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Archive for the 'Twitter' Tag

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What’s this website bit.ly all about?

November 18th, 2009, 4:57 pm by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: In your OC Register newspaper articles, you have links that are not understood by this PC user. In a recent article, for example, you give “File and printer sharing in Windows Vista” (link bit.ly/2DZiib). I have never seen a link like that and never saw an explanation of it and I am sure I am not the only one that does not understand it.

PC CLUB: In the article ”How to transfer files between Vista and XP PCs,” published online on October 6, 2009 and published in print on October 13, 2009, there was a link to get help on “File and printer sharing.”

You are correct in that the link was specified as bit.ly/2DZiib. If you were to type bit.ly/2DZiib into the address bar of your Internet browser, you would be taken to the Microsoft page that provides information on file and printer sharing. You could also have entered http://bit.ly/2DZiib and gotten the same results. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Stump the PC Club • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Verizon FiOS makes Twitter, Facebook TV apps usable

July 31st, 2009, 7:44 am by

Verizon FiOS adds Facebook, Twitter to its TV serviceFrom Verizon’s At Home blog: The recently rolled-out Facebook and Twitter widgets (and mentioned HERE in May) to Verizon FiOS TV viewers have already received some tweaks to improve social networking while watching TV.

Originally, FiOS subscribers could view Tweets about the show they were watching, see Facebook photos and albums  and update their Facebook status but only to say what show they were watching.

Of course, just viewing Tweets or updating Facebook status with canned messages is no fun. So we knew improvements had to be made. They have been, although I’m surprised Verizon didn’t just wait a few weeks to launch the service, thus avoiding complaints from users who didn’t understand why they couldn’t really Tweet or update Facebook.

Viewers can now write unique Facebook status messages and Tweets. Also, Twitterers can search or follow friends’ Tweets using the TV remote and an onscreen keyboard.

The company upgraded the social networking applications with its New York City subscribers. The rest of the FiOS world is next.

Previous Verizon FiOS news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 3 Comments »

So Tweet me! Gadgetress to take questions at #TwOrCo

June 30th, 2009, 3:29 pm by

wiimiitam4.jpgI’ve been invited to moderate this week’s discussion by the Orange County Tweet Up Group.  If you have questions about TV or mobile phone service in Orange County, I’ll do my best to get your questions answered. It starts today (Wednesday, July 1 2009) at 9 a.m.! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: ORIGINAL GADGETRESS • • | Comments Off

Who’s helping TV/phone customers via Twitter

June 29th, 2009, 6:30 am by

What companies are helping customers on Twitter?

It’s so nice when a company responds nearly instantly to your customer service woes. Take Dish Network for example.

After dinging itself in its last earnings report in customer service, it now has a team of at least five monitoring microblogging phenomena Twitter for any sign of Dish discontent.

When Twitter user “FriedWontons4U“ complained to no one in particular that she was “Spending the day waiting for the DISH network man today. I’m even going to try to express my angry in less than 140wrds,” Dish responded within 3 hours: “Let us know if there is an issue we can resolve for you.”

Twitter is one of the fastest ways to get help these days.  Now that everyone and their boss, it seems, is using the service, it’s become a place where companies can help customers one tweet at a time.

Seeing the responsiveness of many TV and mobile companies, I’ve decided to start tracking this new customer-service feature. I’ve set up a special page HERE (gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/twitter), which I’ll update periodically. 

OCR Tweetness
Reporters who Tweet
sOCial Sunday blog
OCR Twitter Tips
Follow me on Twitter @gadgetress

If your company isn’t listed or you spot someone who is helpful, send me an e-mail, comment below or Tweet me. I will update the list periodically.

If you don’t know what Twitter is about, get some tips from the Register’s resident social-networking guru Kevin Sablan, who blogs about Twitter on Sundays at ocregister.com/social.

Latest social-media headlines:

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • | 1 Comment »

Consumers unsatisfied with TV service, says report (duh)

May 19th, 2009, 10:32 am by

Rate your TV companyUPDATE, 12:36 p.m.: Added a poll

More so now than last year, Americans are more satisfied with airline service, fast food, restaurants, and, well almost everything, according to the latest results of The American Customer Satisfaction Index. 

The one exception? Their TV provider. Not a big surprise here. 

While the overall index from the University of Michigan report was up 0.4 percent to 76 points on a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with cable and satellite TV fell 2 percent to 63 points. (And one local exception here: Cox Communications, which improved its score to 66. More below on Cox.)

Individual results shouldn’t shock readers, who know which TV company they like to complain about most. And looking at the historical chart below, TV companies have never fared that well. If we were to grade this on an A-F ranking, that means the services scored a D- with most of the cable companies landing a big F, with the exception of Cox. (Maybe next year, the organization will include newcomers AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS TV.)

UPDATE, 12:36 p.m.: Editors wanted me to add a poll so here it is:
_____________________________________ 

Who/what's to blame for poor TV customer satisfaction?
  • Add an Answer
View Results

_____________________________________ 

However, the standout has to be DirecTV, which scored 71 out of 100. That’s been a pretty consistent number over the years, and is several points above all the cable TV companies. Check out the chart from ACSI (also posted HERE on the organization’s site). Numbers are out of a possible 100 points: 

 

  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Charter Communications 63 53 55 56 56 55 55 54 51
Comcast 64 56 55 56 58 60 56 54 59
Time Warner Cable 63 61 61 60 61 61 58 59 59
Cable & Satellite TV 64 61 61 61 61 63 62 64 63
DISH Network 71 68 71 71 68 68 67 65 64
Cox Communications NM NM NM 63 63 63 63 63 66
All Others 62 63 60 60 59 63 66 69 70
DIRECTV 70 70 72 71 67 71 67 68 71

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • | 43 Comments »

Got an issue with Verizon Wireless? Tweet this guy

May 6th, 2009, 3:59 pm by

Verizon Wireless' Irvine office starts Twitter account.After Oprah tweeted for the first time last month, a lot of Twitterers looked around and said, “OK, what’s next?”

But I would have to say that one great things coming out of the microblogging/global-messaging service is improved customer service. Companies everywhere have started accounts and doing their best to gain a following, by mastering the @ feature and responding to customers. JeffTWC, representing Time Warner Cable’s Internet division, comes to mind.

Now Ken Muche, Verizon Wireless’ public relations guy in Irvine, has started an account at VZWSoCal and he, too, is responding to customer complaints and issues, like this one. I noticed him after he started following me.

“I check the account daily and try to get back to customers as soon as I can,” Muche told me. “I thought it was important to tweet with the public about VZW because Twitter is a new way for people to access news. It’s also a great way for consumers to ask questions and receive feedback — open communication with customers helps build a foundation of trust. I think that’s important for companies that value integrity, customer loyalty and growth.”

He says he’s tweeting about new store locations, new pricing plans, interesting industry factoids, etc. Will also tweet on promotions and store appearances by celebrities.

Of course, Muche isn’t the only local Tweeter whose goal is to improve customer service for his company through Twitter. Actually, I don’t know any company that isn’t on Twitter, including mine (OCReggie, too, is responding to reader questions).

But I’m pointing out Muche in particular because he’s here to help users everywhere, especially those in Orange County. Rumor has it, Time Warner Cable’s local folks plan to start their own account, too. 

For other official accounts for local telecom services, here’s a quick list (I’m sure I’m missing some so tweet me):

Have others to add? Comment below.

More on customer service:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services.  

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Facebook, Twitter testing out FiOS TV

May 1st, 2009, 7:52 am by

Verizon FiOSDuring the presidential elections, major disasters, sporting events and every episode of “Heroes,” Twitter users went crazy Tweeting about their own experience. TV and social networking can no longer be separated. And Verizon FiOS is testing a method to unify the two even more — by letting tweets show up right on screen so you can see what others are saying about the TV show. 

At an earlier meeting with Verizon FiOS this week, the company offered more details about the integration of Twitter and Facebook widgets for its TV viewers. A beta test with “several hundred” users began last week and is expected to last 120 days.

Today, I’ve got pictures! First, the Facebook widget:

Facebook widget for FiOS TV users updates status automatically.

On screen live, you can see the status of all your Facebook friends, view their photo albums or whatever else you have access to. The FiOS integration allows you to quickly tell everyone what TV show you’re watching with no typing necessary (FiOS doesn’t provide a keyboard anyway). Joseph Ambeault, FiOS’ director of consumer product development for video, said that at any moment, you can send a real-time update to your Facebook status to say something like, “Joe is watching Prison Break on FiOS TV.”

While this means you could be embarrassed if you watch certain shows, FiOS won’t let explicit content through, per direct feedback of the testers.  

The Twitter widget was added because of the new trend to twitter about current events as they happen. This lets users watch the news or TV show and keep a small screen on the TV to view any related Tweets. ReadWriteWeb has a whole writeup about the experience.

Twit your TV-viewing habits on Verizon FiOS.

Chances of these widgets becoming permanent? Very high, according to the Verizon folks. They couldn’t tell me any product that they’ve tried and pulled back because of disappointing usage. In fact, the last beta test allowing users to view Internet videos from many Web sites (except not YouTube or Hulu)  will be rolling out to ALL FiOS customers in upcoming weeks. More on this later.

More TV news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services. Latest TV services headlines:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 2 Comments »

It’s iPhone time!

July 11th, 2008, 8:07 am by

iGirl’s coverage of iPhone 2.0Sonya ‘iGirl’ Smith is at it again. She arrived at the Irvine Spectrum’s Apple store around 9ish p.m. Thursday night to camp out until 8 a.m. Friday morning NOW when the new 3G iPhone goes on sale. She’s offering updates via Twitter. Catch her live posts all night at ocregister.com/money or twitter.com/sonyanews. Here are her recent tweets:

8:03 a.m. A few people will be let in at a time. The first batch is the first 10 people.

8:02 a.m I’ll be in the second group let in the store.

8:00 a.m. Everyone is cheering.

7:59 a.m. Employees are opening the doors.

7:58 a.m. The black paper had been rolled back and the store is filled with clapping and cheering Apple employees.

7:57 a.m. 3 minutes. Much better than last year when everyone was shoving and worried about getting cut in front of.

Read the rest at ocregister.com/money

Posted in: Apple mania • Cell phones • iPhone • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

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