Many entrepreneurs fall into the mindset of seeking out new investors early on in the startup of their new business rather than self-financing. Whilst finance is important, there are other options. According to the book “Small Business, Big Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” (http://www.amazon.com/Small-Business-Big-Vision-Entrepreneurs/dp/1118018206) by Matthew and Adam Toren, it’s a matter of need versus want. If you are willing to do your research, you will realise that many professional services you need to help your business are easily accessible via the internet. Also, you do not need a cutting edge office with modern equipment in the early days, everything can be done virtually. Explore your options and cater for your business as it grows, without investors you are in complete control.
World’s First 180-degree Simulator
The TL1, designed with the Ariel Atom in mind and developed by Motion Simulation, is all kinds of cool. The system utilises three projectors acting as one and one of the optional features is a motion transducer that will jolt the seat when you hit a bump. It would also work extremely well with First Person Shooter games. The simulator will appeal to fans of sports cars, pro racing drivers, pilots and the little kid in all of us. But certain details such as the price (US $18,540 just for the screen and seat) and the size (2.70m wide, 2.36m deep and 1.98m high) means that most of us can only dream of such cutting edge gaming technology. http://www.motionsimulation.com/?page_id=416
Trending in IT Now
Since the advent of the computer and more specifically the internet, the IT landscape has consistently evolved. Many articles and books have been written on how IT has shaped cultural growth and powered countless innovations. Now, it would seem, IT’s sphere of influence has grown exponentially and rapidly particularly when we look at social websites and the technologies/software that have come with them. Never before have we been so interconnected nor have so many businesses relied solely on one strategy – digital markets. Snail mail was replaced with emails, data centres are being replaced by the cloud and a lot of businesses are turning to social media to manage their clients and marketing. Smart devices with touch screens are ‘must-haves’ and data transfers are almost instantaneous. If we thought the world of IT was fast paced before, the last ten years have proven it can and will only go faster.
Posted in IT Tagged clients, computer, cultural growth, data centres, email, emails, innovations, Internet, smart devices, social media, The Cloud, trend Leave a comment
Sony Medical
Late last year Sony acquired Micronics, a medical research company which develops portable devices for body fluid testing. Whilst Sony has long been a big player in providing technologies for research and development such as monitors, printers, recorders and imagers to medical institutions this new foray into portable testing devices will soon herald the beginning of direct selling to hospitals. http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/mkt-medical/
Posted in Medical Tagged development, hospitals, imagers, Micronics, monitors, portable devices, printers, recorders, research, Sony Leave a comment
App-Controlled Spy Tank
Brookstone has released a large remote controlled tank that takes video, captures real time audio and can take photos. It even works around walls and features infra red night vision. The tank is controlled from your iPad, iPhone or iPod using the free app and is powered by 6 AA batteries. For more info and video check out http://www.brookstone.com/rover-remote-control-spy-tank-for-ipad
Posted in Apps, Devices, Random Tagged audio, Brookstone, infra red night vision, ipad, iPhone, iPod, photos, spy tank, video Leave a comment
Price Enquiry into Software Licensing
The Australian government has launched an inquiry into the pricing difference between the US and Australia in software. The politicians behind the move are hoping that the results will lead to pricing decreases in Australia, claiming that the large descrepancies are unfounded. http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/30/australian-price-gouging-inquiry-targets-apple-microsoft-and-others/
Further proof that Facebook has integrated itself into our lives has come from some interesting statistics. Not only are 250 million people currently using Facebook but the social network created 235,644 jobs in the app industry last year just in the US, adding $15.71 billion to their economy. Adding to this if you take into consideration the fact that 2.5 million websites have integrated Facebook and its buttons. Also consider the fact that it would seem that every business from the corner shop to the largest oil companies have a Facebook page, Facebook has not only become a job generator and a powerful marketing tool but has combined business and personal.
Know Your Product or Know Your Customer?
Many companies put a lot of time, faith and money into improving their product. The flipside of this is time and money spent on market research to discover whether customers actually want their product. The truth is that your target audience does not actually know what they want, they have to be told. There is no point spending countless hours developing and improving every aspect of your product if the client does not realise that they need a new and improved version of something they never realised they wanted. You can concentrate on marketing, development and sales all you like but unless you have the product that appeals to a wider market your efforts may be futile.
Check Your Spelling
Researchers have uncovered that more and more data is falling into the wrong hands when users simply misspell an email address. They found that by setting up domains similar to that of established businesses, covering possible typos that they were receiving a great deal of data, including user names and passwords. So next time you send a new email to someone for the first time, make sure you have the spelling correct and the full stop in the correct place!
Some Very Creative (and Funny) Facebook Timeline Covers
Previous to Timeline, Facebook changed the way your profile was displayed with your 5 most recent photos showing horizontally in thumbnails at the top of your profile. As previously blogged, some very creative profile screen shots starting appearing online. The same thing has happened with Facebook’s Timeline Cover profile option. Check out some here http://twistedsifter.com/2012/01/funny-creative-facebook-timeline-covers/