Are you in three Fantasy Football Leagues and need to keep up with all the games.... all the time?

"Fantasy football is now estimated to be an $800 million industry and growing and 55 percent of fantasy players say they watch more NFL games because of their participation." writes David Lariviere on Forbes.com.

Now you can "manage your team" from anywhere by downloading a football app to your smartphone.  "The most popular football apps are NFL Pro Tweets, NFL Draft Blogs, National Football Post, which has information from pro football insiders, and Yahoo! Sportacular." says Lariviere.

Appitalism.com is an online app store that offers one-stop shopping for all types of apps, including the football apps and for all types of devices,. The top two sites for apps are Apple and Amazon. 

Now that the lock-out has ended, football fans are gearing up for the much anticipated season which begins on September 8^th.  "The heightened interest will only help the mobile app industry prosper more." predicts Lariviere.

Read the full story at Forbes.com

photo credit: Pablo G. Escobedo

Posted in Technology And You

You've been eyeing the new iPad2, but your original iPad is still in great shape.  But the camera on the iPad 2 would be so nice to have, you could take pictures and skype... But is it really worth the extra price and besides, your original iPad is still in great shape!

Debate no more!  Depending on the age and condition of your iPad, smartphone, laptop, iPod or other digital gadget you want to upgrade, try reselling it!

There are a number of online and retail outlets that offer cash (or a gift card) for your old electronic items. 

Shop around for the best deals on what these sites will offer.  NextWorth.com and Gazelle.com are two such sites offering cash, gift cards or the option to donate to charity.

What's it worth?  Find your item on NextWorth.com or Gazelle.com and, depending on the condition, they will tell you what they will buy it for.  Next Worth has also partnered with Target.  You can bring your item to a specific Target store and receive a Target Electronics Trade-in card.

"Don't write off eBay or Amazon." writes Shane Snow on Mintlife.com, "some (first generation iPads) are selling for as high as 80% of their original price."

Crutchfield has an exchange site that gives you a gift card and Best Buy exchanges for a BestBuy gift card or cash for a lower value.

You can always try to sell locally on CraigsList and maybe get a little more cash for your gadget.

When it's time to buy that new gadget you've been wanting, consult NextWorth.com again to see how much your gadget will be worth the next time you just have to have the next generation.....(fill in the blank).

Read more from MintLife.com

photo credit: Sergey Galyonkin

Posted in Technology And You

Keeping up with social media these days can be a daunting task for a small business owner, especially when YOU are the only one doing it, unlike larger companies who have teams of people handling their social media marketing.

A great new tool call Social Base just launched online to help you keep track of your social media to do list.

You sign in with your Twitter account and Social Base offers tool recommendations and creates a toolkit for you to help you keep your social media organized and up to date.

You can try it for free to create a seamless workflow to support you in your daily to-do list, including suggesting which tasks you should do and how often to do them.

For your office, you can even add other members to the program, so you can all see what needs to be done and if anyone has done it yet. You can also assign tasks as needed to team members to ensure that each task gets completed.

This is a great online tool to help keep you organized and on top of your social media marketing.

Posted in Technology And You, Blogging

Google has joined the ranks of social networking and is presently working on the fine details of Google Plus.  They have launched a beta program with a limited number of participants to test how it works.  Reviewers have liked what they've seen so far and once the kinks are worked out, Google will launch it to the masses.

How is Google+ different from Facebook? This is obviously their biggest competition and they've designed Google+ to address the issues that users don't like about Facebook.

1.      Circles:  Google+ allows you to group your friends into "circles" so that the information of photos you post only go to who you want to see them.... not out to the whole world like on Facebook.  Share the right stuff with the right people by creating different circles for friends, family and work contacts.

2.      Hangouts: This is video-chat at its best. You can let friends know you are just hanging out and are available for face-to-face video chats.  This is a more user friendly version of Skype.

3.      Sparks:   Looking for something interesting to read or watch? Enter keywords into Spark and it looks for videos and articles it thinks you'll like.

Google+ will have some mobile applications to make your life simpler:

1.      Instant Upload: This is simply an easier way to upload photos from your phone, then you decide on Google+, how you want to share them.

2.      Huddle:  Is the whole group trying to decide where to get together?  Instead of carrying on 5 different conversations, Huddle groups them together in one simple chat so everyone can read the entire conversation.

Keep an eye out for the launch of Google+ coming soon or sign up and you will be among the first to know!

Posted in Technology And You

We've read about and seen QR (Quick Response) codes for use in marketing campaigns and, chances are, you've tried out this relatively new technology. And now Microsoft has created the Tag, what they call the next-generation 2D code to make the technology more user friendly.

These 2D codes are machine readable web links that you can use to link real-world marketing to the interactive experience of web marketing through a user's mobile phone. The consumer is connected to your URL address which gives more information about your product and services.  You can add them to advertising, signage, posters, websites, billboards, bus benches and even clothing!  The Tag can be displayed in any size, for instance, a real estate sign might be printed large enough to be read from a car driving by, whereas it would be smaller in a magazine.

So, what is the difference between Microsoft Tag and QR codes?  "While the basic idea is the same-a printed 2D code that you can snap with your camera phone to link to online content and information-there's a lot of important differences when comparing (the QR code) to Tag." stated the Microsoft Developer's Network blog (msdn.com).

Call to Action:  Just like a QR code, a Tag is a direct response tool for print campaigns.  Consumers download a free app and using their mobile phone cameras, take a picture of the Tag. They are then linked to your website.

Smaller Size:  The Tag can be used in a smaller sized format than QR codes which can be important when designing printed materials.

Customize it!  Tags can be black and white or color and can be customized to represent your business or personal brand, much like a logo, you can have your own style.

Single Scanner:  QR codes use many different forms of scanners and can be confusing and frustrating for consumers to use.  Microsoft has created a "single, reliable solution for mobile tagging across Windows Mobile, J2ME, iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Symbian S60 phones." stated msdn.com.

Advanced Technology:  Not all smartphone cameras are high quality and it can be frustrating to capture a QR code when it doesn't read correctly.  "The sophisticated technology powering Tag (called High Capacity Color Barcodes, or HCCBs) was designed specifically to deal with the limitations of cameras on mobile phones, delivering an accurate scan even with a blurred shot, low-quality lens, or lack of camera auto-focus.

Tracking Results:  QR codes don't have the technology to track how many times they are scanned or who is scanning them.  "Tag's advanced analytics let you know exactly how, when, and where your Tags are being used, and let you change the content behind them with the click of a button-giving you complete oversight and control." stated msdn.com.

Microsoft states that you can create your own custom tags "in seconds" by using Microsoft Power Point or another graphics program.  You simply overlay a Tag graphic file over any existing artwork.

Find out more information about Microsoft Tags at Microsoft.com.

Image by maxiorel.com

Posted in Technology And You, Marketing