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Monday, March 30, 2009
Convergencia de VoIP con celulares.
Para enfrentar la crisis, portátiles de bajo costo.
 Web2.0, State of the Art. | ||||
| When Laptops Go Light By DAVID POGUE Published: March 28, 2009. | ||||
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| Did you hear about the new Hilton NanoSuites? You get a single bed in a room about 8 feet square — and no shower. There, you can dine on McDonald's new McSliders: burgers the size of a half-dollar, with two drops of ketchup. You might wash those down with a Coke Swigger — a cute minican that holds three ounces of noncarbonated cola. What's that you say? Those are deeply compromised concepts that would bomb in the marketplace? Well, of course they are; I made them up. The popularity of netbooks, on the other hand, is real. A netbook is a laptop with a shrunken screen, an undersize keyboard and a processor that's so slow, you'd have laughed at it in 2007. The netbooks' crucial attractions are tiny dimensions, light weight and low cost, usually $350 to $500. Otherwise, they're all about compromises. The term "netbook" is a euphemism, intended to stress its main functions: e-mail, Web browsing, chat, Skype and word processing. The hope is to distract you from what netbooks are too feeble to do well: Photoshop, video editing, games and so on. But these days, price and size are enough to make netbooks a hot seller; ABI Research estimates that we'll buy 35 million of them this year, and 139 million in 2013. It wasn't always this way. When netbooks arrived a couple of years ago, they were so tiny, only spider monkeys would find them usable. But as they've inched up in size and usability, their sales have taken off. Now, in fact, there are so many netbooks that keeping them straight would be a full-time job — and it is, for Joanna Stern of Laptop magazine. Since she's seen it all, I asked her to recommend the best four netbooks for my review. In general, these four have identical specs: Windows XP ;1 gigabyte of memory; 1.6-gigahertz Intel Atom processor; 160-gigabyte hard drive; Wi-Fi wireless; 3 U.S.B. jacks; a webcam above the screen; video output and Ethernet jacks; and a memory-card slot. Each has a 1024-by-600-pixel, 10-inch screen. The speakers are tiny and tinny, and online video can be a tad jerky. And there's no way to install software from a disc unless you buy an external DVD drive. Finally, all of these netbooks have tiny trackpads and even tinier clicker buttons. Fortunately, you won't care; you can tap and double-tap right on the trackpad instead of aiming for the clicker buttons. | ||||
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| Here's how they stack up: ASUS EEE PC 1000HE ($375) Why are Asus's computers named Eee? Was somebody dictating name ideas when a mouse ran across the desk? Anyway, the 1000HE is clad in glossy black or blue, and it has a battery that lasts for more than seven hours. Now, the trouble with a battery that big is, yes, that it's big. The Asus battery creates a bulge at the hinge that lifts the machine off the table and makes it uncomfortable on your knees. It also adds weight; the Asus is the heaviest netbook in this roundup (3.2 pounds? For shame!). The keyboard feels cramped but nicely springy. Its tiny trackpad is multitouch-sensitive, meaning that you can scroll by dragging two fingers, or magnify or shrink Web pages, photos and documents by pinching or spreading two fingers (thank you, Apple). There are four handy buttons at the top edge, two of which you can assign to favorite programs. Nice touch; the more you can accomplish without using the infinitesimal trackpad, the more efficient you get. MSI WIND U120 ($330) The MSI Wind's clean, simple, black-and-white design embraces crisp "folds" in its plastic rather than the rounded edges of its rivals. This 2.6-pound machine, too, has a "six-cell" (bulky) battery. Strangely, though, it provides only 4.5 hours of life; it ought to go much longer. The keyboard feels terrific. As on most netbooks, many keys control a secondary function (for example, brightness or volume) when you press the function key; on the Wind, secondary functions are labeled in blue on the white keys and are easy to see. The software uses facial recognition as a security measure — if it's not your face, you can't log into Windows. Unfortunately, you can't upgrade this laptop's memory. There's no trackpad shortcut for scrolling. But how can you argue with $330? SAMSUNG NC10 ($440) Samsung's netbook looks great (from the top, anyway), with a glossy, round-edge lid and cool glowing status lights (like the power button hiding in the right hinge). At 93 percent of full size, the keyboard is relatively roomy. You even get dedicated Page Up/Page Down keys, which are missing on the other three netbooks. The trackpad is tiny, but it has a scrolling strip on the right side, and it, like the Asus, is multitouch. Best of all, the battery doesn't cause much of a lump, yet it still drives the laptop for an amazing 6.5 hours. Only the steep price is a cause for pause on this 2.9-pound marvel. HP MINI 1000 ($445) One thing's for sure: to see this netbook is to want one. It's gorgeous. It's much smaller than the others — nearly an inch shallower front-to-back, and since it doesn't have a battery bulge, it sits low, sleek and flat on the table. At 2.4 pounds, it's also the lightest netbook here. The other stunning achievement is the keyboard. Hewlett-Packard took what would be the obvious design tack: it widened the keyboard to the last available millimeter of horizontal space, right up against the laptop edges. The keys are huge and flat, and typing on them feels very close to normal. Of course, you knew there had to be a catch — and there are several. First, the Mini comes with an 60-gigabyte hard drive, max. That's less than half the capacity of the others — and you're paying top dollar. Second, that nonbulgy battery lasts only three hours. (A 6-cell, 6-hour battery is a $40 option.) Third, the screen is 22 pixels shorter than the others, and you need a $20 adapter to connect a projector or external monitor (HP is borrowing the wrong ideas from Apple). Worst of all, the trackpad clicker buttons are vertical strips flanking the trackpad. It's a design disaster; you can't left-click with your right hand, you have to look at what you're doing and so on. It would be a deal killer, in fact, if it weren't for that "tap the trackpad to click" thing. (The trackpad also has a scroll strip on the right edge.) Netbooks don't make good primary computers; that's not their purpose. They're intended to be second machines: travel machines, countertop laptops, TV-couch computers. They really are irresistible for quick Web or e-mail checks, airplane reading and even PowerPoint projections. If its battery and hard drive weren't so compromised, the sweet, small, solid HP Mini could easily walk away the winner. Meanwhile, consider the Samsung for its solid design, fine keyboard and long battery life; the Asus for its all-day battery and low price; or the MSI for clean lines and rock-bottom price. So yes, choosing a netbook is all about finding the least-bad compromises. And in these four machines, you'll find some not-bad compromises indeed. E-mail: pogue@nytimes.com | ||||
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Aprovechando Twitter como herramienta empresarial.
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January 22 2009, 6:42PM GMT 1-Shut up and tweet: Finding the business benefits of Twitter Posted by: Kristen Caretta |
I've succumbed to the call of the "tweet." In the Web 2.0 checklist of the best, I can add Twitter to the short list with the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Yammer. And although the novelty still lingers, the whole thing seems like a lot of work. But is this constant connectivity beneficial in the business world? Many execs are unsure about Twitter (what are the business benefits? Is it too time-consuming? Is it actually effective?). Further, with ROI more important than ever, the inability to measure Twitter's influence and success is unsettling. Without a way to track ROI, how can anyone justify spending time throwing around status updates? From a companywide perspective, the thought of being in constant contact with your peers and colleagues is attractive – but only if everyone is using it. If it's just you and your five closest work buds in a Yammer social circle, where's the business value in that? Shouldn't this be about connecting with people you wouldn't normally get the chance to share ideas with? But if the entire company connects and shares insight and ideas – well, then we may be on to something. The Twitter turn-on for me was the spider-web effect. If I can follow a certain number of knowledgeable, credible people in my field (and get them to follow me) I'm exposed to their followers, possibly their followers' followers and so on. So now, rather than just asking my team of co-workers if they know of a CIO with a PMO I can tap for article insight, I can tweet about it. With the right followers (and a little luck), I can find a CIO directly who wants to talk about PMOs. I can find out what people are saying about it, test the waters for interest levels, make connections – all in 140 characters or less. But, again, that's with the right followers, and finding them can be tricky. For now, I'm embarking on a Twitter trial (a Twial?) to weigh the business benefits. I invite you to follow me and share your thoughts on Twitter (or below): a beneficial trend? |
Abrir artículo 1 en el Browser. |
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| Feb 13 2009 3:56PM GMT 2-What the tweet? Using Twitter as a business tool Posted by: Kristen Caretta |
It took a lot of coaxing to get me to start using Twitter. It wasn't that I didn't want to join. It wasn't because I didn't understand it. I just didn't get it. I didn't see what the big deal was. To be frank, I didn't think I could keep up with the twit-chat. I barely update my Facebook page. I still take notes in (gasp!) a notebook. My inboxes are overflowing with work and personal messages. And I'm not alone. As more and more companies are showing an interest in using Twitter, from the CIO to the marketing department, the benefits of the social networking tool are being questioned and investigated. Is the time investment worth it, or is this another trend? Recently on (ahem) Twitter, I came across a Tweet from someone in my following about companies using Twitter as a business tool. Thus, a business connection was born – Norman Birnbach (@NormanBirnbach), president of Birnbach Communications, a small agency that works with clients in both traditional and online media. Birnbach gave me some Twitter business insight into why everyone should be investigating it. 1. Twitter, shmitter – why bother? According to Birnbach, you need to protect your brand. If you aren't there, someone else will be. "It's important to build up a following and credibility. In the tough economy, companies need to have an established spot to provide honest information and respond to Twitter reactions," Birnbach said. Situations like employee layoffs will spur people to react via Twitter — without a spot on there, you lose your voice to respond. Keep a pulse on what your employees are thinking and join the dialogue when appropriate. 2. It's not (always) about marketing. Aside from creating a brand and name for yourself, Twitter can be used as a customer service tool. "@ComcastCares does a really good job listening to their customers and providing assistance and feedback," Birnbach said. Reaching out to your customers (whether it be external or internal IT customers) and providing another outlet for your services builds loyalty (refer to No. 1). "No one really cares about your product or service," Birnbach adds. "All people care about is how you help them, and you can't oversell being helpful." 3. Keep an eye on what everyone is doing. The constant posts on Twitter provide company transparency – you can share what you're doing, and you get to see what your colleagues and competitors are up to. The ability to see in real time what peers are learning and doing, projects they are diving into and new trends as they develop turns Twitter into an online networking and learning tool. This type of knowledge share has been very beneficial, according to Birnbach. It provides a new way for companies to communicate internally and externally and learn from peers and colleagues. 4. Ready to join? If you're ready to start using Twitter, there are a few things you need to know:
I've been on Twitter for more than two weeks and … I love it. Used right – as a business tool to communicate with your CIO universe, your staff and/or your users – you will, too. |
Abrir artículo 2 en el Browser. |
| Reproduction in whole or in part, or translation without written permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
Twitter arrollador !!!
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| March, 20 2009. It's Official: Twitter's Popularity Soars by Chloe Albanesius If the constant coverage of Twitter hasn't convinced you, Twitter is popular. | ||||||
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| Visits to Twitter have increased 1,382 percent since last year - from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009, according to Nielsen. That growth signals that the micro-blogging site is no longer just a platform for friends to stay connected in real-time; it is now an important component of brand marketing, Nielsen said. Whether that signals the real beginning of the Twitter story or the beginning of the end remains to be seen. The numbers also make Twitter the fastest growing member community destination for February. Rounding out the top three are Zimbio.com, with 240 percent growth, and Facebook, with 228 percent growth from last year. Who is Tweeting? Adults between the ages of 35 and 49 comprise almost 42 percent of the site's audience - and about 62 percent of them are accessing the site from work. The average user hits Twitter.com about 14 times a month and spends about seven minutes on the site. Mobile accessibility, however, has greatly contributed to Twitter's success, Nielsen said. In January, about 735,000 unique visitors access the site through their phones and PDAs. In the last quarter of 2008, meanwhile, about 812K unique text messages were sent to Twitter from AT&T and Verizon cell phones. "It will be interesting to watch the evolution of Twitter as it continues to gain momentum," Nielsen wrote in a blog post. "In an unstable economy, it might prove to be an economical and important part of an employer's marketing strategy that helps to keep consumers aware of and connected to their brand." Originally posted to AppScout. | ||||||
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| Open article aat PCMag´s Web Site. | ||||||
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