With the announcement of the BlackBerry 10 OS, the Z10 and the Q10 I thought I would break up all the information into multiple blog posts.  I know you all have short attention spans so I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much information all at once. In Part One I will cover the announcement of the new OS and the new Z10 and Q10 smartphones.  In future posts, I will cover more in depth reviews and tips.  Sit down, grab your reading glasses and a tasty adult beverage and prepare to immerse yourself in all things BlackBerry 10!!

Straight out of the gate is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to hit the market known as the Z10.  Not surprisingly I turned to the experts at Crackberry.com to get the scoop on the Official Z10 Specs and Features.

Whoa. I think I got a bit ahead of myself and jumped right into the devices without stopping first at the new Operating System.  Oops.  Let me rectify this situation and send you next to the article with all the good information about the new BlackBerry 10 OS.  Go ahead and click the link. I’ll be waiting when you get back to serve up more juicy details about the new devices.

I don’t want you to think I am biased toward the Crackberry.com team so to round out the reviews of the new Z10, let’s pay a visit to the Z10 review from the gadget gurus at Engadget.com.  Two reviews not enough you say?  Well okay then, how about one more review of the new Z10 from the team at BGR.com.

I highly suggest you pour your second adult beverage of the day before continuing.

Wrapping up the coverage of the Z10 from ABC to USA today (with some WSJ and CIO thrown in for good measure), find out what the Tech Pundits are saying about Z10.

On the homestretch now so grab your third and final adult beverage (and possibly a magnifying glass).

Not content with releasing just one new BlackBerry 10 smartphone, the over eager folks at RIM BlackBerry announced a second device with a very familiar looking hardware keyboard known as the Q10. Let’s mix it up this time and send you off to Engadget.com first for their hands-on review of the new Q10.

And finally, back to the Crackberry.com site for a wrap-up of the specs and feature of the new Q10 device.

Don’t forget to check back in soon to catch Part Two of my BlackBerry 10 Jamboree series.

The post BlackBerry 10 Jamboree Part 1 appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Tired of your super secret text messages showing up on your iPhone and iPad screen for all the world to see? Well it seems that Apple has an option for this if you know how to configure it correctly in notifications.  Fortunately I stumbled across this post on imore.com to show you How to increase the privacy of iMessage previews and alerts on your iPhone and iPad.

A day late and a dollar short but if you were wondering why you had some new toggle switches on TweetDeck, I can tell you why.  Head over to this timely October post on the TweetDeck blog for an explanation of the new look.

Are you thinking of moving to the next level of productivity with your iPad? Well then grab an external keyboard and hold on tight for the iWork vs. Documents To Go vs. Quickoffice Pro HD review.

Wait no more my Android fan boys and girls.  Facebook has finally released a native app for Android devices.  No more playing second fiddle to iOS.

Do you use Blogger or WordPress for your blog?  Love to bang out your posts while on the go? Have an iPad?  Well dang, have I got an article for you!  Click on over to read about the Posts iPad app for Blogger and WordPress.

Should you find yourself in a fleabag hotel with flakey power you might be thinking, I sure wish I had a surge protector with me but who wants to pack a bulky device?  Looks like USA Today tracked down an ultra portable Surge Protector!

And finally I leave with one of my most important gadget finds this year.  Something never talked about in public but whispered about in dark alleyways.  My friends, I give you the one, the only, the WaxVac!

The post Tuesday Tech Tips appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

I’ve been hearing all sorts of good stuff about this new iPhone dock from Elevation Labs.  It’s beautifully machined from a block of aluminum and iMore.com has a great review and some great pictures of the Elevation dock.

Not a fan of the iPad?  Looking for an alternative with a built in stylus?  Maybe you should take a quick look at the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.  This tablet won’t appeal to everyone but maybe the Galaxy Note feature set is what you are looking for so head over to Engadget for their review of this interesting 10” tablet.

Do you have multiple Google accounts? Tired of manually switching between accounts and manually typing in your password?  Fortunately the tech sleuths at The Verge have uncovered the Google “Account chooser”.  All bow to the Google.

For all of you Urban Warriors that find yourself on your cell phone in the wind tunnels between tall buildings, Jabra has a new Bluetooth headset called the “Wave” that has sophisticated wind reduction technology.  Our friend Gary at Android Central has all details of the Jabra Wave including a quick video.

If you are like me and use your Smartphone as a GPS device or for playing music/podcasts you might want to take a peek at the new hands free car kit from TomTom. This updated car kit claims to have higher quality audio.  It works for both iPhone and Smartphones with a micro USB port.

I have a feeling this next “device” just might blow the minds of all my coffee loving friends.  Fiat has announced that their new 500L will offer a Lavazza espresso machine as an option.  It sits right between the front seats ready to dispense espresso at will.  Autoblog has all the details including pictures and video.  Should this option make its way into U.S. Fiat 500Ls, I would remind my readers that hot coffee, cars, laps and spillage are not compatible.

The post Tuesday Tech Tips appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

No Thanksgiving celebration is complete without a glass of wine at hand at all times to take the edge off of the family gathering.  I don’t want anyone to break a nail so check out this electric wine opener from the Hammacher Schlemmer Institute.  Any gadget that says it has “perfect worm insertion” is on the top of my gadget list.  Now go drink a bottle of wine and then say “electric wine opener from the Hammacher Schlemmer Institute”. Don’t forget to come back and leave a comment and let me know what you actually said after drinking the bottle of wine.

Next up on the list is perusing all the apps related to Thanksgiving on your mobile device.  Fortunately the folks at e-junkie.com have already complied 5 Must Have Apps To Enliven Your Thanksgiving.

With your menu all figured out, it’s time to get down to brass tacks and start the cooking.  You don’t want to get your tablet iPad all dirty so make sure you have the Belkin Chef Stand. This tablet iPad stand will keep your tablet iPad safe from food splatters and comes with an oversize stylus.

With the turkey in the oven, you have better things to do (see electric wine opener above) than stand around in the kitchen waiting for the Turkey to cook.  I suggest the flipping the on switch for the Oregon Scientific Talking Thermometer and let the gadget call you back into the kitchen when the bird is ready.

Finally, should you decide to actually serve up more than just a turkey you probably have a need for kitchen timer. Why bother with a separate gadget when you already have your tablet iPad sitting on the Belkin Chef Stand.  With 9 total timers and cute graphics, the iOS KitchenPad Timer is the perfect timer gadget.

That’s it for another Tech Tips. As Ferris Bueller would say:

Bon Appetite and Happy Thanksgiving.

The post Thanksgiving Tech Tips appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Another year, another HR Technology Conference in the bag.  Congratulations as usual to Bill Kutik, David Shadovitz and LRP.  Hard to believe this year was the 15th Annual HR Technology Conference.  Straight from the mouth of official website:

“With record-breaking attendance and record-breaking exhibits plus attendees from dozens of countries around the world, it truly was an international annual Town Meeting!”

I must agree on the record-breaking attendance and record-breaking exhibits.  The conference felt HUGE this year. Really really HUGE.  I half expected to see Naomi Bloom riding an elephant through the Expo Hall.  Hmmm. Mental note: Expo Hall, Elephant, Naomi Bloom. Check. As we head back to Las Vegas for next year’s conference the challenge will be how to provide a meaningful conference experience for everyone as attendance creeps towards Oracle OpenWorld status.  With this challenge maybe we should subtitle the conference for next year to be “Survivor Las Vegas”.

In my blog post for last year’s conference I mentioned we were at a tipping point on the Social Media factor.  This year, we flung ourselves over that tipping point to where every fourth word at the conference was “Social”.  The Twitter stream was actually a firehose on Monday and Tuesday.   I would be interested to know if people found the tweets helpful/informative or if they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of tweets in the #HRTechConf stream.  On the conference technology front, the Wi-Fi was pervasive throughout McCormick Place and was rock solid. The HR Tech 2012 Mobile app was great and so very helpful to us mobile-techno-junkies.

The expo floor as always was chock full of vendors.  The floor seemed a little more relaxed this year versus previous years.  I didn’t see vendors actively body blocking people walking down the aisles to make their pitch and I didn’t see attendees doing a hit and run at the booths to fill their bag with conference swag but I also didn’t walk the Expo floor with Dwane Lay and Paul Smith but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Could it be that people where more grown up this year?  I think SAP gets the award for what appeared to be the largest booth covering both SAP and SuccessFactors.

iPads were the preferred device in the expo hall and for the attendees taking notes.  There was no contest. Apple wins this note taking device segment hands down.  On the smart phone front, the preferred device was…..drum roll please….white.   Yes white. White iPhone 4, white iPhone 4S, white iPhone 5 (I saw plenty of iPhone 5’s), white Samsung Galaxy S III, white HTC One X.  White is the new black.  I did see one yellow Nokia Lumia Windows phone but that was attached to someone attending at different conference so I guess that doesn’t really count.

So enough frivolities, let’s get down to brass tacks.  Major themes at the conference: Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud.  Last year gamification was big and while I personally didn’t see it have a big presence this year, others have told me otherwise. Lest we forget about poor little Core HR in the info blast regarding social, mobile, analytics and cloud, vendors such as Oracle, SAP, Workday, ADP and Ceridian had ginormous booths to remind us that Core HR and Payroll are still relevant.  Core HR User Interfaces have been modernized and you can have it in the cloud.

Any vendor that wanted to be in the game showed off their social capabilities.  Any vendor that wanted to be in the game showed off their mobile capabilities. Any vendor that wanted to be in the game showed off their analytics capabilities. Any vendor that wanted to be in the game talked about their cloud strategy.  Wait, cloud?  What happened to SaaS?  Oh silly readers, SaaS is so Q1 2012.  Catch-up!! It’s called “The Cloud” now.  #whatever.  Speaking of clouds, one of my best overheard conversations was:

“We are all in the cloud, can’t we all get along?”

So what does this all mean?  Generally speaking it means most vendors are now on board with Social, Mobile, Analytics and SaaS/Cloud.  Their offerings will be in various states of maturity but they have now moved past the whispering in the product management meeting halls.  As for HR Executives, it means your options in HR software are probably getting exponentially larger.  That 5 year HR Technology roadmap that I am sure you already have and update every year now needs to be updated. As usual, your HR Technology roadmap is used to specify the technology needed to solve a business issue.  Don’t just throw up the social, mobile, analytics and cloud offerings of your existing software without first understanding the when, where, why and how first.

It looked to me like the panel sessions generated the most interest (and tweets) from the attendees.  Notable among these were the Talent Management panel, Social Media Panel and the CHRO panel.  The Big Kahuna panel was the “Bringing HR Into The Cloud – Naomi’s Master Panel” moderated by duh Naomi Bloom.  If you were hoping for a tech brawl between Steve Miranda (Oracle), Mike Capone (ADP), Sanjay Poonen (SAP), John Wookey (Salesforce.com), Stan Swete (Workday) and Adam Rogers (Ultimate Software) you were probably disappointed.  The panel agreed about the cloud more than they disagreed.  That aside it was an amazing panel and a full house for an 8:45am session the morning after the majority of the vendor parties.

One of the more popular customer sessions was Ben Brooks and Laurie Ledford from Marsh who led a session on implementing and using social technologies at Marsh University.  Engaging and honest.  As always the Awesome New Technologies session played to a packed house with the usual tweet zingers for some of the products.

Fascinating takeaways from this year:

• Taxi drivers who sing Motown in falsetto can be very entertaining on a long drive from the airport to the hotel.
• I have no sense of direction inside shopping malls and convention centers.
• The chairs on the stage for Naomi’s master panel looked like they belonged on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
• Holding an HR Technology Conference and the Chicago Marathon at the same time makes for some very interesting taxi rides from befuddled taxi drivers.
• The Press room really needs some windows or maybe a nice string quartet playing in the corner.
• Last year in my blog post I suggested Bill Kutik needed a smart phone advisor.  Apparently Marcia Conner took up the challenge.  Good for her (and for Bill).
• You can easily gain 10 pounds from eating at all the great restaurants in Chicago.
• A number of vendors were in “Deep Beta”.

Wait, what about Dwane Lay and Paul Smith? Oh yes. Thanks for reminding me.  With their hysterically funny SWAG video from last year’s HR Technology Conference, Dwane and Paul decided to give us an encore performance.  I give you the 2012 HR Technology Conference SWAG video:

The post HR Technology Conference 2012-I’ll take Social Clouds for $500 please appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

If you were living under a rock you might not have heard the news from a couple of weeks ago about Facebook changing everyone’s default email to a Facebook.com account. In light of this change, Lifehacker created a post on a number of things you can do to get your Facebook account under control.

My iPhone 4S sucks the battery down like crazy so I turn Bluetooth on only when I need it and then turn it right back off.  iOS does not provide an easy method to do this BUT there is an app call Bluetooth OnOff that will turn Bluetooth on or off with just one tap of the App Icon.  You can find more information about Bluetooth OnOff over at imore.com.  For best results using the App, go to App Settings (after installing it) for Bluetooth OnOff and set the slide to “ON”.

Have you been using the redesigned Gmail the last couple of months and still not happy with the changes?  Maybe some density or theme changes might help you. Check out Jason Crawford’s post on How to cope with the Gmail redesign for some great tips.  Even if you don’t need the tips check out the lively comments following his post.

I love my Nike+ sensor and Apps for my iPhone, especially when Lance Armstrong congratulates me on a new personal best.  Given the meteoric of Android smartphones, Nike has released the Nike+ running App for Android. Not wanting to leave out their loyal fan base of iOS users, Nike also released a new iOS version with a major UI overhaul.  Lifehacker has a video and write-up of the Android and iOS Nike+ Running App.

And with another Tech Tips post just about wrapped up, I leave you with something for all the dancing ladies out there. It’s called the JoeyBra and it gives you discreet pockets on the side to stash your cell phone, credit cards, IDs and keys while you are out and about on the town. I think I will just let you click on over to the imore.com site where they give you all the details about the JoeyBra.

The post Tuesday Tech Tips appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Here are some notable quotes from The Donald:

A little more moderation would be good. Of course, my life hasn’t exactly been one of moderation.

Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big

I wasn’t satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement.

I get up, take a shower and wash my hair. Then I read the newspapers and watch the news on television, and slowly the hair dries. It takes about an hour. I don’t use the blow dryer. Once it’s dry I comb it. Once I have it the way I like it — even though nobody else likes it — I spray it and it’s good for the day.

I have people that have been studying [Obama's birth certificate] and they cannot believe what they’re finding… I would like to have him show his birth certificate, and can I be honest with you, I hope he can.

Some notable quotes from Bill:

A little more moderation would be good. Of course, my life hasn’t exactly been one of moderation.

Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big and use Promotion Code INFOBOX12 to get $500 of the HR Technology Conference rack rate.

I wasn’t satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement.

I get up, take a shower and wash my hair. Then I read the HR Technology Conference Group on LinkedIn and watch the news on television, and slowly the hair dries. It takes about an hour. I don’t use the blow dryer. I go out on my sail boat and let the wind be the blow dryer. Once it’s dry I comb it. Once I have it the way I like it — even though nobody else likes it — I spray it and it’s good for the day.

I have people that have been studying [Duffield’s S-1] and they cannot believe what they’re finding… I would like to have him show his S-1, and can I be honest with you, I hope he can.

There you have it.  Pretty sure Bill is really Donald Trump in hiding.  All kidding aside, it’s that time of year when I do my best to convince you to attend one of the most important HR technology conferences known as the HR Technology Conference & Exposition.  The conference is back in Chicago in October so bring a hearty appetite and no fear of heights.

15th Annual HR Technology Conference & Expo

It’s unbelievable but it is the 15th year of the conference. I was going to write up some snappy commentary about this year’s conference but I will let Bill Kutik explain in his own words:

A generational shift is happening in computing – have you felt it? – making this the most important year ever for you to attend the HR Technology® Conference. Why? Both to hear what the experts think – they will all be there, as usual – but also for you to help our international community figure out what it all means.

The major drivers are The Cloud and Social Technology in the Enterprise. Make no mistake. Only HR Technology® brings enough of our community together to make it collectively wise enough to help you plot your future, while solving the problems you still face today.
If you joined us in Vegas last year, you know the facts:

• 30% more attendees than the 2010 record
• 27 countries represented, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and South Korea (with eight executives from four organizations)
• All 10 of the “world’s most powerful HR technology experts,” as selected by Human Resource Executive®, attended
• A record 220 exhibitors in our largest Exposition ever

I am looking forward to Naomi Bloom’s Master Panel on Bringing HR into The Cloud. How she managed to get all these Application Vendor Titans on one panel is a tight lipped secret. Other notable sessions include A Starter’s Guide to Workforce Analytics by Brian Kelly and the Sixth Annual Talent Management Panel hosted by Jason Averbook.

If you still need more information, you can download the PDF of the full conference brochure or read the post-conference blog posts from last year’s conference. I highly recommend my post-conference blog post: HR Technology Conference 2011 – You had me at Swirl

Don’t forget my promo code of INFOBOX12  (all caps) when you register online www.HRTechConference.com to get $500 off the rack rate of $1,795.  Bonus for this year is my discount code does not expire until the conference ends on October 10th.

Still not convinced?  Watch this video from Bill Kutik on what other influential people have written about the conference.

The post Is HR Technology Conference Co-Chair Bill Kutik Donald Trump? appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Cut the iTunes syncing cord!  Check out this article from Lifehacker on How to setup Wi-Fi Sync in iOS5.  Watch the video as it has ALL the necessary steps to get this working.

Everyone has a cloud these days even Apple.  Don’t be left out by watching this video on How to setup iCloud in iOS 5.

Did you know you had some options on how Notification Center works on your Apple mobile device?  No?  Well goodness me, go watch this video on How to change Notification Center in iOS 5.

If you have been living under a rock you might not know that Twitter was integrated into iOS 5.  The iMore team has 4 simple steps to setup iOS 5 Twitter integration for iPhone or iPad.

It’s no Letterman Top 10 list but when you are hiding in your secret bunker you might want to know about the Top 10 Secret Siri commands.

Now that you know secret Siri commands, I command you to read Siri: The Ultimate Guide. Everything you need to know about setting up Siri securely, and all the Siri commands for phone, email, messaging, alarms, timers, reminders, calendars, weather, music, maps, and more!

Cut the iTunes cor…oh wait, I already have a tip that starts like this. Oops.  Well here is another great tip on how to update your iPhone or iPhone OS software over the air instead of having to connect your device to your computer.

If you are like me you probably have an iPod Touch, an iPhone and an iPad and want  iMessage to see all your devices as if they were one device. No problem, the steps to enable iMessage syncing between iPhone iPod Touch and iPad can be found on the macgasm site.

I’m sure you poured over all these iOS tips and took copious notes. Right?  Well I hope you at least bookmarked this blog post and added a task in your To-do list to review these tips every week (at least until iOS 6 comes out).

For all you BlackBerry users out there…sorry, I got nothing.  Check back again in January 2013 when BlackBerry 10 devices launch.

The post Tuesday Tech Tips–iOS 5 Special Edition appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Do you still read your internet news old school style via RSS?  Looking for a more touch and visual friendly way to peruse the news on your iPhone or iPad? Check out this article from iMore.com on their Top 5 RSS Feed Readers for the iPhone and the iPad.

I say this is long looooooooong overdue but kudos to Chrysler if they actually deliver on the goods.  Chrysler has announced it will offer wireless charging in its new 2013 Dodge Dart. The charging bin will work with MP3 players and iPhone, Blackberry and Android mobile phones, provided those devices are fitted with a special case. Autoblog has all the details on the Charging Mat including a video demonstration.

Lookout Roomba.  There is a new robot vacuum in town and it has a laser guidance system. Pew, pew. It’s not cheap and it’s only available from Target Amazon and Target but who can pass up a laser guided robot vacuum. Right? More information on the Neato XV-12 robot vacuum over at Engadget.

Are you a Microsoft OneNote devotee?  Do you have an iPad and can’t imagine using a tablet running Windows 8?  Have I got news for YOU!  OneNote is available for the iPad.  I know, I know I can’t believe it either.  The team at iMore has some additional information on OneNote for iPad including a link to the iTunes App Store.

Twitter power users still flock to TweetDeck for all that multi-column deliciousness.  Twitter has released a new version of TweetDeck in all its flavors (Windows, Mac OS, Chrome App and the Web). Head over to the Twitter blog to read all about the changes for Lists, Activity and Media Previews.

Come on, admit it.  You are just a teensy little bit interested in wanting to know why messages end up in your Gmail Spam folder. Well you are in luck.  Those crazy Google engineers have decided to tell you why that happens.  The official Gmail blog has all the details on messages in your spam folder.

And finally I leave you with the latest and greatest in Kitchen Laptop Concepts from the zoomy peeps at Electrolux.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It’s an induction powered hotplate attached to a laptop, with a removable cutting board sandwiched between the screen and burner. All the cool kids will be getting one.   Thanks Engadget for this great find.

The post Tuesday Tech Tips appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.

Okay maybe I am exaggerating a bit but I was long overdue in changing hosting providers.  Let’s just say that I am not a big fan of elephant hunting.  Enough said.  I figured it was also time for a blog theme refresh so I threw caution to the wind and applied a facelift after I moved the content to the new provider.  Moving the blog contents from one hosting provider to another turned out to be relatively straight forward and quick.  Ditto on applying a new Theme.  Ditto again on transferring the domain ownership of infoboxinc.com. Reconfiguring all the widgets and plugins? Uhhh, not so straight forward and quick.  Widgets and plugins for one theme may not be compatible or even exist for a different theme.  Waiting for the DNS changes to propagate so my domain email accounts worked correctly was nail biting.  But in the end, all systems are green. I’m happily motoring away on the new hosting provider so let’s have a Toast to the newly refreshed InfoBox Blog.

So what did I learn in all of this?  Despite all the advances in blogging technologies such as WordPress, email hosting such as Google Apps and internet DNS we still operate with the assumption that we don’t need to accommodate any downtime or that we can handle DNS propagation delays.

When I was changing the MX records for the infoboxinc.com domain I discovered that some email sent to my infoboxinc.com email accounts was getting rejected. A quick Google search of the error message turned up the following from Google Apps help information:

Avoid bounced messages after changing MX records

Any time you change your MX records, it can take up to 48 hours for your new records to propagate. The duration varies depending on your hosting company and may be less than 48 hours; however, during this time, mail sent to your domain may bounce. While there’s no way to avoid downtime entirely, there are several steps you can take to avoid bounces during the transition to Google Apps email.

Make the transition during an evening or weekend

To reduce the number of possible bounced messages when you change your domain’s MX records, we recommend scheduling the change for an evening or weekend or other time when your email volume is low.

Wait, what? You seriously expect me to potentially have email sent to me bounced for up to 48 hours while the MX record changes are propagated?

Once all the DNS and MX record changes had successfully propagated and all was working again I finished configuring the blog and was getting my blog writing tool (aka Windows Live Writer) refreshed with the new theme.  Again, the inability to gracefully put the blog in some sort of offline mode to prevent the following would be great:

Oops. Pretty sure the temporary post created by Windows Live Writer was not intended to be a Daily Best on the HR Tech Central site. So even though Windows Live Writer created and then immediately deleted a temporary post several feeds such as HR Tech Central picked up the temporary post in that split second it existed.

I don’t think this situation will be changing anytime soon so I guess it’s a fair warning to everyone that although we now expect the internet to work 24×7, the tools that power our usage may not actually be ready for 24×7 use.

The post New Host – New Post – Let’s Toast! appeared first on InfoBox - HR and Tech Information.