Tag Archives: Interpret LLC

About 1266 days ago Mobility Tips and Tricks

Read Your E-Mail in the Fast Lane — Safely

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It’s been nearly 20 years since workers started turning downtime into productivity time by using cell phones while stuck in long commutes. Over the years, however, keeping eyes on the road and hands on the wheel has become a big concern, as numerous auto accidents have been linked to cell phone usage by drivers. That’s why many states have passed laws demanding that drivers only use cell phones with “hands-free” devices, such as Bluetooth or ear phones. But now that e-mail and text messaging have become increasingly common ways to communicate, the latest trend for mobile workers is to use gadgets and/or services that can read your text-based correspondence to you in a human-like voice while stuck in daily traffic — and in some cases, let you reply using your voice, too. Hardware solutions, like IMS’ iLane, or software such as Vlingo and Voice on the Go, operate on text-to-voice technology, in order to help smartphone owners hear e-mail and text messages. Supply meets demand While these new products help make rush hour drives more productive, even the experts agree hearing messages (and perhaps verbally replying to them) still might not be a great idea — the lesser of two evils, if you will. “It wasn’t too long ago we said we could wait until we get home or to the office to make a phone call, but the convenience of mobile phones proved otherwise,” says Michael Gartenberg, vice president at Interpret LLC, a market research firm based in New York and Los Angeles. “And then we said we can wait to read e-mail, but unfortunately, we’re seeing people trying to read or type while behind the wheel, which is, needless-to-say, an extremely dangerous habit — perhaps on par with drinking and driving,” Gartenberg adds. So while many people might not like the idea of having your e-mail or texts read aloud while on the highway, these new products available are better than the alternative if it removes the temptation to look down, he adds. Scott Steinberg, publisher of DigitalTrends.com, agrees. “Products that read your e-mail to you while in the car are indicative of a larger trend in the fast-paced business world today. And that’s the need to have information and communication available anytime and anywhere — instead of being tethered to a PC.” Using these new products and services is “safer than typing while driving, sure, but make no bones about it, it’s still a distraction,” cautions Steinberg. “You should really keep your eyes and mind on the road, but I’d rather people use these e-mail solutions than glancing down to read or type.” A look at the big players Because not all products are available for all smartphones, those interested in using one of these solutions might want to first check compatibility, advises Gartenberg. For example, IMS’ iLane only works with Bluetooth-enabled BlackBerry products at this time, while Voice on the Go works with a number of mobile phones. Gartenberg says once you’ve confirmed compatibility and assessed costs, you might want to try the technology before you buy to ensure the quality of the audio transcription is accurate. “These new products all work pretty well, for the most part, but the accuracy of the messages might vary, therefore this is definitely a try-before-you-buy scenario,” he says Steinberg has some additional advice: “Keep in mind the context and tone of the e-mail might be misinterpreted when Mr. Roboto reads the e-mail to you, so double-check the message by reading the e-mail yourself later on.” Here’s a quick look at a few hands-free e-mail solutions: iLane ($399.99) is a two-part solution: a small black box that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter and a wireless headset for your ear, both of which operate on Bluetooth and work with your BlackBerry. Once set up, the iLane reads your e-mail and text messages to you and also lets you reply, forward, delete or skip to the next message — all by giving simple voice commands. Replies are sent as MP3 attachments rather than transcribing your voice into text. You can also use your voice to hear your calendar appointments for the day, listen to news clips and weather updates, and more. Available at Handago, where it won a 2009 Champion Award, Voice on the Go ($5.99/month) lets you use your voice to listen to, compose, reply, forward and delete e-mails, and send text messages. Voice on the Go works with virtually any cell phone, requires no training, and is available in six languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Dutch. It’s also possible to access your calendar, contacts, Twitter, and Facebook by voice, too. On a related note, Vlingo (vlingo.com; $17.99) is also a software solution that lets you send an e-mail or text messages, make a call, search the Web or update your Facebook or Twitter status — all using your voice. Vlingo is available for most BlackBerry smartphones, Apple’s iPhone, Nokia S60 phones, and many Windows phones.  

About 1327 days ago E-Commerce

Twitter’s New Tweets for Small Business

Twitter is open for business. The social network isn’t charging anybody for anything yet, and isn’t making any money — apart from the $100 million in venture financing it recently raised. But the San Francisco, Calif., start up is headed in that direction, with plans to offer paid commercial accounts later this year. Skeptics question whether paid accounts will catch on, or simply damage Twitter’s reputation and momentum, which has seen the company’s traffic jump to 23.5 million monthly visitors in August from 2.6 million in August 2008, according to Compete.com, the Web analytics firm. Regardless of how things shakes out, over the past few months the little company with the big social network has been making itself over to be more business friendly. The changes come at a time when many small businesses are figuring out what Twitter can do for them. One example is iContact, a Durham, N.C., e-mail marketing software maker with 180 employees and 50,000 customers that started using Twitter for customer service about a year ago. “When our site is down, we tweet out updates every 20 minutes to keep the community informed,” says Chuck Hester, iContact’s communications director. “We answer questions for customers, and then take them off line to complete the customer-service process.” Currently five iContact marketing and communications department staff members and the company’s CEO have Twitter accounts, “to help with consistency of our message,” Hester says. Twitter’s business initiatives To reach more businesses such as iContact, Twitter’s unveiled a formal outreach program that starts at the company’s virtual front door. The site’s home page has been redesigned to display a search window and a list of trending topics — all the better to show potential users how the network can be used to do real-time searches on what people are talking about. Other business-friendly additions: The business channel — Look at any Twitter page and you’ll see a set of links across the bottom — including one marked “Business.” Clicking on it brings up a special section called Twitter 101 created to explain the network’s business benefits. The section includes a how-to guide co-written by Sarah Milstein, a consultant, speaker and co-author of The Twitter Book. It also includes case studies, tips on etiquette and other best practices, and links to additional resources. Verified accounts — After impersonators set up fake accounts for everyone from Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld to the Dalai Lama, Twitter in June began offering verified accounts so fellow networkers can be assured tweets from celebrities, politicians, or other public figures are the real deal. Authenticated accounts sport a small blue badge with a white check mark and the words “Verified Account” on the top right portion of the user’s profile page. Though they’re most popular with TV and movie stars, business, and social media heavy hitters such as former GE Chairman Jack Welch and tech blogger extraordinaire Robert Scoble have verified accounts. Verified business accounts aren’t widely available yet, but the company is beta testing the service and asking interested companies to fill out a verified business account form if they want to be considered in the future. Modified terms of service — In early September, Twitter strengthened the terms of service (TOS) governing what people can and can’t do when they’re logged on, in part to clean up spammers, pornography, and other Wild West elements that were making the service not ready for business prime time. At the time the new TOS were announced, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said they “more appropriately reflect the nature of Twitter and convey key issues.” In addition to barring spam and porn, the new TOS reaffirms that users own their tweets and that Twitter has the right to share content with developers of add-on programs. They also keep the door open for advertising at some point in the future. While Twitter officials haven’t publicly discussed where or when advertising might appear, a new study by Los Angeles Internet researcher Interpret LLC found that Twitter users are twice as likely to click on ads or sponsors as users of Facebook or MySpace. Twitter’s business-focused upgrades can’t come soon enough for Joel Don, owner of Comm Strategies, a boutique technology public relations and marketing agency in Irvine, Calif. Don has been gradually nudging clients onto Twitter, in one case opening an account for a computer manufacturer before he even told them. “That was about two weeks ago,” says Don, who’s since received his client’s blessing. “It’s still way too early to demonstrate ROI.  But I really want to see how such an account can evolve or be evolved by a company into an alternative means of doing business.  Not the only way, but an alternative.”

About 1388 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

Are Netbooks Enough for Your Business?

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Portable and affordable, the trendy “netbook” is all the rage among computer makers and the consumers snatching them up in droves — so much, in fact, this young category is estimated to make up more than 20 percent of the entire laptop category by next year. But are these tiny Wi-Fi-enabled netbooks — designed primarily for Web surfing, e-mail, and word processing — ideal for running your business? What’s lost or gained in the transition? If you recognize the limitations of these scaled-down PCs, a netbook might be all you and your staff need to remain productive on the go, experts say. Price and size matter “A netbook is just a laptop whose pivotal axis is price,” says Michael Gartenberg, vice president at Interpret LLC, a market research firm based in London, New York, and Los Angeles. “Basically you need to ask yourself if the netbook has enough horsepower to manage your business, and if so, you can save some money.” However, if you or your staff need to run memory-intensive programs or require larger screens or a full-size keyboard, you might want to steer clear of this category, he says. The lack of an optical drive might be an issue for some, Gartenberg adds, but an inexpensive external drive — that can be shared among employees to install software — might be all that’s required. “Beyond that, many computer users today simply don’t need a DVD drive,” he says. Steve Hilton, vice president for enterprise and small and mid-sized business research at the Boston-based  Yankee Group, says along with a relatively inexpensive price tag, netbooks offer two other advantages for mobile workers: “They are fairly easy to replace if lost or damaged — in fact most suppliers can easily ship an exact duplicate very quickly. Plus, an IT department tends to like [netbooks] as they’re easy to manage since they have very few applications resident on the device.” Cloud computing Netbooks might carry few applications because many small and mid-sized businesses are moving towards “cloud computing,” which allows online employees to securely access programs and files on a remote server, as opposed to physically carrying sensitive data on the road. This trend is on the rise thanks to ubiquitous Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. In addition, more devices are available — such as netbooks and smartphones — with limited local memory. Much of the software is Web-based, too, therefore not requiring one particular operating system over another. “Applications in the cloud are not loaded on a netbook because applications are processing and hard-disk hogs,” explains Hilton. “Netbooks are light on both processing and hard-disk space, which is one of the reasons why they’re priced fairly inexpensively, so in order to get the value from a netbook, applications in the cloud are essential.” Looked at another way, “a Prius and a Boxster have different purposes,” continues Hilton, comparing netbooks with automobiles. “If you need a car that sips gasoline, drives your family of four to the mall, and keeps your auto insurance premiums low, your choice is obvious.” Gartenberg, however, cautions those who rely too heavily on remote applications for business. “The problem with the cloud is that it’s not always available,” he says. “There is this notion that everything will be delivered via browser, but it’s more of a coexistence [with locally stored programs]. One solution isn’t killing the other.” And they’re getting better Just two years ago, a netbook might be limited by a Linux operating system, a petite 7-inch display, and just 4GB of Flash (SSD) memory. Fast-forward to today, however, and there is far more selection, including a Windows o/s, bigger screens (up to 12-inches), a near full-size QWERTY keyboard, a minimum 160GB hard drive and better processors, such as Intel Atom chips. As far as security goes, Gartenberg says you must treat netbooks like a laptop. “You want to be cautious about what information is on the netbook,” he says, “ensure everything is password-protected, and despite its small size, try to remember not to leave it at a coffee shop or in a taxicab.”