Author: Shy Mukerjee

Decide On A Mobile Payment Solution: Calculating Square vs. VeriFone Fees

by Shy Mukerjee

Do you want to be able to take credit card payments from your smartphone or tablet computer? Having difficulty deciding between the competing options?  A great new website takes a look at your average transaction size as well as your monthly volume and calculates whether Square’s or VeriFone’s competing mobile payment platforms will offer you the better deal.

Whereas Square simply charges a flat 2.75%, VeriFone’s fee structure is a bit more complicated.  Depending on your particular business, either one could be the better deal.  Thankfully, FeeFighter’s calculator helps you decide which options would be more profitable.

What’s new with RIM? New phones, videochat coming to PlayBook, new apps, and more

by Shy Mukerjee

RIM, the company behind the BlackBerry line of products, have a number of announcements today.  First up is some new phones.  Two BlackBerry Bold smartphones were announced today, the 9900 and the 9930 combine exciting new features like Near Field Communications (NFC), HD video recording and playback, and the new BlackBerry 7 OS.

Next up is video chat.  In an app that, according to the press release, is being released tomorrow, RIM is promising “one click” video and voice chatting over Wi-Fi on their recently released PlayBook tablet.

Also for the PlayBook is a native Facebook app.  While the details are pretty sparse at this point, RIM’s press releases promises that it will provide basically what you would expect: a native 7″ Tablet interface to chat, share photos and videos, interact with friends and more. We’ll be sure to take a look at the app when it’s released later this month.

RIM also announced that the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution (BES), the solution that brings the security of the their Enterprise Server to BlackBerry devices, is going to “incorporate secure device management for Android and iOS based devices and tablets, all managed from a single web-based console” according to their press release. Clearly, RIM is beginning to come to terms with the fact that they’re no longer the only game in town – and providing options for customers to use their secure enterprise technology on smartphones and tablets of their choosing.  This mirrors RIM’s previous announcement that Android apps would be made available to the PlayBook tablet through a special Android app player.

Competition in Mobile Credit Card Processing Helps the Business Owner

by Shy Mukerjee

In a move that seems designed to take some of the wind out of Square’s sails (who just this week received an investment from Visa), Intuit’s GoPayment mobile credit card swiping service is dropping their per transaction fees.  The clear winner here is neither Square or Intuit, though, but the business owners and entrepreneurs who are using these devices.  Fees don’t affect consumers, but they do directly impact bottom lines.

Small Biz Tips with SmallBizTechnology.com

by Shy Mukerjee

We are pleased to work with Ramon Ray, CEO and editor of SmallBizTechnology.com, journalist, and technology evangelist, to bring you new Small Biz tips. Each week they’ll be sharing videos and articles featuring hot topics, products and trends in small business.

Game Changing Innovation: Insight From Four View Points – Kawasaki, Belsky, Brogan, Ray

Four highly influential voices in the business world—Ramon Ray, Guy Kawasaki, Scott Belsky and Chris Brogan—share their insights from the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show on how to create game-changing innovation. From new ideas to technology , and from mobility to increased productivity,  get advice on how to elevate the customer experience and think proactively about what pieces of information matter most in order to compete and win.

Is Your Payment Processing Service Adequate? A Chocolate Company Switches to Sage Payment Solutions

Hospitality is a passion for John and Sue Elliott, owners of Davidson Chocolate Company.  The couple originally left their corporate jobs intent on becoming bed and breakfast hosts. But a twist of fate led them to a little chocolate shop in the mountains of North Carolina.

“It had been closed for two and half years. The chocolate was still wonderful, and the hundred-year-old recipes were still great. The business itself looked horrible, but we couldn’t see how we could fail,” said Sue. “We had a lot of reputation to repair and rebuild, but in five years it grew dramatically.”

With the store doing well, the couple kept brainstorming on how they could grow their business. The answer came when their son invited them to consider moving the business to Davidson, just outside of Charlotte. The couple agreed, and in 2008 opened their first Davidson Chocolate Company store. Read about this small business’ experience switching to a new payment processing system.

5 Reasons Your Power Point Presentations….Suck. How To Make Your Next One Rock

Power Point is one of the most popular business tools on the market. We all use it when giving presentations. However, just about every Power Point I see used is NOT used effectively. Having said that John “ColderICE” Lawson, Chris McCann (President of 1800-Flowers), Jim Fowler (founder of JigSaw) and other speakers used Power Point to mind blowing effectiveness at the Small Business Summit 2011 (by Dell).

Microsoft’s recent spoof videos highlight the top reasons your presentation can be a disaster.

Mobile Payments Company Square Gets a Huge Boost with a Strategic Investment from Visa

by Shy Mukerjee

Last month, a viral video created by mobile payments processor VeriFone tried to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about startup Square’s free device that allows small businesses and entrepreneurs to take credit card payments from their iPhones and iPads. The claim was that customer’s credit card data was being transferred unencrypted to the device, giving shady merchants the ability to steal your credit card information.  Square took this accusation in stride, pointing out that anyone you hand your credit card to already has access to this information. This month, however, those fears have largely been laid to rest.

Two weeks ago, Apple announced that they would be selling Square’s credit card readers in their retail stores for $9.99, taking the device off of the internet and straight to consumers.  This was a huge boost to the device’s credibility, as an endorsement from Apple is a big deal.

Now, in what could turn out to be the ultimate game changer for Square, Visa has announced that they’re making a strategic investment in the company. If there were lingering fears about the safety of customer’s credit card data with the device, surely Visa’s stamp of approval will convince consumers to embrace mobile payment devices.

Small Biz Tips with SmallBizTechnology.com

by Shy Mukerjee

We are pleased to work with Ramon Ray, CEO and editor of SmallBizTechnology.com, journalist, and technology evangelist, to bring you new Small Biz tips. Each week they’ll be sharing videos and articles featuring hot topics, products and trends in small business.

Travel Is A Pain, But Technology Can Make It Easier

Over the course of 12 months I travel about 12 or more times a year. This a lot LESS than some of you might travel and a lot more than some of you.

One thing I’ve found is that although I have to stand in long security lines, remove my belt, show my dingy looking socks to the public and endure cramped seats in an airplane, my tech bag makes travel easier. With my smartphone I can check in (no paper necessary) and with my MiFi (portable hotspot) I’m online when others are trying to find a free WiFi hotspot.

There’s more. Tripit’s a popular service which enables travelers to forward their itinerary to an email address and have the flight information easily organized for you.

Solving the Small Business Mobile Dilemma

According to the latest Small Business Success Index sponsored by Network  Solutions and the University of Maryland ( released March 2011), most small business owners are aware of various mobile marketing activities, the best known including:  sending text messages to customers about a promo (73 percent) and listing the company on a location-based website (68 percent).  Most owners are aware of other applications, including creating their own mobile website, placing ads on mobile websites, and creating their own apps for their business.  While awareness of mobile marketing activities is high, usage is low. See this episode on the MSN’s Business on the main where my colleague Navin Ganeshan joined in the discussion on Small Business Mobile technology.

Blackberry PlayBook: A New Kind of Tablet?

by Shy Mukerjee

With Apple holding a near-monopoly of the Tablet market (currently at 73% market share) , and Honeycomb-based Android tablets finally hitting the market, is there room for a brand new platform?  RIM, creators of the BlackBerry series of smartphones, seems to think so, this week releasing their Wi-Fi only PlayBook tablet running a custom-designed operating system and architecture.  With prices starting at $499 for the 16GB model, is the PlayBook a legitimate 3rd option in a market in which Apple had nearly a year head start?  Today, we take a look. Read More

Small Biz Tips with Smallbiztechnology.com

by Shy Mukerjee

We are pleased to work with Ramon Ray, CEO and editor of SmallBizTechnology.com, journalist, and technology evangelist, to bring you new Small Biz tips. Each week they’ll be sharing videos and articles featuring hot topics, products and trends in small business.

Need a Compact Printer for the Road? Check out HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer

With today’s compact and portable technology, mobile professionals are equipped to work at any location, even on the go. The business world and society is moving towards becoming paper-less, but since paper isn’t ready to retire just yet, mobile workers still need the ability to print on-site.

Enter HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer.

This new compact printer weighs just over 5 pounds and is perfect for mobile professionals who need a high-quality printer they can easily carry in their car trunk or backseat.

Accept Credit Cards On Your Smartphone with Square

Whether you are a small business owner or a bootstrapped entrepreneur, you all have one thing in common: getting business done on a small budget. Why not utilize a tool that helps you collect money for your products?

Square is a neat device developed by co-founder of Twiter, Jack Dorsey.

It’s a plastic device that you stick into the audio jack of your Android Smartphone, iPad or iPhone and collect credit card payments from Mastercard, Visa, Discover or American Express.

Why not ditch the old-school mentality of the cash register for the mobile version that can fit in your pocket?