Healthcare Providers Want "Red Flag" Exception
Dentists, physicians, and veterinarians are asking the Federal Trade Commission to exclude healthcare professionals from regulations designed to mitigate the risks of identity theft. I say: Step up and protect your customers from identity theft.
Semantic Search Footnotes: Concepts, Ontologies & Real Time
I want to respond to a few comments/suggestions I received about my recent Intelligent Enterprise story, Breakthrough Analysis: Two + Nine Types of Semantic Search. Jim Hendler suggested a semantic-search approach I'd missed, "real-time search with some sort of filtering." I'll tackle that and points raised by NLP/semantics researcher Tom O'Hara...
SMB Trends To Watch In 2010
Technology consultants Access Markets International Partners have pointed to six trends among small and medium businesses that, they say, deserve more attention.
The Fritz & David Show: What a Week! Apple, Oracle, Rant
January 2010 won't go quietly, nor will Techweb's Chief Content Officer, David Berlind and I in our second podcast version of The Fritz & David Show where we give some of our final thoughts no the Apple iPad, and summarize the announcements coming from Oracle this week.
HP Extends Financing Plans
SMBs can get 0% lease financing on HP products for either 12-month or 36-month terms, with an option to purchase at the end of the lease. Both programs go into effect on Monday, February 1..
Texas IT Firm Adding 100 Jobs
A Dallas-based IT services firm with 500 employees is looking to add 100 new jobs this year to support its growing business in managed IT services, applications development, project management, and infrastructure services. About half of the new jobs are based in Dallas while others will be spread around the U.S.
Search Keywords Mean Business
Businesses that focus on branded searches may be missing out on the visitor traffic that comes from generic search terms.
Mobile Handset Sales Rebound
Manufacturers shipped 15% more mobile phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 than in the third quarter, researcher says.
Six Things To Like About The Apple iPad
The iPad is certainly missing a lot of features, but there's still plenty to like. Here are six features of the iPad that I think many will find appealing.
Google Makes Calling Directly From Ads Easier
Heaven forbid we actually have to dial a phone number any more. That would be awful. Google is saving smartphone owners, once again, from exercising their thumbs by adding a click-to-call feature directly in mobile ads.
HTC Makes Sense Available To Its Magic Phone
Those who jumped on the Android bandwagon early by purchasing the HTC Magic when it hit store shelves in mid-2009 take heed. HTC has made a new version of the system software available for the Magic, and it includes HTC's Sense user interface.
Motorola To Become Leading Android Supplier
Motorola is predicted to become the leading supplier of Android devices, pushing HTC to the number two spot. Motorola got real serious with Android with the launch of the Verizon based Droid and it looks like that is paying off.
iPad And SMBs, Take Two
Now that we've all found out what Apple has had up its sleeve all these months, we can start to assess the iPad's usefulness for business more confidently. At least one possible use case is clearly out the window -- at least for now -- but the demo introduced one no one had thought about.
Full Nelson Video: iPad Revealed
View a video demonstration, and read my thoughts on why I wouldn't buy Apple's latest must-have device if it were available today.
The iPad: I Don't Get It
Good grief. Yesterday's breathless blogging would have you thinking the technology world has been changed forever with the new Apple iPad. So let me go on the record with a contrarian viewpoint. The iPad seems like an interesting device, but I can't see where it fits into most personal or business IT needs.
RatePoint Helps Resolve Customer Disputes
Customer review and survey service RatePoint claims that businesses who use its online testimonial services can resolve 90 percent of customer disputes before they turn into negative reviews. That's one of several pieces of advice the company offers small businesses trying to manage their online reputations.
Oracle CEO Ellison: Sun Will Be Profitable In February
Making a huge commitment to Sun's viability and value, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said Sun will become profitable next month and will remain in the black thereafter. Setting up that unexpected promise, Ellison said, "So we're hiring, not firing. We're not cutting Sun to profitability, we're growing Sun to profitability."
Motorola Working On Google Nexus Phone?
Today Motorola confirmed that it is working on a new Android phone that it plans to sell directly to consumers through Google. Will its unnamed device be the Nexus Two? Perhaps.
Tech Resellers See Revenue Gain
Commercial resellers saw a rise in sales in December, indicating that tech spending among small and medium-sized businesses is on the rebound.
Oracle-Sun Layoff Claim Was Irresponsible Garbage: Ellison
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison served notice on competitors yesterday but saved his toughest talk for the UBS investment analyst who recently floated the rumor that Oracle would dismiss more than 13,000 Sun employees, or half its total workforce. Ellison called that claim "garbage" that was "highly irresponsible" and then set the record straight: Oracle will be adding employees.
MicroStrategy Says It's Time for Mobile BI
"We are on the verge of a new era that will result in a new class of applications that will change the way we think about our business," says MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor. That era will be driven largely by mobile... Yes, mobile.
Your Dad's SLAs And The Cloud
I chatted recently with a number of vendors about service level agreements (SLAs) and cloud computing. Perhaps the quote from these conversations that resonated with me most was, "your dad's SLAs won't cover the use cases for cloud." And, it's true. I joke around that cloud computing is just renamed Internet computing or network computing, but when you start adding in the factors surrounding cloud, it's pretty obvious that Dad's role in cloud SLAs is as an advisor, not implementor.
Apple's iPad To Nickel And Dime Customers
Apple is ruthless with its product pricing. It charges the maximum price it can get for a given product...and still leaves out essential ingredients, forcing customers to buy over-priced accessories. The iPad is no different.
Will The iPad Bring AT&T To Its Knees?
One of the more surprising elements of Apple's iPad launch event was news that the company is sticking with its long-time wireless network partner, AT&T. Was that the right move? Can AT&T handle the iPad in addition to the iPhone?
Apple Releases iPad SDK In Beta
The software development kit is available to individuals and enterprises who wish to build proprietary tablet applications.
Verizon Thinks BlackBerry Users Don't Consume Enough Music
This morning Verizon Wireless announced a new music-focused service specifically for BlackBerry users. Despite offering 1,000 songs on a microSD card, the service is clearly meant to coax BlackBerry users to download more music from Verizon's V CAST Music Store. Updated.
|