BestStuff.com

Why Mobile Is Such a Big Deal for Big Data

BestStuff Staff — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:53:54 +0000

Digital Innovation Gazette: Mobile Development

By Tim Kridel for Digital Innovation Gazette

Few things are as personal as a mobile phone. In fact, it’s something that most people have with them every waking moment — and often while they’re asleep.

Consumer behavior like this makes mobile phones an opportunity to collect information about users throughout the day rather than just when they’re at a computer. In fact, for some people, the mobile phone is the primary way they go online, making that device the most effective way for everyone from advertisers to app developers to understand and reach their target markets.

Big data involves aggregating information from potentially disparate sources with the goal of drawing meaningful conclusions about what a person or group might be most interested in. Data mining has been around since the 1970s, but as mobile penetration has skyrocketed, so has the opportunity to gain even more insights into how consumers spend their time and money.

The information flows in both directions: Mobile apps are sources of information for big data analytics companies such as Google, but developers can also pull information from those digital warehouses.

“What we’re all trying to do is [figure out] how to get more of that person’s time,” says Mike Wehrs, president and CEO of Scanbuy, whose ScanLife QR code reader app has been downloaded more than 6 million times. “How do I continue to add value and remain relevant to their life? Big data is a means to that end.”

Do You Know Where Your Customers Are?
About a decade ago, regulators such as the FCC began requiring all new mobile phones to have built-in location technology such as GPS to help find emergency callers. Those mandates were a milestone in big data history because they changed the nature of the information that can be captured and mined compared with desktops and laptops.

“The big difference is that desktops are stationary and laptops do not in general have GPS sensors, so there is a location awareness in the data that can be captured and mined from a mobile device,” says Andrew Purtell, principal architect at Intel. [Disclosure: Intel is the sponsor of this content.]

“Location awareness is a gateway into a new way of interacting with services,” says Purtell. “For example, on services such as Twitter or Foursquare, users can publish their location to trusted members of their social network. We know these services then mine this location and activity trace for sale to advertisers and commercial concerns in general, producing new business models.”

A straightforward example is pushing ads and e-coupons to mobile users based solely on their location. Depending on the app, there are additional opportunities for developers, advertisers and others to interact with users.

“Increasingly, people live within the virtual world presented by their mobile devices as they move through the physical world,” Purtell says. “Location-aware games overlay a virtual world over the physical. For example, the Niantic Project plays out in physical space around the players, in which they interact with a virtual world overlaid onto their local neighborhood, blending the imaginary with the real.

“Retailers can publish special offers to potential customers who are physically near their location, injecting suggestions into the stream of consciousness, facilitating impulse shopping in a way previously not possible. Responses to location-specific offers can be mined for refinement of future offers.”

Providing Relevance, Not Annoyance
Location-specific offers also show how big data can be both a challenge and an opportunity for developers and the companies they work with. Big data is a chance to push a promo to customers when they’re literally in the right place to take advantage of it.

For example, a person whose social network interactions frequently revolve around coffee seems like an ideal candidate for an e-coupon when she’s passing by a café. Developers can get information about those kinds of interests by buying it from, or partnering with, big data providers.

The challenge is that she might not be interested in coffee at that moment. If that’s the case, the promo comes across as spam, and if it happens often enough, she might shut off that feature or uninstall the app. Either way, that marketing and revenue opportunity is now lost.

Developers can avoid that problem by giving users a way to indicate that they’re interested in receiving promos, such as by having the café put a QR code or NFC tag in its window.

“That’s an expression of interest,” Wehrs says. “Now I’m initiating, and if I get an offer, I’m happy about it. It helps you provide a less-invasive experience for your end consumer.

“The whole promise of big data is that you’ll never perceive that you’re getting spam again. [You’ll never receive an] offer that isn’t for you because there will be so much intelligence in the system.”

So while data mining on computers has been around for decades, the big data trend on mobile devices holds a stronger promise: Developers and companies collect valuable information about consumers and, in turn, pass that value back to them by better meeting their needs.

Tim Kridel
has been covering all
things tech and telecom since 1998 for a variety of publications and analyst
firms. Based in Columbia, Mo., he still enjoys the teenage hobby that led to a
career in writing about technology: ham radio. Tim is a frequent contributor to
Digital
Innovation Gazette.

The post Why Mobile Is Such a Big Deal for Big Data appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Crossing the Mobile Development Gap

BestStuff Staff — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:41:50 +0000

By Tim Kridel for Digital Innovation Gazette

If you’re not using HTML5 to develop mobile apps, you may be in the minority. In a Telerik survey of 4,043 developers, 82 percent said HTML5 will be important for their job this year.

A big part of HTML5’s appeal is its ability to help mitigate the OS-fragmentation problem. It’s often much cheaper and faster to build an HTML5 app that works across Android, iOS and other platforms versus building a native app for each OS. And in the case of magazines and newspapers, HTML5 provides a way to reach iPhone and iPad users without paying a 30 percent royalty to Apple.

In February, Intel acquired the HTML5 tools division of appMobi, along with the staff responsible for those products. [Disclosure: Intel is the sponsor of this content.] We recently spoke with Daniel Holmlund, a software engineer working in developer relations at Intel’s Software and Services Group, about how appMobi gives developers more options for using HTML5.

What’s encouraging developers to get into HTML5? For example, is it mainly to be able to hit a bunch of different devices with one development effort?

Daniel Holmlund: That’s a large part of it. To go from one platform to another, you have to hire people that are experts in the other platform. You have to put up the money to redevelop your entire application or your entire product. You have to maintain both your original product and the new product. Each additional platform is a very large additional cost. It might double or triple it if you’re adding a third platform.

HTML5 brings down all of those costs by letting developers target multiple platforms all at once. That’s very attractive, especially to a lot of four- and five-member developer shops that are short on manpower and want to target a lot of platforms.

Based on developer experiences, what are you hearing in terms of the amount of lead time that they can realistically expect to save?

D.H.: It depends on the type of application they’re trying to do. I would say that if they’re going to redesign their entire application from scratch, that’s going to take twice as long.

Let’s say it takes six months to develop an application. Then the same team — or a different team even, one that’s better in the second platform — takes four months or five months because they can use some of the work that was already done. It takes them a little less time to entirely redo the effort.

If the development group builds in HTML5 initially, and they’re doing something that works well on both platforms without a lot of tweaking, then they only need to write it once. They save all the time that would’ve gone into the second development.

They still have to do twice the QA. They still need to verify that their application works on each platform. Occasionally, you’re going to run into things that work on one platform and not the other. Then you have to find out what’s going on.

What are some ways that the appMobi acquisition from Intel benefits developers?

D.H.: Intel is now providing a service that we’re calling the Intel HTML5 Development Environment that lets you write JavaScript APIs. We also have a tool that will generate the correct platform-specific APIs. If you’re focusing on a Windows platform, you can code in one set of APIs, and then your application will have a library included that will let you target Windows or Android or ILS. We’re supporting Windows, Android, ILS, Facebook, the Nook, the Firefox OS and a few other platforms.

Another nice thing is that those tools provide a simulation environment. In your browser, you can test the accelerometer, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. You can see how your application will behave before you actually generate the platform-specific packages.

If you’re interested in developing cross-platform apps, visit the Intel HTML5 Development Environment to download the Intel XDK and submit your app to multiple app stores: http://software.intel.com/html5

Tim Kridel Tim Kridel has been covering all things tech and telecom since 1998 for a variety of publications and analyst firms. Based in Columbia, Mo., he still enjoys the teenage hobby that led to a career in writing about technology: ham radio. Tim is a frequent contributor to Digital Innovation Gazette.

The post Crossing the Mobile Development Gap appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Review: Vuzix Wrap 1200 (video)

BestStuff Staff — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:48:54 +0000

The sunglass-style Wrap 1200, by Vuzix, sets a new benchmark for video eyewear. It has an enormous 16:9 widescreen 75-inch display, and you can see the image from 10-feet away. In fact, it’s the largest in the industry, and offers an unparalleled movie experience. Additionally, the Wrap 1200 projects in both 2D and 3D, both at home and on-the-go, and it connects to more media sources in more ways than ever before. It also offers focus, eye-separation and viewing angle adjustments for multiple viewing options.

By putting on the Wrap 1200, you’ll get 75-inches of virtual screen, and this is a hell of a lot better than stuffing a 75-inch television into that small living room of yours. A cable runs alongside one leg of the glasses and is connected to a small interface and control box. A few buttons here allow you to control the Vuzix Wrap, and ports on the underside allow you to plug in composite video, mini HDMI, iPod AV or VGA. At this point, you’re ready for viewing, and you can watch anything from live television shows, movies or even play video games.

The Vuzix Wrap’s dual video screens are placed at eye level so it’s no strain on your eyes. Projected images are vivid and almost overwhelming, coming from a device not much larger than a pair of sunglasses. The Vuzix can handle inputs up to 720p, and the 1200′s will display them back with twin 852×480 LCD displays. It’s high resolution, and it comes close to high definition….but not quite.

Viewing the simulated 72-inch screen is sort of like going to an IMAX theater, as the world around you is blocked out. Its as though you are completely immersed in the media with little peripheral happening around you for you to notice. An optional light shield is available as well, allowing you to further block out any light that may distract your viewing pleasure.

The Vuzix Wrap 1200 runs $499 through Skymall, and additional options are available like the PC adapter, the light shield and a rechargeable battery pack. Besides high-quality imagery, the Vuzix Wrap 1200 does well with its integrated noise-canceling ear phones and several lens adjustments (eye separation and +2 to -5 diopter) for viewing comfort.

For a great immersivee HD video experience, you can purchae the Vuzix Wrap 1200s through Skymall, here.

Check out the video review….

Skymall

The post Review: Vuzix Wrap 1200 (video) appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Review: Verizon Blackberry Z10 (video)

BestStuff Staff — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:41:36 +0000

The new Verizon BlackBerry Z10 is the first handset from RIM, now renamed Blackberry, and is also the new handset to run their new Blackberry 10 operating system. Its been a well-known fact that the Z10 as well as the new OS is the company’s proverbial last chance of survival. It’s no secret that BlackBerry has been struggling the last few years, with the company even admitting this in more than one press conference.

The Z10 was introduced in the US in late March for around $200 with a 2-year contract through Verizon, ($599 off-contract). It sports a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4.2-inch 1280 x 768 display, 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM. At first glance, the BlackBerry Z10 is a little bezel-heavy with a sizable gap above and below the screen. It measures a reasonable 130 x 65.6 x 9mm (5.1 x 2.6 x 0.4 inches), however, and weighs in at 137.5g (4.85 oz). The weight gives it a good feel in the hand.

On the back, Blackberry has included an 8-MP camera with a single LED flash. The rear backplate can be removed easily by placing a finger in the indented speaker grill to access the internals. Underneath the hood you’ll find microSIM and microSD slots, with the microSD slots capable of supporting cards up to 32GB in capacity. Combine this with the already decent 16GB of internal storage, and you have a lot of memory to play with. The removable 1,800mAh battery provides lengthy usage time, and allows you to replace a dead battery with a fully charged one.

On the rear cover itself includes the NFC pad, which enables the Z10 to interact with other compatible wireless devices. On the right-hand side of the Z10 includes the familiar triple button setup, with volume rocker switches separated by a central key. This middle key controls voice control activation and playing and pausing music. On the top, you have a power/lock key button and a 3.5mm headphone jack, while on the left there’s two connectivity ports. The keyboard is metal, which is pretty sharp, and the keys are well positioned for easy typing. Rounding out the hardware features is a microUSB port alongside a miniHDMI port. This enables you to connect the BlackBerry Z10 directly to a TV.

While the Z10 is mediocrely impressive, the Blackberry 10 OS is a different story. Blackberry designed the new OS10 so enterprise IT managers could have a smartphone that they can control but that workers won’t reject as outdated. BlackBerry has always been a stable, secure and reassuring brand for business. For consumers, however, it’s much harder to explain why they should switch to BlackBerry 10. The Hub is good for messaging, but Android and Windows Phone have similar features. BBM is nice, but pretty similar to Skype, Google Talk and FaceTime. Peek and Flow is not as easy as the name sounds. In fact, it’s rather difficult to flip between the Hub and apps. Android and Apple’s iOS do a much better job in this regard.

BlackBerry 10 isn’t horrible. Rather, its a first generation of a new OS that is trying to compete with the likes of Android and iPhone. Couple that with the fact that Google has a huge array of devices at every price point, Microft has Office/Xbox/Exchange integration, and Apple…well…has a sh–t-ton of apps. For the average consumer, the Blackberry Z10 is a unique product, and a good one for emailing, calling and texting. But BlackBerry 10 is not compelling enough to part the seas between Mountain View and Cupertino.

Check out the video review of the new Blackberry Z10

The post Review: Verizon Blackberry Z10 (video) appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Review: Head YOUTEK Graphene Prestige PWR Tennis Racquet (video)

BestStuff Staff — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:22:31 +0000

Head just upped the ante with an upgrade to their Prestige line…the Graphene PWR Prestige. The PWR Prestige has several new features never seen before in the Prestige line. Firstly, its got a big head at 107-square inches. It’s also the first ultra-light model at 9.5 ounces, and the first wide-body Prestige with a 26/26/28mm beam. It boasts an extended racquet length of 27.3 inches, providing a very fast swing.

The PWR Prestige is also the first Prestige frame to use Head’s QuadFace technology, both inner and outer. The inner QuadFace allows the string bed to flex just a bit more for additional comfort and flexibility, while the Outer QuadFace lengthens the strings, allowing for a larger head size and more power.

Graphene, apparently the world’s lightest and strongest material, is used in the shaft, and it distributes weight from the shaft to the tip and handle, increasing power and stability without changing the overall racquet mass. More weight in the head provides greater hitting power, and more mass in the handle reduces torque and recoil.

The YouTek technology’s “cross-linking” abilities stabilize the frame on faster swings and create more feel on touch shots. Those who like a “control” racquet will much appreciate the additional power the Prestige gives. It’s suited for both beginners and intermediate players.

During our test, we found that it was very easy to access power and spin. From the baseline this extremely maneuverable, spin-friendly racquet has a lot of pop, and good depth can be achieved with a good compact stroke. At net, the fast feel combined with its over-sized head allows you to get to any volley with a quick response, and ultimately speedy put-aways. Serve-wise, the extended length and feather-light weight makes for lightening-fast aces down the “T” as well as a slice from hell.

Check out the video on Graphene Technology….

The post Review: Head YOUTEK Graphene Prestige PWR Tennis Racquet (video) appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Top Seven Free Apps for the Busy Traveler

BestStuff Staff — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:53:17 +0000

Traveling can be stressful with flight changes, strange airports, and the pressure of making sure your itinerary goes as planned. That’s me in the picture above. We got off our bus too soon and had to walk 4 miles with our luggage on the side of a highway to get to our hotel. Learning from experience, here are a few apps to make sure your trip is enjoyable and you get the best deals in your travels.

Kayak: If you only download one travel app, this should be the one. Kayak allows you to compare prices from a wide range of providers for your flight, hotel room and car rental. You can even book your hotel right from the app. Kayak allows you to rank options by certain criteria such as airport amenities. This is the ultimate travel itinerary app so your trip will go smoothly.

OnTheFly: ITA Software’s OnTheFly app allows you to shop for airfares by comparing options in this easy to use format. However, you can not book the flight through the app. The app gives you the ability to be specific about who would be traveling, arrival and departure times, and many other options to find the best deal to fit your needs. (Available for iPhone only)

TripIt: Going on a month long vacation or just travel a lot for business? TripIt is a must for those with busy travel itineraries. When you get a confirmation email from your flight or hotel, email it to plans@tripit.com and the app will automatically record the information. When you get to the airport, all you need is your phone to access your confirmation codes and information for an organized trip.

HotelTonight: If you do a lot of traveling on the road and stopping at random hotels to sleep, this is the app for you! HotelTonight will help you find last minute rooms for cheap prices. You can book your last minute hotel room starting at 12pm till 2am for a room that night.

GateGuru: If your flight was canceled or you have an obnoxiously long layover, the first thing you should do is open your GateGuru app! From real-time flight statuses to getting discounts on last minute rental cars, GateGuru is your survival guide in airports. You can look up the closest restaurants to your gate before you even pass security. Customize your travel by emailing your airline itinerary to plans@gateguruapp.com.

Wikihood: As you travel around the world either on business or pleasure, learn about the cities you visit using Wikihood. This app draws information about Wikipedia tailored to your location. Discover what’s around you that would be interesting to visit and how to easily get to those locations.

Tripomatic: This app allows you to set up an itinerary of things to do during your visit to any of the major cities listed in Tripomatic. Browse through local activities, restaurants and attractions to find the perfect plan to meet your timeline and put all of your destinations in one spot. You can plan your day out based on what attractions you are closest to so you get the most out of your visit.

Alicia Lawrence works for an Internet marketing company as a content coordinator. She enjoys traveling and studying international investigations. When not at work, you can find Alicia cooking up a storm in her apple-red kitchen or blogging at MarCom Land.

Find Alicia on Google+

The post Top Seven Free Apps for the Busy Traveler appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Does Testosterone Reverse the Aging Process?

BestStuff Staff — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:51:59 +0000

According to experts, testosterone supplements can sometimes help older men become a tad more lean, but they don’t do a lot in the mental and strength category. It’s no secret that men’s testosterone levels drop as they age, and low testosterone has been associated with stomach fat, loss of muscle strength and mass, bone loss and cognitive decline. It also doesn’t help that some men have more testosterone to begin with, while other testosterone levels decline more rapidly. So do supplements help? It hasn’t been scientifically proven whether they do, but many believe in the practice.

Several medical researchers have conducted studies, namely Utrecht Medical Center, with mixed and somewhat disappointing results. After several doses of testosterone, men’s muscle mass increased and their fat mass decreased. In the study, muscle strength did not gain any ground, and additionally, those who took an oral testosterone supplements had lower HDL cholesterol, which is the good kind of cholesterol. Lowering your HDL cholesterol can lead to heart disease and risk for diabetes. The study also concluded that supplements did not increase mental function, bone mass or an overall increase in the quality of life.

The testosterone used in the study was primarily administered orally, and it was concluded that oral testosterone supplements may not work as well as supplements such as injections, patches or gels. These alternative delivery systems seem to provide more stable hormone levels than oral supplements.

Many doctors are concerned that testosterone supplements may promote prostate cancer, but a Dutch study indicated no evidence of prostate abnormality. It’s a known fact that many Urologists offer testosterone supplements to men with low-T. As men age, they begin to experience symptoms of low-energy and even Erectile Dysfunction In many cases, Testosterone injections have helped in these matters. It should be noted that oral testosterone supplements are not used in the U.S, rather, they are usually administered through injection or a medicinal gel.

Studies may one day show that testosterone supplements can help men any many areas associated with aging, but that remains to be seen. For more articles on Testosterone-related articles, visit Healthline.com.

The post Does Testosterone Reverse the Aging Process? appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Tech Tips and Gadgets that Can Improve Your Flight into Work

BestStuff Staff — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:35:32 +0000

The business travel lifestyle is a rush to prepare everything hours before your flight leaves. Fortunately, technology can counter your frustrations. While electronic boarding passes and check-ins have increased the fluidity of airport travel, a carry-on bag full of cool, timesaving gadgets can turn any flight into a relaxing and productive adventure.

Reduce Cord Clutter

If you own at least three electronic devices, it’s likely that you own three cords to recharge them and they all use a different kind of connector. Unfortunately, tech manufacturers haven’t caught on that travelers are tired of carrying bags of cords with them.

Innergie’s Magic Trio has a possible solution. A review on Mashable explains the Trio as a single cord with three connectors for devices that use the mini-USB, micro-USB or 30-pin connector. At the other end is a standard USB connector. Add a USB to AC adapter and you can charge nearly all of your devices with this one cable through your laptop USB or wall outlet. The company also has plans to add a lighting connector once licensing is worked out with Apple.

The cord is designed so you can only charge one item at a time. If you’re used to charging everything overnight, you’ll have to spread out your recharging activities. The price: $20 on Amazon.

Have Power

The smartphone is to the business traveler what the Swiss Army knife is to the outdoorsman. It goes where you go and you rely on it for many things. Most business travelers have their peripheral vision tuned in to always be aware of where an outlet might be to charge. But if you’re right in the middle of a call, taking photos, or sending files, that may not help.

The MyCharge device is about $20 on Amazon, and comes to the rescue with added power to keep you going when battery life runs out. This pocket-sized gadget charges from your laptop’s USB. Depending on the model, you can have from four to over 20 hours of power for your phone. The smallest unit powers only iPhones while the largest one charges iPhones, Blackberries, Nokias, Samsungs as well as various tablets.

Listen to What You Want

Make sure you’ve packed your T-Mobile Bluetooth headsets , especially if you’d rather listen to your audio book, instead of that baby crying three seats over. The Samsung HT1700 starts out at $39.99, and so many lovely colors to choose from. Switching between music, listening to podcasts, or making notes from a recorded interview and a phone call is tedious. Having headphones that can accommodate all of your audio activities, is the efficient way to go.

The Plantronics Blackwire 700 Series USB headset will do all of the above and connect to your phone via Bluetooth for $150. When a call comes in, you just hit the “Answer” button and the headset will switch to the phone. They aren’t noise canceling, but they will reduced the sounds from the people sitting next to you at the airport terminal. Any gadget that reduces the number of other gadgets, you have to carry in your bag, is a big benefit.

Make a Good Show of It

You arrive at the hotel conference room or at the client site to do a presentation. You’re prepared and your presentation is ready to display. That’s when you find out their projector is unavailable or broken. You could have everyone huddle around your laptop screen. Or you can set up your own projector.

The 3M MP180 Pocket Projector is about the size of your portable hard drive. CNBC says it can display a presentation on the wall or screen for up to two hours. It comes with 4 GB of internal memory. Microsoft Office files can be stored in the memory meaning you don’t even need your laptop. Cables are provided to connect to your laptop, as well as Bluetooth capability. A micro-SD card gives you additional storage. It costs $350 to $500 on Amazon, but is well worth the expense— especially if it can retain a client or close a deal.

The post Tech Tips and Gadgets that Can Improve Your Flight into Work appeared first on BestStuff.com.

REVIEW: Acer’s Google Chromebook a Glimpse into a Fast, Ubiquitous World (video)

BestStuff Staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:48:03 +0000

Google’s Chromebook notebook computer is the ultimate insider’s play. It’s designed by Google and its partners for Google users. If you’re not familiar with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive and the plethora of other Google apps, then a Chromebook may not be for you.

For the initiated who have embraced the G-Lifestyle and are deeply entrenched in all-things-Google, Chromebooks reveal the beauty and simplicity of the Google existence. Simply put, if you use Gmail, Calendar, Drive (formerly called Docs), even Google+ or any other app, they’re shared seamlessly across devices. It’s a ubiquitous reality.

Visit a website on Chrome on one computer, it’ll come up and auto-complete on your Chromebook.

Work on a doc in Google Drive and it’s shared across the cloud. But it’s not really “shared,” as much as it just lives everywhere your devices can log on.

That’s the beauty of working in the cloud. A Chromebook device just makes it simpler – assuming you have an Internet connection.

The Acer C710-2055 Chromebook is one of those devices. This ultra-streamlined notebook computer is like most Chromebooks. No CD-Rom drive. No costly software applications. Few frills.

Some Chromebooks were criticized for various limitations. Batteries suffered short life; I never had any issue. Consumers and reviewers thought the Chrome OS was released prematurely, but it seemed glitch-free to during this review.

The C710 brings Chrome to life. Since the apps are streamlined, updates – including anti-virus protection- are either pushed out to the Chromebook or reside on the Google network. Ahh, the beauty of cloud computing.

Cloud aside, Chromebooks have numerous built-in benefits. The C710 has 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 320GB hard drive. As for creature comforts, shoot HD videos with the built-in camera and listen with HD audio. Stream HD videos and Netflix on the 11.6-inch HD screen. Where other tablets have no USB ports, the 710 has three – plus a VGA.

Bereft of software and a clunky OS as it is, the C710 is lightning fast. When was the last time a laptop started up to full On from full Off in 11 seconds? (I timed it). Close the screen with the book running, then open it later, and it powers back up to where you left off in seconds. Take it to a meeting and power up before everyone’s seated at the conference table or returned to the coffee-shop collaboration session with their cups in hand.

Will Chromebooks become the next wave in laptops? They could – for anyone who embrace the Google online experience first. Acer makes the first step easy.

(Acer C710-2055. From $279.99; http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/chromebook-c)

Jeff Zbar is a veteran journalism, technology reviewer and home office aficionado. Learn more at www.ChiefHomeOfficer.com

Check out the video review of the new Acer Chromebook by Brad Linder…

The post REVIEW: Acer’s Google Chromebook a Glimpse into a Fast, Ubiquitous World (video) appeared first on BestStuff.com.

Parents’ Mobile App Privacy Concern

BestStuff Staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:21:28 +0000

If you were nervous because your kids could post inappropriate messages and pictures on Facebook, you now have Snapchat, Vine and Instagram to contend with. And that’s just the social media category. Many other apps provide similar communication functions and experiences, which make it easier than ever to pass information along to the masses.

The vast number of popular social media sites available for children, particularly on their mobile devices, has exploded in recent years. Kids can now chat, post and message without limits….with anyone. And many of the new mobile apps don’t require a credit card or cellphone to use.

Rather, kids can use them on tablets and eReaders, as long as they have a web connection. Pew Research Center says that more than three-fourths of teenagers have a cellphone and use online social networking sites such as Facebook, and what’s worse, there are adult onlookers in the mix.

One of the most popular mobile apps among kids is Instagram, free software that digitally enhances photos and posts them to your account online. There’s also Snapchat, coined by the media as the “sexting” app. Snapchat lets you send a text, photo or video that self-destructs within 10-seconds after it is opened.

Kik Messenger also gives you unlimited texting for free and offers anonymity to its users. It’s able to run on tablet or Kindle and allows vague user names that won’t reveal a person’s real name or phone number.

But as with anything online, each of these apps comes with serious cautions. These include app functions that don’t perform properly, and can reveal detailed information about a user even if the settings are set properly. Cross it off as the imperfections of coding software. Whatever you want to call it, the bottom line is that it causes serious security and safety issues amongst its user base.

Security Issues

Generally speaking, parents often give their children a mobile device without any knowledge of what it is capable of doing. Kids know how to use them, though….more than we give them credit for. It is estimated that even without the latest social media app, the average high school student probably transmits some 150-texts a day. The problem is the actions (texts, messages, photos, videos) get documented, replayed and sent around to others……and fast.

A recent report by a cyberthreat research company, called F-Secure, found that some of the new social networking sites have become ripe targets for predators, scams and malware.

Personal Data is not Safe

Another issue that these social sites and other mobile apps collect and propagate our valuable personal data, such as a person’s birthdate or the location of their phone, and shares that information with third parties for marketing purposes. While a new regulation by the FTC is helping keep advertisers from tracking kids younger than 13, most social media apps require that a person promise to be at least 13 when they sign up, thereby exempting themselves from the tougher privacy restrictions. This ain’t good news for parents or their kids. It’s literally giving these companies an irresponsibility hall pass.

A big hurdle for parents includes getting over the idea that they are invading their kids’ privacy by monitoring online activity. Rather, it can be the child’s first lesson that nothing online is truly private anyway. The best thing to do for children these days is to expose them to this threat, and be very clear that social media, online content and social media is a great technological tool that should be used with knowledge, care and caution.

The post Parents’ Mobile App Privacy Concern appeared first on BestStuff.com.