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The Rise of the Consumer Electronics Prosumer February 11, 2013 
The smartphone processor with its in-built camera chip is driving a resurgence of interest in the art of photography. Just look at the Instagram app user numbers -- about 80 million at last count, according to publisher Burbn's blurb in iTunes.
There's a problem, though. Today, the smartphone can't provide the image quality of a dedicated camera.
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Satellite Communicators: Connecting the Wilderness to the World February 08, 2013 
In the midst of an emergency while on a Grand Canyon rafting and rock-climbing trip last fall, Kevin Camp discovered first-hand the life-saving capabilities of satellite communicators. When a member of his party fell off a rock and sustained serious injuries, Camp used a DeLorme inReach to contact rescue personnel and coordinate a helicopter landing.
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The Impossible Quest for the Most Popular Linux Distro February 08, 2013 
Linux lacks any clear-cut system for determining which is the most popular or the best distribution, or which desktop environment is used more than others. That may be one of the major frustrations among Linux developers trying to spread the word about adopting the Linux desktop instead of Microsoft Windows or Apple's OS X.
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See Customers Clearly Now February 04, 2013 
Customers expect call centers to know everything about them -- their order history, what they've posted about the brand on Facebook, and how long they've bought from the company. Increasingly, companies are beginning to keep up with that expectation, and the more they do, the better customer service they can provide.
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Online Warm-ups: Super Bowl Advertisers' New Game Plan February 01, 2013 
As the U.S. prepares for kick-off of Sunday's Super Bowl, advertisers already have their plays in motion. Many of the commercials are already viewable online, and ads get support from online components. Over the past few years, the brands who buy air time for the Super Bowl have begun posting their commercials online in advance.
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Technology's Place in the Gun Safety Debate February 01, 2013 
The calls for gun control in the United States have grown more urgent since the December shooting in Newtown, Conn., and it is likely that legislation will be introduced in Congress this year. Gun control advocates are pushing for more extensive background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and restrictions on semi-automatic firearms.
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We'll Call You: Putting an End to On-Hold Misery January 28, 2013 
It's a universal reality: Customers dislike waiting on hold. Now call-backs and virtual queuing are changing all that. "Our basic mission is to improve the call center experience," said Shai Berger, CEO and cofounder of Fonolo. "The heart of what we do is replacing hold time with a call-back."
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VCs and Fitness Products: The Shape of Things to Come January 22, 2013 
Browse any mobile app store and you'll find a number of apps relating to monitoring activity and tracking fitness while you work out and train. Shelf space is increasingly dedicated to fitness-related gadgets including activity monitors and other workout gear. Now there are massively multiplayer-style games to complement the fitness games published for console games.
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It's a Rocky Road for Alternative Powertrain Cars January 22, 2013 
Hybrid and electric vehicles have marketed as the "cars of the future," but consumers just aren't getting in gear with alternative powertrains; neither hybrids nor electrics are rolling down the road in great numbers. Although each year sees the introduction of new hybrids at auto shows, most consumers are still buying proven, well understood gasoline-powered autos.
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The Call Center in the Cloud January 21, 2013 
Call centers are increasingly migrating away from on-premises systems to cloud-based systems, which can save money and give greater flexibility. Everything from customer data to telephony software is making its way to the cloud, revolutionizing the way call centers manage their operations. "It's all the buzz now, " said Mitch Lieber, principal at Lieber & Associates.
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Microfunding: How Fitness Tech Entrepreneurs Get That Rosy Glow January 18, 2013 
Microfunding sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and newcomer ClickStartMe are making it possible for entrepreneurs and inventors from small-scale to established companies to get the momentum they need to put out a product. One category that is seeing a lot of activity is sports and fitness. New campaigns in the fitness field turn up all the time for anyone perusing the microfunding sites for interesting products.
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2013: The Year of Mobile CRM, Part 2 January 15, 2013 
2013 is just two weeks old, but executives in the mobile CRM space have a clear idea of how they hope the rest of it will unfold. What they want, in a word, is more: more mobile CRM functionality; availability on more devices; more vendors supplying applications. More mobile CRM is indeed on the way as economic growth picks up, said Atri Chatterjee, CMO of Act-On.
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Call Centers Jump on the Mobile Bandwagon January 14, 2013 
Mobile devices are changing both how customers get in touch with call centers and how companies respond to those calls. The days of customers sitting at kitchen tables on landlines waiting for agents to answer their calls are gone. Now, they're calling from smartphones and clicking on apps, and call centers are adapting to this new mobile reality.
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The Fitness Tech Explosion January 11, 2013 
With the holidays in the rear view mirror, many who did too much indulging have begun to notice a bulge that they may want to lose in the new year. It is easy to make and subsequently break new year's resolutions -- but the convergence of technology and fitness could help make it easier to keep them.
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Consumers Tuning Out OLED in 2013 January 08, 2013 
The 2013 International CES is in full swing, and it's easy to get caught up in all the hoopla over the latest and greatest tech gizmos on display. However, this is a cycle that repeats itself annually, and what's hot in Vegas this week may cool down faster than you can say "OLED."
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App It Up: Mobile Strategies for Small Businesses January 04, 2013 
Even when Darien Gold's pilates clients aren't in her studio, they can work on their moves by following the instructions and imitating the positions on her mobile app. Gold uses the app to expand the reach of her business, according to Bharath Lingam, CEO of PurpleTalk, which worked with Gold to develop her app.
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Voice of the Customer: Analyzing What People Say and How They Say It January 02, 2013 
Call center software can now identify everything from anger to dissatisfaction in the voices of customers. Since call centers are all about voices, it makes sense to analyze those voices in order to provide better customer service. The field of voice analytics, in fact, has become a big business.
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2013: Chip Makers to Go All In January 02, 2013 
Despite the arrival of a plethora of new tablets and Ultrabooks, plus a new operating system from Microsoft that was expected to drive PC sales, 2012 was a gloomy year for chip manufacturers. As any confident gambler might do when the chips are down, the leading consumer electronics original equipment manufacturers are expected to double down in 2013.
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Where's My Autonomous Car? December 28, 2012 
The world cheered -- well, at least the nerds cheered -- when Google's autonomous cars drove 1,000 miles with no human intervention and another 140,000 miles with occasional human intervention in 2010. Since then, the cars are still tooling about in a series of tests as early fans watch them in action on YouTube and Vimeo.
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The New 'Don't Be Greedy' MVNO Business Model December 18, 2012 
You're not imagining things if you're noticing more mobile network brands than ever
before. The newcomers are MVNOs -- companies that lease spectrum from major networks and resell it to end-users. It's easier than ever to escape the clutches of a cellphone contract by taking advantage of some of the contract-less deals out there.
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