Intended to function as a standalone tool, the Carpet Estimator app is a mobile solution for quickly estimating carpet and perimeter trim by carpet roll tear-off length with an easy-to-use floor plan generator that leaves no room for estimating mistakes. Subcontractors and weekend warriors alike will be now be able to complete simple estimates on an iPhone or iPod touch without any pricing surprises or costly material overruns. The On Center Software Carpet Estimator app includes the following features:

* Create New Estimates

o Includes 10 predefined shapes (including curves) to help you build your rooms

o Manipulate room dimensions by dragging arrows via touch

o View how the carpet will be laid in your room

o Adjust carpet orientation to Vertical or Horizontal

o Move and adjust seams by simply dragging an arrow

o Input any carpet roll width

o Input pricing for carpet and trim along with units

o Name each room for future reference

o Summary includes carpet and trim prices, plus room area and perimeter

* File Manager

o Store each room estimate into a database

o View and edit previous room estimates

o Delete rooms from the database

* Report Builder

o Select and combine room data to generate one report

o Report includes a materials break out

o Edit and email this report to clients, suppliers, or to yourself

* Help

o Online information and tutorials available at www.oncenter.com

o Check out the other great products created by On Center Software, made specifically for the construction industry

The Carpet Estimator app for iPhone and iPod touch is now available exclusively through the iTunes App Store. This tool was designed as a standalone app, and is not intended for use with On Center Software’s suite of construction products. For more information, please visit:  http://www.oncenter.com/products/iphone/carpet_estimator/help/index.html.

The Ubuntu distribution was recently installed into 220,000 workstations that are used by some 600,000 students in Spain.

Rafael Garcia Rivas, Director of Advanced Management Centre, Junta de Andalucia says, “Teachers and students throughout Andalusia now have access to a stable and easy-to-use technology environment. They can find and share educational information more easily. And they can work on more innovative, interactive lessons with an improved IT infrastructure in place.”

The attraction of using this operating system and software is easy of installation, simple updating across the network and of course its reasonable cost.

As part of this initiative, the government contracted Spanish IT services company Isotrol to implement a new technology infrastructure that connected 1,500 schools in the region. After winning a competitive tender, Isotrol was also invited to launch a new infrastructure management project to ensure that each school received technical support as and when it was needed.

Antonio José Sáenz Albanés says, “The Ubuntu distribution is more reliable than the alternatives. It’s stable,easy-to-use and easy-to-manage. It’s also compatible with a range of hardware, so we haven’t experienced any integration issues. That’s been particularly important because teachers and students need to be able to work with Guadalinex whether they’re in school or at home.

“Basing our distribution on Ubuntu has also allowed the CGA to dedicate more resources to improving day-to-day tasks. And it means we can dedicate more time to providing hardware support and developing new technology solutions for the classrooms.”

You can get your own desktop copy of Ubuntu for your business at http://www.ubuntu.com/

Michelle Bouffard, HowToMarketYourBusinessNow.com

HP today bolstered the HP LaserJet Pro printer line with a new ”plug and print” technology that allows customers to begin printing in minutes by simply connecting a netbook, notebook or desktop PC to the printer with a USB cable. This means no CD required.

Dubbed the “HP Smart Install”, this technology promises to help local business get up and running even faster. It is included on the HP LaserJet Pro P1100 Printer series, the HP LaserJet Pro M1130/M1210 Multifunction Printer (MFP) series and the HP LaserJet Pro P1566/P1606dn Printer series.

HP also unveiled the HP Scanjet Professional 1000 Mobile Scanner, the company’s first portable scanner for fast, on-the-go scanning without the need for batteries or an AC adapter.

“Our customers demand easy printing and we’re giving it to them – no clumsy CD-ROMs to install, no drivers to download,” said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president, LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “HP Smart Install offers the future of printing, today.”

The new HP LaserJet Pro lineup features a sleek, black finish and delivers professional, cost-effective results while enabling small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to reduce their environmental impact. For example, the HP P1100 series is claimed to be the most energy efficient laser printer in the world.

In order to save even more money/energy costs, the printers feature new HP Auto-On Technology, which intelligently senses activity. It complements HP Auto-Off Technology, which automatically adjusts the power settings and turns the printer off when there is no print activity.

The combined energy savings can be up to 72 percent less than these printer’s predecessors.

- The 1100 is priced from $129 to $149 USD.

- The M1130/M1210MFP series is priced from $149 to $199.

- The P1566 Printer will be $179 and the other models go higher in price.

You can get more information at HP’s website at http://www.hp.com/

You can also see a demo video at: http://h30429.www3.hp.com/ModStandardSendVideo_dsp.jsp?nsid=a66865c06:129050b87b3:-6822

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

The cost of these new devices starts at just $499.

The iPad will let users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more.

The footprint of the device may make it handy for on the go business applications. The iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours.

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers are already creating exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

The iTunes® Store gives iPad users access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 films including over 2,500 in stunning high definition. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

The iPad will be available in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. International pricing will be announced in April. iPad will ship in additional countries later this year.

Sheila Dawson, Technical Reporter, HowToMarketYourBusinessNow.com

This is in stark contrast to a statement made be Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in 2007. “Five hundred dollars? … That is the most expensive phone in the world. And it doesn’t appeal to business because it doesn’t have a keyboard.”

“When the iPhone came out, what most people heard in the first year from ‘07 to ‘08 was ‘oh my God, it’s not BlackBerry secure. This is not going to work on the enterprise space.’ At the end of the day, it’s just software. That’s all it is.” Spears said at a recent investor conference.

Spears also notes, “And by the time the 3G came out in ‘08 [Apple] had solved about 80 percent of the security issues. By the time the 3GS came out last summer, most CIOs will tell you today they have very few issues around the security that they need provided, as they have come to know that RIM can do it because of the way RIM provides their solution. So enterprises today view the iPhone as a mobile computer.”

Apple has succeeded in overcoming businesspersons early misgivings about the iPhone’s security and business-readiness. In last year’s third quarter, the iPhone scored highest in the consumer and business categories of JD Power’s Smartphone Satisfaction Study. The device scored 803 points out of a possible 1,000. That’s 79 points more than Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, which took second place with a score of 724 points, the industry average.

If you would like to implement an iPhone into your business technology plan, head over to Apple’s intended “iPhone Business Site” at http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/. You can pick up apps, info and support.

Sheila Dawson, Technology Author, HowToMarketYourBusinessNow.com

“About 50% of computers have malware on them, and 50% of credit-card numbers are in the wrong hands”, according to Joseph Menn, Financial Times reporter and author of “Fatal System Error,” a new book about cyber-crime.

Mr. Menn reports Russia/China are protecting some of the worst Internet criminals in the world in order to use them for underground purposes such as economic espionage.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) recently released a report detailing online crime complaints. It shows a substantial increased once again from last year. The IC3 received a total of 336,655 complaints, a 22.3 percent increase from 2008. The total loss linked to online fraud was $559.7 million; this is up from $265 million in 2008.

If you think you or your business has been a victim of a cyber-crime, you can contact the IC3 and log a complaint at http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx.

Nora Whithers, Business Marketing News