At Computer Troubleshooters, we’ve once again braved the information-overload of the internet to find current trends, important alerts or general hints and tips from other sources. Here’s the best technology information of the month, relevant to small businesses.
Enjoy the articles in bite-sized pieces and click on the Read More links to see the full stories.
Developers will get their version of iOS 5 today, with customers receiving the update this fall.
Though not every predicted feature came to pass, the update includes long-rumored additions like a better notifications system and wireless software updates. Some of the new features are cool, and a few were a long time in coming, but the update remains incremental when compared with previous iOS updates. That’s not to say that the additions aren’t useful, but most are relatively small.
50 Must-Have Small Business iPhone and iPad Apps
Since I listed 10 great small business apps in 2010, the use of iPhones and iPads for SMB’s has exploded in areas from business travel to communication to productivity. The office has become truly mobile. Here are must-have apps for those running and operating businesses in 2011.
Analysing Microsoft’s Windows 8 Preview
Code-named “Windows 8″ by Microsoft, the next-generation operating system is notable for two features: it’s the first major attempt by the operating system giants to elevate a mobile OS to desktop status, and it’s expected to be touch-friendly and to work seamlessly on tablets, desktops and laptops.
Like Windows Phone, Windows 8 on tablets (and every other platform for that matter) has a screen of “Live Tiles” that provide rich data and launch deeper apps. Users can slide the tiles around on the screen. This Windows 8 preview video from Jensen Harris, director of program management for Windows, certainly looks impressive. The “app tiles” concept from Windows Phone 7 has been blown up and expanded to suit a larger, horizontal screen. In many ways, this makes sense. Having a persistent, real-time weather or traffic feature on your desktop is something that you can now achieve with a multitude of programs and widgets, but making them look and feel like mobile apps will better position Windows to reach younger consumers whose first computing experience is likely to be a high-powered tablet or phone, not a 186 running DOS.
RSA Security offered this week to replace or monitor all SecurIDs — an offer several major customers, including Bank of America and SAP, immediately accepted. “We have recommended very careful use of tokens while we are finalizing the details of a full replacement with RSA,” said Saswato Das, a rep for SAP. “We have been talking to them for months.” A Bank of America spokeswoman said the company is in the process of replacing SecurIDs for all of its employees and the “small number” of clients who use the tokens.
It’s the latest twist in a security-breach saga that started in March, when RSA, a division of EMC Corp. (EMC, Fortune 500), disclosed that hackers had broken into its systems and made off with information about its SecurID products.
