Drew B's take on tech PR

Call for blogs to be ranked in niche groups

Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble calls for Technorati and Feedster to start ranking blogs grouped by niches.

Google Talk tested

I've just tried Google Talk and I'd say it's better than MSN for instant messaging. It loads faster and it looks better. It's also platform independent, which none of the others have done yet (why?). It says that it will be platform independent soon, but it's not yet. So if you don't have a Gmail invite to give away then Google Talk doesn't let you connect with non-Gmail users. Google says it's working on it.

And I'm yet to decide whether I like it from a VoIP perspective.

If you want to try Google Talk you need to be invited by an existing member. I have some invites so get in touch if you want one.

Check out Neville Hobson's report on sound quality of the VoIP calls and more detailed comparison with Skype.

Adobe blog and Cisco podcast

Adobe is now blogging. Cisco is now podcasting.

Niall Cook at Hill & Knowlton points out who the Adobe bloggers are, and they seem to be product and development people on the whole.

Cisco's podcasting is part of it's news (PR) page online (thanks for the info Tom Murphy and Steve Rubel).

Lost

Who does the PR for Lost? It's everywhere. Every newspaper I open there's another feature on it, and every time I turn on the radio they're talking about it. Maybe that's because it's silly season. But I can't wait for tonight's second instalment!

Naughty naughty - I found out on Linkbunnies that the entire first series is available to snatch online here!

iPod vending machine

Microsoft's geek blogger Robert Scoble is meeting with Google this week, he tells us. En route to San Francisco he notices the changes that are taking place in Silicon Valley that have taken place in the two years since he last lived there. More buzz, more traffic and a richer outlook apparently. Also, he snapped an iPod vending machine, which looks very cool. Wonder if there are any in the UK?

Scoble also says that this week in San Francisco it's the Blog Business Summit. He is presenting a session entitled "Why Microsoft is betting big on bloggers and RSS".

Lord Drayson the new tech boy in the MoD boardroom

Lord Drayson's progress in his new job as Labour minister for defence procurement is featured in an interview article in today's FT. The piece includes a section on Lord Drayson's view on which technologies will be developed domestically and which will be ceded to foreign groups. The interview, and portrays the science and technology entrepreneur as one to watch especially for followers of the technology industry. 

In a blog post that balances the scales at Guy Fawkes' Blog of conspiracies, we are given the inside "story" on how Drayson originally got in with Blair:

[Drayson] gave a £50,000 donation to the Labour party. Then had a business breakfast with the Prime Minister, gave a second donation of £50,000 to the Labour party while the government was weighing up who should be awarded a £32m contract his company Powderject was bidding on. Surprise, Powderject got awarded the contract, making a quick £20m profit on it. What value for money for the taxpayer, what a return on investment!

Loaded now, he gave another £500,000 donation to New Labour, and got made a life peer by Mr Blair six weeks later. He sold his company two years later, trousered £100 million and joins the government today. Hey, that's politics with integrity...

The Tim Dyson view on tech PR

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen (the firm that owns Bite, Text 100, AugustOne and through a recent acquisition, OutCast) published a piece this week about how he believes a few PR firms will soon go bust due to staff and client exoduses. He says that if the six unnamed firms he is talking about are still around in six months then he would be shocked. Wow! What a story to start the weekend on!

His blog is a good example of thought leadership from the helm of a tech PR offering. Keep it up Tim.

Donald Trump blog

Yes, Donald Trump has started a blog - The Trump Blog!

http://donaldtrump.trumpuniversity.com/default.asp

New blogs to UK PR land

There's more new additions to the blogosphere for the UK's PR community. I've added the following blogs to my feed reader:

Consult The Guru - a PR agency blog

Aqute Research - blog of ex Jupiter analyst James MacAonghus who now runs this research firm

Connected Internet - anonymous web thought leadership type blog

First UK podcasting event set for 17th Sept

PodcastCon UK looks like the its going to be UK's first podcasting event - it takes place on 17th September and you can sign up to attend here.