The buzz isn’t about great styling, open source systems, or amazing features. It’s about the price. At $85, it’s definitely a “value” based computer with some basic features.

Coby focuses on portability and small LCD televisions at value prices, so moving into the netbook market wasn’t a huge stretch.

The 7″ screen displays a Windows CE operating system, running with a 624 MHz Marvell PXA303 processor.

The memory is strictly flash, and it’s limited — only 2 GB. For those who know the technology, the Wi Fi is 802.11 b/g not 802.11n. Still, the WiFi is built in and ready to go. For internet browsing and other limited applications, it could be useful.

Whether or not the Coby smartbook works for you, (there are some mixed reviews on the quality of Coby’s “value” products) it can be seen as a preview into the future of mobile computing.

Prices will continue to go down as technology improves, and that means more people in the market.

Parents may spring for the under-$100 netbook for younger and younger children, opening the mobile kids game market even wider. People who won’t spring for the $300 or $400 smartphone will perhaps go in the $85 for a simple smartbook.

Bottom line — more people with access to your website more often. Make your site appealing, and make it work on mobile platforms.

We’d suggest testing out your site with a mobile device and see how your different page elements load, and make any adjustments that you need. Ask us for some help arranging your web page for the burgeoning mobile market.

Although Google and Apple get most of the buzz these days, Symbian is attempting to redirect attention their way. Will it work? Perhaps they’ll get a ripple. Among those who watch technology the closest, the outlook isn’t positive. The platform hasn’t exactly taken off with developers – for example, the Symbian platform has only 10 percent as many games as the Blackberry – not exactly known as a hotbed for gaming.

And the Symbian move is not innovative – other platforms have already gone open source – so some see the move as being a “catch up” decision. However, it does open up an opportunity for small companies or developers with big ideas to get noticed fast – it’s easy to be a big fish in a pond of only 254 apps., as opposed to trying to stand out among the thousands in the Apple App store.

Right now, Symbian is Windows exclusive, but that could change quickly. An open source Symbian provides new competition to GNU/Linux, and may foster some innovations and expanding product lines – including new tablet computers.

If you’ve got a great app idea, then Symbian may be the place to try a new development.

Overall, the exciting thing about yet another FOSS operating system is the fact that it’s becoming a “routine” event rather than an example of a unique and unusual MO.  When a major operating system goes open source and the development community collectively says, “Yeah, well, that’s how things are done these days,” it’s a major step forward.

What Apple has introduced are some new ways to think about the tablet computer. There have been plenty of responses to the iPad discussing all the failings of the product, and that discussion is, in itself, a benefit to the format.

Pointing out the iPad failings (no Flash compatibility, necessity of a monthly fee for 3G network and on go the complaints) pushing the envelope in the area will make tablet computers increase functionality and features.

Decreasing the weight of tablets, increasing their battery capacities, and increasing speed will give tablets many possible uses. They are currently being used, in fact, for plenty of business functions, not just as readers for the average consumer.

Doctors see entering chart information on tablets as being a viable alternative to the large, rolling kiosks containing a desktop computer that are used in many medical offices.

Many mobile employees can benefit from the small size and simple functionality of the tablet.

However, there will need to be considerable increases in durability, expansion ports, and connectivity to make them a routine addition to many offices and briefcases.

The other benefit of iPad’s entry into the tablet/eReader market

Google and Verizon have made a significant commitment to the Android platform with the release of the sleek Droid phone and the associated intense marketing campaign. Meant to provide a serious competition to the iPhone, Droid features an accelerometer, high speed internet, turn by turn driving directions from Google maps, a host of organizational features, speech recognition technology, as well as voice commands for many purposes, including Google Search by voice.

On top of all those features, there are now more than 10,000 apps for the Android platform, including Wedatamation’s own FileDroid file explorer for the Android platform.

You’ll want to check out some of these other great Android apps if you are taking the leap to Google’s new, high tech offering in the smart phone world.

Some of the top free apps for Android include Dolphin, iMusic, FeedR, and ChompSMS.

Larry Dignan of ZDnet likes Dophin for mobile web browsing better than nearly any other browser. With speed, reliability and multi-touch sensitivity, there’s a lot to love about the nimble Dolphin browser.

The Chomp SMS program is a better way to send SMS text messages in an Android environment. It doesn’t drain the phone’s battery the way the native texting program does, and has other great features that make it a no-brainer addition (especially at the price of “free”).

FeedR is an intuitive app/widget to manage various RSS feeds. It works with feeds that come installed, but you can add your own and manage the list with ease. It is able to update automatically, without user input.

With iMusic, you can download and listen to MP3s for free; as many as you like, as often as you like. You do sign an agreement to erase the songs after you listen, or just listen to the song directly from the web and skip the download.

There are dozens of other highly functional and advanced applications for the Android platform, and more are added each week.

Consider not only using those apps, but creating or having one created that features your own business.  Webdatamation’s developers can work with you on those apps, or let your own people have a good time coming up with a game or useful app that gets your name out in the Android world.

The introduction of HP and other Microsoft based tablets at the CES this month, along with the rumors of the new Apple tablet set to debut later in January represent only the latest in the touch world innovations.

HP has a whole line of touch computers, including a line of sleek desktops, as does Gateway. Printers are adding web access with touch technology, and allowing printing directly from the web.

Additionally, you’re looking at faster cell phones with bigger screens, the netbooks, and the tablet PCs.

What does that mean for the web developer and the web commerce company?

More people will have quicker and more portable access to your websites. They’ll have the opportunity to interact with them in quicker, easier, more intuitive ways, if you’re ready to provide that capability.

For the web business concerned with ecommerce, think instant gratification for your touch customers. Is your ecommerce interface smooth and seamless? Will you be able to capture the customer’s purchase easily?

When developing for touch screens, remember that the input is very similar to mouse clicks, with only a few differences. However, you’ll want to make sure you allow for those differences.

For example, design your onscreen buttons slightly larger than you would for mouse clicks to accommodate fingers. You may also need to think about providing your own status feedback (loading, etc.) since the touch screens don’t provide that information.

While it’s useful to keep in mind that previous versions of the “slate” or “tablet” computer has not taken off with consumers, there’s no doubt that innovation in the mobile computing area is the current game.

With the indisputable success of the iPhone and iPod touch, technology companies seem to have the attitude that bigger will be better when it comes to portable touch screens. There’s no doubt that bigger will be better for many kinds of websites, especially those that are graphically and textually heavy like print news websites. Magazines and newspapers could benefit from larger tablet computers, as could many other sites.

Regardless of whether or not the tablet/slate computers take off, the touch technology is here to stay, and will only become more popular. Adjust and plan so that your website has a seamless ride into the touch era of computing.

Well, I’m completely sold on a new idea that has solved this problem for me. It’s made my life much simpler, and it generally works as advertised.

It’s called Dropbox, and if you work on several different computers, it will change the way you work – for the better.

Go to www.getdropbox.com, download the program onto any windows, Linux or Macintosh computer. The program creates a folder on your computer – anywhere you designate. Download the program on each of the computers you use, and sign in with the same email address.

Whenever you are working on any file, you simply save it to your Dropbox folder, and it is available nearly immediately on any of the computers where you have Dropbox installed.

Dropbox accepts nearly any kind of file, making it easily accessible. Whenever you update a file and save it to your Dropbox, the updated version is saved to all computers. You can also access your Dropbox folder from any other computer by going to www.getdropbox.com and logging in with your email address.

While there are a few glitches from time to time (it took me a couple of tries to get one of my computers synched), the system is overall great. It provides online backup storage, seamless document access, and stress saving file synching.

You can make files public if you wish, providing a link to a public folder in your account. The recipients do not need to have a dropbox account to access the files. You can share photos with family or work on a group project without having a single flash drive involved.

There is a free level of service, or you can upgrade to paid status if you need more storage space.

For anyone who regularly uses more than one computer, Dropbox is a service you’ll want to check out.

First, when choosing a domain name, make sure to use a keyword or a variation of one of your keywords in the name. If your first choice is taken (and it likely will be), add a related word before or after the keyword.

For example, if you’re aiming to be the top seller of mardi gras beads online, mardigrasbeads.com is likely taken. Choose bestmardigrabeads.com, or mardigrapartybeads.com or a similar name. Look at alternative Top Level Domain (TLD) suffix, such as .net.

If you already have a company main page, you may want to set up another page to link to your home page and gather more hits. You may choose a blog, an ecommerce page, an article site for expert advice, a landing page or a forum. Any of these can be configured for the best SEO effectiveness.

Some basic hints are to use text rather than pictures when possible. Use text as links, don’t provide an image for the viewer to click. Put labels under the photos that spiders will pick up.

You’ll want to include a sitemap of your page, both HTML and XML. The search engines use the XML graphical representation of your site to gather information about your site; especially important if you have a new site.

Don’t use lots of Flash if you want to be highly ranked on the searches. Google and other search engines still can’t find the links and text hidden in a graphic format like Flash. The worst offenders are those who construct their sites with Flash – not search engine friendly.

Don’t duplicate content. In other words, don’t have the same paragraphs of text or the same articles on two different pages of your site, and don’t post an article on your site and submit the same article to a directory. Pages that duplicate content are ranked lower and a seen as less valid and valuable. Keep your content unique.

The professionals here at Webdatamation can make SEO work for you by using the best SEO practices when building your site.

If recent and continuing developments with the Apple App Store for iPhone and the iPod TYouch are any indication, then Apple is taking on the protectionist policies more commonly associated with those big, clunky, running-scared companies that Apple has traditionally loved to hate (Think Microsoft  and IBM).

The recent desertion of Joe Hewitt from the Facebook App for iPhone is a great example of how those who value open, creative and unrestricted access are being increasingly put off by Apple’s corporate policies.

Hewitt is not just “one of the developers” on the Facebook for iPhone app, he is the application. And he bolted from the project – not because he doesn’t like what he was doing, but entirely because of Apple’s review policies. (See http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/11/joe-hewitt-developer-of-facebooks-massively-popular-iphone-app-quits-the-project/ for more).

The repressive and protectionist policies of Apple (and let’s don’t forget – AT&T behind the scenes) is disturbing not only because it is so contrary to the supposed ethos of Apple and all that it stands for, but also because Apple is the standard for smart phones and application development for smartphones.

If Apple is able to continue their policies that value profit over innovation, then other platforms will feel free to adopt similar models – the standard has been set. It only takes a look at how quickly airlines jumped on the bandwagon to charge customers to check a bag to see that oppressive reviews of new applications could be in the works for every smartphone platform.

Don’t think it can’t happen – three years ago, did it even cross you mind that you might one day have to pay an extra $25 just to take a suitcase along when you flew to grandma’s for a week?

And the other frightening thought in all of this – where does Apple’s innovation go from here? Can we expect more trendsetting and ground breaking products from a company that has joined the ranks of the “profit at all costs” behemoths? Not likely.

Some webmasters get a great site, make sure it’s got the right structure for search engines and uses the appropriate elements, then they get stuck.

In order to really catch the attention of the search engine crawlers, you also need to provide relevant and authoritative content to show not just those search engines, but also the site visitors, that you have significant and relevant things to contribute about your niche.

Write content-driven articles with actual value for your readers. Make the articles relevant with information that will help your readers.

What kind of content could you provide? How about the most important industry trends, the hottest products, where is current research going, a list of the best resources in your niche, a top ten ideas list, a how-to guide related to your niche, or a planning guide.

Using the keyword research you did to create your site, decide on the most valuable keywords to use, and wisely sprinkle them throughout the copy. A good rule of thumb for the basic SEO writing is to use the keyword in the first sentence, then in the second paragraph. Skip the third paragraph, use it in the fourth and in the final paragraph. An average article on the web is between 300 and 500 words, and an optimized article will use the keyword approximately once for every 100 words.

Sometimes good writing is beyond the average webmaster. If this is true for you, hire out your writing to a good copywriter. Just make sure they understand optimization and do it right for you.

Another mistake rookies make is ignoring the tags: header tags, title tags, link anchor text, and meta descriptions. Make these tags keyword rich as well.

While you want your website to pop with catchy introductions and pithy prose that attracts the eye, when it comes to grabbing the interest of search engine spiders, a few small paragraphs of text on a graphics-rich page is not going to cut it.

Some webmasters get a great site, make sure it’s got the right structure for search engines and uses the appropriate elements, then they get stuck.

In order to really catch the attention of the search engine crawlers, you also need to provide relevant and authoritative content to show not just those search engines, but also the site visitors, that you have significant and relevant things to contribute about your niche.

Write content-driven articles with actual value for your readers. Make the articles relevant with information that will help your readers.

What kind of content could you provide? How about the most important industry trends, the hottest products, where is current research going, a list of the best resources in your niche, a top ten ideas list, a how-to guide related to your niche, or a planning guide.

Using the keyword research you did to create your site, decide on the most valuable keywords to use, and wisely sprinkle them throughout the copy. A good rule of thumb for the basic SEO writing is to use the keyword in the first sentence, then in the second paragraph. Skip the third paragraph, use it in the fourth and in the final paragraph. An average article on the web is between 300 and 500 words, and an optimized article will use the keyword approximately once for every 100 words.

Sometimes good writing is beyond the average webmaster. If this is true for you, hire out your writing to a good copywriter. Just make sure they understand optimization and do it right for you.

Another mistake rookies make is ignoring the tags: header tags, title tags, link anchor text, and meta descriptions. Make these tags keyword rich as well.