Another one bites the dust

Is it just me or is the Google spring cleaning cramping your style?  Although the new maps are awesome, I am going to miss Google Latitude.  I just went through the separation anxiety with Google Reader and am starting to feel old as I miss the old days when things stayed the same.

Anyways, it's time to export your Google Latitude location history, and there's no good UI to do it.  However, you can export your whole history into local KML files.  The following Python script will create a list of URLs (month-by-month) that you can use to download your location history to your local disk.

#!/usr/bin/env python
import datetime
for year in range(2005, 2014):
  for month in range(1, 13):
    if month in (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12):
        days = 31;
    elif month == 2:
        days = 27;
    else:
        days = 30;
    startTime = datetime.datetime(year, month, 1).strftime("%s")
    endTime   = datetime.datetime(year, month, days).strftime("%s")
    print str(year) + "/" + str(month) + "\thttps://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0/kml?startTime=" + startTime + "000&endTime=" + endTime + "000"

Google rumor mill is churning

Everyone is trying to guess what's inside the Google announcement that everyone is waiting for.  Leo Laporte was hinting that there's something more coming than just the first piece of hardware from Motorola after Google took over.  I believe we are looking at a phone revolution.  I think Google finally convinced one or a few of the major mobile providers that the future is here and that Google knows what it should look like.  As the customer base of mobile service providers is getting saturated, someone is finally willing to change things up.

My guess is: Google is buying T-mobile despite gigaom saying it's impossible just half a year ago (http://gigaom.com/2012/01/10/will-google-buy-t-mobile-not-a-chance/).  Alternatively, Google is starting a new phone service, partnering with the airwaves of T-mobile and/or AT&T.   Either way,  the big secret that will be announced in a few days is that Google is investing heavily in the connectivity service business.  After all, they are already starting with fiber in select locations and although the rollout is not as fast as I would like, it's proof that they know how to handle selling end-user services.

If Leo is reading this, you can confirm this rumor by anonymously entering the word "chipotle" in the comment field. :-)

Apple pissing off BYOD users off with their MAM strategy?

iOS 7 includes a number of new features, but the biggest is the support for mobile-application-management (MAM). Right now in iOS 6, enterprises have the option to deliver enterprise applications safely, by wrapping them for their bring-your-own-device (BYOD) users, WITHOUT having to own the users' device through mobile-device-management (MDM) systems.

With the announced improvements in iOS 7, it looks like that will not be possible anymore. Going forward, any enterprise strategy for Apple devices, will have to include full device control. I certainly will not allow my enterprise IT department to control my Apple devices.

Will the push back from users prevent Apple BYOD?
Will Android have the upper leg with enterprises?
Will RIM make a comeback?

Exciting times indeed!