Need a last minute gift idea? Still trying to decide on a tablet for a holiday gift? AT&T is offering a $100 instant rebate on any tablet with a new 2 year data agreement. The deal runs through the end of the year, but is only good while supplies last, so it pays not to wait! Go to AT&T’s Premier website for more information and to order.
Author: admin
The App Culture That’s Affecting Today’s Business Environment
The use of smartphone apps by enterprise employees is not an isolated or passing trend. Overall, the rising app culture is seen as good news, but how do you avoid the pitfalls and what does the phenomenon presage for the future of work?
Consumerization of corporate IT is having a profound impact on workplace culture and business models. Employees are energized by greater freedom and flexibility while enterprises are rewarded with efficiencies and enhanced services. While this new app culture brings security risks, privacy issues and employee productivity concerns to address, by and large, it’s regarded as a positive shift.
How The New Normal Is Changing The Conventional Workplace
In fact, according to a recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, four out of five organizations believe app culture will have a net positive effect on their business, although the adoption of app culture is far from uniform.
Read the report to learn what sets the early adopters apart, why the C-suite are the chief cheerleaders for app culture, and what this cultural shift could mean for your business.
Read the complete report at AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog.
This is a sponsored post from AT&T.
AT&T Offering 25% Off all Smartphone Accessories
For a limited time AT&T is offering 25% off all accessories, including car chargers and smartphone cases for the Samsung Galaxy, iPhone and more. You can get the discount automatically when you buy a new device with a two year agreement, but it’s also available even if you
don’t need a new phone. Just buy two or more accessories and you’ll receive the discount.
In order to get your 25% off, you’ll have to use the AT&T Premier service. Go here for more information about AT&T Premier or to order your discounted accessories!
Mario’s Take on the 4 Disruptive Technologies to Watch in 2013
This article is part of Mario’s series for AT&T Networking Exchange, a blog dedicated to small business. Go here to read the entire post.
Gartner, the well-known information technology research and advisory firm, recently released a list of its top 10 technologies and trends for 2013. The list covers a wide range of technologies that will most disrupt IT and business-as-usual over the next twelve months. Today I’m going to take a look at some of their findings and share my own insights and opinions.
1. Mobile devices
According to Gartner’s research, 2013 will be the year mobile devices completely take over the computing landscape. In 2013, mobile phones are expected to overtake PCs as the devices most commonly used to access the web worldwide and by 2015, Gartner is predicting that 80% of phones will be smartphones. These are absolutely wild findings, and, if true, mean big changes in the way we all do business.
Last year, I talked about how the world has gone mobile and how small businesses need to ensure they had a mobile-friendly website ready to go. This year, not only do you need a mobile website, but you also need to be thinking about how an app or a new, mobile-friendly business model could re-invigorate your bottom line. Whether you sell products, provide services, or are an individual looking to turn yourself into a brand, this is the year to ensure you have a strong presence on mobile devices through social media, a website, and possibly even an app, But that brings us to our next topic that tackles the platforms and technologies that may power your new mobile business.
Click here to continue reading this article at Network Exchange.
Comparing the New HTC One X+ and HTC One VX Phones
HTC has released 2 new Android phones in time for end of the year tech upgrades and holiday shopping, the One X+ and the One VX. The naming is a little confusing, but they’re similar phones, with the One X+ sitting at the top end of the range in both price and features, and the VX sitting somewhere closer to the middle.
The HTC One X+ may be familiar to you as an upgrade of the old One X. The form is basically the same, but HTC has gone ahead and upgraded the specs to put the One X+ out ahead as the flagship model. Like the original, the One X+ features a large 4.7 inch screen, molded black plastic exterior and Beat Audio tech. The weight of the phone stays almost the same too at 4.76 ounces.
One huge upgrade is the insane 64 GB of built-in storage, though there’s no SD card slot. Given that most phones feature 16GB of storage, and the iPhone has never had an SD card option, it shouldn’t be a problem for the vast majority of users. There’s also an upgrade to a quad-core processor, and a battery upgrade to go with it. A lot of the improvements in the experience of the One X+ come from the upgraded OS: the One X+ ships with the latest Android OS, Jellybean 4.1. It also has HTC’s proprietary user interface called Sense on top of the plain Android, and that gets an upgrade here too.
The One VX may look very similar to the One X+, but under the hood it’s just not quite as fast or strong. The screen size is slightly smaller, at 4.5 inches instead of 4.7, and the camera is only 5MP, instead of the One X+’s 8MP. The VX is noticeably thicker than the One X+, but actually weighs slightly less (though the difference is barely noticeable). It still features a dual core processor, 8 GB of internal storage, and the previous version of Android, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
What about the difference in price though? The X+ sells for a contract price of $199 from AT&T. The VX is way cheaper, at $50 with an AT&T contract. At that price difference, the VX may be worth it to folks who value saving money over the latest specs: after all, the VX is still a solid phone with good specs. On the other hand, the One X+ is one of the top Android phones on the market right now. Both could be a great device for the right user.
More information on the One VX here, and more information on the One X+ here.
Giveway: Enter to Win a Kobo eReader
Tis the season for giveaways around here! This week we already gave away a laptop thanks to Staples. Now we’re giving away an eReader from Kobo.
The Kobo uses eInk to provide high-contrast text specifically designed for reading, and uses WiFi to access their library of millions of eBooks. You can read all about them here on the Kobo website.
We’ll be running this contest till Friday December 14th. That means we’ll be able to get the reader to one lucky winner in time for Christmas!
Entering is easy: just follow @smbizgomobile on Twitter. You can also get extra bonus entries by tweeting about the giveaway! Just follow the instructions below:
New Touchscreen 4G LTE Hotspot: MiFi Liberate from AT&T
It’s kind of amazing, but sometimes 4G LTE download and upload speeds are faster than your home Internet access. Other times when you need to the web, there’s just no WiFi to be had, and a small mobile screen isn’t going to cut it. That’s what a hotspot is for: think of it like a portable router that can power multiple devices, but uses your cell signal instead of WiFi.
The MiFi Liberate is a new touchscreen hotspot from AT&T. It’s the first touchscreen to come on the market, and the screen gives a quick at-a-glance picture of important stats, like network status and how much battery life you have left. The interface should feel pretty natural for anyone used to navigating a smartphone: the homescreen has icons that are easily tapped for the important details, like how much data you’ve used: .
Battery life is always huge selling point for any kind of mobile device, and this a point where the MiFi shines, promising 11 hours of battery life (enough to outlast a couple of laptops). The battery life is almost twice that of many competitors, thought the device is slightly larger than average, too. It weighs in at 4.3 ounces, with dimensions of 4.1 x 2.9 x 0.9 inches, which still seem perfectly manageable and portable.
Anyone who travels regularly, especially frequent fliers, should consider a Hotspot, as should anyone who just travels to a local Starbucks to get some work done! For many, the promise constant internet access is reassuring, and for others it’s a lifesaver. Either way, it’s worth evaluating if it’s a must-have for your business.
iPad Mini with 4G LTE Available Starting Today
How time flies. It seems like just yesterday all we could talk about was the iPad Mini. What would it look like? How much would it cost? The speculation was fun, and seemingly endless. But now that the device is out, have you forgotten about it? Unlike a lot of Apple product launches, it’s difficult to say what the reaction has been. On one hand, lots of people took to Twitter to express their surprise and disappointment that the iPad Mini didn’t come in at a lower price point. But on the other hand, the flagship Apple store in NYC had enormous lines even though the city was (and is) still reeling from Hurricane Sandy, and Apple has boasted record sales (they they always do though, don’t they?).
Bottom is line is that as polarizing as the new Apple iPad Mini may be, and however many other competitors are out there, lots of people still want it. Given how many people are already using the iOS ecosystem, and the unparalleled user experience provided by iDevices, it’s hard to blame them. If you’re one of those people, you’ll be happy to know that Apple has finally made the iPad Mini with 4G LTE available. Pricing starts at $459 for the 16GB model. 32 GB will set you back $559, and 64GB $659. As usual, Apple is claiming that they don’t have enough devices to keep up with demand, so if you’re committed to the iPad Mini it makes sense to order soon!
Click here to order your iPad Mini with 4G LTE from AT&T.
Don’t Forget: Last Chance to Enter to Win One of 10 Accessories from AT&T!
UPDATE: The contest has ended and winners are being contacted. To see if you won, check the widgets after the jump!
Save $100 On Any AT&T Tablet, Including New Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Thinking about buying a tablet? Make sure you check out AT&T first! They’re offering $100 off any tablet with a 2 year agreement. Yeah you read that right: any tablet. And that includes brand-new devices, like the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 which launched Friday.
The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 was initially announced a few months ago in NYC, but we had no idea about pricing or release date. Now we know that the contract price is $499.99, minus AT&T’s $100 deal, of course. The Tab 2 is a 10″ device running Android 4 that weighs all of 1.28 pounds, and features 16GB of integrated storage and a 32GB-capable MicroSD card slot. If you’d like to compare that to some of the other tablets out there on the market right now, check out our handy tablet comparison guide.
If you’re looking for your tablet to work seamlessly with your PC, you can also use the $100 off on any of AT&T’s Windows 8 tablets. Both the Asus VivoTab RT and the Samsung ATIV Smart PC are being offered exclusively from AT&T. The Asus VivoTab is a 10.1″ 4G LTE tablet with 32GB of storage. It will also come standard with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview Edition. But you’ll have to wait: the Asus VivoTab RT won’t be coming till November 16th.
If you’re looking for a Windows 8 tablet now, consider the ATIV. The Samsung ATIV is actually more like a hybrid tablet/computer. The screen is a larger 11.6,” and the device comes with 64GB of storage (unheard of for a tablet) and an Intel Atom Processor. But at 11″ the device is still highly portable, and features a clamshell cover that can be detached if you want to use the machine more like a tablet. It’s a good compromise between portability and productivity that would make a great option for a business traveler, and AT&T’s $100 off deal makes it a good time to buy.
Want to check out the full range of tablets AT&T has on sale? Go to http://www.att.com/100offtablets and take a look: you can get $100 off any tablet AT&T has to offer!