Alberta Business Marketing

The Cloud gives your business more digital freedom

Tags: cloud, cloud computing, Sales & Marketing, Science & Technology, Tech Essentials
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The best in new business technology By Gunnar Blodgett Follow the Leader Sales projections for Apple’s iPad are expected to top $5.5 million this year. apple.ca It’s been six months since the much-touted release of the Apple iPad, and sales of the device are projected to top $5.5 million this year. Those figures are just the beginning, too, given the [...]

Tags: Sales & Marketing, tablets, Tech Essentials
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The best in new business technology by Gunnar Blodgett Apply Yourself Mobile application stores may have just celebrated their second year of existence, but they’re already all grown up. Yet while mobile applications – “apps” – for smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry, and Google’s new Android) have made the move from niche to normal, that evolution has also produced [...]

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The best in new business technology by Gunnar Blodgett Image Makeover The advent of tablet computing may be all the rage, but the iPad may not even make it to Canada this year. For a real sales phenomenon, you’ll have to look elsewhere. While digital SLR cameras have been around for a while, their falling price points mean [...]

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The best in new business technology

by Gunnar Blodgett

Join the Smart Set

Smart phone technology – wireless telephones that do more than simply provide mobile voice calling – has evolved significantly since IBM launched the Simon in 1992. What was fundamentally a business communications tool has evolved into a mobile data device with extensive multimedia capacity and a range of applications that go far beyond stock prices and email.

Most major carriers now offer the capacity to “tether” your phone to your laptop (if you can call into the office from the lake, then you can log into your company’s Virtual Private Network and finish that overdue proposal). Full (if small) keyboards have replaced number pads. Given the battery life, you can plug in your earphones and play that movie you’ve been wanting to watch or just listen to your favourite music.

Choices may now be limited on a corporate level by intended use, but at $30 a month for six-gigabyte data packages, there’s no denying the power of sizzle on a personal phone upgrade.

New on the Market

This past June, Rogers released the HTC Magic and HTC Dream, two of the newest entries into the evolving smart phone market. The Magic, with its touchscreen keyboard and slick, Internet-savvy interface is somewhat reminiscent of the iPhone. The Dream features a slide-out keyboard for users not comfortable with the touch version. Both models come with a trackball nub.

Both devices are based on Google’s Android operating system (at least via Rogers; Telus does not convert completely to 3G, so-called third-generation networking, until spring of 2010), which offers a range of commercial services built around Google Maps and a global positioning system (GPS), including searches for shopping, travel and social activities. HTC also has full media capacity for music and video playing, including built-in video and audio recorders. While tinny, the HTC speakers are at least audible beyond two metres.

Some of the GPS-driven applications are spectacular (the astronomical map which orients to the sky around you is very impressive). The bar code scanner gives quick access to prices and reviews, which might stop some impulse holiday buying. However, there are, as of this writing, only 3,500 programs available for download. On the upside, most of those applications are free.

Finally, on a practical level, you no longer need a removable USB stick: the HTC battery-charging port will also connect to your personal computer’s USB drive and can be treated as a mobile data drive for Excel, Word, Acrobat and, of course, MP3 files.

Both phones are now available, priced from $50 (with a three-year contract).

Tags: 3G network, Sales & Marketing, smart phones, Tech Essentials
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