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
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!
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
In my latest CUBED video for American Express OPEN Forum, I meet up with Theresa Nickels, a marketing contractor and road warrior who spends her days traveling between coffee shops, Internet cafes and on the road to meet with clients all over the map. I take a look at some of the areas she’s having difficulty with, and generate some solutions that free up some precious time so she gets to spend more of it with her kids! Check out the video over at AmEx OPEN.
Ed Lucente is a Sr. Product Marketing Manager at AT&T. You can find more blog content from Ed and other experts on emerging technologies on the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.
Introduction
There’s plenty of talk about the benefits of business analytics — the analysis of “Big Data” to spot insightful trends, patterns, or correlations — for large enterprises in industry sectors like financial services, healthcare, and retail (see examples of analytics applications below). I’m surprised, though, that little attention has been given to the potential value that big data analytics can unleash for small businesses as well. Read More
In my recent review of Taskforce, I was impressed by the software’s seamless integration with the desktop Gmail experience, and the increased task management feature-set it brought with it. However, for small businesses that operate primarily in the field, I found Taskforce’s mobile functionality to be too limited and under-developed to warrant serious consideration. In my search for a more robust mobile task application, I came across Astrid Tasks, which promises not only to deliver full Google Tasks functionality for Android mobile devices, but also provide Astrid-exclusive features, such as voice notifications. Since I was already downloading one task application from the Android Market, I decided to check out Gtasks, as well. Want to know which one is best for small businesses? Read on to find out!
Both apps sync with the Google Tasks applet in your desktop Gmail client, allowing you to add, delete, and rearrange tasks from your mobile Android device. Astrid allows users to designate a task with four varying degrees of importance, set deadlines and add notes to particular tasks, and, significantly, to assign tags to tasks, which can really streamline the organization of otherwise unwieldy task lists. Astrid also allows users to run a timer, thereby allowing you to see how long it takes to complete a given task. It’s a nifty feature, but there’s no provision for exporting the recorded times, so the function is really only useful for self-monitoring individual performance; managers looking to track agents’ field operations will have to look elsewhere in the Android market.
Astrid offers a lot of great features, which really improve upon the Google Tasks experience, but there is a catch; none of these additional features will show up in your desktop Google Tasks applet, and Astrid doesn’t offer its own desktop client. If your workflow is almost exclusively mobile, this won’t be an issue, but for those who need their mobile tasks to be perfectly mirrored on their office computers, Astrid won’t be able to help you out.
Fortunately, Gtasks doesn’t suffer from any of Astrid’s shortcomings, for the simple reason that it doesn’t aspire to offer any functionality beyond that already offered by Google’s own version of Tasks. Eschewing Astrid’s trick feature-set, Gtasks focuses on user interface and performance; after using both apps for several days, I found that Gtasks consistently synced with my desktop Google Tasks applet much more quickly–both downloading and uploading tasks–than Astrid. Furthermore, Gtasks offers a more intuitive user experience, as changing between task lists is as simple as swiping the screen left or right (Astrid, by comparison, employs Android’s physical “return” button to exit a particular to-do list, which then takes the user back to a meta-list, from which they can then select specific to-do lists). Unlike Astrid, Gtasks also displays checked tasks—those tasks that have been marked as completed, but, for whatever reason, you haven’t yet deleted.
You really can’t go wrong with either of these apps, as they’re both quite stable, and offer all of Google Tasks’ functionality in a mobile package. It’s really a matter of choosing the right app for your workflow and needs. If you’re a heavy mobile task user (or would like to become one), and you rarely find yourself at a desktop computer, then Astrid is probably the right choice. On the other hand, if you split your time pretty evenly between the office and the field, and need consistent features and meta-data across all platforms, then the more modestly outfitted Gtasks is a great solution.