iPad 2

The IPad 2 was introduced today and is available in Canada at the end of the month.

Thinner, faster with cameras front and rear. Same price as the first iPad. And now available in white.

So you end up with more for the same money. One feature with os4.3 is full video out over a new hdmi cable. Apparently this will not work on iPad 1. Pity.

The video out capability might be worth an upgrade. Chances are I’ll wait for iPad 3 which should be available in the fall.

Update: latest word is that the mirroring capability of the HDMI cable will work with iPad 1 as well as iPhone4. That is good news for those wanting to do presentations using their iPad.

Goodreader Sync Problem

I’ve long used Goodreader as my primary file manager on my iOS devices. The sync with cloud services feature helped keep my data files the same between my laptop, iPhone and iPad.

Yesterday I revamped my Dropbox folder layout to create one master folder with all my other folders as subfolders under the master. My objective was to have only one Dropbox folder to sync which would then sync all the subfolders. Total data to sync was less than 2gb.

Once Dropbox was setup, I loaded the master folder in my iPad and pressed sync. After about 20 minutes the sync failed and returned an OSStatus -9810 error A second attempt at synching was successful. So far so good.

Moving on to my iPhone I followed the same procedure. The sync failed. I tried synching several more times without success. Same error code OSStatus -9810.

I checked the Goodreader site for answers. No luck. The Dropbox site has a number of posts addressing this problem but none offered a consistent solution to the problem

It looks like there is a flaw in Goodreader that prevents a sync under my circumstances.

One Dropbox post suggested that ReaddleDocs has no problem with this type of synching.

Let me know if you have any solution to this problem.

Update:  March 1, 2011

I started over again with Dropbox.  I moved all the subfolders out from under the master folder.  Then I synched the master with Goodreader.  No problems.  I then moved the subfolders back under the master a few folders at a time and synched with Goodreader.  No problems encountered.  I now have my master folder and all the subfolders synching properly with Goodreader on both my iPhone and my iPad.

Mission Accomplished:  I now have a common set of synchronized cloud files accessible by my PC, my iPad and my iPhone.  So long as I save my work in the clound files all three deviced will report the same data.

iPad Not Suitable for Spreadsheet Work

I’m a longtime spreadsheet user.  Yesterday I needed to build a spreadsheet to help my son with his Golf Mgmt Agronomy course.  It involved calculating how much fertilizer to buy for each of the playing areas and a host of other calculations.

The spreadsheet needed about a dozen columns and rows filled with simple arithmetic  formulas.  A perfect test to really try out the iPad using Quick Office Mobile.

I lasted about 15 minutes before switching to my computer running Excel 2010.

I read somewhere that the iPad is good for light data entry and heavy consumption tasks.  How very true.  Touch entry is great for selecting from preconfigured dropdown lists and  radio buttons but not for inputting data.

I found it very difficult to select a particular cell, enter a value and formula and then move to the next.  Copying and pasting, which are vital in Excel work, is also very difficult.

I might try this exercise again with a keyboard but I suspect the experience will be little better.

The touch interface just doesn’t cut it for spreadsheet work.

Use an iDevice as a remote for your PC/MAC

MBPowertools.net has a host of applications that can turn your iPad into a remote control for your Windows or MAC.  It’s handy having a wireless keyboard/mouse for a presentation, or when you connect your PC to the big screen TV.  The WiFi Touchpad is the application for you! It can turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a wireless touchpad and text input device.

                                                

I‘m using the free Lite version.  Its simple to use.  You need both devices on the same wifi subnet.  Download and launch the free iReceiver from the website.  Launch the app and your iPad and computer will synch up.

Your iPad then displays a screen like the one to the left.  You have a full keyboard and a mousepad.  Remember this is like having a remote in your hands.  You don’t see the computer screen on the iPad.

 

You can get similar functionality for your iPhone/iTouch with the WiFiRemote.  There is also an mbPointer app for controlling a Powerpoint presentation on your PC.    mbPointer is a $2.99 app which is a whole lot cheaper than buying a separate remote for presentations.  Both apps do require wifi connectivity.  

                                                                                                                   

Those with a Windows 7 laptop can use Connectify to create a separate wifi or use your portable wifi router when in the field.

Great products, inexpensive to buy and they work.

Download Youtube Videos to Your iPad (No Jailbreak)

Looking for a way to download a Youtube video to your iPad for offline viewing?  Perhaps a demonstration video you want to show to your customers?

TagDiskHD Lite is a free app that can download any video from the m.Youtube site.  It does not work on the YOutube site but I have had no problems downloading videos from the m.Youtube site.  Click here for a 3 minute video on how to download using TagDiskHD Lite.

Connectify – Turn a Windows 7 Laptop into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

 Have only one internet connection and several people needing access?  Need to share data in a workgroup?  Need to create a wifi connection to support a remote control device for a PC presentation?  Or need to extend the the range of a wifi network into a distant corner of the house or yard?

With a Windows 7 PC and software from Connectify all this is possible by turning a laptop into a hotspot.  It’s  simple to set up and its free.

Sales Organization Checklist

Sales managers have a lot on their plate.  They are expected to be excellent salespersons in their own right as well as handle the management and operation of  the sales department as a whole. 

Its worthwhile for every manager to do a periodic assessment of what is important to the sales unit and what is/is not working within the unit.

Here is a high level checklist each sales manager can review to assess what’s important and how well the function is being carried out.

Elements of a Good Sales Funnel

In assessing the quality of a sales funnel most  emphasis is placed on total size.  While there is a strong correlation between funnel size and sales results there are a few additional factors that go into creating a good funnel.  These include close rate,  balance and stratification.

iPad: Lessons Learned

I’ve been using an iPad on a daily basis for 6 months.  It’s clear to me that a tablet has a place in any mobile worker’s toolkit.  Among its great features are:

• Impressive display
• Instant-on capability
• Long battery life
• Portability
• Easy internet access
• Touch Screen capability
• Massive selection of apps

For those contemplating joining the 17 million other iPad users this year I’d like to share a  few lessons I’ve learned about using an iPad.

Review: Sales Strategizer Pro, Sales Process On the iPhone

Sales Strategizer Pro is an application for the iPhone designed to coach salespeople to use a documented sales process to evaluate the likelihood of winning an opportunity, obtain strategy suggestions to improve their chances and generate preformatted emails to advise management on opportunity status.

The app is a collaboration of Selling Power, a well known sales knowledge website and Trust Triangle Selling, an Illinois based sales training company.

The application is very straightforward and easy to use.

You create or choose an existing opportunity on the home screen and then answer yes/no to 26 questions on the input screen.  Based on the answers the analyze screen displays the current chances of winning, ‘red flag’ advice of what still needs to be completed to win the opportunity and one or more suggested sales strategies to employ to win.  Clicking on the share button opens a preformatted email which summarizes the current state of the opportunity in terms of what is done, the chances of winning, steps to complete and suggested sales strategy.  This email can then be sent to a manager or any other sales recipient.

Inputs, Analyze and Share

The opportunity screen has inputs for account name, opportunity name, estimated revenue and estimated close date.  This data is used to simply identify the opportunity.

The input screen asks questions covering topics such as budget availability, key player identification, knowledge of customer buying process, timelines and competition.  Each question has hot links that provide definitions of terms and reasons for why the question is important.

An algorithm weights the answers to questions to create a probability of winning percentage.  Answers to questions determine which sales strategy will be recommended by the application.  There are 12 different strategies ranging from Accelerate, Change the Winning Criteria, Delay and Disengage.  Each strategy includes a description and advice on when and how to deploy.

All the analysis can be automatically emailed using the share button.

Conclusions

Sales Strategizer Pro is a good tool for quick and rapid assessment of a complex B2B opportunity.  It makes a great checklist to ensure that important sales process elements have been addressed and identifies what still needs to be done.

The approach is terrific in terms of documenting a sales process and then making that process easily available to the sales team.  Now if there were only a way to customize the application so that it can be tailored to a company’s process.  The tool could also be expanded to provide links to additional sources of information, documents or tools to solve specific roadblocks uncovered in the analysis phase.

As apps go it is not cheap at $9.99.  However its worth the money in terms of having a very useful checklist that will give an objective assessment of where a salespersons stands with a complex B2B sale.