The more we rely on mobile devices the more we rely upon one small technology. Batteries. Have you ever reached for your smartphone to look something up or to get directions and discovered that it has died? Well, in a few years, that may be something you don’t need to worry about.

A Better Battery on the Way?

Engineers at Chicago’s Northwestern University have been working on advancements in battery technology and may have discovered a way to make batteries charge in minutes and last significantly longer.

Northwestern’s researchers have found a method to prolong the charge of lithium-ion batteries by more then 10 times the current lithium-ion battery life. They’re even boasting that after 150 charges, which they believe represents about a year of operation, the new lithium-ion battery will be 5 times more efficient than batteries at this time.

A Charged Battery for a Week

This might be hard to believe, especially with all the apps we run on our devices, but this new battery may stay charged for a whole week. And the charging time could be less then 15 minutes. That will obviously make life easier but this technology could have a even more significant impact then that. It can be applied to the batteries utilized in electric cars, making them a lot more efficient, and drastically decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Batteries Powering Technological Change

The new battery technology isn’t available yet for consumers, however the Northwestern researchers say that it could hit the market in three to five years. This is a big step. When we look at advancements in technology, we tend to ignore the batteries that power our latest gadgets. Battery constraints are one of the factors holding back an even greater technology revolution. The hope is that the research done at Northwestern University can change this.

When searching for something on the web, most people automatically go to Google. We even use it as a verb when we “Google” something. Nevertheless, a lesser-used yet powerful search engine is Microsoft’s Bing. While Bing may be often overlooked, it actually has a lot to offer surfers of the Web.

Taking Another Look at Bing

When you search on Bing, you will get more information about your search results than you’ll get from Google. Bing’s results include a left-hand navigation panel filled with Quick Tabs that allow users to focus their searches. Additionally there is a center row of search results that are grouped into logical categories. This makes it simpler for users to find multimedia files or quick answers.

Bing Goes Beyond Search Results

Bing also brings more than just search results. Say users search for websites about pop star Lady Gaga. Bing will also bring up Lady Gaga’s most recent videos. For users looking for a flight out of town, Bing beats Google easily. The search engine utilizes something it calls Farecast Technology in its Bing Travel site. This allows users quickly locate the cheapest airfare to specific destinations.

Bing Video Search Shines

Bing stands apart from Google in terms of searching for videos as well. Bing allows users to specify how long they would like videos to be, what resolution they want, and what screen size they would prefer. Additionally, to get a preview of the video, users only need to hover their cursor over the video to play a part of it without clicking on it.

These are some of the reasons why computer users should not be so quick to dismiss Bing. Yes, Google remains the go-to player with regards to search engines. But that doesn’t mean that it’s the only good option today.

Cloud computing is extremely popular these days. The cloud is basically a group of remote servers where people can store and access their information. People can store music, powerful programs, and essential files in the cloud. As information kept in the cloud isn’t stored on personal computers this saves lots of computer memory. The outcome of this is that people can access more data without having to use up space on their computer, which could slow it down.

Not All Clouds are the Same

However, not all clouds are the same. There’s the public cloud, the one with which we are most accustomed. But then there’s the hybrid cloud too. As its name suggests, the hybrid cloud is a combination of two different types of clouds, the public cloud and a private cloud.

To provide a hybrid cloud, an organization may store some of their client’s more critical or current data in-house and store older, archived, and less important files in the public cloud. They may also use the public cloud to store very large programs and keep sensitive data in-house.

The Hybrid Cloud Approach Makes Sense

Taking a hybrid cloud approach to data storage enables businesses to take advantage of the space-saving features of the public cloud without also exposing their sensitive current data to third-party providers. To paraphrase, the hybrid cloud provides businesses with security, cost-savings, and efficiency.

It’s no surprise, then, that a great number of businesses today are moving toward a hybrid cloud approach. There is simply too much data floating around today for small enterprises to properly store. At the same time, businesses in the present competitive environment do not want to expose company secrets and sensitive consumer data to either their competition or hackers. The hybrid cloud could enable businesses to accomplish both feats.

A growing number of employees these days work remotely. This is possible as a result of advancements in technology. The benefits are many for both employee and employer. Employers can spend less money as they have less people that need space in the workplace. Employees that work remotely are often more productive; they spend less time commuting, and they have the flexibility to adjust their work around their life rather than working 9 hours straight, which can lead to burnout.

Remote Worker Challenges

One worry that lots of employers have when deciding to hire remote workers is, how can they monitor the amount of work they do? How do they know they are actually working and not simply playing games on their computer all day?

Employers can solve this predicament by setting realistic deadlines for their remote employees and expecting these workers to meet them. What should matter for employers is that work is done on time. It shouldn’t matter if workers complete their tasks from midnight to four in the morning.

Setting Remote Worker Deadlines

Setting deadlines is the simplest way to monitor the work being done by remote workers. Supervisors can set short-term and long-term goals or make something due every Friday. Additionally, a manger could have a weekly or biweekly meeting via cellphone or video chat to catch up on the development of projects. This can put the manager and employee at ease.

Off-Site Not a Permanent Condition

Employers should remember, too, that remote workers do not have to stay that way. If employers find that their off-site employees are not meeting deadlines or are delivering sub-par work, they can require that these workers return to the office on a full-time basis. Trust continues to be the key element of a remote working relationship. Employers must place some trust in their workers that they’ll finish their jobs on time. Workers must show that they are worthy of this trust by hitting their deadlines, delivering quality work, and responding quickly to phone calls or email messages.

You handle many projects at once, every second of your day is booked, and you feel as if you are on the road more then you are at home. You don’t have time for smartphone apps that waste time, and you don’t have the time to waste to search through thousands to discover the few that will save you time. Thankfully, we have found some apps for you. Here are 5 apps sure to simplify your life.

Top 5 Business Apps

1. WhosHere: WhosHere enables you to locate freelance contractors in your area to help you complete projects. For example, if you need to find a freelance illustrator in Philadelphia to close out your latest ad campaign, you can send out a search via your smartphone. You can then send free text messages or calls to the experts who respond to your search.
2. Locale: It’s embarrassing if your phone chimes in the middle of an important meeting. But with everything else you have to do to prepare for a meeting it’s hard to remember to put it on silent. This app permits you to set specific modes for your phone depending on your location. So your phone will automatically go to silent when you enter your office, or the theater, even.
3. WaveSecure: One of the potential risks of traveling regularly is the chance of loosing your phone. This app enables you to lock your phone and backup the data stored on it remotely, as well as track its location through the SIM card. Talk about peace of mind.
4. Bump: It’s all about connections right? Well, Bump enables you to exchange contact information with another person merely by bumping the two phones together. Bid farewell to post-tradeshow data entry.
5. Scan2PDF Mobile: Need to scan receipts for your expense report, or proposals for your boss to examine? This app lets you do that with your smartphone’s camera, change them into color PDFs, then e-mail them to your computer’s desktop.

You would love to get that promotion, or maybe you’re in search of that elusive raise. Maybe you simply want to secure your career in this down economic time. But whatever the reason, you are looking for ways to impress your boss.

Well, you could use Excel. Excel is a very powerful program; there is a lot to learn. We are not going to discuss all you can do with Excel here, but you will learn a few methods to boost your efficiency and perhaps get some recognition as well.

• Hiding Information: There might be a time when you wish to hide certain information when printing an Excel spreadsheet. For example, maybe your spreadsheet contains confidential salary information. Luckily, you can tell Excel not to print certain rows or columns by concealing them before you hit print. To hide rows or columns, click the corresponding number or letter then right-click on a highlighted row or column and click the Hide option. You can then choose the Unhide option to bring these columns and rows back into view.
• Timestamping: If you’d like to attach a date to your spreadsheet, you can use the Timestamp function. Just hold Ctrl as you press the semicolon key. If you would like the current date and time hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys while pressing the semicolon.
• A Better-Looking Spreadsheet: Give your spreadsheet a fresh look by using Excel’s Themes option. You can find this in the Excel Ribbon, at the top. Click it, and you will be given a huge variety of fonts, and color schemes that you may apply to your spreadsheet. You can also design your own!
• Tracking Trends: The newest version of Excel includes a feature called Sparklines. By using this feature, you can create small charts that show trends in information. For example, you could use Sparklines to instantly determine how many software bundles each of your company’s salespeople sold in the first half of 2011.
• Conditional Formatting: This allows you to format only certain cells, you can decide on a criteria, and any cells that fall within it will be a certain color. This feature can be helpful to get a quick visual read of your spreadsheet.

Technology is always changing and adapting. So, unfortunately, are cyber-criminals. MIT’s Technology Review website recently presented its list of the biggest technology security threats of 2012. If you spend much of your life surfing the web or communicating with your friends through social media sites, you ought to be interested in this list. Understanding what’s on it can safeguard you and your computer in 2012.

Stolen, Spoofed Certificates

The biggest problem that the Technology Review article dealt with is the growing amount of stolen or spoofed certificates. As the article reports, whenever you connect to a site, like your bank’s website, your traffic is encrypted using a “certificate” that the site uses to prove to your web browser that it can be trusted. In 2011, though, cyber-criminals were able to spoof or steal many of these certificates. This can help them steal user data or install vicious software on their computers.

A Common Security Mechanism in Trouble?

The use of certificates as a security mechanism is the most typical method used currently. If the trustworthiness of these are put into question then that may spell trouble for all computer users including large companies who are responsible for protecting confidential data.

Technology Review also pointed to online attacks referred to as “hacktivism” as a key security challenge for this year. Groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec crack passwords and break into company sites. Often, these groups do so to prove that companies are woefully unprepared to cope with hackers. Sometimes, they target companies or businesses that they believe are guilty of wrongdoing. No matter the motivation, expect these groups to continue their so-called hacktivism in 2012 and beyond.

Home Automation

In 2012 another security risk is the rising popularity of home automation. People connect alarm systems, lights, even locks, to the internet to automate their homes. If reliable companies are not used or if hackers get into these systems picture the damage that can be done.