I was at Whole Foods yesterday and I noticed that the posted very large window logos of Facebook and Twitter right on their entrance doors. I was like wow! This social media thing is really now a train that has left the station. In today’s news on TechCrunch they reported that Google is about to drop half a Bil, or $500,000,000 on Yelp! Yelp does online reviews of businesses.

Just the other day I was massively late to the Google local search listings I just added my business on it. Not sure if I did it correctly because it is only 80% complete.

In this other post on TechCrunch:

“What if every store had a bar-code sticker on its window so that you could pull out your iPhone, wave it in front of the bar code and get all sorts of information about that business—the telephone number, photos, customer reviews? Starting on Monday, you’ll be able to do that at up to 190,000 local businesses throughout the U.S.”

“I ask what if: every company has personal information on me?” How will it be used? With the available data today it is possible to tell where almost anyone is via cell phone GPS. Sure it is good to know where your dog is but do we have to spy on our kids and the government spy on us? Just how transparent are we all going?

Think about this. Google, Sprint & Samsung combining efforts to create one super product the Google Android Sprint Samsung Moment. Wow that is a mouthful.

I finally broke down and got a new cell phone, a Samsung Moment. I stuck with Sprint. I did so for several reasons. First they really do provide great customer service both on the phone and in person. Second they offer decent pricing, I checked with AT&T on the iPhone and they wanted what seemed like a lot more money for less service. Third it seemed like Android was and is going to eclipse iPhones in the very near future. Forth, Sprint rewarded me with an “upgrade” phone which is something that the carrier will do when you have been a long time customer. (So I am thinking that customer loyalty does have its privileges.).

I first got the HTC hero from Sprint and I was unable to plug in my Google ID and password. Maybe it was me but it sure seemed difficult for the on screen keyboard to work. So I reluctantly sent it back. I then got the Samsung Moment. A phone I never heard of. But it was an Android phone and it had a keyboard. I’m on day 4 and so far so good. There is a lot to these little devices and it seems like there is a lot to learn which is kind of fun when you are waiting for a plane or a train you have something to challenge yourself with.

What I found more interesting was the ability of my 10 year old son and his ease of use to use the phone and basically tell me how to use it without ever using the printed manual. I think what will be even more interesting is the cell phone advances in the next 12 months since they seem to be moving so rapidly. At the end of they day I use a cell phone for texting and calling. I do minimal surfing on the web, but it is nice to know it is there when it is needed. As for my son he likes to play games on the phone and it keeps him entertained when we drive to our hockey games and practices.