Archive for November, 2010

Black Flyday Android App Helps Find Black Friday Deals

Friday, November 12th, 2010

It’s that time of year. Sure, there will be Turkey and family, but that’s not what I’m talking about. This is the time of year when people begin to think about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving on which stores all over America blow out products at often jaw-dropping prices. Black Friday is an excuse to participate in a sleep-deprived shopping frenzy while crossing a lot of things off your Christmas shopping list. It can also be frustrating if you don’t plan well.

Black FlyDay android app

I always check out all the ads and see what I want and plan all my stops around that, but you still have to put up with crowds and hope to get in on the deals before they’re sold out. The app pictured above is called Black FlyDay. It looks like it could help streamline probably the most hectic shopping outing you’ll have all year, but I haven’t tried it myself, so I’ll just share the details from the press release below.

From The Press Release

Iconosys, Inc., developer of safety enhancing mobile apps for the Smartphone that help curb Distracted Driving (Texting While Driving/Mobile Phone Talking While Driving) and Cyberbullying, among other dangerous societal problems, has created Black Flyday™ so that shoppers can expeditiously keep up with their friends and activities on the most coveted shopping day of the year. Black Flyday™ is free of charge through Black Friday (it does expire afterwards), or can be purchased for $9.99 thereafter for full lifetime coverage. The app can also be used to send hot deal alerts to your Facebook friends and Team members all year long.

“Black Friday is by all accounts the biggest (and most important) shopping day of the year. As fun as it is, there is always someone who gets a deal that the rest of us wish we had the opportunity to get in on,” said Wayne Irving II, inventor of Black Flyday™ and Iconosys CEO and Founder.

Perfect for our technologically advanced, but time sensitive, consumer marketplace, Iconosys now unveils its new Android app that enables shoppers and bargain hunters to know the exact whereabouts of those “Black Friday” loss leaders and special deals within a certain radius and, most importantly, in real time. Black Flyday™ will serve the users by helping them maintain communication with their Facebook friends and deal hunting team members, while at the same time providing them with a comprehensive and global view setting of the particular shopping deals within a pre-set perimeter.

Some Useful Features

• Black Flyday™ can locate the hottest loss-leading deals within a certain radius with a touch of a single button on the user’s Smartphone for ultimate convenience.
• The Black Flyday™ App is available in English as well as Spanish.
• Teams of shoppers can collaborate to set this app up together, as a GPS-enabled, real-time bulletin board to share locations and deals that their other team members may be sad to have missed otherwise.
• Facebook friends are integrated into the application, so the users, if they wish, can share the deals they are “buzzing” about in real-time and with a potentially global reach.
• A “deal scroller” scrolls all deals within your desired radius or friend network that may have otherwise been missed.
• By clicking on the map at the location of other “Black Fly’ers,” you can see the deals they are buzzing about and which are presented for you to take advantage of.
• The App stores the historical posts that the user’s teammates and/or Facebook friends previously posted, and allows them to search thru those posts for specific items and deals that may be of interest.

Black Flyday™ is available for download on Saturday November 13, from the Android Market, Iconosys.com, BlackFlyday.com, Payloadz.com. Don’t wait until the last second, though. It looks like there’s added benefit to collaborating with friends using the app, so if you’re going to try it out, set it up early and be prepared. I don’t have an Android phone, so if you try it out, come back and let us all know your thoughts.

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Posted in Communication, Software, web | 5 Comments »

Google Settles In Google Buzz Privacy Law Suit

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Once upon a time, Google launched it’s new social buzz network called Google Buzz. It wasn’t long before people began to notice, and loudly complain about, privacy concerns that this launch introduced. These concerns were soon resolved and largely forgotten about… until today. This afternoon, Google send the following to users of it’s GMail web-based email service, where the privacy concerns had been a major issue.

Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we’ve reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users’ concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

In short, they’re going to give about about $8.5 million (minus expenses) to privacy organizations. This means that, unlike many class action law suits, you’ll get nothing (no money, anyway) if you accept the settlement (by doing nothing). Alternatives include objecting, requesting to be heard by the courts, and opting out of the suit (in case you want to be part of another suit in this matter). Personally, I wasn’t affected and think that giving money to privacy organizations to help people be more informed is just fine, but you should be aware so you can meet next month’s deadline for any option you choose.

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Posted in web | 5 Comments »