The key to digital marketing success? Be less digital.

One of the things that the world blogging social media is different is that I am old ... to at least old enough to remember how it was before we were digitally tracked, slices, spreading out, prices dipped, consumed and tied to these social platforms.

I worked for sales and marketing before Facebook ... before email … even before computers. And you know that it wasn't so long ago business relationships have been built by the firm handshake, trusting friendship, mutually share the experience and confidence.

And then, sometimes at the end of the 1990s, your company probably took all its order forms, sales brochures, and customer service policies to an unknown man called web developer and he said, "this feature in a Web page."

They could hardly realized it at the time but we were creating a layer of digital distance between us and our customers, which would be more complicated as layer after layer of technologies he was wedged between us.  And it was a one-way ticket.

I'm sure it was effective. And administrative costs and customers have the convenience of ordering through our new machines at any time, day or night.

And yet something is missing. The soul of the business was reduced to computer keystrokes.

Robert Cialdini

We've been thinking about it, when I wrote my upcoming book.  How it works, I had an opportunity to ask Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the influence of : the psychology of persuasion (and one of my academic Heroes!), what he thinks, that it took to act in this still painful, dense and competitive digital world.

His answer was simple.

"Be more human."

Isn't that ironic?

To be human, simply yourself, you can create a competitive advantage!

"One of the things to deal with advice in enterprise environments is dedicated to the specific functions which can be considered attractive and include them in personal bios – about us categories, and so on," said Dr. Cialdini. "We should be including hobbies and how many children we have, whether we hockey fans, or the runner, and so on, so people can register connection that would necessarily online, but it is typical for the contact. Why not put those online contacts with the type of information to multiple humanizes and leads to the cooperation and rapport? "

Dr. Cialdini showed research at Stanford, which revealed the importance of human connections:

"The participants were told to act through the problem as part of the exercises, but said that if it could reach agreement, both parties would lose, and neither side will receive credit for, and exercises.  When the participants should only act through e-mail, 30 percent of the negotiations have remained locked and people leave empty-handed.

"However, in cases where the Parties shall exchange any personal information about themselves via e-mail prior to the negotiation of the dead locks decreased to 6%.  General human tendency, therefore, to respond positively, if we know something about them when we do something similar with us, when we saw that features available to us, this person persona. These things still work – even over the Internet or e-mail – but we have to do something to implement these technologies with the same kind of information that we could interact face to face. "

For Avatars Twitter and Facebook updates, text messages and Skype conferences are the same.  Still to be confirmed. They want to be heard. They want to through digital distance and get to know you as a person.

Personally, I often struggle with the harvest a lot of personal things to my content, but realize how much it.  How are you?  Any ideas or recommended to share?

A reference to Dr. Cialdini book is an affiliate link.

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Western Digital My Book Live 1 TB Personal Cloud Storage Drive

Western Digital My Book Live WDBACG0010HCH 1 TB Network Hard Drive WDBACG0010HCH-NESN Network Attached Storage

Price: $149.99

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Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder (Metal Blue)

The Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder brings renowned audio technology to the camcorder, making it the best sounding video camcorder you've ever heard. Anyone who's ever experienced a film with great audio knows how vital sound is to the movie. Brilliant Stereo Recording now on your Videos The Q3 uses the same microphone capsules as our industry-leading H4n Handy Recorder and is perfect for recording anything where great audio and video are a must. From live musical performances and rehearsals, interviews, conferences to video podcasts, journalism, education, recitals, weddings or sports, the Q3's pristine audio quality takes your videos to another level. Designed with everything you need to make your movies right out of the box, the Zoom Q3 includes HandyShare software for editing, and a 2GB SD card for up to 1 hour of video recording time. And the Q3 will also accept up to 32GB SDHC cards for a staggering 16 hours of moviemaking! Zoom Q3 Handy Video Audio Recorder Features Built-in stereo condenser microphones with X/Y configuration for true stereo imaging Get up to 1 hour of video with bundled 2GB SD card Accepts up to a 32GB SDHC card for 16 hours of recording time Large 2.4 inch LCD display with a resolution of 320 x 240 Video resolution of 640 x 480 at 30 frames/sec Video Format: MPEG-4 SP NTSC / PAL TV output Optics Lens Type: Fixed Focus (0.8m to infinity) Audio formats with video include 44.1/48kHz 16/24-bit Linear PCM WAV or MP3 up to 320kbps Audio only formats include 96kHz 16/24-bit Linear PCM WAV Auto Record Level automatically adjusts audio levels during recordings Uses two standard AA batteries or NiMH rechargeable batteries USB 2.0 with built-in cable Windows and Mac OS compatible Built-in speaker and tripod mount Includes on-board editing software, YouTube uploader software, Apple Quicktime, TV cable, softcase, windscreen, 2GB SD card, two AA Batteries Actual display 320 x 240 pixel resolution Cutting Room and Distribution Included When your shoot is com

Price: $374.99

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The Amazing Technology of Online Backup

As a typical college student, my hard-earned money has bought me some of the high-tech gadgets that make life truly possible during the grueling higher-education years. My gorgeous, brand-new digital camera happens to be one of my favorites (right up there along with my blackberry phone and iPod touch). I take the camera nearly everywhere I go, capturing anyone and anything I find even remotely hilarious, poignant, or picture-worthy. My laptop is brimming with these touching moments, friendly gatherings, and scenic landscapes.

Now, we all know that computers are vulnerable to failure, for any number of reasons, whether technologically-induced or human error. All of my priceless photos, along with music I have collected for years and important personal and school documents, could be a gone in a flash if my hard drive were to fail, or otherwise "malfunction." Such loss of electronic documents may not be predictable, but you can certainly take precautionary measures just in case.

I have found that tangible backup solutions are not very practical, at least in my case. Compact discs are not an option (just look at my music CDs) since they easily scratch and can even begin to deteriorate after just a few years. External hard drives are not a bad idea, but they tend to be a little pricy for this college student on a rather tight budget. Plus, neither of these solutions are completely safe, especially if they are stored in the same area or near vicinity to the original hard drive; fire, theft, flood, or other catastrophe could easily take out the second copies just as quickly as the original.

After doing my homework, I found that the most economical and sensible option is remote online backup: web-based services that will automatically backup applications on your PC. All you really need is a broadband connection. You simply select the applications you want backed up, and the program will regularly update everything you have chosen, all in the background without interfering with your use, while the computer is in sleep or standby mode. It also is extremely affordable. Many online backup services offer low monthly fees, often for unlimited backup. It truly is the most practical, affordable, secure, and cheap way to safely backup, at least for this college student.

http://www.mozy.com

Sony Ericsson W850i: Listen Music, Talk and Do More

This time, to deliver more for the music lovers, the Sony Ericsson has come up with Sony Ericsson W850i, which is a 3G Walkman music player. Just slide the phone with just a little push and see the amazing phone features. Do not stop here, just turn this little device around and view the camera. Undoubtedly, the Sony Ericsson W500i has really brought a revolution in the ecstatic world of music.

Truly an aesthetically designed piece of mobile art, the handset comes in sleek, elegant and compact 2-inch colour screen. Just touch the mobile surface and you will feel the hairs rising because of the softness of the Sony Ericsson W850i. Just take a look and you would find many things yet to explore in your very own the Sony Ericsson W850i. To do more there are certain dedicated keys for all applications whether you want web or music access.

The Sony Ericsson W850i gives you an opportunity to grab all those moments and to retain them for the rest of your lives. This little gizmo is equipped with an in-built 2.0-mega pixels camera with an easy horizontal user interface and 4x digital zoom. Well, the second camera is used for video calling. So, just click and store all those treasured memories with the help of Sony Ericsson W850i.

Whenever you want that larger than life musical experience then rely on your very own the Sony Ericsson W850i handset. Specially built Stereo handset is supported by 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, which can store up to 1000 songs. To do more with music, you can easily transfer songs by using the USB cable, which can be connected with your phone via a PC. To explore more about the current music, you can check out online music store with the help of the Sony Ericsson W850i, as it has a direct link to an online music store. Besides, the PlayNow service would allow you to download new cool games, videos, and loads of other things.

When it comes to technology, the Sony Ericsson W850i Black is supported by tri-band technology, which is capable for easy telephony and fast downloads. For more, you can connect the Sony Ericsson W850i through the Internet. So, just browse the Internet to avail whatever you want. With so much to offer, the Sony Ericsson W850i is really a cool phone.

Andrena Markley is the webmaster of additnow.co.uk and deals in all kind of contract mobile phone deals. To get the updated information on contract deals with latest mobile phones visit the site. For information on Sony Ericsson W850i and Sony Ericssion P990i visit the site.

Using Online Dating Technology

Technology has improved the way that people communicate. But if you are interested in online technology you should be aware of how to use online dating technology properly.

Before you use online dating technology you should consider respecting your partner. However, you should be sure that your messages to someone you are interested in do not interfere too much with that person's life. While the Internet is becoming more accessible in many places, you don't want to bother that person all of the time with online dating technology. After all, your partner has a life too.

Email is one of the most common parts of it. It allows for privacy and an ability to send messages as long as needed. While this is useful, you will also need to be sure that you don't go overboard with what you send.

You can send online cards or messages with color, music or other forms of media. These multimedia messages can be personalized in some cases too. Also, since the online card will have your message, name and email address on it the card will not be read as spam by another person's email service, so the online card can be sent with ease.

Text messaging and online instant messaging are popular forms of online dating technology. You can always send a quick, small message to your partner, but just be sure that you do not overdo it. Your partner will be turned off if you are being a pest.

Pictures have been used for relationships for years, and they can still be used today. Many email servers allow for you to send pictures in emails to others, and digital cameras are allowing for pictures to be edited on personal computers with ease. You can also take a picture of yourself with something that your partner will appreciate, like flowers, a stuffed doll or even a souvenir of a sports team you and your partner like.

In some cases pictures can be found on news sites or stock footage sites that offer free photos for use. This makes it easier to get online dating technology to work for you at a better rate, as you will have the materials that you want to send to someone easily. Many websites even allow you to send pictures directly from the site to a recipient.

While technology is becoming more common, it doesn't have to make dating harder. Online dating technology can help you to get your love to see your appreciation and respect. Email, text messages and picture sending are popular methods of how it is being used today. Be sure to consider these online dating technology methods for your relationship, as you can make it better with them.

Milos Pesic is a dating expert who has helped hundreds of people find their perfect match. He runs a popular and comprehensive Online Dating web site. For more articles and resources on free online dating, online dating tips and services, dating advice and much visit his site at: http://dating.need-to-know.net/

The business case for Facebook, in one sentence

What is the most-debated question in social media today?  One candidate is, “Should my company have a Facebook page?”

The tension comes from several angles. It could be due to:

The company is not culturally-ready to deal with comments from real people.The company has whacked-out expectations about how sales will increase once they have a Facebook page.Their social media guru, Timmy from Accounting, has set their marketing strategy.They are doing it because their kids told them it would be cool.

So how do you decide if a Facebook page should be a priority for your company?  Here is the business value proposition for Facebook in one sentence:

“Come waste time with me.”

Think about it.  The overwhelming reason people go to Facebook is to waste time playing Farmville, watching funny videos, or catching up on the details of friend’s lives.  Your life does not depend on Facebook.  It’s entirely incremental activity.

So, do you have a business that people want to waste their time with?  If you are Disney, the answer is probably yes.  If you are selling ball bearings to Ford Motor Company, well … probably not.

Here are examples of organizations that would be fun to waste time with:

Companies that provide humorous, entertaining,interactive, news-worthy, interesting, and/or educational content.Beloved brands that have passionate “fans” outside of social media like Coca-Cola, BMW, universities, charities, sports teams, or the neighborhood pizza joint.Brands that allow you some exclusive access, deal, discount, contest, or benefit from being on Facebook.Companies that interact with you in a unique and personal way.

Now of course there are exceptions, but I think as a general rule, keeping this business case in mind will be a pretty good predictor of a company’s ability to connect with people on Facebook.

Marketing through Facebook is difficult. People go to there to AVOID your sales pitches and ads. They immerse themselves in Facebook to escape. So to the extent that you can help them do that, you will have success.

I’m not saying that even the ball bearing company couldn’t have some benefit from being on Facebook. It doesn’t really hurt anything as long as it doesn’t distract you from real value-adding work.  But when your boss is pressuring you because nobody has “liked” her civil engineering firm, you can simply challenge her by saying, “we’re a great firm, but probably not a company people want to waste their time with.”

… Unless of course you can make it that way!

What do you think?  Does this fit for you or have you had another experience?

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Twitter is dying—and it’s all your fault

By Neicole Crepeau, Contributing {grow} Columnist

I’m going to get flak for this post, but I don’t care.

I’m so frustrated that I have to write something. I love Twitter.  It’s my main social media outpost, my main information source, and where I connect with a lot of my friends. But Twitter is dying, and it’s all because of you.

Tribes are killing Twitter

I’m a content curator and I spend time every morning reading content and sharing the best of what I find that day, on topics like social media, technology, marketing, and website and mobile design. I look first to Feedly where I can review the latest posts from the bloggers I trust. Then I go to a Twitter List of my favorite Tweeps.

That’s where the problem is. It’s been happening for a while, but today it really drove me crazy. Three tweeps shared the same post with the same title. It sounded like a useful article, but when I clicked to read it, the content was actually mediocre and not very readable.

Continuing to scan my Twitter stream, I kept see the same posts, each tweeted by several people. They weren’t great posts that were being shared because they were uncommonly good. They were average posts being shared because these folks are in the same tribe as the author.

Spam, spam, and more spam 

When I first started curating content, I used LinkedIn groups as a source. It took a lot of work to comb through the discussions and find good content. Too often, a headline looked good, but the article behind it was junk.

Later, I added Twitter to the mix. I had better success with Twitter as it was faster to scan the stream and the content shared on Twitter was much better. Over the years, I created a list of other curators who regularly shared good links. Eventually, I abandoned LinkedIn.

In the last six months or so, I’ve seen the quality of the content being shared on Twitter drop dramatically.  While it’s still easier to scan the stream than use other social networks, too often clicking a link leads to junk–or at least subpar content.

It’s become a big spam-fest on Twitter.  I find myself going back to LinkedIn and also using Google Plus. I’m thinking that I may try to use Facebook more or a third-party tool like Alltop.

You’re part of the problem

I know I’m not alone.  I’ve heard you out there complaining about the same thing. Let’s be clear. If you think there’s too much spam, too much arbitrary link-sharing on Twitter, and you’re using a tool like Triberr to auto-tweet links yourself, then you’re being hypocritical. You’re part of the problem.

We all want traffic to our blog, preferably traffic consisting of our target audience. We’re all busy and find it hard to juggle maintaining a presence Twitter, so auto-tweeting seems like a good option. But it’s not. It’s just turning Twitter into a big blogger ad-space.

We are part of the Twitter ecosystem. We get value from promoting our content on Twitter, among other uses of it. But being part of the ecosystem means we also must protect that ecosystem by being responsible about our use of Twitter. The consequence of not being responsible is that Twitter will become less useful, lose users, and therefore stop being valuable for us, too. If you continue to contribute to the problem, you have only yourself to blame when Twitter is no longer viable.

Prisoner’s Dilemma

I don’t really expect you’ll quit, though. It’s a prisoner’s dilemma situation. Everyone else is doing it, so if you don’t, you’re missing the boat. We’ve seen this story play out before in many different venues.

Which is why I’m hoping the jailor is going to step in and solve the prisoner’s dilemma. The best solution would be if Twitter banned auto-tweeting. I’m not talking about scheduled tweets here. It’s a very different thing for you to manually schedule a tweet. You have to make an effort, and if you’re taking the time to schedule the sharing of a link, you’ve probably read the content you’re sharing. The same is true if you’re using a tool like Triberr in manual mode, where you have to approve the share.

I’m talking about auto-tweeting, where an application shares links on your behalf without you having to manually do anything. I’m really, really hoping that Twitter figures out what is happening and bans third-party apps that auto-tweet. After all, Twitter has the most to lose from the practice of flooding streams.

Twitter doesn’t have a good track record of seizing opportunities or identifying and responding to problems. But it’s in their best interest to not let Twitter become a spam-playground. So I hope they will take action this time. It’s also in your best interests. So here’s hoping you’ll help the ecosystem. Take a positive action. Turn off auto-tweeting and tell your fellow tweeps that you’re #notautotweeting.

Neicole Crepeau a blogger at Coherent Social Media and the creator of CurateXpress, a content curation tool. She works at Coherent Interactive on social media, website design, mobile apps, & marketing. Connect with Neicole on Twitter at @neicolec

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The Digital Camera-A Better Way to share photo's

The rise of the digital camera came just in time. With the increasing mobility of the population, families and friends are often separated by many miles and the ability to share photos can help to cover the distance. For many of us share a traditional photo album is not a possibility during printing and mailing photos can slow and expensive. With a digital camera, and in some case even with a film camera there are hosts of other electronic means for sharing images easily and almost instantaneously with others.

Email

Most of us have at least one e-account, so for both the sender and the receiver, this often is a convenient way of sharing photos online. For those with a slower connection, this may require a little more time, however, and there is a need to view files in many cases due to the large file size for photos and video compress.

Windows XP and Apple iPhoto are examples of two common products that allows users to easily compress and then to send photos via email. Many of the major players in the camera industry also provide software and services to help with this. For example, HP Photosmart share offers to assist in downloading and emailing pictures. The service also allows users to produce print.

Building a Web album or PhotoBlog

There are many tools online to allow users to build their own Web pages and Web sites; many of them on minimal to no cost. One example is freewebs.com. Once a site is set up, with family and friends an album just be directed to the Web address of the site or the specific page where the photos are posted. In some cases, a guest book to invite viewers to add comments. Favorite photos from printing these pages is really not part of the package.

Photo logs are often used by those who have a tendency to photos on a regular basis. Most of the large internet services such as Yahoo, Google, AOL and MSN offer the possibility to in photos from a camera or mobile phone in galleries or PhotoBlogs. The pictures can contain comments from the poster, as well as the visitors on the blog in many cases. Blogger is a free service, but many others such as fotolog.com and my-expression.com are also available and affordable.

Photo Sharing Sites

For those who want to offer more functionality, photo-sharing sites many types of services. Some offer the possibility to order prints, photo printing, produce holiday cards, and the addition of text, music, the production of slide shows and voice captions in addition to offering standard albums or galleries. Some of these same sites accept video photo submissions and can host exhibitions and competitions.

Flicker and Shutterfly are two well know sites and most of the major names in the industry as well as offer their own galleries; such as KodakEasyShareGallery.com and NikonNet.com. A quick search on sharing photos will result in countless options like smugmug.com, funtigo.com, fotki.com and webshots.com. Some online photo-sharing sites offer users the ability to download and store an unlimited number of photos of their camera or mobile phone, while others cap the storage space available. Prices range from free to as high as a few hundred dollars a year so a bit of shopping is required to the wanted features at an affordable price.

Camera owners now have more than one choice in sharing their photos on line that are both affordable and simple. While parts prints and photos stored on CD/DVD still great options, online share a directness and creativity that this more traditional formats will not start.

The author, Christine Peppler, encourages readers for http://www.homemedias.info a visit to its Internet Web site for more information camera about how to purchase a or other device of home electronics.

Instagram v2.0.1 adds features and corrects changed filters

Instagram has updated its image effects/sharing app, adding features and adjusting two filters to look more like their version 1 equivalents. Instagram 2.0.1 offers the chance to add geotags images taken from your photo library or on your phone camera. This information is only kept on on your high-res files, not the shared version. The Earlybird and Brannan filters have also been tweaked to look more like the original versions, in response to user feedback. The update is available for download immediately.

Press Release:

Good news! Instagram v2.0.1 is now available in the App Store! This release is a minor update from 2.0 that fixes many of the main issues that users reported, but also includes some big new features as well:

Better Location Support for Photos

We’ve heard loud and clear that users want better location support in Instagram. Today, we’re releasing two major upgrades to location support:

1) Photos imported from your library 

When you import a photo from your library to share on Instagram, we’ll suggest a list of places near where the photo was taken (if location was recorded at the time of taking). Here’s an example of how this works:

Take a photo of the Eiffel Tower in ParisFly home to New York CityIn NYC, import your Eiffel Tower photo to InstagramTap on “Where?” to choose a location for the photoThe locations will list the Eiffel Tower and other nearby places in Paris

2) Photos taken in Instagram

When you take a photo with Instagram, we’ll save the location information in the original and filtered files of your photo on your phone. How this works:

Take a photo in InstagramUpload the photoThe high-res version of the photo is saved to your camera roll with geo information

This means you can use a service like Apple’s Photo Stream to browse all your high-resolution Instagram photos on a world map. Currently, we do not send this information with images you upload, though this may change in the future. Read more about how this feature works in our help center.

Revamped Earlybird and Brannan Filters

Beginning in v2.0, the Earlybird and Brannan filters were accidentally altered. Thanks to the sharp eye of many of you we were able to catch this quickly. We’ve completely re-written the filters to act much more like the originals. Although we altered some filters intentionally, we’ve heard feedback on some filters (like Toaster) and are working hard on bridging the gap between old and new versions of these filters. We appreciate all the feedback we’ve received on filters – we’re excited to improve on and introduce new filters in future releases.

Tilt-shift has softer cutoff

We noticed the blur on tilt-shift in v2.0 was more intense when applied after capture. In v2.0.1, we’ve made the tilt-shift preview consistent between screens and less intense.  We still have a bit of work ahead of us before tilt-shift is perfect, but we are planning on releasing another update after this one to address those issues.

Tap to choose filters

We heard feedback from users that the filter picker in v2.0 made it difficult to compare between filters. In this release, you can just tap on a filter to select it, the same way you had in previous versions. The filter picker no longer has infinite scroll.

Fix for sending filter information to third-party sites

When you view your photos on third-party sites such as web.stagram.com, you’ll be able to see what filter was used on the photo

Bug fix for black images

We fixed a bug where tilt-shifted photos would upload as black squares. If you continue to see this problem please let us know.

Save filter photo bug fixed

We fixed a bug where filtered photos would fail to save to the camera library even when the “save filtered photo” setting was turned on. 

Other small bug fixes and improvements

Go here to download the update

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Save Money And Find Free Stuff Online

With Christmas just around the corner it's probably not surprising that there are a lot of people trying to make their money last throughout the festive season. Not only are there the gifts to think about, but also the odd party and food requirements, often extended travel plans and other bits and pieces that seem to crop up at this time of year. It's at this time we often turn to the internet to try and find some ways to make our money go further.

When it comes time to think of gifts for your family and loved ones you often really can't go past something that is handmade or at least shows you put more than a passing thought into it. The beauty of this type of gift though, is often the price, you can usually create something that won't cost you a cent or if it does it's minimal, yet it's something you know the receiver of the gift is going to love for years.

For example many people nowadays have digital cameras and keep a wide selection of their favourite photos on their computers or on a disc but never actually get around to printing them out. So the only time they can really view them is when the computer is on. Now with a variety of free programs you can find online there are quick and easy ways you can take those digital photos, add a bit of music, sort them into chapters and transfer them onto DVD. By creating a photo DVD you can use all your own (and other family members) photos you have stored and make as many copies of the DVD as you want this can be a great Christmas gift idea for grandparents and other family members. Of course you can also use it to put those embarrassing photos of your child onto DVD to share on their 21st birthday.

That's not all you can turn to the internet for when it comes to great free or cheap gift ideas. Many stores for example will give away free samples of a huge variety of products; you could build up a selection of these samples to create a themed gift basket or to fill out your Christmas Stockings etc.

Searching the net may also prove useful when it comes to saving money on certain products; while most know about eBay and other similar auction sites where you will often come across a good deal, there's also plenty of other sites that offer coupons or special deals if you participate in a certain offer or fulfil specified requirements.

The bottom line is that when it comes to your money and the festive season it may not be as bleak as you first thought, you just need to be prepared to take a look around; you never know what cool deal, freebie or homemade gift idea you might come across.

Please visit Vanessa if you'd like some other free gift ideas at online freebies where we do the searching for you. You'll find a wide variety of free products and samples from free stuff for your pets to beauty samples and everything in between.

The Digitally Elite Sony Ericsson K530i

The K530i mobile widget comes with the dimensions of 102mm in height, 46mm in width, 14mm in depth and a feather weight of 92 grams. These easy dimensions make this phone extremely handy. The phone has a spacious 2 inches TFT colour screen that presents a lively interplay of 256K colours with a high resolution pixels combination of 176 x 220 pixels. These display features power-pack this mobile phone to deliver a seamless world class viewing experience. The phone comes with a flight mode feature that enables the users to make optimum use of non-transmitted features from restricted areas such as a hospital or a plane. The K530i is a Tri-band network phone which works smoothly with the following network frequencies of GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900. Some of the distinguishing features of this phone include:

Memory: The Sony Ericsson K530i mobile phone comes with 16 M bytes of internal memory that can be extended up to a capacity of 1 GB with the aid of a Micro M2 memory stick.

Connectivity: This mobile widget offers world class connectivity services with the aid of a number of cellular technologies like the GPRS, HSCSD and the 3G that offers 384 k bps. These functionalities enable high speed data transfer and better Internet connectivity options. The v2.0 Bluetooth with A2DP, v2.0USB port, modem and Synchronisation PC are some of the other connectivity features that speed up quicker transfer of data files. Time and again, the end users of this phone have widely appreciated these connectivity features.

Camera: This smart Sony Ericsson K530i phone comes with an exemplary built-in 2 mega pixels digital camera with 1600x1200 pixels, video; secondary video call camera This camera comes installed with a screen view finder and offers the Picture blogging and Picture editing services. The camera is studded full of easy -to-use settings and digital functionalities. These features enable the end users to capture crystal clear and well defined picture images of high resolution. The camera's 2.5 x zoom feature enables the users to focus closely on the subject. What's even better is the provision of storing photographs on to the phone's internal memory. The users of this phone can share these snapshots with their family and friends. They can even delete unwanted snapshots, or post these snaps on to a blog site. This camera feature is digitally equipped for the purpose of video streaming and recording video clippings and footages. The users of this mobile phone can enjoy the video streaming feature with effortless ease.

Internet Browser: The privileged users of this Sony Ericsson mobile can use the Access NetFront Web browser that comes pre-installed to surf the World Wide Web for collecting required information or to buy music or even games from Online shopping portals that deal in music and games. This phone comes integrated with a RSS feeds feature that enables the users of this phone to collect the latest updates from their favorite websites on to this mobile handset. This Internet friendly K530i mobile phone comes with a built in 2.0 version XHTML WAP browser that is geared to offer the world class Internet surfing experience to the users whilst they remain on the move.

Hence, the users of this mobile phone can enjoy unlimited mobile Internet surfing service on this elegantly designed Sony Ericsson K530i mobile. This 3G compatible phone enables the users to access high speed broadband Internet connectivity, video streaming, quick email messaging service not forgetting the highly popular 3G video calling communication service. The phone's 3G video calling enables people to enjoy a face to face live conversation even when they are staying in distant geographic areas.

Raina Kelsey is an expert author. He has written articles on Sony Ericsson mobiles.

What to Do With Your Digital Pictures

Pictures are priceless! And with families and friends usually spread far apart in terms of geography, pictures are the way to keep up with the latest news. With digital photography, you can see the new baby in the family, check out the latest fencing project that Uncle Jeff finished and see where Grandma is spending her summer vacation.

It used to be that when you took a picture, you wouldn't develop any pictures until the roll of film was full. Then, the development process meant visiting a local photo shop, waiting a week for development and getting prints back. Sharing these prints usually involved the US Mail or a personal visit. The options today are so much more user-friendly and you can pick the one that fits you and your sharing needs best!

The key to understanding options is to understand that there are very few rules anymore. You can take just one picture before "developing", you can crop and remove redeye yourself or you can merge pictures together. But before getting into advanced options, let's review some of the basic options for sharing your precious photographs.

Special Delivery!

You can still hand-deliver those photos today, but the options for doing so have increased ten-fold. You can now print digital pictures from your home computer whenever it's convenient for you. Some of the other options include taking your camera memory (check the user's manual) into a local super center or pharmacy chain. These stores usually have photo kiosks where you can insert your memory, select your print option and place your order. You can usually get calendars, postcards, shirts or cups with your pictures on them if you'd like.

Or you can create a collage of pictures and load to a CD. The software that came with your camera should have instructions on how to copy the pictures from your camera to your PC. Then follow the instructions with your picture software to create your collage and copy to disk. This option is especially helpful when you want to share the pictures with a larger group of people, such as an entire Pee Wee football team or all of the cousins who show up at the family reunion.

Upload and share

There are so many photo sharing sites available that it's oftentimes hard to choose among the options. However, for those who are somewhat new to digital photography, these are a few of the free sites that make it easy on the new user, but still provide a bevy of choices and options:

Shutterfly. This site has earned rave consumer reviews. It has free unlimited storage of pictures and when sharing the pictures, also allows for users to add comments! What's great with this site is that it allows you to create keepsake photo books and all types of printing options including picture borders, cards or photo gifts. The biggest drawback is that the only pickup option when choosing a hard copy print is at a local Target store. Although Target stores are popping up all over, there are still many places in the US that don't have a Target for miles! However, Shutterfly does provide mailing options.
Flickr. Flickr is another great online photo management and sharing application. Show off your favorite photos to the world, securely. Easily upload, organize, join groups, and discuss photos from all over the world. Also create books, prints, cards, calendars, and more from your pictures.
Picasa. Most users rate this site very high as it's easy to use and, after loading your pictures onto your PC, it sometimes only takes one click to upload to the web. It's easy to organize pictures into photo albums, share with as many or as few people as you wish and do some basic photo edits. The only drawback is that you have to download the proprietary software, so if you are someone who doesn't like to download software from the web, this option may not be for you.
Kodak Gallery. Of course, what option for sharing photos would be complete without Kodak being involved somehow? Kodak provides some great options that go beyond just sharing the photos online. You can order prints, edit photos, share photos and organize in albums. Some of the user options at Kodak Gallery do involve a subscription and of course, hard copy prints cost money. The option where the new shutterbug can create their own webpage featuring their own pictures is really neat and easy to use. One drawback to this service is that for anyone to view your pictures, they must also have a login to the site. So sharing is not just as easy as just sending a link.
Snapmor. This site is a little different from the rest. It allows you to create digital slideshows from your photos. Just upload your pictures, and they weave them together with music and dynamic transition effects into a really interesting way of sharing photos. Your photo slideshow "movies" will be put onto a DVD, which makes it really easy and convenient to enjoy, since you can just watch it on your TV. It's truly amazing what an effect adding music to your photos has. It must be tried to be appreciated.

Print out for pickup

Just about anyplace nowadays that still develops rolls of film will also have an option for printing your digital photos. Other options for printing out pictures include publishing stores and pharmacy chains. Check out their online store and look for the option that links you to their photo center.

This is a great option when someone you love doesn't have a computer or really just likes having the picture in her own hand. You can upload your pictures and instead of picking your local store for pickup, choose the store closest to your loved one. This is more like the old-time process of getting your pictures developed and mailing them out, but eliminates several inconvenient steps.

Just try it out

The greatest aspect about digital photography is that no one has to be a professional to take or share great pictures! Just keep your camera on and snap pictures until your memory chip is full. If a picture is truly bad, just delete it and take some more until you get the one you want. If a picture is close enough to being good, but is off-center or has a strange background, just perform some edits to change the background or center the faces. Then get ready to share with all your loved ones.

For friends and loved ones who are computer savvy, impress them with your ability to create beautiful photo albums. Enter captions and share with all of them, no matter how far away they live. For family at Christmas, create personalized albums or calendars as a fancy stocking stuffer. And for those who love to frame pictures or create scrapbooks, order some prints for them and let them be surprised when the prints show up at their front door! Check out your options and find the one that's right for you!

Jason Kay recommends you consider making extra money by selling your photos. One way to do this is by entering a photo contest.

Online Video - The Killer Marketing Weapon

My first encounter with online video was in 1997 at a trade show in London. A large grey mysterious box named a 'streaming encoder' was being demonstrated to a handful of passers-by and it was, we were told, going to take-off in a big way, most likely for creating pay-per-view music events via the Internet. To the left of their box sat a video recorder playing out a concert performance, to the right was a Windows NT workstation showing the exact same concert after it had passed through the box and been fed over a 56kb/s dial-up connection. The quality of the video and audio was horrendous, no where near a standard that anyone could view for an extended period, let alone pay to receive. No one I knew associated the Web with viewing videos in any case, so it felt like an iffy delivery medium aimed at a non-existent audience. I took a brochure and moved on.

Forward to 2005, YouTube launched, its growth enhanced by fast unmetered Broadband access which was becoming commonplace. Audiences viewing online video grew exponentially, as did the numbers of individuals creating and uploading their own video content or sharing video via social networks. Statistics generated by this activity are being published continually, and they are getting ever more difficult to get my head around. By 2014 Cisco estimates that 90% of all Internet traffic will be video; hardly surprising as YouTube alone intakes 100 years of video every day - no, that isn't a typo - end to end it would take 100 years to watch all of the video which is uploaded to the site each and every day, and whilst it is the largest, YouTube is far from being the only video portal on the Internet.

Businesses are finally beginning grasp the fact that online video is now one of the largest marketing opportunities ever. This is especially good news for startups as it is a medium where great creativity doesn't necessarily demand a huge budget. Furthermore if you involve and excite your target audience they will further distribute your content for you. Indeed, many niche startup businesses have become some of the leading exponents of the medium, often using it as their sole marketing activity. I spoke with Jordan Harbinger, co-founder of New York and LA-based startup 'The Art of Charm, Inc.', a business that teaches men advanced social skills and dating science. Jordan uses YouTube video and podcasting as the only form of marketing for the business, which now has revenues in excess of $1m. Jordan explains, "The company started in a friend's basement as a podcast show and quickly grew into a coaching business that now teaches men from all over the world how to improve their charisma and self-confidence. Our podcast now receives well over 1,000,000 downloads". Rick Mathieson, author of 'The On-Demand Brand', writes "When you create something that's so inherently targeted to a core user group, and that they can directly influence, they become evangelists on behalf of the video and the brand".

Barbara Crowley is the founder of Snabbo.com, a social network for baby-boomers. Snabbo.com wished to leverage pressure coming from kids who disliked the notion of their 'embarrassing' parents joining them on Facebook. Crowley commissioned a viral video targeted at this Facebook crowd. The two minute viral arguably has many of the characteristics of an expensive agency-led campaign, but was in fact the product of filming some simple yet very entertaining scenarios, "We recruited actresses to audition via word of mouth at a local theatre school. We filmed with under-cover cameras and the crew was just myself, writers and producers Brian Dunaway and David Bartholow, and actress Gina Roberts" Crowley explains. "The tangible benefits we have reaped from the video has been increased membership, driven by the kids of the demographic we are targeting. Having an ad on more traditional media may have given exposure to the site, but it would have cost an arm and a leg at a time when we are just starting out with this endeavor".

Central to all of this is one key question, a tough question, which must be asked before embarking on any video production aimed at promoting your business on the Web, "Why on earth would anyone want to watch this?" If the honest answer is "I don't know" then you need to return to the drawing board. Faris Yakob is Chief Innovation Officer at agency network MDC Partners, "The internet is the great dis-intermediator, it connects everything else... previously mass media aggregated attention and brands bought it. To earn your own attention you have to do things, create content, that people actually elect to spend time with". In other words if people wouldn't watch it out of choice - they more than likely won't watch it at all. Jordan Harbinger backs this view regarding The Art of Charm Inc's marketing, "We do use Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about our videos and media, however the subject matter itself is pretty juicy so people tend to spread it on their own. The fact that the podcast now has a large audience of loyal fans doesn't hurt either, but that has all developed organically over time". In exactly the same way that brands do not get built overnight an online video strategy has to take a medium-term view, and real persistence, whilst trying to grow a following; as Rick Mathieson points out in his book, "Viral isn't a strategy, it's an outcome".

One business which strives to achieve viral outcomes is New York's Lucky Viral Branded Content, a hybrid agency and production company based in Brooklyn. I spoke to Mary Crosse at Lucky and she talked me through the methods employed to try and attain the Holy Grail of 'going viral'. "We partner with companies to seed our videos on the web. You can't just make a video and expect it to go anywhere on its own, you have to actually put together some kind of strategy to seed it. That means getting it to bloggers, and influencers on key social media websites, you need to put it somewhere first, and I think a lot of people forget that part, it's also a lot of work. I think the strategy also depends a lot on the video itself, you don't want to blast a video to inappropriate places, depending on what the video is about you want to get it on blogs related to that kind of content, and develop relationships with them". This seems to be an element of video marketing campaigns which many businesses fail to follow through on, either themselves or through third-party agencies; Mary adds, "It seems like a lot of clients don't really want to pay for seeding, it is another cost in addition to production but I think that when they see how much more success they get with seeding it is actually what makes the production worthwhile". Lucky's team has an enviable track record in creating top-flight videos for some of America's largest multinationals, and many large businesses outside of the US. I asked whether the common perception of online video as being able to get away with cheap and cheerful appearances still held true. "I think many forget that a production is a production, no matter where it ends up you still have to pay your crew, you still have equipment, you still have editing and all the costs that go into production whether it's on TV or on the Web; where you're saving money is in the media platform, you're not paying for commercial airtime. Sure, on the web you might still be paying for seeding and digital PR but it's nowhere near the cost of what a TV commercial would be in terms of media placement, but yes a lot of people think that because it's on the web the quality should be less, and should cost less - I think it's changing though, a lot of the big viral videos now are really polished high quality productions, comparing to music videos in terms of costs".

So, by its very nature the Web demands bold content. You can say and do a lot of things online - but boring your audience is never acceptable. As Lucky, Snabbo, The Art of Charm, and countless others demonstrate - no matter what video content you produce, the goal is to forge good quality deep engagements that foster further communication. The purpose of communication is to give and receive information, and the best information is that which fosters further communication. Get all that right, get your viewers on your side, and video marketing could just be the most powerful sales tool in your armory.

Tom Mountford is the Senior Editor at The JMS Group, a UK production company whose expertise spans Online Video Marketing, Advertiser Funded Programming and Television and Radio Advertising. You can see examples of their work, and get in touch with them at http://www.jms-group.com and also follow Tom's Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/jmsgroup

Online Shopping - The Best Place to Buy PC Components and Laptops

The Internet is no longer a niche technology. It is evolving into a platform where the end user is the king. The interactive power of this technology is far greater than any other media, and hence its success.

Today there is no part of life that is left untouched by the internet. Of the many changes that have been ushered into our lives at the click of the mouse, online shopping is a phenomenon that is fast catching up with all.

As our lives become busier and complicated, the world is witnessing more and more consumers turn to the convenience of the Internet when it comes to buying electronics and other products.

The possibility of day-to-day money transactions over the internet has turned it into a cheap, convenient and unrivalled source of interest in trade. Consumers who use the internet for many daily transactions, have seen a boost in confidence to use it for their shopping purpose.

Even though the shopping mall culture of direct shopping where you see, touch, debate and haggle over the products and prices is still very much in practice, more and more net savvy consumers are now shifting towards online shopping. To do the necessary purchases form the comfort of one's home, office or cyber cafe and that too from anywhere across the globe, one can buy just about anything from apparel, books, music and diamond jewellery to digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, Laptops, video games, movie tickets, and air tickets.

A staggering 78 per cent of those accessing Internet have used the Internet to make a purchase, with around 55 per cent of them revisiting the site for another purchase due to high satisfaction levels of their online shopping experience. What was at a conceptual stage not very long ago is now hitting mainstream levels.

Online trading platforms have been witnessing their cash registers ringing in the build-up to Christmas season, with electronics topping the list on some online sites. One advantage of going online for your electronic purchases is that there is no need for the touch-feel experience associated with direct shopping.

Almost all electronic equipment that are on sale for the online consumer are well reviewed by experts as well as the users and the accessibility to a wide range of comparable information online provides the prospective consumer with ample insight into the product of choice and would sure help in making a decision.

There are hundreds of online forums that promote feed back from customers regarding products and services, which are made use of by online consumers before they decide on buying a product. First time online shoppers usually start with low value items such as books and CDs and when they gain in confidence, they gradually move on to jewelry and electronic home appliances.

New players have also arrived and have started leveraging the platform to best use, capturing the online shoppers with discounts unseen in the high street, service levels which are hard pushed to beat and huge ranges of products from hundreds of different manufacturers.

The author of this article has great knowledge about Laptops. He has written many articles on Online Shopping [https://www.pricelover.com/subcat/159/Laptops/Sony-Laptops/]. This article is an excellent example for his knowledge.

Sony Satio - The Great Camera Phone

Sony Satio is a wonderful camera phone which allows you to take great quality pictures and record perfect videos other than serving as a communication device. Its 12 mega pixel camera serves you in a great way and you can do great photography by means of this wonderful phone. For the lovers of photography, this camera phone is nothing less than a blessing. It provides you with a wonderful camera which is perfect for taking pictures and videos in all light conditions. It allows you to take 4000 X 3000 pixels resolution pictures which is certainly great for still photos.

Sony Satio has scores of great camera features including 16x digital zoom, smile detection, face detection, auto flash etc. all these features makes it an excellent camera phone which can meet all your needs pertinent to photography. You can take great pictures from far away as well using its zooming function which is simply outstanding. The 9 pictures in a second features is also a great features which makes this device a must for any photography enthusiast.

Sony Satio has lots of other latest features which make it a great mobile phone as well. Its music player has a great quality and a number of formats which allow you to keep your favorite music close to you all the time. The wide screen of this phone also makes it very easy for you to navigate and view pictures easily. It has 128MB inbuilt memory and also an 8GB memory card which provides you with sufficient memory space to store as much data as you wish.

Another great thing about your Sony Satio is that it provides you with internet facilities at its best. All the latest technologies including wifi, GPRS, Edge etc. are a part of this phone which provides you with maximum facility to stay online. You can email, chat or surf the net on this phone. It also allows you to upload your pictures online. To discover the world of entertainment and communication just get online and benefit from this great mobile. You will not only love its camera but will fall in love with the design, styles and the other features of Sony Satio as well.

To learn more about Sony Satio please visit http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/

Three Electronic Items That Top the Demand List of Online Customers

It seems that with every turn of your head, one cannot escape the need for all imaginable techie gadgets, this has proportionately affected the growing number of purchases for electronic items via the online selling industry. With the advent of nonstop technological innovations and manufacturers coming up with techie tools for all tasks that we all have to complete, ecommerce has never been this lucrative. Of course, it goes without saying that with a lucrative business industry, a lot of sellers boast of increasing profits.'

This may also explain why there is a big percentage of online sellers who decide to sell electronic items to customers. These sellers are very much aware of the demand for electronic items and the profitability potential of anyone who sells them. In fact, electronic items have now become a staple part of our everyday lives and it has become a need, rather than remaining to be a want. Whether you are working, in school or in business, there will always be a reasonable need for an electronic item. SaleHoo has one of the comprehensive listing of electronic item suppliers with a varied range of items you can choose from while providing excellent service to its members. Let me list down several staple electronic items that are now part of man's needs list, and all of these are available from SaleHoo.

On top of the list are the MP3/MP4 players. This has been in demand by customers of all ages. A lot of people now get a longer stressor list which explains why they need to de-stress in between their daily activities. A big number of players have already been sold and continues to be sold every time a new model, version or style comes out. Second on the list is the thumb or flash drives. At this highly technological age, transfer of information is at a break-neck speed, which creates a need for everyone to have a tool for data transfer ready at all times. Anything that is compatible with a functional computer has been in demand for the past decade and the thumb drive has been one of these great computer accessories. These are used to save or copy files, music or even pictures. It is a portable file document that you can carry around anywhere you go. They now come with all available styles, colors and compact sizes that some people even collect thumb drives. Next on the list are the digital cameras, with a lot of people now taking captive all the places you can easily visit and with all the social networking sites they are joining, posting recently captured pictures is now the latest thing to do to socialize. With all of your network friends who can easily view uploaded pictures, digital cameras have become a hit even for the young customers.

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The SVP Digital Camera Review

With the age of digital imaging, nearly every (shallow water) diver can be involved with underwater photography. This review is of a true beginner camera outfit. The Chinese made, SVP Acqua digital outfit includes the camera system and waterproof case for under $100. There are obvious limitations and we'll cover them in this review.

Don't expect professional results with this camera, but you'll be surprisingly pleased with the versatility this little compact outfit provides. With all the features you'd expect to find in popular brand 'point and shoot' cameras, this compact system will easily fit into your BCD pocket. The specifications are listed after our review comments. Since the factory marketing brochure supplied these, we cannot confirm or dispute them.

First of all, before using this camera... view the enclosed DVD instruction manual provided with the camera. There are many features and settings that you'll need to know before you get out on the water to use your camera system. We've used many different brands and all seem to have some logical settings and some not-so-logical procedures. Like most 'point and shoot' cameras, there is a delay between pushing on the shutter and having the actual shutter operation. After you become familiar with the operation of the camera and the features you're ready for the underwater part.

Like any housing, you need to keep the housing clean and free from sand or grit that could create a leak. Since the main seal is not really an o'ring, I was very careful to clean the surfaces with a cotton tip (Qtip) and apply some o'ring grease to the surface as well as a thin film on the seal itself. The seal is sort of a wedge shape, so it should provide a good positive pressure seal. The clean part is more for all the little control buttons that allow you to change settings of the camera underwater. We'll get into the best settings we found when using the camera underwater.

When they say the housing is good to 15 meters or around 33 feet, they are not lying. Not that we were trying to flood the housing or anything, but at 60 feet the camera is not operational because the pressure is squeezing the controls and shuts the camera off. At 40 feet, you might get the camera to work, but don't count on changing the settings. At 35 feet the camera seems to work fine with all the features and settings operational. For many divers, this will be too limiting because most of your dives will be deeper than 35 feet. However, keep in mind that the red/yellow/orange end of the spectrum is filtered out beyond this depth too.

The camera and housing combination are well matched and easy to operate. With the clear plastic housing, you can easily see the settings on the camera. Like most digital displays certain angles are more difficult to see, but with the proper shading and angle everything is visible on the 2 inch screen. Even though you can change the lens focal length from wide angle to zoom, we kept the setting on wide angle for the dives during the whole process because of the water. Keep this in mind for all underwater photography; stay close to your subject and use the widest angle possible for better results.

For the still shots, the camera was set for the strobe to fire with each shot. This uses up your batteries faster, but if the subject is closer than 8 feet, you'll have better imaging and color. The best results were our macro shots where we set the camera for 'close-up' and used the flash. When using the movie mode, you'll be impressed with the sharpness of the images, but don't expect high quality audio. The housing must absorb a lot of the sound as much of the underwater audio is muted. More than likely, you'll edit with some musical background anyway.

The color balance was a little off. We did change the settings according to the instructions and the results were that the color balance was a little on the blue side for topside shots. This was not an issue for the underwater shots as the greenish tint of the water was eliminated. Most of the color balance issues can be handled in the editing phase.

The claim of being 12.0 mega pixels is a little deceiving because this is the 'hardware interpolation' not the 'image resolution' which is 5.0 mega pixels. All in all, we were not disappointed in the quality results of the better pictures. However, some of the shots showed camera shake even with the built in flash. This means that the shutter does adjust for the amount of light, so it's important to squeeze the cameral and hold it as still as possible.

We used an 8 GB SD card because we expected to take a lot of video and had ample memory space for two dives. We didn't use the provided USB cable because we use a card reader to our laptop and then back up the memory to a portable hard drive. The power source uses two triple A Alkaline Batteries, so it's not a problem having new batteries for each dive. We didn't use the 'voice recorder' feature, but from our underwater video experience, it would not be recommended inside the underwater housing.

Now for the bottom line advice on this gear: If you plan to take your underwater imaging seriously, save your money for a more comprehensive system. This could be the perfect outfit for a sport diver that wants to share their diving experience with their friends and family. For less than $100 (prices range from $70-100), not including your SD Memory card or batteries, it is a value. The SVP cameras are available at some dive shops and are directly marketed from several importers online. The next "point and shoot" underwater outfits, without an external strobe, will most likely cost over $500. So, if you are going on vacation and thinking about having your own digital camera outfit for shallow water, this is the answer. Of course, for around $35 at most diving centers you could rent a camera with everything included. Sometimes the choice is not easy, but you can know a lot more from someone who has tested the SVP out. It is a great still and video camera outfit for around the water and underwater to about 35 feet.

Specifications from the Manufacturer:

· Waterproof design: Don't be afraid to take this Aqua camera to the water-even underwater. The waterproof case will protect this camera to depths of 30 feet.

· Very sleek and small camera design

· Takes Pictures, Video, and Audio Clips with it's built in microphone.

· Resolution sensor gives you the option of taking: 5 MP, 3.1 MP, 1.3 MP, and 300K Resolution Images.

· Takes, 12 and 8 MP pictures through hardware interpolation.

· Movie mode: When a picture isn't enough, shoot 640 x 480 (VGA) video, with sound, at 30 frames per second.

· 2.0" LCD screen: This compact color screen has plenty of room to help you compose your shots.

· Zoom: The 8x digital zoom enlarges pixels to fill the frame with your favorite part of the image.

· Adjustable Flash

· Self timer: 2/10/10+2 Seconds

· Tripod Capabilities

· Onboard White Balance

· Waterproof to 50ft

· 16MP Built in Memory, Takes SD Cards to expand memory.

· Power Source: 2 triple A Batteries

· Time Stamp Options: Off/ Date only/ Date and Time

· Comes with software, hookup via USB 1.1

· Video/TV out supported- Via video out cable.

· Automatic power mode- Prolong batteries life by auto-switching the camera power off.

· Auto Flash, Auto Flash with Red-eye reduction, Slow Sync, Fill-in Flash, Flash off, Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Sunset, Custom etc...

· MULTI-LINGUAL INTERFACE 8 Menu Languages including: English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, T. Chinese, and S. Chinese.

Share your experience with the SVP Digital Camera at: DiveCritic.com Become a member now. Registration is FREE!

Three reasons social media marketing favors small businesses

I’ve spent some time this week attending a few online webinars and catching up on my blog reader and I noticed an interesting trend. The conversations, research, presentations, and case studies focused entirely on large corporations.

For example, I sat through a Forrester presentation on new social web marketing analytics and their ideas on measurement took resources that were way out of reach of the small business owner, meaning … most of us.

Look through the success stories in your blog reader. Nike. Ford. Coca-Cola. And of course the ever-present Zappos. Is anybody paying attention to the little guys?

We keep hearing about the great opportunity for small businesses to “take part in the conversation” but is that really true?  In the daily dogfight for consumer attention, are they being overwhelmed by the big brand mega-productions, online promotions and games?  Are small businesses going to be crowded out by the big chains and big marketing budgets?

No!  It’s time for the small business owner to rise up and embrace the social web!  Local businesses CAN have an advantage through social media for these three reasons:

Local angle — Social media’s greatest power is when it is used in a way that is targeted and local.  I could care less about a tweet from a mega-brand, but I would certainly be interested to get to know a local shop owner in a personal way.

Here’s an example.  I don’t follow Starbucks on Twitter and probably never will. However, I do follow Brian Myers, the owner of JaVerde Coffee here in Knoxville. We became friends over Twitter.  Although his shop is 15 miles from my home, I go out of my way to support his small business entirely because of our personal Twitter connection. That’s how business works!

Personal touch — One time Brian saw this tweet come through: “On my way to JaVerde Coffee but forgot my wallet!”  The shop owner replied, “Come on by, this one is on me.” He just won a customer for life.

Even though companies like McDonalds may fill a room with tweeters, I don’t think they  could ever match the connection and loyalty a local business owner can drive with its customers.  If Bank of America tweets every minute of the day for the rest of my life I am probably never going to connect with a real person.  And for a small business, that is everything.  It’s not just about coupons. It’s about caring.

The ROI advantage — Culturally, I think it is difficult for many large businesses to do anything more than check a box on social media because they expect all the results to be neatly assembled on an Excel spreadsheet or infographic. If you have a moment to spare, I encourage you to watch this three minute news story about a small bakery’s use of Facebook.  Here are some of the social media benefits described in the clip:

Higher customer loyalty/number of visitsHigher rate of spendingFrequent customer connectionA channel for customer serviceEmotional connection to the brandSource for new product ideas and customer polling

Now if a customer provides an idea for a great new pastry, how do you measure that?  I suppose you could create a pie chart.  Pie chart!  Get it?  Oh, never mind.

For a local business using an essentially free social media platform, this list of benefits is pretty impressive.  In fact, it’s revolutionary.

So while small businesses may not be getting the spotlight on the blogosphere, there is no question that, done right, there can be great opportunity in this critical segment of the economy.

What is your experience? Do you have any great case studies from your city you would like to share?

View the original article here

The 4 Golden Rules When Building an Online Email Distribution List

With the boom of the internet, its reach and shear number of globally users, every business, no matter what business you are in, simply can not afford NOT to have some sort of internet marketing strategy.

When it comes to Internet marketing, there are numerous people to learn from and a huge number of things to know, as well as 'insider secrets' that one picks up along the way. However, there are a few key things to be aware of very early when it comes to one fundamental aspect of internet marketing which is building your list.

Many internet marketing gurus agree that one of the single most valuable assets that any person or company can have, especially if they do business online, is an email list. Therefore, knowing the tips and tricks on how to effectively build a list is crucial.

There are 4 'Golden Rules' to be aware of when building a list or creating the webpage that is responsible for creating your list.

1) Create videos instead of text.

Studies have shown that people's information retention rate exponentially increases the more sensory modalities you can incorporate. Therefore, people are much more likely to retain your message if you can include sound, pictures and text rather than just text. Plus, most people prefer to watch a short 3 minute video than read 3 to 4 pages of text.

A video allows you to show people your personality. If you are a little uncomfortable in front of a camera, even if it is a small digital camera - PRACTICE! You'll become more and more confident the more you do it. If videos are not an option for you at all, you don't have to be in front of the camera. You can simply use still pictures or text with a voice over.

Using videos allows you to have a less busy site with fewer words and more pictures. Remember, a confused mind takes no action. So the last thing you want to do is confuse your viewer or bombard them with too much information. However use your discretion. The amount of information should somewhat match the investment you are asking the viewer to make. Obviously you would share more information if you were selling a 7 day $5,000 personal development course than if you were selling a 30 minute MP3 music download for $19.95.

2) Visibility of Opt In Boxes.

The opt in box is one of he most important aspects of capturing the persons details. It is simply the boxes where a person types in their name and/or email address to subscribe to your list. It is recommended to ask for first names as well as emails. It may slightly reduce the number of opt ins you get however the benefit can out weight this when it comes to personalizing your future emails to them by using their first names.

The positioning of the opt in boxes, size, color, format and wording of the click box are all important. It is advisable not to use the click word 'Subscribe'. Most people don't like the idea of subscribing to something since it implies the possibility to junk emails. Use a word that is appropriate for what you and/or your business, product or service is about or what they will be getting once they click. Such as 'YES! I want to Quit', 'Show me now', 'Send my CD's', 'Send my FREE report', YES! keep me posted' etc.

Put the boxes in a highly visible place on your page. Do not put them under the fold. You do not want your viewer to have to scroll down to find your opt in boxes at the bottom of the page.

Remember, you are leading your viewer on a journey so you want to make that as easy and as smooth as possible for them. They have come to your site, attracted by your product or service. You only have a limited amount of time to keep their attention and curiosity. It's up to you to lead them through a process where the buying and/or opt in decision is made simple and easy.

3) Automation.

So someone has put in their name and email, then what? What you want to do now is communicate with them immediately! The best way to do this is via a system of automation. There are a number of email handling tools one can use, often for a small subscription fee. They are however vital in starting to build rapport through contact and this can all be managed through a staggered system of emails being sent to the subscriber.

The beauty of this is obvious, once you have created the templates and determined the time frames for the emails to be sent, it all occurs automatically.

Keep a few things in mind. Try to keep the emails as conversational as possible. People like to feel as though they are being communicated to by a person, not a software package. Write your initial emails in such a way that expresses this, imagine you are literally writing an email to a friend or respected colleague. Even though it may be going out to hundreds or thousands of people, make it personal to that one single subscriber as if you are communicating with them directly, just you and them.

4) TEST TEST TEST

Remember that all of the above is simply a guideline to start with if you're new to this kind of thing. Always remember that different markets will respond slightly differently to different approaches. It's up to you to test different things to see what works best.

Test everything! You may be surprised to discover that what you thought was a minor change, actually made a significant and noticeable difference. Test the font, the size of the text, colors, sounds, pictures, placement of text and pictures, wording etc etc.

Having successfully established a home-based business and attended numerous Internet Marketing courses Nick has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to business establishment and development. He currently helps people quit smoking permanently using a proven sixty minute hypnosis system. He is also one of only two Australians to be personally certified by Michael E Gerber (author of The E-Myth) as a 'Dreaming Room' Facilitator to help aspiring business owners 'awaken the entrepreneurs within'.

Find out more about his system to quit smoking natural (quit cigarettes in sixty minutes guaranteed) in a safe, natural and proven way without patches, pills, gum or medication. He is so confident in this system he offers a unique 100% lifetime guarantee.

Call Nick on 1300-883-272.

Online Shopping a Men's Pastime

Most people are under the impression that men and shopping do not go together. Men hate standing in a queue and hate querying shopkeepers while the women love it. There are many men who would prefer to sit in the car while their partners shop.

However, these days' things have changed. More and more men are enjoying sopping thanks to the Internet. The Internet has become the latest hang out place where men can exchange notes about all kinds of products from magazines to newspapers to even electronics. Items which men are embarrassed to shop for in high street shops can also be bought from the Internet; women's lingerie for example.

What kind of stores do the men frequently search on the net? Let's have a look.

Electronics and gizmos

Men love gizmos and gizmos love them. Statistics reveal that in most families' men shop for the electronics of the house. Men love browsing for stereo systems and home theatres. You would be surprised to know that though men hate searching in stores for bargains, but they love to find them on the online store. Nowadays electronic stores abound with music systems, iPods, DVD and CD players. Branded goods are available at great discounts and most of them are shipped free!

Another product that men love to shop for is video games. Games that are not found in high street stores can be found online. There are great online stores that have popular video games such as Nintendo, XboX360 and PlayStation3. Not just that, the online stores have digital cameras and video cameras at great discount prices. You need a cordless phone for your home or office? Just order it online. You get a whole range of brands, prices, colours and styles to choose from!

Tool shopping online:

Most men pride themselves on being the handyman around the house; they keep their toolboxes with love and care. These days many new types and styles of toolboxes are available online; electronic tools, manual tools, power tools, the range is vast. You can even get tools for gardening and plumbing delivered right to your doorstep! There are tool pouches and toolboxes available online which are compact and easy to use.

Shopping for men redefined

So, who says men don't like to shop? Yes, they hate standing in queues and would definitely not like any one seeing them hunting for those bargain items, however, that does not mean that they don't like to get discounts on an online store. Shopping online is preferred by men since they are not likely to encounter a friend or an acquaintance who would ask them "hey how come you are here?" So, next time you see your guy quietly sitting on the computer and just clicking a few buttons, just peep in, he might be browsing an online store for all you know.

Why just men? Online stores have made life easy for everyone. Whether it's your monthly grocery shops or buying electronics, you can shop for items across the world sitting in the comfort of your home!

Vincent Norman is a freelance writer living in the UK. He regularly contributes articles for The Online Shopping Centre, who offer the best range of online gadget shopping sites.

The Death of Internet Marketing and the Rise of Social SEO

By Robert Dempsey, Contributing {grow} Columnist

Internet marketing as we once knew it is dead. Gone are the days when a sales page was enough of a relationship to sell a product. Gone are the days when claims of riches tugged enough at the emotions to persuade a sale. Gone are the days when bloated claims could pass as truth and lies went unpunished. Now is the time of social SEO. And this time has already begun. Are you ready for it? Let’s find out.

From the time the Internet was called the World Wide Web people have been using it to send communications back and forth. There was Arpanet (1969), bulletin board services aka BBS (1978), Usenet (1980) and then the email system Listserve (1986). The Internet was created as a communication medium not only between computers but between the users of those computers – us. And since those early days we’ve been trying to connect with each other more and more.

With advances in computing technology came the ability to create and post web pages. As more and more people connected to the Internet the need arose to help people find those websites. You may remember getting in your (physical) inbox an AOL cd, or perhaps 10-20 of them. AOL provided a human-filtered gateway to the Internet. Then came Yahoo! and other search engines and web portals. It was during the mid-1990s that search engine optimization came about.

In the beginning people used to try all sorts of things to get their sites to rank higher – stuffing keywords into a page, hiding keywords using white text on a white background, buying links and more. Today these other assorted tactics will get you banned from Google or at the very least ensure that you never show up in the search results. Then in the late 1990s the next shift came about.

What began as a way to tell the rest of the world about what was going on in yours, blogging turned into an SEOs happiest dream. Now it was easy to create a metric ton of pages all optimized for search. But unlike static sites people could comment on blogs. No longer the domain of chat channels, instant messenger and walled gardens, websites became a two-way communication channel. In 1998 Open Diary was the first website where readers could add comments to someone’s blog entry.

And the web was forever changed.

Fast forward to early 2000. Social media came into it’s own and really started to take off. Here’s a brief timeline with a few you may recognize:

2002 – Friendster2003 – Myspace2003 – LinkedIn2004 – Facebook2006 – Twitter2011 – Google+

For a time SEO and social media were separate. As I alluded to in the introduction, that time is over.

Social SEO is the combination of social media and search engine optimization. The term itself is an acknowledgment that the two are no longer separate. In a recent post of mine – Google Proves Not Being On Social Media Will Kill Your SEO - I discuss the changes already in progress at Google. In a recent video with Matt Cutts and Othar Hansson of Google mention in a rather off-handed way that Google is working to incorporate social signals into search engine rankings. This isn’t anything new. Google has been personalizing search results for quite some time. Now it’s going to an entirely new level.

In today’s world of social SEO you must be publishing content that is optimized for the search engines AND is shared within social networks such as Twitter and Google+.  In Google’s eyes which already measure authority using somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 factors, social shares from others are another indication that you know what you’re talking about. In addition, they are now supporting the rel=“author” and rel=“me” tags which allow you to indicate if a piece of content is authored or about you.

Already in progress, the content you create everywhere is being linked to directly to you. In addition, people’s reactions to that content is also being measured and noted. It has been said that every person is a content producer. Now every person is an authority, or can be.

This is where the death of traditional Internet Marketing comes into play.

When I say “traditional Internet Marketing” what I’m talking about is a certain set of tactics used to sell products online, specifically:

Sales pages with big red headlines that insult our intelligenceOutrageous claims of instant or close-to-instant riches with very little workHard-sell sales tacticsUps-ellathons mixed in with cross-sell-athonsA bombardment of swiped affiliate emails that are impersonal and arrive by the dozens

On the social web it takes more than well crafted paragraphs to create enough trust and authority to make a sale. Now I’m not hailing the death of e-commerce, far from it. But the way products and services are sold online by non-e-commerce businesses has changed. A relationship built on trust and authority is now what makes the sale.

15 years ago businesses were told they needed a website. Many didn’t listen.

10 years ago businesses were told they needed to use SEO. Many didn’t listen.

5 years ago businesses were told they needed to blog. Many didn’t listen.

2 years ago businesses were told they needed to be on social media. Many didn’t listen.

But many did.

The companies that blog, that use SEO, that use social media continue to thrive despite uncertain economies. The businesses that embraced stronger relationships with their customers continue to thrive. The businesses that acknowledge the upward trend of social seo will be the companies that continue into the future.

Will yours be one?

Robert Dempsey specializes in direct response social media and blogs at http://DempseyMarketing.com/journal/.

View the original article here

The Nokia 5800 Xpress Music - A Sensational Music Phone

Presentation

This stunning widget comes in a black and a bit of red hint casing with 3.2 inches 16 million Colour Touch Screen. Dimensions are 111 x 51.7 x 15.5mm and weigh around 109 grams.

It's About The Music

The phone is a bang on entry in the genre of music phones available in the market. It is offering some outstanding music features like 8 band graphic equalizer, Media bar Touch Screen providing music, video, images, web, share online and video center options, music selection choices among artist, genre, composer, album etc. Bass Booster, Stereo Widening, Loudness, Integrated Stereo Speakers are also included. The music player of the phone supports MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, AAC etc.

Viewing

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music has a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics, 3x Digital Zoom, Dual LED Flash and Auto Focus. Also it comes with a secondary VGA camera for video calling. The device can be connected to a television set through the TV output provided. It also has dedicated camera keys.

Business Also Counts

Although the company has introduced the phone as music oriented one, but the new Nokia 5800 Xpress Music is also surprisingly loaded with some business related features. A full and mini QWERTY keypad is available in the screen. Document viewer supporting Word, Excel, Power Point and PDF files, OS Symbian 9.1 Operating System, S60 software, Nokia Maps assisted by GPS navigation, Handwriting Recognition are majors. 3G HSDPA, WLAN Wi-Fi, Micro USB, Bluetooth and EDGE are some of the connectivity features available in the gadget. WAP browser, HTML, XHTML and RSS Feeds are there to assist Internet browsing through the phone.

Additions

The device supports downloadable games and it's also have Java enabled and embedded games. The internal memory is of 81 MB with 128 MB RAM and supports upto 16 GB external memory via MicroSD(TM) Card. A fully charged battery gives around 406 hours of stand-by time or about 9 hours of talk time and 35 hours of non stop music play.

Ending Note

The widget is pleasure in itself to carry in pockets providing entertainment and business uninterrupted.

HTC Touch Pro2 and LG GT500 are the popular Mobile Phone deals and these deals are available on Online Mobile Phone Shop UK.

Faith Hill is Search Engine Marketing Consultant for Cheap Mobile Phone Contract UK.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 8.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Black)

With slim vertical styling and an enormous 3.5'' widescreen touch-panel LCD that fills the camera back, the black Sony Cyber-shot(R) DSC-T200 captures your attention before it even takes a shot. Boasting incredible 8.1 megapixel imaging, a Carl Zeiss 5X Optical zoom lens and special features like Face Detection and Smile Shutter Mode, the T200 shoots close-up, ultra-crisp pictures like never before. And taking great pictures in low light is a snap with Sony's Double Anti-Blur Solution that delivers sharp color images even with dim lighting. With HD Output, you can also share images in high definition on your Sony BRAVIA HDTV or other compatible HDTV screen. The ultra-compact DSC-T200 has an elegant look all its own -- in matte black with vertical styling and a huge 3.5 Widescreen touch-panel LCD that fills up the entire back of the camera and replaces function buttons with elegant on-screen icons. This point-&-shoot offers a new experience in digital-camera use. Touch-screen operation with a user-friendly interface Face Detection technology recognizes up to 8 faces in a photo and automatically makes skintones more natural and reduces red-eye Smile Shutter Mode shoots automatically when your subject laughs or smiles Direct HD output to your Sony Bravia HDTV or other compatible HDTV screens Captures VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate In-camera multi-resizing feature resizes your photos from standard 4 - 3 to widescreen 16 - 9 and right back again D-Range Optimization preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows 31 MB Internal Memory - accepts Memory Stick(R) Duo or Memory Stick(R) PRO Duo media Unit Dimensions - 3.7 x 2.3 x 0.8 inches ; 6.6 ounces Supplied Picture Motion Browser software makes it easier to, burn photos to CD or DVD, add dates to JPEG ima

Price: $399.00

Click here to buy from Amazon

Why to Shop For Cheap Electronic Gadgets Online

While shopping for electronics items we often opt for cheap electronics gadgets and end up in confusion about the quality of the available gadgets within cheap price range. The cheap electronics gadgets put us in dilemma whether we should go for the economy or for the brand value with high price. But while we think of shopping online, we can select from a wide array of electronic items which are good in quality and available against cheap pricing.

It is simple and quick process to search out the websites selling electronics gadgets and equipments. Searching with the keywords cheap electronics online will reveal lots of options for online web shops where different electronic items are available at lower price. Well-known online stores are eBay and Amazon.com but there are online shops also who offers cameras, chargers, mobile phones, computers, laptops, digital music system, and iPod etc. at comparatively lower price. Another big advantage of online electronics item shopping is that the products available here are of latest model and transit time is lesser than usual time span.

The reason behind the lower price tags of electronics items through online shopping is the direct link between factory finish products and end-users, and as the intermediate profit range for the retailers are kept excluded from the price range, thus the items are priced lower than common market prices. Most of the online shops of electronics websites provide whole sale rates for their products and free shipping facility all over the world thus proves as super saver for the customers.

The cheap electronics gadgets and allied products available online are lesser in price but these are all quality tasted. These products are covered by one year warranty and thus purchasing these cheap products via online method does not involve any financial risk.

The payment method for the online shops is also simple. One purchaser can pay the bill amount by using his/her credit card or else, he can use his/her PayPal account number in order to pay the amount in the desired currency. Most of the online stores provides money-back guarantee within 30 days of the purchase, if customer is not satisfied with the product or the product does not match the specified standard.

There are online stores where refurbished electronics products are available at cheaper price rate. These products are in most of the instances work better than the new items. As these products are refurbished, the online shop authority can sell them off against much lower price which is of great advantage for the users who are more concerned about output. In this way, sometimes a $ 200 worth product may be available against $20 price and some shipping amount.

Therefore it is wise to shop online for availing cheap electronics gadget-offers. The access to online stores are convenient and comfortable for electronics gadget purchase because, in online store customers can have multiple options for a product model and it is easy to have all the specifications and users reviews before finalizing the product for purchase.

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