The SmallBizWindows Blade Server of the Year 2015: HP Proliant BL460c Gen9

The HP Proliant BL460c is, without a doubt, the best selling blade server on Planet Earth, and arguably the best performing in that same category.

For the Gen9 iteration of the BL460c, HP outfits the device with the new Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 CPU that should have users experience up to a 70% gain in performance over Bl460c Gen8. It has a 20Gb FlexibleLOM NIC, and USB 3.0. DDR4 DIMMs are standard over 16 slots, and if 64GB DIMMs are used, maximum memory for this server is 1TB. Not a misprint: one terabyte! Storage is available for 2 SFF (small form factor) drives.

While being a Proliant is the most obvious reason why this server sits atop the pantheon of blade servers, there are a plethora of other reasons why.

Blade serves cannot be talked about without their management framework brought in.

Here, HP’s OneView platform coupled with iLO 4.0, iLO Federation, SmartArray storage controllers, exposed RESTful APIs, Insight Online, and Smart Update Manager extend the value proposition of Proliant BL460c.

Consequently, the HP Proliant BL460c Gen9 is the SmallBizWindows Blade Server of the Year 2015.

Pending our upgrade to the latest HP Proliant c3000 blade chassis, we hope to bring you a detailed review of this product in the April 2015 timeframe.

Our sincere thanks to HP, and especially Kenn D. for making this review happen.

John Obeto is CEO of Blackfriars Capital
© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Tower Server of the Year 2015: HP Proliant ML310e

The SmallBizWindows Tower Server of the Year 2015 is the HP Proliant ML310e.

Why the ML310e?

Simple, in our review of the ML310e here, we detailed what we liked about the server, and why we selected it.

From our review:

What HP has done with the new entry-level Proliant ML310e is to raise the bar in performance, storage, and storage options, with the hot-pluggable hard drive bays, for example, reliability, implementation and management.

The ML310e Gen8 v2’s performance is several levels above that of the ML110 it replaces. Storage and RAM are expanded, and manageability, with iLO4, is quite smooth and easy.

We awarded it the SmallBizWindows Absolute Best Award in July, and we are now bestowing the SmallBizWindows Tower Server of the Year 2015 Award on it.

Our review is here.

Our sincere thanks to HP, and especially Kenn D. for making this review happen.

John Obeto is CEO of Blackfriars Capital
© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Trying to do the podcast thing. Again. Yet again. :)

I am thinking quite seriously of doing a public podcast again, this time bi-weekly.

Like my internal podcast – actually that podcast is ‘This week in Review” summary -, I would like this to focus on my thoughts and opinions on SMB-related news, products, and opportunities the past couple of weeks.

I also intend to invite subject-matter leaders in areas I am interested in to weigh in with their opinions.

I would like to make is last as long or as short as the topics at hand.

I will try to keep up with it, freeing time to record and edit the podcast, and post it on Vimeo.

John Obeto is CEO of Blackfriars Capital
© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited
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The SmallBizWindows Hybrid Laptop/Tablet PC of the Year 2015: HP Pro x2 612 G1

The HP Pro x2 612 is the SmallBizWindows Hybrid Laptop/Tablet of the Year 2015.

With a bullet!

Earlier last year, I largely abandoned the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 in favor of the HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1, a 14” Intel Core i5 Ultrabook.

However, there were times when I wanted the use of a plain tablet, with the option for a keyboard, mostly when the need for inking in OneNote or taking freeform handwritten notes arose, a tablet was needed.

In walked the HP Pro x2 612 G1.

With a 12.5” 1080p HD display, 8Gb of RAM, a 256GB SSD, dual cameras, dual batteries, dual USB 3.0 ports (tablet and power keyboard each have a port), DisplayPort, fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, microSD and SD slots, and lots more, this device added something else the Microsoft Surface was missing in laptop mode: a base steady and sturdy enough to rest in your lap.

It even came with built-in LTE broadband functionality!

I liked it at once.

I must confess though, that I was initially taken aback because of the relative heft of the Pro x2, which at just over 4 pounds with the optional power battery isn’t anything to sneeze at. However, a further read of the accompanying spec sheet – and verified by me – showed that it was a a result of the ‘Power Keyboard’ base, which contained an integrated secondary battery providing juice to the primary battery in the tablet portion of the Pro x2.

Battery performance is excellent, with the Pro x2 able to go several days in non-use mode.

Another upside for this hybrid device is the price, which is rather competitive for the performance delivered.

I have used this device personally for the past several months, delivering a flogging to it. It has persevered,

I also have it running Microsoft Windows client Hyper-V, with which it has hosted my VM, handling them with ease.

One good thing: it never ran hot to the touch, even when under a heavy processing load.

I am impressed with it.

It is a very worth day-to-day hybrid device, and can easily substitute most user’s desktop needs.

A winner of our SmallBizWindows Superstar Award, the HP Pro x2 is the SmallBizWindows Hybrid Laptop/Tablet PC of the Year 2015.

As tested

• Intel Core i5
• 12.5” backlit 1080p full HD screen
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
• Backlit keyboard
• Wacom digitizer and pen built-in
• LTE broadband, Bluetooth, and a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
• MicroSD & SD slots
• DisplayPort slot
• 2 USB 3.0 ports
• Full size, spill-resistant keyboard
• Dual cameras, front and rear facing, and
• Dual batteries.

John Obeto is CEO of Blackfriars Capital
© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Consumer Tablet of the Year 2015: HP Pro Tablet 610 G1

The HP Pro Tablet 610 G1 is the SmallBizWindows Consumer Tablet of the Year 2015.

Until as recently as three weeks ago, Surface 2 was looking to be a top contender in this category.

No longer.

The uncertainty surrounding both the underlying operating system of the Surface 3 device, and the prospects of the device itself going forward, make it unsuitable for recommendation.

That leaves the best entry-level tablet we know alone at this summit: the HP Pro Tablet G1

The Pro Tablet wins here because it is inexpensive for the 10” tablet space, it runs Windows 8 Pro, and has all the accoutrements one expects from a consumer device: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, full HD for movies, 4GB RAM, and 64GB of flash storage. That storage is enhanced by the included microSD slot. Additionally, it has a microUSB port for connectivity and more.

Oh, and it is made by HP.

Right now, our Pro Tablet is running the January 2015 Technical Preview of Windows 10 quite issue-free.

Our review of the Pro Tablet 610 G1 is here.

John Obeto is CEO of Blackfriars Capital
© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Company To Watch: Headspring

This is the first entry this year in my “Company To Watch” series

I had the opportunity to listen to a company called Headspring a couple of weeks ago.

Headspring is a fascinating study: it is both a consultancy and application development firm that provides both application development and process optimization services to Fortune 1000 companies.

“There is NO value in anything we do in IT unless someone is actually using it, and getting business value from it.”  Glenn Burnside, EVP, Operations, Headspring

One of their specialties is enterprise application development and delivery, where they assist their client firms in acceleration their returns on their investments in their application portfolio.

They do this by being there from the very start when pain is felt by the client company. By utilizing C-suite relationships, they are able to derive solutions that aim to align applications portfolio development with that business’s objectives, which generally center around rationalization alignment.

With mobility all the rage, Headspring has is performing more technology re-platforming, activating mobile enablement and cloud migrations.

“Great Software has the power to transform organizations.”  Glenn Burnside, EVP, Operations, Headspring

He’s right. Great software does possess that power!

Headspring helps in those business transformations by shunning the traditional routes generally used, namely on-premises staff augmentation, a nice euphemism for a battalion of engagement bodies the big consultant firms throw at projects, or offshoring, also euphemistically called ‘overseas labor arbitrage’.

What Headspring does, I am told, is utilize all [available] Headspring staff from their three integrated solution centers, as an adjunct to the client’s employees.

Using their own employees allows Headspring to be able to retain, and leverage the institutional knowledge Headspring staff possess.

Interestingly, Headspring performs their services under fixed-cost contractual arrangements, sharing the assumed development risks with their clients.

Yes, I know. That’s remarkable.

Not only so, but Headspring has a 90% on-time, on-budget completion rate.

Mobile computing was touched on several times in that briefing. As they – and I – see it, mobile computing is not supplanting PCs, but augmenting them, allowing non-traditional/low tech companies to leverage mobiles to enhance their businesses.

Here, Headspring is able to develop browser-delivered apps connected to legacy and enterprise systems, either in line or parallel to the client’s business needs to help deliver value.

“Nobody ever asks for, or wants software. They want more. They want solutions.”  Glenn Burnside, EVP, Operations, Headspring

You cannot put it more succinctly than that.

Why I Am Watching Them
Headspring interests me for several reasons.

First, their business model, whereby they perform the line of business transformation consulting, and actually undertake the development of the applications, mobile, enterprise, or web-based, for their clients.

Secondly, their committing their own staff, and facilities to the development of product.

Thirdly, and most importantly, their decision to execute contracts on fixed-cost basis. I am singularly impressed by that.

I hope to engage them in more conversations going forward, and bring the contents of those conversations to you.

Headspring is headquartered in Austin, with footprints in Houston and Dallas, but with a global reach.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Mobile Product of the Year 2015: Apple iPhone 6 & iPhone 6+

I am selecting the Apple iPhone – specifically the iPhone 6+ and the iOS platform – as the SmallBizWindows Mobile Product of the Year 2015.

I know: you are stunned.

Do not be.

I have been a Windows Phone user since the days of the old Windows Mobile.

Actually, correction: I have been a loyal Windows Phone user since Day One.

Through nascent days to the heydays of 2009 where Windows Mobile was shipping 20 million licenses a year, to the current malaise where the horde of Windows Phone fanbois horde – snicker, snicker. A joke; for 20 fans, a horde does not make – rejoice at the shipping of 10 million Windows Phones. This, during the same calendar financial reporting quarter in which Apple shipped 74 million+ phones.

I jumped ship last December, quitting Windows Phone on Christmas Day 2014.

The reasons for my deciding to do so is simple: I got tired of users, actual Windows Phone users, being relegated to nonentities as Microsoft treats telcos and OEMs as its actual customers*.

That said, my other reasons for this choice are simple, of which the next most obvious is the stagnation of the platform.

• Stagnation with regards to software. See below.
• Stagnation with regards to hardware. All you hear about are the low-end Lumia devices being created. That’s a way to win….
• Stagnation with regards to the [end]user experience.
• Stagnation with regards to app coverage. Much has been said about this. Personally, I don’t give a damn about the top line inventory numbers. What I care about is whether the top 100 apps have comparable Windows Phone applications. No.
• Add stagnation with regards to the buying experience to this list. See my comparative iPhone buying experience below.

When I made a determination to go with an iPhone, I charged my staff with making sure we had the right MDM solution to accommodate my decision as it affected our all-Windows operation infrastructure.

Selecting the right iPhone
This was easy.

As blogged here, Wifey and #2 Son went with iPhone from Windows Phone in August 2013.

She ended up getting a 5S, while the kid got a 4S.

This past summer, #2 Son found out that he couldn’t update to the latest iOS since his device had reached EOL, and asked for “the next iPhone” for Christmas.

Annoyingly at the time, #1 Son also made the decision to exit Windows Phone, ostensibly for the apps, but generally because apart from a few apps, Xbox Live integration, and and the Windows Phone developer suite, he did not have device or platform compatibility with his friends.

I also decided to get Wifey the latest device as well. Since Wifey.

When iPhone 6 and 6+ were announced, I waited to see, demo, and trial them.

Wifey and the boys went with iPhone 6.

Since I was paying, and this is America, I decided to supersize it, and I chose the iPhone 6+.

Like I said, easy.

Buying the iPhone 6+
This was easy.

Unlike my previous smartphone buying experiences, I didn’t have to select a mobile telco from which to but the iPhone.

iPhone 6 is created to operate with ANY United States mobile telco’s network.

Think about it for a minute: an iPhone 6x works on any mobile telco’s network.

Any one of them.

I like that: since I was purchasing the devices outright, I could take them along with me to any telco of my choice, whenever I liked.

How cool is that?

So I went to the nearest Apple Store and bought a total of four iPhones, three initially for my wife and kids, and mine a week later, when I had made the decision to go with the 6+.

On Christmas Eve, I drove by the local Verizon Wireless store, activated the iPhone 6+ in about 5 minutes, and went along my way.

Easy.

Using the iPhone 6+
Not so easy.

I’m still learning.

So many gaps, holes, and outright oversights with regards to how Windows Phone works.

Upgrades to iOS
Since I have had the iPhone, there have been a couple of universal upgrades to iOS.

Guess what?

All iOS devices.

I was still stuck 2 updates behind on Windows Phone.

That’s the Windows Phone way!

Conclusions
It took a lot for me to discard Windows Phone.

However, it wasn’t an abandonment by me.

I, and all Windows Phone users were abandoned by Microsoft, relegated to the back bench behind the folks Microsoft regards as their real customers: the mobile telcos and hardware device OEMs. The same OEMs who have fled the Windows Phone platform in droves.

Remember that phrase, “Vote with your money”?

I did.

To the tune of $3,132.32 to get four new, contract-free iPhone 6x devices.

I’m actually enjoying learning about iPhone and iOS, the quirks, feature gaps, enterprise fails and all.

At least, Apple is responsive to their true, heavily-fleeced customers, the end users.

I can feel Windows Phone and Microsoft fanboi no-nothings gearing up to argue this with me.

To them I say in advance: “Get lost. I have spoken, with my money!”

*That is a phrase I actually heard a Microsoft drone actually utter. Back in 2009. I will never forget it. I will NEVER forgive it either. Too bad I don’t remember the name of the imbecile who said it!

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The “Real” Mobile Revolution–A Guest Post by Latiff Cherono

In my earlier post on mobile payments, I asked Latiff Cherono to weigh in on the impact mobile payments have made in daily life in Kenya.

His thoughts are below

The “Real” Mobile Revolution

Image courtesy of @Prepaid_Africa

Mention “mobile money” and Africa to someone and you will likely hear “mPesa” in the reply. Much has been said about the revolutionary product, but until you witness it on the ground, it is hard for someone in the west to fathom how much of a game changer it is.

I grew up in Kenya in the eighties and early 90’s when access to technology was a luxury available to the select few. A measure of how successful a middle class family was not if you owned a car, but whether you had a landline phone at your phone. I left Kenya in 1995 to attend Engineering school in US Midwest. After graduation I worked as Process Engineer in the Automotive and Electronic manufacturing sectors for 10 years.

I witnessed the evolution of the internet boom, the peak of the PC age and the start of the connected mobile age with smartphones and later tablets. Though these changes were remarkable, they still appeared evolutionary. In 2011, I made the decision to move back to Africa, predicated on a need to improve personal growth. I have always considered myself to be an early adopter, keeping up with tech trends. Armed with the latest smartphones and gadgets I thought I was well prepared to school my Kenyan friends on technology. What I encountered on my arrival back into Nairobi completely changed my thinking on the power of technology.

As I drove from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport towards the City of Nairobi, I encountered the telltale signs of economic development: New construction had changed the landscape that I couldn’t recognize landmarks from my child hood, thongs of people all along the highway engaged in little business (one selling used clothing, the next selling soft drinks and snacks). Though I expected improvement, I wasn’t ready for the scale of change. We were then caught up in a massive traffic jam. Cars, busses and trucks were everywhere. In my childhood, automobile ownership was exclusive to the very rich, but now even the average professional was driving. How was this possible? My cab driver explained that buying a vehicle in Kenya, even with the 70% tax was within the reach of many more Kenyans. Paying close attention to people along the highway, I noticed many were on their mobile phones (dumb phones, we called them back in the States. “Smartphones haven’t made it to Kenya yet” I theorized.

As we sat in the traffic jam, a man pulling a hand cart laden with goods pulled up alongside us, controlling his cart deftly with one hand, and texting with his free hand. This in itself was a remarkable feat, as the cart must have had at least 500 pounds of market produce on it. However, what struck me as odd was that this cart pusher earned less than $10 on a good day, yet he had the time to chat? I asked my Cab driver how this was possible. The answer blew my mind. The cell phone was key to Hand Cart owners business. He used it to schedule deliveries with his customers and most importantly, receive payments. This means that hand cart owner could scale his business easily. I immediately understood the impact of Mobile Money. This “Third World” country had successfully created a solution that delivered transformative financial power to its entire public. A solution which did not need the latest gadgetry, was available on all platforms and elegantly simple. I smiled knowing that I was the one who would be schooled by the Real Mobile Revolution.

Additional Links:
In 2014 Kenyans moved KES 6.4 Billion, U$ 69.5 Million per day in mobile money. This includes Peer to Peer transactions (whether informal business like the handcart owner, or personal transactions like sending money to a loved one), Peer to Business (purchasing goods from a supermarket or service provider) and Business to Business.

Kenya - Card Payments drop 18.2 % in favor of mobile money.

Latiff Cherono is a Lean Consultant (Nairobi, Kenya and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)

Training Leadership Consulting TLC

Most Exciting Current Technology at SmallBizWindows: Mobile Payments

If you look at the landscape for payments, our increasingly mobile world requires payment technology the is equally mobile.

While the usual players are starting to see this, several new players are already here, with ideas that run the gamut, and options galore.

This, people is a very good thing.

Interestingly, the early leader seems to be a company that has correctly determined that there is a nexus between mobile payments and customer loyalty.

That company, folks, is Starbucks, with their eponymous card.

Which I carry, and have activated, thanks to Markham Lee. I have also connected it to my Microsoft Band.

Echo Mobile Solutions is another firm working on delivering new, actionable value to mobile payments.

I asked three of the smartest folks I know that are at the confluence of mobility, payments, and technology to weigh in on what they think the impact of Mobile payments would be.

Trent McMurray is a former Microsoft MVP for mobile devices, and the sounder of the mobile payments startup, Echo Solutions.

Actually, this is a very simple answer when you look at how simplistic mobile payments “should” work in the US and globally. One standard, (not technology) that will work wherever you can pay for goods and services.

I will define the “standard” as EMV, the technology behind or in front of EMV really doesn’t matter, as long as an EMV transaction takes place.

If this can be achieved, then the impact will be as large if not larger as when credit and debit cards came into existence. Therefore generating Trillions of dollars in transactions and revenue for everyone.

Trent L. McMurray, Chief Executive Officer
Echo Mobile Solutions LLC

I asked the same question of Markham Lee, a well-traveled technology consultant, and one of the most logical and financially astute gentlemen I am privileged to engage with:

“While the potential for impact is huge, I remain cautiously optimistic overall. I say this because large numbers of American companies are still sending paper checks despite the long existence of ACH payment technology, tap to pay NFC credit/debit cards never caught on in the US, citizens of major economies like Germany and Japan rarely use credit cards and the Japanese have been ignoring their rather extensive mobile payment tech and infrastructure for nearly ten years.

That being said I see the greatest potential for mobile payments in emerging markets, for everything from remittances, banking alternatives and everyday spending, as mobile technology will enable them to leapfrog to the future over their current lack of banking and payment infrastructure”

----Markham Lee, Tech Consultant & Co-founder of ABS Payment Systems

Latiff Cherono is based in his native Kenya, and there to see firsthand how mobility has fueled an explosion in Africa, where tiny Kenya virtually leads the larger economies in terms of innovation in several tech areas:

In lieu of a short quote, Latiff has written an informative guest blog on mobile payments in Kenya, which follows immediately after this.

It shows how a true groundswell is lifting the fortunes over there.

There you have it.

Mobile payments will be huge.

However, like all new technologies, the path to nirvana in mobile payments will be fraught with pain and pitfalls. Determined investors and stockholder's will need knowledgeable handholding to traverse the terrain.

However, success here will create a new breed of oligarchs.

Below, you will find a primer that Markham has freely provided on his reviews and tests of the leading mobile payments platforms in use in the United States.

• Softcard: http://www.markhamlee.com/blog/2014/11/7/mobile-wallet-review-part-one-softcard. What happens when payments incumbents team up with traditional retailers? Remember my phrase, “The Myopia Of The Dominant Incumbency”?
• Google Wallet: http://www.markhamlee.com/blog/2014/11/7/mobile-wallet-reviews-part-two-google-wallet. Google. Urgh!
• Apple Pay: http://www.markhamlee.com/blog/2014/11/10/mobile-wallet-reviews-part-three-apple-pay. Apple Pay has had the most buzz of all payment options available in the US. Mr. Lee tries it out, using the latest Apple hardware, to which this payment option is close-coupled.
• Starbucks: http://www.markhamlee.com/blog/2014/11/12/mobile-wallet-reviews-part-four-starbucks. The Starbucks Card is the most baked, and most stealthy of all the options reviewed.
• Epilogue: http://www.markhamlee.com/blog/2015/1/25/epilogue-mobile-wallet-reviews

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Collaboration Product of the Year 2015: Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e

The Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e is the SmallBizWindows Collaboration Product of the Year 2015.

It wins this easily, despite going against a sister device that we are very sweet on as well, the Logitech ConferenceCam BCC950.

Then it comes to conferencing devices, the CC3000e is peerless.

Videoconferencing takes center stage

Technology has shrunk the world.

However, that shrunken world requires folks all over the globe to engage with, and collaborate.

In the past that meant traveling back and forth to the far flung reaches of your distributed environment for face-to-face meetings.

Video conferencing solved that.

Then came the need for video collaboration.

However, in order to both conference, and collaborate better video told were needed.

In the recent past, that meant establishing a “Halo Room”, that award-winning dedicated twin room solution costing

For under $1,000 you can have the Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e which offers full HD resolution, is foolproof easy to install and setup, is portable enough to be put into an average padded case and transported, works out-of-the-box with Microsoft Skype for Business (formerly Microsoft Lync), Skype, and Cisco WebEx. It is also supposedly compatible with other new-fangled unified communications platforms. Funny enough, I don’t know if it is compatible with or certified for Logitech’s own LifeSize US offerings.

It works out of the box, needing nothing, and the 280-degree pan, tilt, and zoom camera, coupled with the integral microphone array, make using the CC3000e a cakewalk.

Based on the feature list, the ease of use, and the extremely low cost, our panel found it quite easy selecting the Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e as out SmallBizWindows Collaboration Product of the Year 2015.

Runners Up

• Logitech ConferenceCam BCC950
• Microsoft Yammer
• Microsoft Skype for Business, formerly called Microsoft Lync.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Scanner of the Year 2015: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100

The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100 is the SmallBizWindows Scanner of the Year 2015 and also a SmallBizWindows Business Ready Award of Excellence recipient.

Small, fast, wireless, portable.

Those features alone put it in the offing. However, the ScanSnap iX100 delivered more value than that.

Having a built-in battery meant that it is truly portable. For recharging, the iX100 uses a microUSB cable. Any microUSB cable. That is a very smart decision, and extends the portability of the device as far as our panel is concerned.

Another plus is wireless, and manual duplex scanning.

ScanSnap iX100 also has a very useful feature, PC-less scanning, which is in addition to the built-in easy-connectivity-to-Wi-Fi networks software: all you have to do is point your [mobile] device at the iX100 in device settings, and you are off! Seeing this feature in action across several devices and operating systems is impressive.

Unlike most scanners that are sometime quite ‘unintelligent’, the iX100 uses a custom processor, dubbed ‘G1’, that “not only created the PDF or JPEG file and corrects the image inside the scanner, but also creates a bridge between the iX100 and your [mobile] device to wirelessly transmit documents to your device at speed.”

Again, impressive.

Finally, there’s the very good quality of the included software.

Here again, the iX100 shines. The software performs, auto-de-skew, auto-orientation, auto stitching, auto paper size detection, and auto color correction. It also allows users to perform dual scans of small documents such as ID and business cards.

Honorable Mention
Bubbling under the ScanSnap iX100 is the Epson Perfection v600 Flatbed Photo Scanner, a winner of our SmallBizWindows Business Ready Award .

I like this device, which I have hogged for myself.

Employing a maximum optical resolution of 6400 dpi, though the Perfection v600 is perfect for photo scanning, it is also a very good home/SOHO scanner.

Perfection v600 was placed at a medical professional’s office where it was used by the clerical staff there to scan and import old X-ray photos into their new EMR system*.

Like me they were very pleased with the features of the Perfection v600.

We highly recommend it for the very small office.

*We recommended the Epson Perfection v850 Pro Photo Scanner to this clinic because their needs require the performance and file management features the Perfection v850 Pro offers.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Software of the Year 2015: Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office 2013 is the SmallBizWindows Software of the Year 2015.

Surprisingly, this is the first win for Microsoft Office in any category here, if I remember correctly.

Well, feel free to notch our oversight as a slight, and a travesty!

For which we profusely apologize.

When it comes to desktop productivity applications, there’s only one product that resides at the pantheon of excellence: Microsoft Office, now in version Office 365 both as a subscription, and also as traditionally licensed boxed software.

I don’t believe there’s anything else I can add but to say that it works magnificently with Microsoft OneDrive.

Oh, and it is now completely free on devices 10” and less in screen size.

This is the best desktop productivity suite offered on Planet Earth!

What are you waiting for?

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e Review

There was a time – in the not too distant past, mind you – when high definition video conferencing required a budget of at least half a million dollars, several months of planning, and dedicated high speed data links between them.

I know. I have seen the ‘Halo Rooms’, at HP and at DreamWorks Animation Studios.

They are explicitly planned-for solutions that deliver exactly what you money pays for.

For the rest of us without 6-figure budgets however, Logitech has created their ConferenceCam series, of which we reviewed the very fine ConferenceCam BCC950 here.

As good as the BCC950 is, there is nonetheless a flagship device Logitech offers: the ConferenceCam CC3000e.

The CC3000e completely blows the completion away.

It is equipped with a full HD Carl Zeiss optical zoom camera with pan, tilt, and zoom functionality, an array of omnidirectional microphones, and best of all, compatibility with Microsoft Skype for Business (formerly called Microsoft Lync), which is the unified communications platform and standard in use here. It is also compatible with the consumer UC offering, Skype.

Video conferencing is a technology I have come to rely on in order to reach and collaborate with my staff wherever they might be.

The detail presented by the 10x lossless optical zoom is extremely useful, allowing my to be able to zoom in on whiteboards in Lake Elsinore or blackboards in Port Harcourt.

It has touch controls, a remote control, 90-degree field-of-view, 260-degree pan, and 130-degree pan.

The Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e even has NFC built into it!

I set up the CC3000e in my office at MedikLabs where it had to pan between looking at my ugly visage and a whiteboard used for my conferences.

What makes the CC3000e differ from other solutions I have used, and also the BCC950 is the crispness and detail of the video taken. In a word: superb. There’s nary any loss of detail even as I zoom closer to the dashboard. On the other hand, I have swiveled the view of the camera back to my face at zoomed distance quite a few times inadvertently, hearing my staff gasp audibly as my face permeates their vision. Which is undeniably funny.

In an unprecedented scenario last month, four staff members from Los Angeles were over here in Colorado, and we used the CC3000e to connect us to our on-site colleagues at a customer location in Marysville, California. What was most interesting about this was the level of engagement we had at this impromptu meeting which enabled us to not only resolve the issues that came up, but also allowed us to conclude the tasks that had brought the staffers to Colorado without having a trio of them dash off to Northern California to help resolve matters.

It definitely wouldn’t have been possible with even my former stalwart, the Microsoft LifeCam HD Studio.

The Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e has the features, the OOBE, the application and platform compatibility, and performance required of a true high definition video conferencing solution. Moreover, it is portable enough to be easily transported to wherever it is needed.

Additionally, it is priced right, as I see that this very evening, it can be yours for the low price of $851 delivered by Amazon Prime, a discount from the MSRP of $999.

Resultantly, it is the recipient of the SmallBizWindows Superstar Award.

It is that good!

I have used and appreciated this device for the past few months. Alas though, sometimes very good things must come to an end. I have kept the CC3000e for an extraordinarily long period – Sorry A.F., my apologies! – and now, it must leave here.

I tell you this though: I see myself pulling the trigger on the CC3000e for both my Colorado and Lagos offices sooner, rather than later.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Monitor of the Year 2015

Nothing

Nada

Non

Nein

We threw the book away.

Back in the middle of December 2014 when we were putting together our POTY candidates, we were informed of the forthcoming whiz-bang monitors detailed below.

Immediately, all monitors we had been considering for the SmallBizWindows Monitor of the Year 2015, including the famed DreamColor, became poor cousins to them.

None of them were suddenly worthy.

Below, please find your early candidates for the SmallBizWindows Monitor of the Year 2016

HP Z27q IPS UHD Display
Lifelike image presentation with this display, which delivers 5K resolution plus a massive 14.7 MP & 217 ppi, 10-bit color quality, and up to 1.07 billion colors as well as 99% coverage of Adobe® RGB.

• 27-inch diagonal, 16:9 IPS 5K UHD 5120 x 2880 resolution
• 300 cd/m brightness
• 14.7 Megapixels at 218 PPI
• Immediate, accurate color calibration for sRGB, Adobe® and BT.709
• 4-port USB 3.0 hub
• 4 way ergonomic stand

The HP Z34c Curved Display
HP Z34c and ENVY 34c Ultra Wide Curved Display

• Expansive field of view with 21:9 aspect ratio with a 3,000 radius curvature
• Low Haze Enhancement technology reduces reflectiveness without losing clarity
• Ultra-high resolution and vivid color with 98.8% sRGB
• Picture in Picture for viewing between sources simultaneously
• 34-inch diagonal, 21:9 IPS WQHD 3440x1440 resolution
• 300 cd/m brightness
• 8-bit color depth, 110 ppi and 98.8% sRGB color gamut
• Dual-HDMI (One HDML port is also an MHL input), DisplayPort

HP Z27s 27-inch IPS UHD Display

UHD display with picture-in-picture and picture-bypicture that allows you to display mobile device and PC feeds.

• 27-inch diagonal 16:9 UHD 3840 x 2160 resolution
• 300 cd/m brightness
• IPS, 1.07 Billion Colors; 100% sRGB panel
• DisplayPort, HDMI, Mini-DP, MHL
• 4-port USB 3.0 hub

HP Zvr 23” Virtual Reality Display

• 23.6”diagonal Full HD stereoscopic display with full images rendered for each eye
• Seamless interaction with an intuitive user interface
• Lightweight passive tracking eyewear for viewing comfort
• Stylus pen to rotate, manipulate, navigate, and zoom in and out of every detail of the holographic image
• Real-time sharing on a large 2D display with zView
• DisplayPort and DVI connectivity
• Adjustable height and tilt features

I saw, and played with an early prototype of the Zvr display back in September 2014 at the 2014 HP Global Workstations Event. This device has to be seen to believe. Definitely a ground-breaker.

This is going to be an exciting year in displays!

HP’s CES presser on these monitors and their new line of oh-so-sweet, just-from-a-paleo-diet world’s thinnest mobile workstations can be found here.

Naturally, we will be covering these monitors in great depth shortly.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Virtualization Product of the Year 2015: Microsoft Hyper-V 3.0

The battle between Hyper-V and VMware is ongoing, with both sides taking no prisoners, and each player bringing their product up to par when new features are implemented by the other.

This time though, Hyper-V takes this round, especially with all the goodies in Hyper-V for Windows Server.Next.

A few of the features that this award selection board like about Hyper-V aren’t those features that might garner the most attention. However, they are the features that we see making the lives of our staff, and those of our clients, easy.

They are:

• Alternate credentials support
• Down-level management
• Better Hyper-V Backups
• Updated management protocol
• Distributed storage QoS
• Hot-pluggable NICs

Honorable mention

VirtualBox
Thanks to a Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols post on ZDNet, I tried Oracle VirtualBox, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use.

I even tried it out on low-spec systems where it performed admirably.

I understand that it does as well on Apple OS X, so I am looking forward to using it when a project I have in mind comes to fore.

Definitely recommended

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Consumer Product of The Year 2015: APC BackUPS Connect 120

The APC BackUPS Connect 120 is the SmallBizWindows Consumer Product of The Year 2015.

I like this device, and it is one that satisfies a requirement I had not thought about until I was approached by APC’s Jason Covitz about it, as documented here.

How does it work?

In a word: superbly.

In order to test this product, I used it as the battery backup for the router coming into The Orbiting O’Odua.

However, it handled that task with such ease that I knew I had to increase the load upon it.

It was then taken to MedikLabs where I inserted it into the power stream there.

I connected three devices to it: the Motorola DSL modem from the local telco, and the two VOIP routers in use at MedikLabs.

One VOIP router manages telephony for the working physician practice there, while the other router is dedicated to MedikLabs research for a total of 16 voice lines, and 3 fax lines.

Yes, Dorothy, healthcare in the USA, even now in 2015, requires faxes!

After letting the BackUPS Connect Network device power for for about 24 hours, I failed the mains power by yanking the power cord out of the wall during the busiest part of the morning for the clinic and lab.

Power to the DSL modem and VOIP routers weren’t interrupted. Notifications aside, nothing.

However, after just under two hours and forty minutes without any mishap, I lost my nerve, and reconnected the power cable.

With a grin on my face, of course.

While the chances of a sustained power failure are low at MedikLabs since the building where it is housed is required to, and possesses a hulking great emergency power generator, I felt very good knowing that in the unlikely event of power being interrupted for a long period of time, the clinic would still be able to stay connected.

That’s a good thing.

With that in mind, and for the numerous uses this device can deliver when needed, the panel here is bestowing the APC BackUPS Connect Network Battery Backup both the SmallBizWindows Consumer Product of The Year 2014 Award and the SmallBizWindows Business Ready Award of Excellence, as it is ready for most SMB needs.

One of these days, I will try to see how long it will hold it’s power under a full load.

Once I steel my nerves, that is.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The AbsolutelyWindows HP EliteDesk Mini 800 Giveaway

You asked for a simple giveaway, and I am agreeing to that. With a twist, of course.

As sponsored by HP, AbsolutelyWindows is one of ten sites giving away an HP EliteDesk Mini 800 PC, and reviewed here.

Each website/blog is free to create their own giveaway.

As a result, for the past few weeks I have asked what or how you would like me to perform this giveaway.

Here it is.

Riffing off a suggestion among us internally, and also cribbing ideas from site members, and adhering to you request for a simple giveaway, it boils down to this:

Send an email to Mini800@absolutevista.com telling us how this powerful diminutive device will positively impact your business or work computing life.

Simple.

I will enter all email addresses from the entries into a randomizer, and the top selection is the winner.

Again, simple.

Here are the twists:

• If you send in a plain email, you get a single entry into the randomizer.
• If you are very prolific, and have a different idea, please wait 24 hours to send in another entry. You have a whole week to send in entries, for a total of seven. Multiple emailed entries within a 24-hour period will be discarded. Also,
• If you send in a video, you get 15 entries into the randomizer for your effort each time.
• If you send in an infographic, you get 30 entries into the randomizer for each infograph.
• If you can squeeze your entry into a relevant haiku, you get 51 entries, and my eternal awe!
• You assign me, and by proxy, HP or anyone I so designate, the royalty-free rights, on all known worlds, to use your entry/entries for comedic, training, and any and all uses we might see fit, as long as all attribution to you is duly noted.

At the end of the giveaway here at AbsolutelyWindows, I will announce the winner on this blog, and reveal as much detail as the write would like me to reveal.

I will also forward the winner’s shipping details to HP, which is handling prize fulfillment for this giveaway.

Fine details:

• This giveaway is for a North America SKU, so only folks residing in the US or Canada can win.
• If the winner sends in a mailing address outside of those two countries, that winner would be disqualified, and the randomizer will be run again with the remaining entries in order to determine a new winner.
• This giveaway if for the PC only, which comes without a monitor. It does come with a keyboard and mouse in the box.
• Desk stand not included.
• The 1^st runner up gets an HP Stream 7 Windows 8.1 Tablet courtesy of Blackfriars Capital.
• My decision is final.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Printer of the Year 2015: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-5690

In mid-2014, Epson released the follow-on device to the famed WorkForce Pro WP-4540.

The new Epson WorkForce Pro WF-5690 is an altogether serious beast of a printer.

It is more powerful, more capable printer. Utilizing Epson's new PrecisionCore technology, it is able to lay inks more efficiently, delivering sharper, laser-class images with a vibrancy that is just superb. It is also much faster, and at $399.99 MSRP, it is priced at a very sweet point for the workgroups it is designed for.

In our tests, it has shown itself to be up to the task of supporting small workgroups without bogging down, and consumables are also quite affordable.

Based on these points, our awards panel had no difficulty bestowing the SmallBizWindows Printer of The Year 2015 Award on it.

It is also the winner of the SmallBizWindows Business Ready Award of Excellence.

Honorable Mentions

• HP LaserJet Enterprise MFP M525f
• HP LaserJet Enterprise P3015x

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The SmallBizWindows Utility of the Year 2015: The Logitech Wireless Combo MX800

When it comes to input devices, I really don’t ask for much.

What I do require, however, is a mouse and keyboard combo that just works, is sturdy, completely compatible with any of the systems I may decide to use as my PC, and not leave me harrying for either a driver disk, or to have to search online for a download.

Oh, and it must be backlit.

In the absence of this ideal, I had been using the Microsoft Reclusa keyboard and a Microsoft ‘Explorer’ mouse.

No longer.

This keyboard/mouse combo is wireless, and comes with rechargeable batteries, which can be charged via USB since the charging interface is microUSB!

This makes it easy to charge it wherever you may be. I cannot stress the utility of that enough!

Finally, it come with Logitech’s miniscule ‘Unity’ USB RF dongle, which can be paired with other Logitech devices, saving other USB ports on a user’s system.

I recommended this keyboard combo to other members of this panel late last year, and subsequent to their use of it – one panel member refuses to use anything other than a laptop! – it was deemed worthy, and as a result, the Logitech Wireless Performance Combo MX800 is the SmallBizWindows Utility of The Year 2015.

© 2002 – 2015, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The EU Antitrust Browser Lawsuit: It accomplished NOTHING!

Did the EU-mandated browser-selection screen achieve either the stated goal of antitrust or the under-G goal of creating a Microsoft rival?

Wasn’t the ONLY beneficiary of the monumental EU antitrust stupidity a company that gamed the system by #1) paying the early presumptive beneficiary - Firefox, from the Mozilla Foundation - so much money that they fell asleep at the wheel of business, marketing, and innovation until both their market share, and relevance matched the shittiness of their flagship product?

Didn’t the ‘local hero’ princeling-in-waiting - Opera, from Opera SA – the browser that everyone just knew was browser the EU wanted to win out, proceed to incredibly, and spectacularly flame out, even in the mobile space? Seriously, does anyone, even in Sveeedeen (Sweden, to those not in the know), use Opera as their primary or only browser?

What about their operating system restrictions, you ask?

You dare to ask?

Okay, let’s split that question into two: desktop and server OSs.

In server operating systems, the EU’s attempt to hobble Microsoft by pilfering Microsoft IP by way of forcing royalty-free access by putative European server operating system developers has, how can I put this kindly, failed beyond even the worst scorched-earth scenario the morons at the EU office of Competition could have imagined.

No one emerged. Not from the EU.

In fact, the Linux server operating system that was on a growth trajectory has flatlined.

And innovation there still, ahem, follows the leader: Microsoft Windows Server.

In client OSs, well, “The year 2xxx is the Year of The Linux Desktop”.

That tells it all.

Apart from the attained secondary goal of wresting billions of dollars from Microsoft, the EU’s antitrust case produced nothing.

Nothing, was accomplished.

The citizens of the EU gained, well, nothing!

It was much ado about nothing!

Well, apart from the monies scored from Microsoft.

Resultantly, into the Stupidity Hall of Shame are your December 2014 inductees, Karel Van Miert, Mario Monti, Neelie Kroes, and Joaquín Almunia.

Morons, alla them!

© 2002 – 2014, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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