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Here are five tech things that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
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1 – A tech site tested 5 MacBooks in 2023 and it has the best battery life.
Kimberly Gedeon’s Laptop magazine gave it the top pick out of five MacBook Pros rated for battery power. The 16-inch MacBook Pro came out on top after 22 hours on a single charge. Kimberly goes into detail about how they’ve all been tested and provides an overview of each model’s configuration – great information if you’re shopping for a new MacBook. (Source: Laptop)
Why this is important for your business:
I think of all the features I need from a business laptop, battery life is the most important.
2 – Square Software launches Tap to Pay on Android devices.
Square — the platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses track and process payments — just added the Tap to Pay option on Android, allowing merchants to receive contactless payments from their customers. Company representatives emphasized the importance of giving their customer base the flexibility to conduct business on the go. (Source: Fine extra)
Why this is important for your business:
At first I thought, doesn’t Square already have this? But then I realized that it doesn’t require a separate Square device to perform these transactions. According to the report, “With Tap to Pay on Android, Square makes it even easier for new merchants and established businesses to conduct business in person. Using a compatible Android device, a salesperson simply opens the Square Point of Sale, Square Appointments, Square for Restaurants, or Square Invoices app, goes to the sale, and presents their smartphone to the customer. From there, the buyer will see the total amount they owe, along with the familiar contactless payment symbol, and can choose to complete the payment using a contactless credit or debit card, or a digital wallet like Google Pay.
3 – Constant Contact launches the first multichannel AI content generator built for small businesses and nonprofits.
Constant contact — the online marketing company that “helps small businesses level the playing field” — has integrated generative AI into its communications systems. Users can now automate personalized messages on email correspondence, social media and marketing campaigns. The software is programmed to provide suggestions on how to craft specific messages based on certain statistics. “Our new AI Content Generator makes it easy to get started with an email or SMS by combining advanced AI with an intuitive interface designed for smaller businesses,” said Russ Morton, Chief Product Officer at Constant Contact. in response to this announcement. (Source: decision)
Why this is important for your business:
For now, this is a suggestion tool and I’m sure it’s useful. But pay close attention, because I predict that for years to come Constant Contact and its competitors will create communications based on what it has learned from your company and automatically send to auto-generated lists of recipients likely to open your messages. And all with little human intervention.
4 – You can get up to $500 from Microsoft by trading in an old laptop.
Do you want to trade in your old laptop? Microsoft offers up to $500 if your hardware meets their approval – Kimberly Gedeon or Laptop magazine reported. To count on a good deal, the laptop must be operable and it does not have to be a Microsoft model. For more information, visit Microsoft’s online trade-in program to see their requirements and what qualifies as “good working condition”. Your old system may be worth some money. (Source: Laptop)
Why this is important for your business:
Here’s a good way to earn some cash back when upgrading your devices.
5 – Small businesses and consumers complete 639 million transactions on Zelle in the first quarter.
from Zelle userbase expanding based on Q1 results. The company that processes electronic money transfers to and from participating institutions saw an increase in peer-to-peer transactions – 639 million (29 percent) to be exact. The company also reported that the number of financial institutions in its network has grown – citing this as a variable in overall growth. It was also noted that there were fewer fraud reports compared to a few years ago, as Zelle made improvements to the system protocols to minimize theft. “We have increased network-level controls to prevent malicious parties from transacting on the Zelle network and shorten their runtime on the network,” Albert Ko, CEO of Early Warning, said in a LinkedIn post. (Source: PYMNTS)
Why this is important for your business:
Quietly and quickly, Zelle has quickly become a payment app that serves as a great business alternative to PayPal, Venmo, and others in the space.
