Aaron Weiche

Those of us with an iPhone know that the device will try to locate WiFi connections for use when possible.  If you're like me, you find yourself laughing at some of the strange and odd names that homes and businesses give their WiFi connections. A few weeks ago, when in Maple Grove, I think I stumbled on to a restaurant using their WiFi connection name for marketing.

Now this could be just an accident and with my marketing mind I'm reading too far into it.  But it's the first I've ever seen someone use their main service/product and phone number in their network name.  Sawatdee in Maple Grove is the owner of this example and their food is pretty solid.  They also have a current coupon online for 50% off a second entree.

If it is on purpose, I like it.  An easy and small approach that can't hurt and can only help. I grab my iPhone to check email or use the web while shopping in downtown Maple Grove ... and there is Sawatdee letting me know their is Asian food nearby. This would also apply to any nearby laptop users attempting to connect to a network at an office or coffee shop.

What do you think?  Accident or Advertising?

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The last 2 iPhone apps I've downloaded are pretty cool, both in content and features.

The first is the This American Life app.  I'm late to the party on this fabulous NPR show, but their new app gives me access to all of their nearly 400 episodes included in the $2.99 price.  Here is a video clip on the release of their app and all of its great features.

The second is the NBC Olympics App.  While the apps best features are for those actually attending the Olympics, there is still plenty of info for events, medal counts, video and more.

Also tempting is the Olympic cow bell app, but I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet. Do you have a new favorite app or two?

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Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey launched a new payment system today for mobile phones called Square.  This solution looks to give anyone with a smart phone or laptop computer the ability to process credit card payments, without a merchant account even.

With a small dongle attachment to your device, you can swipe away, process and even provide verification and receipt. From what I can see and read, this is a huge win for small business, especially very small business.

Here are a few photos from the Square website:

A tool/technology that enables payment, turning your mobile device or laptop into a cash register is a valuable utility.  I like the fact I could take a signed contract and run their down payment for the web design project right on the spot.

I will be eagerly awaiting the initial feedback from users of Square. You?

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Grabbing lunch at Chipoltle the other day put me face to face with a flyer for their new iPhone app and online ordering.  Paper marketing, burrito technology. Good mix.

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The latest Verizon commercials are going right after AT&T's spotty 3G network coverage.

As a AT&T/iPhone customer, I can say that I was already heavily disappointed in my service before seeing such a visual example.  The comparison maps of 3G coverage shows that there is no comparison.  I'm only left to wonder when Apple will ditch AT&T for a better future of it's product.

Here is the Verizon commercial if you've missed it.

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We've finally released version 1.0 of the Five Technology website to the mobile web. There is still some work and testing to do for sure. 

We've set-up mobile browser detection to automatically forward mobile device users to the http://m.fivetechnology.com mobile sub domain when accessing the site.  Fun little project and just the start of quite a bit of mobile web design from us.

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