Google’s new augmented-reality glasses take technology to new heights. The idea is simple — you put on a pair of glasses and as you go through your day you can seamlessly interact with your surroundings. You can check the weather, message friends with voice commands, get directions or watch a video; all of the data simply hovers over your field of view.

Check out the video below to see a demo of things to come.

E-paper

A Taiwan based company has invented electricity free e-paper. It works similar to the old etchescetch, but a single piece of paper, made of a thin plastic, can go through a copy machine up to 260 times. Each time it is printed the copier, fitted with a thermal print drum, will erase and reprint the document.

The e-paper has a reflective display that uses ambient light to display 16 shades of grey without needing any electricity to maintain the image impression. E-paper may not be ready for prime time in 2012, but imagine never having to throw out paper, banners and signage, when you are done you can simply load it back in your copier to be used again.

3D Printing

A printer that can make 3D replicas and models isn’t anything new, however one that can do it for a price a school or household can afford may be hitting the market in 2012. A mini 3D printer, named MarketBot Thing-O-Matic, is capable of printing small models in less than an hour and at under $1100 the printer is inexpensive for what you get.

The Thing-O-Matic can print things such as a chess set, lego men, model cars and just about anything else you can imagine. The 3D printer may not be for everyone but it shows how technology has come a long way in a short time. Watch the video below for a humorous look at this technology.

VisitKansasCityKS.com is a website that promotes the Kansas City, KS events, news, information and experiences to thousands of people every month. The site features a directory of dining, shopping and lodging businesses, a blog, and lots of multi-media features.

The TIAK Marketing Awards Program was created to facilitate permanent recognition and honor for those organizations that have made an impact on the development and expansion of the travel and tourism industry in Kansas.

Google Wallet is definitely the first big roll out of its kind however several other companies backed by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will be following suit in 2012. Google Wallet is backed by Visa, American Express, Citi, Discover and MasterCard.

Currently, there are only a limited number of establishments that support NFC, however if Wallet takes off then we could be seeing a lot more of this type of technology. One challenge this technology has is that consumers may not embrace it for security reasons or simply an unwillingness to abandon the plastic cards they are used to. The only phone that currently supports Wallet is the Nexus 4G because it comes enabled with a special NFC chip that securely stores the credit card numbers.

With the IBM PC turning 30 years old this year, there has been a lot of talk about the end of the PC platform. Sure Apple’s Steve Jobs has been saying this since the launch of the iPad, but earlier this month Mark Dean, IBM’s CTO, predicted the death of the PC. He also predicted that tablets and smartphones are taking its place. To pile on the hurt, HP announced that they want to get rid of their PC division, currently they are the largest manufacture of PCs in the world.

Why the PC isn’t really dying

Stephen Murdoch, Vice President of Dell, said that “people have been commenting on the death of the mainframe for 20 years. IBM still derives a great deal of profit from selling them”. In another forum earlier this month, Michael Dell also suggested that Windows 8 and the new Android OS will take tablets to a whole new level.

Fundamentally the PC as we know it may be changing, but it may be far from dying. The PC is simply shifting forms, much like it did in 1992 when IBM produced the first color laptop. Not to mention there are still many applications that require much more horse power than a small form factor can give, such as: 3D video rendering, gaming and computer aided graphic design.

What it all means to you

In a nutshell, it probably doesn’t mean a whole lot in the short term. Users will continue to shift some tasks towards smaller devices such as tablets and smart phones while more powerful tasks will require your PC or laptop. This trend can already been seen with sales people using smartphones to pull up data, doctors accessing patient records on a tablet and many other customer interfacing rolls. The market is changing, but not fast enough that our PCs are going to be going the way of the typewriter anytime soon.

For those of you who are wondering what Google+ is, here is a not-so-brief way to sum it up: Google+ is a way for users to share web pages with various circles of friends and family. Search results will no longer be ‘one-size-fits-all,’ rather they will be unique and contain recommendations from your friends. Google+ will also provide a lightweight way to share photos and news.

There are a couple of ways that a user can share a web page with other Google+ users. The most common way is shown in the screenshot below:

The other way that is starting to pop-up is the use of the Google+1 widget on individuals websites. The widget works like the Facebook Like button and the Twitter Retweet button. Below is a screenshot of the three buttons together.

If you own a website, it is wise to be aware of Google+. Future search results may be influenced by these shared pages and it could help your website’s traffic to use it. Ask your website provider for information about utilizing Google+ and other social sharing widgets on your website.

1. It’s all new. This is not an upgrade; it is a newly designed OS that uses none of the old OS’s platform.
2. Native touch support. The OS is designed to create a better user experience centered on touchscreen technology. It is designed to work on a variety of screen sizes including mobile, tablet and desktop.
3. Tablet emphasized. With all the hoopla about the iPad and other tablet PCs it is no wonder Windows 8 is featuring their new OS on those type of devices. However, Microsoft’s bread-and-butter is desktop PCs without touch capability; they expect this OS to operate on existing PCs as well.
4. Web apps. All Windows 8 applications are built using web technology. Microsoft is competing directly with Google in this arena. There is speculation that the mobile apps that are available on Windows 7 phones may work on Windows 8. This would allow Windows 8 to hit the ground running with more complete app offerings.
5. Speed. The new OS is promised to launch apps faster and return from hibernation speedily.
6. Release date. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t give a date to expect it. There is some speculation that it will have to release in 2011 to stay competitive with the new version of Mac OS X Lion that is being debuted next week.

No matter how you slice it, Windows 8 appears to at least be interesting. There are still a lot of questions around how it will work on existing computers and whether it will keep Microsoft’s core constituency happy and productive; however it is something to keep an eye out for.

Tekniq will keep all of our clients informed as to how it will affect them in the future and make recommendations when more details are available.

Images from PC World

1. Lower Costs – Reduce your phone bill and eliminate the physical infrastructure of a dated phone system.
2. Advanced Call Handling – New phone systems easily handle auto-attendant, call distribution and call forwarding.
3. Improved Service and Productivity – Your business will be able to track calls, assist customer service representatives, export call log statistics and record conversations.
4. Mobility – Allow staff to receive calls and access their voicemail when they are not in the office.
5. Ease of Expansion – Additional extensions and call queues are easier to setup compared to older phone systems. This makes growing your business easier than ever.
6. Improved Handsets – VoIP phones have easy-to-use interfaces that make training easier than ever. Some phones even have color touch screens.

As if these reasons are not enough to ensure that you have the right phone system for your business, here are a couple real-world examples of how your new phone system can provide great customer service and improved marketing efforts.

1. CRM Integration – Some VoIP phone systems have the ability to be integrated into software such as CRM. Imagine this: A client calls you up and your CRM automatically opens that client’s record. It displays their name, location and call history to better help you service that customer.
2. Marketing Empowerment -  VoIP can enable your staff to create tracking phone numbers to use on various marketing materials. This can be a very useful way of measuring and tracking marketing efforts.

Interested in learning more about VoIP phone technology? Contact Tekniq today.

Tekniq worked with the Overland Park Convention & Visitors Bureau (OPCVB) to build a website that would grow with them. The site was built to easily accommodate the addition and editing of much of the website’s content by the OPCVB staff. It includes great features such as:

• Rating and reviewing of local merchants and dining
• Photo and video libraries
• Custom blog
• Trip itinerary builder
• News and event areas

For the full details visit the article on the Examiner.

There are two basic types of hosting out there: managed and self-serviced. Most hosting companies that advertise $5/month hosting are considered self-service hosting. These companies sell you a tiny segment of their server with a control panel for you to manage your own website, email addresses and basic configuration. They are NOT designed for websites and software that are mission critical and where consistent performance is needed.

Managed hosting is considered a turn-key hosting solution where the client isn’t responsible for managing their own server settings. Managed hosting is also typically more reliable and better preforming since it is being updated and managed by IT professionals and priced higher.

Why managed hosting is usually the best option:

1. Performance. Reputable managed hosting providers do not oversell. This means there your website will have the resources it needs to run properly.

2. Setup. With managed hosting there is nothing to setup. You don’t need to be a computer whiz in order to get your website up and running – an IT professional will do it all for you.

3. Security. One of the greatest benefits of managed hosting is in the enhanced security. The security is often better because you don’t have inexperienced or malicious people interacting with the server settings and files. You also have the benefit of being less-targeted — generally, the large budget hosting providers are targets for hackers looking to cause mass amounts of trouble in less-time.

Why budget self-service hosting can be good:

1. Price. This service is cheap and generally offer many features for the money.

2. Control. This service gives the savvy user a bit more control over their website and host.

Companies like Tekniq only offer managed hosting. This helps to ensure that every website is running at top performance and allows the web host to tweak server settings for each site.  Managed hosting also leaves the servers and settings in the hands of the professionals, which greatly reduces the occurrence of issues.

Most businesses make the mistake in thinking they need a website for the sake of having one. Though we think all businesses should have one, we also feel most business websites should be built to achieve one or more of these three goals:

1)  Build Awareness/Credibility.

Simply put, building a website to raise awareness of your brand or services is a great purpose for a website. Having a great looking website will also help your business be more competitive when prospects are comparing it to your competitors. More and more users look to websites to evaluate if the company is credible.

After putting your website online you should then utilize online media, and online marketing tools such as Google Adwords, to increase exposure to the masses. Awareness isn’t going to be built simply by having a site, you need to get people to your website!

2) Lead/Sales Generation.

Using your website to gather leads is a great purpose for some industries. To do this, you not only need to have marketing initiatives that focus on driving traffic, but also you should have clear “call to actions” on your website. This may be a form for the user to fill out to request information, an instant online chatting device, or a way for visitors to sign up for your services.

3) Provide Information.

Information based websites typically provide and educate their customer. Some service based industries may provide a blog or white papers to provide timely information to their customers. Businesses that have products may share product information, reviews and information to keep visitors coming back for more.

Most website may fall into more than one category. For instance tekniq.com is a website that is geared towards building awareness about our brand and services, while providing in basic information on select product lines such as our Kyocera copiers. Tekniq.com also has lead generation pages that are separate from the main website, but are designed to capture new lead information and send it to our sales staff.

What purpose(s) do you want your website to serve? If it is not currently fulfilling them all then contact Tekniq today to find out how we can help!