iPhone 4S has some nice camera upgrades

October 5, 2011 by Justin Alcon

For some of us, the most compelling new feature of the iPhone 4S isn’t the debut of iOS 5 or the faster A5 processor. No, what I’m most excited about (and I know I’m not the only one) is the new, beefier camera. We’ve come a long way; ten years ago phone cameras were a joke, and now they’re the most popular camera on flickr. The iPhone 4S’s camera upgrade shows us why.

First, the size: 8 megapixels. This is the most marketing-friendly upgrade, but in my opinion it’s the least important. Plenty of devices have high pixel counts, and the fact is you don’t need a high pixel count to take a quality photo. High pixel counts are really only necessary for very large photos with very large sensors, like DSLR-type cameras. Having a lot of pixels in a small space only helps the quality of shots that are blown up very large, which isn’t a common use of a phone snapshot. So what is important? Read More

Need to Print from your iPhone/iPad? Canon PIXMA WiFi Printers Get AirPrint Support

September 21, 2011February 1, 2014 by BrothaTech

Even though mobile device computing has come a long way in a very short time, devices like iPhones are limited by their inability to download and install the necessary printer drivers needed to print from your mobile device to a printer. Apple introduced AirPlay/AirPrint support with its latest iOS version that can enable an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad to handle a number of tasks such as streaming music and movies wirelessly to compatible products. Frees up your device from being tethered to your primary machine.

With the exception of HP and Epson, companies have only licensed the AirPlay technology thus far to do the fun stuff. Now Canon has announced that its new line of PIXMA Series wireless printers will have the AirPrint technology built in for direct printing from an iOS device connected to the same local network. The MG8220, MG6220, and MG5320 will all allow users to wirelessly print photos, emails, web pages and other documents without the need to install device drivers, saving time and making for a seamless user experience. Read More

Sonar App for iPhone Now Displays LinkedIn Connections When You Check-in

September 15, 2011September 14, 2011 by BrothaTech

The Sonar app is a great way to find out how you are connected to other people where you are located. By checking in to a location using Sonar (pulls location information from Foursquare) you see not only who has also checked in, but how you are connected. Initially, Sonar used Twitter and Foursquare connections. Now the app has turned on LinkedIn as a method for fishing out your relationship to those around you.

Actually, you don’t even have to check-in to see who is at a location and if there are any connections. Upon opening, the app shows you nearby locations (you can also search if your location is not on the list), and the number of people currently checked in. Read More

Card Scanner Pro – Fast and Accurate Business Card Scanning

August 11, 2011 by BrothaTech

Business cards are a necessary evil. I hate asking for them at events because I really don’t want to be tasked with the responsibility of doing something with them later, but I feel like a dork if I don’t ask for a card from somebody who just asked for my card. So in my quest to completely get rid of business cards, I have found the Card Scanner Pro app for iPhone that provides quick and easy business card scanning to save directly to your phone’s address book. Read More

Find the Time to Get Things done with Free Time app

August 1, 2011August 1, 2011 by BrothaTech

Coming off the heels of my last Small Biz Go Mobile post about the TaskRabbit service that helps people hire on-demand help to run errands and do other tasks that you may not have time for as a small business owner, is a cool little iPhone app that helps you quickly and easily identify time in between scheduled appointments…that could possibly be used to log on to TaskRabbit to find help to do stuff you don’t have time for. Read More

OfficeMax Releases Impress Mobile Print Center Application

June 30, 2011June 30, 2011 by BrothaTech

As much as I hate to say it, sometimes you MUST print something out. For those times when all you have on you is your smartphone, OfficeMax’s new mobile printing center solution may just get you out of those “we only want print” jams.

The ImPress Mobile Print Center lets Android and iPhone users access, upload and print your documents fron anywhere. They can be PDF’s, images, emails…whatever your device can store, ImPress Mobile Print promises to be able to print. In addition to files stored on your device, you can also send GoogleDocs files stored in the cloud to an ImPress Print Center for printing. You can submit a new print job or access previous jobs for reprints, etc.

First and foremost, the Mobile Print Center helps users locate the nearest OfficeMax with directions to that location from your current location using your phone’s native map app. Once you’ve found a location, you can add a file to your document library, customize your print settings, enter your contact info, review and confirm your orders details (cost will be outlined during this portion) and quickly and securely pay for and pick up your printed file at the desired location.

So if you’re dealing with colleagues, clients/customers who haven’t quite adopted the whole paperless thing yet, you can rest assured that the free OfficeMax ImPress Mobile Print Center has your back just in case you need to quickly print out document hard-copies on the go.

[Android Market Link]

[Apple iTunes Link]

It’s Official: Smartphones are More Important than Hygiene

June 28, 2011June 28, 2011 by Shy Mukerjee

When we last checked in with Manta, they released some promising survey data indicating that Small Businesses are hiring. Their latest survey, however, tells us a little bit more about the modern Small Business owner and entrepreneur. While it’s within their margin of error, more small business owners check their email on their mobile device first thing in the morning (32%) than brush their teeth (31%). The age of the smartphone has truly arrived.

That said, it’s important for Small Business owners and entrepreneurs to make the most of their time spent on their mobile devices. Reading this site is one way. Signing up for Manta might be another. If you missed our previous coverage, allow me to recap: Manta allows small biz owners to ‘claim’ their online business listing, network with other small business owners, and participate in a rich Q&A-style forum called Manta Connect. The best part? Manta just announced the latest version of their mobile app for iOS devices. And it’s all free, so you really have no excuse.

The new version of the app allows you to search for small businesses in a variety of ways, offering search filters by category, name, number of employees, proximity and more. They give you maps of company locations, and let you bookmark other small businesses you might be interested in networking with. But the best part? If you’re using the new Manta app on your iPhone, you can easily add a biz’s contact info straight into your phone book.

One last bit of data from the survey: Manta found that a full 73% of business owners are working remotely while on vacation this summer, checking email or documents from their smartphone or tablet computers. I know that it’s tough working for a small business sometimes, feeling like you have to work twice as hard as your competition just to stay afloat, but you need to remember to relax too. Maybe you should be using the Manta app to find yourself a decent spa or massage parlor.

Oh, and if you want to check out the full release of Manta’s new survey data, head on over to their site. Just don’t drop your smartphone in the toilet while trying to juggle your floss with your iPhone.

Apple ditches MobileMe, introduces iCloud at exciting price point: free

June 6, 2011 by Shy Mukerjee

Although Apple’s cloud services have been rumored for years, no real information has surfaced before today about exactly what to expect. But at their Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) today, Apple announced that they’re going cloud in a big way: starting this fall, MoibleMe (a paid service to synchronize your mail, contacts, and calendar) will be replaced by a new, free service called iCloud.

What is iCloud? At a basic level, it’s a replacement for all of the services that MobileMe used to cover: iCloud provides free synchronization for your Mail, Calendars and Contacts through new applications that push your updates to any iOS devices you may own, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Similarly, App Store and iBookstore purchases are now automatically synchronized between multiple devices. What does that mean for you? Hassle-free work from the field, with the same calendar and mail set-up on your phone or tablet (provided those phones and tablets are the iPhone and iPad!)

The real win for small business users comes in the form of document sync, however. Last week, Apple announced that their iWork suite of apps, including Pages, Numbers and Keynote, we’re being ported to work not just on the iPad but also the iPhone and iPod touch. These apps, for those who aren’t familiar, are Apple’s answers to Microsoft’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively.

Today Apple is announcing that their iWork suite of apps will allow document sync through their iCloud service, with 5GB free storage for documents. While 5GB isn’t a huge amount of storage for music or pictures, it translates into thousands of documents sync’d seamlessly across your devices. For users on the go, this may finally make Apple’s iWork suite of software a viable alternative to Microsoft’s suite of desktop software or even Google Documents.

A few other features of note: Apple is also announcing iBackup, a feature that securely backs up your iOS devices over Wi-Fi whenever you charge your devices. Not only are your apps, books, and music backed up, but also your device settings. This should make things easier for users upgrading from the iPad to the iPad 2, or from the iPhone 4 to whatever comes next from Apple. As well, it should relieve some stress from users worried about having to connect their iPad or iPhone to their computer via USB every time they want to manually backup their devices.

Other things like photo sync and iTunes in the cloud offer services to sync your photographs and music between devices, and you can read the full details in Apple’s press release.

Improving Apple

April 25, 2011April 25, 2011 by Justin Alcon

I love Apple products. There, I said it. However, as comes with the fanboy territory, many of us have started to notice small things that we would change about our favorite iOS features. Over at Apple Matters there’s an article about just this – in particular, how certain apps for your iOS devices can be replaced with something better. The highlights:

Their list starts with Instacast, which does a better job of managing and finding podcasts than searching through the iTunes Music Store on your iPhone. Podcasts represent a surprising share of iTunes traffic. I can see why when I look at the really great ones like The Complete Guide to Everything, Laughing Historically, and the New Yorker Fiction Podcast. If you don’t have a favorite, you should definitely go exploring. Similar to Instacast, although it is not on the list at Apple Matters, Stitcher is quickly becoming the most popular way to manage podcasts among my friends.

Next comes PhotoSync, which wirelessly syncs your photos between your iOS device and computer. If it only synced everything (not just photos), this would be a real game-changer. Stil,l if your mobile life involves a lot of photo management this could really help you out.

Finally, they list Stash Pro, an image management application. It’s more expensive than the other apps we’ve discussed at $3.99, but it does allow you to download images directly from websites. Plus, you can add keywords, titles and ratings to images for superior organization of large sets.

I’d be amiss if I left my latest favorite Apple hack out of this post. It doesn’t come from the list over at Apple Matters, and it isn’t a software hack: it’s Applecores. Pictured with this post is the cool, affordable little solution to my biggest Apple beef: tangled headphone cords. You all know the story- you neatly wound your headphones and put them in your pocket, only to later you pull them out and boom! A bird’s nest of tangles and knots! Well, no more. Applecore offers their simple and effective solution for the Apple cord tangle for only a few bucks- a bargain, in my opinion, to be freed from the daily headphone de-tangle.

Mario Armstrong

TV Host and Motivator for the Modern World

Tag: iphone