Business Markets

In December you can count on snow, nostalgic looks back over the year and the inevitable predictions for the future.  One of the more interesting trends that seems to be garnering quite a bit of chatter is the notion of screen time and how touch screens are going mainstream.

Check out this video by Corning on how we’re going to interact differently with glass.  Some of this may seem pretty far out there…but it’s right around the corner.

Did you notice how many different ways there were to communicate in this “new” world?  And how many of those could be commandeered for marketing messages?  Pretty soon we’ll be using them to order at restaurants, customize merchandise and interact with billboards.  You’ll even be able to watch live sports while you grocery shop. (check it out here)

What does all of this mean to the average business owner?  It means that technology is continuing to change consumers’ expectations and experiences.  And yo

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Technology giant Atos boss, Thierry Breton, plans ban internal emails by 2014. These surprisingly bold plans have met with applause and derision in equal measure by business and technology commentators. But Breton, former French minister of economy, finance and industry, claims banning internal email would be a massive step in the right technological direction and plans to change the way we communicate in business.

Breton, 56, says workers are distracted by masses of internal email which takes up valuable and costly data storage space for businesses already struggling to manage a mass of business critical data.

His plans to stop internal email are the result of research that showed employees were getting as many as 100 emails a day, only 15 of which were useful, or needed their immediate attention or action. They were also spending between 15 and 20 hours a week checking their own personal email at home.

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COLD SPRING After complications from shoulder surgery made it difficult for 69-year-old Ed Thelen to sleep in a bed at night, hes taken to dozing in a giant easy chair in the living room of his third-floor home at John Paul Apartments.That discomfort isnt his only concern. He also has a pacemaker, battles diabetes, struggles with Parkinsons disease and is in a constant fight against obesity and depression.His biggest worry, though, is whether hell be able to keep a new device that has revolutionized his life.

As Thelen relates how he came to this place after 45 years of moving around the region as an insurance underwriter, something that looks like a flat-screen TV chirps next to his chair. He reaches over, touches a prompt, and within seconds is talking with his daughter via Skype.

After their conversation, he shows a visitor how the screen also notifies him if he has letters, pictures or video sent from one of his six grandchildren.

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The British government announced sharply lower economic growth forecasts on Tuesday and warned that a recession in the euro zone could send the British economy into reverse.

The economy was forecast to grow by only 0.7 percent next year, against a March budget forecast of 2.5 percent, finance minister George Osborne said, presenting figures from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Growth was expected to recover to 2.1 percent in 2013 but Osborne told parliament the reality could be much worse if the euro zone debt crisis was not solved.

A regeneration body is throwing down the gauntlet to local authorities in the West Midlands to provide land for new-style communities being billed as the villages of the future.

Jackie Sadek, chief executive of UK Generation, the successor body to the British Urban Regeneration Association, issued the challenge to a gathering of property industry professionals hosted by Savills and Harvey Ingram at the Midlands launch of the organisations drive to build 20,000 new homes nationwide by 2020.

Ms Sadek said the region was sex on a stick when it came to potential locations for UK Regenerations self-sufficient communities that combine residential and retail in mixed use schemes.

Described as campuses, the new communities will only offer rented accommodation and will also be characterised by a mix of local traders and national chains when it comes to their retail offering.

Ms Sadek said the whole region is now top of UK Regenerations hit list, with money already in place to get the ball rolling courtesy of Barclays Capital.

The downside for local authorities, or other landowners who might be interested, is that UK Regeneration wants land at what Ms Sadek admits is a knockdown price, with payment deferred until the schemes are completed five years down the line.

But she believes the potential returns are huge and that those authorities who sign up will reap the benefits in the long term.

I want land at a knockdown price but I also I want a positive partnership approach, said Ms Sadek.

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Rental property business involves a lot of traps you can avoid with some preparation. As a landlord you need to find reliable tenants who will not cause any problems in future. As a resident you may be interested in finding a tenant, who can help you by taking over the lease. Anyway, it is recommended to use professional services of letting agencies, because these specialists can find a suitable candidate in a few hours.

They can also check with past employers and owners checking how they were with your prospective tenants. Read full post…

If you’re the sort of visionary who regularly doesn’t hear things like – “We can’t do that!” or “It’ll never work.” or “Right now’s not the time.” or “That’s beyond our scope.” – you’re just the sort of person who’s selective hearing makes you great!

It’s not easy leading a company when you’re surrounded by “practical” or “realistic” conformists. The only way to live your dream and passion is to have one in the first place. Most businesses allow the economy to happen to them, rather than creating they’re own. For those nay-sayers, it’s not that they’re not listening, it’s more to the fact that they’re not saying anything that’s going to get you ahead.

The time to do anything is right now! Timing is never going to be perfect, barriers are going to spring up at anytime. The economy is going to soar and nose-dive and soar at will. Only the deaf will survive. The hearing impaired are those who listen to their passions

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