Hedgehogging

Hedge*hog*ing v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.
Verizon Wireless has teamed up to deliver Prince’s new single “Guitar” on its Vcast service. Good choice, VZW. Love Prince. It’s going to be interesting to watch as conservative wireless carriers try to navigate the often-controversial music industry waters. VZW last month dropped out as a sponsor of Gwen Stefani’s music tour because her opening act, Akon performed a lewd act on stage with an underage girl. Certainly, VZW made the right call. But here’s the kicker: Last week I cringed as I watched my daughter listen to a Stefani song that sounds innocent enough on the surface, but isn’t. As I debated whether to ban the CD from her ears (it’s my CD) I reminded myself that I never understood any of Prince’s lyrics until I watched a Phil Donahue TV program about putting warning labels on music. I hope the people in charge of making music connection decisions at Verizon and the other carriers have big bottles of Tylenol on their desks. (Never meant to cause you any sorrow…)
Well, summertime is nearly upon us, and you know what that means? Yacht time! And thankfully, our friends at Any-Port announced this week that they expanded their high-speed Internet service to the bay of Villefranche-Sur-Mer in Southern France. (If you traveled by train from Cannes to Monte Carlo during the old 3GSM World Congresses, you might remember the sign.) Any-Port claims its WiMAX equipment can provide coverage up to 5 kilometers offshore. Now, when I am getting some rays on the deck of my 350-foot watercraft while docked in my favorite little cove off of Southern France, I can keep up to date on my work e-mails (ha ha) or keep tabs on the party schedule of my friends Paris, Lindsay and Britney.
——————————-
A survey released last week by Anderson Analytics found that a good percentage of supposedly tech-savvy college kids were a bit confused as to where certain cellphones were from. The survey found that 42% thought Motorola was a Japanese company, and that only 4.4% of those surveyed knew that Nokia was based in Finland. Not a huge deal since most of the devices are actually made in China, and could be a bonus as most large corporations are trying to become more country-agnostic multinationals.
——————————-
Palm Inc. unveiled its Foleo mini-computer, maxi-PDA device this week. The machine includes a 10-inch screen, full keyboard and wireless connectivity using either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Palm claims the device is a companion to smartphones, which Palm conveniently also makes, and is a compelling alternative to traditional laptop computers, which Palm does not make. For a company that was once on top of the PDA world, only to have its most recent PDA devices (LifeDrive anyone?) neglected by consumers and its bread-and-butter Treo smartphones seemingly stuck in a design hole, you have to give Palm credit for throwing more ideas against the wall. Someday, one of them might just stick.