Mobile Websites vs Mobile Apps

Mobile Applications vs Websites

If you're planning to establish a mobile presence for your business or organization one of the first considerations that will likely come to mind is whether you want to create a mobile application for users to download (app) or a mobile website, or perhaps both. Mobile websites and apps can look very similar at first-glance, and determining which is most suited to your needs will depend upon a number of factors, including target audiences, available budget, intended purpose and required features.  That said, mobile apps work together with your website.  Standalone mobile applications should follow a specific mobile strategy whereas your website when done effectively should have a more broad strategy. 

A mobile website is simply a version of your website on a mobile device. A mobile website is similar to any other website in that it consists of browser-based HTML pages that are linked together and accessed over the Internet (for mobile typically WiFi or 3G or 4G networks). The obvious characteristic that distinguishes a mobile website from a standard website is the fact that it is designed for the smaller handheld display and touch-screen interface. To achieve mobile functionality there are specific modules of code necessary on the backend of your website. 

Mobile Applications are actual applications that are downloaded and installed on your mobile device, rather than being rendered within a browser. Users visit device-specific portals such as  Apple’s App Store, Android Market, or Blackberry App World in order to find and download apps for a given operating system. Efficient integration of your website and your mobile application involves a download link on your site along with the other “stores” where mobile applications are downloaded.  The app may pull content and data from the Internet, in similar fashion to a website, or it may download the content so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.

Which is better for my small business?

Since we are still in the early stages of mobile development and there is so much technology yet coming I am leaning towards the mobile websites. However, there is  and will always be a place for both websites and mobile applications.  Much of the decision depends upon your businesses budget, target markets and sector. In a perfect world of course it is best to have both the website and the mobile application as the cherry on top. With the onset of HTML 5 we are able to build websites that render on mobile devices much more easily. HTML 5 has made the mobile application and website that more related from a development standpoint.  Companies with vested interest in both worlds include Google, Hilton Hotels, and Cedar Point.

Clearly, your organization isn’t that large. Therefore a well thought out portion of your IT strategy is necessary. With the right research a developer worth his salt will be able to determine which platform is best if not both. The right developer will also be able to make both platforms fit into your budget.

Gene “Websologist” Williams has 12 years experience in information technology  as the director of Websology Consulting LLC. His areas of expertise include Management Information Systems, Electronic Business Technology, Entrepreneurship, Web Development, and Project Management.

Cookie Cutter Robbery

Why your Content Management System is a Rip-off  

You’re an accountant. Why are you attempting to manage the development and expansion of a very complex content management system. Your degree is in Law why are you wasting valuable time generating graphics and attempting to develop your firms’ website. First and foremost your website is a spoke in the wheel of your marketing and sales campaign. Secondly, educating yourself on the functionality of a website and IT strategies is in order.   Finally, the ignorance perpetuated by organizations selling Content Management Systems, which are built on open source platforms, and sold for thousands ought to be criminal.

Hiring an IT consultant is essential to your web development strategy and IT strategy. We are privy to technologies that maximize cost, time, and productivity.

What does that mean? 

It means your organization won’t be duped into a contract with a company that selling open source platforms for an exorbitant base price and monthly service fees.  It means your valuable time as the accountant won’t be spent trying to navigate a convoluted cookie cutter content management system that you will probably never understand. It means as the principle partner in your legal organization you will never have to download white papers, and videos that “’train” you making your website effective and relevant all while making antiquated search engine optimization techniques appear as rocket science. It means so much in dollars, time invested and cost. It means if your IT strategy is broken its going to cost your organization to fix it. The cost will depend on how thick the wool is over your eyes, or how much you have invested with an ineffective, inefficient platform.

Yeah I know you been in business 50 years.

Well guess what? It’s the information age. Your competition uses Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube in unison with website development and various IT strategies to engage, retain, and increase their customer base. Get your head out of the ground. If you don’t it will cost you sooner rather than later.  

Find the right team. Develop your IT strategy

Consider a Custom Content Management System built specifically for your business. In the end the cost will be worth it. These big box organizations develop bad systems to fuel customer support departments in their organizations. They get small business tied into five figure contracts that can last for years with little or no return on investment. Staying in a bad contract is never conducive to good business practices.

Gene “Websologist “ Williams has 12 years experience in information technology  as the director of Websology Consulting LLC. His areas of expertise include Management Information Systems, Electronic Business Technology, Entrepreneurship, Web Development, and Project Management.

Your Website is a Hot Mess!!!

Messy Messy Messy

When your website is terrible!!!

When you have serious problems with your website design whether it’s the number of clicks to check out, redundant architecture,  or intuitiveness. Testing and optimization will become pointless and extremely difficult.  Testing is effective mainly on individual pages that are structured logically, and consistently. If your website doesn’t make sense, testing will on render a mummy like project that will more than likely drive your customer base away.  Building on an unstable base and causing an unpredictable user experience and decreasing your profit that’s a problem.

• ·         Is your messaging and terminology consistent with your target market?
• ·         Is the roadway clear to establish user oriented goals or complete user tasks?
• ·         Is your navigation overwhelming and confusing?
• ·         Is your information categorized correctly?
• ·         Are photographs and images high quality?
• ·         Do you have clear calls to action strategically placed?
• ·         Are your fonts clear easy to read and web friendly?
• ·         Is your content structured hierarchically, and logically?
• ·         Is the copywriting web friendly, or recycled from hard copy marketing materials?

Many sites are fundamentally flawed.  Without the foundation necessary you will not maximized profits. Nor will you be able to establish metrics and quality controls that quantify what your website is doing and why? A step-by-step approach is necessary to get your website streamlined and optimized.  Only then will you be able to see the return on your investment.

What does this mean?
Hire Websology to streamline and optimize your website and help you realize a return on your investment.

http://websologyconsultants.net/

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Codename Haswell

Codename HASWEII

Haswell is the codename for iNtels next generation microprocessors. These processors are made for energy consumption, accelerated graphics, and lightning speed. These laptops feature the Haswell processor.

Sony Vaio Pro

This alluring  ultrabook comes with a 13.3 inch display. Its blanketed in carbon fiber and aluminum. Its very sexy with a fast PCIe SSD. 2.34 lbs makes it lightweight. The display is 1920 x 1080. Finally that 4^th generation core processor. $1249 almost make the Viao Pro a decent date.

Acer Aspire S-7

Acer Aspire S-7 392 Series is a 13 inch Windows Ultrabook. Its small and unimposing but don’t let that fool you. It features a Intel core i5 4200U or i7 processor 4500U, 8gb of memory, 128 or 256 gb SSD. Nvidia GT735M Graphics card. At a decent price point between $1400 and $1700 you get a good bang for your buck.

Toshiba has also integrated Haswell Processors in the S and P series.

The P Series has a speedy touchscreen display designed to be responsive. It has hard drives up to 1TB, main memory configurable up to 32GB, and optional Nvidia GeForce GT 740M graphics. The case is made with an aluminum finish and rounded corners.The P Series laptops are available in 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch diagonal touch or static screens.The Satellite S Series laptops have 14-inch, 15.6-inch, and 17.3-inch diagonal screens. They come with large touchpads with gesture support, up to 1TB of storage, and up to 16GB of main memory. They machines include an array of USB 3.0 and HDMI ports, a brushed aluminum chassis, Haswell processors and optional Nvidia graphics. Check Best Buy for pricing and availability.  

Zenbook
Asus’s superthin lightweight Zenbook is very impressive. The durability can be attributed to Gorilla Glass made by Corningware. The back of the display and the keyboard surround are clad in Gorilla Glass. It has a very sleek yet tough look to it. A 13.3 inch monitor, multi touch display features 2560 x 1440 pixels. Zenbook is a little over a half inch thick. This one going to release third quarter this year.

Blade Pro
Razer Blade Pro is the ultimate gamers laptop. Equipped with Nvidia Geforce GTX 765M graphics card, iNtel Core i7-4700HQ quad core processor, 17 inch LED display and a touchscreen/keyboard user interface. Blade Pro is the best laptop for gamers hands down. From a company that specializes in gaming machines. You will pay for the expertise at $2299.

Quick Fix Pt. 1

Ailments and Quick Remedies.

Diagnose and repair common PC and Windows Network problems FAST.

Merging duplicate contacts in Outlook.
People module a new feature in Outlook accesses user contacts from across the internet. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yahoo to name a few. With that, duplicate contacts can be generated by Outlook. Here is how you merge those contacts.

Click your contact
select  - home – people
on the right side of the screen click – link contacts
a dialog box will pop up with details for multiple entries of the selected contact
key in identifying information for that contact like name, nickname etc.
Outlook will parse contacts looking for entries that might be the same person.

Internet Connectivity
When using a wireless network simply reboot your modem, router, and PC. If this does not work check your pc’s wireless adapter and the drivers. PC manufacturers always have a site to download updated drivers.  If your wireless network adapter is a USB key. Try a reboot, and reinsert your usb key. Sometimes they act really funky.  

These steps should fix most issues. However, if your IPv4 address and your DHCP address do not match you have another issue. To check ip config you must use the command line. Here is how.

Press the windows key, or go to the lower left hand corner of the screen and click the windows icon.
type CMD. Then type ipconfig/all thi will list ip addresses. On home and small office networks the first three numbers should match. If not consider reconfiguring or resetting the router.  On the other hand, some software firewalls can block internet access which means they need to be switched off using the control panel.

Malicious Software
If you think you have a virus or malware infection boot into safe mode. Here is how. Reboot your pc when your machine gets to the Windows start-up screen hit the f8 key. Your should be at the Windows Advanced Options Menu. From the list press the down arrow and select  Safe Mode with Networking. While in Safe Mode run-disk cleanup(accessories-system tools-disk cleanup).  Now run your anti-virus/anti malware utilities. Free utilities like AVG, Spybot, and Malware Bytes are available online.  You might also need Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool.

Repair Broken Passwords

Generating a good password just takes a little thought. You don’t want be so perplexing that you forget the password. Avoid single words. . Hackers crack passwords using various strategies one of the most popular is the dictionary attack. However, you want to use compound words coupled with numbers and symbols. Use at least eight characters and avoid familiar things like names, birthdays etc

Gene Williams is an IT Consultant with ten years experience in IT. He is the Director of Websology Consulting. A firm committed small and start-up businesses.

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