Sony Dash – Sony calls this one a “personal internet viewer” rather than a tablet, since it doesn’t run an actual operating system. It’s more of a personal media player, really. You can watch videos upright like a TV, or lie it flat and use it as a web browser or e-reader. With the addition of Netflix, the Sony Dash is perfect for those who want nothing more than a media player to mess around with. At around $200, the price is right, too.

Dell Streak – This is a hybrid device. With only a five inch screen, it lies somewhere between the mystical world of cell phone and tablet. Running on the Android operating system, the Streak tablet does have Adobe Flash and comes in at 10-mm, which is thinner than lot of smart phones, but it weighs more. I don’t know, to me it looks like an overhyped personal organizer with social media and video capabilities. I’m not excited for the Dell Streak, but how can I be when it just pales in comparison to other tablets?

Archos 9 PC Tablet – This one is similar to the HP tablet mentioned earlier, as it has an 8.9-inch touch screen and runs on Windows 7 Starter Edition. It’s also got WiFi and Bluetooth, HD videos, a QWERTY virtual keyboard that allows you to edit and create documents, and a web cam for video conferencing. Like the HP tablet, though, there’s only five hours of battery life in the Archos 9, which kind of makes me want to shy away from it. Still, it’s got a lot of stuff for $450, which isn’t a bad deal at all.
There are just a few tablet options that are soon to be hitting the market, or are already out there right now. While none of them really match up to the iPad, they do offer some features that Apple’s tablet device doesn’t, like cameras, Adobe Flash, and USB ports. They all claim to be a game changer, but really, they’re piggybacking on the success of the iPad. Look at how fast they all came out of the woodwork once Apple released the iPad. Come on, something’s afoot right there. Regardless, once Apple comes to its senses and adds all those features in the next generation iPad, you can be sure that no one will be able to compete with not only their name, but their quality of product. Tablet PCs will get better though, not only in terms of size and weight, but features as well. Before too long we’ll all be living in a Star Trek envisioned universe where we all walk around with computers connected to our belts. When that happens, that’s when you know that the iPad, and tablet PCs are really the future, and something tells me the future isn’t too far off.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

http://www.hp.com/

https://store.archos.com/archos-tablet-p-96.html

Here’s a sign of the times we haven’t seen before. A friend of mine from Seattle, Sly Cann was able to secure a signed digital document via iPad from our president Barack Obama.

Check out the video as well:

This was a screen shot taken from Apple’s live streaming event. Focus on the last line. Apparently Apple really doesn’t’ like Flash… At all.

In terms of software, there are many things you can you to keep track of time and attendance. A quick Google search of “attendance software” will bring up various ways to keep track of things. What good software does is allow you to keep track of what’s going on with your employees, no matter where they are in the world. This is good if you have a lot of contract or freelance work going on and need your workers to clock in and out, instead of just billing you blindly and taking them at their word. Having people log on to a remote server so they can track their attendance is a great help in deciding who is the most productive. Should Bill log in and work for three hours but only get one thing done, but John logs in for the same amount of time and gets three things done, well then you know where some of your productivity problems lie. Not only that, but you’ll also have a handy record of everyone’s attendance, that’s good if you give out bonuses, or if problems should arise with a labor board later on.

While computer software is handy when it comes to time and attendance management, some businesses like to keep things in house, and that’s where hardware tools come in. Hardware time tools, such as time clocks, come in various forms, allowing you to keep track of who’s coming and going on a regular basis. This isn’t just handy for payroll, of course, but also in figuring out who is the go-getter in your company, allowing you to reward and promote properly. Things like a swipe card entry, proximity reader, bar code scanner, or even a finger or hand print recognizer could go a long way toward managing time and attendance effectively. The latter two may cost a big more, but they will also prevent fraud. How many times have you heard of one employee clocking in another when they weren’t even present? With finer and hand print tools, you’ll never have to worry about that again, since we all know that each person has a unique identity that can be scanned this way to determine who they are. Hardware coupled with the right software to manage an employees time and attendance might just be the thing your business needs to stay on top of things. It may cost you a little extra money, but once you figure out who is using their time in the most productive manner, you can begin to address the other problems, and even let some people go, thus saving you money in the long run.

Another means to collecting the correct time and attendance of someone that isn’t often mention is remote time collection. This is where you can have an employee clock in and out using a PDA or even a cell phone. Should your business be one that has a lot of workers in the field, getting them to keep track of their time remotely will go a long way toward managing time and attendance, and figuring out who performs the best out there. Interactive Sales Solution Incorporated is just one company you can use to set up a system like this, and while it may cost a little more than a simple time clock to get you started, the benefits they provide in the long run outweigh any cost concerns you may initially have. Image getting all of your employees out in the field on board with this and having them record their attendance remotely? You’ll be one step ahead of the game when it comes to keeping track of who is where, and catching any instances of fraud that may be occurring.

Yes, while we like to think about the best in people most times, the fact is that time and attendance fraud happens all the time in business. People saying they are one place when they are in fact in another reduces productivity, therefore reducing profits. Time and attendance solutions are a vital part of your organizational skills as a business owner or manager. Implementing and training people on the above tools is just the first step in keeping detailed records of your employees, and from there you can decide what the next step will be. It’s never easy letting someone go, but in today’s fast paced business world, you can’t take chances when it comes to making a profit. You’re in the race to win, not get left behind.

FreeConference.com: This is a free or premium service that let’s you conduct conference calls with up to 150 people. Callers are required to dial an access number and input a code that is either assigned by the service, or created by you. The maximum time allotted for a free conference call is four hours, which is plenty of time to discuss the needs and wants of your business. The free conference calls begin when the first caller enters, and end when the last caller leaves.

FreeConferenceCall.com: This services provides free conference calls for up to 96 individuals for up to six hours. The line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you never have to worry about scheduling or reserving a block of time with the service. Another bonus is that you can record all your conference calls for easy reference later on should the need arise. Simply open a free account, and you will receive an email telling you how to proceed with the service. It’s quick, easy, and good for small or large businesses.

TotallyFreeConferenceCalls.com: This service offers free conference calls for up to 250 people, and the good thing is that there is no limit to your call. It can be for one hour or ten, it’s up to you. You can use it as many times per month as you want, and t takes just a few minutes to set up an account.You’ll also receive detailed records of your conference call sent to you by email afterward.

Skype: One of the huge advantages of Skype is that there is no access code to dial, and your calls are unlimited and always free. While people tend to sometimes complain about the quality of Skype calls, the fact that it can be used for free conferencing greatly outweighs the cons. All you need is a Skype account and the user names of the people you want to add to your free conference call, and within minutes you can be chatting with folks all over the world, with no long distance charges. If you want, you can even video conference should the need arise. Callers on the other end can even mute their side of the conversation so no background noise from the different callers comes through, making it clear and easy to hear the person who is speaking.

Freenet.com: A great little service that provide free conference calls for for up to 100 people for three hours. The good thing is that they give you a toll-free number that users can access, so you’re not stuck paying with long distance charges later on. Calls are available 24 hours a day, so you can set your own times, and schedule your own meetings. This is perfect for small businesses who want to communicate on a weekly, or even monthly basis.

GoToMeeting.com: This is probably one of the most recognized service for online conferencing. While it does cost a small fee, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial and find out how easy it is to use for video, or audio, conferencing. Your meetings can last for as little, or as long, as you’d like, and for any amount of time. There’s no limit. You can share presentations, perform live demos of products, or collaborate on a project, all in real time. A great service for the corporate world, that’s for sure.

As you can see, there are many free conference call services you can use to stay in touch with your employees and managers. In a fast paced work environment it may not always be easy to schedule a conference call, but if you can find the time to set one up at least once a month, you’ll discover that your business may just run a little smoother because of it. When everyone is on the same page and understands what is going on within your company, it could be invaluable toward your overall productivity, bringing you bigger profits, and happier employees. Using a free conference call service to keep everyone on the same page could just be the best thing that ever happened to your business, and once you get started, you’ll begin to wonder how you ever operated without one.

“This is an ultramobile, always on, ultrathin device,” Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research In Motion told attendees at the ongoing BlackBerry developer conference. “The first time you hold it, it just feels right and you want to take it everywhere you go.”

Ultrathin is right. At just 0.4 inches thick, the PlayBook beats the iPad, which is 0.5 inches, and while that extra point may not seem like much, in the tech world, that’s a big development. Consider this, as well: the PlayBook weighs just 0.9 lbs. Compared to the iPad’s 1.5 lbs., that’s a huge difference.

The BlackBerry PlayBook will also support full 10.1 Flash, something Apple was screamed at for not doing with the release of the iPad back in April. The list of differences goes on and on, too. The PlayBook has two built-in cameras, multitasking, a native SDK (Software Developers Kit) will be available, hardware accelerated video, 1080p HD video, video recording capability, a 1-GHz dual-core processor, and come with 1GB RAM.

While all the promised specs sound good, they are just that right now – promised. Since no one has actually handled the BlackBerry PlayBook (Lazaridis did little more than turn the device on), we’ll have to wait and see if it does deliver on all of this.

Still, with the BlackBerry platform being the number one operating system for smartphones because of the company’s strength with business users, the PlayBook could very well indeed give the iPad a run for its money. Although the price of it has yet to be revealed, people are already wondering how they can pre-order the PlayBook, which hits retailers early in 2011.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook, just like the BlackBerry smartphones, will become the enterprise standard,” Lazaridis also told developers.

That remains to be seen, but soon after the unveiling, Amazon announced that a Kindle app for the PlayBook is in the works, and there’s no doubt that other companies are already churning out the ideas on how they can get in on the PlayBook action.

What about you, though? Are you excited for the new BlackBerry PlayBook? With so much time in between the unveiling and the actual availability, you can bet that RIM will be hyping this thing for the next few months, so if you’re not excited now, wait for it to stream into your consicousness.

It’s been around since 2005, when the term “Cyber Monday” was coined by Shop.org, and since that time retailers have seen a huge jump in online sales. In 2009, it’s estimated that consumers spent a whopping $887 million online, in one day! With more than 600 online retailers offering discounted products though, where does one start to find the Cyber Monday deals this year. Luckily, we have an answer for you so you won’t have to go far.

Since the phrase “Cyber Monday” was coined by Shop.org, it only makes sense that they are the place to go for Cyber Monday deals. In fact, in 2006 they started an online portal, a one-stop shop if you will, listing all the best deals from retailers around the web. CyberMonday.com is the place to be on Monday, November 29, 2010 for this year’s hottest deals. There you will find almost every single retailer imaginable offering Cyber Monday discounts on everything from computers and HDTVs, to GPS systems and digital cameras.

Let’s talk about computers, though, since those are the big tickets items for Cyber Monday. While a lot of you will be lining up for Black Friday to get the best deals, don’t dismiss the Cyber Monday extravaganza. You’ll probably find a similar, if not better, deal than what was in-store.

Take for example, the netbook. These mini-laptops offer a big bang for little dollars. Expect to see netbooks on Cyber Monday for anywhere from $79 to $150 as people shop not only for themselves, but for Christmas, as retailers looks to get rid of their overstock online rather than in-store. Places like BestBuy.com, Target.com, WalMart.com, and even Amazon.com, are sure to have the best prices this year for netbooks. While the typical netbook has a a 10” display, Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive, look for even the higher end models to be on sale. You might have to do some digging, but as most retailers announce their Cyber Monday deals in advance (usually toward the beginning of November), you should have ample time to figure out what exactly it is you need in a netbook, and the best place to find it on Cyber Monday.

In terms of laptops, they are the staple of Cyber Monday. Bigger than netbooks, and smaller than desktop computers, laptops normally can be found in the $250 to $400 price range. This Cyber Monday though, expect to see the best deals in the $150 to $299 range for higher end laptops. Ones with a 15.4″ widescreen LCD display, a dual-core processor, 3GB of memory, 320GB hard drive and DVD burning drive, along with standard features such as WiFi, modem and ethernet port, will probably be found for $199 to $250 online, but as with netbooks, it’s a good idea to figure out what you’re looking for in a laptop before you go looking for the Cyber Monday deals early. You might only need a 120GB hard drive, and in that case, you may only need to spend $150, a deal that will be easily found this year on Cyber Monday.

For the person looking for desktop computers, you’re in luck this year. With netbooks and laptops offering similar, if not better, features than a desktop computer, prices of those have been drastically decreasing over the past year. It’s not unusual to see a high end desktop computer in-store for $350, so on Cyber Monday, expect to see something with a dual core processor, 4GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, and a DVD burner bundled with a 19″ or 20″ LCD monitor for $250 to $299. Maybe even lower if you can spend time searching beforehand.

You’re going to see a lot of competition this Cyber Monday between retailers, that much is for sure. In cases like that, the consumer wins every time, and this year will be no exception. As bad as the economy is right now, don’t be fooled. Expect sales to top the $900 million mark this year, with more products and more retailers getting in on the online Cyber Monday action. Look for the early deals, figure out what you are looking for, and don’t forget to check out CyberMonday.com in advance to get in on all the best deals after Thanksgiving.

Computers, Laptops and Netbooks: Probably the hottest items for Black Friday have always been laptops. For the last few years your typical Black Friday laptop has had a 15.4″ widescreen LCD display, a dual-core processor, 3GB of memory, 320GB hard drive and DVD burning drive, along with standard features such as WiFi, modem and ethernet port. While laptops like these are available all year long from retailers such as Best Buy, Dell and Staples for around $349, look for them to drop in price this Black Friday to anywhere from $249 to $299.

However, this Black Friday is certainly going to be the “Year of the Netbook,” as these mini-laptops surge in popularity. They’ve been seen online for as low as $79, so this look for them to drop on Black Friday in-store to that same price, with the typical netbook of a 10” display, Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive going for around $179, a drop from their usual price of $249.

Of course we can’t forget about the desktop computer, which has always been a staple for Black Friday deals, but with them almost being disposable now due to so many price drops, look for sales of them to drop. Still, you will most likely see a mid-level desktop computer (dual core processor, 4GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, DVD burner) bundled with a 19″ or 20″ LCD monitor to be possibly as low as $249, with upgrades to a faster quad-core processor, more RAM, bigger hard drive and a 24″ monitor for $100 to $150 more. Not a bad deal if you’re not into portability.

HDTVs: With 3D TVs hitting the market recently, it’s hard to say just how much of an affect those will have on the pricing of their non-3D counterparts this Black Friday, but rest assured that LCD and plasma TVs are still going to be a hot ticket item.

Look for most HDTVs this year to have either 1080p or 720p, meaning the maximum lines of horizontal resolution that a TV can display. Of course, higher resolution means a higher price tag, but this Black Friday, you’re still going to see the 42″ models in the $349 to $399 range. Why? Well they’ve been spotted online for that price, so look for the trend to continue in-store on Black Friday as retailers rush to get rid of overstock. These will be the 720p models of LCD and plasma HDTVs, but don’t be fooled. You’re still going to find the higher resolution of 1080p at a deal. Look for the 42″ models of higher end HDTVs to drop below the $500 mark, possibly going for as low as $399 at some retailers.

Black Friday doesn’t just mean deals on the bigger HDTVs, though. Expect the smaller models to drop significantly in price this year, too. Could this be the year we finally see 32″ HDTVs drop to around the $200 price range? Don’t be surprised if you do, but quantities of these will go fast for sure. For those of you looking to replace your bedroom TV, you can fully expect to see 19″ HDTV models go for around $99. These items will most likely be door crashers on Black Friday, so if you’re not in line early, you may miss out.

Don’t worry, though, if you miss out on Black Friday deals of HDTVs. as higher end models will drop again in price probably around mid-December for the Christmas rush, as retailers gear up to get rid of their stock before the new year hits.

Yes, this Black Friday is going to be another spectacular one for retails all around, but in typical sale fashion, look for the deals to stretch out over the weekend, instead of just on a single day. You most likely won’t find stock of the items you really wanted on Saturday or Sunday, though, so like normal, it’s good to line up early for those Black Friday specials. We’ve seen people in line as early as midnight, and this year will be no exception as stores open their doors early to suit customer demand. Places like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Staples and Target will see the biggest turn out, but keep you eye open for the smaller stores to also be offering great deals this Black Friday. You may just find that item you want at Radio Shack instead.

At first glance, the X-series is sleek and smaller than the iPod Touch. The touch screen on this player is a very responsive OLED screen. The screen is surprisingly clear for PMP and the viewing angles are endless.  The bottom of the player has a fairly large semi-circle switch which makes it easy to control in your pocket. The noise cancelling switch is located on the side, but, only works if you are using earbuds. Speaking of the earbuds, the factory earbuds are better quality than most PMPs. The X-series includes a customizable five-band equalizer and some sound enhancers. You are limited to the codecs Sony supports, so you made need a converter for some files.

The interface on the touch screen is just like most others. You have a grid of icons to navigate the system. The “Navigate” button is great for searching through a list of songs. There are so many buttons and icons I could never discuss all of them here.

The Wi-Fi also supports a variety of apps you can enjoy, of course there are not half as many as iPod. The YouTube is really useful and easy to work. Another cool option of the X-series is the FM radio option. It has a very strong antenna and picks up more stations than other PMPs. The internet browser lakes appeal. It is fairly useless and extremely frustrating. It is much easy to use my sons DSI of the internet than the X-series. The browser does not support large sites and you have to type in the entire web address.

At this time, the Sony Walkman X-series is running about the same as an iPod Touch which is a little appalling considering you have so many more apps and features on the iPod. The X-series does have its appeal. It is solidly built, has a beautiful touch screen, noise cancellation, ok battery life and some nice apps. On the con side the X-series does not have a good web browser and is priced too high.  If Sony were to combine the X-series with one of their Sony Ericson’s cell phones, they would have an awesome product.

Shut down your computer and turn it around so that you can see the back side. Look for the plug with connects your computer to the monitor. This will be a 15 or 29 pin port. Next to this port you should see a similar port, either DVI or VGA. A HDMI port may also be in that location, on a newer computer. Some computers have only one video output. For these computers you will need to purchase a second video card before continuing.  Purchasing a HDMI video card will make this process easier.

If you are lucky enough to have a HDMI port, simply buy a cable long enough to reach from your computer to the TV and connect the cable. You should now be able to adjust the input on the TV and see your desktop. For all the rest of us there is a little more work.

Purchase a HDMI cable long enough to connect the computer and TV as well as a HDMI adapter to fit your video output on the computer. If you are unsure of the name of the output you have(VGA or DVI), take a picture of the back of your computer and take it with you to the store or look the types up online and compare to your own. These adapters will as attach to you’re your video out cables and audio out cables.

Boot up your PC and set up you TV as a display. Right click on your desktop and select “Display options” or “Personalize.” Locate the display settings and click on monitor two to configure the TV. Select the “Clone” or “Mirror” options. This will show the exact same thing on the TV you see on the monitor.adjust the input on your TV and you should see and hear every from your desktop. Some computers may require a reboot to activate the TV connections. If you don’t want to run from your desk to the couch, you can purchase a wireless mouse and keyboard to make it easier.