VLC is back on the App Store

The iOS version of VLC media player is available again after being removed from the App Store in January 2011 due to a compatibility problem with the GPL. This is good news for iOS users; the VLC player is back on the App Store after being removed in January 2011 and by that time, a dispute had arisen between the developers of the open source media player which was published under the GPLv2 license. However, the conditions of use of the App Store in some respects contradicted the terms of such license. As a result, one of the developers had obtained the removal of VLC. Now, VLC 2.0 is released under GPLv2 and MPLv2 (Mozilla Public License) dual license. Incidentally, this new version brings changes in depth, including the management of multi core architecture and the management of all video codecs supported in the version of VLC Desktop. Also on the menu, subtitles and AirPlay compatibility for playback on external displays. VideoLAN also indicated that SDK will arrive later this summer.

Share documents for free with Share Bucket

Share Bucket is a small free application for sharing documents on the model Skitch. Installed in the menu bar, then it uses Dropbox, SkyDrive or Google Drive as a means of sharing. In the case of screenshots, images are immediately transferred to a service folder that has your preference which is a switchable option; Dropbox also offers this facility very recently. Notification signals the end of the task. The image which is going to be sent online is associated with a sharing link automatically placed in the clipboard. Just paste into an email or chat. If necessary, Photo Bucket will automatically delete these files after a delay of a few days specified by the user preferences.

Another method to quickly share any file is to the drag on the utility icon in the menu bar. Again, a link sharing is generated once it joined the Dropbox. Photo Bucket offers a few simple tools to share content like pen, shapes, text. The highlighter tool and blurring an area are particularly useful. There is a choice of recording format (png, jpeg, tiff, pdf) and the destination is on your Mac, or directly in the share folder. Are absent by cons, functions to crop an image and change its size before recording. This freeware is in English, very simple and easy to use.

Google Chrome 28

Version 28 of Chrome is completed and offered for download on the Google site or via the internal system to update the browser. This new version of Chrome 28 is the same as the beta version: the renderer Blink takes the place of WebKit and fitness notifications appears on Windows. Google's Chrome browser is also increasingly popular around the world. Blink is the fork of WebKit led by Google since April. The change is a priori invisible at the moment for the user, but the Mountain View Company has already started to clean up the code of WebKit as needed. Opera, which has already adopted for its home Blink browser and Adobe will be among the contributors to this new rendering engine. You can see the version number of Blink by entering “chrome: / / version” in Chrome's address bar. Another important novelty is the arrival of Notification Center. For now it is only available for Windows, it will happen "soon" on the Mac. The apps from Chrome Web Store and extensions can now display advanced containing action buttons notifications - notifications HTML5 were already supported.

In case of any notification alert of an email, a button to reply to the message and call another contact is there. Google is also preparing an API, Media Gallery, which will allow applications using Chrome to import and play files stored on the hard drive. The iTunes library will be the first case covered by this API. It begins to be implemented in the Dev version of Chrome.Since its launch in 2008, the growth of Chrome is impressive. Google has proudly announced at its developers conference that their Chrome was the most popular browser in the world, with 750 million users. The latest statistics from StatCounter prove that is right. The whole American continent is acquired him - except for Greenland. This is also the case in most of Europe and North Africa. However, Internet Explorer is still the majority in China (50% market share), which is no small thing since the Middle Kingdom were at the beginning of the year 567 million users, a figure the exponential growth.

3 Overlooked Ways To Get More Customers

Getting customers to your store or business can be incredibly difficult if you do not know how to go about it. There are a few different ways that everyone gets customers, fliers, online ad campaigns, and even sales are all great ways to attract customers but there are a few different ways that users can find customers that are a bit off the beaten path. These three was to attract customers are sure to set your business apart without trying too hard. Taking the time to consider all the possibilities and a few different ways of improving your business can truly make a difference when it comes to overall success and profitability of your business over time.

1. Update your answering service: though many companies have little more than a single person in front of a phone as their answering service, it is far more beneficial for companies to hire either a professional service or to purchase an answering system that can help make their customer service far better. The last thing that anyone wants to do is sit and wait for the phone to pick up or for a representative to answer, with a proper answering service customers can get their concerns voiced quickly and easily without having to spend tons of time on hold or without leaving messages that go unanswered. If a company has a good way for customers to contact it will be much easier for new customers to believe in the company.
2. Do not underestimate word of mouth: for those business owners that do not think they need to keep up a good reputation for one reason or another, word of mouth can make or break a company quickly. With the right reputation a business can go from barely known to world class. For example, if customers know they can contact the company at any time and be listened to, they will likely tell other users about their experience thus building up the reputation of the company. This can help to create a positive image where there may have not been one or where there was one that had been damaged. Word of mouth spreads fast and with the right word of mouth, customers can make or break a company and can bring in tons of new customers or even bring back customers that had once been present but that left.
3. Listen to your customers: even if they are complaining and talking about how horrible your business is, taking the time to listen to customers either through an answering service or simply through the comments that they leave, business owners can quickly learn about their customer base by simply listening to what they have to say when they say it. With the proper answering service companies can record and keep conversations for future use and perusal to help make listening to what customers have to say far easier and faster. Listening to customers can make them feel important and may even lead to some new ideas.

Taking the time to consider what is being said and done by your customers is the easiest way to increase business. With the right answering service customers feel like they are being listened to and that their opinion matters which makes for a much better experience overall and makes for a much better customer base. With the right information anyone can increase and improve their business without much time or effort. Though expensive upgrades can help to increase business, they may also break the bank making it hard to make a profit or to continue to fix and improve your business model.


Sylviane Herzog is the Director and writer of Concorde Answering Service which has offices in Boston, MA . Concorde has won multiple quality awards for customer care and service and is a member of ATSI and CAM-X. Our offices are located at 14 Warren St Boston, MA 02113 - or you can give us a call (877) 877-1175.

How to Improve Productivity for Your Business

You can increase your business' productivity by making just a few small changes in how you think about your business. An answering service, for example, can improve the productivity and profitability of your business. By taking the burden of answering calls off of your team, you can free up their time so that they can spend more time with customers, clients or patients. Other steps to improving productivity in your office or small business include documenting systems and common procedures, delegating tasks, improving training and listening to customers and staff.

Five Tips for Improving Business Productivity

1. Use an answering service to screen and direct calls. An answering service can help you screen and direct important calls 24/7. Instead of letting an impersonal voice mail system receive the call, a personal answering service functions as an intelligent extension of your business. You won't have to check your voice mail periodically but can instead rely upon a trained virtual phone 'assistant' to screen your calls and forward any urgent messages to you, while simultaneously providing a personal response to customer inquiries. In today's automated world, personal interactions with an answering service representative are a mark of distinction and differentiation for the small business, one which your customers are likely to remember positively.

2. Document systems. Most businesses excel at reinventing the wheel. A great deal of time and money is wasted recreating processes and procedures that have already proven effective in your business. Whether it's a system to order office supplies or update your company's website, having written systems, processes and procedures can greatly improve productivity. Just make sure that your entire staff knows where to find the documented systems and processes, or else your team will continue to spend fruitless hours trying to figure out how to find a service technician for the photocopier, request a new office chair, book car service for the CEO or whatever other systems are needed.

3. Delegate tasks. How much of your day is spent answering emails, responding to customer inquiries, or filing papers? Delegate, delegate, delegate! To determine which tasks you can delegate, note your daily tasks and what takes up the most time. If it is a repetitive task, and one which does not require your particular unique skill set, it may be a perfect task to delegate to another employee. If you don't have someone with enough time to tackle the task, consider hiring a virtual assistant for tasks that can be completed online, or an answering service to handle phone calls. Freeing up your time from completing tedious and repetitive tasks enables you to work on more interesting, creating and challenging projects - hopefully those that will add more income to your business' bottom line.

4. Improve training. Productive and profitable workplaces train their employees in the tasks expected of them. Make sure your employees are trained to do their jobs. This may include training on the use of computer systems, training on how you want your telephones answered or customers greeted, or product-specific training so that they're well versed on the intricacies of what your business sells. A productive, profitable business is one in which the entire team is on the same page and able to convey consist information to customers, and that starts with training.

5. Listen and learn. Productivity means saving time, but it can also mean improving your overall business. Your team may have suggestions - listen and learn from them. Solicit their input into areas to improve productivity.

With these five tips, you can start today to improve your business' productivity, and potentially, its profitability, too.

Sylviane Herzog is the Director and writer of Concorde Answering Service which has offices in Los Angeles, CA.