I had no trouble getting the Jawbone to work. Start to finish – 6 minutes including finding, downloading and installing firmware update and making a test Skype call.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Update the Bluetooth firmware
2. Restart machine
3. Launch Bluetooth (I turn mine off to conserve battery while traveling)
4. Press and hold the Jawbone “Noise Shield Button” for 3 seconds… until light flashing red. (started with the headset off)
5. Add new Bluetooth device… choose Jawbone
6. Enter 0000 for the pairing code (four zeros)

Side note: I also tried pairing this device before updating the firmware. Kept getting an error that headsets were not supported on this machine. The firmware update took care of that!

Consider for a moment the things you do online regularly: search for information, look up phone numbers, maps and addresses, banking, shopping, FedEx tracking, and perhaps even blogging. Yes, you may spend time playing games or just plain surfing, but increasingly we are moving real life-management tasks online from medical claims to bill-pay.

One appeal of handheld computing is that it finally offers the flexibility to perform life-management tasks in the pockets of downtime that we would prefer to put to good use. Waiting in line at the DMV – log into bill pay and send off that cell phone payment, order flowers for grandma and double check that the client received their FedEx package today.

Companies who have invested significant resources in functional web tools to help customers find information, make purchases or perform self-service tasks are wise to start looking at handheld computing as a serious opportunity. The trend toward wireless devices with Internet browsing eliminate the need for installing software and can instead leverage existing web functionality within a more handheld sensitive user interface (bandwidth, graphics, layout, script).

Companies can use the handheld medium to reach out to consumers with practical, useful living tools that generate appreciation, loyalty and even love.

Handheld computing is more fluid, more spontaneous, more impulsive.
On the train, I can immediately surf to the URL on the poster that catches my eye. In the airport I can snag the white paper that I am reading about in my trade magazine. After work, I can look up a great cocktail place near the restaurant I am headed to.

Aren’t ideas for using mobile computing just buzzing around your head right now?

There are plenty of handheld friendly sites for technocrats, but I am interested in finding handheld-friendly sites for life management. Hey, if T.G.I. Fridays can feed the wireless user, and Dollar Rent A Car lets them create or modify reservations then surely there are other inspiring uses of handheld computing out there.

On my practical wishlist: UPS tracking, eBay auction monitoring, quick shopping for peapod and borders (for pickups), various takeout joints and banking.

On my practical/useful list:
Blogger Mobile
TVGuide
MSN Mobile
FedEx Mobile
American Airlines To Go
Amazon

What’s on your list? What’s on your wish list?

Sometimes new ideas are met with a barrage of naysaying. Saw this poster (PDF) from What A Great Idea with the challenge to be curious first – for at least 30 seconds – before naysaying a new idea. You may be surprised at the results!

Do you believe you are smarter, cooler, more efficient because you own/use a cell phone? PDA? Laptop?

The folks here are trying to figure out just that. They’re trying to create insight into how computing products — from websites to mobile phone software — can be designed to change what people believe and what they do. The goal is to create a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies, an area called “captology.”

I stumbled across a bibliography entry for one of their articles and was curious. On the surface it may appear to be simple brand/marketing research but read on…