happykatie :: katie rocks out the interwebs

Free Helio Ocean with love from Josh Hallet

I met Josh Hallett at a recent Social Media workshop with PRSA Houston and he's a swell guy.  This swellness has just been confirmed by his recent announcement of giving away his almost new Helio Ocean .  Awesome much???

From the Hyku blog:

How can you 'win' this Ocean?  Easy:

1. Write a blog post about why you deserve/want/need/covet the phone. 
2. Link your post to this post.
3. I'll find your post via my Technorati watchlist.
4. I'll pick a winner

I plan to pick a winner on July 31st and ship the phone out a few days later. The 'quality' of the winning entry will be judged solely by me. Who knows what will win, a sob-story, a tale of geek-lust, we'll see.

What are you waiting for??  Start blogging already!!

Hail to my Helio

Helio Ocean Graffiti, originally uploaded by Grim Santo.

I'm on Day 2 of Helio Ocean ownership and have good things to say about the little not-an-iPhone-but-still-really-cool mobile device. A couple of immediate thoughts in a nutshell:

• The dual sliding keyboards are great, as they are not only functional and sturdy, but fun to slide open and shut as well.  Weee!
• Super easy email, messaging (= Twitter) and Flickr uploading capabilities.  Check out one of our first Helio Ocean camera pics here.  Blurry, but do-able for quickie snap shots.  This device has already easily integrated into my blogging and Twitter life on the go.
• The Metblogs are one of Helio's news partners, meaning there are direct links to all 54 of the international Metblog sites.  This is handy and makes me feel cool, as they link directly to so much of my own content.
• Surprisingly good video recording capabilities.  For a camera phone that is.  Plus you can use your video audio files as your ring tone.  Which is kind of funny if your household videos are as random as ours are.

I feel like I got a lot of bang for my buck with the Ocean, plus my unlimited data plan is way cheaper than AT&T.  Saving money is important to me.  But yes, I will admit that deep in my geeky little Internet heart I long for the iPhone's Safari browsing experience.  Smooth like honey.

The lifecycle of iPhone ownership

So it's coming - the day to end all days:  the Day of the iPhone (June 29th if you've been living under a rock).

Our happyhouse wants one (or seven) of course and the little technologically gorgeous beastie has been popping up everywhere in my world - from my favorite cooking sites to the Barcamp geniuses to messages in my morning tea leaves.

That's why Dan Blank's lifecycle of iPhone ownership is especially relevant today - and pretty darn hilarious.  Also, you might be surprised at who the iPhone's biggest market might be.