Google Apps and Windows 8: An early look

With the release of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview yesterday Microsoft has shown that they're all-in when it comes to mobile. The Metro interface is a dead ringer for the recent UI re-invention of Windows Phone and the Xbox 360. We're just now putting the new operating system through its paces so we won't speculate on how consumers and businesses will adopt such a drastically different user interface. In the meantime we've got Windows 8 running on our Samsung Series 7 Slate and because of some smart decisions on Microsoft's part we're very confident that users of Google Apps will like what they see.

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What we use #3: Google Docs

It might seem counter-productive to some, but the combination of Google Docs and Microsoft Office is a recipe for success. Hear me out. Microsoft Office has been the industry standard for document creation for years due to its powerful features and relative ease of use. Google Docs is making significant headway in enterprise by promoting drop dead simple sharing and collaboration functionality. We use the combination for a few reasons.

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Microsoft Office 365: First Impressions

Here at TechMinds we've been ardent supporters of Google Apps for the last couple of years. It's cheap, efficient, and quick to set up. Office 365 is the next evolution of Microsoft BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite). It's supposed to be Redmond, Washington's answer to Google Apps and we've been using it since it entered open beta last month.

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Backup your business

As well as our technology works these days it's easy to take your data for granted. After all, you're pretty sure that you have backups right? According to a recent survey by Forrester Research nearly two-thirds of businesses have no disaster recovery plan. Simply put, if an essential server or computer dies, or they lose their office to a fire, 66% of companies surveyed could be out of business for good. 

One option is easy for our clients who use Google Apps. By taking advantage of the free Google Cloud Connect tool and your 25GB of storage per person you can seamlessly back up the documents your business can't live without. But what if a computer crashes, is lost or stolen? How long will it take your company to be up and running again after a disaster? Read on to see our experiences with an inexpensive solution involving off the shelf components and some really inventive free software.

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TechMinds Review: Motorola Atrix 4G and Laptop Dock

From Engadget to Slashgear there are dozens of great reviews for this unique smartphone/laptop hybrid online right now.  So instead of retreading ground which was covered by those consumer oriented reviews we ran the latest and greatest from Motorola through its paces for two weeks as our primary business device.  What we found was an interesting mix of amazing moments, and downright frustration using what is truly a groundbreaking product.

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Increase your Google Apps Storage for cheap

Announced this morning by the Google Enterprise Blog enterprises which subscribe to Google Apps can now leverage the massive cloud storage capabilities of Google for very little money.  Starting at only $5 per month for 20GB and ranging up to 1TB of storage it's now feasible for an organisation to back up all their documents to a secure cloud, integrated with all of the other services included in Google Apps.  This announcement comes right on the heels of Google Cloud Connect which can automatically back up your documents to Google Docs.  The combination of these two services displays a concentrated effort by Google to innovate and get ahead of the Microsoft Office 365 launch later this year.

Google Cloud Connect is here: Keep your Microsoft Office documents in sync with Google Apps

Until today businesses which have made the transition to Google Apps have had a love/hate relationship with Google Docs.  While the instant collaboration and sharing features are time savers, the compatibility issues between Microsoft Word and Google Docs can be extremely frustrating.  That's why we're excited about the Google Cloud Connect announcement today.

We've been beta testing this program for over a month with some really amazing results.

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