Whether you’re looking for the best version of Microsoft office for your home or small business, anti-virus or network security, tax and payroll management software, small business servers to run your office systems, small business accounting, business productivity software tools, or even some great value added software packages for the office, you’ll find what you need in this SMB software top ten list.

Top ten small business software products

Where possible I’ve also included pricing information and alternative, high quality small business software products to allow you to budget and choose the right software for your business.

This list was created based on sales and reviews of each software product. The list also includes only one winner from each software product category – i.e. there’s only one accounting package, one office suite, etc, to give you the best complete overview of the software that’s on the market for small businesses.

1. QuickBooks Pro 2012

QuickBooks Pro 2012, available on Amazon.com at up to 48% off (depending on when you get there), is one of the best deals available for home office and small business accounting.

What QuickBooks Pro 2012 does
Small business accounts can be time consuming and difficult. QuickBooks Pro 2012takes the hassle out of accounts by providing tutorials and tips on everything from creating invoices to generating financial, tax and sales reports.

Basically, you can manage your business like a professional accountant with no accounting experience required.

Alternative accounting software products

There are a number of other small business accounting software packages available, including:

• QuickBooks Pro 3-User 2012
• QuickBooks for Mac 2012
• Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2012

2. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

Get up top $50 off Microsoft Windows 7 Professional- the latest, greatest version of the Windows operating system. Simplify day-to-day tasks and increase efficiency with improved features for work.

What Microsoft Windows 7 Professional does
The most popular operating system in the world gets faster, more efficient and easier to use from start to finish.

Vastly improved networking features make it easier to print, share, and connect to your home or business network with three click connections from wherever you are.

Alternative operating system software products

• Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac
• Apple Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.6 (Mac DVD) [OLD VERSION]
• Ubuntu 12.04, 4-discs DVD Installation and Reference Set, Ed.2012

3. Norton Internet Security 2012

Norton Internet Security 2012provides complete protection for home or small business computers by identifying and stopping viruses, spyware and other malicious attacks before they can infect your PC.

Available at up to 70% off.

What Norton Internet Security 2012 does

Provides a layered protection system to protect your computer from malicious programs. Norton provides security in every aspect of your small business, from blocking or warning about malicious websites to firewall and anti-spam protection.

Avoid unnecessary setbacks by protecting your business today.

Alternative security software products

• McAfee Total Protection 2012–3 Users
• Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 – 3 Users

4. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, Version 11

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, Version 11is available at up to $108 off from Amazon. A bargain for anyone looking to save time and money by interacting with their PC using voice commands.

What Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, Version 11does
Prefer to interact with your computer by voice? NaturallySpeaking allows spoken words to appear on screen up to three times faster than you can type, helping to improve your efficiency.

Simply installation and up to 99% accuracy out-of-the-box.

Alternative voice recognition software products

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home, Version 11
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 Bluetooth

5. Adobe Acrobat X Professional

Adobe Acrobat X Professionalis available at up to 11% discount. An absolute must have for any small business that needs to create professional PDF documents. Especially if you’re going to need to build in audio, video and other rich media.

What Adobe Acrobat X Professional does
Combines professional level document creation capabilities with online storage and sharing capabilities. Combine a wide range of file types into PDF and present with easy-to-use layouts, themes, colors and branding.

If your business needs polished, professional communications, then you need to use the best PDF document creation software product available.

Alternative document software products

• Adobe Acrobat X Standard
• Microsoft Publisher 2010
• PDF Converter PRO 7.0 Retail

6. Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010

Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010gives you the complete suite of office tools you need to operate your small business, including:

• Word: business and content documents
• Excel: spreadsheets and charts
• Powerpoint: business presentations
• OneNote: organize notes and business info
• Outlook: email and calendar

What Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010 does
Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010is the world’s most popular package of office tools that empower you to manage the day-to-day running of your business. This version improves on the underlying file management system to bring you an easier, more polished and efficient Office experience.

Alternative office software products

• Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011: All the great features of Office for Macs
• Corel WordPerfect Office X6 Standard Upgrade: super flexible office suite from Corel

7. Business Plan Pro Complete v 12

Business Plan Pro Complete v 12is available at up to 35% off. Take the strain and hassle out of creating a business plan by putting everything you need to know at your fingertips.

What Business Plan Pro Complete v 12 does

Planning, examples, and easy-to-follow instructions give you the confidence to tackle your business plan the right way.

Provides industry standard formatting and error checking to help eliminate necessary business plan foul ups. Thousands of real world industry profiles help you see exactly how other companies put their business plans together.

Alternative business plan software products

• Business Plan Pro Premier v 12
• The Plan-as-You-Go Business Plan

8. ResumeMaker Professional Deluxe 17 [Download]

ResumeMaker Professional Deluxe 17 [Download]is available at up to 35% off. Learn how to get the next job or contract by browsing thousands of career making sample resumes. Integrates with a variety of document formats (such as PDF, Word, HTML) to import important CV data from anywhere.

What ResumeMaker Professional Deluxe 17 [Download] does
Provides a comprehensive suite of tools and functionality to create a professional resume, search for jobs and contracts, prepare for interviews and negotiate your salary.

Find the right job prospects using the advanced job search. Then, make a great first impression on any potential employer by using the step-by-step cover letter writing guide to engage, attract and convert hiring managers into fans.

Get your small business moving by landing the right contracts or jobs.

Alternative resume software products

• ResumeMaker Ultimate 6 [Download]
• WinWay Resume Deluxe 11.0

9. Quicken Legal Business Pro 2012

Get Quicken Legal Business Pro 2012at an amazing $50 discount. Start and run your own business easily by creating any legal form or contracts your business needs.

What Quicken Legal Business Pro 2012 does

Over 100 legal business forms compliant with the latest laws in your state. Provides templates and forms that allow any small business to easily create binding legal contracts and agreements, hire employees and contractors, as well as other contracts.

Plus, plenty of helpful legal information, tips, tutorials and advice on every day business tasks, such as borrowing money, getting loans, minimizing tax, and much more.

Alternative legal software products

• MyAttorney Home & Business
• Home & Business Lawyer 2010 – Old Version

10. Microsoft Visio Standard 2010

Microsoft Visio Standard 2010is available at over 20% off. Map out your projects with a sophisticated set of diagramming tools and bring them to life with cool visuals an online sharing.

What Microsoft Visio Standard 2010does

Take complex ideas and business requirements and map them out with easy to use, professional diagramming tools. Get everyone reading off the same page faster by presenting easy to understanding workflows.

Plenty of templates combined with easy to use diagramming features allow you to create professional business diagrams faster than ever before. If you need to create professional diagrams for presentation or other business requirements, then you need to use Visio.

Alternative will maker software products

• Microsoft Visio Premium 2010

Small business software products ‘Honorable mentions‘

What software or tools do you use to operate your small business? Share your thoughts on the top ten software tools list and let me know what you would add and why. I’ll update this list with any new business software products that meet muster…

How Motorola invented the iPhone

Back in 2004 the RAZR was the best selling phone in history. Apple was starting to dominate the music industry with the iPod and was getting ready to launch the iPod nano. Apple was happy, things were looking good.

Motorola had a team in Libertyville working on customer trends, lifestyle, and technology trends. At the time, a few Motorola phones had music capabilities, and the company saw an opportunity to converge the iPod and the RAZR.

The story is that Ed Zander, Motorola’s president at the time, had a meeting with Steve Jobs to share this idea. Apparently, Steve was not very interested in the idea. Then Ed said something that changed Steve’s point of view (and probably the world):

“When you leave the house, you always bring the three things: keys, wallet and your cell phone. That’s it. Your iPod is not in this list.”

At that point, Steve understood Motorola’s idea and agreed to build a product. The Motorola ROKR E1 was launched on September 7th, 2005. It was the first phone to work with Apple’s iTunes, a truly revolutionary concept. Yet it was fatally flawed.

There were a few key problems with the ROKR: it could only store 100 downloaded songs at any given time, probably a limitation imposed by Apple to avoid direct competition with the iPod. There was no USB interface, which made the process of getting music into the phone incredibly slow. Apple did not seem to be particularly excited about the ROKR, Ed Zander complained to Apple about lack of support and undercutting it with the Nano.

However, the biggest flaw was usability. Like most cell phones in 2005, the user interface was not intuitive. Here is where you can see the genius of Steve Jobs at work: Steve understood without great user experience the idea of a music phone was going to fail.

Most likely, Steve became frustrated about the lack of UX focus at Motorola, and thought he would execute on the same idea on how own. Development on the iPhone started that same year, in 2005. . It was a monumental task. Building a cell phone operating system from scratch is not an easy task, even for Apple. The iPhone shipped June 2007. The rest, is history.

The iPhone was not perfect when it launched. At the time, it was a closed system that did not allow any third party apps. Apple asked developers who wanted to innovate to basically create a browser app optimized for the Safari mobile browser. After a few months, Steve saw the opportunity in an ecosystem and opened the iPhone to 3^rd party apps. Today, the breadth of iPhone apps is one of the strongest selling points, and the focus of the “There is an App for that” ads.

Before Apple fanatics show outside my home with pitch forks and torches, I am not trying to take credit away from Steve. People who know me know I am not a fan of Apple products (I love my Windows Phone and yes, I have a Zune and it is great), but it would be foolish not to recognize Steve as an incredible innovator.

My next post, in fact, will cover the three reasons why Steve was a genius, from the perspective of the Adaptive Marketer.

Prototype 2, where do we begin? In an age where open world gaming has really developed into a powerful beast, Radical Entertainment have decided to take a step back, reign in the breadth of other titles, and create an open world action game with a much narrower focus. And in doing so, other studios should take note: sometimes, it’s not about the size or depth of your world, but what you decide to do in it.

Prototype 2 takes a mild deviation from standard sequel practice, by casting the protagonist of the original, Alex Mercer, as the enemy, and you as Sgt James Heller, who suffered a tragedy at the hands of Mercer and wants revenge. The change in character doesn’t mean the actual game is any different, however: the start of the game results in Mercer infecting Heller, and a similar pattern of superhuman development takes place. Over the course of the game, Heller unlocks skills such as flight, super speed, and some wicked weaponry. Yes, you too will be able to slice, dice and tentacle-ise your opponents with a wide array of attacks, starting with the simple (yet oh-so-fun) ability to absorb and mimic your enemies.

A quick word on controls – the simple pad layout is slightly customisable, and combo chains are wrought by alternately slapping and holding the key that corresponds to the move i question. It doesn’t take long to pick up on what to do, and pretty quickly you’ll be tearing about the boroughs of New York, laying waste to all you see with gleeful abandon, dropping F-bombs at every opportunity. The audio is little more than alright in Prototype 2, with genero-tunes that are quickly ignored, then massively overplayed by the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and visceral noises – for a game riddles with organic messiness, there’s certainly no shortage of medical-bay ripping, rending and fisty-slappy schlock. Voicework is hammy and overblown, yet matches the overall feel of the game, meaning all the combat has a slightly silly sheen, as if the whole title is moicking itself with gleeful abandon.

Visuals are a mixed bag: it evokes a slightly comic-book feel, but really looks a little dated, with rough edges and slightly flatter textures than would have been nice. The character models are thin on the ground too, with only a few enemy variations as the game progresses meaning you’ll be seeing a lot of the same faces as you progress. Buildings and environments are suitably grey, brown and flat for the most part, although the final third zone really ups the ante by tearing the cityscape to shreds and going totally apocalyptic to boot.there’s something about being elbow deep in enemies, throwing your weight around and making a mess that doesn’t seem to get old

The basic gameplay is simple – go to point X, tear everything in sight to shreds, rinse, repeat. Few missions really deviate from this, as although the principals behind your mission motives vary (save this person, destroy that experiment, track down some scientists, etc.) every mission sooner or later descends into chaos and destruction. Luckily, Radical knew that the only way around the monotony was to ramp it to excess, and P2 certainly has no qualms about painting the scenery in blood and guts.

And I mean, literally – looking around after any fight tends to be an exercise in biology, and blood, muscle, mutated parts, limbs and general viscera are everywhere. You’ll fight soldiers, mutants, giant tentacles and more, and although attack patterns vary from battle to battle, the basic idea of making a terrible nuisance of yourself cannot be understated. And a good thing too, as in terms of powers and abilities, you start overpowered and simply ramp up from there.

Beginning with some very nifty claws, Heller’s rage is channelled through his need to behave like a puppy in a loo paper factory, and completing story missions and side quests unlock upgrades within several classes, as well as a plethora of new moves. You’ll soon have a mental set of whippy tentacles, which can be used to create a black hole effect in enemies, or a spinning, scythe-like blade for decimating waves of soldiers in a flashing, cyclonic tornado of death. Failing that, you can simply pick enemies up and absorb them for health or skills. The absorption can also be used for a bit of stealthy sneaking about too, although don’t rely on it, as it never takes too long before alarms sound and you’ll be “forced” into heavy combat again.

There’s a lot to fault about Prototype, and its repetitive nature and shallow gameplay don’t really offer much variance – there’s some collection side quests to be completed which add maybe a couple of hours to proceedings, but in truth, it’s one long “fight, move, fight, move, hide, fight, move” sequence from beginning to end. And yet, it’s utterly engaging – there’s something about being elbow deep in enemies, throwing your weight around and making a mess that doesn’t seem to get old, and the meathead nature of the gameplay is strongly complimented by the presentation. And in a world of sandbox gaming which seems to get more serious with every GTA, it makes a nice second alternative to the OTT proceedings of Saints Row. And if nothing else, rent it for weekend, get some beers in, and simply enjoy tooling about a blood soaked landscape being a bit of a dick to everyone you meet.
The Good: Inventively violent; limited array of enemy types used to good effect; engaging, yet very OTT, storyline; addictive, destructive and a lot of funThe Bad: Very samey; not a very deep environment; doesn’t take itself seriously; limited replay; not a lot to do outside of the main missions

Gameplay:  8
Graphics:    8
Sound:       7
Overall:      8

Bronze Y Award

Consider the field of applicants. Some are major strategic companies that have applied for .BRAND or .GENERIC gTLDs, the majority of which will be closed to outside registrations. But many applicants are applying for traditional, open gTLDs with the purpose of establishing a business around selling domain name registrations. Many of those are likely entrepreneurs or new companies, some of which will be backed by investors and therefore are under pressure to deliver.

Those applicants that are planning to build a business around selling domain names in their gTLDs will have the biggest incentive to land in the first batch, because doing so will mean they can bring their gTLDs to market (and begin selling registrations) faster. These are the ones that will likely invest the most in solutions designed to get them into Batch 1. Already, certain technologies have emerged promising to help applicants hit the submit button closer to their target time than a human will be able to.

But more importantly, these companies know they want to be placed in Batch 1 more than, for example, corporate applicants likely do. Corporate applicants may want to forgo investing additional resources into making it into Batch 1 – unless all of their major competitors are in Batch 1. It stands to reason that if, for example, Ford and Toyota both applied for .BRAND gTLDs, and .FORD gets delegated in Batch 1 but .TOYOTA doesn’t reach market for months or even years later as a result of landing in a later batch, Toyota will lose a significant first-mover advantage to Ford. Toyota’s launch of .TOYOTA could, at that point, be seen as old news – perhaps even extremely old news as we pointed out in Part 1: Process.

Consider this: up through the entire application process, applicants have basically been on more or less equal footing – all had to meet the same deadlines, all had to pay the same application fee, and all had to complete the same application. But when it comes to Digital Archery, companies that decided to apply for new gTLDs to hedge their bets and possibly just keep pace with their competitors could suddenly see all of their advantage disappear. Applicants that land in late batches could find that by the time their gTLDs reach market, the news will already be old hat and they will miss the image uptick that earlier adopters will earn from their audiences.

Whether ICANN intended to or not, it has given traditional domain registry applicants an advantage here over corporate applicants by withholding certain information – namely, by starting Digital Archery before Reveal Day, a date that will certainly impact applicants’ demand for early batch positions, since that is the day that the missing input, competitors’ investment or lack of investment in gTLDs, will finally materialize.

Theoretically, corporate applicants can still decide to pursue a technological solution to shoot for Batch 1 after Reveal Day, but at that point, the entrepreneurial applicants may have already taken their digital “shot,” if you will. And if all of the available technological solutions allow the applicants who use them to hit “submit” at exactly their target time, then what does ICANN plan to do? How does it plan to order them in that case? If ICANN orders them on a first come, first served basis, then how can this be seen as anything less than an advantage for entrepreneurial applicants over corporate applicants?

The moral of the story here is, the batching process may be complicated, but the potential consequences of that process are even more complicated – perhaps even in ways we can’t yet imagine, for lack of information. And once again, ICANN has opted to keep applicants in the dark instead of upholding its tenet of transparency, which has only served to increase anxiety.

BYOD makes it easy to use your own tablet, PDA, smartphone, or whatever, to attend business meetings, functions and events, or simply connect to your corporate network.

But knowing which mobile device to purchase can be tricky because it depends not only on what is available, which manufacturers offer the best guarantees or warranties, but also what its intended business purpose is.

With sales of tablets set to overtake PCs for the first time in history over the next few years, it’s clear that BYOD and mobile devices for business are here to stay.

As with any dynamic and growing industry, mobile devices offer business people a staggering array of choices. So I’ve put together a list of the highest quality mobile devices that meet a range of business needs.

The top five BYOD’s for business

This list highlights the most popular business oriented mobile devices on the market today and provides some guidance as to which one you should consider buying to meet your business requirements:

1. Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook (Titan Silver)

Samsung’s Series 5 3G Chromebookis just magnificent, and is our hands down winner! Available at up to 17% discount, it is a mobile device that is tailored from the ground up to work on the Web. Perfect for the business executive on the go.

That’s right! Start thinking cloud based apps, combined with a Chromebook, for a truly mobile workplace.

This Chromebook comes with a 10 second boot time, and instant start-up after sleep mode. Naturally it has all the connectedness functionality you would require for a web based work place.

Not to mention, it’s just super cool!

Alternative BYOD’s
There are a few Chromebooks available on the market, with more to come soon. It’s worth checking out the alternative Chromebook offering from Samsung:

• Samsung Series 5 Wi-Fi 12.1-Inch Chromebook (Black)

2. Apple iPad MD328LL/A (16GB, Wi-Fi, White

Apple’s latest iPad, like all Apple product’s, is simply WOW!

As always, the iPad has a range of super-cool features that aren’t necessarily work related, so I won’t rehash them here. However, you can download iWork to convert your iPad into a mobile workstation with document editing, spreadsheets and slideshows.

Note that iWork is an extra expense (around $30), and if you are going to be doing some serious typing, you should also consider getting an external keyboard like the AmazonBasics Bluetooth Keyboard for Apple iPad.

Alternative BYOD’s
Other tablets do exist, and some of them are actually pretty good. Check out these:

• Toshiba Excite AT305T64 10.1-Inch 64 GB Tablet Computer – Wi-Fi – NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.20 GHz
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1-Inch, Wi-Fi)
• ASUS Transformer TF300 T-B1-BL 10.1-Inch 32 GB Tablet (Blue)

3. Blackberry Curve 9360 Unlocked

Blackberry’s Curve 9360is a lightweight and fun business accessory. Not only can you get emails on the fly, work with documents, connect to wi-fi networks, browse the Web (with impressive performance), but you can also take great pictures and clips to remember your business trips.

It’s NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled so you can speak directly to other NFC devices, scan and read smart tags, and of course, let’s not forget BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) which allows you to instant message with any other BlackBerry device.

Alternative BYOD’s
Depending on your smartphone requirements, you might want to consider a phone that comes with a service, or maybe you need a bit more muscle than the lightweight 9360:

• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 4G Android Phone, Black 32GB (Verizon Wireless)
• Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Unlocked Phone–International Version (Blue)
• Apple iPhone 4S 16GB

4. HP g7-1310us Laptop

HP’s g7-1310us laptopoffers a few things that I consider super important for a laptop on the move. It has a large, comfortable screen, it starts up like lightning, and it is geared to make communications and sharing easy. Everything you need from a laptop that follows you from convention to convention.

The HP is priced well (get up to $100 off the asking price) and doesn’t come with loads of unnecessary “junk” software. It gives you five hours of battery life – not bad for a laptop that is as powerful as a PC.

Alternative BYOD’s
There are plenty of great laptops on the market, so here are some of the most popular laptops in different sizes and power:

• Apple MacBook Pro MD322LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop
• Lenovo G570 4334DBU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)
• Acer Aspire AS5750Z-4835 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

5. Acer Aspire One AO722-0825 11.6-Inch Netbook (Black)

Acer’s Aspire One netbookis highly popular for its attractive and sleek design. It is lightweight and super thin and comes at a reasonable price.

It has Microsoft Office preloaded, but requires you to purchase Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010 Product Key Card- 1PC/1User
in order to active it. Lamentably, that’s about the best you can hope for these days, since Microsoft stopped shipping Office with Windows.

Alternative BYOD’s
There are a couple of serious contenders for the title of best netbook, check out these two options:

• HP Mini 210-4150NR 10.1-Inch Netbook (Charcoal Gray)
• Toshiba NB505-N508BL 10.1-Inch Netbook (Blue)

Items like trampolines, pools, slides, clubhouses, and picnic tables can’t be displayed in Toys R Us because they’re too big, a fact that undoubtedly hurts sales.

The solution? The company is putting QR codes in stores that link to videos of products all set up and in use by children. Now, Toys R Us customers will be able to envision how the items might look in their own backyard, which could definitely make them more apt to purchase it.

Mobile Marketer quoted Meghan Kennedy, a spokesperson for Toys R Us as saying, “We continue to look for ways to enhance our mobile capabilities and provide a seamless shopping experience for our customers.”

Bryan Laurienti, leader of BBB Systems’ design team, suggests, “Use QR codes to link to how-to videos, to highlight video testimonials, and to display products like Toys R Us did. The great thing about QR codes is how versatile they are and how easy they are for your customers to access them from anywhere at anytime.”

What do you think of Toys R Us’ in-store QR codes?

Knowledge is the key

Websites, internet, disc space, data security, and traffic and band width are some of the terms people have their own impressions about. The impressions are practical and are good as long as they serve their purposes. Not everyone can learn the fine intricacies of any field, particularly when it is highly complicated and technical. But it is important to have a sense of basics of internet and website-related terms in order that you could appreciate the differences between various web hosting options and could match them with your needs. You will come across the terms like dedicated server, virtual private server and shared hosting in this context.

Don’t go by ‘unlimited’ features

In case you don’t have a considerably fine appreciation of technical terms, you may end up in pooling those resources in abundance that in fact are of no use to you. Everybody knows computers have enormous storage capacity. But it is an equally vague notion. Data equivalent to one cupboard of books to an entire multi-floored library may all seem enormous when it is stored in a hard disk with its dimensions in few inches. You therefore need to appreciate what kilobytes to terabytes mean. Most of the websites don’t ever use a few percentile of the space allotted to them on the internet. But the people are moved by ambiguous rhetoric of the salesmen that shortage of space and bandwidth may cause unexpected troubles in operating the websites. They are not wrong, but you need to know the exact requirements for your website.

Know your Needs

You need to differentiate between a static and a dynamic website; between an interactive and non-interacting website; and between a high traffic and a low traffic website. It is always good to quantify the technical concepts. It will help you in deciding which kind of web hosting service will be suitable for you. A dedicated server is mostly needed by small and medium sized industries only after years of their expansion into bigger industries. Most of the industries falling under these categories may suitably start with shared hosting in which the features are available to only a small fraction of the dedicated hosting. But it is more than sufficient for the websites that have little data to store and have a long way to go before getting huge traffics of visitors and potential clients.

They have also to undergo a stage in which they outgrow shared hosting and are fit with virtual private server.

The service provider

While you work out your way to budget web hosting, it is important to get the services from a rich service provider. It should have proper customer care services and should also have a developed data center to upgrade your services as and when required. Know more about the mysteries of web hosting at hostmiles.com.

The project has been in the works for a while and according to TG Daily, “More than 1,000 QR codes have been added to schools, shops, and other buildings. Thus, the local bakery links to articles on bread-making, and pubs to their histories.”

It was also important that the QR codes are accessible to everyone, so the information was translated into over 25 languages, from Hungarian and Hindi to Indonesian and Welsh. PC Mag notes, “Organizers will be deploying four types of QR codes for the event: larger ceramic or metal plaques for outdoor venues; smaller ones for objects non-specific to Monmouth, like the Flora and Fauna guide; glass stickers in the windows of shops; and information posters, signs, and notice boards.”

Bryan Laurienti, lead graphic designer at BBB Systems, said, “It will be interesting to see how visitors respond to the QR codes at Monmouthpedia. If the project is successful, we can expect more ‘Wikipedia’ towns to begin popping up.”

What do you think of Wikipedia’s QR code town?

Why would Facebook purchase Instagram and then launch their own similar application? I asked Justin Brackett and he thinks they did it to prop up their falling stock prices. I’m thinking they might have purchased Instagram prior to launching the app so they have a full monopoly on all camera applications, and to use their technology.

Here is a breakdown of the features:

Make your photos beautiful

Like Instagram, the new Facebook Camera app allows users to add cool filters and crop pictures. This is my favorite Instagram feature and I look forward to testing it out. This will be a deal breaker feature for me.

Check out your friend’s photos in one place

After launching the app, you can check out all of your friends’ photos in one simple interface. You use the swiping motion to see more of a particular album or tap to enlarge photos. Simple.

Turbo sharing

Unlike instgram, you can share multiple photos quickly using Facebook’s new Camera app. Select the photos you want by tapping the check-mark and then hit post. You can also add a caption, say where you are and tag friends before posting. Another plus! You can also see photos from different camera apps that you friends use. Way to go Facebook!

Are you interested in downloading the new Facebook Camera App? Check out iTunes to get the app for your iPhone, iPad and/or iPod Touch.

The research organization recently released a report documenting users’ real-time, information-based behaviors, and 35 percent of respondents said that they had used their smartphones to solve an unexpected problem in the past 30 days.

More important, for retailers and restaurants: Thirty percent of respondents said they used their phones to decide whether or not to visit a business. That’s a trend that many businesses can’t afford to ignore.

According to the Pew study, respondents put their smartphones to use in myriad ways:

• 41 percent have coordinated a meeting or get-together.
• 35 percent have solved an unexpected problem.
• 27 percent have found information to settle an argument.
• 23 percent have looked up the score of a sporting event.
• 20 percent have searched for up-to-the-minute traffic or public transit info.
• 19 percent have sought help in an emergency situation.

Guess our smartphones are called “smart” for a reason.

Has real-time access to information on your smartphone gotten you out of a bind?

“The App Center is designed to grow mobile apps that use Facebook – whether they’re on [Apple's] iOS, [Google's] Android or the mobile web,” wrote Facebook’s Aaron Brady on the company’s blog announcement. “From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play.”

For Facebook, this pending super-index of apps could mean an uptick after what many would call a troublesome IPO. For the businesses, it could mean the resurgence of a stifled trend.

Business Apps Revisited?

As we all know, trends have a knack for trickling down from consumer to business technology, and our love for apps is no exception. In the last handful of years large enterprise companies including Salesforce.com and Jive have borrowed from Apple’s original model, offering their users a way to upgrade the experience with helpful extensions.

The marketplaces got so much buzz that for a little while it seemed like they were poised to be the biggest thing in both the business world and the consumer world. And then…they weren’t.

In the end Enterprise app stores saw relatively little uptake. While several analysts claimed the reason was because businesses simply weren’t ready for cloud-based collaboration, others guessed the problem was that they’d missed the right combination of features, target audience, and inventory.

As we mentioned earlier this week, Facebook’s IPO will certainly serve to further increase business-level interest in the institution of connection. Will the opening of their app store inspire businesses to get back on this train too? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Let’s start with the basics: what exactly does ICANN mean by “batching”? Well, according to the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook, if ICANN receives substantially more than 500 new gTLD applications, which we know with certainty that it will, it will divide those applications into groups in order to evaluate them. The first batch will consist of 500 applications, and subsequent batches will each contain 400 applications. In an announcement on May 4, ICANN stated that the TLD Application System (TAS) held 2,091 applications, plus 214 potential applications for which the payments had yet to be reconciled. Assuming that all 2,305 applications make it through, there will be a total of six batches.

It is currently unknown how long it will take ICANN’s evaluators to process each batch. ICANN’s recently published financial projections for the next few years, however, suggest that it is planning to process two batches per year. If all goes smoothly, that would mean that Batch 6 will complete evaluation in three years, or in 2015. But this is ICANN, and as we’ve seen, timelines for various initiatives have a tendency to get… prolonged. If contentions and objections arise, then each batch could take much longer. In the event that each batch takes a year to process, Batch 6 applications could be pushed back until 2018 or later.

So how will ICANN determine which applications are included in each batch? In a nutshell, ICANN is basically leaving it in the hands of applicants, by implementing a process by which they can vie for which batch they will be placed in. Colloquially, the process is known as “Digital Archery;” more formally, it’s called the “Target Time Variance Procedure.” Under this process, applicants will have to acquire a “secondary timestamp” for their applications by selecting a target time and then clicking a submit button as close to that target time as possible. The applications with the shortest amount of time between their target time and their actual submit time will be placed into the earliest batches.

However, if there are multiple applications for the same string, all applications for that string will be placed in the same batch as the application that performed best in Digital Archery and landed in the earliest batch. So if there are three applications for .STRING, and according to Digital Archery, two have ended up in Batch 4 and one has ended up in Batch 2, all three applications will be evaluated in Batch 2.

Just this week, we learned from an ICANN-led Twitter chat that the Digital Archery process will open before Reveal Day and run for approximately three weeks. As a reminder, the TAS officially closes and the application period ends on May 30 at 23:59 UTC, or 7:59 PM EDT. ICANN indicated that Reveal Day could take place two weeks after the TAS closure, putting that right around June 13. If that holds true, then we could see the Digital Archery process opening anywhere from May 31 to June 8, and closing anywhere from June 21 to June 29. However, ICANN also said that it plans to publish an updated timeline on or around May 29, which will include information about Reveal Day and the dates for Digital Archery.

So what are the implications of this process for applicants? What will it mean to be placed in certain batches, and how can applicants try to be placed in earlier batches? Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this post.

The law was sparked by the distaste for tracking cookies, or super cookies, that follow users from site to site, building profiles on them for advertisers. Understandably, the idea of big companies being able to build lots of profiling data without users’ knowledge sets privacy campaigners’ teeth on edge.

The problem is, we now have a law whereby every website must now invite users to opt in to cookies being used before they can be used. In principle, not a bad thing, but in practice it’s proving to be unworkable, as the blind leads the blind in trying to explain what exactly it is, how to technically code for it and how to implement compliant warnings.

The poster child for how to do this ought to be the Information Commissioner’s website because they are the ones to enforce the law. Their site at www.ico.gov.uk serves a box at the top of every page with a warning and a tick box – if you leave it unticked, the site won’t serve any cookies.

Now, what if you want to read more? Simple, click on the privacy policy link and the ICO gives you a detailed table showing all the cookies served on the site, with their names and even links to support and privacy pages of MSN, Google and Workcast.

Take note that those three links do not come with a cookie warning when you click on them, also, what’s the point of detailing individual cookies so diligently if you cannot opt into them individually? On the ICO website, you can either accept all cookies or none. So, if cookies are needed to make the site work, you have to live without them if you want to block, say, a Google Analytics cookie.

This week people have been promoting the FT.com’s implementation as a fine example of how it should be implemented. You can see an image below of how the warning appears when you access the FT.com home page.

The problem with this method is that it only seems to work on the main domain. At the time of writing this, if you access the site through a sub-domain, the warning doesn’t pop up. See, for example, here.

The law offers a variety of interpretations. As a website owner you can do what the ICO has done and block cookies completely until the user ticks the box; you can explain how to block cookies in the browser, as the FT has done; you can also get more technical if you wish and let users make individual cookie choices. The main thing is that you must be seen to be doing something from 26th May or it will be like driving while using your mobile – illegal even if you don’t get a penalty.

The FT route (tell them cookies exist and let them use the browser) is the best route because the ICO’s method is unworkable for most sites. The Government websites (most of which will not be compliant in time) don’t carry lots of third party social widgets and network ads, so they have more control of the cookies they serve, but most commercial websites can’t block all cookies or their business models would die.

Also, what about the widgets served into your website from US social networks, which do not come under EU jurisdiction? What about website owners whose sites are hosted on services such as Blogger, WordPress, Amazon Webstore or Ebay? How are they supposed to comply with the new laws?

It’s all bunkum. If the EU bureaucrats that devised this law understood the internet, they would have simply created a method for users to administer a privacy layer in their browser. That, after all, is the easiest solution. You can visit one website that blocks cookies but the next one you visit might be serving them. Far better to equip users with knowledge and tools to do it on the PC. The laughable truth, of course, is that that control already exists in browsers.

Good luck everyone in whichever compliance path you choose. The International Chamber of Commerce has produced a fairly digestible document to help. You can download the PDF here.

The TV manufacturers don’t think so. Providers like Samsung and Sony are strong-arming retailers to pull back on discounting policies for TVs, and have come up with a new plan that would prevent retailers from advertising or selling TVs for less than a price the manufacturers set. It’s a move aimed at increasing profit margins, decreasing on-line competition, and something the manufacturers hope will eradicate “showrooming,” a consumer tactic where shoppers check out models in bricks-and-mortar stores, and then buy them for dramatically reduced prices online.

“Price-fixing,’ you say?  “No, No,” says the Supreme Court. They’ve ruled manufacturers can set minimum prices at which retailers can advertise a product. Dictating policy about retailer/customer transactions? Maybe. It ends up that the law may be with the manufacturers, but ultimately not the marketplace.

All this is compounded by the fact that brands – particularly tech products like TVs – have been tough to differentiate in terms of rational equipment characteristics, which is why supporting emotional brand values is so very important, whichever category you’re watching. If you can differentiate your offering, you don’t have to play the price game, and you probably won’t lay awake at night worrying about losing sales to competitors unless you provide low, lower, lowest prices.

When it comes to TVs it doesn’t help there haven’t been all that many category innovations. We used to look at different types of TVs in our Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, but TVs became so similar we decided to just look at “Flat Screen TVs” as a single category. Here’s how the brands rank when it comes to loyalty and engagement:

1. Samsung
2. Vizio
3. Sony
4. Insignia
5. LG
6. Panasonic
7. Toshiba
8. Hitachi
9. Phillips

There may be plenty to watch on TV these days, but the outlook for the category isn’t pretty. The number of TVs sold to retailers is down, as are retail chain earnings. And it turns out not all TV manufacturers are up to enforcing price controls. But until providers learn how to create real emotional engagement, or until retailers can offer consumers products they can’t get on-line, comparison-shopping via bricks, clicks, or a mix will continue.

As they say in the business, “stay tuned.”

Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD? Short answer NO not yet.
There is still a place for traditional storage arraysor appliances particular those with extensive features, functionality and reliability availability serviceability (RAS). In other words, there is still a place for large (and small) storage arrays or appliances including those with SSDs.

Is there a place for newer flash SSD storage systems, appliances and architectures? Yes
Similar to how there is a place for traditional midrange storage arrays or appliances have found their roles vs. traditional higher end so-called enterprise arrays. Think as an example EMC CLARiiON/VNX or HP EVA/P6000 or HDS AMS/HUS or NetApp FAS or IBM DS5000 or IBM V7000 among others vs. EMC Symmetric/DMX/VMAX or HP P10000/3Par or HDS VSP/USP or IBM DS8000. In addition to traditional enterprise or high-end storage systems and midrange also known as modular, there are also specialized appliances or targets such as for backup/restore and archiving. Also do not forget the IO performance SSD appliances like those from TMS among others that have been around for a while.

Is the role of large storage systems changing or evolving? Yes
Given their scale and ability to do large amounts of work in a dense footprint, for some the role of these systems is still mission critical tier 1 application and data support. For other environments, their role continues to evolve being used for high-density tier 2 bulk or even near-line storage for on-line access at scale.

Does this mean there is completion between the old and new systems? Yes
In some circumstances as we have seen already with SSD solutions. Some will place as competing or replacements while others as complementing. For example in the PCIe flash SSD card segment EMC VFCache is positioned is complementing Dell, EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, NetApp, Oracle or others storage vs. FusionIO who positions as a replacement for the above and others. Another scenario is how some SSD vendors have and continue to position their all-flash SSD arrays using either drives or PCIe cards to complement and coexist with other storage systems in an environment (e.g. data center level tiering) vs. as a replacement. Also keep in mind SSD solutions that also support a mix of flash devices and traditional HDDs for capacity and cost savings or cloud access in the same solution.

Does this mean that the industry has adopted all SSD appliances as the state of art?
Avoid confusing industry adoption or talk with industry and customer deployment. They are similar, however one is focused on what the industry talks about or discusses as state of art or the future while the other is what customers are doing. Certainly some of the new flash SSD appliance and storage startups such as Solidfire, Nexgen, Violin, Whiptail or veteran TMS among others have promising futures, some of which may actually be in play with the current SSD market shakeout and consolidation.

Does that mean everybody is going SSD?
SSD customer adoption and deployment continues to grow, however so too does the deployment of high-capacity HDDs.

Do SSDs need HDDs, do HDDs need SSDs? Yes
Granted there are environments where needs can be addressed by all of one or the other. However at least near term, there is a very strong market for tiering and mix of SSD, some fast HDDs and lots of high-capacity HDDs to meet various needs including performance, availability, capacity, energy and economics. After all, there is no such thing, as a data or information recession yet budgets are tight or being reduced. Likewise, people and data are living longer.

What does this mean?
If there, were no such thing as a data recession and budgets a non-issue, perhaps everything could move to all flash SSD storage systems. However, we also know that people and data are living longer along with changing data life-cycle patterns. There is also the need for performance to close the traditional data center IO performance to space capacity gap and bottlenecks as well as store and keep data longer.

There will continue to be a need for a mix of high-capacity and high performance. More IO will continue to gravitate towards the IO appliances, however more data will settle in for longer-term retention and continued access as data life-cycle continue to evolve. Watch for more SSD and cache in the large systems, along with higher density SAS-NL (SAS Near Line e.g. high capacity) type drives appearing in those systems.

If you like new shiny new toys or technology (SNTs) to buy, sell or talk about, there will be plenty of those to continue industry adoption while for those who are focused on industry deployment, there will be a mix of new, and continued evolution for implementation.

There are currently two MacBook models available: the MacBook Pro, a powerful device boasting a quad-core i7 processor and dual video cards; and the MacBook Air, a platform that favors portability without sacrificing the fundamental processing power that most mobile professionals require. Sporting a small form factor and negligible weight, the MacBook Air brings a lot to the table with its speedy processor, all-flash storage and respectable Intel HD 3000 graphics chipset.

End-User Advantages

While the MacBook Air may lack the versatility of the MacBook Pro series, it still boasts some impressive hardware: The 128-gigabyte model offers a 1.7 gigahertz dual-core Intel i5 processor with hyper-threading technology to provide the most bang for your processor buck.

With the power of the Apple OS X operating system, users can manipulate multiple desktop environments with ease simply by performing finger gestures on the trackpad. This effectively emulates all the functionality of a multiple-display environment on a deceptively modest 13.3-inch screen. The OS remains responsive and fluid, even when the system is under load, providing a consistent experience for the end user.

Given this machine’s compact design, the MacBook Air is sure to be a hit with road warriors who want a capable notebook they can actually use on airline tray tables. With physical dimensions of just under 13 inches wide by 9 inches deep, it fits the bill without sacrificing a full-size backlit keyboard or a multi-touch trackpad. Also, weighing less than three pounds, it won’t slow down mobile workers running to catch their flights.

Why It Works for IT

Like most Apple products, there’s plenty of wow to go around from an aesthetic perspective, but don’t overlook the practical benefits. For instance, while the MacBook Air’s brushed aluminum body is pleasing to the eye, this design also makes it resilient to everyday wear and tear. Additionally, the flash hard drive is not only appreciably faster than traditional magnetic drives, but it is also durable and shock-resistant, lessening downtime.

When emergency data recovery is necessary, Apple’s built-in Time Machine technology allows for easy recovery of documents, e-mail messages and other files with a few simple mouse clicks. Training users to make use of this safety net takes just a few minutes, and Time Machine’s routine backups are automatic, low-impact and compulsory once a simple one-time configuration is completed.

Disadvantages

As with all flash memory, the speed that the MacBook Air’s hard drive affords comes at the price of capacity. While 128GB may seem like a lot of storage on paper, it’s less than half of what many comparable notebooks with magnetic hard drives offer. This warrants careful consideration when IT managers are purchasing for workers who need a lot of storage on the go. If this is a concern, Apple offers a 256GB version of the MacBook Air that may prove a better choice to accommodate those needs.

Additionally, because the Air is ultra-portable, it has no optical drive. This may make some folks nervous, but the inconvenience is easily overcome with Apple’s USB SuperDrive, or simply by using file sharing on nearby workstations or cloud-based storage.

The reason I started work at 8:45am was to create enough time in our working schedule for a fortnightly “early afternoon”. Every two weeks the office closed early and we all rushed off to nearby shops to pay bills, bank cheques and so on. It afforded a small amount of flexibility in our otherwise regimented working lives.

Clearly, this was a time before 24 hour shopping. It was a world that stopped after 6pm.

Inside the office, the decor of the moment was beige. Office landscapes were designed like wagon trains – the management encircling the worker who eeked out their existence in brown hessian covered partitions surrounded by inboxes, outboxes, reading materials and filing cabinets. The only piece of technology to be seen was the Commander telephone. And yes, your desktop really was a desktop – there was not a computer in sight.

And while this environment looked and felt safe, conservative and controlled – it was anything but – for technology was about to create a massive disruption within the workplace – one from which we would never recover.

It began with green screen – or orange screen – computers. Hovering over our desks, they looked like alien eyes peering back at us from unimagined future. Suddenly the activity of “work” shifted from the pad and pen – from the desk – onto the screen connected to a mainframe locked away in a climate controlled room in the basement. We were trained, supported and performance KPI’d. And then slowly it started.

A business case here and a business case there, and soon “desktop computers” began to sprout across the office. They were like great silent triffids gobbling up our old work practices and expectations. Some of my older colleagues gave up and took early retirement. Others retreated further up the management chain, defending their positions with computer-literate PAs and assistants.

Eventually the desk was replaced with the desktop.

We now face yet another wave of disruptive change. Many now cling as tightly to their laptop computers and email as my colleagues once did with their pens, pads and sense of tradition. But those days are over. The future of work isn’t about desks or even offices. It’s mobile and it’s already here. It’s time to turn it on.

10 Must-Have Tweaks For Your Mac

1. How to right-click on a Mac. Unlike PCs, your standard Mac mouse only has one button. Right-click by holding down the Control key and clicking. To make the experience simple, go to preferences and activate “Tap to click” and “Secondary click,” which will allow you to tap the trackpad with two fingers simultaneously to trigger a right click.

2. Change the mouse ball speed. The mouse tracking on a Mac feels drastically different from that of a PC because it doesn’t accelerate. You can partially alleviate this by turning the tracking speed all the way up.

3. Stop your monitor dimming. Mac computer screens dim after a period of inactivity. If you feel like using up more power than necessary, this feature can be turned off in the preferences under the options for “Energy saver.”

4. Set programs to automatically start upon log in. Many new Mac users miss having programs automatically start upon booting up their computers. If the program you want to start at initial log on is in your dock, right-click its icon and choose “Open at log-in.”

5. Introducing hot corners. Hot corners are a pretty neat feature available to all Mac users. Each screen corner becomes a hot spot that initiates an action or event when you move your mouse over it, such as rearranging windows to off screen to show the desktop or engaged widgets.

6. Set up different desktops AKA Spaces. Spaces allows users to create up to 16 unique desktops. You can also designate different applications to run on each desktop, while some can run on all – it’s all up to you. You can set up different spaces for web browsing, iTunes and iPhoto, email and communications as well as Photoshop and design.

7. Hide applications and files, or make them reappear. If you wish to view files that are hidden on default, simply type this into the terminal: “defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE”. If you wish to hide windows and files, hit Command + h, but you won’t get an indication that a window is hidden once it’s gone.

8. Master the Zoom. One of the biggest things to get used to with Macs is the Zoom function. It will increase the window size to fit the screen but the window will remain draggable. Sometimes this doesn’t even work, and it instead changes the size of the window in strange and unpredictable ways. Check out this neat plug in called Right Zoom to solve this issue.

9. Add folders or drives to the dock. This is a great thing to do for drives and folders that you use often. First you open a Finder window containing the application, file, or folder that you want to put on your Dock. Then you click the item that you want to add and drag it out of the Finder window and over onto the Dock.

10. Enable the Tab key. You can set up the Tab Key to switch between dialog buttons, fields, and anything else in a dialog box on a Mac. First you launch System Preferences. Then you click Shortcuts and select Keyboard Shortcuts. Look for Full Keyboard Access and click the radio button next to All controls. You’re done!

We hope you enjoyed our 10 must-have tweaks for you Mac. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.

Opening day of the NCTA’s Cable Show had industry leaders all a-Twitter about the impact that IP technologies, social media and new models will have on the delivery, distribution and dynamics of content over the next 5 years.

Nearly 13,000 attendees and 275 exhibitors are in Boston, Mass. this week to talk all things cable—from the jargon-filled technologies that support network infrastructure to predictions about how shifts in usage and consumer preferences will change longstanding business models.

As the dominant customer interaction management provider in the US cable market, CSG International has a strong presence at the show, exhibiting alongside 275 other companies including television networks like HBO and MTV, cable operators, network operators, BSS and OSS providers, and many more.

While digital content serves as the dominant theme at this year’s show, key themes covered in panel discussions and executive forums also included:

• All Things IP: Glenn Britt, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, predicts that the cable set-top box will eventually go the way of the dodo bird:

“For better or worse, the world is coalescing around IP standards,” said Britt. “All devices are being made to those standards. That’s the future. Our old video platform worked well for a long time, and only few people can write software to it. It’s not easy. This old technology drives set-top boxes and their existing interfaces, but a lot of what we can do is create a much better interface. All things IP can create a much better user interface. Our goal is to get the video service we sell on every device in your home – We want to be on every single IP-driven device.”

Google TV executive Irv Kalick agreed at an afternoon panel, adding “In the very near future, all TVs will be connected TVs.”

• Consumers will change dramatically, but subscription/advertising models won’t—at least that’s what traditional cable providers hope.

Many cable operators speaking at various panels today insisted that the subscription and advertising models that have dominated pay TV since its inception will not disappear entirely, even as the consumption of digital content grows exponentially. Nearly 90% of all US cable customers still consume pay TV services via a monthly subscription.

“If you think about what we sell in TV, it’s a simple idea. You subscribe to a package of linear networks, and you know what it costs ahead of time. That’s what we’ve been selling for the last 40 years now,” said Glenn Britt, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner Cable. “The new technology helps us to make that model better, but it doesn’t change the fundamental way of choice and subscription.”

While many operators say the current revenue model of subscription-based services and advertising will enable more content to be created and distributed, they also agree that these models will get more personal and granular as consumers are marketed based on the content they prefer.

“Would consumers trade a larger bundle of content for more personalized content over more of their devices?” Perrette said. “We believe that digital content will require more flexibility in how and what devices are used by an individual customer, and we think that consumers will still want content packaged via subscription, but in a way that better suits their preferences and interests.”

This sentiment was echoed by Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AOL, who noted that a more targeted advertising approach has increased interactivity between consumers and ads by 70% for his company.

• Digital content models must focus on search-ability and usability.

If they are to successfully deliver digital content to consumers, industry pundits at the show insist that cable operators and other larger content aggregators must focus on how consumers actually search and find content more effectively.

“If you are going to bring more content and more choice to the consumer’s television screen (in whatever form that takes), then you must enable an easier way to navigate and search for that content,” said Google TV exec Irv Kalick. “Usability and searchability go hand in hand with the proliferation of content.”

This premise aligns with CSG’s thinking on the topic, as outlined in a recent video interview with SVP Dwayne Ruffin.

• Social Media will continue to have a significant impact on digital content consumption habits.

The exponentially growing appetite for social media applications is evidence that this form of connectivity will continue to grow in importance—particularly among younger generations. Interestingly, research shows that social media applications actually encourage higher usage of content and even more brand loyalty.

Horowitz Research, a longtime cable industry research firm, recently released a study tracking the impact of social media creating communities of fans and engaging/interacting with content in real-time. The survey, presented today at The Cable Show, found that:

• 1 in 5 consumers said they start watching a show after hearing about it online.
• 1 out of 10 said they Tweet about a show at the same time they are watching it.
• 15% start conversations on social media about TV shows or movies.
• 28% said they started watching a show because they read about it in social media/the blogosphere.
• The role of social media plays an increasingly important role for consumers ages 18-34 as compared to other demographics.

“Social media applications will play a key role in building the next generation of loyal content users,” said Adriana Waterston of Horowitz. “Cable operators will need to ensure they incorporate social media into every facet of digital content delivery.”

CSG Chimes in with Predictions around the Cable Customer of the Future

Business models in the cable/satellite industry are changing rapidly. Where is it headed? And how will it change the profile of the average consumer?

In a new white paper issued today at the Cable Show, CSG outlines the 3 key trends we predict will shape what the typical cable/satellite customer will look like in the next 5 years—and what the impacts are to CSPs’ business, infrastructure, and bottom line.

Want to know what CSG is talking about in the marketplace? Download the white paper.

Do they feel like the voice-activated Siri is a sentient being? No, but they do consider how Apple utilizes the information overheard by the service. There’s a data center in Maiden, North Carolina that digitally receives all of the voice prompts you speak to Siri through your phone. And no one really knows what happens to the email messages, searches and conversations once they make their way there.

Jeanette Horan, the CIO of IBM explained her company’s ban in an interview with the MIT Technology Review earlier this week. She admitted that her company was concerned about where the queries spoken to Siri are stored, and what is done with them. And if you review the Software License Agreement for Apple’s iPhone, it becomes clear that she may have been right to act on this concern. According to the agreement, anything a user dictates to Siri is actually recorded, and then sent through to Apple for conversion to text. But Siri also accesses other information stored in your iPhone to improve its service, which could included names pulled from your address book, and a host of data that’s left unspecified.

Apple doesn’t release information about how long this data is stored, and who exactly, if anyone, is allowed to review it. Basically, using Siri means you are agreeing to this situation, and use of your data in an unlimited way by Apple. And IBM is not the only organization to voice concern about these activities. The American Civil Liberties Union actually released their own warning about the Siri service a few months back.

Edward Wrenbeck, who was the lead developer on the first Siri app released, did go on record saying privacy was and remains a concern for them. Wrenbeck developed the app independently, and then sold it to Apple. He admitted the situation is certainly murky for corporations. He gave the example of location information. If Apple or any other third party were to know where a high-level IBM employee was if he was visiting a customer or other company, that info could violate a signed non-disclosure agreement.

Wrenbeck did qualify his statements, saying he felt it wasn’t really any different than privacy issues raised by the data management practices of other internet corporations. And though Siri may make a user’s life a bit easier, it’s not any sort of new data stream. In fact, a user’s cellphone provider could access his GPS location and stored information any time it likes. Yet that hasn’t stopped other companies from coming under fire. Google has been in a great deal of trouble lately due to their information policies. But until some of this data is made anonymous, it’s clear Apple is not welcome as a provider of business mobile phones in the IBM offices.

Important: Before you make the transition, make sure that all of your contacts and bookmarks are up to date on at least one device you plant to use with iCloud. These will be uploaded to iCloud from your devices after you complete the migration, and iCloud will not copy and contacts or bookmarks from me.com.

Preparing to Move

1. You must have iOS 5 or later on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

2. When you are asked for your Apple ID and password, enter your MobileMe email and password. To use a different Apple ID for iCloud or iTunes go to Settings > Store on your device after you’ve finished using the iOS setup assistant.

3. Macs must have OS X Lion 10.7.2 or later. PCs must have Windows 7 or Vista (Service Pack 2) and the iCloud Control Panel. Outlook 2007 or 2010 are required for syncing your contacts.

4. Backup all of your contacts, calendars and bookmarks prior to moving to iCloud.

Moving Mail

5. Your active email address (@me.com, @mac.com, and all your aliases) will move with you along with your messages when you move from MobileMe to iCloud.

6. Your email application must support accessing email via IMAP over SSL (such as OS X Mail or Outlook 2007 and 2010).

7. When you move to iCloud, you will no longer be able to check external POP email accounts, and you won’t be able to use a send from address to send from a non @me.com or @mac.com address.

Moving Calendars

8. Your data is moved for you when you move to iCloud on all your devices, you don’t need to do any additional configuration. This only works if you are using the new MobileMe Calendar before moving to iCloud.

9. If you weren’t using the new MobileMe Calendar prior to moving to iCloud, turn off all calendar syncing on all your iOS devices and choose to keep the calendar data on your device. To turn off calendar on your iOS device: tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > MobileMe. Turn off claendars and choose the option to keep data on your device.

Contacts and Bookmarks

10. Your contacts and bookmarks must be on one or more of your supported devices prior to moving to iCloud. You will lose all access to all your contacts on me.com after the move. Make sure they are all up to date.

11. You should not move to iCloud if your contacts are only available at me.com and you’d like to retain them.

Storage

12. You keep all the store in your MobileMe account for as long as you keep your account active, or until June 30, 2012.

13. Most users who make the switch to iCloud will get a complimentary iCloud storage upgrade through September 30, 2012. After September 30, 2012, you can purchase the upgrade, or let it expire and use the free 5 GB plan. It’s easy to manage your settings at Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup on your iOS device.

Cancelling your MobileMe Subscription

14. You can cancel your service at any time and you’ll get a prorated refund for your unused time.

Make the Move!

15. Visit me.com/move and begin the transition from MobileMe to iCloud!

It’s pretty safe to say that those ancient mariners, Columbus and Vasco da Gamma, would love the 21^st century; apart from the ready availability of yacht insurance, questions like “is it round, is it flat?” or “which is the quickest route to the Indies?” would have been quickly answered had they had access to the wonderful world of the app.   Today, the now ubiquitous app means that no such problems arise and the range of excellent apps for sailing seems to grow each day.  Here are five of the most popular.

•  ‘Boating Suite’, available for iPod touch, iPad and iPhone isn’t so much an app but, as the name suggests, a suite of applications.  It eliminates the need to record details in logs and spread sheets and has a functionality that makes it fantastic for serious boating enthusiasts for whom the call of the ocean wave is simply irresistible.  The six functions included in the app are a log book, a maintenance log, an expenses log, a fuel log along with a shopping list and to do list app sections.  The suite aims – and admirably achieves – to help you to manage and plan all aspects of life on board, for short or extended trips; for the latter particularly, it really does make the financial side of sailing smoother.
• The disarmingly simple concept behind the ‘Mylite Flashlight’ app is possibly what makes it so good.  Obviously an essential item at sea, experienced sailors will normally have a flashlight to hand; they may also need a phone, a chart and a couple of ropes.  This app allows you to download a flashlight programme turning your phone into a powerful LED flashlight.  There’s an inbuiltSOS single in the programme and although the light/phone concept is not new, this particular version is a far more effective and usable version, cutting down on the necessity to carry numerous gadgets around on those dark stormy nights.
• You can never know enough about knots, let’s face it.  ‘Pro Knot’ is an excellent app to have to hand to brush up on your skills or teach yourself the, well, ropes.  With a step by step illustrated guide to thirty essential knots and an animated version of seventeen, this guide is one that no self-respecting sailor will be without.  ‘Pro Knot’ has rapidly become a leading site for information on nautical knotting and the app is a welcome extension to their offering.
• ‘NauticEd’ is already a leading provider of internationally recognised certification and, naturally, they have now extended their tuition to include app functionality.  You’ll need to sign up to a free account on their site to access the app but this then gives you the freedom to add details of your sailing experience in real time.  The app also helps to assess your sailing strengths and weaknesses and recommends further training.  Naturally this training is available at a cost from ‘NauticEd’ but the information is genuinely useful!
• Charting apps have been flooding the market since the invention of the app, and they have proved incredibly popular with sailors of all levels of experience.  Leading the field in this area is the app available from ‘Navionics’, already a well-established nautical mapping provider.  With a comprehensive range of nautical charts around the globe, the app allows sailors to chart maps and input a range of specific criteria.  These include the boat’s depth, fuel consumption and anticipated wind directions.  Additional features include locations for marine repair sites, and general information including shops and restaurants on route.

Whether it’s a weekend at Cowes or a quick once around the globe to see if anyone missed a continent, a range of excellent apps will smooth the voyage.  Basic requirements for safe sailing have long included boat insurance and the list is now being joined by the range of highly useful and effective apps.

Seattle Times explains, “The tags have a QR code — the barcode-like symbol that can be scanned with a smartphone to load a website — and an address for an individualized webpage which the owner can update as needed. It’s like a Facebook profile for your pet, says PetHub founder Tom Arnold, a place to store and share information about an animal.”

The tags were recently updated with a hotline number (each pets’ webpage already had it) to ensure those without QR code-scanning ability will still be able to reach the owners. Bryan Laurienti, co-owner of BBB Systems, said, “I think putting QR codes on pet ID tags is a great idea. Although putting your phone number on your pet’s ID tag initially seems like all you need to do, I can see the value in having a QR code instead. In an instance where an owner isn’t immediately reachable, whoever finds the pet would be able to access crucial information about dietary restrictions and medication they might be taking. Plus, some people are sensitive about posting their phone number online, and the QR code ID tag comes with its own pet hotline number.”

What do you think about PetHub’s QR code ID tags?

The Internet was first introduced in the early 1980s through standardized TCP/IP networks. With the emergence of the Internet, trade and commerce improved. This also started out electronic mail, instant messaging, VoIP calls and video calls. It also developed the access of World Wide Web through online shopping, social networking, blogs and forums. This then lead advanced networks to develop very high speed to accommodate online information needs.

Internet service providers or ISPs is an organization that provides Internet connection to residential and business customers. Before ISPs started to appear, those working for universities and government agencies as well as those knowledgeable in UNIX were only given access to the Internet. In the 1990s, the Internet started to accept commercial traffic. Consumers availed peering protocols of swapping data at no extra cost. In 1994, the National Science Foundation authorized four companies to build access sites for the Internet. Finally in 1995, Internet access began to commercialize. These four companies who came under control were Sprint, Pacific Bell, WorldCom and Ameritech. And their access sites were located in New Jersey, San Francisco, Washington DC and Chicago.

Due to the growing demand for Internet usage, the public access sites turned out clogged. Many leading telecommunication companies started out to build faster and more access sites for the Internet. For a while, the bigger providers initiated partnerships with smaller ISPs. It was also about this time when swapping of Internet traffic was free. In 1997, AT&T, Sprint and UUNET ceased partnerships with smaller ISPs and obligated them with payments to access their own networks.

Leading ISPs also provide fixed and mobile Internet access to customers. ISPs support different forms of Internet access. There is the traditional dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless LAN or wireless broadband networks. There are also access providers that offer email and web hosting services. Much as customers pay Internet access to ISPs, these providers pay upstream ISPs for their Internet access. They have a contract with a higher network to give them access to certain parts of the Internet where they have no access. There are also several of them that provide small and large business hosting.

It may be true that nobody owns the Internet. But a number of big companies have controlled it. As the Internet is mainly for business and personal access, interested consumers can subscribe to an ISP by paying monthly dues. ISPs will usually provide software package that will include modems to log on and browse the Internet. There will also be usernames, passwords and access phone numbers given to the consumer. For those preferring broadband access, this will include paying a monthly fee where given modems are charged and added up to the ISP account billing.

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