Google has started a program using Google Places
Google has started a program using short how-to videos to pass along tips and tricks about using Google Places effectively. The videos star Professor Emoji, and will help you rate and review places on the go, add friends, and more. The first video, posted today, deals specifically with using Google Places with an Android phone.
They're a bit kitschy, and maybe something you don't really need a video to help understand, but remember -- some of today's 400,000 new activated phone's users just might. We're glad to see Google making Android a bit more new-user friendly, and Professor Emoji looks like a nice friendly front man. You can check out today's lesson after the break.
Here are some tips on what you need to take to really spice up your Google listing!
1. Go and claim your listing!
2. Once you claim your site you will need to pay attention to the following…
Sign up for my email list here to be informed of when exactly it is and also to learn a little bit about local business marketing!
Getting reviews, successfully, is all about relationships. For most customers, asking for one review is a big favor. So I would either alternate, asking one customer to Yelp you and another to review you on Google Places. Or, I would have both on the form or email and ask them to do one.
In terms of modifying your information, the pick up on a live listing can be quite quick - within hours. The pickup of a new listing can be very slow, however. I am not sure why some listings are picked up very quickly and others are very slow.
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Easy ways to make your Android device more attractive
Android is cool because it's hackable and open-source: If you're willing and able, you can root your phone and make it look exactly as you want it to. That said, not everyone is comfortable withhacking a phone just to get a pretty interface.
Luckily, you have some easy ways to make your Android device more attractive without hacking it.
Make Your Wallpaper LiveYou'll find two types of wallpaper for Android phones: regular, static wallpaper, and dynamic, "live" wallpaper. Live wallpaper is nifty--especially when you're showing off your Android handset to iPhone users--but it can drain your phone's battery and bog down its software.
The key to choosing live wallpaper is to make sure that isn't too animated. Excessive animation not only negatively affects your phone's system, but also makes your phone look cluttered and busy.
Here are a few simple, appealing live wallpapers to get you started.
Nightfall Live Wallpaper Free
Developer: Jason Allen
Price: Free
In this wallpaper you get a slowly swirling purple-and-blue night sky, with a silhouette of trees in the foreground. The full version, which costs about $1.50, allows you to change the foreground silhouette and turn the moon and stars on and off.
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Shake Them All
Developer: Yougli
Price: Free
This cute wallpaper uses your phone's accelerometer to propel Android droids across the screen. You can customize everything from the color to how the droids react to things (they can respond to light, music, acceleration, and gravity).
Wave Live Wallpaper
Developer: Crazy Zen Lab
Price: Free
This soothing wallpaper is inspired by the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable background waves. The free version includes 11 colors, three background types, and two touch-point icons, while the full version ($1) gives you more color options and a few other interesting features (such as shaking the phone to change the color).
Best Matrix Live Wallpaper
Developer: A.O.I. Studio
Price: Free
Who doesn't like The Matrix? True nerds (like myself) might notice that the imagery here isn't completely identical to The Matrix's raining code, which uses backward Japanese characters--but it's still pretty cool.
Aurora Live Wallpaper
Developer: Ketsoyan
Price: Free
This simple, purple-hued wallpaper simulates the Aurora Borealis. Tapping the screen produces bursts of stars.
Use Attractive WidgetsYou know those neat widgets that you can place on your phone's home screen? They're Android-only--nothing for iPhone users here. Of course, not all widgets are created equal: While most provide useful information, many are bulky and unattractive.
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How to thwart Apple'seffortsto back the developers
Patent holding firm Lodsys today published a series of blog posts revealing that the company has filed suit against some App Store developers, accelerating its efforts toextract licensing fees from developers for using in app purchases and upgrade links in their App Store applications. Lodsys had given developers 21 days to negotiate a license before filing suit, but the firm appears to have initiated lawsuits early in order to thwart Apple'seffortsto back the developers.
Q: Why did Lodsys sue some App Developers on May 31, 2011?
Lodsys chose to move its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple's threat, in order to preserve its legal options.
Lodsys has also disputed Apple's assertion that developers are "undeniably licensed" for the technology by virtue of an existing licensing arrangement between Apple and Lodsys.[Apple's] letter was very surprising as Apple and Lodsys were in confidential discussions and there was clearly disagreement on the interpretation of the license terms of Apple's agreement. Before, during and after these interactions, Lodsys has carefully considered this issue and consulted several legal experts to consider Apple's claims. We stand firm and restate our previous position that it is the 3rd party Developers that are responsible for the infringement of Lodsys' patents and they are responsible for securing the rights for their applications. Developers relying on Apple's letter do so to their own detriment and are strongly urged to review Apple's own developer agreements to determine the true extent of Apple's responsibilities to them.
Simultaneous to the blog posting, Lodsys says that is has sent a detailed legal response to Apple, which it has invited the company to publish in its entirety.
Finally, Lodsys has announced that it will reimburse any developer improperly targeted by an infringement notice $1,000 for their troubles, suggesting that the firm is confident in its standing and convinced that it will prevail.While it is true that Apple and Lodsys have an obvious dispute about the scope of Apple's license to the Lodsys Patents, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and pay you something if we are wrong. Therefore, Lodsys offers to pay $1,000 to each entity to whom we have sent an infringement notice for infringement on the iOS platform, or that we send a notice to in the future, if it turns out that the scope of Apple's existing license rights apply to fully license you with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS.
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PayPal might defecte to Google
Here’s a phrase PayPal might want to keep in mind as it wages a civil battle against two former executives who defected to Google: Location, location, location.
Because when it comes to employment breach of contract and trade-secret cases, California can be a much pricklier state for a spurned employer to prevail within than many others.
“California law is very hostile to these types of suits,” said Jason Shultz, acting director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the UC Berkeley School of Law, “I’d say over at PayPal, they have a little bit of uphill battle.”
While much of PayPal’s allegations against Stephanie Tilenius and Osama Bedier revolve around alleged breach of employment contract and non-compete violations, provisions within the California Business and Professional Code actually limit the enforceability of non-compete disclosures that companies like Pay Pal make employees sign.
The result — regardless of whatever contracts an employer forces a worker to sign when they start a job — is that contracts often fall apart when they get in front of a judge.
“California is very pro-competition, especially here in the Silicon Valley. Think of startup culture. We like to entice employees to jump ship and compete with former employers,” Shultz said. “This state has a very free-trade approach to labor markets. You can’t lock in your employees forever. You have to compete to keep them.”
PayPal filed suit in Santa Clara County Thursday, accusing former employees Stephanie Tilenius and Osama Bedier, as well as Google, of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and a host of other claims related to the recruitment of PayPal employees and the alleged improper use of PayPal’s confidential information.
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Sony is taking a swing at Apple by launching some sleek new laptops
Sony is taking a swing at Apple by launching some sleek new laptops based on the newest chips from Intel.
The Sony Vaio F series laptop is the Windows-based equivalent of Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops. The machines are targeted at multimedia enthusiasts who want to watch movies, listen to music or play games while on the run.
The F series (pictured right) features a Blu-ray movie player that can play full high-definition movies in the 1080p screen format on a 16.4-inch widescreen display. It also has S-Force front surround 3D speakers and Dolby Home Theater audio. It uses Nvidia’s stand-alone GeForce GT540M graphics chips, has a backlit keyboard, and an HD web cam with an Exmor sensor for good low-light images.
Sony’s S series is aimed at business travelers who want mobility, performance and power in a thinner and lighter laptop.
The S series (pictured right and below) have magnesium and aluminum materials and come in burnished brown, jet black or platinum silver colors. They have a built-in battery that can be coupled with a long sheet battery (as a paid option) for an operational life of up to 15 hours. With a solid state drive, the battery can last 16 hours.
Sony made the charger smart so that you can charge the optional sheet battery separately, attach it to the system, and have that sheet battery drain its charge first.
The laptop is 0.95 inches thin and weighs only 3.6 pounds with a standard battery. It has a 13.3-inch screen and uses the second-generation Intel Core i7 microprocessor. It has AMD Radeon HD 6630 1GB hybrid graphics, which delivers decent graphics performance without killing battery life.
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Google Apps for Business is a paid suite
Google and Microsoft are the major players in so-called "cloud" suites designed for a mobile, always-online workforce. The flexibility, portability, and low maintenance of their services appeal to a growing number of small businesses. In a best-case scenario, either Google Apps for Business or Microsoft Office 365 can improve productivity and reduce such costs as software licenses and paid IT help. Both packages include e-mail, calendars, live chat, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, collaborative editing, and much more.
Google Apps for Business is a paid suite--an expansion of the lineup found in the free Google Apps for consumers. Office 365, by contrast, builds on Microsoft's Business Online Professional Services (BPOS). But it also has a desktop component in the Office 2010 suite. Office 365 opened for public beta testing in April, with a final release set for later this year, while the full Google Apps is available now. Here's a comparison of the features and pricing of Google Apps for Business and Microsoft Office 365.
Some 3 million businesses use Google Apps--which includes "millions" of Apps for Business paid users. Google doesn't share a breakdown about how many customers are smaller companies. Microsoft counts "millions" of BPOS customers and hundreds of millions of desktop Office users.
Companies that use Google Apps enjoy more than a 300 percent return on investment (ROI), at least according to a November Forrester report sponsored by Google. And productivity gains enabled by features such as swift e-mail searches lead to even greater savings. Microsoft Office 365 also promises impressive ROI for small companies.
Although Google appears to be ahead in this strictly online race so far, the competition is just heating up, and there's no clear winner; businesses can choose the option that best fits their needs. However, in the small-business case study below, Google Apps was the right choice for moving away from a mix of Microsoft Office and other tools.
Serious considerations remain before your company abandons local apps and physical serversfor the cloud. But for many organizations, Web services win out for convenience and mobility.