Been waiting to buy a new MacBook Pro? Today Could Be Your Day – Upgrades Across the Line

October 24, 2011 by Shy Mukerjee

While no major changes have been made to Apple’s professional line of laptops, the MacBook Pro, Apple quietly upgraded the entire line of products today to introduce some small changes—bigger hard drives, faster processors and some better graphics cards. Minimum hard drive sizes are now 500 GB across the line, and processor speeds have been bumped up: you now get a 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 on the lowest-end 13″ model at $1,199, and 2.8GHz i7 on the upgraded model at $1,499. Graphics on the high-end 15″ and 17″ models have been bumped up from the AMD Radeon HD 6750M to the newer HD 6770M model, which should provide a nice boost to anyone doing heavy graphics and video work, or even those just looking to eke out a few more FPS in their favorite games.

As Apple’s laptop upgrade schedule is never a public matter, you never know when the laptop you just bought is going to become last year’s model. Which is why if you’ve been interested in a new Mac, now is the best time to buy a new MacBook Pro.

The Pantech Crossover is the Perfect Entry Level Smartphone

October 21, 2011October 21, 2011 by Justin Alcon

I recently had the pleasure of using the Pantech Crossover for a week, and I have to say that I’m impressed. I have been a smartphone user for a REALLY long time (I don’t want to say how long for fear of sounding like a bigger nerd than I already do). I feel like I’ve basically seen it all when it comes to handheld devices. And yet, this small Android device with a real keyboard was still able to surprise me. As comfortable as I feel with smart phones generally, I realized I hadn’t used one with a proper keyboard since my T-Mobile Sidekick. While the form was foreign to me, I was impressed at how easily I was able to begin using the Crossover due to its intuitive design and responsive interface. Read More

Gmail Adds Freshbooks Invoicing and Time Tracking Functionality

October 20, 2011 by BrothaTech

You do everything else via your inbox: To-do lists/tasks, contact management, daily correspondence, etc. Might as well track your time and invoice clients too. The Freshbooks financial software already makes it possible to quickly access your account via a link on your Google Apps menu bar. Now users can track time and submit invoices without ever leaving their inbox.

Of course to make this work, you need a Google Apps and a Freshbooks account (I can vouch for both because I use them daily). Read More

A Second Monitor For Your Laptop Could Be the Ultimate Mobile Accessory

October 20, 2011October 21, 2011 by Shy Mukerjee

It’s easy to forget that the backbone of mobile productivity is still the laptop computer. While we’re increasingly able to do more with our smartphones and tablets (and with some, including Apple head Tim Cook predicting that the tablet market may someday eclipse the PC market), the fact is that most of us can’t yet do everything from our iPads. While dual monitor set-ups are popular at the office and at home, they’re not exactly the easiest thing to make mobile. Sure, Lenovo tried a dual-screen laptop back in 2008, but those barely made a dent in the market. After all, you don’t need a second monitor all the time, so why not have one as an optional accessory instead?

That is exactly the line of thinking behind the new CINQ monitor, a 720p HD second monitor that works over USB. That’s right, no matter what kinds of video out options you have on your laptop, you simply plug this baby into a USB port on your machine and you’re suddenly running on two screens. You can easily place on the table next to your laptop or even attach to the side of your existing laptop screen with the included mount. Billed as the “ultimate laptop accessory”, the CINQ is a 10.1″ 1280×720 monitor that will work on virtually any kind of computer. Because it encloses a video card (rather than sapping your current video card to power the display), the CINQ external monitor is virtually guaranteed to work on PC and Mac, as well as on laptops, netbooks, ultrabooks, and even desktops. Read More

Some Tips for Staying Safe with your Digital Wallet

October 19, 2011October 20, 2011 by Mario Armstrong

Mobile wallets are a hot topic right now, and the #1 question people keep asking is if they’re safe. The short answer, YES they are safe!

But how do I know that you’ll be safe? Because your credit cards are credit cards, no matter if they’re in your real wallet or your digital wallet. With MasterCard handling the transactions, you’ve got the same protections if someone gets ahold of your smartphone and starts making fraudulent purchases as you do with your ‘real’ credit card. You can report a card as being stolen the same way you do now—just because it’s stored inside a digital wallet doesn’t mean it’s any less safe! Read More

Premade Recipes Make ifttt Awesome

October 14, 2011October 21, 2011 by Justin Alcon

A while back, we found “if this then that”, a cool new way to automate some of the logistical work of your social media campaign. “If this then that”, or just “ifttt”, is a way to write custom recipes or routines that fit your social media campaign perfectly. That’s awesome, and what’s even more awesome is that you can share these recipes with the world. You’re also free to use the recipes that have already been shared by others, rather than having to make them all up from scratch. Today I’m going to take a look at some of the coolest recipes I’ve found, and let you know how you can put them to work with your social media outreach. Read More

Remote Computer Support TeamViewer Adds Access from iPhones, iPads and Android Devices

October 13, 2011October 12, 2011 by BrothaTech

TeamViewer is a remote desktop application that doesn’t get the shine it deserves due to more popular options like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC that eat up all the fanfare. With TeamViewer you can tackle all the operations that any other option can handle:

– Access and control another computer (Mac or PC)

– Share screens, transfer files, and perform various support functions

– Live demos and presentations

The cool thing about TeamViewer is that you don’t have to choose from different versions based on what kind of access you need like its competitors – One version of TeamViewer can handle it all. You can choose to go to the TeamViewer website and start a remote session or download the actual software for quick access for later sessions. Read More

Quick Look at the Asus Zenbook

October 12, 2011 by Shy Mukerjee

Yesterday we were invited to the NYC launch event for the Asus Zenbook, one of the first of many of a new type of PC we expect to see and hear a lot about this holiday season. If you’ve used a Macbook Air, then you pretty much know what to expect: small, ultralight ‘netbook’ style laptops, but ones with full-powered processors (in this case, Intel core i5) and decently-sized solid-state hard drives inside.

While many manufacturers are finding they can’t compete with Apple in terms of sheer design or profit, they are finding they can produce products that can thrive at lower price points but often with some new features or accessories that Apple doesn’t currently offer. The Zenbook is going to ship with some free accessories that you’d pay extra for with a Macbook Air for instance—an ethernet adapter, a display adapter, and a case. They’re also throwing in USB 3.0 ports as well.

We’ll have a video up tomorrow showcasing the Zenbook, but take a look at some quick snaps we took to really get a sense of what this ultrabook is gonna look like. It’s on sale today, and though it’s supposed to start at a mere $999 (accessories included) I’m not seeing that particular 11″ model on any of the major retailers yet. Hopefully by the time our video goes out tomorrow we’ll be able to tell you where you can pick up the entry-level version of this laptop (and we’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll get one in our hands to really put to the test!) but until then, check out the pics after the break and pick up one of the nicer models if you’re sold on the idea! Read More

Mario Armstrong

TV Host and Motivator for the Modern World

Category: Small Biz Go Mobile