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Directive Blogs

Directive has been serving the Oneonta area since 1993, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

3 Technologies to Help You Take the Perfect Selfie

b2ap3_thumbnail_selfies_made_easy_400.jpgOne telling sign of how far we’ve come as a society is the selfie. What’s a selfie you ask? Not only is the selfie a real thing, but it’s a legitimate word. According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, a selfie is, “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.” Aiding in the popularity of selfies is the rise of selfie technologies, such as these three examples.

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How to Manage Documents in a Paperless Environment

Consider for a moment how many documents are floating around your business at any given point. Memos, notes, invoices, receipts, and whatever else you happen to accumulate in the course of business, all floating around the office. This isn’t a great approach, and unfortunately, the classic solution for this, the filing cabinet, isn’t the most effective solution anymore.

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Apple vs Samsung: Who Makes Better Tablets?

In today’s mobile-centric world, portability is becoming more and more crucial to success in business affairs. This phenomenon can easily explain why tablets are commonplace in boardrooms and briefcases. With Apple and Samsung offering two heavy-hitting tablets (the Galaxy Tab S3 and the iPad Pro), we’ve decided to analyze their features head-to-head to find out which is the supreme option for your business needs.

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Why Aren’t Users Buying More Tablets?

When tablets first hit the market, the general prediction was that they would eventually replace PCs as the de facto device for computing, However, based on their steadily declining sales, this prediction seems to be a little off base--but, why? A closer examination provides some insight into why tablet sales have dipped.

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After the PC

girl using mobile phone

We're in an interesting era. Consumer electronics have been changing the way we communicate, socialize, and get things done. We've all experienced a recent huge evolution in the communication world with the explosion of mobile phones, with more than 4.6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide. Our technology is getting smaller and much more capable, but does that mean we'll be moving away from the typical computer-and-desk to get most of our work done?

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Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review

b2ap3_thumbnail_surface400.jpgMicrosoft is well known for their software, but manufacturing tablet computers is a new venture for the tech giant. It's been almost a year since Microsoft's signature tablet the Surface Pro was released, and now the second generation of Surface, the Surface Pro 2, is available. Here's an overview on how the new tablet stacks up.

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How Windows Tablets Can Enhance Your Business, Part II

b2ap3_thumbnail_windows_tablets_part_2_400.jpgIn part one, we provided an overview of Microsoft’s newest foray into mobile computing and how they’ve finally arrived after years of trying to implement a mobile strategy. In this part, we will provide you with specific technology that your business can potentially employ to utilize Windows-based tablets to improve your organization’s mobility.

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How Windows Tablets Can Enhance Your Business, Part I

b2ap3_thumbnail_windows_8.1_tablet_400.jpgSmartphones and tablets are the new norm. Most professionals have begun to utilize mobile devices to accomplish tasks when they are away from their work PC. Not to say that these devices offer all that much in the way of productivity. Sure, there are plenty of software titles either ported over from the PC or developed directly for the mobile environment, but sometimes these titles don’t offer the functionality, or they take up too many of the device’s resources to be of much use. With these variables to consider, manufacturers are searching for the best way to deliver devices with enhanced productivity capabilities, right out of the box. One of these manufacturers is Microsoft.

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5 Practical Business Uses for Tablets

b2ap3_thumbnail_practical_tablet_400.jpgTablets have a reputation for being a fun consumer product, but they can also be utilized as a practical business tool. In fact, tablets can be used to accomplish a variety of business-related tasks. Here are five practical uses for tablets that you can use around the office.

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Nokia has 25/20 Vision

b2ap3_thumbnail_nokia400.jpgIt's no secret that Microsoft is trying to implement a full court press regarding the Windows RT operating system by trying to get it on as many tablets and phones as possible. However up until this point the only company still producing these devices was Microsoft itself. Now Nokia has entered the fray with their Lumia 2520. Microsoft recently purchase Nokia, however, the merger will not be complete until sometime next year, so this still feels, looks like, and operates the way you would expect a Nokia product to.

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Trade in Your Cash Register for a Tablet

b2ap3_thumbnail_newregister400.jpgIf you're in retail, then you know the satisfaction of the loud "ka-ching" sound your cash register makes at the end of a transaction. It's a great sound, which is why you mimic it after draining a three-pointer in basketball. Although, with the way technology is trending, the famous "ka-ching" noise may soon be forgotten.

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Most for Your Money: Use the 'Teardown' When Buying Hardware

b2ap3_thumbnail_microsoftsurfacetablet10.jpgThe majority of today’s more conscientious shoppers will check out the consumer reviews of the device as well as the detail specifications before purchasing a product.  Just because it’s pretty and all their friends at school have one, doesn’t always mean that it is the best value for your money.  Still, we rarely consider: Do review sites and vendor release notes tell the whole story? Is this device really better because of its price tag or big name brand? There is a widely underused but extremely valuable resource online where customers can gain a little more perspective. This is called the product "teardown”.

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