Photos for Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire

It’s been a really busy holiday season at litl.

Several weeks ago, the ideas we had about photos coalesced around a vision. Hundreds of thousands of people (or maybe millions) would wake up on on a cold morning in December with a brand new Android tablet. None of those people would have a good way to get their photos on their tablet. The Amazon Kindle Fire doesn’t even ship with a cable!

So, the litl team sat down and cranked out two apps, one for the Kindle Fire and one for the Nook Tablet. It was a miracle that we were even able to get them into the stores in such short notice, but that is a different tale with many heroes. If you’re gifted one of these devices, here‘s a present for you from the litl team! You can get more information about the free app on the Woven website (http://woventheapp.com/).

This is a free app from the small team at litl. It would be helpful and appreciated if you could spread the word (and joy; and cheer; and happiness; and tidings of good fortune) to all new owners of these tablets. Happy Holidays!

CR-48 First Look

One of the developers at litl, Tristan, brought in a CR-48 to work. I have applied for a device, but I haven’t received one.

• The matte black with the matte screen is really beautiful. Visually it is the “opposite” of the shiny, too-shiny MacBook on my desk.
• They try to keep it fun. Intel wasn’t allowed to put a sticker on it, so the accompanying card is humorous. The minimalist paperwork accompanying the notebook has some quirky bits. The product managers and the product marketing managers did a great job with the physical product and the packaging.
• After a user screen, it goes directly to the Chrome Browser. The notebook seems very responsive and the startup, hibernate and sleep functions are wicked fast.
• The notebook had some issues maintaining connectivity with our corporate wireless network. It seems unusual to me because I feel that wireless is one thing that Linux has excelled at in recent years.
• It seems unusual to have a VGA out on the machine, since it is non-functional. Perhaps it will be for projectors?

There are a ton of reviews out there on the device, so I won’t post an in-depth review. Here are two pictures of the device though!

Remote Control

Here are a few of the remotes that we have in our “living room” at litl. Someone has to do the hard work of testing out devices!

Vintage Handheld Games

I have kept a reproduction of Classic Football 2 at my desk for years. (I can’t believe that the “Buy it now” price on Amazon for this item is $75.)

So I was really ecstatic to see that we have a ton of these handheld games, and their original boxes, in our living room (a.k.a. library) at litl.

I have always been fascinated at the ingenuity of these handheld games. They use very basic controls and a dozen or two LEDs to make an enjoyable representation of the real game. Of course it isn’t anything like the playing Madden 2011, but it was a feat of engineering in its time and was good gameplay.

litl Channels Wins Adobe Max Award

litl channels won the multiscreen category at the Adobe Max 2010 awards. The award was presented by William Shatner.

adobe max 2010 multiscreen awards from kathryn rotondo on Vimeo.

litl Cupcakes

Speaking of awesome customer loyalty, we have a new partner at litl, and they were kind enough to send over some cupcakes. Delicious!

Joining litl

After spending 5 years (and a month) at Novell, I decided that it is time to try something new. I am leaving Novell and will join litl on Monday.

Along with the change in employer, I am also changing roles. At Novell I was responsible for internal strategy and working with clients to develop business cases. My role at Novell required some discretion, and so I did not blog or tweet as much about work. Also, it is difficult to get passionate about the business complexities of migrating from Unix to Linux. I am going to be in the marketing department at litl, so I expect that I will have many opportunities to write about my experiences.

I will focus on the consumer market in my new job, rather than the enterprise market. Many of Novell’s products are aimed solidly at corporate buyers who have vastly different purchasing motivations. The opportunity for me to practice product marketing with a consumer target market, which I think is far more interesting than the enterprise, was too good to pass up. There is an ongoing convergence in these markets, so I do not expect that to be that much of a challenge. Also, I developed a solid analytical toolkit as a consultant at Novell, that should serve me well at litl.

I am thankful for the wonderful experience that I had at Novell. It was a great learning opportunity and I met some fantastic people. The truth is that I am very nervous about leaving my friends at Novell, since I have grown so accustomed to them putting up with my idiosyncrasies. I hope that the Lilliputians will be just as accommodating. Stay tuned for the next act in Sal’s litl adventure!