Team Collaboration

• What Does Collaboration Technology Mean to You? … Graham takes a whack at answering Stu’s question: what does collaboration technology mean to you? He concludes with “I regularly find myself in the situation where the technology has enabled me to overcome the time and space barriers without providing the appropriate richness of experience. In that sense then, for me, collaboration technology is still a yet to be fulfilled promise.” What about you? Graham Chastney
• Task Search in Mindquarry 1.2 … Lars (from Mindquarry) previews the new task search and automatic filtering capabilities in Mindquarry 1.2. Filtering tasks was more of a manual process in earlier versions. Lars Trieloff
• 37signals Backpack Update … 37signals released an updated version of Backpack, its web-based service for managing to-do lists, notes, files, images and your calendar. New features: enhanced usability, search, page dividers, page feeds, and more. Available immediately. Backpack IT
• FAA Goes South River … South River Technologies announced that the FAA is deploying GroupDrive 5.0, for internal file sharing and collaboration. “By implementing GroupDrive 5.0 FAA employees will be able to quickly and securely share mission critical files and collaborate on documents in realtime and eliminate potential security risks with sending files as email attachments. FAA employees will have realtime access to the most current version of any document. Draft versions of documents can be temporarily shared with a broader group, and then final versions may be restricted to a limited group based upon user-defined criteria. In-place editing of the server-based files has further added to user productivity.” BusinessWire
• OCS 2007 and OC 2007 RTM … Microsoft announced that Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 were released to manufacturing a couple of days ago. “Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 will provide foundational communications capabilities that include presence, software-powered VoIP, Web conferencing, and enterprise instant messaging. Working with Exchange 2007 and Office Outlook 2007, Office Communications Server and Office Communicator streamline communications making it easier for people to collaborate and access the information necessary for informed and timely decisions.” Microsoft

Mobility

• Samsung SGH-i570 … Samsung is soon to release the SGH-i570, featuring a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and powered by Symbian. Features include a “2 megapixel camera, microSD slot, 160MB onboard storage, WiFi, HSDPA, Bluetooth, and (if you look closely) a front-facing video conferencing camera. But, unlike it’s i620 brethren, the i570 will be packing Symbian 9.1, as opposed to Windows Mobile.” intomobile
• iPhone vs. Treo 680 … Julie comments that after a month of owning and use an iPhone, she finds the capabilities of the Treo 680 superior, especially for synchronizing text files / memos / notes, the ability to use third-party software, and the availability of physical buttons. The Gadgeteer
• Emoze for Gmail … Emoze announced plans to support Gmail accounts in its push email service. “Emoze is set to introduce Gmail support for its personal push email service over the next 2 weeks. The Emoze push email and PIM data service delivers secure push email from personal or corporate accounts to a user’s mobile phone almost instantly. And – unlike BlackBerry devices – it can work on practically all mobile phones that feature an email client with no need for additional software.” tech.co.uk

Productivity

• Create Breakthroughs … Lisa shares the results of a recent workshop where attendees/participants brainstormed on how to create breakthroughs in work and life, including (a) connect people intentionally, (b) acknowledging the greatness in others, and (c) talk about what’s not being talked about. Many, many more. 2Weeks2aBreakthrough
• Creating Value or Solving Problems? … Stephen argues that businesses must manage two things at the same time: bringing a problem solving (reductionist) mindset to issues, as well as bringing a creative (expansionist) mindset to those same issues. “The bottom line is that no organisation generates exciting success and growth through problem-solving alone. Sure, a business may have to restructure or downsize to align itself with market realities, but people in enduringly great growth companies are creators that relentlessly focus on adding value. By necessity, they are financially and operationally disciplined, but even more, they are a creative force.” There’s good parallels to personal life too … FranklinCovey
• Checklist for Accepting a New Project … You’ve been asked to take on a new project / task / assignment … now what do you need to ask / clarify in order to do an excellent job? Shawn has the answer. Anecdote

Other Stuff

• Second Thoughts on Vista … Fewer businesses are planning on upgrading to Vista now than 7 months ago. “In a just-released poll of more than 250 of its clients, PatchLink noted that only 2% said they are already running Vista, while another 9% said they planned to roll out Vista in the next three months. A landslide majority, 87%, said they would stay with their existing version(s) of Windows.” ComputerWorld
• On Telepresence … John reviews the idea of telepresence conferencing, and finds it a great improvement on traditional video conferencing. The benefits are clear: “People are able to hold more meetings because they don’t have the hassle of travel, and ad hoc meetings now happen that could never have happened if participants had to travel.” ComputerWorld