More Books Online: Good or Bad?

It would seem that posting of legal electronic copies of copyrighted books on the Internet is a good idea. Wouldn’t it be better if people could access books on virtually any topic almost immediately without leaving the comforts of their own homes? Don’t we want a smarter population?

Google Inc. does have those things in mind when it was granted rights by the Authors Guild and Association of American  Publishers to have electronic copies of their books and have them posted on their Google Books site. Google Books could then charge users for access to these e-books. But other companies, notably Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon.com, are against the deal and have even joined the Open Book Alliance, the largest organization whose purpose is to oppose the Google Books deal.

With the deal, Google could have a monopoly of e-book viewing on the Internet. Which is bad news for its main competitors, which are (not surprisingly) Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon.com. Yahoo and Microsoft  have always been second and third on the search market (Google Search could benefit from more book searches), while Amazon.com could be threatened by Google Books’ e-bookstore.

All in all, Google’s idea to have books online is a marvel one. One that could even change societies as we know it. Imagine having a library at your fingertips without having to leave your desk at home. But in the spirit of economic equity and market equality, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon.com (along with other institutions and companies) are trying to stop the Google Books settlement. Let’s just see how it works out.

Microsoft, Yahoo to Steal Some of Google’s Fun? Why Not?

Just two weeks ago, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. agreed to have an Internet search partnership that could help both companies to cut in on the Google-monopolized Internet search market. Thanks to the deal, Microsoft now has access to Yahoo! Search, the second largest online search engine. Combined with the power of its own newly unveiled search engine, Bing, THE software giant is now poised to make a stand in the Internet arena, which is mostly controlled by THE Internet search and advertising giant, Google Inc.

Google and Microsoft have recently ventured out of their own comfort zones and have tried to expand their operations to reach out to each other’s markets. Google is developing its own open-source operating system, Chrome OS, while with this deal, Microsoft is trying to become a major player in the Internet markets.

With this deal, Microsoft is basically saving Yahoo from a lot of financial trouble while giving itself the opportunity to be more competitive. The Google-Microsoft technology giants rivalry may seem pretty much even out at the present, but thanks to this deal, Microsoft has a headstart over Google, which would release its Chrome OS only by the second half of next year. Microsoft may have the headstart but Google has been known to come up with pretty amazing saves in the past.

Who’s gonna win this tech rivalry? Who knows?

Sidekick Phones: Do They Need Saving?

Sidekick phones are quite popular among those who value Instant Messaging and constant connectivity with their contacts. But some of these people got the shock of their lives when, just last week, they found that all of the information that they had been using on their phones were erased, permanently. Contact numbers, photos, calendar entries, to-do lists, everything was erased. Why? It would seem that Distant Inc.’s servers that stored all of the Sidekicks’ information remotely had encountered failures that ultimately proved catastrophic to users.

Sidekick phones make use of remote data storage, wherein data that is used by applications on their phones are stored in remote servers being maintained by Distant Inc. Although “cloud” services are quickly becoming upcoming trends in the IT industry, it would seem that they are currently not that foolproof.

The use of locally hosted data is quickly becoming a thing of the past as new networking technologies allow remote data storage which helps reserve memory on the device itself. But seeing as it isn’t as foolproof yet, it would be logical to take precautionary steps and have devices installed with local backup storage units.

Integrated e-Commerce: Minimal Costs for Maximum Productivity

A lot of retail companies are turning to the Internet in order to reach to a wider market. But a lot of retail company owners aren’t that knowledgeable when it comes to doing business on the Internet. Retail Technology Experts’ e-commerce solutions address these very problems.

Imagine having solutions that fully integrate with your own existing systems, like your POS, but having minimal costs on your part. Retail Technology Experts’ solutions provide e-commerce capabilities to retail companies in order to reach out to a wider market or provide better services to their existing customers. These solutions also integrate fully with existing systems such as POS and inventory. Some retailers might ask about the cost of these services. Retail Technology Experts actually offers solutions both in a Small and Medium Enterprise approach and in a corporate one.

All in all, Retail Technology Experts provide solutions that address the online business needs of retail companies in order for them to reach out to a wider market, to increase their competitive advantage, all for the minimal costs.

Enhanced Mobile Document Imaging: E-copies for Business Documents Made Easy

Imagine a tool that would allow you to convert physical documents into electronic copies in seconds, but without all the bulky hardware. A lot of employees in the field constantly face the dilemma of having to organize and handle a lot of documents while travelling which could cost them precious minutes that could otherwise have been productively used. With Imartec’s eMDI (enhanced Mobile Document Imaging), this is exactly what these field employees need.

eMDI enables people to have electronic copies of vital business documents using advanced imaging technology, also from Imartec. eMDI allows the scanning of A4 sized and 8.5″ X 11″ documents by using one of Imartec’s mobile imaging device, while retaining image clarity and calibrating brightness and contrast.

When it comes to its benefits, eMDI can lower costs and improve productivity by reducing document management expenses and streamlining document management systems. This technology isn’t applicable for everyone working in the field. But for those who are in the transportation and delivery industries, electronic copies of invoices and orders could come really handy.

Amazon Poised to be “Walmart of the Web”

With the recession still at its peak, how are the big guys in retail doing so far? Some big time wholesalers, e.g. Wal-Mart, have seen positive growth, though on a scale far below their expectations. A lot of small-time retail outlets have even closed as people are tightening their budgets more and more. Generally, retail companies that rely heavily on their physical stores are the ones who are hardest hit. With rent skyrocketing and expenses on utilities going up, these companies are forced to close down and try their luck elsewhere. But what about online stores?

Amazon.com has been the premier online store since its launch in 1995. It started out as an online bookstore but due to exponential growth since that time, it has expanded to include VHS, DVDs, music CDs and MP3s, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, food, furniture, toys, and a host of other things. It has also established separate online stores in countries like Canada, China, and others. Since 1995, Amazon.com is becoming the premier retail store not just on the Web but is also competing with other physical retail stores.

Amazon has been favored over other retail stores because thrifty buyers are looking for cheaper prices on the Internet, plus the perks of shopping at home mean less expenses on transport and gasoline. In its journey to be THE online megastore, Amazon has acquired its competitors, both actual and potential. Generally, Amazon is becoming the Wal-Mart of the Web, even more so than Wal-Mart itself.

Unilever Trying Out Mobile Coupons

The multinational corporation Unilever, that makes food, home and personal care products, are testing out the viability of using Mobile coupons that can be used by customers with Internet-enabled cellular phones.

The mobile coupons would act like regular coupons wherein the customer will get discounts whenever they purchase certain Unilever products. Customers can get the coupon from the website samplesaint.com and transfer them to an Internet-capable cellphone. Before the customer pays for his/her items, he/she should allow the cashier to scan the mobile coupon barcode on his/her phone’s screen. After scanning the barcode, the mobile coupon is immediately redeemed and deleted from the phone.

Mobile coupons? Seems like the line separating the present and the future is definitely blurring..

Smart Service Management: Is it Really That Smart?

Recently, IBM has been campaigning for revolutionizing how businesses operate. It’s tagline is: “A smarter business needs smarter software, systems, and services. Let’s build a smarter planet.” It’s aim is to try to fully integrate the physical components of businesses with its digital ones (e.g. information) in order to deliver quality services to customers while also having the flexibility that businesses need.

IBM’s new dynamic infrastructure for the service enables higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency for almost any kind of business and its processes. The infrastructure can supposedly run itself, diagnose and fix encountered problems, and handle the routine that it’s programmed to run.

IBM has yet again developed something new for businesses everywhere. Whether it truly lives up to its hype remains to be seen.

IT and Cost-Effectiveness: An Unlikely (though nice) Pairing

When we think of IT implementations, we immediately think of cost-heavy solutions where we can only see the benefits after a period of time, like a couple of weeks or months. But a new type of technology not only gives a long-term benefit to its users but immediately as well.

A new kind of Touchscreen Electronic Point of Sales (EPos) System developed by power quality company POWERVAR actually cut the IT-related electric costs of a chain of retail stores by as much as 25%. Not only does the new system cut costs, it also improves reliability by having a backup and disaster recovery capability.

The system developed by POWERVAR is aimed to not just provide a reliable, cost-effective solution, but also to make retail stores be more environment-friendly. Lower power consumption does indirectly translate to a smaller carbon footprint. It’s about time reliable IT solutions went green.

The New Google Fast Flip

Google Labs has recently launched its newest product, the Google Fast Flip. It’s virtually a web page aggregator that shows a screen shot of (and links to) articles from their partners’ web pages that can be organized according to topics, like Business, Entertainment, Politics, etc. It also has a search feature which allows you to find the webpages of your choosing. Also, someone with a Google account, which is free to set up by the way, can also organize which kinds of posts would come out of his Fast Flip Search. The two main differences between Google Fast Flip and the regular Google Search is that the former only shows results from their partners’ webpages and displays them in a manner akin to one flipping through magazine pages.

Currently, Google Labs is still testing it out with only a few partners (most of them news companies), so there still isn’t a lot of relevant information coming out from the searches. But the potential of this kind of technology, especially for members of the consumer markets, is very big. Imagine yourself in this kind of scenario: you’re shopping for a new cellphone and you already know which model you want to buy. But different stores have different prices for the same products and seeing as you want to save as much money as possible, you naturally want to buy from the store that sells it at the least possible price. Now, imagine a tool that can help you browse through the price lists of cellular phone retailers with just one search and browse through the hits with only a couple of clicks. Imagine the amount of time and money you could save thanks to this kind of technology. That is just one of the things Google Fast Flip can offer its users. It’s potential uses are only limited by human imagination.

Again, Google has given us a quality product in the making. In a couple of months, this technology could be further developed to accommodate a wider range of uses. And to whose advantage? To us regular Internet patrons of course.

To try Google Fast Flip yourself, just go here.