Storing Your Gadgets Properly

November 1, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Your electronic gadgets need proper care if you want to take advantage of their full potential. They deserve proper maintenance when in use and require proper storage when they are not in use. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of how to properly store their unused gadgets. This can lead to reduced quality, reduced efficacy, and reduced lifespan. All of these things lead to you spending more money on repairs and new purchases, so it’s not hard to see why it’s imperative that you learn to properly store your gadgets. So, how exactly can you do this? Here’s a guide to properly storing your unused electronics:

Clean Your Gadgets

Before you store your gadgets away in a safe place, make sure that they are clean. You want them to be free of dust and lint because these things will only cause damage when in contact with your electronics for long periods of time. Generally speaking, you should have your electronics looking like they’re ready to sell when you store them; this will help them retain their quality while stored.

Unplug Everything

A lot can happen in the process of putting your gadgets in and out of storage. It’s imperative that you unplug everything from your electronics; cords, cables, accessories, etc., should all be unplugged to reduce the odds of damage during the process.

Properly Pack Items

You can’t simply leave your gadgets somewhere in storage; they will be exposed to the elements (such as lint and dust) and could be damaged by other items that are being moved. Instead, you want to secure them in safe packaging like they were in when you bought them. Wrap your electronics in towels or bubble wrap and place them in cardboard boxes that are not too big. Then, fill in that extra space with bubble wrap, packaging pillows, or packaging peanuts. If you treat your gadgets like they’re going to be shipped, then they’ll stay in fine shape while they’re in storage.

Where to Store Your Gadgets

There are two main choices for where you should store your electronics:

At home: If you elect to store your gadgets at home, it is absolutely essential that you have a room with the right humidity. Gadgets should be stored in areas that are dry and relatively low in humidity. Ideally, you should also store them where they are safe in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster. Many people store their electronics in attics or basements, but this is usually a bad idea. Not only do those places usually have poor temperature control, they also are subject to leaks and other environmental issues. Instead, elect for a closet or a specifically designed storage room.

In a storage unit: This is the safest way to store your gadgets. Many people fear that their electronics will not be safe in storage units, but most units are designed with temperature control in mind. Thankfully, there are many great storage units in Philadelphia that are ideal for storing your gadgets in and won’t break the bank.

With these tips you now know how to properly store your unused gadgets so they will be ready and working properly when you need them next.

Connecting Better with Your Customers Online

October 25, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Social media outlets have completely revolutionized the way businesses connect with their customers. The Internet provides businesses with a larger market and a multitude of ways to keep in touch with customers. Companies can finally focus on showing their customers what their business is about and form relationships with those customers. If you would like to start connecting with your customers online, here are some things to try.

Start a Conversation

One of the best ways to work on building relationships with your customers is by taking the time to talk to them. Use social media to your advantage by asking customers a question. Find out what they are interested in and how you can serve them. Using the right social media question can spark a great conversation with a lot of customers to find out what they are interested in and how you can serve those interests. Look for people who are interested in your products or services and give them a solution to their questions by pitching your products.

Blogging

If you are able to listen to your customers on social media, take it a step further by answering some of their questions on a blog. Blogging is great for small businesses because a blog gives you complete control over the content. You can easily create some great discussions with your customers through blogging. Once people see that your company is the one to turn to for answers, it helps to build up your company’s credibility.

Hashtags

Thanks to the new social media world, you can find new customers by using hashtags. Effectively using them on Facebook and Twitter can help you find people who are discussing products similar to yours. You can also recognize customers who are discussing your products and services. It is a good idea to recognize the hashtags that relate to your business, since it will show customers that you do pay attention to the things they are saying.

Customer Reviews

A great way to boost your online ranking is through customer reviews. It is a good idea to respond to both positive and negative customer reviews. There will be some negative reviews, which you will want to address. It is important to avoid becoming hostile in a response if you feel the customer is not giving you a good review. The best thing you can do is respond as quickly as possible and let the customers know you are aware of their concerns and you are working quickly to resolve the issue.

Live Chat

Make yourself available to your customers through live chat services. This is a great way to help customers who may become frustrated when they are searching for something on your website. Offering live chat is a great way to reach out to your customers to give them an extra way to talk to you when they need to. Sometimes it can be frustrating to wait on the phone for a customer service agent to be available. By offering live chat to your customers, you are taking that extra step to let them know you care about their time and you want to help.

Preparing for a Career in IT

October 18, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

IT professionals rely on ever-changing skill sets that enable them to do their jobs in a manner that mirror industry trends. There are, without a doubt, a great many things an IT professional could in theory be responsible for at their respective companies. The core tenet of IT work always remains the same, however. An Information Technology specialist works as a sort of bridge between the non-technical and technical world. An IT specialist’s job is more than just fixing a broken laptop or setting up a tricky network, it’s to help everyone understand a little bit more about the technology they use every day. There are a few areas of specialized training that can help build the mindset required to be a great IT specialist. The one this article will focus on is app development. While by no means does app development training guarantee you higher pay or a better shot at a job, it can help tune your mind to the challenging field that is IT.

A Little Background First: What is App Development?

According to recent data, app development is on a 30 percent employment hike over the next decade. This is testament to the demand for the kinds of skills that app development entails. App development is, quite simply, the development process needed to build applications for devices, typically mobile ones. There are two key reasons app development winds up being important for IT specialists, including skill building and experience.

What Makes App Development a Great Skill Set?

IT specialists rely on a set of skills almost daily that include interpersonal interaction, technical proficiency, and a certain mindset geared towards making those two things click together. Regardless of whether or not your specific IT path leads you to a company that relies on mobile apps, the skills you pick up in an accredited mobile app development course can benefit your IT training as a whole. App development trains students to think outside the box in terms of solving problems, a common programming skill that IT professionals constantly need in their respective career paths. App development also pushes students to work together. This makes the creation of apps a great group project which is a crucial skill in the IT field regardless of the specific industry.

How Else can App Development Benefit an IT Professional?

The best IT specialists are typically the most flexible. The skills you can pick up developing applications can mark you as a jack of all trades. While not a guarantee of employment, app development is a great indicator that you have specialized skills which doesn’t hurt you as a prospective employee. In addition, app development puts you in the overall right mindset for any technical job. A combination of technical proficiency and interpersonal skills will benefit not only IT, but the entire technical field. App development training can help give you the flexibility you need to become a great IT specialist.

There are many reasons why app development can, and should, play a key role in any IT specialization. Careers in IT will always be important, and it is specialized skills like app development that explain why.

What Role Does Confidence Play When You Take Cisco Certification Exams?

October 18, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

When you hear talk of taking Cisco Certification Exams, you usually don’t hear too much about confidence. It’s more about the details of the exams and about the countless ways to study, but confidence does play a big role when you take these exams. Here’s a basic idea of what confidence can do for you. Maybe it will inspire you to work on your confidence as much as you work on your other skills.

You Remember What You Know

Confidence helps you to remember what you know. If this sounds strange, think about how some people panic and go blank before big exams. The reverse is also true. You can remember more if you stay confident about your preparation and about your ability to complete the exam successfully.

You Trust What You Know

Not only can you remember more when you are confident, you can believe in it, too. People who are feeling insecure while taking tests are more likely to second guess themselves and are more likely to talk themselves out of answering questions correctly. With confidence, you know what you know, and you have faith that what you know is right.

You Feel Good

Confidence also makes taking Cisco Certification Exams a more pleasant experience. You feel good because instead of the exam being an unpleasant, intimidating experience, it is a chance to show how intelligent and skilled you are. While some people seem to think that taking an exam cannot be an enjoyable experience, those with enough confidence know better. Believe in yourself, and you’ll see.

How The iPad Changed The Tech Industry

October 7, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

The iPad started off as a joke and an unlikely candidate in the cut-throat world of consumer electronics. It has since grown into a phenomenon that attracts buyers and users from around the world at an astonishing rate. The iPad is the IT-gadget of the decade, and it’s only growing in popularity. The iPad changed the tech industry permanently, and its mark on technological history will never be forgotten.

It Made Netbooks All but Obsolete

Netbooks were supposed to be smaller than a laptop and easier to take on the go, but they ended up having little to no processing power, and they were still bulky. When the iPad was unveiled with its sleek design and ability to easily take on-the-go, it killed the netbook as a worthy investment. Most people use their iPads as laptops while they are traveling.

Altering the Future of Tablets

Tablets have now become a necessity in the industry. People are treating them as laptops and necessary gadgets instead of superfluous accessories. The iPad has opened the door for other companies to release their own tablets in varying sizes and styles, but the iPad has managed to remain the top seller in this niche.

Offers the Ability to Accessorize

Simple accessories have made products like the iPad more accessible for different purposes. The Kensington iPad keyboard case from kensington.com is an example of a keyboard that allows users to turn the iPad into a laptop. Cases, peripheral devices and other accessories are making it easier for people to customize and alter the way they are using their products. This makes for money-saving electronics that are easy to take on the road with you. Users will have more space, more accessibility and more fun overall.

Apple is a Dominant Force in the Market

Apple is now the focus of consumer electronics and the iPad led the way for this to happen. Users fall in love with the sleek design of the iPhone or iPad, and they may decide they also need a MacBook and Apple desktop. Apple is dominating the tech industry with their products and licensed gear for their products. Apple remains strong thanks to the consumer perception of the iPad and other Apple products.

Tablets Are At the Forefront of Technology

Tablets are now at the forefront of technology. They have become the must-have product, and people are exchanging laptops for tablets. They are even exchanging smartphones for a new tablet instead of upgrading their phone. The popularity knows no bounds, and no other product can say the same about its history and effect on consumer electronics.

Consumers Are Willing To Pay More for Quality

Apple products aren’t cheap, and consumers are more than willing to pay more for quality electronics as they play such a major role in the global economy.

The iPad has changed the world with its design, layout and usability. Users are falling in love with the sleek performance and speed of the iPad, and the momentum isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Why Laptops Are Still a Useful Tool in 2013

September 26, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Despite still competition from tablets such as the iPad, there is no doubt that laptop computers are still as popular as ever in today’s market. But just how useful are laptops in amongst the newly developed smartphones and tablet computers?

Personally, I couldn’t live without my laptop. Although I can surf the Internet and access my emails on my smartphone, I need, amongst other things, the word-processing capabilities of my laptop. For many modern people, like office workers, teachers, or students, the ability to multi-task is essential. We have to be able to research topics online, at the same time as editing a document, and attaching it to an email. This is all straightforward to achieve on a laptop. With this device you also have the added ease of a full-sized keyboard, which is simpler to use than the small keyboard on a phone or tablet.

Both people who commute and students tend to move around a lot. Sometimes I work in the library, sometimes I work at home, or at a friend’s, and sometimes I just want to watch a film in bed. This, as well as the fact that I have to move house every year, means a bulky desktop computer would be inconvenient. Likewise, for the millions of people who travel to work by train or bus, having something lightweight and yet practical to work on is essential. Owning a laptop that you can take with you from place to place makes working so much easier. For instance, I can connect to the Internet wherever I go and work on assignments at the same time. Commuters can similarly check their emails, read through presentations and draft statements whilst they travel. For a student, or anyone who has to work whilst travelling, laptops are definitely still one of the most useful gadgets available. This is because they provide the ability to create work, rather than just to surf the web and check social media statuses.

As laptops are so popular, they are also now very affordable, both for students and working people. I’ve been looking for a new laptop recently, and I have discovered that there are laptops with 512MB of RAM, fast processors, and plenty of memory, for less than £200! This is exactly what I need. Even if you want to use your laptop for gaming, photo and video editing, or you just want more available memory, then there are still plenty of affordable options on the market. For as little as £400 you can have a versatile, powerful and up-to-date computer that you can take with you wherever you go.

There’s no doubt that laptop computers are still one of the most popular and useful technological tools in 2013, for many people in society. I believe they will remain so for years to come.

Author Bio: Elizabeth White is an undergraduate student who believes that laptops are still incredibly useful. She is currently searching for a new model on http://www.portableuniverse.co.uk .

The Case of Domain Ownership: Most Important Aspect in Website Reseller Programs

September 18, 2013 By Guest Author 2 Comments

Domain ownership is a simple case of LIABILITY. Being in website reseller programs, you must be aware what all you are liable for and for what you are not. Usually most of the hosting providers, make these points sufficiently understandable and loud before entering into the reseller program. Remember that you are a mere reseller, who is a connecting link between the customer and the service provider; you are nor the service provider! It is always on the part of the hosting provider to deal with all the aspects of customer handling – Ensuring Uptime, Availability and addressing to Support and Legal Queries.

Here are few points that, being the website reseller, you never consider being liable of. Check them out while choosing a good reseller partner.

Uptime:

Website uptime is dependent on many criteria; most of them are technical dependencies. The reliability and stability of the system is defined by the uptime of the service. Uptime is typically a factor ensured only by the hosting provider. Hence, out of the many options, you must do a thorough research on the service provider that will ensure the highest uptime.

Availability:

Availability again is a system design approach that ensures that a particular system or service is available for use for its users. In the context of hosting service providing, there are standards of defining Availability. These are usually represented by nines, such as 90%, 95%, 99%, 99.99% up to 99.99999%. The seven nine standard or 99.99999% availability is the highest in the industry so far. You can become reseller of such an operator, provided your customers are willing to pay for the service.

Support Queries:

Support queries handling is the sole liability of the service provider. Being the sole owner of the entire system setup, it is the hosting provider, who can tell what is wrong when any such incident occurs. Usually good hosting prodders do have their own support team or have outsourced the service to some efficient process center. Check this out as well.

Legal Queries (Complaints Handling):

In spite of all the setups and assurance for delivering the best service, at times, disagreements happen and your customers may opt out from the deal. In such a case, it again falls on the lap of the service provider to the complaint handling and legal formalities part. It should be clearly mentioned in the contracts about the same and partner with a service provider that offers such a service of taking the legal liabilities.

Responsibilities:

If you do the sum, all the liabilities taken together convert into a big RESPONSIBILITY.

The hosting provider must be ready to at least take these liabilities. The role of a reseller though demands a lot to fill the bridge between the service provider and the end users; however, is never taking these domain ownership liabilities on to one. Hence, while choosing a website reseller program, do consider the above factors for a worry free business model and enjoy your part of share in the business.

Shortlisted : 3 Android Budget Phones For Students In India

September 17, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Better improvements are being made to each of the smartphones upon its release. Since, most of the smartphone users in India are students; we tend to forget writing about the things which suit them the best. Well, students have many concerns like studying, knowing different things, browsing the web, chatting, watching movies, playing games etc. So, a well-built sturdy phone with amazing specs will fit all of the requirements for a student. Let’s take a look at the best smartphones for students in India.

1. Lenovo IdeaPhone K860

Packed within a nice 5-inch display IdeaPhone k860 is pretty much inexpensive for a phablet. It weighs slightly more and it’s quite difficult to handle it within one hand, but still, it’s been equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and a nice combination of CPU and GPU.

This device has internal storage of 8GB but you can extend it as well up to 32GB. It comes with Exynos 4412 Quad-Core 1.4GHz Cortex-A9 which has been used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Bundled with 1GB RAM and Mali-400MP GPU, chances are that you’ll fall in love with the HD games and multiple running apps. The only downside with its specs is its backdated support from Android. It seems pretty harsh to own ICS on such a nice looking device. It also has 8MP rear camera with amazing image quality. It comes with a price tag of Rs. 19,990 which is quite affordable for the college students.

2. Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos

Samsung’s Galaxy series has created a great impact in the smartphone world and we’ve seen Galaxy devices with different sizes hovering around the whole country. Galaxy Grand Duos is a great smartphone according to its specs and price. It’s supported by Jelly Bean and lower ppi display built within 5-inches but still it packs a powerful Dual-Core 1.2 GHz processor to run it effectively. The GPU unit is Broadcom VideoCore IV and it can help you to represent great powerpoint presentation as well as multiple gaming compatibility. The 8-MP rear camera is quite handy for taking great pictures and videos at 1080p. It won’t cost you more than Rs. 17,460.

3. Micromax Canvas 4

Canvas 4 has made its entrance as the top rated smartphone in the market and mostly students are hovering around to get one in their pockets. Costing around Rs. 17,999, this device enables you to make lots of amazing stuffs in your daily schedule. Powered by Quad-Core processor and coupled with 1GB RAM, this device is open for any challenge to cover any HD games or running 20apps at once is not a big deal for it. It packs a 13-MP rear camera and you can guess the amazing quality that it’s trying to offer the market. You can get a bundled package within less money by buying Canvas 4. Thousands of people have already pre-ordered this device which is why it seems pretty obvious that it will perform above the mark for any student within this affordable price range.

Well, we’ve prepared this list considering the best mobile price list in India to guide the fellow students who have a tighter budget to buy mid-ranged smartphones. If your budget is much higher than our guess, then you can get sturdy phones like Galaxy S4, HTC One, iPhone 5 etc.

Author Bio: Mohsinali Sunasara is Co-Founder at Waroze.com which offers cashback shopping online in india.

Critical Elements of a Good Technology Website that make it Successful

September 9, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Is the approach of developing a technology website the same as any other site? Certainly, not. So, what are the key elements of creating a good technology website? Which are the most appropriate technology web templates and what are the time-tested tactics that are able to create a firm place among the end users? The first consideration that must be taken is that the users groups of technology websites are definitely other than general consumer website readers. Their requirements are very specific and predefined which the website must be able to showcase. Here are some of the key elements that can make a technology website a huge success for the business owner.

Good SEO for Good Website Visitors

Good search engine optimization is very essential for the visibility of the website sufficiently at the top of the search engine. The site can be great, the products can be even better; still, if the website is unable to create an online space among the users, then you do not get your desired results. Basic Google guidelines hold great importance in developing and launching a website, which must not be violated.

Good UE + Easy Navigation

User Experience is a great thing. In a way, in the online arena, it is everything. Customers will not stay, if they are not given a more than enough reasons why there are in your website. Similarly, the navigations between different options and links should be well understood. The template should not be entirely image based nor should it be completely text based. The sitemap of the website should be clear and must not make a real web of pages.

Great, Targeted Content

Customers want experience; experience of the product they are going to buy. They want every great detail of the product or service. This is possible only with great, targeted content. Content always has great significance and effect on the readers. Content must be created keeping after great research and analysis of the customers’ demands, market trends, competition, and the future trends as well.

Smart Sales Techniques

This is something which comes with great practice and experience. A successful technology website must have great marketing techniques or campaigns incorporated. Consumer websites do have their natural marketing pitch; however, it is a bit challenging task in the case of tech sites. The technology web template must have smart options for these.

CRM Inclusion

Tech consumers, especially when we are dealing with high end technology consumers (plant and machinery, traditional technology, high-level coding and software solutions etc.). We are given frequent orders of massive worth. It is, hence, very much integral to incorporate the CRM inclusion aspect in the website.

Futuristic Approach

Futuristic approach is not a common trait. It is not common in all business, and hence, not in all websites. However, futuristic approach helps in many ways. Business do change constantly, technologies do change constantly. In such scenario, the tech website and the template must have potent scope to adapt to those changes.

Making Your Computer Experience Better