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Smart Phones Device of Choice

In this day and age, when the desire for constant communication is paramount, many people cannot stand the thought of being separated from their cell phones for a moment. And now, smart phones are making people even more device dependent with features that allow users to do a great deal more than just talk or text message with their phones.

Smart phones are essentially small computers that fit right into the palm of your hand and which can run a number of sophisticated applications. There are a variety of operating systems that power these smart devices such as Palm, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. As such, the functionality is greatly determined by the operating system that drives your smart phone.

Most smartphone software is able to maintain your personal and business contacts, organize and sync your calendar, allow you to connect to the internet and give you the ability to check your email wherever you are.

Many of the smart phones also include standard multi-media functions like digital cameras that can capture still photos and also brief videos, and of course, fully functional MP3 players for both music and video playback.

Smart phones are particularly aimed at people who want or need to have access to important contacts, information, the internet and their music, but who just don’t want to be burdened with dragging their laptop everywhere they go in order to stay connected and on top of things. With most of these devices starting at around $200 and going up from there, they are not cheap and not for everyone, but addicted users say they are well worth the price.

According to cell phone reviews, the best of the smart phones will allow you to have access to a web whenever it is needed. The newest models have browsers that are able to display almost any web site, although often in slightly different ways than you might be accustomed to seeing on your desktop or laptop.

Push email is a popular feature on smart phones today and this means that your email inbox is constantly being kept up-to-date. The BlackBerry introduced this feature, but now Windows Mobile 5.0 phones can also do this. Other phones can be scheduled to grab new messages at scheduled intervals. A good smart phone will also be able to handle and display the more popular kinds of attachments you might receive, such as Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint files.

Similar to any PDA or computer, smart phones will give you the ability to add your own applications as well. There are many that are available free online from various sources, while other applications must be purchased. Some can be downloaded straight to your smart phone while others have be purchased from your PC and then installed through syncing.

One of the hottest types of smart phones on the market right now is the Apple iPhone. It was announced at the beginning of 2007 and by the time it was available in June of 2007, people where standing in long lines to be among the first to own this revolutionary device.

In true Apple style, the iPhone version of smart phones introduced a number of cutting edge technologies never before seen in a cell phone, both in the categories of design and functionality. Many claim that the Apple iPhone will revolutionize the communication industry, much as it did the music industry with the innovative iPods and iTunes.

Small Business Accounting: Open Source Software Gets An A

In the past, it’s been small business accounting needs that were most drawn to open source business intelligence software because of the cost. Where many small businesses simply can’t afford top of the line proprietary software, open course accounting software has been the way to keep costs down.

Interestingly, more and more small businesses, as well as large ones, are turning to open source accounting software and business intelligence software for many more reasons than cutting operational costs.

A study done by Ventana Research based in San Mateo, California set out to discover what current attitudes are toward open source accounting and business intelligence tools. After surveying 320 business and IT professionals, the results showed some very interesting things about the growing popularity of open source business management software.

Of the 320 professionals surveyed, a whopping 83% said that they had deployed, or were about to deploy an open source business intelligence software of some kind. Nearly half the participants represented small companies with less than $100 million in annual revenue, 20% represented mid0sized business with annual revenues less than $1 billion and 22% worked with Global 2000 companies.

Surprisingly, the top reason for going with open source small business accounting software was not the lower license costs. The primary reason companies cited for choosing an open source suite were that a primary developer’s interest deemed a particular open source suite more appropriate for the company’s particular needs.

While many companies currently using open source accounting software have only deployed internal open source systems, the number of 1,000-user deployments are expected to grow two to three times over the next year.

As business owners value a balance of cost and flexibility, the open source business management suites are really starting to compete with their commercial counterparts. It’s this same mingling of lower cost and greater flexibility that are turning more managers toward open source tools.

If it’s going to take a little bit of customization to make an open source accounting suite work for a company, and in the same fell swoop the application can be made to custom fit said company’s exact needs, on top of which the company will save hundreds or thousand of dollars as contrasted to the commercial juggernaut accounting suites, it’s easy to see why more companies are taking a look at open source business intelligence software.