The SMB Tech Report

Vasco da Gama Allows Users to Create Animated Maps for Travel Videos

Vasco da Gama 4 HD PRO from Sonic is a software tool for creating animated maps, which can be used, for example, as introductions to personal or professional travel videos. Users can pick a map and add various stop points, animated objects, and custom labels. They can select from more than 500 high resolution maps and 300 animated 3-D objects and can create their own objects and can export finished maps as DV.avi video files into their favorite video editor. more

An Easier Way to Do Your Accounting, Maybe

Would you pay $240 a year if you found a tool that would make doing your accounting chores easier? Well, FreeAgent software won a software satisfaction award recently in the accounting software category. Thought we would pass the word along, but we have not tried it yet. All we know is we are not satisfied with the accounting tools we have tried to-date.

Free Antivirus Software

AVG offers a basic, free antivirus software package. You can learn more about it and download the file to check it out by clicking here.

Business Plan Software Can Help Make Your Business Better

Even a few years ago, nobody would have thought you could do a good job using software instead of an accountant to do your taxes. Now, millions of business owners routinely trust a good tax software program to do their taxes correctly. In the same way, business plan software can help business owners and managers do a thorough and complete job of planning for business expansion or to think through a potential new business opportunity. And, as anyone who has tried to borrow money from a bank or credit union lately, one of the first things the money gatekeepers ask is, "Do you have a business plan?"

Business Plan Pro is one of the most recommended business plan software packages. The software comes in a variety of flavors: academic, non-profit, and others, along with Canadian and UK versions. The company also makes marketing plan and e-mail management software.

Tip of the Day: Adding Functionality to OpenOffice With Extensions

So, you are interested in the OpenOffice productivity software, but you are not sure it is worth the effort. Well, it might help to know that you can add on different functions and capabilities to OpenOffice. For example, you can create flashcards in Impress, the presentation software, after downloading a free extension. Click here to see more about the extension. Here are a few other extensions you might want to try:

• an MLA paper template,
• a balance sheet template,
• a French language dictionary, and
• an Oracle report builder.

You can look at the entire collection of extensions by clicking here.

Are You Paying Too Much for Your Office Suite Software?

You could be. If you are paying anything, you are paying too much! One of the best kept secrets of the SMB tech world is OpenOffice, a wonderful suite of software that works seamlessly with other software products that cost a lot more. I have used OpenOffice for years on my pcs and routinely trade files with people who use Microsoft Office software. I have never had a problem. OpenOffice is free, and you can contribute to its development in various ways including simply suggesting new features. As far as I can tell, there is no catch, no gotcha about this software. As the saying goes, "Why pay more?"

FastSoft Announces New Algorithms to Speed Delivery of Small Web Objects

FastSoft Inc. has announced two new algorithms, FastStart and HyperBurst, designed to accelerate transport of dynamic Web pages and video over the Internet. The algorithms augment FastSoft's FastTCP technology by intelligently ramping up TCP windows size, resulting in faster delivery of small Web objects. more

Microsoft Releases Embedded Windows 7 to Device Manufacturers

Microsoft Corp. has announced release of Windows Embedded Standard 7 to smartphone and other handheld mobile device manufacturers. more

Microsoft Releases Intune Cloud IT Management Service Beta

Microsoft has released the beta of Windows Intune, a SaaS  management service for IT administrators of mid-size businesses. Intune allows IT managers to monitor and update desktop and laptop computers on their network. Full release is predicted within a year and will include both SaaS and on-site PC management tools and a Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade subscription. more

DocuLex Announces Cloud-Based Document Management for Disaster Recovery

DocuLex has announced its Archive Studio software-as-a-service document and content management service designed for disaster recovery and business continuity preparedness. The software provides remote document access, permissions, printing, and distribution, as well as off-site document warehousing. more

Callidus Adds Sales Coaching to Sales Performance Suite

Sales performance management system vendor Callidus Software Inc. has announced a sales coaching software-as-a-service (SaaS) service built on ForceLogix. The service is designed to help businesses of all sizes coach their sales force to optimize performance. more

TaxACT Offers Unlimited Guidance for Last-Minute Tax Filers

2nd Story Software has announced unlimited assistance for last-minute tax filers through its TaxACT step-by-step interview process. more

Corel WordPerfect Office X5 Features Online Collaboration Tools, Advanced PDF Support

Corel Corp. has introduced WordPerfect Office X5, featuring enhanced online collaboration tools, an integrated e-mail client, and expanded file format support. more

Maximizer Announces New Version of Maximizer CRM

Maximizer Software has announced the latest version of its Maximizer CRM, including an inclusive, all-access licensing model encompassing mobile, Web, and desktop CRM access options. Maximizer CRM includes support for the Firefox browser and includes expanded mobile platform functionality. more

VMware Offers vSphere Essentials at up to 50% Discount

VMware is offering its vSphere Essentials product package for at up to 50% off list price through June 15, aiming to bring server desktop and virtualization within the price range of small-to-medium size businesses (SMBs). more

GGO Announces Pricing for SaaS Digital WarRoom for E-Discovery

Gallivan Gallivan & O'Melia LLC (GGO) has announced the pricing of its new subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) Digital WarRoom Hosted Software Service, scheduled for release in April. The Digital WarRoom is a flexible e-discovery SaaS model tailored for medium-to large-sized matters. It provides economies of scale savings of as low as $20/Gb for law firms and includes early case assessment and gross relevancy tools to help users identify and manage e-discovery fees. more

Microsoft Offers U.S. NetSuite Users Money to Switch to Dynamics ERP

Microsoft is offering a bonus of up to $850 per seat in a U.S.-based midsized company now using NetSuite ERP that switches to a Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution and a free educational Webinar on Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions. The offer expires on June 25; the seminar is March 30. more

Microsoft Health Users Group Announces Award Winners

Microsoft Corp. and the Microsoft Health Users Group (Microsoft HUG) have announced the winners of the 13th annual Microsoft HUG Invitation Awards for use of Microsoft technology to enhance and transform healthcare delivery. This year's winners are:

• Singapore General Hospital/Integrated Health Information Systems for Best Use of Clinical Records-- Inpatient,
• Partners HealthCare, Brigham and Women's Hospital for Best Use of Clinical Records--Ambulatory,
• Doylestown Hospital for Best Use of Health Information Exchange, and,
• Premera Blue Cross for Best Use of Microsoft HealthVault Applications.

more

Microsoft Releases Products at RSA Conference to Support End-to-End Trust Vision

Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group delivered a keynote speech on the company's End-to-End Trust vision at the RSA Conference 2010 on Tuesday, March 2nd. In support of that vision, Microsoft released a community preview of U-Prove, technology designed to minimize the personal information disclosed for identification of purchasers in online transactions. It also released Forefront Identity Manager 2010, a part of its Business Ready Security Strategy. more

Orbograph Introduces New Brand Identity and Web Site

Financial industry systems provider Orbograph has announced a new brand identity, company logo, slogan, and Web site focusing on its four core market segments: check processing automation, fraud prevention, data mining for marketing, and forms automation. The new slogan, "Envision more. Achieve more." speaks to its focus on redefining its products. more