4 WordPress Plugins for Geo Targeting
by Wordpress Jedi

Geo targeting is not a revolutionary practice. Many businesses have been using geo targeting tactics to target their prospects by their location. Did you know that you could also target your visitors based on their location on your WordPress site? These 4 geo redirection plugins help with that:

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first published week of:   09/03/2012

5 technologies that will disrupt the world in 2013
by sorab ghaswalla

Five emerging technologies could become mainstream next year. A list announcing the constituents was released by The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), a heavyweight trade body in the US consumer electronics market, recently. Mind you, these are not products but new technology trends that we are talking about.

So let the drums roll as I list the five…

• 3D printing
• Next-gen TVs and displays
• Evolution of the audio market
• Mobile revolution in Africa
• Technology in education

To anybody following new technologies, 3D printing topping the list is a no-brainer. The technology has been around for over three decades now, but has taken some serious strides in the consumer products arena only in the last four years. As CEA says, 2013, indeed, could turn out to be the year of 3D printing.

Five Technology Trends to Watch, for those of you who are unaware, is a free publication brought out as a special supplement to the CE Vision magazine, the flagship publication of the CEA. This has been a ritual for the last 12 years — guessing the top-of-the-pops technology trends of next year.

Besides naming the top five big ones, the report also provides in-depth analysis of each technology, as well as market forecasts, along with other stuff like consumer perspectives. The hits and misses ratio of this annual prediction is quite even. After all, with almost 2000 tech companies as members, you can’t really go way off the mark now, can you?

For the purpose of this article, I will delve on the top three technologies spelled out by CEA since these, I feel, are of more overall consumer value, and thus, use and interest, as compared to the last two; and also for reasons of brevity.

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first published week of:   10/29/2012

51% Of People Think Stormy Weather Affects Cloud Computing
by Jay Yarow

If there’s a buzzword that’'s more soporific/confusing than “cloud computing” we’re not sure what it is.

A survey from Citrix confirms that we're not the only ones who feel this way. It surveyed 1,000 people about cloud computing and found that 51 percent think bad weather affects cloud computing. Another 95 percent don’t think they ever use cloud computing, even though they’re actually doing a lot in the cloud.

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first published week of:   09/03/2012

7 Things to Consider When Hiring an IT Consultant
by rich+Hein

Hiring an IT consultant for a mission-critical task or project that drives core business sometimes is more cost- and time-efficient than hiring a full-time employee that you can train, work with and guide. These specialized IT pros are normally brought in to work on critical, deadline-driven tasks, making it an imperative that you find the right IT consultant for the job. However, it is a tricky-and potentially risky--endeavor, but there are steps you can take to ensure the job gets done while minimizing the legal risks to your company.

Editor's note: This article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice regarding specific issues.

There a number of reasons you may need an IT consultant including training on a new piece of software, equipment or technology. Maybe you need an unbiased review of internal procedures or SEO. Regardless of the reason, finding the right consultant can mean the difference between success or failure. Add to that the legalities involved and it's easy to see how challenging this task can be.

So where do you start? CIO.com spoke with Michael Chrusch, senior vice president, general counsel & corporate secretary to Signature Consultants, to gain insight into the seven common mistakes to avoid when hiring an IT consultant.

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first published week of:   11/19/2012

iCloud: Is 4th Time a Charm for Apple's Media Service?

Apple has revealed the name of its upcoming online media service: iCloud. But don’t let the cute branding fool you. The company has tried this service before, and the iCloud rebranding signals a do-over on one of Apple’s greatest failures.

The company issued a news release Tuesday about its software developers’ conference to be held next week. In addition to previewing the new Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5 operating systems, Steve Jobs will share details on iCloud — Apple’s upcoming “cloud services offering.”

Based on that terse description alone, we can decipher that iCloud will be Apple’s sequel to MobileMe, a paid online service for synchronizing personal information, such as your calendars, address books, e-mail and photos, across multiple devices. Tech observers agree that MobileMe has been one of Apple’s most embarrassingly flawed products, thanks to its extremely buggy launch and limited functionality. MobileMe was itself a 2008 rebranding of .Mac, which began its life in 2000 as iDisk.

The rebranding hints that Apple may be ready to expand MobileMe into a broader online-storage service. Ross Rubin, consumer analyst at NPD Group, believes that iCloud shows Apple’s intention to move into on-demand media, potentially allowing customers to access their iTunes–purchased music or movies over the internet with multiple devices.

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first published week of:   01/16/2012

snapp! Is A Social Location Sharing App For Android & iOS With Indoor Check-ins
by a. rehman

There aren’t a lot of apps out there that allow you to keep track of your social contacts’ whereabouts, and that too integrated with multiple social network services. Using snapp!, a free social location sharing and tracking app for Android and iOS, you can do just that. Powered by Google Maps and Sensewhere’s crowdsourced indoor maps, the app helps you view the current locations of your Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Sensewhere friends (other snapp! users), using color-coded placemarkers and avatars to make it easier. You can opt to check in to a particular building/location, or a specific room within a building. In addition, it lets you post status updates and photos across multiple networks simultaneously. The app can also be set to register automatic check-ins for your favorite places and constantly track your current location at predefined intervals. You could say it is like Google Latitude with extensive social media integration and indoor check-ins. snapp! for iOS hit the iTunes App Store a while ago, while its Android variant is fresh to the Play Store.

As the indoor maps feature is crowdsourced and new, it will take some time to populate. If you are based in one of the regions where indoor maps are currently available, you’ll find the option to switch back and forth between indoor and outdoor map view with a tap. This way, when required, you can let your friends know your precise location on map – particularly useful if, say, you’re shopping at a mall with a group of friends.

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first published week of:   10/29/2012

Volume 31

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