From the desk (and BlackBerry) of Keith Parnell

Finally, hot off the presses, great news! The Keith Parnell | Coffee with the CEO iPhone App is available in Apple’s App Store. Download the new app here.

Why would you want this app? From one place on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get the most current blog posts from my blog, tweets from Twitter, and videos from YouTube. Too cool.

Many thanks to the team at MotherApp for building my iPhone App!

Keith Parnell iPhone App Press Release:

About this Blog:

Keith is the Founder & CEO of JASE Group, a marketing and new media agency based in Norfolk, VA.

Keith is Co-Founder & CLO of NeedLocalHelp.com, an Internet start-up that specializes in local business services, local small business advertising, and providing the most comprehensive local search directories across the United States.

Keith is also Co-Founder and Co-Principal of New Media Conventions.

Keith is a speaker, writer and blogger at keithparnell.com. He frequently performs interactive talks and how-to sessions for companies, non-profit organizations, conferences and seminars. He is a knowledgeable and passionate speaker on a variety of topics including new media, online marketing, social media, inbound marketing strategies, brand management solutions, and successful advertising techniques.

Technology, marketing and social media are among Keith’s daily passions. He has a vast presence and personal network in the social media world with c. 25,000 followers and subscribers from his blogs, Twitter, JASEzone, Facebook, LinkedIn and FriendFeed networks.

Keith is a member of the Entrepreneurs Forum of Hampton Roads, the Hampton Roads Internet Marketing & Technology Group, the Williamsburg / Peninsula Internet Marketing Group, and the Virginia Opera Guild. Keith video blogs at CoffeeWithTheCEO.com.

About MotherApp BlogEngine:

MotherApp BlogEngine converts your blogs and tweets to a native iPhone app. It extends your reach to the mobile medium and provides a dedicated space for your audience to engage. MotherApp BlogEngine also generates additional stream of income through embedded advertisement. Visit http://www.motherapp.com/en/blogger/ for information and sign up for MotherApp BlogEngine.

About MotherApp:

We are the industry-leading provider of cross platform mobile applications. Our patent-pending MotherApp Engine turns one HTML source code into native apps on multiple mobile platforms, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian. We improve time-to-market, while reducing development and support costs. Our customers today include world-class banks, carriers, financial press, retail, radio stations, tourism boards and ad agencies worldwide. For more details and press enquires, please visit: http://www.motherapp.com.

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On Twitter? Follow me at @parnellk63.

Listening to Hard Times by Ray Charles.

Would you, do you still pay for hot spot Wi-fi? Is the lower speed of data travel through your Edge or 3G smartphone enough of a trade off for the session costs of wi-fi at an airport or Starbucks?

Friends poll:
What cellular/data service provider (based on first hand experience) has the most saturated coverage areas across the majority of the large metropolitan areas in the United States? 3G is a must.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Okay, I didn’t mean that as harsh as it sounded. But my life is digital. My family knows that. My friends know that. Most everything I do in my professional and personal life is captured in some way on some media platform.

I tweet my work. I tweet about meetings. I tweet about clients. I blog on several different blogs. I take photos like crazy with my BlackBerry and immediately email them to TwitPic which autoposts to Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook. I take videos with my BlackBerry and live stream them to Qik which autoposts to Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook. I tweet about my wonderful family. I tweet while on vacation. Heck, I even tweet while at Major League Baseball games.

I am digital. I am live. Hear me roar.
I get questions all the time about taking a break from being digital. And I always answer with the same response - “why?” I enjoy being digital. There’s no stress for me to being digital. I don’t need that break that some people might. In all actuality, I’m a bit uncomfortable not being readily connected.

Let me clarify a bit for you on what I mean by being “digital”. I don’t mean just having access to my social media channels, although they are important to me. My BlackBerry and notebook give me a safe place to write my thoughts, for my blog and for private. They give me quick access to my huge music library which is a great stress reliever for me. They give me a way to collect and view my vast photo and video libraries. They provide me a way to quickly Skype (audio or video) call with my Nicole or my daughters or my Mother.

So you see, being digital is not a burden to me at all. Being digital is my way of life that provides me the most efficient, profitable and comfortable way to manage my time, my daily tasks and my stress.

Besides, I love my job. My job is my life. My family and friends are my life. And my life is digital. So why would I want to change that?!

No need for those expensive satellite feeds anymore, I’m guessing. When you have a story to report just whip out the laptop, throw in the air card from your favorite ISP, and pop open a Skype video connection back to the office / television station.

I snapped this photograph real quick tonight with the BlackBerry while watching the 11:00 PM news on television on WTKR TV 3 in Hampton Roads (VA).

Good for WTKR! Very resourceful reporting from Mexico.

I think a very important question for company decision-makers is, How Tethered Should My Team Be?

My world is very interesting and overall I think unique. Not unique for the tech industry but unique as compared to the work force as a whole. I require myself to be electronically connected at almost all hours of every night and day. Much to Nicole’s chagrin, yes, ‘every’ night and day. My tech team is nearly the same and during their disconnected times there should be another connected person capable of filling the needs of the organization.

Let’s move to other member (sets) of the organization’s team. Should the Operations team be consistently connected? Should the Creative team be consistently connected? Should the Sales team be consistently connected? Should the Marketing team be consistently connected? Within each of these teams an evaluation of senior management, team leads and team members should also be weighed. Should they, or at least their role, be consistently connected?

Here’s my answer - YES! Yes, they absolutely sure should. Each of these teams occupy a vital role in the decision-making processes that are important to the organization’s success. A senior member of each of these teams should be always available, reachable and able to communication at any given time as dictated by the real-time needs of the organization.

So how do we make this connectability happen? Smartphones. Smartphones that are reliable, (platform) stable, secure, usable, functional and yes, okay attractive. RIM’s BlackBerry tops the list of recommendations from every top organization around the globe. Nokia (the N95) makes fine smartphone products as does Palm (the Treo).

CIO.com’s Survey Results for “How Addicted to Your SmartPhone Are You?
5% - My phone is for business. I put it away at night, unless I’m traveling for work.
2% - I check messages every few hours after work and on weekends. But I’d never bring my smartphone on vacation.
19% - I’m more productive because of my smartphone, and it doesn’t negatively affect my work/life balance. I wouldn’t call it an addiction.
67% - My smartphone never leaves my side. At work, rest, play, vacation, you name itmy best electronic friend is with me.
7% - IMHO That’s NOYB. BB4N. EOM. (In my humble opinion, that’s none of your business. Bye bye for now. End of message.)

Where do you stand?

This weekend we were having issues with the wireless network at home. I think maybe the issue is the lack-of-strength reception from the airport card in the iBook but regardless we had a need to get the machine online while sitting at the dining room table.

Every Windows laptop I’ve had I’ve been able to tether my Pearl to it to use as a modem for the machine. But I hadn’t tried it with a Mac notebook.

I quickly searched (not Googled, Yahoo!’d) for “tether BlackBerry Pearl to iBook” and found Dave Taylor’s article titled “How do I use my Blackberry Pearl as a bluetooth modem with a Mac?” Perfect!

Thanks to Dave, I had the iBook online via the Pearl inside of 4 minutes. No issues. No problems following his instructions. No performance malfunctions through T-mobile. The iBook is online now when I need it.

Thanks RIM. As if this needed to be said, I fell in love with you all over again. BlackBerry is the perfect user device for any smartphone person.

Ever wanted to tether your Linux notebook to your BlackBerry? Well, now you can.

Barry is an open source application that allows you to tether your Linux machine to your BlackBerry for Internet access, to sychronize data, backup and restore, and program management.

Here is a list of Barry’s possibilities from their website:

• Charge your Blackberry’s battery from your USB port.
• Retrieve Address Book, Email, Calendar, Service Book, Memos, Tasks, PIN Messages, Saved Email, and Folders.
• Export Address Book contacts in text or LDAP LDIF format.
• Make full data backups and restores of your device using a GUI.
• Synchronize contacts and calendar items using the OpenSync framework.
• Use the Blackberry as a modem.

To download Barry to your Linux machine, click here.

CIO Today has an article that has my mind stirring today. I have been on the city-wide WiFi bandwagon for a few years now.

The value to a city and its budget conscious departments could be tremendous. But just as any large project unfolds someone must make the initial and ongoing investment to architect and build the infrastructure.

Someone - taxpayers? Vendors? Both? At what percentage split? That’s where the build seems to be stalling for many municipalities.

Read the article; let me know what you think.

Related article: Paris plans wireless for everyone. Is that really what we want?

Alltel Wireless! That’s what Verizon just paid for Alltel Corp. after today’s approval of the proposal by the Federal Trade Commission. With the deal Verizon becomes the largest wireless carrier in the United States.

Does this mean no more Alltel commercials with Chad and his bumbling buddies?

What do you guys think about this deal? Good for Alltel & Verizon subscribers with the added coverage areas?

Oh my. Nicole is going to freak when she reads this!
The Food Network has launched a mobile version of their website custom tailored for smartphones such as BlackBerry and iPhone.

The new site offers visitors seasonal recipes, holiday recipes and videos for mobile viewing. Theres also a search box that allows search for specific recipes.

Can you imagine bumping in to someone on the floor at Harris Teeter because instead of looking where they’re going they are searching the Food Network on their smartphone for a special Bolognese sauce for a dinner party this weekend?!

Test it. Try it out - mobile.foodnetwork.com. Someone at home will thank you for not forgetting the stone-ground mustard.

The first Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphone has joined the family of Research In Motion (RIM) products. The company announced on Tuesday the BlackBerry 8820, which provides data access through both cellular and Wi-Fi networks, along with calling capabilities through unlicensed mobile access (UMA).

Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry 8820 is a “good device for enterprise users,” said IDC analyst Chris Hazelton, “and is perfect for the traveler.” The BlackBerry 8820’s support for unlicensed mobile access (UMA) allows a user to make a voice call on either cell or Wi-Fi networks, with a transparent handoff when moving into or out of a hotspot.

He also noted that the 8820’s support for UMA allows a user to make a voice call on either cellular or data networks, with a transparent handoff when moving into or out of a Wi-Fi hotspot. Hazelton noted that VoIP does not allow such a handoff, and that only two T-Mobile phones in the U.S. currently support UMA. UMA also enables a call to be received simultaneously on a desk phone and on the 8820, so the user can choose which to pick up.

As it does with its other enterprise-targeted products, RIM is highlighting the ability of the 8820 to play nicely with corporate I.T. It offers WEP and WPA encryption along with Cisco Compatible Extensions and support for “the most commonly deployed” virtual private network gateways from Cisco, CheckPoint, and others.

RIM is launching its new-world 8820 smartphone from a position of increasing strength. Earlier this summer, RIM reported a 16.3 percent increase in revenue to $1.082 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. This was a whopping 76.5 percent jump over the same quarter the year prior, and, according to company executives, was RIM’s first billion-dollar quarter.

Information sourced from CIO Today.

I recently read an article from Search Engine Watch that struck my interest. It was titled, Local Search Meets Mobile and WiFi and subtitled, Marketers should care about mobile search. My first thought was “duh”! But then after breaking down in my mind what it would take for marketers and then action officers behind them to make this happen, I understood why this needs to be said.

From a marketing standpoint, this is no brainer. Mobile devices are too commonplace these days. Everyone has a mobile phone. Most mobile phones have the ability to access the Internet. For purposes of my point, we can expand mobile devices to include laptops being used by consumers sitting in Starbucks or their local library or the airport. Marketing consensus: Marketers need the ability and support to lead their clients to tap into the mobile device market.

From a development standpoint, the level of effort to make development processes and teams move mobile device development to priority one (or even priority five) is extreme. Developing for mobile devices such as SmartPhones, Satellite phones, and PDAs is not as easily performed as web sites for the common Internet user or windows apps for the common computer user. Or let me say it another way, the talent pool of developers and engineers is not as vast. Development consensus: Development teams need to get there. The requirements are in place, the technology is in place, the developers need to make themselves readily qualified.

From a Local Search standpoint, businesses need to align themselves at the starting gates. To get started preparation needs to take place. Stephen Almberg from Internet Yellow Page Solutions recently said, “The key to search in the mobile market is the local businesses. Local Search requires the content to be up-to-date and correct including phone number(s), location, map and business information.” These comments make perfect sense and reinforce one of my ‘famous 25 quotes to live by’ in the business world: “Applications are only as successful as the data supporting them.” Local Search consensus: Businesses should partner themselves with Local Search experts such as the IYPS team to ensure they are ready for the mobile search explosion.

The technology is here today. The smart development teams are here today. The marriage of the two needs to support the requirements of the marketing team and the clients they represent. Today!

* Mobile Devices: Information appliance, Smartphone, Personal digital assistant, Mobile phone, Personal Communicator, Handheld game console, Ultra-Mobile PC, Handheld television.

* WiFi: A brand originally licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications.

* Local Search: A type of internet search wherein the keyword string submitted to the search engine includes a locality parameter (such as: city name, ZIP code, state name, etc) along with other keyword terms, or the user’s physical location (known as Geolocation) is identified in some way, and the results returned supposedly are limited to that locality.

* Definitions according to Wikipedia.