Mario Armstrong is on television and radio all day today bringing people information about MasterCard, Google Wallet, Citibank and Sprint teaming up to create an easy and safe way for people to start ditching their wallets and using their phones as their credit cards! We’re going to be bringing you tons of information about this partnership and what it means to you over the next few weeks, but if you’re coming to the site today and wondering how you can learn more about what’s going on, check out this post about what new services MasterCard is launching, check out Mario’s blog for his take on Google’s Wallet software, and stay tuned for more info!
Category: Top Story
A New iPhone (or two!) on the Horizon: Sorting Out iPhone 5 Rumors
We here at Small Biz Go Mobile are a rather prudent bunch, never ones to blindly pursue idle speculation and gossip in the pursuit of boosting site traffic. As such, we’ve refrained from adding to the Internet-hype-machine’s “coverage” of the next-generation iPhone (which the Webosphere, lacking any official guidance from Apple, has already dubbed the “iPhone 5”). But, with reputable sources now indicating that Apple will hold an October 4th press conference—at which the announcement of a new iPhone seems almost inevitable—we figured it was time to set aside our editorial discretion, and join in the iPhone 5-speculation fun! Read More
AT&T 4G Is Here! High-speed LTE Network Launching in 5 Cities
For those who crave zippy-fast data connections on their mobile devices, good news has arrived. On Sunday, AT&T launched its high-speed 4G LTE network, with the lucky denizens of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio being the first to receive AT&T’s new and improved cellular signals. If you don’t live in one of the aforementioned cities, don’t fret, as 10 more cities should receive LTE networks by the end of the year. Read More
CONTEST: Win a Dell Streak 7 Tablet Computer!
Contest is now closed
The cold weather here in New York City seems to indicate that the seasons are finally changing. You know what that means: more time indoors with our precious gadgets. But the leaves aren’t the only things coming down from the trees this year: it’s raining tablet computers here at Small Biz Go Mobile. Regular readers have probably noticed that we love to give things away (hopefully some of you have noticed more than that!). For the past few months, we’ve ben giving away eReaders—those fabulous little devices that let you read books, PDFs, and sometimes even your email while on-the-go. But this month, we’re not holding back: if you win this contest, you’re getting a fully-featured Dell Streak 7 tablet, running Google’s Android operating system.
What does that mean for you? You’re gonna be able to do everything on this tablet: composing Word documents and sending them out via email, reading books, PDFs and even opening up those dastardly Excel spreadsheets from accounting. With front- and rear-facing cameras, you’ll be shooting videos of the kids, taking pictures AND videoconferencing with the boss from the comforts of your couch. You’ll be browsing not just some of the web, but all of it with Android’s support for Flash video, animation and games. Speaking of, did I mention that you’ll be playing Angry Birds in glorious HD on this thing? Actually, given how hard some of the levels are, that might be all you’ll be doing!
I honestly can’t imagine why you’re even still reading this blog post. See that obnoxious orange bar at the bottom of the screen, beckoning you enter our contest? Why don’t you go ahead and click it—just don’t forget to come back and leave us a comment about how you’re going to use your brand new tablet computer.
Quisitive Saves You Embarrassment, Lawyer Fees
Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”. Nothing could be further from the truth in business. Naming and slogans are some of the most important aspects of branding. People do not ask for a facial tissue, they ask for a Kleenex, rather than an adhesive bandage one might ask for a Band-Aid. When companies want to distance themselves from a product that has tanked, they change the name, when they want to be associated with something great they adopt it’s name or naming convention. Take for instance the letter ‘i’ in front of a product name, mimicking the iPod, accessories for the device often are named with an ‘i’, for example iDock or iClock. Recently at the company where I work, we did some market research and found that some small changes to our name would greatly improve how our product was received by our potential customers.
Before now when the time came to name or rename a brand the only way to make sure that you were not using a name that was already associated with another brand or product was to pour over thousands of pages of patent records, or even worse, pay an expensive attorney to do so. Why pay a lawyer to do what your iPad can do for five bucks with Quisitive? Thіѕ awesome app allows users tο screen аnd search аll οf thе trademark аnd patent filings іn thе United States, аll frοm thеir iOS device. Fοr thе entrepreneur or marketing professional οn thе gο, thіѕ is a critical tool tο add tο your kit. If you think that this would be useful to you give іt a download аnd lеt υѕ know what you think іn thе comments.
Taskforce Gmail app Goes Mobile-Friendly
If you’re not familiar with Taskforce, it’s a simple web app (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) that enables you to convert emails into tasks that you can check-off when you have either responded to the email or completed a task that originated from the email itself. After you have converted an email to a task, you can then safely archive or file the email away and just work within your new task. If you wanted to work on your tasks, you had to be in front of your computer. Not any more, as the latest update brings a mobile-friendly site that’s optimized for Android and iOS that lets you take your tasks with you. Read More
Can You Make Money Selling Directly Through Facebook?
Is your small business conducting e-commerce directly through Facebook? According to a recent study by Ability Commerce, only 10% of the Web’s largest retailers sell products directly through Facebook. Are retailers simply not hip to the sell-through potential of the world’s most popular social media site? Or, as I pointed out in my early review of Google+, is this just indicative of Facebook’s long-standing difficulties in integrating e-commerce into its social networking architecture? Read More
The Risk Is Too Great: HP Terminates Its PC and Consumer Electronics Business
HP’s Q3 earnings call last week was, in a word, a doozy. CEO Leo Apotheker announced that HP–the largest PC manufacturer in the world–would essentially exit the PC and consumer electronics markets, and focus its efforts on high-margin data analytics services (an announcement that’s more than vaguely reminiscent of IBM’s 2004 decision to sell off its PC division). Specifically, HP plans on divesting itself of its PC division within the next 12-18 months, and has announced plans to acquire datacenter analytics firm Autonomy Corporation for $11 billion. While HP’s Personal Systems Group (the company’s internal name for its PC and CE operations) will live on in some form or another, it appears that HP’s WebOS experiment has officially drawn to a close, as Apotheker explains that they “have decided to shut down operations around webOS devices and [will] be exploring strategic alternatives to optimize the value of the software platform and development capability.” Read More
Google is Acquiring Motorola—But What Does it Mean?
This week’s big news is Google’s proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. There’s been a barrage of news and analysis surrounding this announcement, so we here at SmallBizGoMobile are going to distill it all down, and try to separate the facts from the hype, and the PR buzz from the players’ “real” motivations. Read More
Mobile Mondays: Work Better in a Noise-Free Environment
Welcome to Small Biz Go Mobile’s newest feature, Mobile Mondays. Every Monday we’ll be bringing you the latest tips, tricks and gadgets to help you better do business while on-the-go. If you’re anything like us, you’re just as likely to be working from home as you are at the airport or the coffee shop. But none of these places are ideal work environments, are they? Maybe you’re dealing with screaming kids, people talking loudly on their phones, or even just the background noise. When you’re trying to get important work done on-the-go, you need to create a productive atmosphere and reduce distractions. That’s why this week we’re taking a look at a small investment that could make a big impact on your mobile office life: noise canceling headphones. Read More