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New Nokia Lumia 900 from AT&T: an Enlightened Way to Do Business
I know, I know, “enlightened” sounds like hyperbole. But occasionally a device comes along that can actually speed up-and smooth out-the daily grind, and the Lumia 900 smartphone appears to be one of them.
Consider: If you work your inbox and video chat with clients on the go, you want a crisp screen you don’t have to squint at to see. You want to jump from email attachments to your biz’s Facebook page to incoming texts as fast as you can tap and swipe. You don’t want to wait for a sluggish browser or ignore a colleague’s call because the info you know they want is still downloading.
Enter Lumia 900, a deserved “best of” winner at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Its pocket-friendly 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen shines even in direct sunlight. Its Windows(r) Phone interface seems to “think” like we do, grouping things logically and making whatever you want to do incredibly easy. And its AT&T 4G LTE connectivity keeps data flowing at top speeds. Even the battery is impressive, keeping a charge longer than most smartphones have us trained to expect.
The Lumia 900 looks great, too. Nokia has a reputation for precision craftsmanship and stylish design for good reason; this latest effort is slick and solid, an attractive body that complements the Windows Phone interface nicely.
Can the Nokia Lumia 900, available exclusively from AT&T, really enlighten your mobile business? If you make it your next phone, let me know.
CUBED 5: How Text Messaging Can Be the Icing on the Cake for Small Business
In the latest episode of my CUBED video series for the American Express OPEN Forum, I take a look at IcedGems, a boutique bakery that specializes in deserts like cupcakes. They even have a Cupcake Truck which operates as a mobile storefront in the greater Baltimore area. But getting in touch with customers when your storefront is constantly on the move is a difficult process, and having to juggle text messages, tweets, and Facebook was a bit too much for IcedGems to handle. So I came up with a solution to help them out that I think a lot of you entrepreneurs and small business owners out there will love. So head on over to AmEx OPEN and watch the video now!
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Launched – Multiple Platform Mobile Device Management
The term BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) can be a nightmare for your companies’ IT guy who has to ensure that sensitive information being passed around via employee-owned mobile devices stays secure. On the flip-side, allowing employees to use their own gadgets for business keeps hardware and voice/data plan costs down while keeping employee morale high as they get to use the device they want.
Now that RIM has announced plans to “focus on its strengths” (a.k.a. the enterprise), look for RIM to offer more options to aid large corporations and small businesses alike with their mobile device solutions. Case in point, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – A mobile device management solution built on renowned BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology that allows IT departments to manage company & employee-owned BlackBerry, Android, and iOS devices under a unified web-based console.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server is one of RIM’s crown jewels, so companies interested in deploying BB Mobile Fusion can do so knowing that their data is protected under the same BES 256-bit AES encrypted technology, as well as easy over-the-air app and installation capabilities for BlackBerry devices. Read more »
PayPal Here Credit Card Reader Ready to Compete With Square?
Love it or loathe it, a large number of small businesses already depend on PayPal’s merchant services. It makes sense that the eBay-owned company (that also has its hands in a ton of online merchant’s pockets) would release a mobile credit card reader, called PayPal Here for small businesses looking to step away from the cash register.
PayPal Here is similar to, and in direct competition of, services like Verifone’s PAYware, Intuit’s GoPayment, and of course, Square’s popular dongle. One of the main differences between PayPal Here and the others is immediate access to funds versus waiting for several days to access funds with the rest. That is one of the things in my mind that keeps PayPal on top of eCommerce pyramid, despite it’s issues. Read more »
Square Register is the best Point of Sale for iPad
Point of sale software on the iPad is nothing new, but it’s definitely worth a second look now that Square has released Square Register, their app for accepting both card and cash payments via your iPad.
The new Square Register should be ideal for a small business owner. Once you sign up for Square, you get a Square “Card Readee”, a little dongle that allows you to swipe credit cards. As long as you have a place to stash your cash, you can also take cash payments with just a tap of your touch screen. Read more »
Box Cloud Storage for iOS adds App Compatibility Menu
Nowadays, picking a cloud storage service so your mobile devices can have access to the same documents as your desktop/laptop can very well depend on how many other mobile apps are compatible. The major cloud storage services recognize this and have made sure that the majority of the apps you already use to “get things done” play nice with their offerings.
Box just made it easier for users to discover compatible 3rd Party apps by releasing an update to their iOS apps that includes the OneCloud menu that lists and allows users to download all compatible apps. Read more »
What are you UpTo? Shared Calendar App Set to Revolutionize Business
What’s the hottest new thing imported from Detroit? UpTo, the new calendar sharing app. A couple of days ago, I had a chance to speak to founder and CEO Greg Schwartz about UpTo, his new motor city venture. UpTo is the social calendar sharing app that has been out for about two weeks. Already, Greg has noticed that his main users are small business owners, people who were really needing something more modern from their calendar apps.
In the recent past , small businesses used Google calendars almost exclusively. Google Calendar is fairly utilitarian: you either share your whole calendar with someone, or you share nothing at all. And, the interface is just Google’s traditional minimalist set. UpTo has an advantage over Google Calendar in that it lets you control what you share through a rich, modern interface. UpTo also adds social features that really enrich the calendar experience by easily sharing the activities that are relevant, while keeping private those events that are for your eyes only. Read more »
NFC Action is Heating Up—Who Wins? Consumers!
David Egger is Lead Marketing Manager for AT&T’s IRU (Individual Responsibility User) Mobility Programs. You can find more blog content from David and other experts on emerging technologies and mobile application on the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.
When I last wrote about NFC (Near Field Communication) the technology was in its absolute infancy and was little more than a dream for a boy holding his wallet and phone, wishing they could merge. Fast forward less than a year and we have two functioning NFC systems live in the United States, and devices arriving with the capability to take full advantage.
Google Wallet was the first out of the gate with a limited solution. Google Wallet works with Citi Mastercard PayPass only at this time. It is also only available on the Nexus S device. It integrates with the Google Offers deals platform.
Right now the other big player is ISIS, a platform collaborated on between AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to bring NFC to the mainstream. This Summer we can expect to see a wide range of devices supporting ISIS, and the pilot that is currently ongoing in Austin and Salt Lake City already has support for multiple credit cards. ISIS also integrates a wide range of loyalty programs, enabling you to combine the functionality of a mobile wallet app and an app like CardStar. Read more »
Levono Taps SugarSync for Out-of-Box Cloud Storage
You can officially call the early 2000′s the age of the cloud computing wars. Traditionally, cloud computing was something everyday average small business owners and consumers alike didn’t need to get involved in. Now, you will hard pressed to imagine a world where we all are not affected by, or don’t have some instance of our lives in, the cloud.
As as result, cloud storage services are duking it out to be the household name when people think of cloud computing. Case and point, computer company Levono has announced its Levono Cloud Storage, built by SugarSync that will be shipping the service with ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops and Android tablets. Read more »
What’s Good? mobile device management tools with military-grade security
In case you’ve been under a rock, modern mobilty is all about being productive everywhere. As we also know, one of the greatest concerns in any business is security. It’s obvious that these two forces work against each other in some ways. Empowering your staff to be productive while on the go means the increased potential of exposing your company secrets.
For a long time, RIM’s Blackberry had a stranglehold on this market segment. If you wanted secure email on the go, Blackberry was the answer. However, the Canadian mobile maker has lagged behind the tech curve, and it looks like the market is finally catching up with them. Increasingly, employees want to use their personal device for mobile productivity, but using personal devices for work presents a security risk for the business. So, how can employees stay secure without having to carry a bunch of devices around with them, doing tasks based on which device can get the job done?
Enter Good for Enterprise. Good for Enterprise is a suite of mobile device management tools with military-grade security for data loss prevention. Their collaboration features for iOS, Android, and Windows phone enable productivity without keeping your IT team up at night. Read more »
