Why would you want to be CEO of Yahoo?

You know it's funny. I dial the way back machine when asked that one and run back to a point in time back in 1997 when someone said "Hey you'd make a great CEO of Apple" and I laugh. Because back then it was about getting someone else in to run the company back up to where it couldn't be stopped and that happened. The best person for the job got in formed a great team and took the company straight up and did not look back, except to fondly remember where it came from. It did so after getting to be the most valuable company on the planet. It took a while. He was the best person and NO ONE, not even me could have done that better. Am humbled by my time working with Steve Jobs. It's taught me much and prepared me for this in many ways.

I also then fast forward to 2008/2009 when we were sitting in Scottsdale and Jerry Yang was removed as CEO of Yahoo and relegated to a seat on the Board of Directors (WARNING) and also given or allowed to retain the title of "Chief Yahoo". That's a term that if I had my way about it would be removed from the company completely. It's not appropriate. Sure Yahoo has some culture and needs to be a bit renegade, but when you're fired from your position, you're NOT put on the Board and you're definitely NOT Chief Yahoo. In fact, you're not welcome on the property. HINT HINT.

Then we move forward to a little while later when the "Board" hires Carol Bartz, who turned around Autodesk. Maker of...a few software products.
Yahoo is Santa's workshop compared to that, and you need a technology/internet background for this. She did not have one. I have one that spans 30 years. She has NO background in entertainment, no background in technology directly herself, she's not a programmer, she's not worked in computers, she has no idea what techies really need to do, to feel, to thrive with, and she's put in charge of this behemoth of a company which should have been downsized and reorg'd years before, and she's off to the races slicing and dicing without really thinking about things, she makes a deal to get search off to Microsoft...at that point, you close the company. YAHOO WAS SEARCH. You close the company and you reopen as something newer and more exciting that drives investor interest through the roof and it's called...(we'll wait for the Board to put my name on the door before we share that).

Now we skip forward to this week. Ms Bartz is fired by email or text message or phone or all of the above, and someone doing this forgets to disable her email account before doing this. Way to go BOARD! She runs off and is interviewed by everyone and their brother who wants first dibs on the juicy lines and gets one 'Yahoo F--ked ME OVER" or works to that effect. They did? What did you do to the company? What did you do with Alibaba? Why did you not increase company profits or drive revenues or increase user population as you said you would for that amazing salary they were giving you? HOLY SMOKES! She made $42 million in perks including items related to compensating her post employment medical coverage??? Put her on the current plan and pay for that. If she costs that much to run, get a new MODEL.
GOD BLESS THE MONEY!!! and her for being able to get it. Am never going to fault the rich for getting rich. It's bad karma. I will however state that in order for that karma to continue to be good, being of SERVICE and serving the greater good is imperative. That's where she did wrong. That's part of why she's out and that's why the wheels are spinning in Sunnyvale once again.

The wheels are spinning again "Who can we hire now?", "Who will replace her?", "Who can we get that will screw things up more so we can devalue this company even more?".

The current board will do very well to accept my offer to become CEO of Yahoo for (yes you'll read this right), $200,000 a year (plus standard benefits), with an immediate $100,000.00 signing incentive, and we'll hold off on any bonus discussions until after the company is profitable. Right now, you can take away the $10 million in bonuses for Ms Bartz based on her disparaging remarks about the company and throw that into a CD with my name on it. Conditional release of it to me once the company is profitable for 4 quarters or to be left and taken as part of severance after creating a stable company and finding a replacement.
My contract 2 years. My severance if not profitable - $200,000.00. If profitable and a suitable replacement is found to take the helm, The CD + interest, plus 5 million shares of stock (fully vested) at the price at the time of my transition. If no one is found, then I'll stay on and we can discuss things at that time.

Conditions of my coming in: the above mentioned salary and benefits, plus the following:

A. I will be named both CEO & Chairman of Yahoo, Inc.
B. Jerry Yang and David Filo will tender immediate resignations. They're welcome to stay on board for 24 hours for a debrief which will be recorded.
C. All Members of the Current Board will tender their seats, to be filled within 30 days by new directors appointed by myself and a majority of share holding investors
D. Shareholders meeting scheduled within 45 days to confirm all board members, directors, CEO, CFO and other executives.
E. All current investment deals put on hold for 30 days to evaluate, meet involved parties, and discuss benefits to Yahoo, Inc.
F...let's leave this here for now. More to come once the Board puts my name on the Door. (HINT HINT).

Now THAT's Transparency!
All the other so called "Candidates" want to get back at Rupert, want to flub their dub waiting to see how low they can drive the stock price. I have a vision for Yahoo and those that know me will understand when I say that "I've already seen and experienced what Yahoo will be". I can tell you it's destined to be a very large part of what's happening in technology now and for some time to come with me running it. With anyone else, it will become dust shortly.

You want my background - Got into computers in 1975/76, have loved technology all my life. Worked in computer stores as a sales person, worked in tech support, worked as a consultant, have overseen multi-million dollar computer server installations, have written programs, have modified existing programs, have tested software, broken software, found faults in Operating Systems and help resolve major computer crash problems at financial institutions. I have been in the trenches busting my ass for the good of those companies out there in tech land. I've also had the amazing opportunity of a lifetime to be on the Team at PIXAR that made TOY STORY. I've had the immense honor of working with and spending time with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and many other technology luminaries. I've learned some amazing things in business over the past 8 years because of my now wonderful wife, and it just gets better from there.

The plan - That's between ME, MY TEAM, and the NEW BOARD when they're appointed. For now let's just say it does not involve divesting into multiple companies. It does involve changes. It involves tightening, and it involves slicing the current line of products and services substantially. More later. Oh and so you know there is MUCH MORE and it's ALL good.

The timeframe - 2 years TOPS. More like 12 months once everyone is in place. For those employees worried about flow of information, no problem there. We'll start a countdown to profitable clock screen, we'll put it on every desktop and we'll make sure we're profitable long before it reaches zero. When we are, we'll share something amazing with you. Along the way we'll share progress with you. We'll take input from you. We'll institute an equal exchange of energy program. More on that when the Board puts my name on the door.

Turning things around in Sunnyvale are MORE THAN POSSIBLE. As I see them, they've already happened. All it takes to bring it to this reality is: a phone call from the board, a check from Yahoo as mentioned above for signing on (you can send that along via courier to The UPS Store at 5points plaza in 92648, they know how to reach me. And I'll be in Sunnyvale on Tuesday and we can get started. I take Monday's off. Get used to it.

See, when it comes to things like this, I've been thinking about them for years. Passionate? YES. Driven? YES. Excited? YES. Ready? Oh YOU BETCHA!

In closing this rather long note, none of this is a joke. Those who know me will say "That's OUR Michael". Others will say "I can't f-ing believe he's doing it again". Still others will say "That takes Balls!"

You're all right. But I am here, I am ready, and Yahoo...you truly can use an infusion of excitement. I promise you it will be nothing short of that and EVERYONE in the company will benefit in the long run. Investors...sorry for your losses, but the board had this chance in 2008/9. Now it's time to make things right.

Someone notable in tech lore once gave me a great piece of advice: "Mike, never turn down the opportunity to do live tv". Thanks Bob! This time...I'm more than ready.

Best regards,

Michael Murdock, CEO
DocMurdock.com

p.s. The question in the subject line was asked by my wonderful wife. Honey, there's your answer. Love you. Thanks for your support.

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Steve Jobs…and the rest of the story

Folks, come on.
Let's get real. TMZ...Seriously??? Harvey you might be lawyer (and a pretty sucky one at that) , but...damn! EVEN SHARKS HAVE SOME SKIN! Now how about getting a fricking clue, if Apple decides to sue you because of your lowlife pictures of Steve who is now their chairman, something tells me they have deeper pockets than even you.
Let's be real, let's be human and most of all let's give Steve his time to be out of the limelight and give the Man and his family a break. They deserve one.

Now, for those who called and wanted me to dive into something over his resignation...not happening. The water under that bridge is long gone. Get over it. There are NO hard feelings between myself and Steve Jobs. I have nothing but the highest respect for him and the work he and the team at Apple (yes there is a team there) have accomplished since he went back.

There was a time when we did not see eye to eye in certain things, but I have expressed my words to my mentor and have mended fences where they could have been mended and moved on. We all grow up. I've been given support along the way and I cherish what Apple has done for me which is nobody's business.

Those who wish to short the stock and drive the price down, get a life. Investment community...if you were so fricking bright, why is our economy so messed up? if you're the ones whose advice we should live by, why are you coming back to us to bail your butts out after you pissed away all of our money in the first place? I say let the banks fail, let the investment companies fail and let's shift things back a bit and go off of reality and not the imagination of a bunch of spoiled stock brokers who bitch because they don't get their bonus. YOU OWE US. Not the other way around.

To BofA and Countrywide...FAIL. To other banks...bye bye. There it's out, someone said it. Now deal with it. I am by no means a math genius. My wife will be the first to tell you, but I will share with you that I would never stoop as low as some of you people have to publish some of the pictures and remarks about the man and team who've taken Apple to be the 2nd and the 1st highest valued company ON THE PLANET! Not just in the USA. They've obviously done something right.

Apple had a plan, contrary to everyone's belief (with the exception of those of us who knew they had a plan and were laughing at the rest of you bastards over that one).

Apple put its plan in place and has executed on it. Now, it's time to get behind the new CEO, the new BOARD, and allow them the room they need to work on continuing to make the best products possible and to help make our lives even better as we move forward from this pivotal moment.

Personally I was sad, but also happy for Steve to take some time for him, Laurene, and their family to enjoy time together. More time than he's been able to have being CEO and always under the magnifying glass of that position. I sincerely admire him for all he's done and frankly have the confidence to say that there is NOBODY who could have done what he did with Apple. NOBODY. And no matter what anyone says about that, I could care less.

Steve brought together a solid team with a collective vision to create great products that work. Great products that serve us all better than those which preceded them. They've done and continue to do an amazing job. I applaud them all for the work they've done and will continue to do under Tim Cook's leadership as CEO. I fully support him and if there's anything I can ever do to support Tim, Steve, and the rest of Apple, they all know where I am and how to reach me. I am at their service. There is NO other public company on the planet save PIXAR that gets that from me. (the US Navy does not count as they are part of our Nation and if they called, they'd get the same attention).

Steve, thanks for being a mentor, being a friend, and being someone who's changed the face of technology for everyone. We're all better for the experience.

To Harvey Levin and the TMZ gang...GET A FUCKING LIFE. SERIOUSLY.

Michael Murdock, CEODocMurdock.com

Charter Communications Can't SUCK ENOUGH!

If I was the CEO of Charter (and I probably should be for a month to clean house), I'd be highly embarrassed.

First off I'd be angry that my technician who was supposed to go out to a house in Templeton California to pick up some equipment failed to on the day that the appointment was for. In this case July 29th, 2011 between the hours of 8am and 1pm PST.

I'd be even angrier that the people who told the nice gent (Michael Murdock) who called in on behalf of his father to arrange for boxes to be shipped to his address in Huntington Beach, CA a mere 4.5 hours south of the current location were not shipped out as our people had promised on the 29th.

I'd be even angrier that every time Mr. Murdock has called in to arrange for boxes to be shipped so that his father's cablebox, internet modem can be returned, that he's never been properly taken care of by a supervisor and had this issue resolved back on the 29th of July!

I'd be EVEN ANGRIER that someone in my organization sent his Father a note threatening legal action against him for not returning equipment that we failed multiple times to pick up, or retrieve via boxes that we promised to ship via FEDEX.

And I'd probably POP MY CORK at the Manager who denied his/her tech permission to ship out boxes to get our equipment OVERNIGHT OR SATURDAY DELIVERY when the folks watching our twitter stream saw Mr. Murdock's angry tweets and tried to calm him down.

I'd be highly embarrassed that a Decorated War Veteran has to even think about my organization taking any action against him over something that was our fault.

I'd also EXPLODE at the thought that someone on my staff called his phone number which we provided and we disconnected and tried to leave him a message there but then wrote in the call logs that the number in Templeton California was disconnected. But I'd be even sadder to know that his son had called, and left a new number to call and leave voicemail and that number was working but our people did not take the time to read the call logs.

If I were CEO of Charter Communications, I'd be highly embarrassed.

However, I am not. I am the Veteran whose Father now living in Assisted Living with a wife who has Alzheimer's really has enough on his plate and should not have to worry about the level of incompetence and the utter f-cking MICKEY MOUSE level management of Charter Communications. But he does.

He has to worry about them, because it's taking almost a MONTH to get a set of boxes shipped to him to have the equipment that CHARTER failed to pickup, and WE KNOW FEDEX SHIPS A LOT FASTER THAN THIS.

SOMEONE at Charter has to have some kind of Balls to let this go this long. What will be entertaining is when this all comes to light and yes it has been documented quite well.

Charter, you screwed up. Now, you need to fix this and MAN UP BIG TIME. Perhaps a Donation to The Alzheimer's Foundation in the name of Walter Murdock might work to help things along...this is after you figure out how to get some boxes over here to Huntington Beach, CA so we can ship this equipment back to you.

If you're a service provider and you provide quality service, DocMurdock will write nice things about you. If you're a service provider and you try to strong arm the elderly, I will bring the thunder your way and make sure that the entire Globe knows you could not find your backside in the dark with a spotlight and a team of hands. In other words Charter...You're not worth the money people are paying. You need a serious overhaul and hopefully this will make enough of a stink to have your BOARD second guess some management at various levels.

One can only hope. For now, your fax machine and the Internet will know that you are NOT DOCMURDOCK APPROVED. (and in some cases that stamp carries a little bit of weight).

Michael Murdock, CEO
DocMurdock.com

Create Great iPhone Photos - Review

No Starch Press - author Allan Hoffman - Create Great iPhone Photos - Apps, Tips, Tricks and effects ISBN 978-1-59327-285-2

Full Disclosure - I was provided a copy of the book to read and use in the review process. To be in integrity with all, I use these tools to provide a solid review of a product, service or book with no additional agenda. It's important to do this so that there's no favoritism. I will also say upfront that I love the lay flat binding in this book so I can open it, lay it down and let is stay where I opened it to. Very handy when using a book like this as a guide.

And now to the review - 

First off let me say that by the time I am finished typing this there will be a slew of new apps out on the App Store for those would be iPhoneO-Graphers out there to take advantage of. That's how fast this landscape changes.

BUT!!! It's awesome that someone has taken a moment to put out a book that not only spotlights some really great apps, but also gives you some tips on how to use those apps to achieve some amazing results.

Allan did a great thing in writing this book. He used a collection of apps to tell the story and to weave together the pieces of the puzzle that not only tell the reader how to achieve things, it shows them.

At 203 pages it's an easy read which will keep you coming back for more. I found myself purchasing a few apps from the App Store, then going to the book and saying "how did he do that...oh it's right here!" I did that a lot as I was reading this mostly in the evening time before going to sleep.

Chapter 1 - takes you through the iPhone Camera Essentials. You get to understand what the iphone camera is and what isn't. You find the strength and weaknesses and learn how it compares to others out there. 

Based on my personal experiences I would recommend using the iPhone 4 for any current work that you're doing with photos. Its display is amazing and the resolution of the current camera is at 5Megapixels which will generate a nice photograph either to be viewed on computer screen or in print.

Chapter 2 - discusses some great apps you'll want to get your hands on right now to extend the abilities of the camera in the iPhone. Also covers things to consider when buying different apps. I like this because as the market grows it's nice to have some baseline of things to look for when purchasing apps and what they'll do for you.

Chapter 3 - focuses (pardon the pun) on some great apps for manipulating images, cleaning them up, resizing them, basically you'll find out that you truly can have Photoshop in Your Pocket for much less than the cost of that desktop application.

Chapter 4 - covers a favorite topic of mine which is filters, effects and recipes. Here you can learn how to really cook up and deliver some great photos from your iPhones camera.

This image was created using an app called "dash of color" which lets you turn an image into grey and then introduce a little bit of color where you desire to draw the viewer's attention to important things.

Chapter 5 - looks at the "Retro Look" which is interesting. In digital photography there's a degree of sterility in images which people are dying to see overcome. They're too clean! So the retro look takes a look at ways of dirtying up the image and making it appear as if it was taken by an older model film camera. We do miss those polaroids where the light bled into the back of the camera and created an interesting image for us. Now we can easily achieve that using some apps and some settings within them. You'll see how.

This image was treated to a "haze" effect by Photofx which is an app chock full of filters and effects for everything you can imagine. Check it out and then add it to your arsenal of tools used in everyday photo editing. Seriously DocMurdock Recommended.

Chapter 6 - covers fun effects which go to places like when you were a kid and your folks gave you a little toy camera that put out some really cool pictures when the film was processed. Now you don't have to run down to FotoMat to get those pictures. Your iPhone will deliver them for you in seconds.

This image used an app called Swankolab. Swankolab is really cool because it let's you be your own Dr. Jekyll or Mr./Mrs. Hyde with chemicals. This one came out a little bit overdone for my liking, but it's just here to show you can do some cool effects with images quickly. All of these photos included were done with the iPhone 4 and its front-facing camera which is great when you remember to look up into the lens of it, not into the screen of the phone.

Chapter 7 - is that thing we often see on facebook, twitter, tumblr, and a host of other services out there, someone just took a pic and posted it and it's there for the entire globe to see if they desire. Now you'll see how that's done and some key services to use when posting images. The one I am writing this review on is called Posterous.com and it's one of my favorites. Make sure you visit it and see how to tie things together with email and posting of images. They also have an app which is free that you can load onto your iPhone or iPad 2 and take pictures, then post them along with a blog entry. Very slick stuff.

Chapter 8 - talks about the Photoblogging process and mentality as well. Allan spotlights Tumblr and Wordpress as two great ways to post your pictures. There are more than 1,000 others out there. Check out flickr as well as blogger.com and of course facebook, twitter, twitpic, dailybooth and many other services that allow you to post pictures for free. Now when you do post something remember it's out there, so if you see it on the news or something and you did not give permission for it, don't be peeved. You actually did when you posted it on the web. But that's another story entirely.

This image was treated to LoMob and its feature set. Changed from color to black and white with some great contrast as well as some doctoring on focus to allow me to appear closer than I was. Very cool use of depth of field in this and this was all done in post processing after the picture was pulled from the photo library. Some apps also allow you to do this as you've taken the picture which is handy rather than importing and changing them later on.

Chapter 9 - is a collection of users whose work is great to inspire you to do greater, cooler things with your iphone and its camera. So read through these, see what apps they use and try some out for yourself. Most of all just have fun.

This book gets a DOCMURDOCK - APPROVED stamp because it rocks! Great content, great examples, lots of pictures and tricks and it's well written by its author and published by a great group of people.

Make sure you pick up a copy or get one onto your iPad2 or iPhone from your favorite vendor.

See you on the web!

Make sure to follow @docmurdock on twitter or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/docmurdock or on the web at http://www.docmurdock.com

Enjoy your day wherever you are and may all of your photos be masterpieces.

Michael

Domains For Sale

Just posted these up for sale at http://www.thesedomains4sale.com
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Mike

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New CoPilot Live Apps for iPhone and iPads are Here

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My New iPad 2...

A review by Michael Murdock (This image and others taken with iPad 2 camera.)
**Full Disclosure, I was provided a copy of the book for review purposes. No other compensation provided**

When the iPad first was released there was a book out that I reviewed called "My New Ipad". Now that the iPad 2 is out, Wallace has updated things and come forward with "My New iPad 2".

No Starch Press brings this publication to market with excellent delivery and this time the book is filled with color images which for me work well being that the iPad 2 has a camera and allows you to capture your world, as well as interview people as well as do facetime chatting with others.

I find a lot of how-to guides boring because the publishers go cheap and make them in black and white, but it's apparent that NoStarch took the high road with this and invested in color. Wallace takes you through the basics of using the iPad 2 as well as optimizing the usage of the batteries in this new piece of technology.

What I enjoy about Wallace is he's not talking over your head. He doesn't assume that you know every piece of the technology and what the nomenclature or parts are, he takes it at a level where you feel comfortable reading the book, don't get lost and in the end you'll know what the iPad 2 is and how to best use it for work, for play, or for simply relaxing and watching a movie on it.

It's important in the marketplace of today to be writing in such a way as to not lose your audience or talk down to them. Wallace is great at bringing this to life in such a way as you feel empowered and urged to explore not only the iPad 2 itself, but the publication in such a way as to be informed about what's next quickly. Bravo to him for this method of writing.

In Chapter 1 he covers the basics of turning things on, putting the iPad 2 to sleep, waking it, as well as using Airplane mode which not only works on those iPad 2's which have 3g, but that control is also present in the Wifi versions, so make sure you look that section over, especially if you're going to be flying with your iPad 2.

Chapter 2, Wallace covers optimizing battery power. When to charge you iPad 2 and when to let it run down and refresh the batteries. How to monitor battery life, and how to use bluetooth ear pieces and other devices with the iPad 2 to get the most out of it. Did you know you can use a bluetooth keyboard as well as a bluetooth headset with this device? It's true!

In Chapter 3 he talks about the physical and virtual controls of the iPad 2. How to use the multitasking features in iOS and how to configure that screen lock or mute switch. You can adjust this in the settings >> General area under "Use side switch to..." . 

Chapter 4 discusses controlling the multi touch screen functions such as scroll, quick scroll, Zoom. It's been said that when iOS 5 comes out that there will be some additional 'gestures' available for the iPad 2 which could easily be updated and implemented as the screen offers a larger space than simply a mouse or trackpad. Can't wait for those to come in.

In Chapter 5 you learn there's more you can do with keyboards so this is something you'll want to check into, whether you use the virtual keyboard on the screen, or one that's physically attached to the ipad via the dock connector.

Chapter 6 will show you things about customizing the home screen and Chapter 7 is Parental Controls. 

Chapter 8 gets into PRIVACY which seems to be a favorite of a lot of readers out there. The iPad 2 offers some of the same protections as the iPhone does with regards to Privacy and keeping your information out of the hands of others.

Chapter 9 will share with you how to get your internet connection set up, of if you're using an iPad 2 that has 3g built in, you'll learn how to set that up as well as some additional ideas for connecting to the internet.

Chapter 10 discusses Installing and Uninstalling Apps. Finding them, adding them, moving them around, all sorts of things around apps and their usage.

Chapter 11 will get you into the use of Safari, opening multiple webpages, as well as other ways of browsing information on the web. Who thought that reading could be so much fun! We all say that we don't read now, but in reality we read more and more as we're glancing at more and more web pages each and every day. Either on our computer, iPad, other tablet device, or smartphone.

Chapter 12 Talks bookmarks in Safari as well as creating folders for bookmarks and other data management related to Safari.

Chapter 13 gets you to setting up email either automatically or manually and Chapter 14 gets into the usage of Mail and how to properly operate this app so that you are checking, reading, sending, emails as soon as possible.

Chapter 15 gets into Videos, Music, Photos and Ebooks. Using the iPad 2 as a reading device you will find eventually you want music, videos, photos, and books on it to keep you in tune with what's going on out there. I find myself reading things, removing them, taking pictures, saving them on the computer, deleting them, taking more...so this chapter covers that for you.

And there are another 15 chapters after this, but you get the idea :) This is more about you taking this book and browsing the parts you desire to read in it, or reference in it. It's an excellent guide to the iPad 2 and one that I come back to time and time again to get clarity on things in.

If you have an iPad 2 or you're thinking about getting one (as I was when I got the book to review), I would pick up a copy of this book to have around as a resource to make your iPad 2 experience an informed and positive one. It's well worth your investment. You can find the book at many online retailers.

Thanks for taking time to read.

Michael

CoPilot Live Standard & Premium

**Full Disclosure. I was provided a copy of CoPilot Live Standard & Premium for the iPhone to use in my review of the product.**

It's always fun to take a trip and to see how things turn out when you use varying services. For me I use a couple of different items just for the sake of seeing which one delivers the best result, offers the most distraction-less experience and delivers me to the destination the most times successfully.

Driving apps are becoming more and more of a requirement in the era of smart-phones. Each of them playing to a different niche, each of them offering features that the others don't and some simply refining or innovating the features of others. One that stands out in this crowd for me is CoPilot from ALK.com. I have tried a couple of different apps out there and things that are important to me are:

A. Speed of the app
B. Responsiveness to the environment (does it update according to traffic information and advise alternate routing)
C. Informational services - Gas pricing, weather, points of interest along the way
D. Support
E. Pricing
F. Maps...are they downloaded as needed or device resident
G. Informational display - how does the app show me what I need as a driver in such a way that I don't have to dig for it.

So when I received an email asking if I'd like to review the newest version of CoPilot Live for the iPhone, I jumped at the chance. I reviewed their original version so this was a treat I was looking forward to. Both of these versions are priced differently. I recommend the PREMIUM just for the amount of information and feedback the app provides. If you start out with Standard you can easily upgrade to it.

I must say out of the gate that I was completely impressed with the revisions to the app. They've taken what one would call a dashboard paradigm and moved it to a whole new level of clarity and precision. Bravo to the UI designers at ALK.com on this one. Nice job folks.

Lets get into the review now...

The app feels faster to me. In the launch phase as well as operationally, it just feels faster. I used the iPhone 4 the last time I reviewed this so it's not a difference in the hardware, but the speed increase is definitely a welcome perception if that's what it is. Something tells me they trimmed the overhead of this app in the area of memory usage as it just zips along.

Next you'll see two images. 

The one where you can additional information at the top of the screen is the new version, the other is the older version which basically blocked out the phone info 

        

New CoPilot Live - darker theme Old CoPilot Live - lighter theme

The new interface is cleaner, easier to read and manages the screen better for the user. Text is bigger so that you don't have to strain your eyes to see things that's important using an app such as this one. I also like the colors they've used. Additionally what I love about this is the ability to get to other forms of display by simply tapping in the center of the "dashboard". So on the image where it says 5.1 mi and has a road with an arrow pointing right, if I were to tap that, the map would change to a view which had larger text and information about when my next turn would be. I love this information as I can choose to either use my glasses or not when looking at it, yes it's that large.

And whether or not you're using portrait view or landscape, you'll get the most information possible in the view to let you know where you're heading and how long it will take to get there:

     

I would like to see some different voices for navigation though. Seriously the one woman's voice that's part of the program after a while 
begins to gnaw at my spine.

Want to know the weather in your area? Simply tap the weather and you can also get it for along the way, or at your destination:

Looking for the best pricing on Gas? Tap for that too! and once again, along the way or at your destination

And once you find a station you like, route to it and get your fuel.

If you park your car...you can tell it where you are by tapping, and then tell the app to find your car when done. This is handy to avoid those Seinfeld episodes where you lose your car

and you can also use facebook places and Wikipedia for additional info by simply tapping from within this screen:

These are some nice additions to an already involved program. Since the app downloads all maps to your device if you go off grid you're still able to route because information is resident on the device. The download of the app is right around 1.

One thing I really love about the app is that it shows you precisely where to be when freeways merge so that you get into the proper lane. I have found others that did not do this well. ALK did a great job and here's a sample of that in both portrait and landscape

    

It was telling me in the first image that I needed to be in the far right lane to get off onto the 133 North. In the next image I could be in any of the 3 right lanes and still be ok to get onto the 101 North in Ventura.

Having guidance like this is important when driving so that you can be more aware of things and not do that swing from the far left lane into the right lane across 4 lanes because you almost missed the turn off. Knowing enough in advance is one of the things that helps keep the accident rate down vs. up. So thanks to ALK for putting that into this update. Love the way you've implemented it.

Operationally, this app gave me no problems whatsoever and was dead on with every route I took during my 3 day trip, so thanks for that. One other thing I like that I've not seen in other apps is the ability to tell ALK when you find something that they need to update. Right in the app you can do this and they fix things all the time and you'll then get a notice to update and they push the changes down to your app quickly. Very slick.

In summation, this update to CoPilot is definitely DocMurdock Approved & Recommended for all to purchase. Go to the App Store and get this app if you don't have it. It's also available on Android.

Thanks for the chance to review this product ALK. I love your software!!

DocMurdock

CoPilot LIVE Premium & CoPilot Live Standard Available

I love this app set on the iPhone, I know you will as well. Having a navigation app that makes map data available on your phone for those times when the cloud fails you is a beautiful thing.

Read this announcement and know the Mac version rev is in the queue to be released to the App Store. Once it is we'll announce it here!

Mike

In the Android store now. Apple version update forthcoming.

ALK Technologies Unveils New Generation of CoPilot Live Navigation Apps
Includes the ability to fully personalize your route, access to social content and a new simplified user interface for iPhone, iPad and Android devices

Princeton, NJJune 27, 2011—ALK Technologies Inc., one of the world’s leading providers of mobile navigation software, today announced a new generation of CoPilot Live GPS navigation apps for iPhone, iPad and Android-powered mobile devices.  The initial apps available from the new platform are CoPilot Live Premium and CoPilot Live Standard.

“With our new collection of CoPilot Live apps, we’ve created a unique navigation experience, combining innovative and exciting features such as drag routing, with a social dimension that makes it easy to share your journey with friends,” says Michael Kornhauser, Managing Director of CoPilot Business Unit. “Personalization is key to our approach.  We want to empower drivers to choose or create their ideal route to any destination.  Taking personalization a step further, we’ve also introduced the concept of users creating an app designed specifically for them.”

For the user who wants an advanced navigation experience, our CoPilot Live Premium app offers unlimited use of our full set of features.  For users who may not need all the features CoPilot Live has to offer, we’re introducing a cost-effective approach that allows them to select and purchase only the features they need.  The CoPilot Live Standard app includes full turn-by-turn navigation and route calculation along with the ability to add as many advanced features as the user needs via in-app purchase, to completely customize their app to their personal liking.

The all new CoPilot Live apps guide you where you need to go, via the way that suits you best, in-car or on foot. Featuring a completely new user interface, that provides quick and easy access to relevant driving features right when you need them.

It’s a new, more interactive way to navigate, with the unique ability to drag your route to adjust it and tap anywhere on the map to go there or discover useful location-specific information.

New Features Available

Personal Routes™:  CoPilot Live helps you find your best way to any destination with a choice of up to three alternate routes, displaying journey time and mileage for each. Fine-tuning the route is easy: simply drag the route or a destination to a preferred street you wish to take or location to navigate to.

Intuitive User Interface: CoPilot Live puts all the navigation and driving features you need right at your fingertips, when you need them. Simply tap anywhere on the map to add it as a destination, discover location-specific information or share it with friends.

Social Navigation: Share your journey details and check ins with in-app Facebook and Twitter updates. Fully integrated Bing™ local Internet search and Wikipedia make it easy to find all the nearby businesses, services and local attractions you need.

Speed Limit Displays: CoPilot Live displays the speed limits on major roads and informs you with on-screen and audible alerts if you accidentally exceed it.

Superior Guidance In-car or On Foot:  The sleek new dashboard-style guidance display provides clear, non-distracting directions with a choice of 3D, 2D and Directions-only navigation views.  Lane Assist arrows, real signpost information and realistic ClearTurn™ display provide enhanced guidance at complex interchanges.  An all new walking mode with digital compass support* makes it easy to find the way around a city on foot.

What else can you expect?

·         On-board Maps with Free Map Updates for 1 year:  maps are stored on-board your device so you can navigate offline without using your data plan

·         Text-to-Speech (TTS) voice directions with full street names

·         Take Me to My Car: to save the exact location of your car and easily find it later

·         Door-to-Door Trip Planning: enter up to 50 stops and optimize the itinerary

·         Photo Navigation:  drive to a geotagged picture taken by your smartphone

·         Copy/Paste a destination into the address entry screen

·         Detour Feature: to avoid unexpected delays or specific sections of your route

·         Millions of Points of Interest (POIs) with in-app dialing

·         ActiveTraffic™: (optional service) use real-time traffic information to calculate the fastest route to your destination and get accurate ETAs

·         Live Weather information at your location or destination

·         Live Fuel Prices: (optional service) to find the cheapest gas station nearby

·         In-app news and updates to keep you informed about improvements and updates available to you

Availability

CoPilot Live Premium USA is available to purchase through Android Market for a 7 day introductory price of $9.99.  CoPilot Live Premium includes unlimited use of the full set of navigation features.  Following the 7 day promotion the app will be available for $29.99.

CoPilot Live Standard USA is available to purchase through Android Market for a 7 day introductory price of $2.99. CoPilot Live Standard includes basic turn-by-turn navigation and route calculation with the option to add unlimited use of advanced navigation features via in-app purchase.  Following the 7 day promotion the app will be available for $4.99.

Use of the ActiveTraffic™ service for 12 months is available for $9.99 and 12 months’ use of the Live Fuel Prices service is available for $4.99 via in-app purchase.

CoPilot Live Premium USA for iPhone, CoPilot Live Standard USA for iPhone and CoPilot Live Premium HD USA for iPad 3G are currently awaiting approval from Apple and are expected to be available on the iTunes App Store shortly.

View a Flickr gallery of the new CoPilot Live Apps

More information is available on the Android Market

*Digital Compass support where available on device

About ALK Technologies

ALK Technologies has been developing innovative mobile navigation and transportation technology solutions since 1979. ALK’s award-winning CoPilot® Live™ GPS navigation apps are among the most award-winning in the industry and among the best-selling on app stores worldwide including iTunes and Android Market. CoPilot Live is the navigation platform of choice for mobile operators, hardware OEMs and enterprise systems integrators globally.

More information is available at www.copilotlive.com, on Facebook and Twitter.

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