Small Business Computing Staff

Wired: First Look – Acer Iconia Tab A500 Tablet PC Wired magazine shows a sneak peak at Acer’s new tablet PC. It runs Android Honeycomb on a dual-core processor, and it will be priced at $450. “Ever since Google’s tablet-optimized version of its Android OS debuted on the Xoom in February, manufacturers have been scrambling […]

Open Forum: Jazz Up Your Twitter Stream, Attract More Followers Erica Swallow suggests five quick ways to make your small business Twitter stream more interesting, including adding pictures, responding directly to customer queries and comments and sharing your expertise. Apr 19, 2011 – “With a billion tweets per week, Twitter has become a place for […]

CNet: Edit Google Maps With Google Map Maker Anyone can add to or update Google maps with Map Maker. Small businesses could use it to improve information around their locations. Mobile businesses such as food trucks could use it to show where they are. “Google Map Maker, the crowdsourced mapping Web app launched in 2008 […]

PCWorld: Review: Bento 4 Database Software The latest version of Bento, the consumer database app for Mac from FileMaker that also works for small businesses, addresses some of the programs earlier shortcomings such as its inability to print labels or professional-looking reports. “Bento 4, Filemaker’s personal database application for the Mac, is a perennial favorite […]

Entrepreneur: Review: Microsoft Office 365 Cloud Services Office 365 is Microsoft’s suite of cloud-based services for small businesses, including online versions of Office applications. Using it may be inevitable for some types of small businesses, Jonathan Blum says. And that’s not an entirely good thing. “For good or for bad, Microsoft is finally stepping into […]

PCmag@Work (Small Business): Common SMB IT Mistakes & How To Avoid Them Here are five mistakes small businesses often make about using and managing IT. Read them and correct the error of your ways. “For small businesses, technology can be a blessing and burden. Just as easily as you can take advantage of exciting new […]

ITBusinessEdge: Wi-Fi For Small Business: Common Misconceptions Paul Mah sets small businesses straight on some common misconceptions about Wi-Fi networks – that going with inexpensive consumer gear is a good decision, that performance claims for Wi-Fi networks can be taken at face value and that site surveys are vitally important to good network design. “I’ve […]

Entrepreneur: QR Codes: The Next Big Thing In Web Marketing? Jonathan Blum of the website Blumsday rounds up tools that help small businesses deploy QR codes to promote their companies. Customers can use their smartphone camera to read QR codes printed on signs or in publications. The code automatically directs them to a website or […]

ITBusinessEdge: Security 101 – Beware Of Social Engineering Exploits Paul Mah says social engineering – fraudsters and hackers using trickery to get information from individuals that they can later use in hacking – is on the increase, and suggests what SMBs should do about it. “Security and data breaches are hardly new, and if recent […]

PCWorld: Review – T-Mobile G2X Smartphone PC World magazine reviewer Ginny Mies praises the new T-Mobile G2X’s 8-megapixel camera, thin and simple design and the “super fast” performance from its dual-core Tegra 2 chip and says its the hands-down best phone for T-Mobile right now. “T-Mobile’s latest entry in its G-series of Android phones and […]

Wired: Security Alert – Android Skype App Vulnerability A new exploit discovered by researchers at the website Android Police could allow hackers to gain access to personal information about a Skype user such as first and last name, address, phone number and e-mail address. “A recently discovered security flaw in Skype for Android mobile devices […]

PCmag@Work (Small Business): Business Intelligence On Your iPad With QlikView Small business owners and managers can use the new QlikView app for iPad to create custom views of their company’s business data, with at-a-glance graphical representations and configurable charts and spreadsheets. “QlikTech, a company known for business-intelligence software, announced that QlikView for iPad will be […]