Lotus (finally) released a version of their new Sametime Connect Client for the Mac. I’ve played with the Windows version since it came out and I really like it. The UI anyway. The whole program seems a bit sluggish and Java-y. Still, its a BIG improvement over the normal bland Sametime IM.

I was thrilled to see the Mac version was out and after using it for a couple of days, I have some feedback:

• Pretty much the same UI experience as Windows (which is a good thing, in this case)
• Most of the features work the same. Nothing appears to have been taken out for the Mac (although I haven’t played with integrating my iSight cam with it yet).
• Even more of that Java-y feel to it. (Sluggish response kind of an unstable feel)
• It doesn’t play by the Mac dock rules. When the program is open, there’s no indicator on the icon. When an IM window is open, another ST icon appears that looks like the program, with no indication that the person IM’ing you is active/responding/etc.
• The installation program says its for the Mac. When you unzip it and activate the “Readme.html” file, it looks like its for Windows. You then have to go deeper into the unzipped file to find the REAL zipped installer. Its … odd.
• There are lost of cool features in this version (as with the Windows one) but changing the options causes lots of errors to appear (see below).

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The Minnesota Lotus Notes user group met recently to discuss a migration from Domino to Exchange by RSM McGladrey. You can see the presentation for yourself here.

A couple of thoughts on this. First, the “problems” they identified for moving away from Domino included:

• Aging Lotus Notes solution did not meet the needs of a mobile workforce
• Need more flexible and web-based interfaces
• Anyplace, anytime access to email
• Integration with Microsoft apps
• 85% of workers are mobile most of them

The solution to these problems seems to be pretty easy to me: “upgrade to Notes 6.5 or higher.”

While we all know that Domino CAN do all of the things in the “problems” list above, that’s not the point I want to make. I think this is a GREAT example of why Lotus/IBM needs to do more marketing about Lotus Notes/Domino. Its clear through comments like this (from big companies, even) that there are basic features in Notes that people don’t know about.

Now, IBM is doing a good job of allowing this story to continue to be told because there are some good things for current and potential Notes customers to read about. However, I challenge that a stronger, focused marketing campaign that communicates the value of Lotus Notes in the enterprise would do even more good.

Think about it: if a company like RSM McGladrey, an existing Notes shop, can come to the conclusion to rip out Domino and replace it with Exchange based on the bullet points above … then doesn’t suggest that Lotus/IBM isn’t adequately communicating the value, features and power of their tools with each version release!?

Marketing. It works. - I’ve said before that the “R5 - I am” commercials were the closest thing I’ve seen to a strong marketing campaign. It was a good start, I wish they would have kept going.

Maybe in Notes 8?

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At the office, I get called into helping out on a lot of presentations. Usually, I can just show up with my Mac and Keynote, apply a template and make an instant (and quick) impact (upgrade) to their presentation.

That’s great, because it adds the “sizzle.” But most people don’t start with a good “steak.”

It seems like the most common presentation no-no’s are:

• Too many sentences on a slide
• Too many words in a bullet-point
• Full paragraphs! (seriously? how can someone read that AND pay attention to you?)
• Too few images (a picture is worth…)
• Too many transition variations (more is not always better)

I thought I’d post two of the most helpful (and short) articles I’ve found on how to improve your presentations:

“20 Tips to Improve Your Presentations” (Epson.com)

“The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint” (Guy Kawasaki)

… the only other tidbit I’d add to these articles is this:
If you’re using transitions, try to pick ones that help tell the story. Your presentation should have a theme and as few words as possible on each slide. So you might need to break a concept up across a few slides. If so, you can use a transition that “moves” the presentation from slide to slide to help tell the story.

For example, Keynote has a great transition where the screen splits in half and the next slide approaches through the background. This is a GREAT transition to use when you have a slide that talks about a concept and want to go into more detail on the next slide. — It helps “tell the story.”

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I’ve written in the past about GOOD’s … um… Good product. It allows you to get email (Domino or Exchange) on smart phones easily. Its one of the easiest products to use and must have been developed by a bunch of ex-IT people, because it makes supporting it very very easy!

In the past year, Good was acquired by Motorola and I’ve been wondering what the future of Good would be … especially since last year at this time, Good was talking about their “version 5″ product which was to be a major upgrade for them.

Yesterday, I got an email from MotoGood (can I call it that? I think so) saying that many of the devices they currently support are going to be end-of-life’d (can I make a verb out of that? I think so). The announcement is due to the fact that they will “shortly” release their next version, 5.0. - I can’t wait to see what’s in it because I’ve heard its a big release (and I’ve talked to LOTS of people there about features that SHOULD be in it … especially ones that would make it more Domino-friendly).

Incase you’re wondering, the devices they will no longer support are:

• Treo 650 –Technical Support available through August 31, 2008
  Treo 700w from Verizon — Technical Support available through August 31, 2008. Note: Treo 700wx on Verizon is not affected by this announcement.
• Treo 600 — Technical Support available through March 31, 2008
• Cingular 2125 and derivative devices — Technical Support available through March 31, 2008.
• The Cingular 2125 belongs to the HTC Tornado family of devices, and is also sold under the following names:
  O2 IQ
  Orange SPV C600
  i-Mate SP5
  HTC Tornado
  Qtek 8310/8300
  T-Mobile SDA
  Vodafone VDA II
  Dopod 577

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You might expect that after posting the announcement of my Help Center application as a free download, I’d follow that post with some more information about it, or maybe a bug fix, or some note about how many downloads — but no.

Instead, I’d like to talk about: Bluetooth. Sure, its something my last 87 phones have had (even if my last 102 cars have not). Sure, people at the office are asking the IT team if they’ll now start supporting Toyota Camry’s (because “everyone” seems to be getting Bluetooth in their cars - and not have a clue how to use it).

But this particular post is all about remote controlling your car using your phone via Bluetooth. Yeah, you read that right. Check it:

While this is very cool and very James Bond, it’s stuff like this that always makes me ask the question: “who has time to work on things like that!?”

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