Chenka Nkhata

Samsung Smart Dock For Galaxy Note II - Video

2012-12-03T17:31:00.001+02:00

Summary: With The Samsung Smart Dock you can connect your Galaxy Note II to an HD television, external hard drive, a game controller, wireless mouse and keyboard.

Brief: The Samsung Smart Dock allows you to connect other gadgets to your Galaxy Note II extending the functionality of the device.

For more reviews on the Galaxy Note II visit this page.

Microsoft Surface vs Asus Transformer Pad Infinity - Video

2012-12-01T08:42:00.001+02:00

Summary: Both the Microsoft Surface and Asus Transformer Infinity Pad sport a detachable keyboard giving them a laptop like form factor.

Brief: This video compares the new Microsoft Surface to the more established Asus Transformer Pad Infinity.

Samsung Galaxy Note II Replaces PC - Video

2012-11-30T16:15:00.000+02:00

Summary: Smartphones are beginning to replace PC's. This Video demonstrates how the Samsung Galaxy Note II can replace your PC.

Brief: This video shows various functions being performed by the Galaxy Note II including multitasking, document editing, browsing and video tests.

For more on the Samsung Galaxy Note II see these Official Galaxy Note Tutorials.

Official Samsung Galaxy Note II Tutorials - Video

2012-11-28T18:11:00.000+02:00

Summary: These videos cover some of the basic features of the Samsung Galaxy Note II and how to get the most out of this powerful device.

Brief: The Samsung Galaxy Note II is a powerful productivity device with features such as Air View, Easy Clip and S Note.

For more information on the Galaxy Note II visit this page.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Premium Suite - Video

2012-11-23T16:55:00.000+02:00

Summary: The Premium Suite upgrade for Galaxy Note 10.1 with better multitasking, new S Pen features, picture editing capabilities, and upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Brief: The Galaxy Note 10.1 with premium features has more functionality and enhancements for use with the S Pen.

For more productivity information on the Galaxy Note 10.1 Premium Suite see this page.

Adroid Based Samsung Galaxy Camera - Video

2012-11-22T09:10:00.000+02:00

Summary: Samsung's new Android based camera shares pictures in real time over 3G or WiFi with access to thousands of apps on the Google Play store.

Brief: This is Samsung's all Android based camera for high quality video and picture taking, editing and sharing.

For more information on the Samsung Galaxy camera visit this page.

40+ Google Now Voice Commands Test - Video

2012-11-19T08:51:00.000+02:00

Summary: This video shows Google Now responding to multiple voice commands. It completes actions and answers questions correctly.

Brief: Google Now is Androids answer to iPhone's Siri. It is available on the latest Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II.

Cell Phones Are Built From Minerals From Africa - Video

2012-11-18T07:55:00.000+02:00

Summary: Bandi Mbubi talks about the fact that today's cell phones are built from minerals mined in Africa, a fact that is not often spoken about.

Brief: If you love smartphones and love Africa then you want to see this video on why fair trade cell phones are important for Africa.

For information on TED talks visit ted.com for more ideas worth spreading.

Samsung Smart Camera Features - Video

2012-11-13T10:44:00.000+02:00

Summary: Samsung Smart Cameras have clever built in features for editing and sharing your pictures.

Brief: This video shows new features added in 2012.

For more information on Samsung Smart Cameras visit this page.

Infographic: How Companies Are Making "Friends" On Facebook

2012-11-12T09:23:00.001+02:00

Summary: This infographic shares a strategy companies are using to gain active "Friends" on Facebook.

Brief: Shows Facebook statistics and a simple strategy.

For more information on the Infographic visit this link AllFacebook.com.

Infographic: Stats For Social Media And Smart Phones In South Africa

2012-11-07T07:11:00.000+02:00

Summary: This infographic shows stats for popular social networks, types of smartphones, age and gender related stats in South Africa.

Brief: Useful statistics when planning you social media and smartphone strategy for the South African market.

For more information on the team that put this infographic together visit their site here.

Video: Productivity Demo of The Galaxy Note 10

2012-11-05T22:04:00.002+02:00

Summary: The Galaxy Note 10's apps combined with the S Pen make it a formidable productivity tool.

Brief: This demo shows real multitasking; shape match; formula match; photo editing; S Planner; and the Learning Hub.

For more information on the South African version of the Galaxy Note 10 visit this site.

Infographic: 5 Social Medial Strategies To Help You Win

2012-11-05T09:28:00.000+02:00

Summary: Infographic highlighting 5 social media strategies that an exec can include in a strategic plan.

Brief: This is a best practice guide to strategies for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube relevant to any business exec.

This infographic is courtesy of StandOutSocialMarketing.com. For detailed insight into the strategies download the associated free white paper here.

Larger Image

Infographic: As A Business Exec, Are You Listening To Social Media?

2012-11-05T06:31:00.000+02:00

Summary: This infographic provides a two step guide on how to listen to social media and the tools you need.

Brief: As business exec you can use social medial listening to become more relevant to your target market and acquire new customers.

This infographic is courtesy of StandOutSocialMarketing.com. For more useful insight into how to stand out in social media, order the book Stand Out Social Marketing: How to Rise Above the Noise, Differentiate Your Brand, and Build an Outstanding Online Presence on Amazon.

Click HERE to enlarge:

Study: What Your Mobile Phone Means To You

2012-11-02T16:24:00.000+02:00

Summary: To understand the deeper meaning of why you love your mobile device, Google hired an anthropologist to investigate.

Finding: Mobile devices help us fully actualize our best self. Here is the full report by Google available for Download.

Download Report

Download Report

App: Save Time By Turning Your Twitter Stream Into An Online Newspaper

2012-11-01T11:25:00.000+02:00

Problem: As a busy Exec you don't have time to go through tweets on Twitter, but you would like to get a snapshot of what's happening on Twitter.

Solution: This App turns your Twitter stream into a digital newspaper and curates the most popular tweets from the people you are following on Twitter for your convenience.

How does it work: Using Paper.li you can chose people whose tweets you want to curate. You can curate tweets from main stream Twitter accounts like @CNN or specific people like me @ChenkaNkhata.

Why Pape.li: Paper.li also creates a mobile friendly version of your digital newspaper so you can view news on the go.

How to setup: You need to have a Twitter account. Follow the instructions on Paper.li to connect with your Twitter account then add people to the sources section in Paper.li to curate content.

Tip: If you want to see how Paper.li works have a look at my Paper.li newspaper with content from people I am following on Twitter: Chenka's World on Twitter

For more ideas on using Paper.li see the video below by Guy Kawasaki (formerly of Apple).

Summary: Paper.li gives a nice snapshot of interesting news in your Twitter stream. Use it If you don't have time to look for interesting tweets on your Twitter account.

App: Get Only The News You Want to Read By Using The Google News App

2012-10-31T09:12:00.001+02:00

Problem: As a busy exec you want to quickly scan through the daily news focusing only on news that is important to you.

Solution: Using the Google News app you can filter the news so you get a daily summary of just the news that you want to see.

Google News

How does it work: You can create automatic filters by industry, companies, keywords, people or whatever newsworthy topic you want to keep an eye on (e.g. MTN; Mining; Maria Ramos, Hurricane Sandy etc). You define the parameters of the filters.

Additionally you can also define sources of the news such as News24, Business Day, The Daily Maverick etc.

Why Google News: The Google News App works on any device with an internet/data connection and a browser. This means you can view the latest news on your Desktop, Tablet or Smartphone.

How to setup: You need to have a free Google Account or a Gmail account. This account allows you to define the news filters in the Google News app and save them. If you already have an account go to the Google News site, login and use the Setup Button on Google News (it’s shaped like a cogwheel, top-right) to define the filters that you want to use.

See the video below for the basics on using Google News.

Tip: If you are a little more tech savvy, you can save Google News as an app on your smartphone or tablet by first creating a bookmark in your device’s browser and then saving the bookmark as an app on your smartphone’s home screen.

For more information on how to use Google News check out the official support page here http://support.google.com/news/?hl=en. Or leave a comment or question below.

Summary: If you want to quickly filter through the daily noise and get to the news you are interested in based on parameters that you define yourself, Google News helps you do this with access from any device.

Infographic: Stats on How South Africans Use Cell Phones

2012-10-18T16:03:00.000+02:00

Really good infographic showing how South Africans are using cell phones. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be 25 million internet users in South Africa. But somehow I feel that this number is under estimated...

Read more: http://www.xcellentmedia.co.za/blog/how-south-africans-use-cell-phones-infographic/#ixzz29eu5HXvp

Presentation: Why NOT to do a Startup

2012-10-17T16:33:00.002+02:00

I really enjoyed this presentation -Why NOT to do a Startup. And the best tip of all: "A startup is a lesson in pain and sacrifice".

Before you embark on starting your own business have a look at this presentation. And if you still want to go ahead with a startup after seeing this presentation then kudos to you...

Why NOT Do A Startup from Dave McClure

Infographic: A Day In The Internet

2012-03-11T08:36:00.000+02:00

This infographic by MBAOnline.com shows how much information is created and shared on the Internet in single day.

These are some stunning numbers especially if you consider that not everyone on Earth is connected to the Internet yet.

What's going to happen once we are all connected?

My favourite stat below is the one which says enough blog posts are written in a day to fill Time Magazine for 770 years. Wow!

Image Created by: MBA Online

Video: Galaxy Note vs iPhone, The Street Challenge

2012-03-10T09:57:00.003+02:00

Samsung took to the streets to make their point.

That the Galaxy Note and its innovate S Pen helps you do things easier than an iPhone.

Samsung put Galaxy Note users up against iPhone users. Its fair to say that the iPhone users where a little 'jealous' of what the Galaxy Note can do in this video...

Video: Take A Ride in Google's Self Driving Car

2012-03-10T08:46:00.002+02:00

Google has been working on cars that drive themselves.

They are making steady progress.

Take a ride in one with this video...

Report: Understanding Google Privacy - What does Google Know About You?

2012-02-06T07:33:00.000+02:00

Google started life as a search engine a long time ago in 1998.

It's objective was simple back then. If you were looking for information, you went to Google, typed in what you where looking for and Google helped you find websites that had that information.

Today however, Google doesn't just help you find information on the web. It also helps you create and share information.

Google's new ability to help you find, create and share information easily on the Internet also means that the way Google interacts with you today has changed significantly compared to 1998.

Naturally, their Privacy Policy and official Terms of Service have also changed.

Here is a less technical explanation of why you should be aware of Google's new privacy policy...

A good question to ask is...why does Google need a privacy policy?

The reason is simple, Google makes the bulk of its money from selling advertising space on most of its free services. In other words, advertisers are Google's customers.

Unless you are paying to use Google's services, such as in the case of Google Apps for Business, you are not Google's customer. What you are is Google's USER of free services.

Google's real customer is the advertiser who advertises to you when you use Google's free services. And like any other customer, the advertiser is demanding. However, the advertiser is also willing to pay a lot of money to have one thing from Google...information about you.

This point cannot be overstated. Information about YOU is valuable to advertisers.

The basic principle that advertisers live by is that having detailed and accurate Data (or information) about their target market is always better than guessing in order to come up with an effective ad. The advertiser needs to know something about you like what country you are in; the language you speak; your gender; age etc.

It is for this reason the Google needs to have a privacy policy, to make explicit to everyone involved exactly how much information about you, the user, it's willing to share with its customers, the advertisers.

For Google's business to thrive its privacy policy needs to be well balanced and well thought out. On one hand, as a user of Google's free services, you don't want advertisers to know exactly who you are i.e. your name, home address and telephone number. On the other hand, this is exactly the type of information that advertisers will pay a lot of money to have.

Life was simple for Google when it was just a search engine. But nowadays it has multiple complimentary services that it can use to profile its "signed in" users. For example Google has Google Maps, where you can share your physical address with your friends; then Picasa for pictures, YouTube for videos, and Gmail for emails.

So if you use all of these services, which I do myself, then potentially Google has a lot of information about you that it can sell to advertisers.

No doubt, when people first realise the potential for Google to sell this information about them, they feel a sense of eeriness creeping up their spines. It is also for this reason that any change to Google's privacy policy creates a storm in the media with frenzied reporters quick to label Google as "evil".

But in reality this is how the Internet works nowadays. Their are potentially a lot of other companies that have just as much information about you as Google does. For example Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are all popular FREE services that also sell ADVERTISING to their REAL customers about you the USER.

Facebook in particular, knows a lot about you if you actively use it. It knows your friends, your family, where you live, work and play. Additionally, via a little button called the "Like" button, it also knows what you potentially "like". This Like button is one of the most significant contributors to Facebook becoming the most valuable company on the Internet.

Another company that knows a lot about you but may be sitting in your blind spot is your Internet Service Provider or ISP. Yes, your ISP knows where you live, your name, and potentially knows all the websites you visit everyday.

Unless you actively take steps to protect your privacy on the Internet using some stringent methods, it is actually safer to assume that you don't have any privacy on the Internet.

Given this background to privacy on the Internet, on closer inspection Google actually does more than most companies to be transparent and to give you tools to manage your privacy. And Google collecting information about you is not all about selling it to advertisers either.

According to their privacy policy Google has two objectives for collecting information about you:

To improve its services so it can provide you with better tools and
To show you more personalized adverts that are relevant to you.

However, Google will NOT sell to advertisers your personally identifiable information. So information like your name, physical address, telephone number or any other information that a third party can use to personally identify you will not be given to a third party. To find out more about this you can read Google's recent response to the American congress here.

Google also has a transparency policy which requires that it makes it clear how much information it actually has about you. If you are interested in finding out how much Google knows about you, then log into your Google Account and go to this dashboard.

If you want to remove or delete any information from Google's services then go to this website which has all the tools and instructions you need: http://www.dataliberation.org/

Google also gives you the option to use some of it's services without creating an account. For example you can still use its search engine to search the Internet or watch a video on YouTube without the need to sign in.

Apart from advertisers, Governments are also keen on accessing User information in the name of "national security". However, without following legal proceedings, Google does not release any information to Governments and Google will always notify any User affected by any such request from a government.

And in keeping with the spirit of transparency, Google also makes it known which Governments across the globe are making the most requests to access User information. You can see this in action here.

Perhaps one of the most significant thing that Google has done regarding User privacy is to make it easy for any User to remove data from Google's services. In its privacy policy, Google makes it clear that the data you put on any of its services belongs to you and you can remove this data at any time for whatever reason using these Data Liberation tools.

In conclusion, you will be hard pressed to find any Internet based company today that has better tools to help you manage how much data that that company has about you. To see Google's full list of tools visit this link here. And to learn more about Google's privacy controls visit the Good to Know website here.

You can also read Google's new privacy policy here.

Report: Seven useful websites by Google you might NOT know about

2012-02-04T07:24:00.000+02:00

Google has a number of websites that are useful to know about, but unless you are looking really hard for them you probably will not see them in your day to day browsing.

Here is a list of seven useful websites by Google that you might not know about...

1. http://www.wozaonline.co.za/

Woza Online is a free website creation tool by Google. It is especially aimed at businesses that are looking to quickly create a website without the cost of hiring a web designer. The tool is being rolled out globally but customized by country. Woza Online is the South African version and is easy to use if you don't know anything about creating a website.

2. http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/

Are you interested in big ideas and learning about what industry experts think the future looks like? If you are a curious individual then you probably want to check out this site - Think With Google. The site has a quarterly newsletter called Think Insights, video conversations with industry experts and free research tools provided by Google. If you are looking for some big ideas then this is a useful site to get some.

3. http://www.teachparentstech.org/

Google allows its employees to work on personal side projects to keep their minds occupied. This site came out of one of these side projects. The idea is simple, the site is a support resource where you can send your parents, or older folks that a struggling to use a computer, to learn about how to do simple things on a computer e.g. copy and paste. The idea is to save you from becoming the "Family Tech Support" by sending the people you love to a place where they can learn basic computer skills.

4. http://www.dataliberation.org/

Are you concerned about all the data you have in Google's services and want to remove some of this data? Then the site you need to go to is the Data Liberation site. On this site Google has put together all the resources you need to remove personal data off of their data centres and close any Google services you don't want to use any more. Google created this site to help you stay in control of what is on Google's servers.

5. http://www.google.com/goodtoknow/

The Good to Know website by Google is the place to go if you want to learn a little about staying safe on the Internet and how Google uses your data. In recent times data privacy on the Internet has become a really hot topic with competitors in the tech industry throwing rotten eggs at each other. This site is a good place to start learning about how to protect yourself and how your data is used by Google.

6. http://learn.googleapps.com/

Google has a suite of services specifically for businesses. These services combined are called Google Apps for Business and include everything from Gmail for Business to Google+ for business. If you want lessons on how to use some of these tools in your business then this learning portal is a good place to start. If you want to see some useful case studies for Google Apps then also check out the site here

7. http://www.whatbrowser.org

And last but not least is a useful site called What Browser by Google. I have included this site because I was amazed to find out in this video, and at the office, that a lot of people can't answer the following true or false question correctly:

True or False: A browser is exactly the same as a search engine?

If you are unsure about the answer to this question, and believe me you are not alone, then check out the What Browser site and the 2min video there.

App: How you can use Twitter in Gmail

2012-01-29T10:38:00.000+02:00

As the Internet gets more and more social, it's hard to stay productive if you are constantly using different tools to communicate with people in your network.

Using a single interface for communication helps you save time. To see how you can use Twitter right within Gmail check out this next tool...

Rapportive is an extension for the Chrome browser that adds social features to your Gmail account. The goal is simple. If you open an email from someone in Gmail, Rapportive quickly searches the Internet for that persons social profile across Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin plus other social networks (see picture below).

Twitter in Gmail

This means that right within your Gmail account you can view the persons latest tweets or updates and you can respond to the tweets.

Installing Rapportive in Gmail is easy and straight forward. If you are using Chrome, you can find the Rapportive extension here in the Chrome Web Store. If you are using another browser then check Rapportive's official website here.