The Nexus line offered by Google has created a clear identity; behind each version stands the will to make the best, purest, Android-istic phone, at a price that matches what most carriers and manufacturers would charge with a regular two-year contract. On Halloween Google launched Nexus 5 after months of “accidental” leaks, powered by Android 4.4 Kitkat software. The Nexus line represents Google hardware running on Google software, built by a manufacturing partner (LG), but with Google’s involvement in the creation of the hardware. The result is a 5-inch phone, thinner and lighter than the previous version, quite difficult to use for those with small hands. It’s coated in a soft-touch plastic (not the best choice for a premium phone), with a silky texture that provides just enough friction to keep the phone in hand. The backside has a rounded finish that feels nicely in the palm of the hand and the 130g it weights makes it light enough for a one-hand usage. The rear camera in the top left-hand corner looks and feels odd, bulging the surface and acting as prop when the phone is laid down flat, basically left completely unprotected. The screen is full HD IPS Plus LCD that makes text on websites crisp and easily readable, while photos and videos offer details and intense color. Furthermore, the screen’s brightness makes reading in direct light much easier. The technical specifications feature a 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor backed by 2GB of RAM, 16 or 32 GB of storage (no micro SD slot for expansion), 8MP rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilization) and a 1.3MP front camera. The HDR (high dynamic range) function helps produce greatly improved detail and color in photos. Based on these, the phone is as...

In a recent survey of cloud adoption trends within the investment management industry, respondents reported that despite concerns over security and adaptability, use of cloud services is widespread for investment firms, who are handling both basic business functions and financial applications hosting using cloud services. Moving to the cloud, rather than continued on-site hosting of applications and business data, is the common practice for businesses of all kinds that want to advance their information technology infrastructure and enjoy extreme flexibility, scalability and security. Investment management firms are no different, and may enjoy advantages within a cloud system when it comes to big data and business intelligence, redundancy of data, and application integration. Despite some questions about how receptive investors and clients would be to the use of cloud computing and worries about lack of custom application availability, moving to cloud hosting was the choice for nearly 90% of the investment management firms responding to the survey, which was conducted by an integration services provider. One predictive analysis forecast is that the cloud computing market will grow from $40.7 billion in 2011 to $241 billion in 2020, over several dozen distinct market segments. Other forecasts put that number significantly higher. Cloud services growth is expected to contribute to 14 million new jobs, worldwide, by 2015. Recently initiatives by Microsoft, GoDaddy, expansion by industry pioneers like Amazon, and an influx of venture capitalist funding have fast-tracked the private cloud market for major growth. This long-awaited innovation in computing has arrived as a cost and efficiency saver for companies of all sizes. Financial and investment management firms, including banks, sovereign wealth organizations, and government institutions are among those moving forward with use of private clouds. To alleviate concerns about security, most use a private cloud solution, though...

Era of Personal Computing, PC-plus Era or even Post-PC Era – Where are we? What stage in the evolution of technology have we entered, which have we exited? What marked the transition? In 2006 HP launched a new campaign called The Computer is Personal Again, putting more emphasis on empowering users and enterprises and paying little attention to the technical matters. That was a moment when many remembered the great distance computing had traveled from room-sized devices that were anything but personal, to the small devices we carry today that satisfy such personalized needs. Every year, technology developers do their best to present to consumers either new devices or improved versions of the previous models. In the past few years, critics have been more vocal than ever,  alleging lack of innovation. Are they right. or does everybody need to calm down and take a deep breath? If we are to reflect upon the history of technology we see a clear pattern: at first, devices are used by businesses. Only after reaching a stable foundation are they produced for the masses; then the product needs to mature before the mass market adopts it. Some say that innovation comes in cycles of fifty years, equally divided between the enterprise environment and the general public’s adoption life cycle. Ideas will never cease to surface. But in order to have a new idea succeed, the timing must be right. A new idea typically comes only after the previous one is perfected. Each innovation is built on the knowledge a previous one brought. People have to be mentally prepared to embrace the new. With the expansion of the hardware, the software sees considerable growth. Software is growing in value and perhaps the best example would be the gigantic move...

One of the hottest tech topics of the year in the technology world has been wearable gizmos like smart watches and Google Glass. As hot as these inventions are, they have privacy implications that must not be overlooked. By April 2014, the initial 10,000 people that are currently testing the prototype will multiply. With the eminent adoption of the “all-knowing eye”, reviewers and scientists are uncovering problems and discovering solutions. The most prevalent concern is related to privacy. The fields of discussion are various, from the privacy of a walk down the street, to the security in the work environment. Privacy is already affected primarily by the cameras installed everywhere, from storefronts to busy intersections; the new Google Glass mechanism will rule over all of them, combining a miniature computer with everything it means plus a recording camera that’s seamlessly mounted on the glasses – you might not even know that you’re being recorded as you take your evening stroll in the park. What will organizations do? Having the freedom to wear a small recording device at the office gives both employees and management the potential to modify how transparent things really are in the work environment. The HR department will suffer important changes, as here is where organizational policies are developed – here is where disputes between employees, and between employees and management are handled. Perhaps this will ease up their work, perhaps they’ll need a Video Review function, or perhaps they’ll focus on determining if and to what extent will Google Glass be allowed in the workplace. It’s absolutely relevant the worry that this watchful eye could easily turn into a spying eye, more so than the current highly used devices that have the recording function as part of their mechanism. “Smartglasses...

When it comes to commercial advertisements, traditional rules have fallen by the wayside. Millennials have nontraditional tastes. We recycle our snail mail without reading it. We use TV commercial breaks to tweet about the show, not to watch ads. What banners? We can ignore a pop-up like you never even made it. Millennials respond best to out-of-the-box advertisements that say a lot in time-friendly morsels. Meet the six-second ad. It’s a growing phenomenon that catches the attention of Millennials through some of our favorite social media platforms. Learning to master the six-second ad opens up a cost effective marketing opportunity that carries weight with young consumers. The popular video site, YouTube,  allows viewers to skip ads after six seconds. This means that you can make a longer commercial if you want but you must grab and hold viewers’ attention within the first six seconds or we will quickly press that little right-facing arrow. Vine is a growing site for posting three- to six-second videos. Variations of these circulate as memes on Facebook, Tumblr and other social media sites, vastly expanding the videos’ audience. When brands create vines, their commercials can be placed seamlessly (read: hidden) amongst quirky videos by users’ friends. It’s like gorilla advertising. Want to advertise to Millennials with videos that we want to watch? These tips will help you get started. 5 Things to Keep In Mind for Your 6 Second Ad Ads can be as abstract, funny, tear-jerking, or as provocative as you want. At the end of those six seconds, however, you must prove that your product will enhance our lives and fit into our lifestyles. Skip long winded pricing or guarantee comparisons–we can look that up ourselves, and we will. Rather, show us what your product can do...

Multifamily professionals are torn when it comes to LEDs. While many love the idea of a bulb that lowers utility bills without sacrificing brightness, they aren’t in love with the high upfront costs. It can also be hard to tell when it’s worthwhile to invest in LEDs when halogen, fluorescent, CFL, or even incandescent bulbs might suffice. A few tips might make the decision easier. When it comes to longevity, LEDs are hard to beat. LED lamps can last up to 50,000 hours, outliving the average incandescent bulb by more than 10 times. This makes them ideal for hard to reach places like stairwells, parking lot posts, and ceiling-mounted security fixtures. LEDs are also incredibly useful for fixtures that must stay lit day and night. The light emitting diodes also have less practical and more fashionable applications. LEDs are now more versatile than ever, making them ideal for eye-catching applications in hip, newly constructed buildings. Different colors and warmths allow lighting designers to explore endless interior and exterior possibilities. Like their incandescent cousins, LEDs can now be dimmed, a feature that designers have craved for years. There is even a new line of OLEDs with thin, flexible lamps that promise innovative new creations like poster-thin televisions for fitness centers and bedroom windows that turn into lamps at night. Though the advantages of LEDS are evident, you must first make sure that you can provide the proper housing for the bulbs to reap their full potential. The longevity of LEDs helps the lamps to pay for themselves in just 4-6 years but such returns aren’t a sure thing. James Youngston, IALD, LC Principal at Gabler-Youngston explains, “Retrofit lamps are rated for 50,000 hours but that’s based on turning them on is sockets by themselves, not...

I started to write this post on Apple Pages 5.0 by creating a Microsoft Word 2010 Document and naming it Apple Pages 5.0. But something didn’t seem right. Outside the office I’m on a MacBook, and Pages is what I use to create personal documents. I am completely satisfied with its airy design, the way it communicates with my non-Pages friends and collaborators, and its seamless sharing capabilities across devices – Macs, iOS devices and Windows alike. It seemed more appropriate to write about Pages while using Pages. Pages is part of the iWork package that includes the word-processing software, a spreadsheet program, and a presentation manager. There are many for whom Pages doesn’t meet their needs, but others feel that Apple, by rewriting the word processor from scratch, got impressive results. Layers will most probably be added to meet some of the needs of the more power users. For now, the software excels especially in design, compatibility, sharing, speed, and ease of use. To better visualize Pages, for those who haven’t used it, a comparison with Word would probably be helpful. Design The first thing that hits the eyes when opening a Word document is the multitude of buttons. Every imaginable function has a tiny button somewhere on one edge of the blank sheet of paper. Apple chose the path of “less is more” – just a handful of icons across the top and a contextual panel that slides out on the right. Whenever you need to edit the text, the buttons for font type, size, the alignment style and paragraph design pop out on the right of the page. If you wish to insert a table, the panel recognizes that and switches to allow the modification of rows and columns. Adding a...

Which do you value most during a flight: peace and quiet or the ability to get more work done? Business travelers across the globe may have to ask (and answer) that question when booking their next flight. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed to lift its ban on in-flight cellular communications. This means chatting it up and conducting business at 5,000 feet. A poll by the Federal Aviation Administration reveals that 61 percent of people are in favor of keeping the ban right where it is. Travelers applauded the arrival of in-flight internet. The provision opened the doors for leisure and business travelers alike to entertain themselves with their tablets, smartphones and laptops. No more making awkward small talk with the stranger sitting next to you, or suffering with a teething baby during a transatlantic flight. Hulu Plus could rescue us all. But maybe the FCC has taken in-flight communication a step too far with phone calls. With the addition of earphones, enjoying the features of most mobile devices does not impose on other travelers. Phone calls, however, will necessarily increase noise levels and create more scenarios for friction between passengers. The topic, duration, volume, and language used during conversations will no longer be limited to the few passengers sitting around the device user. The conversation can exist between the device user, nearby passengers and everyone else in their social circles. A 55-passenger flight can easily sound like a 110-passenger flight, or more if someone gets creative with a video conference call. That’s a lot of noise. Added noise is only one level of concern. The second is the end of in-flight rest. It could be said that a long flight would at least allow time for a catnap or even a full on...

If you knew how visitors interact with your website, what their ages and interests are, could you serve them better? Could you use information about your clients and potential clients to create more effective marketing? That’s what the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) aims to find out. At the 2013 NAR Convention and Expo in San Francisco last month, chair Danny Frank hosted a talk about data collection titled Big Data and You: Predictive Marketing, Predictive Analytics and Data Visualization. Big data is essentially the aggregation of separate but potentially related information sets that can then be interpreted in a practical way. For example, a website can collect data about the actions of its visitors and then use that data to predict and surface what the user will want to see or do or buy next. This is called predictive marketing. If you have ever noticed “You might also like” messaging on a site like Amazon or Netflix, then you have seen an example of a business using the data it collects to tailor its services to you. In theory, big data can be used to develop predictive analytics that will improve user experience – both in the real world and online – and, as a result, increase profits. The retail applications of predictive marketing are apparent, but what are the applications for the real estate industry? Several ideas were posited at the NAR talk mentioned above. Todd Carpenter, managing director for NAR’s recently created data analytics group, explained that analytics are like listening and “the more you listen to your client, the more you can serve their needs.” To that end, one of the group’s aims is to figure out how to use the mountains of data that NAR already has at its...

I split my days between Windows and OS X. Sometimes I feel like a child whose parents got divorced and I have the responsibility of pleasing them both. At the same time I am the child who’s pampered by the parents who try to make up for their separation. For the tech lover in me, this situation is ideal: I don’t get bored and still manage to discover new features in both OS’, especially with the fierce competition between Microsoft and Apple. The general philosophy is clearly consistence across operating systems. Microsoft does it by offering the same OS on desktop PCs and mobile devices, while Apple’s strategy is the cohabitation of two operating systems (iOS and OS X) that share gestures and some UI consistencies so that it results in a consistent experience for the customer. After last year’s not very successful attempt of re-imagining the look and feel of Windows by adding the “touch”, but overlooking the responsiveness between devices (desktop, phone, tablet), Microsoft released the Windows 8.1 version through which it tries to calm down some of the critics. It reintroduced the Start button and included the ability to skip the Start screen and boot directly to the desktop; the colorful tiled look of the screen is ideal for tablets, but traditionalists wanted the classic desktop interface. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s attempt to create an OS that is as operational on traditional PCs and on mobile touch-screens. The idea behind the development of the dual interface is for Microsoft to gain market share in tablets  while preserving Windows’ longtime dominance of the desktop-PC arena. However, despite the aggressive marketing campaign, the software gained just 8.02 percent of the worldwide market, much behind Windows XP at 31.42 percent and Windows 7 at 46.39...

Qualcomm introduced its Toq Smartwatch to the marketplace on Dec. 2. The wearable computing device is available in limited edition to US customers, directly from Qualcomm’s website. Toq is considered an experiment and should be regarded as such. It doesn’t want to (nor can it) replace flashy smartphones, but comes to play as a peripheral device meant to work as an extension of the smartphone (Android-only, for now). It covers the standard commands for a smartwatch such as alerts, SMS replies with canned responses, Bluetooth headset compatibility, and a few bite-sized apps like Accuweather and Etrade. Third-party developers will be allowed by Qualcomm to build applets for the little gizmo; they will be able to use AllJoyn, another Qualcomm technology designed to let phones and watches communicate directly with each other. With a 3.2oz weight, a wrist band that ranges is size from 6 to 8.7 inches, and a display size of 1.55in, Toq throws in the Mirasol display technology, a combination of a full color screen with low power consumption (IMOD – Interferometric Modulation). 222ppi and a button-less display that has touch screen capacities, the device goes through multiple days between charges (3 to 5) and when the time comes to refill the battery (placed in the clasp of the watch band), it uses the Qualcomm® Charging Technology WiPower™ LE – Magnetic Resonance Charging – the device starts charging as soon as you drop it on the wireless charging dock. To aid battery life, the smartwatch is powered not by a high-end Snapdragon chip, but a 200MHz Cortex M3 processor. Mirasol, a direct competitor of e-ink, is based on MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), to produce the IMOD effect. This effect creates colors in a different way than LCDS or OLEDS – an air pocket between...

Apps can be great tools to connect with clients and potential customers. Get the most out of popular apps Instagram and Vine with tips that make your media stand apart from the crowd. Instagram Composition still matters While you don’t need to invest hours and money into taking professional photography classes, reading a few articles and YouTube tutorials on introductory photography techniques will definitely help. Choose your subject wisely While new appliances at a property are a good selling point for a property, a picture of a shiny oven won’t gain much interest. Rather, shows the subject in a broader context. Consider a resident–on trend, well-dressed resident– entertaining for their equally hip friends in the kitchen with new appliances. Accessorize your phone Nope, this doesn’t mean a bedazzled case. Rather, seek out camera enhancing accessories that will improve the quality of your photos. Most of these accessories cost far less than buying a point and shoot or DSLR camera. Try out Photojojo Lenses (below) for better zoom control and Flip Cage to stay steady, for starters. Skip panoramas It might seem like using your iPhone’s panorama feature is a great way to capture the beauty of a property or event but remember that Instagram photos are cropped to 612px X 612px squares.  When taking your photos, think of squares rather than rectangles. If you must take a panorama, seek out another app such as Pic Stitch. Combine apps Although Instagram has filters, different apps offer a wider array of possibilities. You can edit your photo in an additional app, like Snapseed, and post it to the social media platform of your choice. Hashtag it wisely Too many hashtags can be annoying. No hashtags, however, mean that your image is basically lost in space, undiscoverable. Hashtags...

A new word is on the lips of many in the tech world and it’s not one easy to pronounce by us, westerners – Xiaomi – pronounced She-ow Me. It means Little Rice in Mandarin and is the product of Xiaomi Tech, a three-year old startup led by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun. Jun and his company are often compared to the late Steve Jobs and Apple, a comparison he recently told CNN he was tired of. He is also famous for co-founding Joyo.com, which he sold to Amazon in 2004 for $75 million, and for chairing the board of UCWeb, China’s largest mobile Web browser. Xiaomi drew attention through a few essential factors in the industry: an intense growth, an impressive team, savvy marketing, attention to the followers, but firstly, a product that satisfies the high-end demands of the clients. All of these made Xiaomi Tech a relevant competitor on the national market because after just three years in business, the company gained on Lenovo’s market value of $10 billion (which is twice Blackberry’s current figure of $5.5 billion). Although it only started selling smartphones in October 2011, Xiaomi amplified with 5 million smartphones the 15 million pieces it had set as sales goal for 2013. Considering that after announcing the last phone in April the company received over 7.4 million pre-orders for the device, the new goal doesn’t seem farfetched. Currently the company holds 5 percent of China’s smartphone market, above Apple’s 4.8 percent, but still well behind Samsung (17.6 percent), Lenovo (12.3 percent), ZTE (8.7 percent) and Huawei (8.6 percent). In an interview for TechCrunch in October 2011 Lei Jun explained with a touch of humor one side of his strategy to take on Apple: merging Microsoft, Google, and Motorola. And that...

According to NotebookReview.com, Windows 8 is receiving a higher approval rating than Apple and Android operating systems. Based upon consumer feedback, of roughly 10,500 comparisons between the iOS 7 and Windows 8, 63 percent favored Windows. Of nearly 7,300 comparisons to the Android OS, almost all favored Windows 8. If you haven’t caught up on what’s new, now is the time. Windows 8 has made the upgrades that one would expect: 4th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Atom™ processors that deliver speed without bulk; the operating system is compatible with the new 8” tablet which offers mobile computing at its best; and the system syncs across several devices making it easier for professionals to stay organized on the go. And there are plenty of nice touches, such as a revamped touch keyboard and  various tile sizes to help us visual learners. Users can now control some apps, such as media players and Skype, from the lock screen. The pro system comes with its own benefits. It caters to multitaskers, providing improved multi-monitor support and easy access tools. There are also additional upgrades that are worth their weight in gold. Security Most of us remember when Windows became synonymous with viruses. The company aims to change that, boldly stating that “Windows 8 is 21 times more secure than Windows XP and 6 times more secure than Windows 7.” For starters, Windows 8 Pro now has Trusted Boot, which initiates anti-malware software at startup before any third-party drivers or apps. Even when employees click an unsavory banner, it will be more difficult for malware to take hold of your system. Windows 8 Pro has also jumped on the fingerprint credentials express train, helping to keep your sensitive information secure from guests and unauthorized users. Pro helps...

Perhaps more than anyone, business travelers understand the importance of rapidly charging a mobile device. Business professionals are expected to be connected, accessible, and up-to-date. A dead smartphone or tablet simply doesn’t lend itself to the lifestyle. A few new developments will help business travelers fulfill their commitments at home, abroad, and everywhere in between. Several international companies have developed ultra-fast capacitors for batteries. Eesha Kare, an 18 year old student from California, has become the poster child for the success of such technology. She created a device that could charge a smartphone in less than 30 seconds. The device also allows the battery to store energy for 10,000 cycles rather than the standard 1,000 cycles seen on most batteries. Kare won The Young Scientist award for the invention this summer, though similar devices have been around for at least a year. Strangely, no industry leaders have pushed the capacitors to the public just yet. Qi (pronounced “chee”) wireless is today’s standard for rapid charging. Users place their device on top of a power transmission pad, which then uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device.  The technology has been around since 2008 but it has been slow to catch on mainly because of costs. Qi Hotspots have popped up in places such as the Tulsa International Airport but more are in the works at transportation hubs and coffee shops around the globe. Further refinement has made Qi technology more affordable. By mid-2014, Samsung aims to present a consumer-friendly wireless charger, allowing users to charge their phones from a distance while using it. You won’t be constrained to the airport charging kiosk, hovering over half a dozen other users while attempting to process sensitive information. Even at home, you will be able to charge a...

Your friends are on Facebook. Your boss is on Facebook. Even your mom is on Facebook. In fact, this popular online network reached over 1 billion users in May – making it the largest social platform around. So are your clients on Facebook? You bet they are. If you’re ready to reach a larger audience and close more sales, you just have to remember the three most important rules of real estate: location, location, location. Where you do business matters as much, if not more, than how you do business. In today’s online marketplace, Facebook is a prime location to attract and interact with consumers. With that in mind, here are 6 tips that will help you optimize your Facebook business page to attract more prospects, whether you’re a real estate agent, a property manager or a leasing agent. 1.       Complete Your Profile First things first, complete your profile so that page visitors know who you are, what you do and how to contact you. Include your phone number, your email address and a link to your website. Add a description of your business that includes industry-relevant keywords. And be sure to choose attractive and professional images for your cover and profile photos. (For example, if you sell houses for a living, using a family photo as your cover image might not be the best choice.) 2.       Promote Your Page Share a link to your Facebook page on your website, but don’t stop there! You should also include the link in your email signature and post about your business page on other social media channels. 3.       Empower Your Fans Once you get people to your page, how do you keep them there? Think of your business page as the social version of your website....

Microsoft’s latest tablets, Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, are now on the market with a number of new covers and other accessories (dock, mouse, and charger). Both tablets seem like iterations of the concept Microsoft first demonstrated last summer. They kept the same angular design with metallic finish, announcing upgrades to the processing power and battery life, to the display and camera resolution. Enhancements in Windows RT 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro promise to make the two tablets more powerful and customizable. Surface 2 The lower-priced ARM received a 1.7GHz Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and 2GB of RAM and flipped the 1366×768 screen with one of 19290×1080 with better color accuracy. Basically Microsoft addressed two of the most complained about features of the predecessor – weak performance and low screen resolution. The Surface 2 is just a bit thinner and slightly lighter than the previous version, with 25 percent more battery life and a USB 3 port. The cameras are improved to 3.5MP for the front and 5.0MP for the rear for Skype and other webcam uses. To differentiate it from the more powerful brother, the Surface 2 tablet will only be available in a silver/magnesium color with just the front surface still retaining the black bezel. It looks good and feels more comfortable, but the main concern remains the software; it’s clear that Microsoft patched some holes and added some much-needed functionality to the mix, and the number of apps in the Windows Store is rising (there are now over 100,000 apps), but the fact that this version of Windows can’t run the same apps and perform as well as the full-blown Windows might be a momentum killer. Interesting about the two tablets are the keyboard covers (Touch Cover, Type Cover and...