Darren Straight's Blog

Case-mate, maker of cell phone and Apple cases and accessories, has a new video series circulating on the web via YouTube.  Their first straight-to-web effort, these new clips range from eerie to “Dear, Me!” 

First up, Kung Fu Hustle meets Stanley Kubrick – to make a custom iPhone Case, you can make your own iPhone 3GS and soon for iPhone 4 case at www.imakemycase.com. I certainly do like some of the designs on there and the fact that you can actually design it yourself!

2010: A Case Odyssey

While next, one poor sap awakes to discover the plight of living with hands made from Steel Wool – and the damage that can be done to iPhone’s glass screen when making an emergency call.

Living With Steel Wool Hands (How I Lost My Nipple)

Social Media Revolution 2 is a refresh of the original video (Social Media Revolution 2009) with new and updated social media & mobile statistics that are hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.

Social Media Revolution: Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? This video details out social media facts and figures that are hard to ignore. This video is produced by the author of Socialnomics.

Although one in ten men (9 per cent) admits to working on holiday, the vast majority of Britons (92 per cent) believe that taking a laptop on vacation would not cause arguments with their partner or family. This is a chief finding of a nationwide survey unveiled today into Britons’ use of technology on holiday.

The online study of more than 2,200 members of the Great British public carried out by YouGov and Softwareload.co.uk, Deutsche Telekom’s online download portal for software applications, also found that whenever possible 13 per cent of Britons take their laptops on holiday with them. 16 per cent of men take their laptop away on holiday compared to just a tenth (10 per cent) of women. Just four per cent of women said they do a little work on holiday when they take their laptop with them on holiday. But technology hasn’t completely taken over; only five per cent of Britons say they would choose using recreational software on the laptop – such as educational software – while on holiday over reading a good book.

“While holiday is often a time to leave work behind and maybe even switch off the mobile, technology can enhance our holiday time with useful travel guides, language learning and translation apps available for laptops and mobiles,” said Dirk Lebzien, Head of Softwareload. “Our research shows that people are comfortable with their partner bringing their laptop computer on holiday with them, and thankfully few people are choosing work when on vacation.”

Softwareload’s study also found that a large number (39 per cent) of those surveyed are ‘embarrassed’ that they can’t speak the local language on holiday. Women (42 per cent) are slightly more likely than men (37 per cent) to feel embarrassed from just using English. 18-24 year-olds (43 per cent) and 25-34 year-olds (45 per cent) are more likely to feel embarrassed about not speaking the local language than any other group.

27 per cent of 18-24 year-olds said they would find translation software and offline maps stored on their mobile phone useful when on holiday, a higher percentage than any other group. Currently, although 31 per cent of UK holiday makers are aware that travel apps and dictionaries are available on mobile devices, only six per cent of Brits regularly use them, Softwareload found.

Not quite sure why Prime plc, a company who funds, designs, constructs and maintains buildings is launching Gemsta, a social networking site which lets you quickly and easily FIND, SAVE and SHARE things you find online whether that be for shopping, travel or work.

But I guess it just goes to show you any business can have a go! Here’s a press release which may be of some interest.

Are you one of the many internet users who often search for the same information across a number of your favourite sites? If the answer is YES, then Gemsta can offer you a platform to create a free centralised search location to access your frequently queried resources.

Gemsta’s unique MultiSearch technology, which allows users to search multiple sites simultaneously, can be now be customised to help find anything quickly and easily from a personal choice of sites. Gemsta requires no specialist software and is accessible from anywhere online. Up to 16 sites per zone can be organised into structured grids or funky frames with added colourful backgrounds.

“It takes a matter of minutes to organise your weblife, simply register and complete a four step process using the Find Wizard,” explains Jonathan Franklin, managing director, Gemsta.com. “You can choose from over 400 sites including search engines, shopping sites and social media sites. Just select a frame, drag your chosen logos into the 16 space grid, choose a background, name your zone and you are away!” continues Jonathan.

The Find Wizard is just one part of the newly structured FIND within Gemsta.com. It joins comparison shopping, vouchers and deals, 3D shopping and wishlist – plus the comprehensive

pre-organised shopping zones and 6 web search zones. Once you’ve found FIND you’ll wonder how you ever got on without it!!

Plus coming soon – the ability to SAVE anything you FIND on the web and organise it into personalised folders, then SHARE it with a chosen few or the whole world.

Gemsta Website: http://www.gemsta.com
Gemsta Blog: http://www.gemsta.net

Damaged laptops will cost British business £2.073 billion in repair and data replacement costs in 2010, research from IDC and Panasonic has predicted. This cost does not include effects to business continuity, lost business or customer dissatisfaction. More than 14% of the 9.265m laptops sold to British businesses between 2007 and 2009 will suffer from damage or accidents this year and with an average repair bill of £1576 to cover parts, lost productivity and data, the overall cost to British business will be a staggering £2.073 billion.

The research, commissioned by Panasonic Toughbook and undertaken by technology analyst group IDC, shows that 20% of laptops in business require repair each year with 14.2% of repairs coming from physical damage or accidents.

“With a 14.2% chance of physical breakage per year, and a £1,576 repair and data replacement bill, IT Directors should realize that every laptop is carrying a potential hidden cost of £224 per year,” said Stephen Yeo, Panasonic Toughbook EMEA Marketing Director. “This means that over a 3 year life, a laptop has a hidden cost from breakage of £672 and this could be considerably higher for workers in areas like field service or sales. With Panasonic Toughbooks cutting the risk of damage by over 80%, businesses can reduce this hidden cost by an average of £537 per notebook over a 3 year period.”

Sources of damage
In the survey, 72% of respondents with damaged notebooks reported that they suffered damaged keyboards, followed by 66% with damage to the display screen. Non-exposed parts most prone to damage included batteries and hard disk drives, both cited by more than 50% of respondents.

Human error and carelessness were responsible for the greatest sources of damage with 72% of respondents saying they dropped their laptops, 66% spilling liquid onto the devices and 55% reporting they fell off a desk or table.

The departments most likely to damage their laptops were field services, followed by office and administrative support and sales.

Problems caused by laptop damage or failure
63% of respondents reported lost productivity as a result of their laptop damage or failure, while more than a third reported loss of important company data or information (37%) or lost and delayed sales (34%).

And with IDC predicting business laptops outselling commercial desktop computers by 2012, the analyst group recommended businesses look more closely at the type of laptops they buy. “IDC believes that a sound notebook procurement strategy should incorporate clear metrics regarding product quality with an eye toward durability,” said David Daoud, IDC Research Director for Personal Computing. “Companies should look to procure notebooks that are built to withstand a variety of rigors, not just from dust, dirt, and extremes in temperature, but also from day-to-day bumps and spills. Companies should look for notebooks in which key components like keyboards and displays have been hardened, while insuring that the integrated parts are of ruggedized-grade quality.”

“The use of laptops has become pervasive in business with more and more departments taking advantage of the flexibility and convenience they offer but little attention is being paid to the type of products being bought and the impact of their total cost of ownership on the business,” commented Stephen Yeo, Panasonic Toughbook EMEA Marketing Director. “Businesses should consider whether a Ruggedized laptop is required by their staff because in many cases the higher initial purchase price is rapidly offset by the longer lifetime expectancy of the products and their much cheaper ongoing running costs.”

The research is based on a survey of 300 US companies by IDC and reported in the whitepaper “The Business Case for Ruggedized PCs”. The impact for UK business has been extrapolated using IDC data on laptops sold to businesses in the UK between 2007 and 2009. A copy of the research report can be found at: http://www.toughbook.eu/node/4055

A new concept in online flight search officially takes off in the UK today with the launch of Fly.com.

• Fly.com is the only flight comparison site to have a ‘why me?’ function, which shows consumers what features each airline includes (e.g. free drinks, Wi-Fi, leather chairs, interactive TV etc.)
• Users can sort results by what’s important to them; price, airline, stops, airports or traveller class.
• The site provides a unique and easy to use slide navigation to fine tune itinerary.

At 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday 15 July, Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, goes on pre-sale to people in the UK at a special promotional price, but you’ll have to be quick as prices are low, stocks are limited and it is first come first served!

To say thanks to its loyal customers and enthusiasts, especially those who have taken part in the Beta and Release Candidate (RC) programmes, Microsoft is making pre-order copies of Windows 7 available through selected retail partners at one-off promotional prices* of around £49.99 for Home Premium and £99.99 for Professional. This is a great opportunity for your readers to get their hands on the best Windows operating system of all time and save plenty of money in the process.

The Windows 7 Beta and RC versions have been very well received by consumers and media alike. Pre-order copies of the final version of Windows 7 have already been selling fast in Japan, Canada and the US. To pre-order a discounted copy of the final version of Windows 7 you need to contact Microsoft’s retail partners after 12:01 a.m. on 15 July or go to http://www.microsoft.com/uk/win7preorder.

Retail partners in the UK taking part in the promotion are Amazon.co.uk, Argos, Comet, Currys, Dixons, Ebuyer.com, John Lewis Partnership, Littlewoods, Micro Anvika, PC World, Play.com, Staples and Tesco. Links to pre-order offer webpages are listed below.

Finally, a quick reminder for Microsoft’s UK customers: if you are replacing an older version of Windows with Windows 7 once it arrives on 22 October, a clean install of the operating system and the installation of an internet browser will be required. For more information on how to do this, and for general information on other aspects of Windows 7, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/.

Retailer website links:
Microsoft Store – http://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/Microsoft/Windows/Windows-Vista/Windows-7-Preview
Amazon.co.uk – http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AB002DUCMT2|B002DUCMTC|B001XCWGII
Currys – www.currys.co.uk/preorder
Dixons – www.dixons.co.uk/preorder
Micro Anvika – www.anvika.com/windows7preorder
PC World – www.pcworld.co.uk/preorder
Play.com – http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/3-/379971/2-/Promo.html
Tesco – http://direct.tesco.com/p/inc/specials/windows7/

* Estimated retail prices, actual retail prices may vary by retailer.

Oparla, the all new search engine that pays users to surf the net, marked its launch this week with its first ever daily cash payout. The inaugural prize draw was made by the engine’s founder, British entrepreneur Daniel Jupp at Oparla headquarters in London and saw one registered user win a lump sum for choosing Oparla to find information online.

Oparla user Mr Peter Meherne (Berkshire) was the first lucky winner. He said, “I had just registered with Oparla and carried out a couple of searches when I received a call advising me that I’d won the opening day’s prize draw which was a very nice surprise!

“Oparla presents its results in a different way to most search engines and I’m finding its rating system and feedback features very useful. I’ll definitely be using it to search the net. As a businessman I think its unique approach will prove a winner with users so I have also just signed up for its advertising package for my business, Plain Words.”

Following the success of its first draw, Oparla will reward one user every day with a cash bonus of up to £1000. The lottery like system will be based on account holders signing in and using the search engine to find web pages and images online. Founder Daniel Jupp said, “It really does pay to surf with Oparla. This first prize draw is a milestone for us after months in development and I was delighted to present Mr Meherne with his cash prize. Oparla is all about giving something back to its users so I look forward to signing many more cheques in the future!”

Oparla users not only have the chance to bank cash payouts but are given the power to rate and comment on returned results. The unique interface uses a five star site ranking system, giving each site shown in the search results a community mark for usefulness and relevance to the search query. The search engine also references social media technology within its user accounts making it easy for web surfers to send private messages and recommendations to other Oparla visitors requesting assistance with their web browsing and information searches.

Having founded online media consultancy Apple Jupp (formerly Top Position) in 2001, Mr Jupp is well versed in online behavioural trends and the unique relationship internet users have with their search engine of choice. He said, “The Web 2.0 movement has altered the online landscape and as users become more sophisticated in their understanding of the internet and its workings, their becoming more prolific in their desire to shape the way that information is presented to them. Oparla gives its visitors a chance to make their voices heard and stamp their authority on its search results. It’s this synergy that will allow us to develop a search engine that truly represents the changing needs of internet users.”

Any registered user is eligible to participate in the daily prize draw. The free account set-up takes around 60 seconds to complete. Users must then sign in when they use Oparla with each search earning the account holder a place in that day’s draw.