The Zen Table allows you to produce real-time art!

We all love to watch videos of interesting products and this Kickstarter project is really interesting. The Zen Table creates intricate sand drawings using a specially designed sculpting head. Starting at $500 for the DIY kit is a little pricey but watch the video and you will start to think about letting go of a little of that green stuff!

For more information Take a look at the kickstarter site.

Lenovo confirms ICS for ThinkPad Tablet coming this Spring

Lenovo has said that it is future proofing its devices and it looks like they are holding true to their word. The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablets are an interesting family of Android Tablet devices that I think will fit in well with the Corporate world. The update to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) should be available in May and will be coming automatically over the air.

These 10.1 inch tablets run from $499 – $699 and have the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. They are available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models and you can add optional 3G to complete the experience. They sport a large 1280 x 800 display.

Optimized for business.

From the makers of the revolutionary ThinkPad line of laptops comes the anything, anywhere, anytime DO business machine. This powerful Android™ 3.1 tablet delivers a professional multimedia and unbeatable entertainment experience.

• NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 Dual-Core 1GHz processor
• 10.1” WXGA (1280x800) 16:10 IPS panel with Corning® Gorilla® Glass
• Multitouch display with digitizer input
• Starts at 1.65 lbs, with up to 8 hours of battery life (with WiFi enabled) and 32GB storage
• Corporate email and security features like network passwords for safe communication inside and outside your network
• Protect all of your confidential data with robust security features, including full device and SD card encryption, lost device disablement and anti-theft software
• HD display and HDMI output for crisp and defined presentations on large monitors
• Fully supports Adobe® Flash® for online media
• Native USB 2.0 and micro-USB ports
• Integrated cloud sharing and storage to easily move large files between team members and offices

Related resources

• View ThinkPad Tablet product tour
• View Stay sharp video
• View Work smarter video
• ThinkPad Tablet User Guide
• ThinkPad Tablet Accessories

Tech specs

ThinkPad Tablet Tech Specs (31.86KB

How Competitive can a Intel/Win8 Tablet be?

Can Tablet Manufacturers get below the $600 price barrier to successfully compete against Apple’s iPad line? Unless Intel and Microsoft lower their pricing on Clover Trail and Windows 8 probably not. So will the manufacturers opt for the less expensive ARM technologies and suffer the incompatibility of windows programs and ARM processors. This week we have been getting some tidbits from Microsoft talking about what Microsoft Programs will be available for their ARM based Windows 8 but unless other software manufacturers port their programs to this chipset they will not be compatible and thus will work on an Arm based Windows 8 Tablet. Will Microsoft Office be enough for user’s or not?

Ever since Steve Ballmer made that surprise announcement at CES 2011, there has been a lot of speculation about just how Microsoft would be bringing Windows to the ARM architecture. Would it be a whole separate line? Would it be compatible with old applications? Would it be cheaper? Many of these questions have been answered in a long and technical post on the Building Windows 8 blog today, as Steven Sinofsky explains how they developed (re-developed, really) Windows On ARM, or WOA, and why they made the choices they made. Some major points, for those unwilling to read: WOA will be totally incompatible with x86/x64-based applications; it will include a desktop only for Office apps and file management; it will be focused on portability, battery life, and "integrated quality."

Sinofsky describes WOA as “a new member of the Windows family, much like Windows Server, Windows Embedded, or Windows Phone.” It’s not meant to play games installed on operating systems from a quarter of a century ago. It’s meant to be a point of access for the current, and only the current, Windows ecosystem. It is similar to the “full” version of Windows 8 only in those parts that have been developed specifically for Windows 8.

Think of it this way. Windows 8 for x86/x64, in a way, includes Windows 7, Vista, XP, 98, 95, and so on. It is built with compatibility in mind, as part of a venerable line of operating systems. Windows On ARM includes only Windows 8. It’s as if the last ten versions of the OS never happened — though there are echoes.

This breaks the OS for some people — me, for example — but it could be a breath of fresh air for many. This OS is at once bare-bones and all-inclusive: it comes with a familiar version of Office, it will almost certainly be cheap and easy to deploy by the hundred or thousand, and it’s absolutely a known quantity.

Apps for WOA will all come from the Windows Store, and will all be Metro — except for Office (and a few other trusted programs), which will be able to run in the traditional desktop environment for productivity purposes. It’s a bit puzzling, this admission that the traditional desktop is superior for productivity, but it’s also the truth: an all-Metro productivity suite would be unfamiliar to Microsoft’s base. They’ll make it optional for now, and drop the other shoe later.

The focus on tablets is made plain: “you don’t turn off a WOA PC.” You don’t have sleep and hibernate modes. Like a phone or tablet, you just hit the button and it goes into a newly-developed low-power mode in which the battery will reportedly last weeks. These tablets, while they won’t run the “real” Windows 8, will be totally functional (it runs “super well”) access points to the Windows ecosystem. And with the increasing focus on cloud storage, web-based apps, and mobility, that limited access may start looking less like a bug and more like feature as time goes on.

It’s still early and this discussion seems to be changing daily right now. It will interesting to see what kind of price this type of tablet will be able to be launched at and how well it will be accepted by consumers.

Intel’s Thunderbolt initiative coming soon on a PC near you

Acer, Asustek, Lenovo expected to begin adopting Thunderbolt this spring and are expected to initially have this connector on their proposed ultrabook devices. All three PC makers are expected to introduce new Ultrabooks incorporating Intel's Ivy Bridge platform with support for Thunderbolt.

Intel's next Ivy Bridge chip platform, the successor to Sandy Bridge, includes native support for USB 3.0, but does not support Thunderbolt across the board. Support for Thunderbolt increases the cost of PCs by more than $20.

As a result, Thunderbolt is only expected to be adopted among high-end notebooks or desktops in 2012. The new Intel-driven standard for PCI Express data paired with DisplayPort video is however expected to be fully standardized by 2013.

Apple aggressively rolled out support for Thunderbolt last year, adding it to all of its Mac product lines apart from the Mac Pro, which already has PCI Express slots. Thunderbolt hard drives and other devices have started to trickle into the market behind Apple's own Thunderbolt Display, with docks and external PCIe slot enclosures being shown at CES last month.

HP states that it doesn’t see the value proposition of the Thunderbolt Technology and intends to exclusively support USB 3.0.

DigiTimes reported Tuesday that Thunderbolt and its 10Gbps data connection speed could "greatly affect" adoption of the competing USB 3.0 port in the future. It said that in addition to Apple, which added Thunderbolt to its latest line of MacBook Pros, Sony is also said to be considering adopting the technology into its high-end notebooks.

Last Spring, Intel publicly said it planned to support USB 3.0 alongside Thunderbolt. But sources reportedly said that Intel is simply hedging its bets by adding USB 3.0 support to its next-generation chips, code-named "Ivy Bridge."
"Sources believe Intel's strategy of adopting both technologies into its next generation products is to minimize the risks of placing all the eggs into one basket," the report said.

People in the PC industry reportedly believe that USB 3.0 is a "transitional product" with legacy support for older USB devices. Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is viewed as the true next-generation successor.

Formerly code-named "Light Peak," Thunderbolt has data transfer speeds that are 20 times faster than the current market standard, USB 2.0. Thunderbolt's 10Gbps speeds are also twice as fast as the USB 3.0 specification.
For comparison, a FireWire 800 port is 800Mbps, while an Express Card slot has bandwidth of 2.5Gbps.

Thunderbolt's speeds are accomplished with copper wire, though previous versions of Light Peak were demonstrated with fiber optic strands allowing speeds of up to 100Gbps. Thunderbolt was co-developed by Intel and Apple.

Targus has introduced a USB 3.0 Dual Display Adapter

Peripherals major Targus introduced the ACA039US, a USB display adapter that takes advantage of the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, and provides two display outputs, supporting two displays. Based on DisplayLink DL-3900 chipset, the ACA039US relies on USB 3.0 for both host connectivity and power. It gives out two display outputs: DVI-I (single link) and HDMI 1.3. Each connector supports display heads at resolutions up to 2048 x 1152 pixels, even though the DL-3900 chipset supports 2560 x 1600 (over dual-link DVI). The HDMI 1.3 connection gives out 5.1-channel audio, and is HDCP 2.0-compliant. The ACA039US from Targus will be released to market soon, at a price of US $99.99.

Logitech M600 Touch Mouse–Where are the buttons?

I haven’t seen it hit the shelves yet in distribution but it is coming soon….

The Logitech M600 Touch Mouse is an interesting new design that uses

Is your current wireless mouse not up to snuff? If that's the case, you may want to take a look at the Logitech Touch Mouse M600 that lets you do your navigating via a touch surface instead of buttons. The peripheral is outfitted with the company's Flow Scroll software that Logitech says has a similar feel to scrolling on your touchscreen smartphone. by sliding your fingers across the top surface of the mouse you can scroll in any direction through your window’s aopplications. The M600 works just as well for lefties once click areas are reconfigured with Logitech's SetPoint software. If this seems to be something that you are interested in, look at the details in the PR below.The suggested retail price is $69.99 and the mouse should be available later this month.

Press Release:

Logitech Creates a More Touchable World with Logitech Touch Mouse M600
New Mouse Lets You Swipe, Scroll and Surf Like Second Nature
FREMONT, Calif. - Feb. 8, 2012 - Today Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI), the world's leading manufacturer of mice, unveiled the Logitech® Touch Mouse M600, a mouse featuring a touch surface that lets you navigate intuitively with your fingers.

"People are growing accustomed to using fingertip gestures to navigate on their smartphones and tablets," said Todd Walker, brand manager for Logitech. "In fact, for many people these gestures have become second nature. The Logitech Touch Mouse M600 reflects this evolution in how we interact with the digital world and extends to the computer what have become natural, intuitive motions."

With the Logitech Touch Mouse M600 you can scroll, swipe and surf wherever your fingertips rest on the mouse. With its modern design, smooth edges and designed-for-comfort curves, this touch mouse feels comfortable in your hand and looks good wherever you use your laptop.

Logitech Flow Scroll software gives you scrolling that is fluid, much like scrolling on your favorite touchscreen smartphone. Slide your finger along the touch surface to experience immediate, continuous and free-flowing Web page scrolling.

The mouse's unique shape is designed so that it feels great doing exactly the tasks you do most – pointing, clicking and scrolling. And it's a perfect choice for right- and left-handers alike, with click areas that can easily be reassigned with Logitech SetPoint software. Additionally, the Logitech Touch Mouse M600 includes the tiny Logitech Unifying receiver, which can connect up to six compatible mice and keyboards through one USB port. Add a keyboard, switch between mice, mix and match to fit your lifestyle, without having to change receivers or sacrifice another USB port.
With smooth feet, advanced optical tracking and supreme ease of use, this sleek mouse is everything you'd expect from Logitech, and more.

The Logitech Touch Mouse M600 has been named an International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree in the Computer Peripherals product category.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Touch Mouse M600 is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in February 2012, for a suggested retail price of $69.99. For more information please visit www.logitech.com or our blog.

Canon unveils two more AirPrint printers

Another printer manufacturer joins AirPrint crowd. Canon thinks you should print more from your iPad and is offer two choices of printers to allow you to do so.

Canon's offering up the Pixma MX512 and MX432, two all-in-one inkjets that offer up Apple AirPrint support, letting users wirelessly prints photos, docs and the like from their iPad, iPhone and iPod touches running iOS 4.2 or later. Canon also used the announcement to reaffirm its commitment to the technology, ensuring as before that it "will be available with the majority of Canon PIXMA Wireless All-In-One inkjet printers launched from this point forward."

AirPrint allows users to wirelessly print photos, emails, web pages and other documents without the need to install device drivers, saving time and making for a seamless user experience.

Airprint is also available on the PIXMA MG8220, MG6220 and MG5320 as well with the installation of the lastest firmware installed.

Buy Microsoft Office Home & Business before Feb 27 and get Microsoft Publisher as a free download!

if you have purchased Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business between January 15, 2012 and February 26, 2012 you have until March 23, 2012 to download your free copy of Microsoft Office Publisher.

Downloading Publisher is 1-2-3 easy!

Accept the terms and conditions

Enter your 25-character Product Key from Office Home and Business 2010

Follow the on-screen instructions

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, do so now before Feb 26th to qualify for a free copy of Publisher.

Frequently asked questions

See the terms and other details of this offer.

Get details regarding promotion dates and deadlines by country

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/microsoft-office-and-publisher-FX102655579.aspx

Just loaded the new MSN App on my iPad, very nice

MSN has setup to make a run at the likes of FlipBoard with its MSN App that takes the current day’s news that they have published at the MSN Website in very nice and easy to use format. They have setup groups to provide easy access to the current flow of stories and also provide a search through Bing to access information that isn’t shown in the current view.

The APP is currently free and can be downloaded from iTunes.

The new MSN app is carrying the same UI interface as the popular Pulse newsreader for iPad carries. Microsoft has simply copied the whole user interface of Pulse app, and powered its MSN app for iPad including with its new Metro UI elements. MSN for iPad also supports the Bing search engine built-in.

The MSN APP for iPad provides you an efficient way to take around the MSN published content, and to get updated yourself with all the news, sports entertainment and other articles and videos. The application also allows you to share your favorite liked comment on MSN with your friends and buddies around the other social network’s sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Interesting article at InformationWeek discussing Meaningful Use requirements.

With Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements just around the corner, a CSC report says IT managers should prepare with a more robust system that addresses care coordination and patient engagement.

With the whole reason for the emphasis on installing the infrastructure to collect and share patient care information to provide a path towards better/safer patient care we need to make sure we are ready for the follow up of Meaningful Use Stage 1. If you haven’t started implementing an EMR/EHR Solution in your practice you are going to want to investigate what is available to you.

InformationWeek’s writer Nicole Lewis wrote:

Health IT executives at hospitals and physicians' offices should start working now to implement technology that fosters greater patient engagement, enhances patient care coordination, and advances their organizations' ability to electronically capture data for quality reporting--all three of which providers will need to compete in the upcoming pay-for-performance market. That's the conclusion of a new report published by CSC's Global Institute for Emerging Healthcare Practice.

Table 1 — Summary of Requirements for Stage 1 and Proposed Changes for Stage 2.

Requirement	Stage 1 Minimum Requirement	Stage 2 Minimum Requirement
Maintain medication, problem/ diagnosis, allergy lists	80% of patients have an entry or indication of none	No change
Demographics recorded	50% of patients	80% of patients
Vital signs recorded	50% of patients over 2	80% of patients over 3
Smoking status recorded	50% of patients over 13	80% of patients over 13
Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)	30% of patients have a medication order	60% of patients have a medication and a lab order; at least one radiology order placed
Info on advanced directive	Menu option for hospitals — indicate if patent has advanced directive for 50% of hospitalized patients 65+	Expanded to include 25 patients for eligible providers; add information on how to access the directive
Drug-drug and drug-allergy checking	Enabled	Added capability to modify drug-drug checking
Drug-formulary checking	Menu option	Required
Medication reconciliation	Menu option, performed for 50%	Required
Requirement	Stage 1 Minimum Requirement	Stage 2 Minimum Requirement
e-Prescribing	40% of prescriptions for eligible providers	50% of prescriptions for eligible providers, 10% of discharged patients for hospitals
Summary of care record transmitted between providers at transitions in care	Menu option, performed for 50% of transitions (can be on paper)	Required, added that must be electronic for 10% of hospitalized patients; 25 patient transitions for office practice
Searchable physician (NP, PA) note	No requirement	30% of hospital days, 30% of ambulatory visits
Secure messaging	No requirement	25 patients have sent messages to eligible providers
Electronic medication administration	No requirement	One hospital unit
Encounter summaries	50% of office visits within 3 days	Changed timing to 24 hours, pending results within 4 days
Electronic copies of discharge instructions	50% of hospital patients who request it	Replaced by requirement that 10% of patients have used the capability to access and download their information
Electronic copies of health information	50% of patients who request it
Incorporate lab information as structured data	Menu option, 40% of patients	Required, hospitals must return electronic lab orders as structured data
Provide patient educational materials	Menu option, 10% of appropriate patients	Required, 10% of all patients
Send reminders for preventive, follow-up care	Menu option for office visits; 20% of patients under 5 or over 65	Required, 10% of all patients
Patients have access to their information	10% of patients have access to view information for office visits	10% of patients have used the capability to access and download their information and 20% have communication preferences stated
Electronically exchange patient information	Perform one test	Replaced by specific requirements
Decision support rule	One rule	Use to improve performance
Lists of patients for quality improvement	Menu option, one list	Required, multiple lists
Report clinical quality measures	Specified measures	Expanded list
Submit immunization data	Menu option, perform one test	Required, submit data
Submit reportable lab results (hospitals only)	Menu option for hospitals, perform one test	Required for hospitals, submit data
Submit syndromic surveillance data	Menu option, perform one test	Required for hospitals, submit data
Conduct security analysis	Conduct analysis	Expanded to include encryption of data at rest

To see the full article click on this link: http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/clinical-systems/232600583

For more information on Allscripts MyWay Electronic Medical Records product please don’t hesitate calling me at 1-800-640-7506 and ask for Bob Appleby. I will be more than happy to discuss the product and provide you with information on how you can implement this solution in your practice. One of the first questions I am asked is whether anyone has received payments yet. It has been reported that $2.5 billion was paid out for meaningful use in 2011. Stage 2 requirements are being drawn up now as you see in the table above but they have not been finalized as of this date. You need to be proactive and should be focusing on providing capabilities for engaging patients, coordinating care and capturing the data for quality reporting. These requirements are essential for qualifying for meaningful use payments and for new CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) payment incentives and for succeeding under accountable care.

Mimio PR: MimioStudio 9.0 Releasing on Feb 6!

It's official: MimioStudio™ 9.0 software will be released on Monday, February 6th! At that time, it can be downloaded from mimio.dymo.com.

MimioStudio 9.0 software makes interactive teaching much easier for teachers. It's uniquely intuitive, and seamlessly integrates every MimioClassroom™ product. It also incorporates the new MimioStudio ActivityWizard, an innovation that intelligently automates the activity-creation process, saving time and minimizing errors. Please see below for MimioStudio 9.0 and ActivityWizard differentiators.

MimioStudio 9.0 Differentiators

• Integrates all MimioClassroom devices–the MimioTeach™ interactive system, MimioVote™ assessment system, MimioView™ document camera, MimioCapture™ ink recording system, and MimioPad™ wireless tablet–seamlessly, for a truly user-friendly experience.
• Offers a built-in knowledge engine–ActivityWizard–that lets teachers generate educationally sound and engaging teaching activities in minutes.
• Includes MimioStudio Gradebook, which automatically records student answers and eliminates the need for teachers to hand-grade tests.
• Imports files from Smart, Promethean, and Common File Format (IWB), so teachers can use content they may already have.

ActivityWizard Differentiators

• The easiest and most intelligent activity builder available automates the activity and lesson building process.
• Includes a knowledge engine with a comprehensive library of content, and activity templates that allow automatic assembly of a complete activity in minutes.
• Teachers can build activities that target skill acquisition, rate-building, and evaluation.
• The entire activity-generation platform is founded upon proven instructional design principles.
• Automatically calls out critical components for creating effective instruction.

Ultrabook Theme at CES 2012

The MacBook Air has helped to create a new category of mobile computing where the manufacturers are offering systems that are small, light and powerful to give the ultimate road warrior a sexy machine to take out on the road with them. These devices are all going to hit in the upper end of the pricing scale start at about $850 and going up from there.

The first attribute that is striking is the thinness of the profile of these systems. Weighing in at around 3lbs their screen sizes vary quite a bit. Most of these devices are using Intel’s third generation Core processors or Ivy Bridge delivery more speed, more battery life and better graphics performance.

Most of these devices are missing optical drives, usually have around a 13 inch screen and usually either an SSD or gone big on the HDD side. The SSD versions usually drives the price a bit higher than the non-SSD version. The SSD will help with making it lighter and protect your data a little better with less moving parts.

So what systems are out there?

• Lenovo IdeaPad U300 – The Verge Review
• Lenovo T430u – 14 inch version CNET Review - engadget Review
• Samsung Series 5 – engadget Review
• Toshiba Portege Z830 and Z835 – Toshiba’s Site – engadget hands on report - Laptop Review
• Acer Aspire S3 and S5 – ARS Technica Report – PC Mag Report

Logitech C920–1080p video calling

This could be really scary, Logitech is introducing their C920 Webcam with 1080P video calling. Hook this up with Skype and you are going to be able to display to whomever is hooking up with you, every detail that it is pointing at. This could be good, this could be very, very bad! Priced at around $100 it

Technical Details

• Full HD 1080p video calling (up to 1920 x 1080 pixels) with the latest version of Skype for Windows
• 720p HD video calling (up to 1280 x 720 pixels) with supported clients
• Full HD video recording (up to 1920 x 1080 pixels) with a recommended system
• Logitech Fluid Crystal™ Technology
• H.264 video compression
• Carl Zeiss® lens with 20-step autofocus
• Built-in dual stereo mics with automatic noise reduction
• Automatic low-light correction
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 certified (USB 3.0 ready)
• Tripod-ready universal clip fits laptops, LCD or CRT monitors

Logitech webcam software:

• Video recording: Up to Full HD 1080p video capture
• Photo capture: Up to 15 megapixels (software enhanced)
• 1-click Facebook®, Twitter™ and YouTube™ HD upload (registration required)

Scanning with my iPad, too!

If you are like me and have allowed your mobile self to become more and more centered around your iPad, then you may be looking for as many different applications that you can use your iPad or iPad2 for. Brookstone makes many different devices for that person in your life that has everything and in the beginning of February they will be introducing a new product called iConvert® Scanner for iPad or iPad 2 Tablet. My immediate response is neat! However, why does it only scan to jpeg images? Why not the universal PDF file format?

Priced on introduction at $149 it is a little on the pricey side but if you have a need for scanning paper while on the road, here is a solution. This unit will work with both iPad and iPad2, scan in high-resolution 300 dpi to a JPEG format. The front feeder will adjust from 2 inches to 8.5 inches. The scanner works with a free app that you can download from iTunes. Hopefully someone will write a new app that will allow you to capture your scans to PDF format and allow you to store them out to the cloud (iCloud or DropBox would be nice). It is powered by an included AC adapter, I wonder if will also charge the iPad when it is attached. This compact scanner fits easily in your briefcase or backpack, measuring 12.1"w x 4.4"d x 2.8"h and weighing just 1.44 lbs. Let me know your thoughts…

Intuit’s Mobile iOS Credit Card Processing System

Last year in Jude a wrote a quick post on Square’s updated Credit Card Processing System and now Intuit is adding its product into ring with less cost and a more substantial reading device.

They have an updated free app on iTunes for both the iPhone and the iPad that provides easy processing of credit card payments to your account.

---FEATURES---

• Receive a free card reader compatible with your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
• Avoid start-up costs, a long-term contract, and cancellation fees
• 2.7% per card reader swiped transaction rate with pay-as-you-go pricing plan
• Customers sign with their finger and a receipt can be sent by text or e-mail, so you can be paperless
• Access your GoPayment account on your Mac or PC and accept, refund, and review credit card payments online
• All transactions are secure and encrypted, unlike some card readers
• Add up to 50 users to your account so multiple people can accept payments for your business
• We’ve made it easier for you to get started by not requiring bank account information. The money you make with GoPayment can be deposited into your Intuit GoPayment Prepaid Visa® Card account. You can conveniently access and manage your money online at www.gopayment.com, or use the GoPayment Card anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted – in stores, online, and at ATMs
• GoPayment integrates with QuickBooks, making it easier to manage your finances
• From Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks, Quicken, and TurboTax

The app will run on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later
*You can also sign up at www.gopayment.com. If you would like to sign up for the High volume plan, you must do so on the website.
**Intuit GoPayment offers 2 pricing plans with the following rates to meet your individual needs:
Pay-as-you-go:
Swipe: 2.7%
Key-enter and non-qualified: 3.7%
High volume (option to pay $12.95/month for lower per-transaction rates):
Swipe: 1.7%
Key-enter: 2.7%
Non-qualified rate: 3.7%

---GET STARTED---

• Download the Free GoPayment Credit Card Processing App
• Complete the in-app application*
• Check your email for your approval notification, and then start accepting payments!

Once you’re approved, you can start accepting credit cards right away by key entering credit card info into the app.
Your free card reader will ship the next business day.
If you want to see GoPayment in action before you sign up, select the Test Drive button.

If you decide that this product is for you, then one of the things that jumped out at me right away is that the quantities field only seems to accept whole numbers. This can be a problem especially if you are selling by weight or if you are like me you are selling time. Another problem that you might have is that it only accepts one sales tax field. So if you are in a county that requires you to collect both a state and county sales tax you will need to make some kind of adjustment for that. Of course if you are not roaming around this is not an issue. If you are moving around it might be hard to track who you need to send the tax you have collected to the correct entities.

Otherwise, the interface seems to be simple and straight forward and if you don’t have the concerns about the limitations I stated above then it might be a good fit for you. The charge rates for processing are a little lower then Square’s and Intuit is a big player in the entry level accounting industry.

Compatible Devices

See all devices

CES: Wireless Sound Devices

There were quite a few new wireless speaker products that were introduced at this years CES show. In this post I will be highlighting some of the ones that have caught my attention that have a particular interest to me. There is a mixture of connectivity methods so you will need to look at your particular needs to see which device fits your particular budget, sound quality and connection type.

Altec Lansing Live 5000  and inAir 5000 WiFi music systems

One of the many new high end speaker systems that now support network connectivity over your WiFi network you can have iOS connectivity through AirPlay®. The inAir™ 5000 allows iOS devices to stream music wirelessly over a Wi-Fi network to any room, and with iTunes® multiple devices can be linked throughout the home or office, providing a seamless listening experience. Enjoy your music the way the artist intended with Altec Lansing's legendary sound quality. Your ears will hear the difference with this high-performance, all-in-one, networked speaker.

Altec Lansing has also created another device that uses its own separate networked ecosystem that will support a variety of devices. Connected to your network using WiFi connectivity, you can use any Android, iOS device or computer running the company's Live controller app to setup up a central playlist of your tunes. The music isn't sent to the cloud, but rather, streamed directly from each device's local catalog of music. This saves you from aggregating your files to one central storage hub. There is also support for services like Rhapsody, ensuring you'll be able to load up your music from wherever you normally would.

Engaget reports that:

We checked out an early build of the iPhone app (on an iPad), and the interface was simple and intuitive, but we're told to expect more polish in the final edition -- along with that missing tablet-sized version. Notably, the app allows playback to multiple speakers, giving you the option to set up various linkable "stages" to stream independent playlists to. We gave the unit a quick listen on the noisy show floor, and while it got plenty loud, the bass was on the anemic side, despite its 4-inch woofer. Highs and mids were alright, although, at times things felt a bit tinny to our ears. Of course, the hustle and bustle of CES isn't exactly the best spot for hearing how speakers like this sound, so we'll have to reserve final judgement until the unit ships this summer (not to mention that the testing material was streaming from Rhapsody). For now, hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and you'll find a press release past the break with more details.

These devices should be available in the early part of this year. Rumor puts the price at or around $500.

In the summer my wife and I enjoy each other’s company outdoors on sunny days floating around in the swimming pool. Behringer has introduced a spherical wireless waterproof speaker that floats in your pool. It is called the Splash 100 and will be priced around $99. Scheduled for release later this year it will be interesting to hear more about this product once it is released. This $99 speaker has a 230-foot range from the sound source and 3.5-hour rechargeable battery. They were not showing a working model at CES so I don’t have any reports on sound quality at this time.

Bank & Olufsen is known for their wonderful home theater systems and related gadgets introduced its new B&O Play brand. Hoping to entice the younger crowd with money to burn ($800 to be exact) they showed off their Beolit 12 AirPlay-enabled speaker. It is configured in a portable Picnic Basket form with handle and tray to hold your iPhone.

The 7-pound wireless sound system features a swappable leather carrying strap (color options are planned for the future), and its soft-touch top section is molded to serve as a tray for you device when you'd like to set it down -- this is also where you'll find buttons for power, network setup and volume up and down. Behind the 120-watt mini-rig's aluminum grill, you'll find one 4-inch center woofer, along with a duo of tweeters for stereo separation, not to mention a rechargeable battery rated for 8 hours using its inline connection and half of that when streaming to it using AirPlay. On the bottom front there's an IR receiver compatible B&O's Beo remotes, while on back is hinged door that opens to reveal a storage storage compartment for its power cable, as well as an Ethernet port for wiring directly into your home network -- perfect for firmware upgrades. See Engaget video overview below:

On a slightly different note, NuForce was showing a product that allows you take advantage of your in-place audio system by providing a device you connect into one of you input ports of your receiver and provide connectivity of iOS devices over the air. Details were not made available but it looks like you can have multiple receivers being controlled by single or multiple transmitters. It is designed to allow you to control your audio output in a self-designed environment. Expected to be very reasonably priced we should see more information on this later this year. Again, a brief interview with NuForce’s Ceo is shown below.

When looking at a lot of these devices, I can’t help but remember that SONOS has been out there with Mesh based wireless speaker systems that have been working with iOS devices for several years now. Priced in the same range that we have seen above, these products are available now and allow you to plunk down a speaker in any room and begin enjoying your music instantly. Place a bridge unit on your network to connect your music locally stored on any of your systems as well as internet radio and streaming services. This device then allows you to connect SONOS speakers and place them where you need them to provide a great audio experience.

iConnectivity outs iConnectMUSE digital audio mixer for iOSers

For those of you that want to be able to have a simple audio mixing device while on the road, here is a product from iConnectivity that will allow you to mix analog sound from several sources and digitize it onto your iOS device. Touted as the perfect product for the “garage band” on the road, this device can give you that extra capability from a very small and portable device. See the Press Release below:

LVCC North Hall – Booth #3922
Las Vegas, NV – January 12, 2012 – iConnectivity™, forward thinking developer of hardware accessories and applications for iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad®, announce its latest creation, iConnectMUSE™ at CES 2012 in Las Vegas.

For musicians looking to control their unique mixes through iOS or computer software while maintaining exceptional sound quality, look no further than iConnectMUSE™– a palm-sized personal mini-mixer that combines several music accessories into one iOS controlled product, perfect for gigs at home or on the road.

The end result? Studio-quality analog audio converted to digital. With iConnectMUSE™, the user will experience higher quality audio processing, improved audio latency and the ability to share and mix audio through an iOS device, and even charge the iOS device at the same time.

Featuring six stereo inputs and six stereo outputs, each with its own unique mix, this ultra compact device may be small on size, but huge on functionality and features. If you're a student musician exploring your own personal composition technique, a professional musician composing in a hotel room or on tour, or the performing musician who needs consistency moving from gig to gig, iConnectMUSE™ is the all-in-one, portable solution.

Additional features include two USB device ports, hub-able USB Host Port, two input and two output ¼" audio port jacks, a headphone monitor jack, Ethernet connection for network sharing, a MIDI pass-thru interface and limited DSP processing.

"iConnecMUSE™ is the future of audio mixing," said Michael Loh, CEO of iConnectivity™. "Its portability, expandability and enhanced functionality through software integration provides the conduit for music creativity for all musicians."

iConnectMUSE™, available Q2 of 2012, will retail for $229.99* (MSRP).
For More Information, please visit www.iConnectivity.com.

Kindle Cover that Charges Your Kindle

I use my Kindle primarily around the pool and a company called SolarFocus has created a cover with a built-in solar panel on the front. So when you have laid your Kindle down and jumped into the pool, you can recharge by having the panel collect those wonder solar rays and boost your battery. If you just have the case with Kindle laying around it will help add up to 3 months of extended charge or 50 hours for it’s include LED lamp.

The SolarKindle is scheduled to be available on January 15th priced at about $80. Pretty neat! A fully charged reserve battery requires only eight hours of direct sunlight and provides up to 80% of backup power to the Kindle. That’s almost three days of use time for each hour of charging!

CES 2012

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 has been going on all of this week and I will be going through all my feed grabs of products that struck me as interesting and discussing them over the next week or so. Some of the themes I am seeing from what is being reported incudes Android Tablets, Windows 8 Tablets and questions on what Apple will be updating on its iPad product in the next few months. I am seeing a lot of IOS accessories surrounding charging, wireless speakers (Bluetooth), wireless Airplay speakers, and printing. There are a few Home Control products that look interesting, some mobile road warrior accessories, All-In-Ones that have come down in price and have some special characteristics.

The Macbook Air has made everyone building laptops coming up with their own version of a Windows super-thin and powerful “Ultrabook”. These are coming in 13, 14 and 15 inch models and are all showing off sexy lines, super light and thin. All this comes at a premium though so if you are looking for a deal your not going to find it here.

A couple of new apps are surfacing that look interesting and I will post the ones that I find most useful to me.

So keep looking back and I will be posting all of this over the next few days.

xPrintServer makes printers AirPrint-compatible

I like looking for new products that will make both my life easier as well as our clients. For those of you that have an iOS device and none of your printers are AirPrint compatible there will soon be a product that could make your printers AirPrint compatible. Lantronix is planning on releasing this January their xPrintServer product that allows printing from any iOS device to network-connected printers.

I have several printers in my house and at work that I would love to be able to print to without the convoluted methods I now employ from my iPad and iPhone devices. Whether it is to my beautiful Canon Pro 900 photo printer or my Lexmark MFC Pro901 I want to be able to whip off a quick printed page for friends or family. Also, at work it would be nice while I am sitting with a client discussing options for their network I would love to be able to share the information I have on my iPad as I am talking to them.

The current drawback of this device is that it will only work with Ethernet-networked printers only. This means it doesn't help with printers that are connected directly to your computer via an USB port. The device comes with just one network port and will need an available LAN port from your router or switch to work. It also require an external power source.

When you plug the device into you network it will auto-discover and auto-provision for your network printers which in turn allows your iOS device to print to them. There is no software or device drivers to load and no special Apps to purchase. I am looking forward to testing this out myself.

More information at Lantronix’s site

Supported Printer List