You heard me right: Verizon is getting its own iPhone 4. They’re not wasting any time with it, either, as preordering begins in early February and the decision was made to not waste time developing for the new 4G network (it’ll stay on the 3G network). AT&T is the largest wireless provider worldwide, but Verizon is the largest within the U.S. and still has the best coverage within the country. Assuming that your next phone will be a smartphone—because being able to do business on-the-go is of utmost importance now—and possibly on the Verizon network, will you go for a new smartphone on the super-fast 4G network or go for the popular iPhone? Note that right now, Verizon will be the first to provide service on a 4G network. (Yeah, I’m a little biased.)

A high-definition full-length movie that might have taken 4.5 hours to download on a 3G network will take less than 4.5 minutes on 4G, he said. [Lowell McAdam, COO of Verizon Wireless]—from The New York Times

No Simultaneous Voice & Data and Not as Many Countries Covered

These, being the only two negative differences found between the Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T iPhone 4, aren’t a big deal in my own opinion. Having a phone meeting with a client while reading through the emails you’ve exchanged is very convenient, but how necessary is it?  And of course, international coverage is only important if you make more than a few international calls each year.

Supplying a Wi-Fi connection to 5 laptops

Nervousness sets in when I see the term “unspecified monthly amount,” but this is still a very cool feature that Verizon will offer while AT&T does not: Connect up to five computers via a Wi-Fi connection from the wireless network.

Is 4G all it’s cracked up to be?

To help me answer that question, I’ll ask this question: How many times have you wanted to throw your computer out the window for taking too long to download content? AT&T says that “customers don’t care about G’s [Glenn Lurie, the company’s head of emerging devices],” but I think that’s a cop-out. To think that people don’t care about speed is counter to anything we’ve said and done in other facets of our lives. Our cars, our computers, even our relationships are all going faster and faster these days.  It seems to me that 4G is part of the natural progression that we’ll follow without realizing it.

In the end…

Well, there is definitely no end in sight, but that is hardly a bad thing! Which way do you see yourself going – iPhone 4 or 4G network? Personally, I’m thinking the Droid Bionic, which is set to be the first 4G phone released by Motorola for Verizon, is more appealing than the iPhone 4.

Read these two articles from The New York Times about Verizon’s plans for 2011.  There’s a ton of information available within:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/technology/12phone.html?ref=technology

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/technology/07verizon.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1294912877-FNvlK5nf2l2s8sEVAD99pg

As LymeLight prepares to launch its mobile website service for building mobile versions of business websites, I found the timing of this Inc. article perfect. In “Better for Business: Mobile Web or App?” author Kim Boatman does an excellent job comparing mobile websites to apps (stand-alone applications for smartphones), including benefits and cost. Not sure if you need either one? The simple response is yes, you’d be wise to invest now because millions of people own and use smartphones daily, and the numbers will grow exponentially. Check out Joshua Odmark’s article, “Top 10 Reasons Your Website Should Go Mobile” for some very compelling evidence of your need for a mobile presence.

Onward, we delve into the question: To go mobile via website or web app? For most small and mid-sized businesses, the answer will be a mobile website, mostly due to its substantially lower cost. Part of the cost for applications comes in needing a separate app for each platform, and at the very least, you’ll want apps for Android and iPhone, but RIM still holds a solid portion of the market. There are six parts to the debate over which medium is best for your purpose, as Boatman points out:

1. Utility

A mobile website will work across platforms, while an app developed for the iPhone won’t work on the Android and vice versa.


2. Need

Do you provide a service to customers, or will a recurring action be necessary? Go with the app. Is your business location-based, or are you looking for something sales-based? Get a mobile website.

3. Traffic

A website that gets a lot of traffic from mobile users may benefit more from having a mobile version than from having an app.

4. Content

For a site that is mostly text-based, a mobile website is best; a website that is graphic-oriented could fare better with an app counterpart.

5. Availability

A service that is used regularly is best in app format, but if users only need to visit once in a while, a mobile-friendly website is perfect.

6. Cost

Once again, a mobile website will cost much less than a mobile app. The mobile version may cost 50-80% of the cost of your full website, but an application will run $35,000-50,000 per platform.

I also like this list from Best Rank, Inc. of types of businesses that benefit most from having mobile websites or applications:

• Content Driven News Sites/Blogs
• e-Commerce Stores
• Impulse Purchases (example: pizza delivery)
• On Demand Services (example: taxis)
• Local Businesses (example: restaurants)
• Emergency Services (example: tow trucks)

Look for more information on LymeLight’s mobile website services within the coming months.

There are things that we, as professionals, students or hobbyists, tend to take for granted as far as what’s “obvious” or “common sense.”  Cloud computing is one of those things that I figured out based on what I knew previously about the Internet and its inner workings, and I always assumed that if I could figure it out, it must be as obvious as tying one’s shoe.  Recently, though, a cohort, who is by no means a stupid person, asked me what “the cloud” is.  This friend has been studying biological science for years, so as dumbfounded as I was that such an intelligent individual wouldn’t know what cloud computing is, it quickly occurred to me that the term still isn’t used widely enough to be “common sense.” Would you believe me if I told you that you probably use some form of cloud computing on a regular basis?

“The Cloud” is basically another term for the Internet. I say that this is the basic definition because in connotation, it is more used to describe the applications that we use via the Internet, including email clients, document and graphics editors, and virtual storage. You’re probably familiar with Google’s Gmail, and you may even use Google Docs or Google Apps. Perhaps you use an app like Piknic to edit your photos for sharing or Dropbox to share various files with friends, family and coworkers. You may be using Mozy to backup your computer regularly so as not to lose your important files. These applications all offer the unique benefit of collaboration that traditional software can’t so easily offer.

Is there a security risk? Sure, but the engineers of these online software are ever-so-aware of your skepticism, and they’re likely working much harder on the security aspect than are producers of ‘normal’ software. Also bare in mind that just because it rests solely on your hard drive does not guarantee security: Viruses and other malware are built smarter and stealthier now, so as they say, abstinence [from the Internet] is the only way to truly avoid…malware

Cloud computing seems like something you’d like to try out, but you’re not sure where to start or what is even necessary. Going to a completely Internet-based can be useful for growing businesses, but making a huge shift in that direction can be overwhelming. Each application will have a bit of a learning curve, so I’d recommend starting with your email. Programs like Mozilla Thunderbird and Microsoft Office make a more secure connection to your business email because rather than forwarding to a different address, thereby sending it further through cyberspace, they pull email directly from your email server to your desktop program. But consider that web-based email applications let you check email from anywhere—your desktop, laptop, Smartphone or a someone else’s computer—so if you’re constantly on the go, then the minor risk is often worth it. Google Apps (at merely $50/year) includes ample space for email, so you can start there and gradually move into the other apps, integrating them into your company’s work environment one-by-one.

Around the same time, getting started with an Internet-based computer backup system will save you from the seemingly inevitable frustration of losing documents in a disaster. Even static electricity can ruin your motherboard or hard drive, forever erasing your most critical documents and your sweetest photographed memories. Services like Carbonite and Mozy will automatically back up specified folders, and there are countless other programs, so do some research to find the best one for your purposes. These services may not have cheap price tags, but they become invaluable when even the simplest incident leaves you with nothing.

With the Cloud being such a new development, we’re all still learning about it, so I’d love to hear of any other applications you use and like or if you have any more questions! Leave a comment or drop me an email (see the green envelope icon in the first sidebar?) and I’ll update the site with new information as we go.

Just a few days ago, on November 10, Mozilla released the Beta 7 version of Firefox 4, and the tentative release date for Beta 8 is November 30.  I took some time to play around with Beta 7, and thus far, I would confidently recommend Firefox 4 to anyone.  For those who are familiar with the Google Chrome browser, Firefox 4 is very similar in appearance, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve—major features that Chrome doesn’t have. Here are my top 4 reasons to download (and use) Firefox 4, even while it’s still in beta:

Firefox Panorama for easy tab viewing

To avoid sugarcoating it, I’ll mention that the Panorama feature will take some getting used to. But once you get the hang of it, it’s quite fun and very useful for those of us who often have internet browser tabs for work, family, shopping and everything else open at once. Panorama allows you to group tabs in visually-appealing boxes, so you don’t have the research you’re doing for work getting lost between the sites your friend told you to check out. After opening the Panorama view via a convenient icon on the browser’s toolbar, view all of your open tabs in screenshots, drag and drop each one into a specific group and switch between groups of tabs instantly. You’ll only see the tabs that are grouped with the tab you’re currently working on. The Panorama icon is under the browser’s Close button; it looks like several boxes fitted together. The Feedback icon is there for you to send anonymous feedback to Mozilla about Firefox 4 and will only be available during Beta, I believe. This is the whole top right section, including my bookmarks button and FireShot plugin button:

Firefox Sync to take your stuff with you

This is sure to be my favorite feature that any browser has offered. How many times have you been on your laptop, wanting to show a friend or client something you had bookmarked…only to realize you bookmarked it on a different computer?! You’re tired of emailing links to yourself, and Google Bookmarks isn’t always accessible. By enabling Firefox Sync, which functions much like Dropbox, your bookmarks, history, passwords and open tabs are all saved online to the Firefox server and are then available to the computers you’ve linked.  Only computers that you physically link using an individual 20-character Sync Key can connect to each other, and Mozilla doesn’t even save the number so your privacy is still secure.

Sleeker design for smaller screens or more viewing pleasure

This is where Firefox 4 is most obviously like Chrome: The sleek design can display only your open tabs and the address bar, but the look is easily customized. I fell in love with the sexy look of Chrome and have since turned others on to it, but Mozilla has latched onto this feature, and the two browsers look almost identical. Below is a shot of the Firefox 4 and Chrome toolbars side-by-side from the top-left edges.

Much faster, better HD video viewing, and more compatibility with newer technologies

Firefox 4 brags faster startup and page and image loading, and it provides better support for Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, OpenType fonts and other technologies that make life better for us (web developers) and you (viewers).

Mozilla is clearly committed to making Firefox 4 the best it can be, as they start off soliciting feedback with two surveys and ask to collect information about users’ viewing habits. For more information and help, you can go to the Mozilla Blog or to Mozilla Hacks (both are legitimate Mozilla websites), or post a comment here and I’ll find the answer for you!

I might admit to being a bit of a Google “fan girl,” but in fairness, they’ve recently rolled out two exciting new features, one for your mail and one for your searching/research.

Gmail Priority Mail

I’ve had the opportunity to play around with this new setup quite a bit and do find it easier to manage my inbox; primarily, I find it easier to pick out the things I want to trash in an instant. It may seem a little backward, but it helps tremendously: I log into my Gmail account and the first section I have set up is of “Important and unread” emails, the second section is of “Important” emails, the third of “Unread” emails, and “Everything else” is in the final section of my inbox. I pay most attention to the first and third sections because I immediately read the emails in the first section and almost always trash the things in the third.

For example, I subscribe to emails from a number of clothing, electronics, and office supplies stores so that I can see what sales and new products are being offered. But since I don’t need to purchase these items every single week—and since funds would dry up very quickly if I tried—I delete most of these emails before even reading them. With “normal” Gmail (as though it’s taboo to use “normal” programs), I had to sift through a mess of emails to find those that were unwanted, but with Priority Mail, I move straight into the “Unread [and Unimportant]” email section and go to town with the delete button! Similarly, I now see emails from friends and family, as well as those from my banks as soon as I log into Gmail. In the “Important and unread” section, they’re bold and marked with yellow tags, so I can’t miss them.

We can probably assume that it will be five years before Microsoft latches onto this kind of automatic organization/prioritization for Outlook, but I can’t wait until Mozilla can incorporate this into Thunderbird. And yes, I enjoy picking on giant corporations

Instant Google Search

Thought your Google searches were pretty fast, eh? Just yesterday, Google unveiled the new Google Instant, which hasn’t hit everyone just yet—but you’ll see it soon enough. WBAL points out that small businesses could be stung if instant results hit too quickly on major brands, but honestly, unless someone types into the search box “small business that manufactures shoes,” they’re always more likely to see Nike and Adidas before they’ll see the start-up.

With Google Instant, you’ll see something similar to the way Google used to fill in the search box with queries that it assumed you’d be looking for, but now it won’t stop and refresh every second or two. Instead, the suggestions will change instantly with each letter you type.

What’s even better is that the entire page of search results is just as instant. The “News for…” section, the “Images/Videos for…” section, the “Sponsored Links” on both the mid-section and the right, everything changes in the blink of an eye to match whatever you seem to be typing. As Google puts it, you don’t want search-as-you-type, “you really want search-before-you-type.”

You should be saving 2-5 seconds with every search you run on Google, so over the course of the rest of your life, you’ll save a good chunk of time.

How have these tools helped you in day-to-day business, or how will they affect you?

Dare I make a joke about getting your money’s worth out of these two? Yes, they’re free as always. Powerful tools at no cost. So how have they helped you shave time off of the monotony to allow for more productivity and/or more fun?! If you haven’t experienced the new toys, then how do you suspect they’ll help in the future? Maybe you do a lot of research throughout the day, or maybe you just get a lot of emails… Whatever the case, leave a comment for us below!

I’ve watched several clips and have read plenty of reviews on Apple’s new iPad, which hits the streets on April 3rd. TechCrunch shared an image comparing the iPad to a rock, and engadget posted a review of disappointment with a video of an uncooperative iPad and its lack of features.  Naturally, my initial take on an Entrepreneur article titled “How the iPad Will Change the Way You Do Business” was a wary one.  My foremost thought when checking out reviews of the iPad was that business owners are not going to waste their precious time and money on something that seems downright incomplete.  But Allen Moon, the author of the Entrepreneur article actually makes a solid argument – one that I’m even willing to share.

If you’re already familiar with the iPad, you’d might as well skip the first section of the article; Moon briefly describes the iPad’s resemblance to the iPhone and its pitfalls.  He then explains that those who are middle-aged and older will find the iPad easier to work with than a ‘traditional’ laptop, that those who travel or want to shut their kids up will find its portability useful, and that students will start getting more and more of their textbooks as iPad e-books.
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