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It’s Not Complicated—Moms are the best. So why not send her an e-card and win her a Facebook Phone?
Site sponsor AT&T has got a great new campaign going for Moms. It all starts with their new Mother’s Day commercial, which you can watch above. And come on, who doesn’t love these AT&T commercials with the goofy little kids. So this year, AT&T is making it simple to send Mom a fun e-card. Simply head over to ATTMothersDay.com and send Mom a personalized version of the commercial. Go on, I’ll wait, your Mom will love it. And then keep reading to find out how to win her a top-of-the-line smartphone! Read more »
Track Your Travel Rewards and Book Flights With Frequent Flyer Miles with MileWise
So I was on vacation last week and it was awesome! A much-needed recharge and refresh for me and the fam. It’s great to be able to get away, and if you can find a way to make it happen I totally recommend it! And if you can make it more affordable using your frequent flyer miles or credit card reward points, even better! But trying to book travel with frequent flyer miles or points can be confusing, so try MileWise if you’re thinking about getting about out of town.
Basically MileWise is a search engine for flights, but instead of just showing you flight prices it also lists the cost of a flight in frequent flyer miles and reward points. You link up your frequent flyer mile accounts and credit card accounts so that you can see all your options.
There are some missing players: American Airlines isn’t there, and neither is Southwest. And rewards info is only available for four of the major credit card companies. But MileWise promises they’re adding more all the time, and even if you can’t use a particular card for price comparisons, you can still at least track all your balances in one place. That’s useful enough that it’s worth just signing up for that!
So I guess the takeaway here is that finding a way to recharge is important to your state of mind so you can stay positive and focused when you’re back at work. And it may seem tough to get away if it’s too expensive, so explore your options for using frequent flyer miles and rewards points to see if you can make it work financially, and check out MileWise to see just what you can afford.
Job Searching? Get Your Mobile Skills in Order
How Mobility Is Reshaping Personal Career Paths
Curlis Phillip is a Senior Marketing Manager at AT&T. You can find more blog content from Curlis and other experts on mobility on the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog, where this post originally appeared. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.
App Development. Photo by Ramotionblog.
A recent article by Huffington Post writer Daniel Burrus identified twelve key technologies that will transform careers now and in the future. Toping his list were mobile hardware, software, and services.
Burrus is spot on. Innovation in mobile technology is driving job creation across the mobile industry – from wireless providers to handset makers to software developers. According to a study sponsored by TechNet, almost 500,000 jobs related to apps development were created in the United States, up from zero in 2007.
The growing demand for mobility among businesses and consumers has increased the need for mobile-related jobs. However, a skill gap exists for many employers. Today’s workforce needs to develop its skills to keep pace with this evolving technology.
Here are some of the hottest jobs in the mobile industry right now: Read more »
Get a great deal on Parallels Desktop and 8 Other Mac Apps in the SuperBundle
One new software trend that’s been taking the Internet by storm as of late is something that massively benefits both consumers and software producers—bundles. By bundling together different software packages and offering them at a steep discount, often far more copies of programs can be sold at much, much lower prices than consumers would otherwise have to pay.
Take Nova Development’s new spring Mac SuperBundle. They’re offering the latest version of Parallels Desktop, an excellent virtualization software that lets you run an entire Windows Vista, 7 or 8 instance inside your Mac, without having to reboot your computer! For those who need to run the occasional Windows app but don’t want or need the full Windows experience, Parallels Desktop is the perfect solution. While the software usually retails for $79 alone, the SuperBundle gives you a copy of Parallels for just $49, while also bundling some other interesting apps that may be of use to your business. While I’ve used Parallels extensively and can definitely vouch for it, I’ve had much less experience with some of the other software below, though I will share some thoughts on why it helps to make the whole thing a great deal: Read more »
Get a Free Credit Score and Monitor Your Credit Report With Credit Sesame
There are a lot of services out there that promise a free credit report, but are actually scams – remember all those free credit report TV and radio jingles? Everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year through the website annualcreditreport.com, but if you want to know your actual credit score – the number that rates your credit-worthiness – you’re going to have to pay extra. Enter Credit Sesame, a new startup that will let you get both your credit report and credit score for free.
Credit Sesame has partnered with Experian to provide your credit score, so you won’t know what the other two major credit ratings agencies (Equifax and TransUnion) think, but it’s a good start. Credit Sesame will also offer you loan and credit card advice about the debt you already have, and can send you updates about changes to your credit report. If you’re actually in the market for a loan or credit card, they’ll send you offers from bank they think match your financial needs: if you choose to go with one of those offers, Credit Sesame makes a commission. That’s how they can provide their other services for free, but they promise that the offers will truly be helpful to consumers.
Which of Lunatik’s Styluses is the Best? A Look at the Touch Pen, Alloy, and the Chubby
Tablet’s are awesome devices, but one thing that can really take your tablet experience to the next level is a great stylus. Whether you’re marking up documents for review, taking notes at a meeting, or even just doodling away in Draw Something. If you’ve ever seen Mario on TV, then you’ve probably seen him rocking a Lunatik iPod Nano Watch (see image, right). While Lunatik first jumped onto the scene with their awesome watch bands, they’ve since expanded their product line significantly, with several iPhone cases and tablet styluses now available.
They were kind enough to send us a review sample of all three styluses they make, so today I’m going to tell you which of the three I’d recommend. Read more »
Targus Announces New Line of Cases Specifically for Galaxy S4, Note 8 Owners
This morning Targus announced a new line of smartphone cases specifically designed for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Note 8 devices. Considering the S4 just launched last week, that was pretty fast!
Describing the cases as “sleek” and “sexy” this new line of cases promises to show off a “modern, yet sophisticated style” according to Melissa Chapman, VP of Tablet and Phone products for Targus. As you can see in the images to the right, these are definitely not your Dad’s oversized, dorky cases—the “Midnight Collection” offers laser cut textures, metallic finishes, and a selection of colors include Noir/Black, Pool Blue, and Crimson (shown).
These definitely won’t break the bank either—the S4 cases range in MSRP from $19.99 to $24.99 and will be available later this month. A Galaxy Note 8 case is also coming to the Midnight Collection, featuring a soft-touch lining to protect your device as well as a built-in kickstand. That will be hitting stores in June with an MSRP of $29.99.
For those looking for even more cases, Targus will be adding to the line throughout the year, adding additional phones and tablets throughout the year.
Synergyse: Google Apps Training for Small Business Users
Google Apps for Business is quickly becoming a viable alternative to standard email and IT solutions, especially for small businesses looking to move more of their workflow to the cloud. But for many people it can be tough to transition to a new way of working, especially if they’re deeply familiar with older programs like Microsoft Word and Outlook. New startup Synergese aims to take the pain out of transitioning (and lighten the IT burden) by providing real-time Google Apps training right inside the browser window. Synergese’s CTO Majid Manzarpour worked at Google training users in Apps, and two other founders are also ex-Googlers, so they’re approaching the businesses with expertise and experience in training.
As of now, Synergyse is offering training in Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive, the three building blocks of scheduling and document sharing within the Google ecosystem. Unlike a more traditional video tutorial, lessons take place inside the browser, allowing you to learn by interacting with program you’re looking to learn. It’s a more intuitive and interactive approach that allows quicker learning, but lessons are scheduled at your own pace, so there’s no rush.
AT&T #RefurbFriday: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for $9.99
Samsung Galaxy Note II
If your looking for ways to cut costs, refurbished gadgets can be a great way to stretch your tech budget. Refurbished units are just units that have been returned to the manufacturer and reconditioned so that they work properly: think of it like buying a certified used car.
Our sponsors AT&T have developed a program for refurbished devices tehy’re calling #RefurbFriday: each Friday they highlight device at a super cheap discount. While there are always great deals available on AT&T’s refurb microsite, this week for one day only they’re selling the Galaxy Note 2 for only $9.99 with a 2 year agreement. The Galaxy Note 2 usually retails for $299.99 with a contract, so that’s a pretty amazing deal!
If you’re looking for more refurbished phone deals, follow @ATTPremier on Twitter and look for their #RefurbFriday hashtag. But if you want the deal you have to act fast, because RefurbFriday deals are only good on Friday.
3 Best Cloud Apps for Mobile Small Business Users
Smartphone Apps That Help You Get Faster and Smarter Online
Last week I discussed the best cloud apps for managing your contacts and business cards, but what about everything else you do while on the go? Can you use the cloud to be more productive in other areas? Of course you can! There are apps that leverage the cloud to do almost everything you do online, and they can help you do it smarter (and faster!). Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Cloud file storage
No matter what line of business you’re in, there are surely dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of files you need to manage. Wouldn’t it be great to have access to them everywhere you go? Thankfully, the prices of cloud storage are falling every year, and it’s becoming simpler than ever to point an app to your documents folder and let it sync to the cloud and across your devices.
Stop carrying around flash drives and never be caught in a meeting without access to a crucial document ever again!
If you’re a small business or entrepreneur, one great solution I like is to switch your business over to Google Drive, which provides both document storage and editing of all your docs, spreadsheets, and presentations in one place. Fully compatible with other office suites but available on every device you can think of, Drive is a great way to promote team collaboration on important documents and make sure your company has all of their important docs in one place.
But larger companies that may be more resistant to switching over to Google for all their document needs, either Dropbox or Box.net can help. You can get several gigabytes of storage on either service for free so you can try them out, and since both offer apps for every mobile device out there, you can have your documents, pictures, and more easily synced across all your devices and never be caught without a crucial file again!
Continue Reading This Post at the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog –>
