Author: BrothaTech

Intuit Adds Mobile Payments Service GoPayment to QuickBooks POS

by BrothaTech

The mobile payments battle is getting pretty serious now that Intuit’s GoPayment mobile payments service has now been integrated with QuickBooks POS (Point of Sale).

What this means is QuickBooks users who currently use GoPayment readers attached to their smartphones, can now take payments at the register. Those payments will go directly to QuickBooks which will integrate with the businesses inventory, transaction history, and analytics data. In other words, you won’t need to utilize multiple financial services/merchant accounts for mobile and traditional payments if you’re already using QuickBooks.  Read More

SMS Marketing: SendHub Lauches Mobile App – Puts Mass Text Messaging at Fingertips

by BrothaTech

SendHub App for iPhoneForget emails, IM’s, DM’s or other social media inboxes, sending text messages is still the quickest way to deliver a message en masse that just about guarantees the message will be received (and viewed) by anybody with a cell phone.

Small businesses who want to keep their customers informed on the latest news, and deals should seriously consider adopting a SMS marketing strategy, in addition to adopting new ways like social media to reach out to current and potential customers.

SendHub is a service that lets users create up to 1,000 sms messages/month for free. Simply create an account, select a phone number and “opt-in” keyword, and start sending out your messages. Recipients reply with the opt-in keyword for further messages.  Read More

Nexus Remote Service Keeps Your Docs in the Cloud

by BrothaTech

Nexus Remote ServiceDropbox, Box, Microsoft SkyDrive, SugarSync, and Google Drive have been getting all the consumer cloud storage love as of late. The services are uber-popular, but may not be the best option for the enterprise due to the simple fact sensitive documents/files stop being sensitive once they are downloaded onto personal mobile devices. Nexus by ionGrid is a solution that lets users access and modify files from an iPad while they file stay protected by company IT policy.

Nexus is composed of two parts: the server portion and the mobile app for iPad. Nexus Server gives the Nexus app access to any SharePoint documents or Windows file shares. The app acts as a portal to these files, giving the user full access to files via a data connection. According to ionGrid, “The combination of the client and server software gives you access to your work files, even when you’re out on the road, and the best quality, pixel perfect rendering of documents that you can find.”  Read More

Eventbrite Adds “At The Door” Credit Card Ticket Sales Devices

by BrothaTech

Eventbrite transaction screen on iPad

Obviously, mobile credit card processing is where it’s at. Case in point, the online event promotions and ticket sales giant (for the rest of us) Eventbrite has announced their mobile “At The Door” devices that let users buy tickets to events, well, at the door.

Eventbrite is a quick, easy, and less expensive way than its more popular competitors *Cough Ticketmaster Cough* to promote and sell tickets to your event online. You can set up an event in minutes, promote your event across social media networks, and track sales numbers and other analytics. At any event, there are people who will ignore all your attempts to get them buy tickets in advance, and will walk up to the door the day of the event and ask “can I still buy tickets?”.  Read More

Video: Dual Monitors On The Go With AirDisplay

by BrothaTech

AirDisplay

Speaking from personal experience, it is true that you’re more productive with multiple monitors. Now my setup at home is pretty dope, but there are times when I’m out an about and sure could use multiple screens to get things done, sans all the window switching.

An app that lets you use multiple mobile gadgets at the same time to be more productive is AirDisplay. Simply put, you can use your mobile device (iOS or Android) as a second screen for your desktop/laptop. (Mac or PC). Read More

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Launched – Multiple Platform Mobile Device Management

by BrothaTech

BB Bold and PlayBook

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?

by BrothaTech

PayPal Here Card ReaderLove 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

Box Cloud Storage for iOS adds App Compatibility Menu

by BrothaTech

Box One Cloud for iPad

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

Lenovo Taps SugarSync for Out-of-Box Cloud Storage

by BrothaTech

You can officially call the early 2000’s the age of the cloud computing wars. Traditionally, cloud computing and cloud storage were 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

How to Justify the New iPad for Your Business

by BrothaTech

I must admit, the “New iPad” features are really impressive. The 2048 x 1536 resolution alone is enough to have most people justifying the purchase. Add that with a quad-core processor and 4G/LTE connectivity, and the New iPad will practically sell itself.

There are a ton of features that make the New iPad a no doubt “buy” if you’re a small business owner who hasn’t quite bought into the whole tablet craze. But the “Resolutionary” features alone won’t make you a on-the-go productive whiz on the device. You still need a solid suite of business apps to uncover just how productive you can be on the New iPad.

Now, if you’ve been following Small Biz Go Mobile, all we do is identify resources, services…and apps that can help you stay at work, even when you’re not at work (did I just blow your mind?). Now, we don’t want you to just go out there and download tons of apps without knowing how you can use them for your business, so here are just a few ways you can close those deals on your New iPad…cause we all know you’re getting one.

Document Management

If you’re not in the cloud, or don’t have a way to retrieve important documents from your office computer, you might as well stop reading now. There is nothing like leaving an important document on the printer because you rushed out the door to a meeting with a client, or to catch your flight. That’s one of the reasons why I suggest any small biz invest in the cloud to at the very least, make sure you have access to all your documents on any device, whenever you need them.  A good document creator/editor is needed as well. If a client or team member wants to adjust some numbers in a spreadsheet and you’re not nowhere near a computer, you still need to capability to open and edit that document from your email, then send it back to them lickity-split. Read More