Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

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Introducing: Blackberry Enterprise Server Express – FREE

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Blackberry has released their newest business server, the BlackBerry Enterprises Server Express edition.  Express is a free download, and the licenses are free.  It will wirelessly sync email, contacts, and calendars to blackberry mobile phones.  Express supports up to 75 users on a shared server, up to 2000 users on a dedicated server, and over 2000 when used with a dedicated SQL server.  It can be installed on a messaging server or an Microsoft Small Business (SBS) server.  Blackberries on either BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) or BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) plans can connect to it. 

Did we mention it’s absolutely free? If you are using BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) to redirect your email to your mobile phone, this will be a great product for you. For more information call StoneHill at (949) 218-1258 or visit BlackBerry’s official release page.

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Apple’s center problem: creating a craving for consumers about the Ipad

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

 The Ipad was launched in January and Apple has been extremely excited about their latest inovation. However, it seems that the company is facing a new marketing challenge in the manner they are broadcasting their latest category of technology. If Apple fails to introduce their new product, they could be facing marketing challenges with their consumers in the future.

 Apple has been lucid about certain information provided to the consumers. They know when the Ipad is expected to hit stores which is April 3rd, also what kinds of iPads will be available for purchase, which are the WiFi models.  In addition, they know that consumers will be able to pre-order their iPad via online delivery or Apple Store pick up.

 What is uncertain and unknown is how they can broadcast their message in a fun and grasping manner for their target market. Apple is aiming to establish a method to ensure that the significance of the iPad will successfully reflect the originality. Different from the Macbook, iPod and iPhone, this time Apple is launching a new device category to their existing consumers as well as a new market. It is a fact that certain consumers have already established their mindset on what they are expecting from the iPad. but with customers who are still undecided, if Apple does not execute the introduction of their product properly by establishing this new category in the consumers’ minds, the iPad may have a weak position relative to other products established in this category.

 The IPad will enter the market to compete with the new wave of the mini computer, and will hope to introduce a new touch to a relatively new market.  The trick is to find a way to differentiate the IPad to the customer.  Apple is known for its unique touch with its devices, and to achieve the same success as it has with the past, it seems that the marketing efforts should focus on what’s unique and “Apple” about the IPad.

 One way that Apple can deal with this situation is to position the iPad as an electronic media delivery device. Making a point out of the fact that people can connect with books, newspapers, magazines and online media as easily and effortlessly with the iPad.

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Give the Gift of Thanks without Breaking the Bank

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

The economy is forcing companies to cut back on holiday gift giving. According to a recent survey conducted by American Express only 47% of Small Businesses plan on giving gifts this holiday season.Gift

If your company is struggling with the decision of gift giving there are a few things you should consider:

* Is your company based heavily in customer service?

If your company prides and markets itself on your outstanding customer service it may be important to show you are customer friendly by giving a gift.

* Have you given gifts in the past?

If your company has given gifts in the past and this year stops it may put up a red flag; giving the impression to your customers that your business is not doing well.

*Are your client relationships crucial to your success?

If your business is built upon the foundation of strong client relationships then it is probably important   to acknowledge those relationships. 

Gifts are a way of conveying appreciation to your clients and that you value their business. If you look at holiday gifts as an investment in your company rather than a cut into your budget you will surely see the rewards as business improves.

Holiday gifts don’t have to break the bank; the IRS will only allow up to a $25 deduction per person (“donee”) during the tax year. Therefore, you can get creative in your gift giving, still provide meaningful tokens of appreciation to your clients and reap the tax benefits.

The traditional pen, mug, or calendar has fallen down the popularity pole; many small business owners try to capitalize on gifts that reflect the customer’s personality. Others are discounting services to their clients; a creative an affordable way to say thank you.

Below are links to sites that provide great gift Ideas for under $25 and under:

Eco Friendly Company Logo Gifts

Holiday Gifts Under 25 Dollars

Gift Baskets Under 25 dollars

By: Amber Bowker

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Windows Mobile 6.5

Monday, October 12th, 2009

HTC, LG, & Samsung are among the brands of 30+ phones that run the much awaited windows mobile 6.5 operating system.

Microsoft Officials & Marketing Managers are saying that Hardware diversity is a major selling point for the Windows Mobile platform. Competitors in the Mobile Phone market like Apple & Google have a very limited hardware base. 

Users will find in the new WM 6.5 mobile phones a home screen that was inspired by the Zune & has an application grid layout. There is a tighter integration with all Microsoft Live Services, Facebook, Twitter, & Flicker. An enhanced mobile Internet Explorer now resembles the browser you have used for many years on your home PC & included features such as panning & zooming via finger gestures. The browser also supports Adobe Flash Lite so users can access more multimedia online.

samsung-omnia-IIBehind the new Operating system are a few new features to support & enhance the use of Windows Mobile. First Microsoft has developed Windows Marketplace as an answer to Apples App Store. Another feature called MyPhone lets users backup as much as 200 MB on contact info & other mobile data free. MyPhone has a phone finding capability that will locate missing phones with the use of GPS even if the phone is off. Microsoft is offering the phone finding service free of charge for the first month thereafter will be 4.99 per incident.  

 

Content gathered from. PC World Microsoft Shows Windows Mobile 6.5 Smartphones

Jacqueline Emigh. Star Tech-Central Windows Mobile 6.5 powers new phones Zam Karim

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Facebook Steps up to the Twitter Challenge: Tweeting or Feeding

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

friendfeed-twitter-facebookFacebook has plans to buy a web service named FriendFeed, which is similar in functionality to Twitter. FriendFeed allows its users to see what their friends are doing on other social media sites and is apparently bridging the gap between a host of social media applications. FriendFeed could be Facebook’s answer to the Twitter challenge.

Bob Marley sang about a timeless truth that big businesses are facing more every day: “You can’t please all the people all the time.” The folks at Facebook understand that 250 million users is an enormous, and diversified, audience to keep captivate, especially as they have watched millions of their own users join Twitter.  From junior high school kids to major media personalities, so many people are tweeting.

Where is the allure with FriendFeed? The real-time search capability that FriendFeed offers is an attractive feature, not only for its users but also to its soon-to-be parent company, Facebook. More importantly, both companies share similar core values – building technologies based on user feedback and fashioning those technologies to leverage relationships, according to Facebook’s VP Chris Cox. The 12 employee company of FriendFeed is purported to stay intact during and after the merger of the two companies, which should allow for a seamless integration of cultures and technologies. So what’s next for the users of Facebook? Tweeting or Feeding?

Author: David Meacham

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It’s not an iPhone but close…

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

windows7_logoThe latest version of Windows for your desktop/laptop computer is coming this fall. Windows 7 is faster, cleaner, and easier to use and seems to be everything that Vista should have been. Microsoft has lived up to its promise of 100% compatibility with any application that ran on Vista, and quite frankly we’ve seen that too. The free release candidate is still available for download; simply click here for details and specifications. Read what some industry experts are saying thus far:

“Windows 7 could be one of Microsoft’s greatest operating systems.”
– Cnet News

“The operating system has been tweaked in numerous small ways to improve productivity and overall usefulness”
– PC Advisor

“…more than adequate in terms of performance… every common operation in Windows 7 feels snappy and responsive, even on old hardware”
– ZdNet

“…light yet strong, useful yet still playful. [It] grabs me in a lot of ways Windows XP no longer does”
– Andy Rathbone

Stay tuned for more as October approaches!

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D-Links new all-in-one wireless router / NAS / Digital Picture frame

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

David Pogue of the NY Times just published a great writeup on the new D-Link all in one router.  Take a read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/technology/personaltech/02pogue.html?8dpc

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My First Hands-On Experience with the Palm Pre

Friday, June 26th, 2009

palm-preWith a compact body style the Pre fits well in your hand & would appear to travel well in your pocket or purse. The downside to the compact size at first glance is the screen size as it is smaller than most touch screen smart phones, but the display is very clear with great graphic quality.                   

As I attempted to configure the phone for initial use I noticed the lack of navigational windows or keys. Until I researched the many gesture features of the phone I had a hard time moving through, between or even closing applications. Once I had knowledge of the gestures on the phone using them was almost fun as opposed to being just functional. The full slide out keyboard may be to a lot of people a great selling point if they don’t prefer the touch screen keyboard’s of other phones, but just like the phone it is very compact & a bit hard to use at first. 

My first task was to setup an Exchange email account. After some searching for the correct menu, setup was fairly easy. You don’t need to be an IT professional to setup an exchange account, but do need a working knowledge of Exchange Email, Outlook Web Access, & your Company’s Network. Other account options that come standard are Gmail, Yahoo, & Facebook.

 After first use, overall the phone has a functional design, looks good, & is fun to use. But the Keyboard is a bit small, the response time for opening programs can be slower then desired, & has a high learning curve for first time use.

Zach Hart – IT Manager

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Bing show significant increase in paid paid advertisers (PPC).

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

bing_vs_googleBing now has another feather in their cap.  According to Efficient Frontier’s latest report, Bing’s share of paid clicks increased to 13% from 8% prior to its launch two weeks ago. If this trend continues Google will have something to really worry about.

This is in addition to other positive indicators we’ve observed over the last few weeks such as Bing getting the number two spot in search market share for a day. The fact that Bing is showing some positive performance in the search industry is a good thing for all of us.  This industry has needed some competition for years to force research and development in all search engines.  The consumer will be the one to win in this competition.

This is all simply preliminary data which may turn out to be nothing at all.

What do you think of all this?

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Can Bing help you?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Clearly a large number of people are jumping from using Google and Yahoo to Bing.  Media hype is likely to blame for much the increase in Bing traffic over the last three weeks. But will the search engine ever overtake Google? Only time will tell.  Google isn’t sitting around and waiting to see though as the June 14th article titled FEAR GRIPS GOOGLE in the New York Post explains “Sergey Brin [Google's Co-Founder]  is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft’s rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service”.

So, can Bing help you?  Here is a video Microsoft released showing some of the new features of Bing.  Let us know your thought. 

Clearly a large number of people are jumping from using Google and Yahoo to Bing.  Media hype is likely to blame for much the increase in Bing traffic over the last three weeks. But will the search engine ever overtake Google? Only time will tell.  Google isn’t sitting around and waiting to see though as the June 14th article titled FEAR GRIPS GOOGLE in the New York Post explains “Sergey Brin [Google's Co-Founder]  is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft’s rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service”.

So, can Bing help you?  Here is a video Microsoft released showing some of the new features of Bing.  Let us know your thought.

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