What to do if you Break the Back Glass on your iPhone 4

  Recently, my wife and I went to the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival.  I had a great time shooting photos and videos with my iPhone 4 while Alana checked-out the booths.

On our way back to the car,  I tried putting my iPhone away in my backpack while walking, talking and not paying attention to what I was doing.... bad idea!  Unfortunately, the iPhone slipped out of my hand and dropped on the edge of a concrete sidewalk.  I picked it up, turned it over, and saw that the back of my iPhone glass was smashed to bits.

 

What to do if you Break the Back Glass on your iPhone 4  (Continued)

Apple iPhone 4 Smartphone with a Shattered Back Glass Panel

I was in shock.  I read about how other people have had this happen to them... but I never thought it would happen to me!  The good news was that when I turned the iPhone on... it worked fine.  The bad news was that small bits of broken glass were starting to fall out of the phone.

We stopped at a few stores on the way home to find an iPhone case that would cover the broken back.  They ran $15 to $25.  I decided to just wait until I got home and buy an inexpensive case from Amazon.

Once I got home, I searched on "iPhone 4 back panel broken" and found several videos and articles featuring how easy it is to replace the back panel of an iPhone 4 or 4S.  I then found a few comments about how Apple will just fix the iPhone for under $30.

So....I went on to my iPhone Apple App and scheduled an appointment with the Genius Desk for the next morning at 9am.  It took 60 seconds to make the appointment.

Monday morning,  I went into the Apple store and showed the Apple Genius my phone.  He confirmed everything worked ...I just had to replace the broken back panel. He also confirmed that it would cost $29 and he could do it NOW.  He went into the back of the store and five minutes later he was back with my iPhone fixed and cleaned.   I gave him my credit card and sent the receipt to my email address on file.  I was all done in 10 minutes.

People always talk about why Apple is so wonderful and why the company is growing so quickly.    Well,  this is a great example of why......

$29 and 10 minutes to fix an out-of-warranty mobile smartphone

...and NO Hassles ...just smiles!

 

Now What? ...Look for Shock Proof Cases

After breaking my phone screen, I did a lot of research on Shockproof iPhone Cases. Here are three of the best iPhone 4 / 4S cases I found to protect your Smartphone.  Note: these are also available for the iPhone 5.

Top iPhone 4/4S Cases - Water Proof, Dirt Proof, Snow Proof and Shock Proof

LifeProof Case for iPhone 4/4S  - Links to Amazon Reviews

OtterBox Armor Case for iPhone 4 /4S - Links directly to the OtterBox Website

The following case is also very strong, but not as tough as the above cases.

OtterBox Defender Series Hybrid Case & Holster for iPhone 4 & 4S - Links to Amazon Reviews

Apple Retail Store

Small Business Poll - Top Technology to Implement in 2012?

Are you starting to think about planning for next year? Do you have any feel for the top cost-effective new technology that will boost your company sales and productivity? During the fourth quarter, we asked Small Business Executives, Managers or Owners to share  the Top 3-4 NEW Technologies that they were thinking about implementing in 2012.  Based on the survey, the following are the top 4 technologies for 2012:

  1. Upgrading the Company Website with the Latest Technology
  2. Implementing Smartphones and Tablets
  3. Testing and Implementing Social Marketing
  4. Adding Video Content for the Website including: Customer Demos, New Product Announcements, Success Stories and Best Practice Tips

[polldaddy poll=5485445]

Note: The votes were  anonymous and we do NOT collecting any personal info.  All poll results are available now.

Please share the poll results with other managers or owners... and add any comments or questions in the comment field below.

Should I Buy iPad Tablets for my Small Business?

 

 

 

 

 

Question: Should I buy iPad Tablets for my Small Business? ...or another manufacturer's Tablets?

Answer: This is an easy answer - YES!.  For now, you should buy an iPad Tablet!  In 2011, 85-90% of all Tablets sold are Apple iPads. They own the market.

However, there are a few exceptions that you should check out:

  1. If you just hate Apple and Apple products, buy the Samsung Android 10" Tablet. Do not buy the Motorola Tablets...yet.
  2. If you love RIM (Blackberry Smartphones), you should look at the RIM Tablet... and wait until next year for the new model.
  3. If you love HP (or the old Palm),  sorry... as of 8/18/2011 HP cancelled the product line. Look at the Samsung Android Tablets.
  4. If you love Google (Android), you should buy the Samsung 10" Tablet. It is the best product next to the Apple iPad.
  5. If you are Tech Nerd or Geek, you should buy the Samsung 10" Tablet.... but first look at the Apple iPad. You maybe very surprised.
  6. If you love the Amazon (Kindle eBook Reader),  you could buy the new Amazon Kindle 7" Fire Tablet...or you may want to wait until Q2 2012 to see if Amazon comes out with a new 10" Tablet. The 10" Tablet is expected to be a much better product than the 1st 7" Tablet announced in September 2011.

That's about it!

Top 5 reasons for buying the iPad  (over other Tablets) for your Small Business:

  1. The Easy of Use & User Interface is so much better than all the other Tablets - Greatly Reduces Your Training and Support Costs
  2. There are significantly more  applications that can make your people much more productive when working.
  3. Boost Employee Morale (and Productivity) - This is one of the few products that greatly improves productivity and employee morale at the same time.
  4. Better Security - The iPad App Store is a closed system that greatly reduces the potential for applications with viruses.
  5. In our experience, the Apple Store is a great place for FREE help. The AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Best Buy Stores are not much help.

We purchased the Apple iPad to test in May 2011. The bottom line is that it's one of the most useful business products we have ever used.

In 2012, there will be another round of new Tablet products that should dramatically expand the alternatives for Small Business tablets.  However, for now, the new iPad  is the superior product according to almost all top analysts.

Please contact us if you have any questions, need more info... or just reply with a comment below.

The 15 segments of the 'Core Green Economy' in California

A New Report was recently published on the Green Jobs and Green Business Opportunities in California.   Next 10 is an independent, nonpartisan organization that educates, engages and empowers Californians to improve the state’s future. They did a good job summarizing the key segments of the green industry below. 1. Energy generation

2. Energy efficiency

3. Clean transportation

4. Energy storage

5. Air and environment

6. Recycling and waste

7. Water and wastewater

8. Agriculture support

9. Research and advocacy

10. Business services

11. Finance and investment

12. Advanced materials

13. Green building

14. Manufacturing and industrial support

15. Energy infrastructure

Source: Next 10 and Collaborative Economics. For a copy of the January 2011 report, go to next10.org

Sales and Marketing Teams Work Together to Increase Sales Productivity in 90 Days

Here is a low-cost tip for quickly Improving Sales Productivity:  Get Sales and Marketing to talk to each other! Unfortunately, Sales and Marketing Teams do not always work together very well.  Sales Productivity often suffers as a result of having different metrics and goals. When the Teams do work together to focus on improving the existing sales process... sales results quickly go up and the cost of selling goes down.  This is a "must-have" in today's business environment.

Here is a simple plan on how to get Sales and Marketing to quickly work together and focus on improving sales productivity in 90 days.

Simple Action Plan

  1. Create a small team to focus on sales productivity
  2. Summarize your current sales and marketing metrics Click here for Five Key Sales and Marketing Metrics (or Ratios)
  3. Document the existing sales process - Keep it simple
  4. Brainstorm ideas on how to improve the process and metrics
  5. Prioritize the top 3 ideas
  6. Implement the top changes
  7. Create a spreadsheet with the metrics, measure your progress and report your results
  8. Celebrate your sales productivity successes together

When you are in the middle of this project, just think about this quote:

"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." C. Malesherbes

Cloud Backup Best Practices, Services & Top Tips

Small Business Working on a laptop and Smartphone - Credit: freedigitalphotos.net Over the last five years,  we moved more and more of our important information from paper storage to our PCs, Smartphones and to Cloud Applications.   When we completed Spring Cleaning this year, we actually eliminated "two 4-draw File Cabinets" with folders  instead of typically adding more of them.

 

In the past, we only backed up the computerized information daily to external disk drives on site and kept a few of them off-site.

During the last 3-4 years, we added unlimited internet backup services.  We have hundreds of gigabites of data now stored off-site that are available if something happens to our local equipment. They automatically transmit an encrypted copy all our information off-site everyday.  (Note: We test different services to learn how they work and better help our clients).

The backup services are wonderful.  The cost of backing up your Smartphone, Laptop, PC or Mac  has significantly dropped, security is extremely high and the service is easy to implement.  To get started, you download and install a small program from their site on your PC or Mac.  We have our systems set up to backup all changes that occur during the day that night.  All the data is encrypted by the software before it leaves your home or office.  We've tested Mozy, Carbonite and Crashplan. The Transporter drive is next on our list.   So far, knock wood... no problems.

We spend about $120 per year for complete data backups of all PCs/Macs.

Below are some lists we compiled during our evaluation and use of the different Internet Backup Services:

  • 5   Backup Service Benefits
  • 5   Key Questions About Your Current Backup Process
  • 10 Applications to Backup in Your Office
  • 10 Reasons to Backup Your Home Computers
  • 10 Top Ways Data is Distroyed or Lost
  • 2  Top Internet Backup Solutions

 

5 Backup Service Benefits

  • Set-up is quick and simple
  • Software is easy to install on your PC or Mac
  • Backups are automatic and in the background
  • All files are encrypted on your Computer before transfer for best security
  • Perform incremental backups


5 Key Questions About Your Current Backup Process

Here are five questions to ask yourself about your current computer backup process:

  • How often should you backup your data?
  • Do you backup your data Daily, Weekly or Monthly?
  • Do you keep a copy of your backup in an off-site secure location?
  • Is the data encrypted to increase security?
  • Do employees (or you) leave backup copies in the car while doing errands,  dining or overnight?


10 Applications to Backup in Your Office

  • Customer Information and Order History
  • Sales Forecasts & Leads
  • Customer Service Info
  • Inventory
  • Purchasing / Vendors
  • Accounting- GL, AP & AR
  • Employee - HR - Payroll
  • Marketing Materials & Templates
  • Business Plans, Reports and Calendars
  • eMail, IM and Other Communications


10 Reasons to Backup Your Home Data, Videos, Photos and Music

You may want to think about how you would feel if a fire, flood, robbery or tornado destroyed all the photos and videos of all your:

  • Birthdays
  • Wedding & Anniversaries
  • Graduations
  • Vacations
  • Family BBQ Picnic
  • Grandparents & Grandchildren
  • Financial Statements
  • Sons & Daughters
  • Sisters & Brothers
  • Family Holidays


10 Ways Data Is Destroyed or Lost:

  • Fire or Flood
  • Earthquake
  • Storm / Rain Damage
  • Tornados
  • Delete a File by Mistake
  • Burglary & Robbery
  • Children's Mistakes
  • Virus
  • PC Crashes
  • Lost Smartphone, Laptop or iPods


Summary

We get asked all the time.... So which is the best backup company to use for a Small Business or Home Office?    The bottom line is most of the top companies  work extremely well and we don't have a strong preference one way or another.  However, if you have a large amount of back-up data,  at this time CrashPlan has a few more options to speed up the restore process.  We highly recommend Mozy, Carbonite, CrashPlan and DollyDrive to our Friends and Business Clients.

As part of my consulting job at Deloitte and Touche, I use to perform security audits for large data centers and company computer systems.  We would have killed to have these great backup and security products available for our smaller clients.

Top Rated Cloud Backup Services for Small Business (and the Home)

If you want more information on four of the top rated Internet Remote Small Business Backup Services,  you can click the links below. All four services also provide home versions of their services that are ideal for the Family, a Home Office or a Small Office.

Carbonite Business Backup - Gives you secure, automatic & affordable online backup, plus access to your files anytime, anywhere $229 / year

Mozy Backup for Personal and Business - Secure Online Backup for Small Business... and Home Devices

Crashplan - Provides Secure Encrypted Cloud Backup for Small Business and Home Devices

DollyDrive  - Specializes in all Apple devices.  If you have an all Apple Home or Small Business, they have Apple specialists and very good prices on large amounts of data.

The Transporter Private Cloud - Low-Cost Cloud Storage and Backup for people that are concerned about Cloud Backup Security. Highly rated by everyone. We like this product a lot. There are two popular models now:

Transporter Sync Private Cloud - Buy from Amazon

Seagate 1TB SSHD and Drobo Transporter Private Cloud - Buy from Amazon These services protect you from yourself, your employees and criminals.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or please comment below.

 

Top 10 Reasons Why I Dumped my Android for an iPhone 4

iPhone vs Android Smartphone - photo source by freedigitalphotos.net

“The iPhone is Just Easier & More Fun to Use” - Quote from my wife

Let me start by saying that I highly recommend both Android and Apple iPhones to all of our clients, friends and family. I think they are the best Smartphones available for business and personal use in the marketplace today. The other vendors have great Smartphones. However, Android and iPhones are just better to use at this time. Sorry Blackberry, Nokia and WIndows users :(

In the past, I was an enthusiastic user (and fan) of the Blackberry and the Palm Smartphones.  For the last two years, I used an iPhone 3g. Unfortunately, it  was stolen out of my jacket pocket in San Francisco a few months ago. I was devastated. So my wife, feeling sorry for me, let me borrow her Android Smartphone for a few months (one of the many reasons why I love my wife). Since I always really liked the Android Smartphone, I took this opportunity to evaluate all the latest Android Smartphones to see if I wanted to buy one of them or to just buy the new iPhone 4 (FYI... our contract was up, so I was free to buy any mobile phone). I spent hours in the various phone stores and Best Buy asking questions and testing the new Androids. I read all the reviews, watched the video reports and asked everyone with an Android what they liked and didn’t like about their Smartphone.

However, after using an Android Smartphone for 8 weeks and after all the research, I dumped my Android Smartphone for the iPhone 4.  At this time, I greatly prefer the iPhone 4 to any of the Android Smartphones. Everyone kept asking me why I switched... so here are my Top 10 Reasons:

  1. Silent Mode Button - Every Smartphone should have this button. I use it every day during Movies, Meetings, Phone Calls and Meals. One click and the phone is OFF. One click and it’s back ON. Most other Smartphones require you to enter passwords and click several times through menus to turn off the Smartphone sound.
  2. One App for all Music, TV, Audio Books, Movies & Podcasts - This is a very BIG reason why I love the iPhone (and yes... I’m using the word “Love”).  I use ONE App to download, buy, back-up and play all Music, Movies, TV Shows, Videos, Audio Books & Podcasts.  It is fast and easy to use each day. If you have a simple question,  just walk into any Apple Store and someone is usually available to help you.If you use an Android Smartphone, you need to find, evaluate and download 2-10 different Apps to buy, play and download multimedia.  When I go into the other retails stores to ask which Android App should I use to: Buy, Back-up, and Play Music, Movies, TV Shows, Videos, Audio Books & Podcasts, the Store Reps all have different answers and typically  recommended 2-4 Android Apps.  Bottom-line: With the iPhone, there is only ONE iPhone App to learn and use... and only ONE company to ask questions.
  3. One Simple User Interface - All 100 million+ iPhone iTouch and iPad) Users have had the same simple user interface for the last 3 years. Almost every Apple employee and iPhone user can help answer questions on how to use the iPhone... because they all work the same.  You can also ask almost anyone at work or friends that have an iPhone for tips and help.   The Apple iPhone is simple to learn, use and upgrade. Almost every new Android Smartphone User Interface has a different (or sometimes significantly different) interface to learn.  The vendors add their own look and feel to the basic Android operating system on each phone. When you upgrade to a different brand Android Smartphone, there is a high probability that you will have to start all over learning a new use interface. Most people HATE  having to learn a new mobile phone.
  4. Apple Retail Stores -  I can’t get over how wonderful it is to go into an Apple Store and ask anyone for help. It is even a better experience when you make an appointment with a Genius Support Rep to help answer (for free) any questions about the iPhone. There is even an easy-to-use special Apple Store App (that you can download for free from the iTunes Store) to schedule Apple Store Training and Tech Support Appointments. The FREE weekly Training is pretty terrific as well.  I went with my wife to the Apple Store iPhone Trainings after she recently got her 1st iPhone.  She loved the training. I believe it is always better to have someone else teach your Spouse how to use new technology... if possible. Don’t you agree? :) I have a dramatically different experience when I go into many Verizon, Best Buys and Sprint Retail Stores for help & demos on the new Motorola Droid X, HTC Incredible, the original Motorola Droid, Samsung Android or various Blackberry Smartphones.  They can usually tell me all about their rates and plans.  However, the Reps are not much help answering standard “App questions” on how to use a Smartphone.  To be fair, there are so many models, options and versions of the Android, it is hard to know them all.   This goes back to the fact that too many versions of the Android operating system makes it very hard to provide an excellent customer experience buying and learning how to use a new Smartphone.  Even if the Sales Reps own one Android phone, that doesn’t mean that they know how to use an App on another Android smartphone because the interface will be different.
  5. App Store & Security - The Apple iTunes Store is very easy to use.  In addition, Apple Engineers Review and Approve Apps before I even see them in the iTunes Store.  Why do I prefer this as a user?  Read the recent two examples below. Android recently had 1+ million people download and install a free nice looking wallpaper Android App. The App looked perfectly normal in the Google Marketplace Store. Unfortunately, the Android App sent user passwords and personal information to a website in China without their knowledge. Google started looking into the “high security risk” App after a million+ Android users’ data was stolen. Most experts predict that this problem will get worse... not better in the future.Here is another Android App issue: Since no one checks Google Marketplace Android Apps before you download them, many poorly designed Apps keep running in the background after your think you stopped using them.  The problem is very common on many Android Smartphones and can cause the Apps to quickly drain the battery.   To fix this, you need to find and download a special Android App to kill other Apps. This is just great for non-technical people that just want to use their Smartphone phone.
  6. Camera & Video - I don’t know what Apple did... but the new iPhone 4 camera has a fast shutter speed and takes great photos during the daylight. Night shots are good but not great.  The Camera App has one switch that changes from a Digital Camera to a Video Recorder within the App. Most of the the Android Smartphone Camera and Video Apps work slightly different on each Smartphone and the camera shutter speeds are much slower. On the Android Smartphone you need two Apps to do the same thing as the iPhone one Camera App.  You have one App for the Camera and another App for the Video.
  7. Design & Screen - The iPhone 4 is beautifully designed.  It is the right size and feel for most users.  As a result of the iPhone 4 being 25% thinner than the older iphones, I replaced my iPod with the iPhone 4 when I work out. The extremely high resolution and quality of the screen really makes a difference with everything you do on the Smartphone. I love reading and watching HD Videos a lot more since I upgraded to the iPhone 4. The new hot Android Smartphone operating systems are rough around the edges, the hardware has a plastic feel and many of them are huge when you hold them. If you have small hands, you need to use both of them to hold some of the new phones.  I don’t like the “Geeky Look” when I am on the phone.   When  you hold one of the new huge Android phones to your head to talk, it looks like you are holding a brick. If you put it in a case and try to wear it on your belt or clipped to a purse it looks ridiculous. Women will have a hard time fitting a Droid X or Sprint HTC EVO into a small purse going out at night.
  8. Bloatware, Crapware & More -  Apple doesn’t install lots of extra Apps (Bloatware and Crapware) on your iPhone. There are a few Apps Installed when you first get the Smartphone. When you buy an Android Smartphone from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, they install lots of extra Apps from paid Advertisers and their own Apps.  The first thing you have to do when you leave a store after buying your new phone is to go through the phone and figure out which Apps to delete and which Apps you need.  I hate when HP and Dell install Crapware and Bloatware to a new Windows PC. Unfortunately, Android Smartphones are now sold using the same bad practices.
  9. Facetime - This App is just a wonderful “Game Changer” in Smartphones.  Apple made this video phone App so simple to use compared to any other smartphone or laptop solutions. Touch One button and you are seeing and talking to a loved one. If you travel for business, have a child at college, a loved one in another city, or just stuck late at work, I cannot describe how wonderful it is to see someone you care about on your phone. A few other Android Smartphones have video Apps. However, they are much more difficult to set up and use... so the App doesn’t get used.
  10. It’s just Easier to Use -  This is a quote from my wife after using her new iPhone 4 for four weeks (Note: She replaced the android smartphone that she was using for the last year)  The bottom line is... “It’s just easier... and more fun to use.”

Recommendations

I think the Android Smartphones are ideal for Tech and Gadget minded users. It appears the newer Android phones will continue to have a few more new features and gadgets when compared to the iPhone.   You can customize an Android Smartphone every hour just for fun and you get to learn a new user interface each time you upgrade.

If you have a contract with and like Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint, I would buy an Android Smartphone over any of the other Smartphones today.  I personally like the HTC from Verizon at this time.

No surprise here... If you are with the AT&T network, I would buy an iPhone over an Android Smartphone.  Apple has clearly set the new standard for customer service and retail service. And... quoting my wife - “The iPhone is just Easier and More Fun to use”

Photo source: stockimages @ freedigitalphotos.net

Any Feedback or Comments are appreciated from all you Smartphone Users.