those arguments where someone jumps on a forum thread or comment section to complain about how awful Android is and it transpires that they’ve been using an HTC Wildfire, a Samsung Moment, or some other budget release. Google has been working on improving the Android experience and optimizing its services so that you don’t need cutting edge hardware to enjoy the platform, but there are limits. If a manufacturer puts together a shoddy phone, slaps its own user interface over the top, and then the carrier fills it with bloatware then it’s not really representative of Android.
You wouldn’t buy an iPhone 3G/3GS and expect it to perform like an iPhone 5/5S would you? The lack of restrictions on Android is a generally a good thing because you get loads of different devices at different price points. The inevitable downside to that is that there will be some duds. Even a small amount of homework and a cursory glance at review scores will guide you towards a decent Android phone and you don’t have to spend big (check out Nexus series and new moto series from Motorola).

Android needs a task killer

If I ate a donuts every time I saw a forum argument about whether you need a task killer on Android then I’d be a bed-ridden whale by now. In the early days we all bought into this, the top task killer app is closing in on half a million downloads and there are many, many others that do essentially the same thing. Then a few people started questioning whether those task killers were really saving us battery life or improving our smartphone’s performance?
There are some compelling arguments against using task killers, like this one at Lifehacker. When I stopped using a task killer there was a noticeable improvement in both battery life and stability, so I’ve never used one since and I’ve never missed it. The appeal is obviously the idea that you can be proactively improving your smartphone, but unless you’re dealing with a dodgy app it’s probably not making the difference you think it is.
It could be the placebo effect that’s convincing you a task killer is helping. Try life without it and see if you can feel the difference.

There are plenty of other myths out there about Android and mobile devices in general. We could have talked about battery calibration, or the idea that fragmentation is a problem that’s unique to Android. What are the Android myths that annoy you?

Microsoft’s Next CEO: How the Board Can Get It Right

Let’s face facts: Most boards invest heavily in executive assessments, exposing chief-executive candidates to C-suite responsibilities and checking their P&L performance — while simultaneously scanning outside prospects.  Yet less attention is given to one of the most important determining factors of all:  Whether directors who have actually served as CEOs are driving the process.  It takes one, in our view, to really know one.  If the succession and search are not driven by those who have already run another firm, the company is, in our experience, less likely to end up with a CEO who can run this one.

Look at Microsoft’s current search for a successor to chief executive Steve Balmer, who has run the show since 2000.  John W. Thompson, the former CEO of Symantec, leads its search committee, and he is joined by Steve J. Luczo, chairman and CEO of Seagate, and Charles H. Noski, former CFO of Bank of America.  All have served at or near the pinnacle of company power, and they now bring that experience to judging who has the requisite skill-set to lead the world’s largest software maker in a fast-morphing market.  They will likely decide among three major options, and here is where that prior executive experience will prove critical in picking among them:

1. Stay inside or consider an “outside-in” candidate.  Thompson and his colleagues have up-for- consideration several long-term Microsoft managers and a former executive, Stephen Elop,   recently reacquired when Microsoft purchased much of Nokia.  Their prior question here is sure to be the company’s long-term strategy.  Should Microsoft reinvent itself or stay the course?  Most insiders are likely to play to the latter since they have been deeply responsible for executing the departing CEO’s agenda.  This is the default—most Fortune 100 CEOs have been home grown—but it comes with a downside: other top talent may decamp to corner offices elsewhere.

2.  Go outside for a tech-savvy executive with a proven record and who is of an age to run the company for the next ten to fifteen years.  This option opens the way for a much larger gear shift, but it also comes with the same hitch.  The inside talent that is passed over may quickly head out the door, as happened at Boeing when it brought in James McNerney from 3M— only to lose its own Alan Mulally to Ford.

3. Go outside for a more experienced outside CEO of a major enterprise who could further develop Microsoft’s top talent and then be ready to step aside in five or six years.  This brings the advantages of holding off on anointing an internal executive who may not be quite ready—but at the same time retaining the top contestants and allowing for a strategic redirection.  This is no doubt one reason that Ford’s Mullaly is under active consideration.

Regardless of the choice, we believe that Microsoft search committee will better be able to assess these options and their candidates given its members’ own C-suite experience.  Since they have been there and done what they are looking for before, that should improve the likelihood that they and the board will reach the right outcome in the biggest decision that the directors will ever face.

From observation and experience with many boards in the U.S. and abroad, we have come to conclude that too much of the debate around CEO succession misses one of the most important determinants of success or failure.  And that is a matter of creating the right social architecture in the boardroom — including composing the search committee — that can optimize finding the right executive given the company’s challenges at hand.

We also believe that current and former chief executives, or those who have been close to the throne, are more likely to bring the right insight and instinct to the board’s decision.  Having already made so many executive selections of their own, and knowing personally what is required of those who carry ultimate responsibility, they bring the confidence and know-how of the seasoned veteran.  They are less likely to hand-off the process to a search firm, more likely to make company strategy the first criterion in narrowing the field, and more likely to discern who would constitute the best strategic fit.

Company boards think a lot these days about downside risks, as they obviously should and have learned to do in the wake of the financial crisis.  Directors worry about bad acquisitions, bad operating procedures, bad safety measures, and bad multinational expansions that can kill results.  But in our view the greatest such hazard is picking the wrong CEO who can drive the company in the ground.  And to guard against that ultimate risk, the best protection is to bring great performers onto the board who know how to run companies for having done it — and then to place the best of the best on the search committee when it really counts.

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Don’t Get Defensive: Communication Tips for the Vigilant

When we get defensive, we make it that much harder for our conversational counterparts to hear what we’re saying. We also make it harder to really listen to what *they* have to say. Soon, we’re shadow-boxing, defending ourselves against attacks that aren’t real, and wasting energy — and relationship capital — on damage control instead of solving the problem at hand.

If you get hooked into defensiveness — and most of us do — you probably already know it. It’s likely come up in conversations with your boss or your spouse. And when it did, you probably got defensive about being defensive. After all, it felt like you were being attacked! What else were you supposed to do?

Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a procedure I call “three strikes and you’re in.”

After someone has said something that causes you to arch your back and want to become defensive:

Strike 1 – Think of the first thing you want to say or do and don’t do that. Instead, take a deep breath.  That is because the first thing you want to do is defend yourself against what you perceive as an attack, slight, or offense.

Strike 2 – Think of the second thing you want to say or do and don’t do that, either. Take a second breath.  That is because the second thing you want to do after being attacked is to retaliate.  That is only going to escalate matters.

Strike 3 – Think of the third thing you want to say or do and then do that.  That is because once you get past defending yourself and retaliating, you have a better chance of seeking a solution.

The main reason to stop getting defensive is that it usually triggers the same response in the other person. If instead you look for ways to be more solution-oriented, you will soon find yourself on your way to more cooperation and collaboration.

If you’re struggling with what that non-defensive, non-retaliatory, solution-oriented statement might be, focus on being a “plusser.” A plusser is someone who listens to what the other person says and then builds on it.

One way of plussing is to use the phrase, “Say more about ______.” Think of the words they used that had the most emphasis and invite them to say more about that topic.  You will buy yourself time to think and calm down, let your counterpart feel heard, and disarm a counterpart who has bad intentions. Another way to do it is to say, “If we do that, what would be the next step to keep it going?” or “If we do this, what would be the way to get the most out of it?”

Similarly, you can replace “yes, but” with “yes, and”  As you probably know, when you say, “yes, but” they hear, “Everything up to now was just being polite and should be disregarded; now I’m going to tell you what the real deal is and you better pay attention.” (Isn’t it amazing how “yes, but” can mean so much more?). “Yes, and” validates what has been said — and adds to it.  For example, “Yes, that’s a good point and to make it work even better…” or “Yes, I heard everything you said andhelp me figure out the way to make sure it gets incorporated…”

If you often find yourself in defensive conversations where you can’t figure out why you’re arguing — if you find yourself frequently saying, “Hey, I think we actually agree here…” — you might be guilty of saying “yes, but” when you actually mean “yes, and.”

But what if the person is genuinely unfairly attacking you? What if they’ve said something you really believe is untrue — you can’t say “yes and,” or “say more about ____” in that case, can you?

In that case, you might try a “controlled confrontation.”  You do this by pausing after they speak for a full count of three in your head.  This will both take the conversation away from escalating and may cause the other person to become nervous.  If they do, that will work in your favor. When you don’t take the bait, they are in unfamiliar territory and this can have a slightly disarming effect.

At that point, look them squarely, calmly, and firmly in the eye and say, “Whoah! Let’s each take a breath here because I am feeling very reactive and I know until I calm down a bit, whatever I say or do now will only make this conversation worse.  And I am not going to do that.”

Then take that breath and say, “Okay, what’s clear to me is that something is frustrating you.  What, in your mind’s eye, would you like me to do to make that frustration go away?  If it’s doable and fair to you and me and everyone it affects and in their best interest, I think I’ll be happy to oblige.  If however it isn’t fair or in everyone’s best interest, I’m going to have a problem going along with it.”

Then be quiet, let them respond and if it doesn’t seem fair and in everyone’s best interest say, “I’m having some difficulty understanding how that will be fair to everyone and in their best interests. Perhaps you can explain otherwise or we can brainstorm on how to make it so.”

By being unflappable and standing up for the principles of fairness, and reason, and mutual best interest, you will be better able to stand up for what’s right — and stand up to them in a way that is neither defensive or provoking.

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Breaking News ::: YouTube has been knocked out

     If you've gone to YouTube on your mobile device in the last an hour or so, you probably got an error message, but if you tried on a desktop, you were faced with the oddest thing you may ever see: a Google service failing so hard that the error page is just a long string of characters. No word on what happened, or when it will be fixed, but we'll keep you updated as it goes on.

Reports started flooding into Twitter about half an hour ago, and the YouTube site is just showing a 500 Internal Server Error. No doubt that Google is scrambling to fix the problem, but for right now the web is going a bit stir crazy without its cat videos. Google services are known for having phenomenal up-time, so when one goes down, especially one as big as YouTube, it is something to watch.

Source :: Twitter

Taking Over from an Incompetent Team Leader

Becoming the leader of an existing team can be challenging, but taking over from an incompetent leader is more difficult. Incompetent leaders are not only ineffective at achieving the team’s goals. They think and act in ways that detract from and undermine the team’s performance, working relationships, and well-being. Consequently, in addition to forging agreement on the normal issues of mission, goals, and roles, incoming leaders often find their new team in disarray, dealing with conflict and stress. Building a stronger team means addressing these emotionally-laden issues.

There are several steps leaders facing this situation can take:

Tell team members what you know. Your new direct reports want to know what you understand about the leadership deficit they have faced and how it has affected the team. Your purpose isn’t to criticize the previous leader or to be omniscient; it’s to show the team that you have some understanding and appreciation – however limited – of the challenges they have faced and the effects it has had on the organization, the team and them. By telling people what you know, you also model transparency, a value that may have been lacking in the previous leader.

Be curious about what the team has experienced. If you know only a little about what the team has been through, say so. But even if you have worked with the team or been a team member, get curious and ask about the challenges they have faced and what concerns they have. Incompetent leaders leave behind disarray, conflict, and stress. By understanding what they have experienced, you develop a more complete picture of the issues that you and your team will need to address to move forward. Your curiosity also shows that you are interested in their well-being, another value that may have been lacking in the previous leader.

Temporarily suspend judgment about whether team members are resisting changes to improve team functioning and accountability. Teams that have been led by incompetent leaders often have insufficient or stifling structures, processes and accountability. Team members have received mixed messages about what is expected of them and they have often been treated poorly, without regard to their well-being. It’s easy to think that because you are increasing predictability and psychological safety, team members will quickly and enthusiastically embrace your changes. But team members may welcome the changes and have concerns about effects of the changes. They may worry that you will use the increased accountability punitively or that the changes in expectations will reveal their weaknesses, which will put their jobs at risk. As a result, they may not fully implement the changes. It’s easy to infer that these members are simply resisting change. If instead, if you get curious and understand they concerns, you can design team changes in a way that address the concerns at the same time it achieves the results the team needs.

Be careful about assessing team members’ knowledge and skills based on their initial performance. Similarly, if team members aren’t performing their jobs adequately, it’s easy to infer incorrectly that members can’t perform their jobs. But, sometimes it’s more complex than that. Team members’ knowledge and skills may be masked by the dysfunctional structures, processes, and expectations that the previous leader created and within which team members operate. Until you start to change these conditions, it can be difficult to tell if team members have what it takes to do the job.

Explain your behavior; don’t make team members guess. As you assess the current team’s functioning and work with the team to make changes, don’t assume that you can allay members’ concerns simply by acting effectively. Team members’ anxieties about the previous leader can easily lead them to misinterpret your comments and behaviors. To reduce this possibility, consistently explain why you are doing what you’re doing and why you are saying what you’re saying. This also enables you to share your leadership philosophy and set expectations for how you want others to lead.

You may be thinking that you don’t have the time to follow these steps; you need to get some team results fast. There is a paradox here. If you start by quickly changing team structures, overall it will take more time to get better team results than if you spend more time to understand, appreciate, and respond to team members’ needs and concerns before making changes. Smart leaders practice what systems thinkers long ago learned: Go slow to go fast.

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Top 5 requirements for choosing a mobile app development platform

While the strategy formation and vendor selection are always a balance of internal requirements, the companies that “win” have a commonly shared view from both sides of IT and business: this is all about creating business value. Whether that means effecting engagement with your customers or empowering your employees to be more productive, IT and the business must be aligned on objectives in order to advance a truly successful multi-channel strategy.

There are five imperatives that bring the best thinking forward:

1. Mobile devices: they will continue to come.
2. Multi-channel apps: users want a consistent experience.
3. Underlying data sources: how much heavy lifting is involved?
4. Mobile management challenges: protecting the enterprise without messing with Angry Birds.
5. Empowering everywhere: mobilizing the moments of engagement.

These observations are pulled from the hundreds of engagements I’ve been lucky enough to have with prospects and customers building their strategy. Frankly, it’s easy to spot the companies that will have a successful mobile strategy because they ask the right questions.

Often, it’s the business side that will drive the mobile strategy, but the IT group makes recommendations about the options for a mobile vendor. So, how can you ensure that in the end your users get the best possible mobile experience and business creates the most value? Below is a deeper look at the five topics that every selection team should be thinking about. 

Mobile devices: they will continue to come

Over 2 billion mobile devices are sold each year.  That’s a heck of a lot of economic incentive for companies to introduce new and different devices.While Apple and Android smartphones dominate today’s market, Blackberry and Microsoft-powered devices are waiting in the wings. Tablets introduce their own form factors - the current supremacy of the Apple iPad is already under attack.

As you develop your mobile strategy, it’s important to take a multi-channel approach that plans to support multiple new devices.

Multi-channel apps: users want a consistent experience

Moreover, users expect engaging experiences - they aren’t satisfied with miniaturized access to predefined web sites. While mobile web apps are a way to get started, users need task-oriented solutions designed to deliver immediate access to relevant information, direct inputs to enterprise resources, and near real-time updates to one another and to their clientele. These mobile apps run on the devices themselves and leverage integration with GPS, accelerometer, camera, and other sensors.

You should expect to develop multiple native mobile apps, each designed to support specific business tasks and empower targeted groups of users. Invariably, cost becomes a factor. As you mobilize enterprise applications and engage customers, partners, and employees, it’s essential to optimize your firm’s investments in development resources. A good mobile vendor will help ensure that developers can rapidly deliver a continuing stream of native mobile apps. These apps should target the high-value tasks and produce business results.

Underlying data sources: how much heavy lifting is involved?

But native mobile apps are not simply the ends in themselves. Rather, they are the touch points for a larger business context. Mobile apps must communicate with predefined content and data sources to fetch information and return results.

Working with your IT group, you need to identify these data sources, taking into account how frequently you are updating information on the devices and how much data needs to flow across the network. It is important to define the connections between the native mobile apps and the back-end information sources. A good mobile vendor will deliver a flexible and extensible set of connectors to rapidly integrate with your firm’s existing enterprise applications and information sources.

Mobile management challenges: protecting the enterprise without messing with Angry Birds

Finally, there are the inevitable management challenges. How do you best roll out and provision multiple mobile apps to an ever-growing number of users? How do you update the applications and ensure the security of valuable enterprise information stored on the devices, whether they are company assets or employee-owned assets? If need be, how do you restrict the use of the applications to predefined locations and times of day?

A good mobile vendor will match application management capabilities to your organization’s policies and procedures, and enable you to track results.

Empowering everywhere: mobilizing the moments of engagement

As you choose a mobile vendor, be sure to identify the various devices and mobile apps you need to support. But these two factors are only the tip of the iceberg. You also need to pay attention to what is unseen and below the waterline.

These are the three factors related to your overall IT environment: how you integrate with existing applications and information sources, ensure security, and manage the mobile apps across your organization. An integrated SDLC platform like the Kony Multi-Channel Experience Cloud ensures that all of these are covered so you can empower everywhere.

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Warning : Your smartphone can reveal your PINs

iPhone pass code is one if the most in-secure security options available

 as compared to Passwords in Android.

Smartphones have become part of our daily life, but it can be dangerous and can be used to reveal our  PIN s.

A team of researcher in University of Cambridge found that numbers entered using number only soft keypad could be identified. They used a program called "PIN Skimmer" for this purpose. The software uses Smartphone's front facing camera and mic to see your face and to listen keypad clicks as you type. They used Samsung Galaxy S3 and Nexus S smartphones to carry this test.

According to research the microphone is used to detect the touch events as the user enters the pin. In effect it hears the clicks the phone makes as the a user presses a button on soft number pad. The camera then estimates the orientation of the phone as the user is doing this and "correlates it to the position of the digit tapped by the user.

"We watch how your face appears to move as you jiggle your phone by typing" said Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University. And more important is "It did surprise us how well it worked" he told. When trying to work out four-digit Pins the program was successful more than 50% of the time after five attempts. With eight-digit Pins the success rate was 60% after 10 attempts.

Many smartphone users have a Pin code to lock their phone but they are increasingly used to access other types of applications on a smartphone, including banking apps. iPhone s have only option of pin codes as security lock and is more easy to break security in this way.

This raises the question of which resources should remain accessible on a phone when someone is entering a sensitive PIN, say the report's authors.

Earlier this year, another security flaw allowed malicious third-party apps to gather data from the smartphone's accelerometer sensors and used it to guess PIN codes and screen lock patterns. Have you ever experienced any similar security issues with your smartphone.? Please share your feedback. 

Suggestions:

- Use finger print sensors (becoming available on iPhone 5S and new Droids) and facial recognition for Financial apps.

- Using large numbers for pin code, but it would be hard to remember.

- Use more complex pin codes or randomize the position of the digits.

Source: Phone arena