Business Issues Today

Over 300,000 businesses have a presence on Facebook. Isn't time you engaged your company in social media?

The video shows you how to get involved. If you need some personal one-on-one advice. contact me via this website. You can't afford to not be engaged in the new revolution!

Get your very own PA (personal assistant) in your pocket and its free! Siri has developed a speech to text App for the iPhone so if you are out and about and want to find a restaurant, movie listings or a taxi nearby, you simply speak your request into the iPhone. But even if you are in the office and want to find where to go for lunch, this is a handy tool that delivers the information in just seconds.

Siri is no ordinary speech to text but a virtual assistant because it actually goes ahead and makes the reservation. You do require an appropriate service at the backend such as CitySearch, OpenTable etc. In fact there are 30 trusted brands behind the App from Siri. You've also got a speech reminder built in, just like your PA calling you to remind you of an important appointment.

You can download this App for free from www.siri.com. For more details, go to my Blog at http://www.businessissuestoday.blogspot.com

Facebook tops the social networks and now accounts for 67% of the global online audience. Last December, 09, Facebook experienced 209 million unique visitors.

What are the implications?
1. if you are a business, you had better figure out a way to be part of this social media revolution and how to bring your brand online. Hire a consultant unless you are an expert - learn from them before jumping in and making huge mistakes. It requires a strategy and guidance from a professional.
2. Content publishers should be worried as this is a definite shift in mind share. Facebook has a built in Newsfeed that can be utilized by anyone with anything to say and it's searchable by Google.

For more discussion, visit my Blog http://www.businessissuestoday.blogspot.com

Facebook is building a new data center in Oregon. Since it is a California company, one has to ask why are they not expanding in California? Simple answer: Taxes! Oregon is more tax friendly.

How long is it going to take for our California legislators to understand that higher taxes all round are hurting economic recovery and perhaps, detrimentally having long term effects on the technology industry here. For more on this, read my Blog - (URL in my profile).

A new and major update for the Apple iPhone is about to be launched with OS 4.0 Here are the 2 key improvements:
1) . The ability to multi-task i.e have applications running in the background.
2) Navigational changes are rumored too, for example, zooming in and out wherever you are and not just for the Internet.

Well that's merely catching up with the Palm Pre! More important than the feature updates is the change to the monthly unlimited plan that no one is yet talking about. At last, AT&T is dropping the price by $30 a month to $99. It has been way too expensive for too long. Perhaps AT&T's monopoly on the iPhone is soon to disappear? Isn't it interesting that this $99 plan now matches Sprint and, Verizon is also launching the Palm Pre and Pixi at a $99 unlimited package.

Watch out as Sprint is likely to retaliate with a price reduction to remain competitive. The reasons to still have a landline are disappearing fast.
http://tinyurl.com/y8n62wm

The FCC has received more than 13,000 responses on this issues. Many of these groups receive donations from AT&T.

The fact is you don't have a choice of ISP. Even though many people are cutting the home line and using their cell phones as their main number, we are still tied to the ISP's, the telecommunications companies, because we still need access to the web for everything at home. Our main hub is now the network at home, supplying on demand programs to computers or TV, video conferencing and global communication through Skype etc.

So is this just another form of stealth lobbying? You decide: http://tinyurl.com/y9kghrk

Smartphone owners are discovering the utility of scanning a product barcode to find the best prices available online and in stores. Using the GPS connection, the application find the nearest store with that product in your neighborhood and online. Brick and mortar retailers need to therefore find ways to embrace this new way of shopping. Indeed it can be a competitive threat to a store but, there is also opportunity if stores stop fearing technology.

Research firm Compete found that 41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android users do compare prices online.

What's the solution?
Retailers should develop their online presence to include lots of information and reviews on the product, and develop easy mobile access to it. This helps the customer feel more comfortable to purchase from the bricks and mortar store and hence fosters loyalty

All the major bricks and mortar retailers now also sell online, so a mobile access implementation should not require a major investment or upheaval to the current business model. (More reading: http://tinyurl.com/yhwy9lt)

If you are a consumer, Shop Savvy is a great application for an Android phone. http://www.biggu.com/applications/