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New Smartphones with New (or Older) Shapes

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Last week we explored the flagship smartphones that are on the market right now. Today, we wanted to look at some different devices. These devices carry the price tag of a flagship (or cost more), but don’t necessarily have the specs that you would expect from devices priced in that area. They explore new form factors, or in some cases, older form factors. Let’s briefly discuss four innovative new devices.

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Tip of the Week: Let Others Use Your Android Device with Guest Mode

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While loaning out your mobile device probably isn’t something you’re particularly keen to do right now, this may have been the case even before there were health concerns involved. After all, your phone really is just a little package of your personal data. What you may not have known, however, is that Android has had a feature—Android Guest Mode—that can help protect you since Android 5.0 Lollipop came out in 2014.

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Ransomware is Now Even Less Affordable to Consider Paying

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We haven’t exactly been shy about sharing our recommendation that a ransomware demand should never be met with payment, but there is now an even more impactful reason not to. This deterrent comes courtesy of the United States Treasury Department, which has released a statement informing businesses of potential fines as retribution for doing so.

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2020 Smartphone Flagships You Should Know

Millions of people have moved off the traditional computer and now use their smartphone for most of their browsing and other tasks, with new devices coming out regularly to help them do so. Let’s take a few minutes to examine the latest devices available today.

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Tip of the Week: Polling Your Outlook Contacts

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Back in June, Microsoft applied an update to the Microsoft 365 version of their Outlook email platform, adding various features—including one that allows users to run a native poll through their email. Let’s go over how it works so that you can take advantage of this useful utility.

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Powerful Project Tools in the Cloud

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Business workforces are shifting and it’s undeniable that a business’ IT has to shift with it. This can leave users maneuvering through their day using all types of different tools. This can tax an IT administrator. One solution that can be used for several purposes and can help almost any project-fueled business is Microsoft SharePoint. Today, we talk about the positive effect SharePoint can have. 

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Microsoft Thwarts Major Hacking Attempt, For Now

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With just shy of a month before the 2020 United States Election, there has been quite a bit of concern over the idea that external interests may try to sway the results—and it seems for good reason. Only recently, Microsoft interrupted a massive coordinated hacking plot that could have altered the very infrastructure needed to support a fair election. Let’s examine this plot, and what Microsoft did, in some more detail.

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Practical Uses for AI in Businesses of Any Size

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Technology is getting smarter, from the consumer level on up. As such, artificial intelligence is appearing in more and more applications that all businesses can embrace. Let’s take a few minutes and go over the various ways that artificial intelligence can be used to support your business’ operations.

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How to Keep Your IT Safe from Threats

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When a component of your business is as foundationally important as your technology infrastructure is, ensuring it operates effectively is imperative to your organizational success. However, this isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Let’s go over what this means for your business and how this challenge can be addressed.

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Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Business from Shadow IT

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Shadow IT is a big problem in today’s business, but not a lot of people know about it. As powerful as technology can be if it is left unmonitored, it can run into problems. Shadow IT is unmonitored technology because it is brought onto a network without an IT administrator’s knowledge. Today, we talk a little bit about fighting shadow IT and how to get your staff on board.

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Tip of the Week: Six Smart Practices for Data Security

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If asked to list its most valuable assets, every modern business currently in existence should include its data on that list. This is part of the reason that data security should be treated as a priority. We know—this isn’t exactly a small ask, so to help, we’ve put together a few tips to get you started off on the right foot. If you’re already working on your data security preparedness, consider this a refresher.

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What’s Involved with a Professional Penetration Test

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One of the most valuable things for a business to know, in terms of its cybersecurity, is how vulnerable it is to breaches and exploits. This kind of information can be gathered via a process called penetration testing, or “pen testing.” Let’s go over how the average pen test is conducted to see how these insights are collected.

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The Relative Benefits of Wired and Wireless Connections

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In the not-all-that-distant past, connectivity required an actual, physical connection between two endpoints. As a result, a wired connection was the only option for businesses to access online materials and resources. This leaves businesses with a choice to make: is a wired connection better for my operations, or should I implement wireless connectivity?

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Tip of the Week: Best Practices to Keep IT Happy

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I want to ask you a question: how is your working relationship with your IT provider, whether you’ve contracted another business, or you have your own internal department? If you suspect it isn’t great, there may be good reason for that.

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Drones are for More than Espionage: Today’s Most Useful Applications

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Drones—they sure seem to be everywhere these days, don’t they? There’s a good reason for that. More than a hobbyist’s plaything or a military asset, drones have practical applications in a wide variety of industries. Let’s go over how different industries have adopted these handy devices to suit their needs.

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Self Education Can Put You and Your Business Ahead

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The pandemic has been difficult for many business owners, but in this time of peril there has been a silver lining. Many business owners have taken some of the time away from business to sharpen their technical skills. Some of the skills these entrepreneurs are looking to improve include their understanding of the software, telecommunications, and marketing that they use in the course of doing business. To do this, they are using some of the same resources that you use when you want help sharpening your skills: YouTube

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What’s Next for Your Business’ IT Strategy?

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Choosing what technology to invest in can be some of the most important decisions you are going to make for your business. Every business has a technology wish list. Some of those wishes are just based in simple practicality, while others are more geared toward the future. Regardless of how you think about your business’ next technology purchase, you are going to need a plan. Today, we’ll discuss how to approach your business’ IT strategy.

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How Your Technology Can Help Employees Work Safely, from Anywhere

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With the pandemic stretching on for so long, there are a lot of workplaces figuring out ways to reopen and resume operations. Due to today’s technology providing the option for some, many managers and business owners have elected to keep the office shut down and shift to remote operations. Technology is also assisting those who are going back into the workplace. Let’s examine some of the technology that is being used to accomplish workplace processes, in all the different ways it can.

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How to Improve the Range of Your Wireless Network

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Wireless is one of the most popular utilities to have in the office. However, if not implemented thoughtfully, it can cause frustration and holdups to your processes. Therefore, it is important to understand what causes challenges for your Wi-Fi, and how to resolve or work around these challenges. Let’s discuss where these challenges come from, and how to fix them.

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Tip of the Week: Seeing the Value of Google Lens

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Google Lens isn’t exactly the most well-known application amongst Android users, which is actually a real shame. This nifty little utility can provide some significant productivity benefits, if used correctly. Let’s go over a few capabilities that Google Lens can provide to give you some tips on how to use it.

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