PODCAST: Capture and stream videos in real time with the AT&T Video Capture mobile app

July 9, 2012August 12, 2012 by Mario Armstrong

One thing that many small business owners overlook in promoting their businesses and communicating with employees is video. Yes, I know, the costs of video are often prohibitively high—that is, if you’re looking to shoot a professional commercial or similar video spot. But what if all you need is a good mobile video shot with your iPhone or Android smartphone? Small Biz Go Mobile sponsor AT&T provides a great app for free to its mobile consumers called AT&T Video Capture. Rather than having to upload, title & tag videos on a platform like YouTube, AT&T Video Capture lets you stream live and pre-recorded video straight to your employees and co-workers. Theres even a desktop version that lets you organize and archive those videos as well.

I can think of a ton of cool use cases for this technology. Field service technicians who are expected to solve problems in a single on-site visit, could use AT&T Video Capture to solicit advice and help from co-workers back in the office. Media broadcasters could use this to deliver the news live or report back to HQ with raw footage of an ongoing event. Want more ideas on how you can ramp up your business with AT&T Video Capture? Listen to my latest Small Biz Go Mobile podcast to hear all of my tips.

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

May 9, 2012August 13, 2012 by BrothaTech

Forget 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

Email: The Driving Force of Mobile

May 1, 2012August 13, 2012 by Justin Alcon

I love social media, I really do. Instagram, facebook, foursquare, and tumblr; these apps are some of the coolest available for our handhelds. But it’s interesting to think about how all this communication would likely not be there if it weren’t for their big brother: email.

Email, and electronic communication in general, has long been the driving force of the internet. When the world went mobile, email emerged as the single most important feature of a mobile device (arguably even more important than the voice features). RIM built a massive company mostly based around the idea of instant, secure mobile email devices. Now, iPhone users spend less than half the time using their phone as a phone. And in the last year, the use of smartphones by IT guys has gone from two thirds to almost all of them.

More impressively, just like web views, mobile devices are cannibalizing the desktop’s market share of opens. This means that important business messages are being read on phones more now then ever. My congressperson emails me, and at the bottom of the message reads the now-ubiquitous, ‘sent from my iPhone’. Read More

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

April 25, 2012August 13, 2012 by BrothaTech

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

Small Biz Challenges? AT&T Premier Has Mobile Solutions.

April 13, 2012August 13, 2012 by admin

Most small businesses could do more business if their employees could work while on the move. Want to mobilize your operation? Premier has the tools you and your business need to stay connected and productive outside of its walls.

Choose 4G smartphones that deliver fast, almost-anywhere access to email and the Web. Add applications to give your business a professional phone presence, remotely sync with Microsoft® Outlook®, process payments, and more. Get Wi-Fi connectivity devices to set up workstations-and share access-while out and about.

Start with one of these affordable 4G smartphones:
– BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 – $49.99
– HTC Inspire™ 4G – $0.01
– Samsung Galaxy S™ II Skyrocket™ – $199.99

See if you’re eligible for this offer and other discounts at Premier today.

This message brought to you by our sponsor, AT&T. 2-yr. agreem’t on voice plan & min. $20/mo. (IRU) or $30/mo. (CRU) data plan req’d. 4G not avail. everywhere. Add’l restr. apply.

Video: Dual Monitors On The Go With AirDisplay

April 12, 2012February 1, 2014 by BrothaTech

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

April 3, 2012August 13, 2012 by BrothaTech

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

Square Register is the best Point of Sale for iPad

March 29, 2012August 13, 2012 by Justin Alcon

Point of sale software on the iPad is nothing new, but it’s definitely worth a second look now that Square has released Square Register, their app for accepting both card and cash payments via your iPad.

The new Square Register should be ideal for a small business owner. Once you sign up for Square, you get a Square “Card Reader”, a little dongle that allows you to swipe credit cards. As long as you have a place to stash your cash, you can also take cash payments with just a tap of your touch screen. Read More

NFC Action is Heating Up—Who Wins? Consumers!

March 23, 2012August 14, 2012 by David Egger

David Egger is Lead Marketing Manager for AT&T’s IRU (Individual Responsibility User) Mobility Programs. You can find more blog content from David and other experts on emerging technologies and mobile application on the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.

When I last wrote about NFC (Near Field Communication) the technology was in its absolute infancy and was little more than a dream for a boy holding his wallet and phone, wishing they could merge. Fast forward less than a year and we have two functioning NFC systems live in the United States, and devices arriving with the capability to take full advantage.

Google Wallet was the first out of the gate with a limited solution. Google Wallet works with Citi Mastercard PayPass only at this time. It is also only available on the Nexus S device. It integrates with the Google Offers deals platform.

Right now the other big player is ISIS, a platform collaborated on between AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to bring NFC to the mainstream. This Summer we can expect to see a wide range of devices supporting ISIS, and the pilot that is currently ongoing in Austin and Salt Lake City already has support for multiple credit cards. ISIS also integrates a wide range of loyalty programs, enabling you to combine the functionality of a mobile wallet app and an app like CardStar. Read More

Mario Armstrong

TV Host and Motivator for the Modern World

Tag: Mobile