CES 2018 introduced the world to some downright interesting (and some absurd) electronics. The Consumer Electronics Show gives the technology industry just the outlet to showcase the best and brightest of what manufacturers have to offer. Here are some of the more interesting highlights from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Do you know who manages and maintains your business’ technology? In most cases, it will be either a small in-house IT department or technical individual, but often times small businesses simply don’t have the assets to throw around on this. More importantly, they often ignore technology maintenance, either because they can’t afford it, or there’s nobody to do the work.

If you’ve heard of blockchain recently, there’s a pretty good chance it was in reference to cryptocurrency. With Bitcoin reaching record levels in December, the idea of using blockchain technology to develop digital currency was on a lot of people’s minds. However, the blockchain has a variety of other practical uses.

If there is one thing you know about technology, it’s that it meets its demand. No matter if you are talking about the millions of Internet of Things products being created today, video games and entertainment, or business tech, demand drives the technology market.

Almost everyone has, at one time, worked with someone with whom their personality clashed, whether they did not get along or just didn’t work effectively together. While this is a perfectly natural phenomenon of both nature and nurturing, it is best to put personal differences aside when forming a professional relationship with a coworker.

One of the major benefits of a laptop is the mobility that it permits--but this is a double-edged sword, as this mobility means that you are relying on the device’s battery life. Of course, if your laptop begins to die, you can always borrow someone else’s charger, right?

The ability to take notes is invaluable to business, but the ability to take cohesive, well-organized notes is essential. Therefore, it is important to utilize a solution that enables you to do so. For this week’s tip, we’ll compare and contrast two note-taking applications -- Microsoft OneNote and Evernote -- to evaluate which will better serve your needs.

Everyone has their own holiday traditions, and Christmastime is no exception. Some might stick to more traditional roots, while others focus on more contemporary trends to create a Christmas culture that changes with each passing year. Many of these newer traditions have been molded from modern technology solutions, so let’s celebrate both new and old holiday traditions by looking at how technology has changed them.

Communication is a critical part of your business’ operations, but how can you ensure that you’re not holding your business back by failing to consider modern solutions to age-old problems? While your telephone system likely gets the job done, you shouldn’t let complacency keep you from striving for improvement. For telephony solutions, you can consider leaving behind your service provider and investing in a digital solution called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

How often do you read a blog article about network security only to be blown away by all of the overly complicated and confusing jargon of the industry? We know that it’s not necessarily your specialty, but it’s still important that you understand how network security works for your organization. While the complicated details should be left to IT professionals, we can help you better understand the general idea of security by comparing it to a locked door.

Of any of your business implementations, a data backup and disaster recovery system is a serious contender for the most important. However, many neglect to prepare for a data loss event or disaster, which means they leave their business vulnerable to the ill effects of both. Protecting your business begins with a data backup and disaster recovery solution that prepares you for a worst-case scenario.

Does your business have a dedicated data backup and disaster recovery system? It’s one of the most critical parts of managing a business, yet some don’t have a plan in the event of the worst. If your organization were to suddenly lose a significant portion of its data, would it be able to continue functioning as needed? With a data backup and disaster recovery solution, you won’t be dealing in the realm of “what if,” and instead focus on “when” you experience a data loss incident.

2017 saw the rise of many great technology solutions for small business, including an explosion of popularity in business intelligence, artificial intelligence applications, and machine learning. Meanwhile, other established technologies have continued their domination of the industry. What can your organization look forward to seeing on the forefront of the small business technology race in 2018?

The holiday season is the ideal time to pick up your next best smartphone--especially since you might get something great as a gift from your loved ones! We’ll help you decide which type of smartphone is best for your specific needs by taking a close look at some of the great new devices on today’s market.

While many may want their Internet to be faster, not many realize that their router may be contributing to the problem. For this week’s tip, we’ll discuss how to configure your router for a faster Internet connection.

Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world, and for good reason. The browser has many useful features, largely due to the user’s ability to install ‘extensions’--applications that add to the browser’s functionality or the user’s experience. Once an extension is added to the browser’s toolbar, it is ready for the user to use whenever they need.

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, has become the only practical choice for a forward-focused business’ telephony needs. Any one of those who have adopted it could share a reason that they leverage it. But what is VoIP, really? How does it work, and why is it so popular among businesses? Read on to find out.

If there is one thing that supports everything a successful business does, it has to be communication. Any company relies on its communications to ensure that its clients are satisfied with their services, and as communications have improved, it has only become easier for a unified communication and collaboration, or UCC, strategy to take form.

Business owners and managers are always looking to save a buck. Since the cost of doing business continues to climb, looking to the cloud for their business-critical applications is one way to spread computing costs out over time. The cloud offers several solutions to help the modern business keep their costs down, and nowhere can these costs be mitigated more than with a business’ communications.

Take a moment to imagine the absolute worst disaster scenario for your business. Does it involve a catastrophic event destroying your office building? Does it include key staff being absent from the office for extended periods of time? Does it include your business suffering from data loss or security breaches?