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Gartner Ranks Sitecore as a Leader in Content Management

by on Apr 15, 2010 (0) Comments

At WebDatamation, we made the decision several years ago to partner with the Sitecore web content management (WCM) system to provide web services.

We find that Sitecore offers flexibility, power, ease of use and constant innovation that serves our clients well.

In the fast-changing and evolving world of web content, it can be difficult to know if a particular WCM product is keeping up with the changes and spearheading innovative solutions.

However, a Gartner’s MarketScope analysis has again confirmed that Sitecore is not only a solid performer in the world of WCM, but is in fact a visionary and a leader in the market.

Gartner’s analysis examines factors such as the core services and products offered in a content management system, including the features and feature groupings, the quality of the offerings, and whether or not the features are native or offered through agreements with third party vendors.

They also consider the overall business stability of the organization, their financial vision and strategy and likelihood of continued support for their WCM product.

Other factors taken into consideration in the equation are market responsiveness, the product’s track record in the past, the quality and execution of the product’s marketing program, actual customer experiences with the product, and the functionality of the business organization itself.

In a comparison to 17 other content management systems, no other system beats Sitecore for its completeness of vision or its ability to execute it’s vision and make it happen in the real world.

Take a look at Gartners evaluation, and see if you’d like to put the Sitecore system to work for your online business. If so, our Sitecore specialists at WebDatamation can make it happen for you.

Obama and the Internet

by on Mar 30, 2010 (0) Comments

Although much of the media attention Barack Obama is receiving now is focused on his governance and Health Care, it’s important for other politicians and businesses alike to keep in mind the paradigm shift of the Obama election.

Obama transformed campaigning and politics through his use of the Internet as a campaign tool.

He did not stop with a simple website, as many candidates have posted in the past, or a simple money raising campaign as Howard Dean and Ron Paul effectively ran.

Obama created a complete internet package for his political campaign that took full advantage of the new medium in ways that had not been fully imagined before.

Remember his videos – which he compared to Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” — on YouTube? Those were viewed millions of times — for a total of 14.5 million hours. How much would Obama have had to pay for 14.5 million hours of television advertising time? According to the New York Times, $47 million.

And with the YouTube videos and internet messages, Obama was able to get his own message out, the way he wanted it told and as long as he wanted it to be. He wasn’t constrained by 30 or 60 second advertising spots, and he wasn’t filtered and quoted by journalists.

His message was framed, produced and presented entirely according to his own standards and what he wanted to accomplish. Best of all in a political campaign, the cost was negligible to reach those hundreds of thousands of potential supporters.

For politicians, this internet opportunity is the merging of all the best possible factors for campaigning: unfiltered messages going directly to supporters, low cost, wide accessibility, and good credibility as a source of information – great messages for individuals and businesses to keep in mind as well.

Coby Smartbook Gives a Glimpse into Portable Future

by on Mar 07, 2010 (0) Comments

Coby Electronics probably hasn’t had this much press in the existence of the company. At the CeBIT expo in Germany at the first of March, the value – oriented consumer electronics company picked up its share of the buzz because of a brand new smartbook as reported by Engadget.

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.

Open Symbian

by on Feb 22, 2010 (0) Comments

The Symbian operating system, used largely on Nokia smart phones, has now joined the Open Source operating systems. With Symbian joining Android in the Free and Open Source (FOSS) world for mobile computing, it could be signaling a trend that will push even habitually and systemically closed systems like the Apple’s into becoming open source . . . .if every competitor goes there, it could happen.

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.

Tablet Computing

by on Feb 10, 2010 (0) Comments

Since the release of the Apple iPad, there’s been renewed attention focused on the tablet computer format – a format that has been around for some time, despite Apple’s attempts to make it seem like an Apple innovation.

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

New Android Apps Will Make Your Life Easier

by on Jan 26, 2010 (0) Comments

With the Verizon release of Droid, the Android platform is cemented as a powerful operating system that will be around to improve and expand.

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.

Have You Got the Touch?

by on Jan 11, 2010 (0) Comments

Touch technology is the wave of the future of computing, and not just in handheld computing.

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.