A Roam the Planet with a WiFi Hotspot from GlobalGig

Traveling for business today is a bit different than it used to be. In addition to making sure you have all your power supplies for laptop, tablet, cell phone, you need to make sure you can get connected to the Internet. That is not always easy, or affordable, but if you travel a lot (or even a little), this review of the Globalgig mobile Wifi hotspot is for you.

This little mobile WiFi hotspot is a gem.

As most readers know, I test a fair number of devices. So at any one point in time, I probably have four cell phones in my shop. I can tell you that in my travels even I get stuck with no cell phone signal, unable to make a call. But I have used this Globalgig mobile WiFi hotspot to connect my laptop or Nexus 10 tablet and fire off an email or hook into Google Voice and send a text message.

It has worked when all other devices failed. Now, connectivity by cell phone and wireless devices in one place is never the same, but I have been impressed with this handheld gadget.

On a 12-month contract, you can get up to 1 gigabyte of data for $30/month. The device is free when you commit to that plan. If you want the device for only 30 days, for example, if  you are heading to Europe for a two week vacation, you can buy the device for $79 and the plan is $60. You can play with their plan calculator to work out what’s best for you.

Without evaluating various wireless carriers, I am pretty sure you can’t touch the rates, in all the different countries, that Globalgig offers. $30/month and it works in 40 countries, for that same price. You can connect up to 5 devices at one time. It is a 3G signal, which is pretty fast.

The company sent me a media loaner and I have appreciated it immensely. Depending on my upcoming travel schedule, I may just sign up for the paid option.

What I Really Like:

• Small – As you see in the photo, it fits in my hand. It is small enough not to take up much space, but big enough that I won’t lose it.
• Battery life – On standby, it lasts for days, but fully on I think I had at least three to four hours of intense downloading and uploading on one charge.
• You can get a SIM-only version – Plug it into your iPad or Android tablet. Unfortunately for US users, the SIM is not available here yet, it’s only in the UK.

What I’d Like to See:

• I have a model that may be one generation old and it sometimes won’t turn off without repeated efforts. Having a lot of hardware pass through my hands, this sort of thing happens so if it was my unit, I would have returned it for a new unit.
• Online access to how much data has been used for the month. Since the device doesn’t have any sort of display, you don’t know. The website says this is coming soon.

Overall, if you travel a lot or need a mobile WiFi hotspot so you are not stuck paying extra fees at hotels, airports or cafes, then this mobile broadband device is for you. I would encourage anyone who wants affordable and secure wireless access at a low cost to try Globalgig.

Yes, it is one more device you have to account for. But I have found it worthwhile and when compared to my other data plan options, the price is right.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 2:04 PM 0 comments

What Is the Aio Wireless ZTE Velox Tablet For You?

Smartphone screens are just a wee bit small after you hold a 10-inch or 7-inch tablet. According to different research studies, smartphone users often purchase a tablet. My guess is that many business owners are also parents who are tired of giving up their smartphone when a child calls for a device. But they want a tablet that can be useful for work, too.

If that sounds like you, then this review of the Aio Wireless ZTE Velox tablet is for you.

A Look at the Aio Wireless ZTE Velox Tablet

Aio Wireless is a no-contract cell phone provider (built on AT&T’s network) that also offers a tablet for $15/month. You purchase the ZTE Velox tablet first, for about $180 at press time, and then choose data plan options.

Here are a few ZTE Velox tablet specs:

• 7″ Android tablet (4.1.2 Jellybean).


• 3MP rear camera with video recording, 1MP front camera for video chat.


• 1.2 GHz dual-core processor for smooth browsing, movies and gaming.


• 4,000 mAh battery for long-lasting performance.


• Connection speed up to 3G.

The device itself feels a bit heavier than other 7-inch tablets I have used, but not much heavier. You can hold it as a phone, in a pinch. So the 7-inch size is a good size for daily use, wandering around town or going from appointment to appointment. Particularly when you do not want to haul a laptop or need a slightly bigger screen (beyond your phone).



As someone who uses the Google Nexus 10 on a daily basis, I would not opt for the 7-inch personally. If I was only working from my Samsung S3 and wanted just a bit more screen, this size device is perfect and I would buy it.

What I Really Like:

• Fully functional, self-contained tablet that can connect from almost anywhere in the USA.


• Fast with 1 Gigabyte of RAM and 4Gig of storage. That’s enough for a training video or three, plus maybe a video (SD not HD) for the kids. You can add a 32Gig mini-SD card, too.


• Good quality screen resolution and responsive touchscreen.


• Pre-loaded with many of the common Web programs/apps like email and browser. Of course, you can download whatever you need from the Google Play store.

What I Would Like to See:

• The little rubber thing that covers the SIM card and mini SD card for storage. There has to be something a bit more elegant than that. But thankfully that doesn’t impact functionality.


• The rear camera sticks out slightly beyond the tablet body and it bugs me. But you know, just about every smartphone does the same thing, so it isn’t fair for me to pick on these guys. I would just like to see a cam lens that lies flush.

Despite my two small concerns, the ZTE Velox tablet is a solid tablet that can serve as a small business workhorse at an affordable price with a built in 3G wireless and WiFi capability.

You can find more powerful tablets, but not in this price range, with these options, without a contract. If you have been in the market for a tablet with loads of good features and one that lets you work
remotely, the ZTE Velox from Aio Wireless is a great candidate.

Aio Wireless sent me a short term media loaner for this review.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 2:00 PM 0 comments

For Get Caught “Speeding” with the New iPhone 5S

What’s not to like about this new hypersonic iPhone 5S? When you look at it across the room, you won’t see any difference between the 5S and the 5 (its predecessor). But when you start using it, you will see a difference and you will be amazed. Powerful and fast is the name of the game in this iPhone 5S product review.

Yes, everything is where it was on older models, but that makes for a nearly non-existent learning curve. No-contract cell phone company Aio Wireless provided a loaner phone for me, so a special thanks to their team.

Even with the new iOS7, you will be able to navigate on a system very similar to your old phone. You will, however, notice that you have many new wallpapers, fonts, colors, graphics, icons, etc. to use. There is also a new Control Center that will help adjust your settings and get you where you need to go quickly without toggling through several different settings menus.

All in all, it doesn’t change the way you use the core apps for business.

Some Technical Specs for the iPhone 5S

The iPhone 5S is the first smartphone to incorporate 64-bit architecture with the new iOS7 designed to accompany it, of course. The A7 processor is coupled with an M7 co-processor to make it super-fast. The A7 is reportedly two times faster than the A6. It is so fast that Apple says it offers you the equivalent of a processor found on gaming computers.

These two processors allow the 5S to push major functions, the background grunt work to the M7 chip.  This leaves the A7 processor free for anything you need it to do from taking pictures to running one of the new apps that come with the phone.

What I Really Like:

The Fingerprint Scanner

Most intriguing is the fingerprint scanner. The phone can learn up to five thumbprints or fingerprints in minutes. It takes multiple scans of the selected finger at different angles. The scanner is incorporated directly into the power button, but you still have slide-to-unlock and password features.



The password is a backup in case the scanner can’t read your print, the phone has been rebooted, or it has remained inactive for 48 hours or more. The fingerprint scanner also allows you to purchase iStore items without typing in your password.

The Camera

Another improvement over the iPhone 5 is the camera. Both the iSight rear camera and the FaceTime HD front-facing camera now take better pictures in low light than what they used to be able to do.

When it comes to movies, the FaceTime camera has a cool new feature. In addition to producing video at 120 fps (frames per second), but also you can record your film and choose which parts of it you want to have in slow motion. Mission critical – no – but fun.

Battery Life

Here’s the major improvement for business users – battery life. The iPhone 5S does a terrific job of conserving battery power. Not only do the dual processors help reduce the load on the battery, but the battery itself has increased in capacity by an estimated 10%.

What I’d Like to See:

It is hard to find the negatives with this phone. Stylistically, there are only three metallic colors to choose from which are supposedly more scratch resistant. The slow-motion footage will only stay that way if you directly upload it to YouTube, but disappears if you route it through your computer. And, the Control Center isn’t customizable.

The iPhone 5S (and 5C) have been out for a couple of months now, but I decided to wait before testing it out. If you are already an Apple fan, then you were sold when it launched. But if you’ve been on the fence of iPhone vs. Android, the iPhone 5S is a powerful phone and device. The screen is smaller than many Android-based phones, but the app store and the iOS ecosystem more than make up for it.

There are still many great applications that are iOS only. iPhones are elegant, rock solid and you rarely, if ever, hear horror stories with Apple customer service. If you have not walked into an Apple Store, you are missing out on what retail can be – when done right.

Are you using this powerful new phone in your business?

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 1:55 PM 0 comments

The Zoho CRM: Low-Cost Customer Relationship Management Software

If you want to grow your small business, you need technology. If you want to give your customers what they want by customizing their experience, you need customer relationship management (CRM) software to help you. CRM software helps you run marketing campaigns, manage leads, offer support services, and in some cases, manage inventory to keep on top of the market. Zoho CRM offers a low-cost and effective option for the small business owner.

I just spent a couple of weeks importing contacts into Zoho CRM for a client of mine, so it is fresh in my mind. It isn’t that he really needed someone to do the tech part, he was simply too busy, so I volunteered to help and then produced this Zoho CRM review. So let’s jump in and get started.

Zoho CRM Review

The screenshot below shows the activity types you can add on a contact and also on specific accounts (in orange).



Zoho CRM doesn’t look fancy when you use it, but it offers the same services you could pay up to 4x as much for with other software. You can track your sales, connect with your customers, and integrate your CRM account with other apps to expand it into a customized business solution. It even allows you to sync your account with Google Apps.
What I Like:

Once you set up a workflow a few times, Zoho CRM’s time-saving design limits the number of clicks necessary to use it. The inventory management features make it easy to turn a quote into an invoice or sales order with one click. There are also built-in social network monitoring features.

They have a two-factor authentication process, which gives you and your customers added protection.

One especially interesting feature is the ability to access all your up-to-date customer data from remote locations through your phone. You can do this even if you are on an airplane and offline, but iOS, Android and Blackberry are supported. You can even log your calls, send emails and manage records. I view these as great features.

Zoho CRM comes with the ability to create dynamic reports. Not only can you choose from a variety of pre-constructed reports, but you can use CSV, Excel or PDF to create your own. Adobe Flash technology allows you to create dynamic charts from the data. One click on a chart takes you to the data set producing that information to help you better understand the results.

What I’d Like to See:



Zoho CRM can be a little tricky if you are a first-time CRM user. To be fair, that’s pretty standard for CRM. It can take time to wrap your head around.  So, maybe a few more popups to guide you through the basics would help. Overall, Zoho does a great job of providing plenty of self-help information – from blogs to videos. Expect to spend a few days getting it up and running, but paid customers get 24-hour support responses and free customers can expect an email response in two business days. You can tell I don’t have many “complaints” with this service because it handles the basics plus way more.

Zoho offers a free 15-day trial so you can test its paid plans. There are four levels of service available:

• Free


• Standard


• Professional


• Enterprise

The Free level is a basic package that allows three users to access it (pretty good deal, I think).

The Standard level is said to be for small businesses, and offers more reports and customization.  It is $12 per user per month.

The Professional level is $20 per user per month and includes a workflow management and inventory management.

The Enterprise level adds security controls, data storage and duplication and more customization options for $35 per user per month.

Overall, Zoho is a great value for the price.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to reflect pricing levels

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 1:47 PM 0 comments

The Technology of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Makes Great Business Accessory

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4 has a lot of features that should suit small business owners but it won’t be a replacement for your laptop.

For small business owners on the go more often than not, this tablet is definitely suited for keeping in touch with clients. And it’s more than capable of accessing and editing business files stored in your cloud.

A multi-pane view permits you to work on two different apps on the same 10.1-inch screen simultaneously.



The battery on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 allows you to stay on the Internet for about 10 hours. Some other positives with this tablet are that it’s lightweight and its stock 16 GB of internal storage can be expanded with up to 64 GB of external memory (microSD card in expansion slot).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 also has a 3 megapixel rear-mounted camera and 1.3 megapixel camera that can be used for video conferencing or shooting photos to upload to social media sites.

This tablet operates Android KitKat 4.4 on a 1.2 GHz Quad-Core processor. It has 1.5 GB of RAM. These specs, along with a 1280×800 resolution screen don’t exactly make this tablet a replacement for your laptop. But at a $349 retail mark, this tablet is an affordable alternative for a larger device.

Think of this as more of an accessory. And while the hardware on the Galaxy Tab 4 may lag behind newer high-end tablets, it has more than enough power to complete most office tasks, even two at a time.

It certainly can allow you access to your cloud files. This Samsung 10-inch tablet is touted as “enterprise-ready” and is Microsoft Office-compatible.


There is a somewhat limited market for apps compatible with the tablet, however. And the diminished technical capabilities will limit what apps run smoothly or can be stored on the device. Based on our review, of the 1.5 GB of system RAM, about one-third of that is consumed from the start by the Android operating system.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 1:25 PM 0 comments

The Phone Acer Iconia One 7: Nice Tablet for Users on a Budget, But…

The Acer Iconia One 7 is a nice tablet for the user on a budget.

At a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $129.99, it is a very affordable if average tool running on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. You will be able to update that to Android 4.4, also known as KitKat, in the near future, however.

The tablet features a 1200 x 800 labeled HD display driven by the onboard PowerVR SGX series video graphics adapter.

See more in this brief video review:

The Acer Iconia One 7 is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor with a lithium polymer battery providing up to 7 hours of battery life.

The Acer Iconia One 7 is a thin device at .4 inches, so you could easily fit it into a small handbag. But the frontward facing dimensions are 7.8 inches by 4.7 inches with a 7″ diagonal screen size giving you a better viewing experience than similarly portable but smaller mobile devices.

So this device provides the middle ground feature of having a larger screen than your phone, but smaller than a standard tablet.

The right side of the unit is where the on off switch is located.

There’s also a volume rocker switch for easy adjustment. On the top of the unit, you will find a 2.0 mini usb port. And there’s also a cable and adapter for charging or data sharing. Finally there’s a port for your headphones. Or you can use the tablet’s internal speakers instead.

The digital camera on the Acer Iconia One 7 provides a 2 mega Pixel view for your photography or videography needs. And it also provides a front facing camera, though the image is of lesser quality.

You can easily purchase accessories for your device with the available link on its desktop. These accessories include cases and screen protectors.

The Iconia One 7 also comes with standard Google resources, such as Gmail, Chrome and even Hangouts to chat with your friends. You can also use the built in GPS to track your destinations with Google Maps or use Google Drive to share files with yourself or others wherever you may be. This lightweight device is only 11.4 ounces.

But…it is not a high end device and would not be effective for a serious power user. However, as a simple tablet on a budget, it is a very competitive tablet.

 

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 1:15 PM 0 comments

The Teachnology Samsung SMART Signage TV: Digital Signs and TV for Small Businesses

Lots of small businesses use televisions in their premises: gyms, sports bars, restaurants — to name some. But what business owners may not realize is that using consumer televisions for commercial purposes may void or reduce the warranty.

And if you decide to use a TV or computer monitor to run an in-house presentation, say in your lobby, it can be cumbersome and expensive. You may need to commission an expensive video or multimedia presentation. Or if you choose to create it yourself, such as with PowerPoint, the result may look less visually appealing than you’d hoped.

And what about signs and displays in your business? Have you ever wished for something more dynamic and exciting?

Recently we ran across an impressive solution for small businesses that solves those kinds of issues. It’s called the Samsung SMART Signage TV.

Think of it as “TV and digital signage in a box.” I saw it in action at the recent Small Business Summit in New York (pictured in the booth below).

Overall, it’s an impressive package that gives small businesses the kind of flexibility and options for signage and television previously available to larger buyers (such as hotels, hospitals or retail chains).

Michael O’Halloran, marketing manager with Samsung, who was at the Summit, told me that this is a solution Samsung designed specifically for small businesses. “Digital signage has been around for years,” he said. “But up to now it’s been for large companies. The difference is that we’ve created the first ‘television and digital signage package in a box’ that’s easy enough for even the smallest business to install and use.”


Samsung SMART Signage TV Features

The Samsung SMART Signage TV is designed specifically for small businesses.

With it you can offer regular television programming to your patrons, of course. It is a fully functioning high-definition TV. It comes in two sizes: 40-inch and 48-inch.

But the real beauty of this system is the digital sign platform that is included at no extra charge. You can create and display bright, eye-catching digital signs in your premises.

It includes a free software package called MagicInfo Express (see video demonstration), that comes with over 200 sign templates. After a short learning curve, it takes just minutes to create dynamic signs with text and images. You can have static signs or make the sign images move, alternate, fly in or fade out. There are many animation options to catch a customer’s eye.

You can also schedule signage for different times of day. For instance, a restaurant could change a menu sign for breakfast, lunch and dinner automatically.

You don’t need to be a designer to use the software. Just upload your logo and photographs. Then you follow the instructions to insert them into the pre-made templates. You update the software from a laptop or desktop computer, or from a mobile device.

Once satisfied with your design, you can load the content wirelessly to the television set from your computer or mobile device. This means, if you have signs at multiple locations, you can update them remotely. Another option is to upload via a USB device that you plug into the TV.

You do not need to be a technician to set up the system. The media player is built in to the television. So there’s no messing around trying to get a separate media player to “play nice” with the TV. You don’t have to jerry rig solutions such as running cables from a monitor to a dedicated laptop hidden nearby.

Samsung televisions are good quality and look attractive. The Smart Signage TV has a sleek gloss-black finish.

These televisions are designed to take heavy business use — 16 hours per day, 7 days a week. They each have an 16:9 LED Backlit LCD display. They are Energy Star rated for energy efficiency.

The signage TV is in use in New York’s Tompkins Square Bagels, where owner Christopher Pugliese points out that he’s using the sign to open up new sales opportunities. “We have massive lines of 20-somethings who work all over New York City. And I don’t think any of them realize that we could cater their office breakfast or meeting,” he said. “We felt that the digital display would be really helpful with getting that message across.”



Pros

1 Everything you need for one installation is included in the box: television, TV stand, wall mount hardware, and software and templates to design the signs.
2 The SMART Signage set can be displayed in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) mode — either on the wall or as a tabletop set. Vertical signs are especially good for clothing stores that may want to show a fully dressed model. Horizontal signs have the added benefit of being able to display a television program right alongside a sign message, on a split screen. For example, a sports bar could display a televised football game, alongside a sign with the day’s drink specials.
3 Digital signage is bright, modern looking, and faster to change than printed signs.
Each Smart Signage TV comes with a 36-month warranty for parts and labor. This warranty covers commercial use of the TV. It includes onsite service. Samsung has a dedicated support line for commercial users.
4 MSRP pricing is $749 for the 40-inch and $999 for the 48-inch. You might be tempted to think, ‘I can buy cheaper TVs at my local big box store.’ But remember the added value you are getting in the form of (1) signage software, (2) Samsung quality, (3) ease of managing your signage, and (4) commercial warranty and onsite service.
5 You can purchase directly from Samsung, or from retailers such as Costco, Amazon and Sam’s Club. Leasing options may also be available to spread out the cost in monthly payments.

Cons

I saw a live demonstration, including how to use the software, at a conference. It presented very well (see Tompkins Square Bagels examples pictured). It appears as easy to use as the description. There were no negatives that I could see.

My only reservation is that I haven’t used the Smart Signage TV for any length of time. So I can’t speak to installing it or using it over time. (Read: what you need to know about business TV.)

However, I am a user of Samsung televisions in general. If the quality of these is similar to what I have used, you will be well satisfied with the looks, reliability and display. While there may be sharper displays on the market, the SMART Signage TV is a vast improvement over what I see many small businesses using today.


Who Samsung SMART Signage TV Is Best For

SMART Signage TV is ideal for small businesses that want to attract customer attention through bright, eye-catching digital signs for interior spaces. This includes retail shops, spas, salons, restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and bars. It’s perfect to call out visually-appealing offerings or sales promotions, so you can sell more products or services.

And remember that it’s also a TV. For those of you already offering business TV programming to patrons, it opens up new cross-selling opportunities. For example, a dentist’s office can provide TV in the waiting room. On a split screen the dentist could inform patients about optional services such as invisible braces or tooth whitening.

It’s also a good choice for offices that have television and/or in-house presentations in their lobbies. Examples include consulting businesses and technology companies that receive visitors regularly.

Samsung SMART Signage TV is great for do-it-yourself owners and managers who want the flexibility to change signage regularly — even multiple times a day.

Playing around with the software, I can say it is easy to change signs using the templates. I’d equate it to using PowerPoint. If you or your staff use PowerPoint, I’m pretty sure you can learn to use this sign software.

Who it’s not for: if you use business television but have no plans to ever use the signage, you may not get full value at the $749 and $999 price points. Price shoppers strictly looking for an inexpensive TV who don’t need the signage option can find cheaper options, I am sure. Remember, though, the warranty coverage with this SMART Signage TV may save you money in the long run.

Small businesses that want to serve customers better AND increase sales should check out Samsung’s SMART Signage TV for an:

easy turnkey solution combining both advertising and television;
TV programming on a beautiful HD television set;
the kind of professional-looking digital signs that large companies have;
the ability for do-it-yourselfers to change digital signage quickly at no added cost, without getting a designer involved;
onsite warranty coverage backed by a multibillion-dollar global company;
at a small-business price.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 1:07 PM 0 comments

The Feedly Satisfies Your Appetite for the Latest News and Information

If you’ve ever tried to keep up with the latest updates on multiple blogs and news sites, you know just how time-consuming that task can be. Feed readers help folks streamline that chore by consolidating the updates, from the sources they follow, in one central spot where they can be read, saved and shared.

Back in 2013, the preeminent feed reader tool was Google Reader. When Google decided to shelve the tool, users scrambled to find a solution to replace the one they had depended upon for years. Riding to the rescue, feedly quickly became a popular choice.

Key Features

At its core, feedly is a solidly built feed reader that consolidates update feeds from multiple sources in one convenient spot. Here’s a highlighted tour of some of its key features:

Consolidated Home Page

Shown below, the first screen displayed after logging into feedly contains the latest updates from the sources the user follows. Plain headlines are updates that have already been read while bold headlines are updates yet to be read.

In the left sidebar, there’s a listing of sources already added to feedly. To dig down into any one source, just click the name.

Customize Your View

Feedly offers three different ways to view a list of updates: title only, magazine and card. Here’s a sample of all three:

In addition to selecting a view, the drop-down settings menu (accessed by clicking on the gear at the top of the page) lets users bulk manage the status of multiple updates as well as tweak how updates are presented.

Finally, you can also select one of the many preset themes by using the “Themes” link at the bottom of the sidebar.

Reading an Update

Clicking on an update opens a reading pane as shown below. Using the drop-down settings menu, I can alternatively set feedly to open updates at their original source in a new tab.



Adding Content Sources

Feedly makes it easy to add the content sources you want to follow. Using the “Add Content” screen, you can either search for update feeds using a source title, a URL or a topic hashtag or you can browse sources using categories.


Organizing Your Sources and Updates

Using the “Organize” link at the bottom of the sidebar, you can create and configure collections that are reflected in the list shown on the sidebar. Slicing and dicing by category or interest is a great way to keep your update list manageable.


What I Liked

Here are a few features that really stood out:
Update Sharing

I liked how feedly has built in a sharing toolbar at the top of the reading pane. In addition, the tool enables you to preset social media update text (such as “via Twitter ID” and specific hashtags) using their preferences screen, something that saves you from retyping it each time.


Saving Updates for Later

Once you read an update, it vanishes from the list. To save one you really like or to finish one at a later time, click on the little flag to the left of the update’s headline. As you can see below, the update is then highlighted in green and can be viewed with all other saved updates on the “Saved” screen.


Mobile Apps

Feedly offers native apps for both iOS and Android devices. These let you use “dead” time (e.g. standing in lines, waiting for the kids to get out of school, etc.) to catch up on the latest updates!

Integration with My Favorite Apps

Feedly integrates with many of my favorite apps, a really big plus as far as I’m concerned. Let me give you just one example: I can set up If This Then That (IFTTT), an automation tool, to e-mail the link to an update anytime a certain phrase is included in the headline or body of the text. What a time saver!


Additional feedly Pro Integrations

In addition to the apps mentioned above, there’s even more functionality available if you sign-up and pay for a pro subscription. Aside from the additional functionality and app integration, pro subscribers can use feedly’s “Power Search,” an extended version of their regular search functionality. When you’re dealing with hundreds of updates, that really comes in handy!

Here’s what comes with a pro subscription:


What I Didn’t Like

With all these built-in features, it took longer than it should have for me to figure out the full extent of the tool’s functionality and how it all worked. This was mostly due to the lack of effective help and documentation, two things that make the learning process much easier.

I was able to look at other sites for information and guides (thanks Google search!), but a lot of what I found was outdated and that confused the situation even more. For example, when trying to figure out how to add a Twitter feed to my update sources, it took some time to discover that, as Twitter no longer offers update feeds for readers to utilize, adding one today involves a much different process than before.

All in all however, this is a slight bump in the very useful road that is feedly. If you’re looking for a way to stay in the know on the topics that affect your business, this is the tool that will help you do just that.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 12:56 PM 0 comments

The Phone HTC Desire 816 is a Serious Upgrade For Smartphone Novice

I went to use my tablet recently and had to remove a slight layer of dust. It had accumulated ever since I upgraded my smartphone to the HTC Desire 816. This is the mid-range offering from HTC. It can best be described as large. Like, very large.

For people used to a top-of-the-line smartphone, this may not be the most remarkable device on the market, but its hardly a slouch.

That’s Your Big Boy
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about using a 5.5-inch phone, especially since my last smartphone — remedial by today’s standards — may have had a 4-inch screen, at best.

But apart from other people staring at you like you’re talking into a pizza box, the extra large screen on this phablet allows you to comfortably surf the web, make the most use of apps, and … well, you’ll get used to talking on the big screen.

(Note: I added a protective case with a built-in kickstand and it’s made the phablet even more functional sitting next to my laptop.)

If you’ve always relied on the simplest of smartphones, or even haven’t upgraded beyond a slide or flip phone yet, the HTC Desire 816 will provide a little wow factor.

HTC Desire 816 Key Features
The phablet has an HD720 display. As noted, this is one large phablet, with its 5.5-inch screen and very little bezel space. So the device is largely dedicated to the display.

Even at that size, it’s hardly cumbersome at 165 grams and less than 8mm thick.

HTC Desire 816 runs an HTC-skinned version of Android on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, 1.6GHz quad-core processor.

It’s capable of receiving a 4G LTE data signal and is sold standard with 8GB of storage, some of which is already used by the system and HTC’s pre-loaded software. The phablet can be expanded with up to 128GB more storage space in the microSD slot.

This offering is also ready for e-commerce trends by being NFC-enabled and also supports Bluetooth connectivity.

The 13-megapixel rear-mounted camera and 5-megapixel front-facing cameras take crisp shots, and the LED flash is a plus in low light.

HTC Desire 816 Pros
If this phablet is an upgrade from a lesser device, there’s little to be left out of this category.

The photo quality and ease-of-use of the camera are certainly of note. Since using the apps and browsing is easy on the larger screen, this is a great device for sharing on social media.

The 5.5-inch display is large enough to not have to strain your eyes to do any web browsing. The display is vibrant and bright and, standing alone, the HTC Boom Sound can fill a small room.

HTC Desire 816 Cons

If you’re limited to the 8GB storage model, you may be put off by the amount of space that’s eaten up by pre-loaded software.

HTC’s trademarked BlinkFeed homepage panel has all the best intentions, but it’s a little too random and repetitive for me.

BlinkFeed is a homepage panel that HTC compiles from your social media feeds, mostly. It displays updates in a Windows-like live tile format.

The one aspect of Android I like best is its freedom to make it look the way I want, with apps and widgets on panels I create. The forced nature of BlinkFeed ruins that, albeit just slightly.
The HTC Desire 816 Is Best For …

The person who’s ready to upgrade to a serious smartphone but doesn’t want to or can’t afford to break the budget to do so. Desire 816 is available for less than $300 when choosing Virgin Mobile as a pre-paid provider. The company offers monthly packages starting at $35 featuring unlimited texting and data but limited talk time.

A person who’s prone to post fuzzy, out-of-focus, poorly-lit photos they took with their ancient or bargain smartphone on their social media streams.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 12:31 PM 0 comments

Take More Done With These 5 Productivity Apps

Everyone wants to do more in less time.
Luckily, with a tablet or phone stapled to our hands or wrapped around our wrists, it’s become easier to get more done with just a few taps of a finger. Begone with paper and hard copies. Here are five productivity apps that keep you better organized, on the go, productive, and in control.
EZ Forms

EZ Forms lets you create, edit, and share forms.

This app allows you to communicate with employees in real time as well. It will also show you completed, missed, and pending information being collected from the field, so you can make better-informed business decisions.

It has cloud storage for fully integrated file management. The Workflows option allows you to assign tasks and to track the progress made against each task.
Inkflow

Inkflow is for the personal artist or visual thinker.

It allows you to capture ideas as you would normally with a pen, but also re-arrange them and upload the pictures so you can have your own personal idea as a picture. It’s also a great way to doodle your ideas and get a better picture when you don’t have pen and paper nearby.

It’s great for paperless doodling, too, which can increase your focus.
Mailbox

Mailbox is your inbox redesigned in a simple format to save you more time, and allow you to be more productive.

It’s light, fast, on the go, and mobile-friendly. It works like a messaging system in that you swipe your e-mails to archive them or trash them. And it’s designed for you to be able to scan and understand the entire message as if it were a text message.
Keeper

Everyone’s had one of those days when you can’t remember your passwords?

Well, Keeper takes that onus off your shoulders, so you can deal with the things that really matter. One of the great things about Keeper is its ability to synch across devices, which means you don’t have the frustration of repeatedly entering in the wrong password and locking your accounts or having to reset them.

Keeper keeps everything behind a single master password that wipes your secrets if a hack is attempted.
Wikitude

Wikitude is an augmented reality application.

This app requires an orientation period but it’s handy nonetheless. It aims to cut down on wasted lunchtimes and keep you from getting lost while out on company errands. It turns on your phone’s camera and then determines your location.

Place markers are overlaid onto the camera view as a way of pointing out what’s around you. For instance, the app can guide you to restaurants, supply stores, and other destinations.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 12:19 PM 1 comments

Phone Samsung Signage TV Giveaway : There’s Still Time to Enter

Is the signage for your business old and weathered — or just plain old school? You work hard to promote your business, products and services, only to have outdated signage drag your brand down.

Fortunately, there’s a way to transform signage for your small business. And it may only be a few tweets away!
Enter the Contest

Here’s a reminder that there’s still time to win one of two Samsung Digital Signage TVs in our Samsung SSTV Giveaway. Cut off for participation is July 7, 2015, and there is no limit to the number of times you can enter.

Winners will receive one of two 40-inch Smart Signage TVs complete with wall mount. And that package also comes with software to help you create the designs and verbiage that will market your business on-site in style.
How to Participate

Here’s how the contest works:

Each Tuesday a new question will appear on Twitter accompanied by the #SSTVGiveaway hashtag. You can also visit the SSTV Giveaway contest landing page to view each week’s question, should you miss it on Twitter.
Now it’s your turn. When you see the tweeted question, tweet back your answer. (Share your thoughts with the small business community!)
Mark your responses. Be sure you get credit for all your answers and the right to be considered as a contest winner. Include the hashtag #SSTVGiveaway with each response.
There is no limit to the number of times you can answer and each response will be counted as an entry for the contest, so there’s an advantage in participating early and often. (You do want to win one of those Samsung Signage TVs, don’t you?)

Winners Announced

Winners of the contest will be chosen no later than July 31, 2015. Contestants must be 18 or older and located in the continental United States in order to be eligible to win.

Wouldn’t you like to see one of these new Samsung Digital Signage TVs at your place of business promoting your products or services to customers? For more details on the contest and how you can get involved, visit our SSTV Giveaway

Posted by Unknown 7:37 AM 0 comments

The danger from MobileGeddon: What is the impact on your business?

Two weeks after MobileGeddon, everyone from Moz to Search Engine Land are reporting limited to no fallout from Google’s mobile algorithm change. Could it be that the impact from the algorithm rollout is simply slower than expected — or have most major businesses really escaped unscathed?

Before “M-Day” (April 21) when Google announced the algorithm change would go into effect, nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies and 29 percent of the top 500 retail sites were not yet mobile friendly, according to marketing firm Merkle/RKG. Now that we’re on the other side, at first glance it appears the hype was overblown. But that doesn’t mean your business is in the clear.
From Around the Tech Community

Dr. Peter Myers from Moz

According to Dr. Peter Myers from Moz, who tracks mobile rankings for a top set of keywords, the biggest day thus far was April 22 — and this day wasn’t even that big. Myers reported an initial change in URLs tagged as “mobile-friendly” as of April 21, but no corresponding ranking changes. As a whole, the webmaster community hasn’t been too impressed with the significance of the mobile search change.
Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Roundtable
“At this point, most people aren’t noticing major changes in the mobile rankings but Google said it can take over a week to fully roll out.

So we should know more by the end of this coming week.”
Matt Hoff of Seer Interactive

“So far, what many marketers dubbed “Mobilegeddon” has been more of a drizzle than the destructive tornado some were expecting. The early data I’ve analyzed for our clients — both mobile friendly and not — does not indicate any major shift in the search results or organic traffic … yet. However, a few mobile friendly websites I’ve been monitoring have enjoyed increased rankings over their non-mobile friendly competitors. I have also created a flow chart on Seer’s blog to help with mobile optimization since it can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task figuring out where to begin.”
Ann Smarty of Internet Marketing Ninjas and MyBlogU

The update is still going on and it’s likely to take a while. Google is going on URL-by-URL basis, so, from my understanding, there’s no cross-domain “unfriendly” flag. That means Google is going through billions and billions of URLs, so we’ll keep watching on where it’s going.
Is MobileGeddon Good for Business?

With 60 percent of Internet access originating from mobile devices, according to ad network InMobi, MobileGeddon may actually be a win-win for businesses and customers. If your website is not already mobile friendly, there’s a good chance that you are losing out on potential business. Between 2012 and 2014, the percentage of shoppers using mobile devices to make purchases rose from 25 percent to 35 percent, according to The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research, as reported by Motley Fool. According to the research, these customers aren’t using a store’s native app to make purchases; they’re searching for items and then going directly to the company’s mobile website. Consequently, if your business is lagging in mobile-compatibility, you might be missing out on potential sales — and not even realize it.
MobileGeddon: Keep Calm and Optimize

Just because the majority of sites seem to have escaped unscathed, however, is no reason for you to sit back and relax. If your site is not mobile friendly (or you’re not entirely sure what constitutes a mobile-friendly website), consider this a brief window to take immediate and decisive action to correct this problem. And if your website is mobile-friendly, don’t rest on your laurels. There’s still a lot you can do to optimize the overall mobile viewing experience and help your site stand out from the rest.
Getting Started with Mobile Optimization

If you’re not sure whether your website is mobile friendly, the first place to start is with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool. Google will test the URL and analyze whether or not it’s mobile friendly. If it doesn’t pass, there could be a number of different issues. Use Google Webmaster Tools’ Mobile Usability Report to isolate specific page problems. One obvious problem would be the inclusion of flash on your website. You’ll need to replace Flash with modern Web elements like HTML5.
Is Your Text Size Too Small?

Google doesn’t want users to have to double-tap or pinch/zoom in order to read content on their mobile devices. You’ll need to increase the text size for mobile viewing. Are your touch elements too close? Google document requires they be at least 5mm apart and 7mm wide to accommodate most adult fingers. Finally, you may get an error message such as “view port not config.” or “content not sized to view port”. You’ll need to optimize the meta viewport tag for mobile viewing.

Do my above recommendations, especially the port issues, sound a bit like I’m speaking a foreign language? If so, there’s no need to worry. One of the easiest ways to make mobile site optimization as simple as possible is to choose a web design template that does all the hard work for you, no coding or site edits required. IM Creator, Design Maz or White Rabbit, are great starting points for free or low-cost mobile-friendly website templates. There are also some great WordPress alternatives for WordPress users.

With the increasing demand for Mobile compatibility, modern website builders and landing page creators are now forced to make their layout fully responsive. For instance, GetResponse recently launched a landing page builder that puts the emphasis on mobile optimization and compatibility while maintaining the easy Drag and Drop WYSIWYG principle.
Taking Mobile Optimization to the Next Level

Let’s say your site does pass Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing tool: great news! Now, what can you do to take your site’s optimization to the next level? What’s the most common frustration experienced by mobile users? Slow load times. While you can’t change a slow WiFi or cellular data connection, you can optimize your mobile sight to load as quickly as possible – no matter the connection speed. Head over to Google’s PageSpeed Insights Test to better understand what could be slowing down your mobile site’s load time. Possible issues include:

Lack of image optimization

 

Slow server response time

 

Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS above-the-fold content

 

Lack of browser caching

 

Failure to minify CSS, JavaScrip or HTML

 

Unnecessary landing page re-directs

Failure to enable compression

Consider using a content delivery network (CDN), which is a system of distributed servers that deliver content to users based on the geographic location of the user, the origin of the web page, and the location of the content delivery server. Sound a bit confusing? The premise is actually pretty simple: by using a CDN, your website will load faster for users. In tech speak, a CDN uses session optimization to reduce the number of open connections to your web server (e.g., SSL sites). This in turn reduces initial connection time and unnecessary latency.

Many companies that offer CDN services, like Incapsula bake-in additional benefits for speeding site load time. While load speed may not make a huge difference for PC users, it does make a big different for mobile users. Is there anything more frustrating than waiting for an image-heavy website to load on your photo? After a few seconds, most users just give up. With content and network optimization, your website will load faster on all devices, including mobile phones, even when the network is slow.
The Final Word on MobileGeddon?

As Matt Hoff points out, “There are still over 200 other ranking factors in Google’s algorithm, and this new mobile signal is just one piece of the puzzle,” Translation: if the rest of your site is well optimized, mobile issues may not be an immediate death sentence, since the mobile update is just one part of Google’s larger algorithm. And by taking immediate steps to address any mobile usability issues and further optimize your site for speed, you’ll be ahead of the curve – at least until the next algorithm change comes along.

Source from: http://smallbiztrends.com

Posted by Unknown 5:50 AM 0 comments

Pinterest Unveils Buyable Pins, A Way To Purchase Things Directly Within Pinterest

Pinterest unveiled what it’s calling “buyable pins” at an event at its headquarters in San Francisco today.

Here’s how it works: Rich Pins — pins which have much more information than a normal link, such as the ingredients for a recipe — will get a new button that allows users to purchase things directly from partners that it’s working for. Users will see prices, be able to select specific types of a product (like the color), and then they can tap the button to buy the product. That item then arrives at the user’s door.

Buyable Pins will launch later this month. Pinterest is working with Stripe to handle its payments, and working with companies like Braintree and Apple to “make sure Pinterest never touches credit card information.” There is no fee for buyers and merchants, the company said. It’s launching Buyable Pins with Shopify and Demandware at launch.

“Right now since everyone uses their phone, but it’s still a pain to buy things,” Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said at the event. “There are fiddly menus, you have to squint to see the images.”

Buyable Pins show up in all of Pinterest’s features, like recommendations and search. Users can pay with a credit card or with Apple Pay. Pinterest has partnered with retailers like Macy’s and Nordstroms to stock Pinterest with “millions of products,” as well as working with tens of thousands of local brands and merchants, Silbermann said.

The company has certainly been busy in the past few months. Pinterest in May launched a new service that helps marketers craft better pins in order to help them perform better. Its Marketing Developer Program gives marketers a series of tools — like pin scheduling and optimization in the form of APIs for companies that post branded content across a variety of channels — that would help marketers grow their presence on Pinterest organically. It also launched its first video ads and created more granular pricing options for advertisers.



Pinterest also said it would finally open up its platform to third-party developers last month, a move that developers have been waiting for since launch. But Pinterest, as always, has been very conservative about the way it rolls out these new features. Its developer platform, for example, is only available to a small number of developers that have to apply to be able to get on the platform. For example, a Pinterest user may be able to order the ingredients of a recipe on Pinterest through Instacart through the Pinterest platform.

All this put together shows how the company, which for a long time was entirely focused on its core product, is quickly justifying its $11 billion valuation to investors. Pinterest, among advertisers, is seen as a gold mine because it is more future-facing than other services with a large number of users. People go to Pinterest at what marketers call the entire “funnel” — where they visit to gather ideas, are actively looking for something through search, and finally actually make a purchase or visit a site.

Pinterest has also begun building out its playbook to grow internationally. In May, we took a deep look at its Jumpstart program, an experiment the company is running where it sends several employees to a new country in order to ramp up the service natively to that country. Right now that experiment is running in Japan, but will expand it to other new countries if it works out to be successful.

Many of Pinterest’s users are already international, and as it continues to grow its user base, it continues to grow its ability to monetize those users. It can then re-invest that into the company, continuing to grow and continuing to add new options for marketers and advertisers, quickly making it one of the most valuable venues for advertisers on the internet.

source from:http://techcrunch.com/

Posted by Unknown 2:00 AM 0 comments

Tripcast Is A Beautiful Travel Journal For Your Smartphone

A new mobile application called Tripcast, built by the team that created photo-sharing app Cluster, allows travelers to privately share their photos with their friends back home. The app lets you create a travel journal of sorts, by not only collecting the photos and sharing them, but also plotting them on map, and inviting fellow travelers to build albums with you.

This is not the first time the team from Cluster has worked on a secondary project in the photos space – they also previously released a handy tool for designers and developers called Screenshotter, which helps you organize your iPhone screenshots into more usable albums.

Like that earlier effort, which was more of a side project, Tripcast also takes the larger idea from Cluster involving mobile photo albums and private sharing, and spins it off into a niche aimed at a particular crowd. On Cluster, users can build collaborative albums of any sort, whereas Tripcast is aimed only at travelers and their friends.

Explains Cluster co-founder and CEO Brenden Mulligan, the new application isn’t really a side project this time, but is an “extension of Cluster.”

“A ton of people use Cluster to create travel journals, but wanted features that don’t really fit inside our main app,” he says. “For example, travelers wanted to see the photos they were sharing posted on a map, but when we added a map to Cluster it seemed very out of place in albums that weren’t travel related.”

Other times, the users just wanted to share where they were, without attaching a photo every time.



Tripcast has been built in a way where the map is more central to the experience, so users can share their location as they post other trip notes, photos and videos. They can either create these travel journals by themselves or with their travel buddies by inviting them to join. And when users return home, they can download all the photos that were shared.

Meanwhile, friends and family back home are notified when there’s new content, and can like and comment on individual posts very much like you could on Facebook, or any other social network. The difference, of course, is that Tripcast is private – you’ll have to be invited to an album in order to see the content shared.



The only issue I have with Tripcast or Cluster is that the sign-up flow requires you to invite your friends before you can start building your album. Although the app informs you the user won’t be contacted yet, having to stop and think about who you’re going to invite – and do you have their email? should you use that or their phone number? – can mentally slow you down. I’d love to be able to jump into the more fun right away, which is curating your photos into an album.

That said, like Cluster, Tripcast is another polished, well-built app from a talented team. It may not be something you use everyday (unless you travel for work, or lead an amazing life), but it’s a viable alternative to Facebook for sharing travel photos.

The app is free here on iTunes and here on Google Play.

source from:http://techcrunch.com/

Posted by Unknown 1:43 AM 0 comments

3 Apps That Actually Pay You Money

“Earn extra money simply by doing the things you do every day!”

Let’s be honest: You have good reason to be skeptical of “free money” claims. But there really are a small handful of legitimate advertising-powered smartphone apps that offer you money in exchange for being able to advertise to you.

That's right, the following 3 apps won't save you money — they'll actually pay you money. None of them will make you a millionaire, but they could put an extra $20 or more in your pocket each and every month. And that’s not too bad just for playing around with your smartphone, right?

1 Fronto

Would you subject yourself to extra advertising if it meant more money in your pocket? If the concept seems appealing to you, check out the Android app Fronto.

Fronto works by placing ads and curated links to content on your smartphone’s lock screen. Every time you interact with this content, you earn points. Unlock your phone while an advertisement is being shown, for example, and you might earn 20 points. Download an app that Fronto suggests for you, and you might earn 100 or more. Fronto also doles out points for referring friends.

Points do take a while to accumulate, especially if you don’t take Fronto up on any of its special offers. But that’s okay – here, it’s worth the effort. Every 25,000 points can be exchange for $10 in cold, hard cash, payable directly to your PayPal account.

You can download the free Fronto app on Google Play.

2 Perk

Want to take your earnings beyond the lock screen? Then check out Perk, a series of apps, browsers, search tools, and more that converts virtually everything you do on your phone into points, redeemable for cash.

There are a lot of different apps in the Perk universe: Perk Shopping, Perk Search, Perk Screen, Perk Browser, Perk TV and Perk Pop Quiz. Each offers function along with a small reward for using it. Search using Perk and you’ll get a few points. Watch an ad on Perk TV and you’ll get a few more. Buy something on 1-800-Flowers and other similar retailers via the Perk Shopping app and you’ll earn a ton.

Like with Fronto, Perk points can be redeemed for cash via PayPal. You’ll get the most bang for your points by redeeming them for gift cards instead. Minimum payouts with Perk are $5.

You can find out more about and download the Perk family of apps at perk.com.

3 Shopkick

Walking around your local mall may be a good way to get a little extra exercise, but it can also be a way to get a little bit of extra money, too. That’s the idea behind Shopkick, an app that rewards you simply for visiting stores.

When you open the Shopkick app at your local mall (or really, whenever), you can see a list of nearby stores that are willing to offer you “kicks” (points) just for walking through the doors. Most of the stores tempting you with points are the type you might walk into anyway, like Walmart, Macy’s, Target or Crate & Barrel. Once you’re in the store, the app might offer you a few challenges (e.g., find and scan a certain item) to earn bonus points. You can even link a credit card to the app to earn points for completing a purchase in store.

You can rack up enough points to get a reward in a single trip, given the right mall. The minimum reward with Shopkick is a $2 Target gift card, yours for redeeming just 500 points.



You can get the free Shopkick app for iOS via the Apple App Store and for Android via Google Play.

source from:http://www.techlicious.com/

Posted by Unknown 1:23 AM 0 comments

Microsoft Lumia 640 Review

Since Microsoft acquired Nokia’s smartphone division, the company has focused its efforts on mid-range and entry-level handsets, where Windows Phone has been most popular. In less than two years, Microsoft's Lumia line has welcomed 11 smartphones priced under $300, without seeing a single flagship device.
The Lumia 640 we are reviewing today is one of those affordable devices. It's aimed at the upper segment of the entry-level market, priced at $200 - $250 unlocked (will vary depending on the market). It's got a decent hardware package for the price and runs Windows Phone 8.1 out of the box, with a promised upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile later this year.

The use of a Snapdragon 400 SoC is a little strange, considering Qualcomm’s newer 410 silicon is already available. The familiar chip has been paired with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of expandable storage. On the front, the device packs a 5.0-inch 720p LCD display. Cameras are also fairly standard: eight megapixels on the back, and one megapixel on the front.
Microsoft has continued the long-running trend of colourful, plastic Lumia phones, and although it’s not the nicest entry-level design I’ve seen, for the price it’s hard to expect companies to produce awesome metal designs.

For a 5-inch device, the Lumia 640 is actually pretty large, with a significant bezel around all edges. Combined with a body that’s 8.8mm thick with very little curvature or sculpting, the 640 can look and feel a little bit chubby. Luckily the device remains easy to hold and use, especially in comparison to the handset’s larger brother, the 5.7-inch Lumia 640 XL.
Most of the Lumia 640’s body is made from smooth, slippery and cheap plastic, which I’m not a fan of. The blue unit I received to review is vibrant and has that signature Lumia flare to it, but the use of this type of plastic doesn’t make the Lumia 640 stand out from the pack. The good news is that the handset does feel thick and strong, which will help protect the 640 from any knocks, bumps or drops.


The Lumia 640’s front panel is very plain, though the inclusion of Gorilla Glass 3 protecting the display is great to see. The back panel is also understated, including just a Microsoft logo, a small speaker, and the camera. This design is clearly about function over form, and for most intents and purposes, that is an acceptable approach to take for entry-level handsets. The Moto G is a great example of a handset that gets the job done despite an uninspiring design, and the Lumia 640 is similar in this regard.
The right hand side of the Lumia 640 is where you’ll find all the buttons: the volume rocker to the top, and the power button in the middle. If I were nit-picking, the power button is slightly too low down for ergonomic operation, and all three buttons have a mushy feel to them, but this is hardly a significant concern. Meanwhile, a micro-USB port is found along the bottom edge, and the 3.5mm audio jack is along the top.







The thick rear plastic shell can be removed to reveal a swappable battery, a microSD card slot, and the SIM card slots. The device Microsoft sent me to review only has one SIM slot, though for most markets the Lumia 640 will be a dual-SIM device. As for the rear cover, it can be swapped out for other colors if you decide you don’t actually want the blue variant after all.
The display included with the Lumia 640 is a 5.0-inch IPS LCD unit with a resolution of 1280 x 720, which is typical for an entry-level device at this price point. At 294 PPI, this mid-range panel is sharp enough to display crisp text and detailed images, although it doesn’t come close to the sharpness exhibited by higher-end 1080p and 1440p displays.


The quality of the Lumia 640’s display is good without being amazing. Color accuracy is acceptable across the board, although saturation is one or two levels behind what I’d like to see from an IPS-class LCD. The Moto G 2014’s similar five inch display, for example, just has that extra notch of vibrancy that makes photos and videos look more beautiful.
One advantage the Lumia 640 display does have is in the brightness department. Thanks to a high maximum brightness level from the backlight, as well as Nokia’s (now Microsoft’s) ClearBlack technology and a special sunlight readability mode, the Lumia 640’s display is reasonably easy to see outdoors in strong backlighting. Again, it’s not the best display I’ve seen for outdoor viewability, but it’s one of the better displays in this area.



The color temperature of the Lumia 640 display is somewhat tinted toward the yellow end of the spectrum by default, although you can correct this in the smartphone’s display settings. You can also boost display's saturation levels using the color profile settings and while this does help address a lack of saturation by default, it can also reduce image detail in some circumstances. As for black levels, there’s a small amount of backlight bleed from this display, though it’s not distracting enough to be an issue.
Moreover, viewing angles were quite good from this IPS display, with only a mild shift in brightness occurring when viewing the display at acute angles. Glance screen is also supported, despite this not being an AMOLED display, although unfortunately the high sensitivity touch mode appears to have been removed, so the touchscreen no longer works with gloves on.

Source from:http://www.techspot.com/

Posted by Unknown 12:47 AM 0 comments