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Milan, Italy-based design studio has created The History of [Blank] series, pictogram posters that cleverly depict real and fictional moments in time.
See more at My Modern Met.
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It has taken Jonathan Brechignac fifteen months and lot of patient to create the «Praying Carpet.» He drew it only with Bic pencils, and his goal is to place the carpet between two pieces of plexiglass on the floor.
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Mobile computing is more realtime than desktop computing. That’s just obvious. Typically when you are on the go, you want to know what is going on right now around you. The Pew Internet research project put out a new survey today that quantifies how many people rely on their mobile phones for realtime information. In the past month, 51 percent of U.S. adult cell phone owners have used their phones to get just-in-time info “they needed right away.”
Another 40 percent used their phones for emergencies. While about as many, 42 percent, use their phones to “stave off boredom.” For 18-29 year-olds, that percentage is 70 percent.
So mobile phones seem to be good for at least two things: realtime information consumption (stop looking at your Facebook feed) and entertainment (mostly games would be my guess). They are also good for avoiding personal contact with other humans. A full 13 percent of survey respondents admitted they have “pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them.”
The survey also dives into smartphone usage specifically. Pew esimates that 35 percent of Americans now own a smartphone. The most popular activities are text messaging and taking pictures (both are tied, with 92 percent of smartphone users saying they do each activity). More smartphone owners send photos (80 percent) than email (76 percent) from their phones. And 84 percent access the Internet. Social networking sites in general are accessed by 59 percent, while 15 percent check Twitter alone.
As we reported earlier, in a surprise move today, Google has announced its intention to purchase Motorola Mobility, the handset manufacturing side of Motorola’s business. So, what is Motorola Mobility and what does the acquisition give Google?
Following several years of huge losses and significant drops in market share, the Mobile Devices division of Motorola was spun out of Motorola as a separate company in January this year. Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. has of late focused its mobile handset business exclusively on the Android market. With the deal, Motorola will continue to operate as a separate business, but what exactly is Google buying?
Mobile devices
Motorola Mobility produces a range of Android-powered handsets including the high-end Droid and ATRIX brands and cheaper handsets like the Citrus and Flipout. Meanwhile, its Xoom is regarded as one of the best Android tablets on the market.
In the US market, Motorola’s Droid brand of Android phones has had a significant impact, helping Motorola regain market share as well as giving Google’s OS a certain amount a ‘cool’ it was previously lacking via campaigns like Verizon’s ‘Droid Does‘, which has since expanded to cover devices from a range of manufacturers, but began with the original Motorola Droid.
Google has its own ‘Nexus’ brand of phone, built by other manufacturers, which tend to be the first to sport the latest version of Android, along with hardware features Google particularly wants to push (see NFC in the Nexus S, for example). With this deal, Google now has the ability to build its own ‘Google Phones’ under the Nexus, Droid, or whatever other new brand it may choose – and it doesn’t need to deal with other manufacturers to do so.
This cleans up a sticking point in the Android ecosystem, whereby Google would update its OS, only for other manufacturers to modify the user interface significantly, shattering any chance of a unified user experience across devices. While Google may have seen that as a benefit of Android at first, it leads to delays in OS updates to users as manufacturers have to rework their own skins and widgets to fit the new features. Now Google has the ability to push out significantly more ‘official Google phones’ that offer the company’s own vision of what Android should be.
Set-top boxes – ideal for Google TV
Google TV may not have got off to a strong start, but Google still has a real interest in making a play for the living room as it becomes Internet connected through set-top boxes. Being a strong service and advertising provider in this market is too big an opportunity for Google to pass up on.
Having a set-top box manufacturer on board will help the company finely tune its hardware and software offering for Google TV – something it’s definitely lacked to date.
It’s not just the TV either, Motorola Mobility’s current range of video-focused devices includes Televation, a service it sells to third-party companies. It streams live broadcast TV content to a wide range of devices in and around the home via a similarly branded app.
Other hardware
Motorola Mobility also produces broadband routers, networking equipment and hardware for digital security. While these may not be immediately a good fit with Google’s own operations, having a manufacturer of such devices on hand is certainly no bad thing.
Patents – Protection for Android
Probably the most important reason that Google is prepared to shell out $12.5bn for Motorola Mobility is that it has a significantly large patent portfolio helping to shield it against the growing threats Android faces from its rivals who look to increase the price manufacturers pay to release handsets using Google’s mobile OS, using patent licensing fees.
Motorola Mobility has over 17,000 patents and 7,500 more pending, a huge boost to the ‘shield’ Android has against its rivals when it comes to lawsuits and countersuits.
Google said on today’s conference call that the deal was about “Protecting and extending” Android. While the ‘extending’ part is important, the ‘protecting’ is essential. For more on the importance of the patents to today’s deal, see our analysis here.
Lawsuits – A potential headache?
Google also brings on board Motorola Mobility’s current lawsuits. Apple is suing Motorola in Germany over the design of the Xoom, claiming that it is to similar to the iPad. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Motorola are embroiled in a legal battle over patents. If the Google deal goes through, such lawsuits will still be faced by Motorola (it remains a separate company after all) but Motorola could well benefit from the added weight of Google’s legal team.Image source
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
Let’s face it. Unless you run a small- to medium-sized accounting firm, the motivation for starting your own business probably had very little to do with wanting to use your skills as a bookkeeper. You wanted to use your talents as a graphic designer, or a craft beer brewer or a vintage shop owner.
So it’s only fair that you might have been spending your time on logos, microbrews or scouring flea markets rather than becoming an expert in the potentially complex world of digitally managing your business’s finances. But lurking beneath the perilously cluttered face of the app world are tools that could be useful to you, and a modest investment of time up front could save you a headache down the road.
Here are some tools to check out:
1. Expensify
Unless you enjoy transcribing illegible tips scrawled on crumpled up receipts into an Excel spreadsheet, expense reports are no fun. Luckily, Expensify makes that mind-numbing procedure a thing of the past. Once you install the app on your phone, you simply take a photo of the receipt, and Expensify converts it into a neatly formatted report.
“I don’t hate doing expense reports anymore thanks to Expensify,” says Kenny Herman, VP of business development for SinglePlatform, noting that he saves about an hour a week by using the app.
Expensify is free to use for individuals, and businesses pay $5 per person submitting expenses each month after two free initial accounts. Added bonus: The $5 fee is only incurred if the user actually submits a report, meaning dormant accounts don’t cost you.
2. Chargify
If your product has any kind of online subscription component — even if the product itself is not digital — Chargify (not to be confused with Spotify or Expensify) might be the right for you. The dashboard is designed to allow you to manage coupons and special offers, as well as varying expiration dates and renewal deadlines all in one place. The tiered price points jump up fairly quickly once you pass 500 customers, but one could argue that thousands of paying customers is a good problem to have.
3. InDinero
On a given morning, an ice cream truck owner will likely know off the top of her head how many cones, cups and shakes she sold the day before. But what about how much money she’s spent on gas, windshield wiper fluid or the stray parking ticket that month? Not to mention the ads she put in the local paper, the annual insurance payment and the permits for the street fair coming up in two months. In the aggregate, even very small shops have a lot of moving parts, and it can be difficult to get an accurate snapshot of the financial health of the business in one place. That’s where inDinero comes in. By pulling in information from a small business owner’s various bank and credit card accounts, the online platform provides not only current financial information but also forecasts for the future and suggests budgets.
4. FreshBooks
Invoices are a task almost as fun as expense reports. Whether you create them, receive them or both, it can be a headache to keep everything in a unified, easy-to-monitor format. FreshBooks streamlines this task for small business owners and consultants in part by automating various steps throughout the process. And for the steps they don’t handle themselves, they have partnered with a host of other app providers — including Expensify and inDinero — to make your life as easy as possible.
According to CMO Stuart MacDonald, many of FreshBooks’ users are freelancers and contractors, although it’s commonplace for businesses with up to 50 employees to use the tools. “We think of ourselves as the infrastructure that lets them easily get on with what they want to do,” MacDonald says.
5. Teaspiller
Doing your taxes is one of those things that’s all too easy to put off thinking about until it’s probably too late — perhaps even more so than expense reporting and invoicing. Teaspiller is designed to save the day when you realize that the undesirable task simply can’t be put off any longer. Teaspiller’s tools connect small business owners with tax professionals who are selected based on their particular business’s needs and specializations. You can request a quote in advance to avoid unpleasant surprises. We won’t go so far as to say Teaspiller makes doing your business’ taxes fun, but at least you have access to experts who can help make the process less painful.
More Small Business Resources From OPEN Forum:
– 15 Keyboard Shortcuts To Enhance Your PC Productivity
– 5 Services For Building Websites On A Budget
– 10 Accessories To Boost Office Morale
– Top 5 Foursquare Mistakes Committed By Small Businesses
– How To Use Social Media For Recruiting
More About: chargify, Expensify, finances, freshbooks, Indinero, Small Business Resources, taxes, Teaspiller
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