Stature Software

Tablets are the Talk at CES 2011

January 6th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

I’m not going to pretend I’m at CES 2011 in Las Vegas. Nope. Instead of reporting from the exhibit floor, I’m reading and writing about it from the comforts of my home office.

That said though, I’m quite envious of the people who are there. It’s the ‘World’s Biggest Tech Show’ and the buzz that is circulating through CES and beyond is almost deafening.

Tablets  - LOTS of them – are expected to be the big show-and-tell feature. Since Apple is not there, the other guys get their due. Other guys like – Acer, Archos, Creative, Dell, Entourage, Fusion Garage, LG, Motorola, MSI, Notion Ink, Samsung, Toshiba, and ViewSonic. These are all players, which CNET predicts will unveil their Android tablets – the newest crop.

Of course, a lot of serious eyes will be watching Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1 Hybrid – a laptop by day, a tablet by night. LOVE the concept. Hate the name.

The IdeaPad U1 made its debut at CES last year with a lot of fanfare. But it was never released and thus put on the back burner for much of 2010. Let the resurrection begin!

In case you’re not familiar with the IdeaPad and its pure awesomeness, Engadget gives it this powerful description:

“When the screen is locked into its upright position in the laptop’s chassis, it’s powered by a CULV Intel Core 2 Duo processor and runs Windows 7 Home Premium. But when the screen is pulled from its shell it morphs into a Qualcomm Snapdragon powered-multitouch slate with a 16GB SSD that boots Lenovo’s customized Skylight Linux interface. Two processors and two operating systems? Hybrid is right.”

And, by the way, when the IdeaPad is in its tablet form, the system then become LePad. No joke.

Two other tablets worth noting come from ASUS. They include physical keyboards.The Android-based Eee Pad Slider and Transformer both feature QWERTY keyboards and Tegra-2 processors. The Slider has a unique design with a fold-out keyboard. Innnnnnteresting.

Yes, CES will indeed live up to its pseudo-name again this year – that being the World Cup of Technology. The geeks are going crazy. And, if I was there – I would be too.

Unfortunately though, we’ll have to wait to see how consumers react to all of these new products in the year to come. Boom or bust?

 Tags: android, CES 2011, ideapad u1, tablet hybrid, tablets, tech show

Time-Saving Business Apps for Google Chrome

December 30th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

I’m a big proponent of Google Chrome. It’s speedy. It’s efficient. And, I know it like the back of my hand.

While it still has a lot of catching up to do with Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google Chrome’s popularity is growing – and fast.

That said, I would bet big bucks that more businesses start using Chrome in 2011. Not all of the bells and whistles are there yet, but Chrome sure has a lot to offer. Take the Chrome Web Store for instance. The marketplace just opened, and it offers dozens and dozens of applications and extensions to suit your every need – and whim.

And, for the businesses, Chrome is teeming with some great, FREE business apps. Here are a few featured in PC World’s Business Center.

- Rainmaker

Rainmaker is able to automagically pull information about people in your Gmail address book from the web, Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook. This information includes mugshots, addresses, phone numbers, and Internet details.

- Springpad

The best way to describe Springpad is as a supercharged notebook and To Do list maker. Because it’s a cloud application, your data can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and the app is built around HTML5 so will work on the majority of modern browsers, phones and smartpads too.

- Simplebooklet

Simplebooklet is actually an online presentations tool. It fills a blindingly obvious gap in the market: creating presentations that can be viewed within a browser, and accessed via a simple URL that you share with others.

- World Time Planner

World Time Planner is a simple app that lets you click and drag a slider to see what the time will be in various cities over the next 24 hours. Daytime and nighttime symbols appear alongside each city to indicate at a glance when the working day starts and finishes.

Sure, Chrome’s apps pale in comparison to the other apps available on other browsers and operating systems. But it’s making strides. And, quite frankly, I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has tried Chrome and didn’t stick with it.

Just like with a Mac, you won’t go back.

 Tags: business apps, chrome apps, chrome web store, google chrome, pc world

‘Tis the Season for …. Entrepreneurial Spirit?

December 22nd, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

The U.S. economy has been in the dumpster for the better part of the decade… and the ripple effect has had a huge impact on our business spirit.

You might say Americans have lost their entrepreneurial mojo.

A recent study by the Small Business Administration showed that U.S. has dropped to THIRD PLACE from first when it comes to fostering entrepreneurial creativity. We now rank third behind Denmark and – gulp – Canada.

So, what’s up America? Have we gotten lazy? Are we broke? Have we lost our zesty “go get ‘em” attitude?

According to those who’ve spoken out about this, the answer is yes.

Entrepreneur Magazine asked its Facebook fans to weigh in on the matter, and here’s what a few had to say about what we’re doing wrong:

“Complacency.” – Luke Thomas

“The cost of insurance, licensing, small-business taxes and hiring employees is astronomical. Most mom-and-pop businesses are on a shoestring budget.” – Dawn Boyer

“Americans are not developing new technologies to sell on the global market. We need to slow down our consuming and increase production in order to export more goods.” – Alana Weaver

“By the time young executives get out of student loan debt, they are at a point in their lives where it is hard to take the risk of entrepreneurship. There are student loan forgiveness programs for teachers. Why not for entrepreneurs?” – Timothy Ericson

“Running a business is like balancing on a log in the water: Fancy footwork will keep you up, but it takes bulldog tenacity to stay there. With so much negativity, undermining and unpatriotic chin-wag, it discourages honest, hard-working people from giving it a go.” – JC Crellin

“Bureaucracy.” – Carmen Lane

Sure, we can say there is too much red tape. We can also scream at the government to get out of the way. But the truth is, in my opinion, people don’t have the money or the courage to take a business idea and run with it. The banks are simply not lending like they used to and that’s scary to a lot of people.

The good news?

America still has a few model entrepreneurs – like Mark Zuckerberg - whose stories will inspire and, not doubt, light a fire under many people in the coming years.

Until then, we’ll have to look to Denmark for inspiration.

 Tags: business idea, business spirit, entrepreneurial creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, mark zuckerberg, Small Business

Zuckerberg Stands the Test of TIME

December 16th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

Nevermind the fact that we see his face everyday in the news.

… or that there was a major motion picture released about him this year.

… or that he’s just 26-years-old.

… or that everyone LOVES to hate him.

Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year – and guess what? He damn well deserves it.

In less than seven years, Zuckerberg has managed to bridge one out of nearly a dozen people on the planet – that’s a twelfth of humanity! – together in a single network; a social network called Facebook.

The social entity is now twice as large as the U.S. And, if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind China and India.

To say that Facebook has changed the way we communicate, view Internet privacy, and do business would be an understatement.

A few years ago, most of us saw Facebook as the “go to” site for finding and connecting with friends – new and old. Today, while it still serves us in that regard, Facebook has become a business powerhouse. In fact, businesses are now re-thinking their marketing models and strategies because of Zuckerberg’s for-profit network.

Take e-commerce for instance. Thanks to Facebook, it’s called “social shopping.” People don’t shop online privately anymore. They’re talking about the products and services they buy on sites like Facebook and Twitter first. Not only that, users follow or “like” companies, brands, or products on social networks – which, in turn, spreads the word to their friends.

It’s an ingenius concept that’s made Zuckerberg a very rich man.

And let us not forget the privacy issue. Before Facebook, most of us were floating around the Internet without giving privacy a second thought. Today, thanks to Facebook, we are mindful of what can or can’t be seen by the public. We have more privacy controls. We are wary about which pictures we post – and who can see them.

It is said that the average person checks Facebook about 15 times a day. If that’s the case, then it’s fair to say that Zuckerberg is running our social lives through Facebook.

And, THAT’s why he deserves to be on the cover of Time Magazine.

 Tags: Business, e-commerce, internet privacy, mark zuckerberg, person of the year, social network, zuckerberg time magazine

Holiday Consumer Survey: “We’ll Take iPads, Thank You”

December 9th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Nothing says happy holidays like greed and self indulgence.

Amid the unprecedented turn of events going on with the Wikileaks cyberwar, I thought I’d write about something people really care about: Themselves.

What do we, Americans, want for Christmas?

Not world peace.

Not food and shelter for the millions of children and families around the world living in squalor.

Not an end to the recession.

Not a cure for cancer.

We want an Apple iPad 3G. Oh, and not just any Apple iPad. We want one loaded with unlimited music and apps. And, as a recent CNET holiday consumer survey shows, we want loaded iPads over Universal Healthcare as our fantasy holiday gift.

But wait, it gets better.

When consumers were asked what holiday gift they would want for themselves if cost was not an issue, the top three answers covered everything from everyday necessities to consumer electronics and high-ticket luxury items:

- their mortgage paid for the year

- a 2011 Porsche Panamera 4S

- and the Apple iPad 3G with unlimited free music and apps.

In addition to Universal Healthcare,  the iPad also ranked higher than other gifts like maid service for a year, a lifetime membership to Netflix and the Amazon Kindle preloaded with 2,000 books!

Me?

I’d take the maid service – and then, when the service expired, I’d ask for it again next Christmas.

Cleaning toilets blows. But, then again, so does paying a mortgage.

 Tags: apple ipad 3g, holiday consumer survey, holiday gift, universal healthcare, wikileaks cyberwar