MWC (Mobile World Congress) is only a couple of weeks away and the world’s top mobile phone manufacturers, apart from Apple, will descend upon Barcelona to show off their latest handsets. Samsung, LG, Nokia, Sony, HTC, Acer and Asus will all be on hand to show what they have planned for 2012 and beyond. Here’s what we think you might be seeing at MWC 2012.

Nvidia

While we’ve already seen the Tegra quad-core processor in the new Asus tablet we’d bet our house that Nvidia & Co will be on hand at MWC to confirmed more Tegra 3 mobile devices. Adding even more fuel the fire they’ve already sent out a press release teasing “quad-core firsts” during Mobile World Congress.

We’ve known about quad-core smartphones since CES, but anything on show was displayed behind glass – so it’s going to be exciting to get some proper face-time with the new handsets. It’s been reported that HTC and LG are both planning to unveil Tegra 3-powered devices, which are expected to feature 4.7-inch displays with 720p resolutions.

Windows 8 & Windows Phone

Microsoft revealed recently that it plans to launch the consumer preview version of Window 8 on February 29 – to coincide with their event at MWC. It’s does seem odd that Microsoft will be discussing Windows 8 at a mobile phone trade show, but it could mean Microsoft to will unveil more details on how Windows 8 will work alongside their Mobile phone operating system.

Not only will Windows Phone 8 share the same Metro style user interface as Windows 8 for tablets and PCs, but developers can reuse the same code for both operating systems. It’s not clear if Microsoft plans to discuss its Windows Phone 8 plans, but a Windows 8 Consumer Preview launch at Mobile World Congress makes it look that way.

Samsung

Its been confirmed by Samsung that the follow-up to their Galaxy S2 wouldn’t be making an appearance at this year’s MWC, but even more bizarre is the news that Samsung won’t be making a major press announcements at the 2012 show. Samsung should still have a new product or two to launch at MWC, as promised, however the usual big set-piece event is now off the table.

Their US PR team said: ”Samsung confirmed that they are not hosting a press conference at Mobile World Congress, but Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012.

“The successor to the Galaxy S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.

“Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world.”

Sony

The leaked shot above show the entire family of Xperia phones, but there’s also a couple of family members we haven’t seen before. According the Xperia Blog the new handsets include the rumoured Xperia Nypon and the phone in the middle of the bottom row, is thought to be the recently-announced Xperia S. We’ve had several emails about Sony’s plans at MWC, so we’re betting they’ll be bringing a host of new phones to MWC under the Xperia brand.

Blackberry

Ailing smartphone maker, Blackberry, should be at MWC with their new operating system. Once called BBX, its now been dubbed Blackberry 10 and has yet to released on any smartphone.

According to a RIM rep the company will be at MWC to show off the new operating system as well its current Blackberry 7 – which comes with new NFC and BBM capabilities. Unfortunately, it appears there still won’t be a device running BlackBerry 10 until later this year.

New reports from BGR blog are suggesting that Blackberry has cancelled the BlackBerry Colt, as well the Milan. Meaning RIM only has the BlackBerry 10 smartphone. First unveiled in London, the handset comes with dual-core 1.5Ghz, 1GB of Ram, 16GB of onboard storage and front and rear facing cameras. RIM focusing on a single device could be a good thing, but we’ve heard it won’t be ready until the third quarter of this year, which might just be too late – let’s hope they have something more concrete at MWC.

HTC

HTC has already confirmed their plans with a press conference set to take place the day before the show officially kicks off. They’re expected to show of the HTC Edge , which could also be the world’s first quad-core phone. There’s also talk of the Quattro tablet, also quad-core thanks to Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor, as well as the Ville, another Android Ice Cream Sandwich superphone, and the Primo, a more mid-range device.

We also wonder if we’ll hear of the European version of the Titan II Windows Phone we saw at CES, with its ginormous 16-megapixel camera. Let’s hope so.

MWC takes place from February 27 to March 3.

Mobile World Congress: Gaj-it’s Top Mobile Phone Predictions is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Facebook is poised to announced its intention to float on the stock exchange and in turn it will see its founder Mark Zuckerberg pocket upwards of 16 billion dollars for his shares.

The 27-year-old’s social networking website is expected to file the necessary papers as early as tomorrow in order to list the company on the US stock market in the spring.

The company would then be valued at between £48 billion to £64 billion making the founder a mulit-billionaire through the shares he owns. James Montgomery, head of US investment bank Montgomery & Co, said: “The float will be iconic.”

It’s a true story of the American dream for a Zuckerberg, who started the social network in his dorm at Harvard University in 2004. Originally created for students the site took off worldwide and now has 800 million users. The typical member has 130 “friends”. A staggering 250 million photos are uploaded every day. Facebook is thought to have made £640million last year mainly through advertising.

What’s next?

So what does Facebook have planned with its newly found fortune? Well, they are about to move to Silicon Valley’s number one address: 1 Hacker Way.

From humble beginnings in Harvard dorm room, to a rented house in Palo Alto to a series of temporary corporate offices, which it has quickly outgrown. The 8-year-old social networking giant is set to lay down permanent roots just in time for its public offering.

Facebook is the talk of the town in Silicon Valley as its the biggest company set up shop in since Google Inc. Located just south of San Francisco the nine-building complex has room for up to 3,600 employees, with the opportunity to increase the site to accommodate 6,600 subject to approval from Menlo Park.

The social network also bought a 22-acre site for a second campus, which is on the other side of the divided highway that can be reached through an underground crossing that is big enough for car to travel through. Facebook will install a people mover in the crossing to ferry its staffers back and forth to the new campus that it hopes to have ready by 2014. The two campuses will give Facebook room for as many as 9,400 employees.

It’s all part of a grand plan Zuckerberg has to create an urban oasis for all its Silicon staffers, and to put one over on its chief rival Google who are waging a war for the services of top engineers and executives.

Not everyone is convinced, though.

But not everyone is convinced by the sale of Facebook. “There’s way too much hype,” states Peter Leeds, penny stocks analyst and the leading speaker on speculative investments. “We’ve seen it before with blue chips and penny stocks alike – the over-priced, over-hyped IPOs get driven up in price at first, only to come crashing back to earth a few days later.”

“It’s a great company with a lot of value, but not as much as they’re hoping to get. Then with rampant, albeit ill informed demand post-IPO, the shares will be highly over priced. You’ll see exactly what I mean in March when Facebook has to release their financial reports, IPO or not.”

Leeds also suggests that investors trying to be a part of this IPO will end up losing money, as the hype fades away, and the Facebook shares come back down to earth. He also believes that Facebook activity levels are starting to decline, based on the analysis of his penny stocks team.

A bright future in social advertising.

Facebook‘s share of U.S. display ad impressions grew to 27.9 percent during 2011, according to comScore data revealed on Monday. It’s a sizable lift; the Reston, VA-based researcher estimated Facebook’s 2010 share of display ads at 21 percent.

Yahoo’s currently second with 11 percent of the market, comScore says, while Microsoft, Google, and AOL trail with less than 5 percent apiece. ComScore has placed Facebook No. 1 in the display ad impressions category since 2009.

As Facebook has grown to more than 800 million users worldwide, brands have gotten on board with vigor. The Menlo Park, CA-based digital giant has successfully courted Madison Avenue during the last two years in particular.

“Any time a site becomes so influential to the full digital landscape, advertisers are forced to pay attention,” comScore rep Andrew Lipsman told ClickZ News. “There was a time when brands thought of Facebook as a place for kids and teenagers. That’s obviously not the case anymore.”

At the time of writing:  Facebook is expected to file for its first IPO (initial public offering) on Wednesday, with the company expected to raise less than previously expected  - 5 billion – according to a new report.

According to International Financing Review, who are quoting sources close to the deal, the social networking site is planning to raise around half of what was previously expected.

Facebook is expected to start with a conservative base before deciding whether to increase. From there, the company will sell shares from May onwards with Morgan Stanley leading the effort – although Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan are also included on the list.

Facebook IPO: What It Means For Facebook’s Future is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Siri For iPad 3

Apple’s mild-mannered assistant Siri has been a key component of the iPhone 4S’s success. The virtual personal assistant shows us a glimpse of the future where devices can actually help you out in day-to-day life all controlled by your voice. At the moment Siri makes it easier to send text messages, write emails and generally helps you keep up-to-date with what you need to do. We’d love to see the stern talking assistant make the jump to Apple iPad 3.

A New Form Factor

Apple has been historically stubborn to change the size of their devices, the iPhone has been 3-7inches since its inception, and the iPad is the same with a 9.7-inch form factor. Well, we’d love to see Apple embrace change and consider two different sizes of tablet. Clearly consumers want to be able to choose. Apple offers a multitude of different MacBooks in a range of sizes – could this be something the Cupertino company might consider with the iPad 3? Well, we’ve heard many rumours of a baby iPad and nothing has ever materalised – hopefully with the iPad 3 it might become a reality. Giving customers choices isn’t a bad thing. And it’s about time Apple realises this.

Embracing 3D

There’s no doubt that 3D has a place in consumers hearts – just look at recent 3DS sales – it’s clear that 3D is something consumers want. Considering that Apple’s iPad is becoming a go-to device for films and games it wouldn’t be a bad idea if Apple considered bringing 3D to the world’s best-selling tablet. From what we saw at CES 3D has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve and we wouldn’t bet against Apple jumping onboard at some point in the near future.

Glare-free Screen

Amazon’s range of Kindles, whether it be the original ink version or the new colour one, shows that glare-free screens are the future. The major downside of any handheld Apple device is the issue of viewing them in direct sunlight. It would be great to see Apple finally solve this bugbear and create and glare-free screen for the iPad 3.

A Truly Wireless Device

Apple has already taken measures to make the iPhone and iPad wire-free. Well, the next step would be to their make their devices charge without having to actually plug them into a wall. Such charging methods are starting to become popular – but few major companies have adopted it. Apple should be the first to make a truly next generation device free of cables and constraints.

A Battery That Can Last A Month

One crucial part of any mobile device is the battery and Apple has been a leading light in this sector. As far as were concerned no one has come close to competing with them when it comes to length of batterly life and stand-by time. There have been rumours that battery tech is going to get a big shake up in the next few years with some technology giants suggesting that future devices could last up to one month on a single charge. Now it might sound like pie in the sky, but we wouldn’t bet against Apple solving this problem – long battery life is everything in the mobile space.

Gorilla Glass 2.0 

One thing that caught our eye at this month’s CES was new Gorilla Glass – the screen technology is commonplace in any device that has a touchscreen. Well, the company behind it, Corning, unveiled Gorilla Glass 2 at CES. It’s a major step up over the current crop of screens. It offers better sensitivity, bright images and a thinner design which would help device makers create even smaller products. We’d love to see Apple use this new glass in the iPad 3 – make it so Apple.

Retina Display

Following on from glass is the screen. Now were almost certain that the iPad 3 will get a brand new screen and it’s likely to be a super-sharp Retina display. For more than one year now, consumers have been hoping for the Retina Display to come to the iPad. Let’s hope that it happens in 2012. A Retina display would finally mean that the iPad 3 will be known as truly high definition tablet. We’ve already seen Android devices with amazing screens, but Apple is likely to be the company to take this tablet screen technology to the masses.

Give Gamers What They Want

Gaming is a massive draw for Apple, not necessarily from the hardcore, but from more casual gamers. We’d love to see Apple take note of this new use and start giving gamers what they want: a controller. Touchscreen controls can only go so far – we’d love to see Apple come up with a mini controller for the iPad. So far they’ve been rather resistant, but if they want to push past casual gamers they’ll need address this need with the iPad 3.

NFC 

Looking ahead, it’s hard to argue that near-field communication and mobile-payment applications won’t be a big deal in the future. Google currently supports it with its Wallet service. And now, all attention is focused on Apple to follow its lead. Let’s hope it does just that with the launch of a mobile-payment solution in the iPad 3.

10 Things We Want To See In The New iPad 3 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

This week you’ll have likely come across two new acronyms: SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act). They are new powers being discussed in the US congress which will give content owners the power to shut down any website that is facilitating or involved in piracy online at any level.

The problem…

There’s no doubt that piracy is a massive problem, and if left unchecked, is likely to get worse. Major TV companies and record companies are lobbying the US government tackle the problem. They’re demanding that the US government gives them the ability to shut down sites that are involved in this complex and illicit crime. The major problem with SOPA isn’t what it’s set out to try and do, but the way it’s been implemented.

The end of a free internet?

Traditionally, the web has been the one place where censorship doesn’t get a look in. That ethos changing goes against the Internet’s fundamental principles. This week many of the world’s most-loved websites went dark in protest to the bills, which would have the power to censor the Internet. For many opponents the Internet can’t be policed, and shouldn’t be policed, in such a scatter-gun approach. There’s no doubt that Wikipedia, who went dark for 24 hours, are in no way supporting piracy – but are fearful of what might happen once a country takes it upon themselves to be the world’s police online. If SOPA passes, all an IP owner would need to do is send a letter to his company of choice in the US — be it Google, PayPal, the ISP, even Visa or MasterCard — and have it claim a “good faith belief” that the target site in question has infringing content on it. The recipient of said “belief” would have just five days to either comply with the order, or challenge it in court.

Who’s making money out of piracy?

Interestingly despite lack of any working legislation Megaupload was shutdown by the FBI for wide scale piracy today – which leads us to ask the question: do we even need SOPA & PIPA? Well, sites like Megaupload have always stated that they are not involved in piracy and do not condone its users uploading copyrighted material. But, according to the FBI they know full well what their services are being used for. The FBI has stated that their business model is a simple one: the more their users upload files to be shared for free, the more money they make, by selling unlimited downloads for their service.

The main problem with Megaupload is that the money they’re making from the service never filters down the labels, studios or content creators. Sites like the Pirate Bay are the same. Although, they never shared content for the purpose of making money, they do it because the believe that everything in the public domain should be shared freely without any recourse. Megaupload, on the otherhand, have taken this model one step further: they’ve monetised it. Profiteering of illegal downloads to such a degree that they are making colossal amounts of money, money that should be going to content creators.

What’s wrong with our current laws?

At the moment piracy is so widespread and happening in so many countries’ that the current laws only allows for content owners to go after the downloader, and not the facilitator. If Universal Studios or the MPAA tried to sue everyone who has watched a downloaded TV show or film this would obviously be incredibly impractical and the legal bills would be astronomical. It has worked, and people have been prosecuted, but it will never solve the problem.

Essentially, both the SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) will allow content owners to go after the sites that are profiteering from the downloading of illegal files. This, at the moment, would mean many of the world’s leading filesharing locker sites would be in the firing line. Sites like Mediafire and Megaupload (which got shutdown today) would almost certainly be shutdown or blocked, even if many of its users are using the sites in a legal way. It has always been argued by these websites that it would be impossible to know the exact origin of all files and content on its servers, so they essentially work from a position of ignorance. With SOPA and PIPA they would no longer be able to say: “Well, we just didn’t know”. The main issue many have taken with SOPA and PIPA is the collateral damage these new powers would create. How would it effect small internet startups? Many opponents aren’t in favour of piracy, but, want a free and open internet – something SOPA & PIPA would threaten. If you happened to mention an infringing link, video, or torrent on a site or service you happen to use, the said service would be legally obliged to remove it. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Tumblr, YouTube, you name it — everywhere on the web that has feet in the US would be at risk of some form of internet censorship.

Will SOPA & PIPA solve piracy?

It’s doesn’t take a genius to recognise that no amount of legislation will solve piracy, for many internet savy people a new pragmatic approach is needed. If technology start-up companies like Spotify or Netflix can wean illegal downloaders off sites like Megaupload & Pirate Bay, and into legitimate channels of distribution then eventually illegal downloading would be significantly reduced overtime. It’s clear that throughout the world consumers feel that they aren’t getting value for money, or, in many cases, aren’t able to get the content they want, at a time they want, for a fair price. And if no one will give them this, the choice is a simple one: get it for free.

What other approaches could work?

Services like Spotify & Netflix have proved so popular that it’s clear that many people are willing to pay for content, but at a price and model they’re happy with. Quite often when you buy a CD only a fraction of the money actually goes to the artist. If the royalty system was overhauled and labels and studios were more open to new ways of delivering content and sharing the spoils – then we wouldn’t be in the state we’re in at the moment.

The archaic way some content providers are run means they’ve been playing catch-up with a digital revolution, and instead of embracing it, they’re still fighting it. The two sides will have to focus on creating a proper and fair process by which criminal websites are appropriately policed, while ensuring adequate protection for those who are wrongly or unfairly accused.

Intellectual property has always been a bit of a minefield online – to think that you can shut down a site down and solve piracy is looking at the problem through rose-tinted glasses. As soon as one is shut, ten will reappear, that is until the demand is diverted to legal channels. This legislation will simply push piracy even further underground. SOPA has been halted, at least temporarily, following opposition from the White House, while PIPA is still under consideration by the US Senate.

One thing for sure is this won’t be the last time you have heard of SOPA, PIPA or online piracy.

Will SOPA & PIPA Actually Stop Online Piracy ? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The stunt by Samsung which was essentially the construction of an interactive miniature football match in London’s most central rail station was part of a joint scheme with ESPN. Their twelve part digital series sets to uncover the principles and dynamics of teamwork while also, of course, illustrating how Samsung’s Mobile technology can enhance the sporting experience.

These days there’s a whole new challenge in the marketing of mobile phones. Never mind telling people why they should buy your new handset, in this saturated market just telling people that your handset exists is a mammoth task and a flash-mob in a busy train station is certainly one way to introduce a new gadget. And let’s be honest if we’re going to get buried alive by advertisements we may as well have a little fun in the meantime.

Harriet Hall, International Account Director of Starcom who helped organise the event said: “In a competitive marketplace it’s hard to launch new handsets in a way that stands out from the crowd.  In this collaboration we’ve designed a consumer experience that not only does that, but includes the opportunity for consumers to get hands on with the product.”

So there you have it. Whether you’re interested in the way the Samsung Galaxy Note with its extra-large screen and S-pen will enhance teamwork or if you want to see some street-football check out the video below.

Samsung Galaxy Note Football Flash-Mob is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Acer dropped a ‘one more thing moment’ at the end of their CES keynote and it came in the form of their Iconia Tab A700 their new flagship tablet, which has Ice Cream Sandwich and a whopping quad-core processor.

It hasn’t been officially unveiled, so details about its final specs remain scant, but it was on the show floor for consumers and journalists to have a quick play.

The first thing we noticed is the amazing new screen, it boasts an impressive resolution of 1925×1200, which is just a shade above 1080p. It’s bright and pin sharp, and surely means that plenty of other tablets will make the jump to retina-esque displays in 2012….ahem Apple.

Not only does this mean 1080p playback, it also gives things like text and magazines a little more zing, and makes them look more like printed paper than digital text.

The tablet isn’t going to win a beauty contests, it’s the typical glum Acer design. It’s 9.8mm and a lot lighter than many had expected considering its power capabilities. But, if it’s not inconceivable that it could get a facelift when it finally makes it to market.

The A700 comes with Ice Cream Sandwich, 1.3Ghz quad-core tegra processor, 9,800 mAh battery, 5 megapixel camera, micro USB and microHDMI – there’s no word on price, but we’d imagine it’s going to be towards the higher end of the market.

LG may have stole the show with their amazing OLED technology, but, Sony were on hand at CES to try and steal a bit of their thunder.

They announced a new prototype screen technology called Crystal LED, which they hope will prove to the new defacto screen technology. But can it really compete with OLED ?

Sony showed off a new 55-inch panel which is made up of millions of tiny LED’s that act as pixels and offers a Full HD self-emitting display.

The method they’re using ‘dramatically improved the light and efficiency’ and offers higher contrast ratios, wider colour gamut and incredibly hight refresh rates, when compared to LCD and Plasma’s

Intriguingly, Sony added this new technology was “parallel to its continued development and commercialization of OLED displays, and Sony will work conscientiously to bring the “Crystal LED Display” to market.”

We’ve yet to find out the juicy information such as when we’ll see the technology in use or whether it will cost the earth, but Sony better get a wriggle on before Samsung and LG’s OLED TVs start to gain traction in the market.

Not only did Sony show off the new Xperia S which his the Arc HD in all but name, but they also had another handset on show the Xperia Ion.

It’s the first phone to come out of the new Sony buyout and on paper this handset is an impressive beast. Specs-wise it’s a great phone: a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor, 16 BG of internal storage and a 12 megapixel rear camera.

There’s a front-facing camera on the front capable of recording in 720p. In other exciting news the new phone comes with a massive 4.6-inch screen with an impressive resolution of 1280×720, which Sony is calling HD Reality – the handset also comes with Music unlimited and Video unlimited too.

The main selling point for the Ion is that it’s Playstation certified, meaning gaming on the go will have never looked so good on a mobile. The specs bragging doesn’t stop there though, they’ve also managed to cram in Sony’s Exmor camera technology which mean it will be up and running in 1.5 seconds and can go from pic to pic in two seconds.

The only downside we can see with the phone it’s the decision to release it with Android Gingerbread, which is a little old-hat when Ice Cream should be the only OS on sale for all future Android phone – when will Blackberry learn.

Onlive has made quite a splash with its cloud gaming apps and service, but their not content with that, they want to do the same for the desktop apps.

Much to many people’s surprise they were on hand at CES to show of their latest service, Onlive Desktop, for iPad, which will put the power of your desktop in the cloud.

The service allows iPad users (for the time being) to use Microsoft Office suite on their tablets with full touch screen capabilities all through the cloud without having to worry about whether your iPad can handle it or is compatible.

The way it works is simple: harness the power of Onlive’s goliath server farm to do all the heavy lifting at their end whilst you get the benefits of the full version of office on a tablet.

It might seem like a strange thing for Onlive to be doing, but, in theory it’s likely to be a smoother experience for the end-user because you won’t be playing triple-A games and merely doing spreadsheet work or presentations, where a tiny bit of lag wouldn’t ruin the experience.

In fact: it’s the next logical step. The servers and technology are already there and the tasks it will have to perform will be more than manageable.

Better still they’re are planning a premium version, if you signup to the top package with 50GB of server space, you can also surf the web and use their amazing bandwidth speeds and, better still, it also allows for full flash support on an iPad. Amazing.

In Onlive’s short history they’ve never had any downtime, so it’s more than plausible that businesses could actually rely on the service.

The Onlive desktop app works by downloading the app, signing up and boom – you’re away.

When the service is released on iOS this week, Onlive Desktop will be free. With this you get 2GB of storage and access to Microsoft Office. If you aren’t an iPad user, then an Android version of the service is coming soon.

CES Round-up: The Best of The Rest is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Web-based CRM Systems are becoming an essential feature of all business marketing plans as a way of keeping your myriads of client data up-to-date, and by keeping track of which marketing campaigns work well and which ones bomb.

While implementing a CRM is all well and good to discuss, getting into a meeting room with a CRM company, hearing their exciting pitch and fainting when they tell you the cost of personalising their software to your company is something most businesses, particularly small businesses, prefer to avoid.

An alternative to buying your own CRM System is to go to the cloud. Online CRMs work well for small businesses because they’re easy to implement, cost-effective and you don’t need your own massive servers to store all of your growing data- they keep it all for you via the inter-webs.

It will still take a bit of time to get all your data uploaded, but once that’s done you’re ready to send flyers to all your contacts over the age of 60, email all your contacts over the age of 25 and Facebook all of your contacts over the age of 9.

Payment-wise there are usually various amounts you can pay per month or per year, depending on how in-depth you’d like your cloud-based service.

Usually online CRM companies will charge you per user, so it’s important you initially figure out who in your team is likely to hang around for the next few years. If someone in your company who is a nominated subscriber does leave, it’s usually no drama to change over the name on your account, or simply pretend to be them Facebook-hack style.

So if you’re sold on a software as a service (SaaS) solution, what are the best online CRM companies out there?

5. WiredContact.co.uk

WiredContact is a UK-based hosted CRM company that prides itself on UK-based support whenever you need to get in touch with them.

Its service offers the usual CRM tools such as managing and reporting on leads, sales opportunities, the activities of all of your sales reps and reports on your won / lost / pending ratios.

A nice touch to WiredConnect’s service is that you can easily tailor your interface to suit your business. By providing standard HTML-based templates you can alter the look and feel of your platform and choose from a range of custom views to suit your eccentric tastes.

Unlike some other CRM providers, WiredConnect will let you use your own servers to host data if you prefer which is one way to keep your fees down.

The more licences your company buys, the lower the cost for each licence, so 1-4 licences will set you back around £278 per user, per year, but 10+ licences will cost a noticeably less £174 per user, per year.

4. Lunar CRM

Lunar CRM may not be the biggest online CRM name in the business, but it’s local based in Coventry rather than California, and it’s small enough to still provide quite a personalised service as opposed to bigger US online CRM providers like ZohoCRM (which on a side note, I’ve not included in this list due to its ridiculous extra storage costs)

While it’s small, Lunar CRM offers a product to rival the big boys with the ability to compare suppliers and their product performance, breakdown your relationship with different customers and see which staff are doing a cracking job at selling ice to the Eskimos.

If something off the shelf isn’t exactly what your business needs, Lunar CRM can also design and build a bespoke system to fit your difficult needs, and also offers technical support 24/7.

Because they’re so boutique, you will have to contact them directly for a quote but we hear they’re priced in a similar vein to Salesforce.

3. SugarCRM

SugarCRM is one of those Californian-based companies, but has a UK branch Sugar UK supporting its service across the Atlantic. Sugar UK has engineers based in picturesque Surrey so support time differences won’t be a problem.

If you’re looking at a bit of a combo package, SugarCRM is an online CRM system that can bundle a VoIP phone system to integrate your company’s communication with customers directly into SugarCRM.

This means you can access features including click-to-dial and recorded-call logging. It also saves you money on an expensive PBX with everything hosted and managed on the network.

There are three different editions you can subscribe to, starting with the “Community” plan which is at the very reasonable cost of free. You do get what you pay for though and for a CRM system comparable to others on the market, you will probably want the next cheapest “Professional” plan at £235 per user per month.

For the extra cash you will get features like manual Outlook integration, sales forecasting, market analysis and field-level security. If you pay around double that amount for the “Enterprise” plan, you get some cool Android, iPhone and Blackberry apps at your fingertips plus a few other nifty features.

2. Open CRM

Open CRM is another online system option for your business, and what makes this company interesting is that regardless of your subscription level, all customers have access to all of Open CRM’s available features.

There is no disabled functionality so you’re never compelled to upgrade your account, or change your business strategy to fit within a set of limiting features so often associated with a cheap-option plan.

What Open CRM has going for it is incredibly competitive pricing. Ten users each with 10GB data storage and a ridiculous 2TB file storage will set you back £125 per month or £1500 per annum. Compared to big guns Salesforce.com, 10 users with 1GB data storage and 6GB file storage starts at £450 a month or £5400 per year.

While that may seem like an unnecessary amount of storage, the guys over at Open CRM take the view that as a business your storage needs will only ever grow, so any additional storage costs should be considered from the start.

If you somehow find your terabytes a bit too limiting, you can increase your data storage allocation with an additional 500GB for £15 per month, or 1TB for £25.00 per month, or if you’ve got high-res videos of every single person in your database, an extra 1.5TB will set you back £32.00.

1. Salesforce.com

One company that has done a very good job getting itself known in the market is Salesforce. The fact that its targeted marketing works so well is indicative of how good their systems are.

Apart from its standard CRM offerings, Salesforce.com has a number of cloud apps and platforms to help businesses keep on top of the game when it comes to interacting with potential customers.

It provides a private social network for your business called “Chatter”, a means to monitor your social media engagement called “Radian6”, as well as the world’s first enterprise cloud database, creatively called “Database.com”.

Salesforce.com has a swag of impressive clients making use of its services including O2, Boots, Confused.com and even the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

For an entry-level very basic system, you only need to fork out £10.20 per user, per month, but the £45 per user per month offers a wealth more of the standard CRM options your business will most likely benefit from.

Top Five Web-Based CRM Systems for UK Business is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

CES is in full swing and today we’ll give you some interesting details on origami laptops, tablets, 4K camcorders and even an Apple rumour.

Right, let’s get this Apple iPad rumour out of the way first. Now, everyone knows that Apple isn’t at CES (or are they?). Well, according to iLounge they’ve seen something interesting from Apple at CES.

The iPad 3. Now before you start the obligatory trolling, let’s just give them a chance. First of all there’s no picture. Ok….. But there’s the testimony of someone who has seen it and works for a reputable publication: iLounge.

Jeremy Horwitz, has been shown what he was a told is the new iPad. What does it looks like? Well, the iPad 2. According to Horwitz, if you had them side-by-side then you’d struggle to tell them apart. The only visual difference was that it’s a tiny bit thicker: 1mm. According the whistleblowers the design changes are more akin to the changes we saw in the iPhone 4 to 4S. Basically none.

The main talking point about the rumour is the screen. Although iLounge didn’t get to see it working (we know) the new iPad has indeed got a Retina display. According to Horwitz and his manufacturing sources they reckon the new tablet will be with us within 2 months under the name iPad 2S or iPad 2HD.

It’s not the first time new tech is shown off behind closed doors, remember the time Reuters saw the iPad 2 at The Daily Launch?

We’d say file this under: just maybe.

Now, for the tech announcements that actually did happen – remember the 4K screen’s that we’ve been talking about over the last week or so. Well, we made a caveat that we’d be interested to know what content they’d show off on these new TV’s as we weren’t aware of any film footage in this mind-bogglingly high resolution.

Well, that’s not true: JVC has announced a new camcorder, called GY-HMQ10, which offers recording at 3840×2160 at 24 or 50p. Even more exciting is the fairly reasonable £4340 price tag and the promised UK release of March. This is a professional offering and is sure to future proof yourself for an expected move to 4K content in the next 18-24 months.

For the technical of you, the new camera is powered by HVC’s Falconbrid large-scale integration (LSI) chip, which has a half-inch CMOS imager with an impressive 8.3 million active pixels.

Product manager, Gustav Emrich. “We’re witnessing the birth of what is destined to become a broad market for full 4K end-to-end production. The GY-HMQ10 is a breakthrough product that opens up 4K imaging to users who previously wouldn’t have considered it.”

JVC explains that the big problem with 4K for video is processing power, but that this is now shifting.

“There just hasn’t been the ability to capture, process, display and record full 4K images in real time until now,” adds JVC.

Lenovo has been incredibly busy at this year’s CES with plenty of smart TV’s and laptops, but, the device that caught our eye is their up-and-coming IdeaPad Yoga. Admittedly it’s not the greatest name, but, just look at it.

It’s a Windows 8 laptop than can also double up as a tablet in a similar vein as Asus’ Transformer, which saw impressive reviews and sales last year.

The current trend of latops sharing design cues from tablets is something we’ll see a lot of in 2012. So expect everything to get thinner and lighter. Essentially Yoga is an Ultrabook laptop that’s as gorgeous as a MacBook Air, but also doubles as a impressive tablet.

The hybrid laptop comes with a 13.3-inch screen and has 10-finger touch capabilities. Although, we fear that it might just be to heavy to use as an every-day tablet as it weighs twice as much as an iPad 2.

Lenovo expects the IdeaPad Yoga to ship when Windows 8 is available commercially, which should be in the third or fourth quarter of this year. The company expects the device to run for less than $1,200.

Razer’s newly announced prototype tablet is getting a lot of coverage and when you first set your eye’s on it you can see why.

Gaming on tablets can be cumbersome and fiddly. Anyone who has played GTA3 on iPad or Android will testify to this. At the moment Apple isn’t making any plans to make a games controller for their tablet, so it’s up to companies like Razer to show them where there are going wrong.

Hydra controllers connected up to a PC gaming tablet certainly appeals to us – especially with some impressive suggested specs. They’ve included an impressive workhorse in the form of a Intel Core i7 processor, and a 1280×800 display. Now you’d look quite the wholly if you popped this out on your daily commute to work. But gaming on tablets is big business, Angry Birds is proof of this, but so far we’re yet to see a hardcore game really find a home on tablets – could this be the answer?

There are also magnetometer and accelerometers thrown in to take advantage of its mobility.

“Adapted from a full featured PC gamepad, Project Fiona’s integrated dual controllers coupled with its advanced multi-touch screen are designed to make complex game navigation ergonomic and intuitive without compromising on the portability of the tablet,” states Razer.

“You’ll be able to carry out headshots and command troops in-game with ease. This first-of-its-kind PC gaming tablet with integrated dual controllers is definitely not for playing casual games about unhappy birds or zombie-killing flora.”

It’s only a prototype, but it’s good see companies trying to marry tablets and gaming in a perfect match for each other without have to dumb down today’s complex triple-A titles.

More CES news tomorrow.

CES 2012 Round-up: iPad 3, 4K JVC Camcorder, Razer Tablet & Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

CES is underway and we’ve collated the best of the best of what’s has been shown off in the first day of the technology marathon. We’ll be giving you first hand details on what Sony, Microsoft and LG has to offer in 2012 and beyond.

Sony

Everyone, including us, thought that Sony would take to the stage at CES 2012 to unveil the new Sony Xperia Arc HD. Well, Sony did take to the stage, but unveiled the Xperia S.

Now, those of you will notice that Sony has dropped the Ericsson tagline. The phone is impossibly pretty with sleek design lines and even comes with a whopping 12-megapixel camera.

Sony have managed to cram in its Exmore R technology, which boasts a fast capture speeds of just 1.5 seconds meaning you’ll never miss the picture you want to take.

Specs-wise the phone is very impressive, with a 4.3-inch Retina Display that’s offers amazing colours, brightness and clarity thanks to the 1280×720 resolution.

Sony has given the phone a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor meaning it will be substantially faster than the current Xperia Arc, which has a single processor.

Other features of note include a HDMI port, NFC and there’s also Bravia Sync on board and the phone is PlayStation certified. The only downside for this handset is that it comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but, Sony said that Ice Cream Sandwich will be on its way in the second half of 2012.

The Sony Xperia S UK release date has been set for March 2012, pricing is currently unavailable.

Microsoft

Microsoft took to the stage for the last time at CES to talk about their Windows eco-system, the rather dull keynote did not include anything about the new Xbox, but did confirm when Kinect would be coming to Windows.

From next month, Windows users will be able to control their PC’s and laptops by the motion controller Kinect.

We weren’t show anything with regards to applications, UI, or anything like that. But, we did get a list of companies that have already begun to design apps for business solutions.

2012 is the last time Microsoft that will make Keynote speeches at CES, some thought they’d go out with a bang, where in actual fact they went out with a bit of damp squib.

CEO Steve Ballmer took to the stage to reiterate the company’s focus on Windows and the Metro design for the next year, which pours water on the rumours that the new Xbox will land at E3 2012.

On Metro, Frank X. Shaw, head of corporate communications at Microsoft said: ”As you can see across our devices (and through our booth for those here at the show), Metro delivers a beautiful, natural visual experience. People already love it on Windows Phone and Xbox, and soon Metro will come to Windows 8 PCs and tablets, too.”

And on Windows 8, Microsoft had a clear message – buying a PC now won’t cause you a problem with the new OS. “Every Windows 7 PC ever made will be ready for Windows 8 on day one,” promised Ballmer. More than 500 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold – one every 7 seconds.

There was also a demonstration of the Windows Store which, like the Mac App Store, will bring downloadable apps to Windows. Microsoft announced it will launch at the end of February.

Ballmer also talked up the recent purchase of Skype. “Skype’s amazing. 200 million people who used over 300 billion minutes last year. 50 per cent were video calls”

Ballmer, did have some surprises up his sleeve and showed off the new Windows Phone from HTC, the Titan 2. It’s coming to AT&T and is sporting some incredible specs.

First of all, the Titan comes with a eye-watering 16-megapixel camera, with a wide angel lens and LED flash. Other than the camera the phone comes with 4.7-inch Super LCD screen, single core processor and 720p video recording.

LG

LG has made quite a splash at CES and we’re only on day one. Their new flagship, all be it, prototype OLED has stolen the show so far. According to LG the EM9600 is the world’s largest OLED ever made, with a minimal bezel and fantastic picture.

The first thing you’ll notice is it’s mind-blowingly thin: 4mm thick. It’s also a 3D enabled, LG reckons it will be on sale in the second half of 2012.

There’s no details on price, but, if you start saving now you’ll probably still be a fair way off being able to afford this stunning TV.

Size matters, according LG, and this true of some the other panels LG showed off. They unveiled of the world’s largest Ultra Definition 3D TV, which has a 4K resolution of 3840×2160, a whopping 4-times as many pixels as you’d get in a normal 1080p screen. It’s also 81-inches. Wow.

You can also tinker about with the 3D depth as you watch and play on the set, while 3D Sound Zooming takes care of the tri-dimensional audio layout – the UD TV is heading to market in the second half of 2012 as well.

CES 2012 Round-up: Sony, Microsoft and LG is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

We’re back with our second installment of our top tech predictions for CES 2012. In this part we will be looking at computing, tablets and mobiles. We’ll cover everything from what Microsoft has planned for Windows 8, Intel-powered Ultrabooks and everything you should expect when it comes to mobile phones and tablets.

Home Computing 

Xbox 720 aside Microsoft is expected to the have more details on its new Windows 8 operating system at CES. Steve Ballmer is expected to give an opening keynote speech where he is expected to show off the tablet-friendly OS.

So far the tech world has only seen a developer preview of the new OS, with a beta expected to the ready for February – so it’s expected that Ballmer & Co will take to the stage for the last time and announce the exact date of the beta. So keep your eye’s peeled.

Other computer related news expected from Microsoft is their decision to start supporting ARM processors with Windows 8. We’re not whether they will support both desktops and tablet architecture with Arm. But, it could be that we’ll see some Windows tablets in the future with ARM processors and more traditional desktops and laptops sticking to tried and tested Intel power plants.

Intel

Intel Chief Paul Otellini is set to deliver one of the keynotes at CES, and is expected to show off some new Ivy Bridge hardware, which should be in the form of Ultrabooks, although Ivy Bridge, the follow-up to Sandy bridge, isn’t expected until later 2012.

Graphics cards-wise AMD is likely to be on hand at CES to show off their new Southern Island, 28nm graphics card, which are expect to hit retail stores by Q1 2012. Nvidia is also expected to show off their 28nm cards too, but it’s not know whether the Kepler architecture cards will be shown on the show floor or behind closed doors.

One of the main draws for many at CES will be: Ultrabooks. This is because Intel is throwing a lot of money at the manufacturers to make a line of laptops that will reinvigorate the ailing laptop market. Over the last 3 years we’ve seen an explosion of Netbooks, then Tablets and Intel now hopes the consumers will jump on board their ultra-thin Intel-powered laptops. They are essentially MacBook Air’s, but, running Windows. From what we’ve seen of Ultrabook they do make Windows laptops cool, but with a hefty price tag and increased competition from tablets they might be too expensive for hard-up consumers to stomach.

Mobile Technology

The Mobile industry tends to make its announcements at the MWC in Barcelona, but with such a competitive marketplace many companies are likely to steal a march and get some of their announcements out before the rest of the competition. Tablets will also be big business at CES, with many manufacturers making the switch from dual-core Tegra chipsets to the new Tegra quad-core chipsets.

HTC

HTC has yet to give a UK release for their Jetstream tablet – so we’re not expecting that tablet but something entirely new – known as the HTC Quattro. It’s the usual 10-inch tablet that we’ve seen so many times over the last 12 months. For us, it’s not the hardware that is keeping Google from competing with Apple, but the fragmentation of the Android OS – especially the app marketplace – which is way off the quality and reliability of Apple’s own app store.

HTC will no doubt have several mobiles on the show floor at CES, but, they tend to make their products for different markets – so many of the new handset may well be US-only for the time being. But you should expect details on the HTC Edge, HTC Ville and possibly some quad-core phones too.

Acer

Acer is expected  to show off a new tablet, which will hopefully be a bit more exciting than the rather drab Iconica A500. This time around they’re hoping that the A700 might grab some positive headlines – especially as it’s thought to come with a 1080p resolution screen.

Samsung

Samsung is expected to show off the follow-up to the Galaxy S2, it’s been the at the centre of plenty rumour-mongering – so it’s highly likely that they could unveil it at CES and once again grab a decent head start over Apple and the iPhone. It’s expected to be dramatically different from the previous version as Samsung wants to move it away from the iPhone and avoid any further legal action.

LG 

LG is expected to show off a new Android 4.0 mobile called the Optimus U1, which could be worth keep an eye out for, especially if they managed to get it out to retailers with Ice Cream Sandwich in toe before the competition.

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson might use CES to the finally officially unveil the Xperia Arc HD, which has been the subject of many leaks recently. It’s expected to come with a 4.3-inch LCD display, with an impressive 1280×720 resolution, a matte finish and for the first time the Arc will have the power to match its looks. The current Arc only has a single core, which by todays standards is like a pocket calculator.

Sony will want to make a splash at CES, they are in the process of buying the mobile company outright, so a good showing at the show would allay any fears from nervous shareholders and investors.

Nokia

Nokia is expected to unveil its next Windows Phone at a Window Phone-themed press conference, there’s no word on whether the reported Lumia 900 will make it to the UK, but the phone is expected to come with a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen, better battery life and their fantastic Carl Zeiss 8 megapixel camera.

We’ll be reporting all the latest news from CES – so stay tuned from the 9-13 of January.

CES 2012: Gaj-it’s Top Tech Predictions Part 2 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com