Google takes out the need to have Google+ account to use Hangouts

Google is making it easier for business people to sign up for its Apps for Business service. The tech giant has taken out the need to have Google+ profile to use Google Hangouts. It would seem they finally got that some business users do not want to expose too much personal information to use the chat service. According to Google, they are promising 99.9% uptime for paying users. Let’s see how spot on that promise is.

Source: Lifehacker

Google uses your hotel confirmation to help you navigate like a local with Search

Google Search has boosted the capabilities of its Search app further with this new feature. While traveling, you can look for places to eat near your hotel by asking Search to “show me restaurants around my hotel.” What you would need to do is have your hotel confirmation saved in your Gmail to gain access to this feature. You can even Search to look for directions from, for example, the airport to your hotel.

Source: Android Headlines

500px helps you keep track of your stats with Insights for iPhone

500px is helping photographers who want to keep track of their statistics with a new iPhone companion app called 500px Insights. It allows you to see a map of your geotagged photos as well as find out your most-used categories and tags. You’ll also be able to see when your account is active and popular, latest notifications, and how many actions happen to your account on a daily basis.

You can also view certain stats about other users, including most viewed, commented, favorite, liked, and highest rated photos. You’ll even be able to find out what the most popular cameras used are, where the photos are taken, and the like. The app has been optimized for iPhone 5 and runs on iOS 7.

Source: The Next Web

Ford replaces BlackBerry with Apple with 9,300 iPhones for staff

The winds of change are slowly and surely blowing through the corporate space as companies upgrading their systems are making choices on what mobile solutions to run. Ford has seemingly moved away from BlackBerry and has gone with Apple by deploying 9,300 iPhones for its employees for the next two years.

This is a huge commitment and a vote of confidence for iPhone following the announcement that Apple and IBM would be teaming up for an unprecedented mobile enterprise push.

Ford finds the iPhone secure and simple to use. "It meets the overall needs of the employees because it is able to serve both our business needs and a secure way and the needs we have in our personal lives with a single device," said Sara Tatchio, Ford's Manager for Integrated Global Communication. Enterprise is an area that BlackBerry owned but since its decline in popularity, Apple has become the logical choice for enterprise and corporations looking to provide acceptable and secure BYOD policies. 98% of the Fortune 500 are said to already be running on iOS and Apple expects to grow this even further.

Source: AppleInsider