Communication is the heart of your small to medium-sized business; you write emails to customers, share documents and discuss projects with your teams over instant messaging apps, all when you’re on the move. But what if you’re trapped in an airport for hours and your colleagues need a document printed right there and then? Don’t panic. With any Android device you can remotely print the document in no time. Here are four ways to do so.

Google Cloud Print

The wonder that is Google Cloud Print allows you to send documents and files from your device to your printer without you being on the same network. To utilize this, make your printer available to Google Cloud Printing by activating it in the Chrome browser settings of the computer it’s attached to. Then, just by connecting your printer and mobile to the same Google account, you can print any document or photo by tapping the share button on your phone or tablet, and choosing Google Cloud Print.

Prynt

If your SMB has any photography needs, this option might be the way to go. Prynt comes in the form of an instant photo printer that connects to your Android device’s charging port. Simply place your smartphone in the Prynt case, snap a picture, order Print, and that’s it. If you feel the need to spruce up your prints, the printer’s native app includes frames, filters, stickers and the addition of text before printing.

Manufacturer apps

Most popular printer manufacturers have their own apps that make printing from an Android device possible. HP has HP ePrint, Samsung comes with its Samsung Mobile Print, and Epson has Epson iPrint. Make sure to check the Google Play store to see if your printer has an app companion before trying any of the third-party options listed below.

Third party apps

Although it’s not our favorite option, there are third party apps that make it possible to send items from your Android device to your printer. Some apps -- like PrinterShare and PrintHand Mobile Print -- restrict mobile printing to Bluetooth or local wifi networks. Others -- like Cloud Print Plus -- untether local requirements so you can print from anywhere. However, it’s always better to try apps owned by hardware manufacturers and Google first. These third party apps should be considered a last resort when other options aren’t available.

Aside from printing wirelessly, Android devices can do just about anything a desktop computer can. If you’re looking for more tips and in-depth guidance on how Android can improve productivity at your business, get in touch with one of our Android experts today. We’re here to help you achieve your mobile technology business goals.

In hi-tech environments like IT, aeronautics, and military weaponry, the term “paradigm shift” is a bit overused, often applied to changes that don’t really meet the true definition. But in healthcare it relates nicely as several developments marking fundamental, wholesale departures from the way things are done are poised to upend the current state of affairs.

Technology companies are transforming the healthcare industry perhaps more remarkably than any other industry. Everything from miniaturized pacemakers and mobile stroke units to wearable wellness apps and bed sore-preventing electronic underwear are leading the way to a seemingly sci-fi future in medicine.

And we’re on the cusp of several other game-changing innovations that clearly qualify as “disruptive technology.” They’re things that are likely to derail the healthcare industry’s apple cart, as it were, by introducing completely new ways of diagnosing patients, conducting clinical trials, treating illnesses, and much more.

For medical industry stakeholders, the first step toward embracing these changes is awareness.

The “internet of things”

The “internet of things” literally means that “things” will be connected to the internet. People, cars, buildings, household objects, etc. will all be fitted with sensors and network connectivity that will allow them to send and receive data over the internet.

The implication for healthcare providers is all about data capture and analysis, as this kind of technology will allow physicians to have access to patients’ vital signs on-demand: blood pressure, body temperature, glucose levels, and respiratory rate will be read, analyzed, and recorded, all while patients remain in the comfort of their home. How would you adapt to this kind of patient monitoring scheme if it were to go mainstream?

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)

Computers are programmed to do everything from making coffee to flying planes, and they’re even programmed to learn, as chess master Gary Kasparov knows all too well from having faced Deep Blue in their famous match.

But can corralling “big data” - which in this case amounts to roughly a trillion gigabytes of patients’ health information culled from EHRs, laboratory tests, and the like - lead to machines actually being able to diagnose and treat patients better than highly-trained human doctors?

Many in the industry are betting that it can, and AI start-ups in healthcare have raised more than $870M since 2011. Are there opportunities here for your business?

A virtual healthcare reality

By simply donning a special hi-tech virtual reality headset, a user can be “tricked” into thinking they’re in an environment that they’re not. And the technology is already being used to treat autism and PTSD, as well as conduct training in emergency response and patient diagnosis.

But it’s the future possibilities that defy belief: imagine an American doctor being “transported” via VR to a rural clinic in Afghanistan to interact with patients, participate in evaluating them, and even perform their surgeries.

Now try to imagine a patient “virtually” visiting your hospital to meet with your “machine” doctor, who will then read vital signs from nano devices inside the virtual patient’s body, over the internet, in order to schedule their robotic artificial retina surgery?

This sort of scenario isn’t actually as far-fetched as it may sound, and it may not even be that far off, either. So now might not be a bad time to evaluate how these futuristic-sounding advances - these disruptive technologies - might impact your future.

A quick call to a technical expert is one way to get answers… So contact us today.

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Google has a bit of a Midas touch when it comes to the first page of its search results. Getting your site near the top of search results is invaluable for generating conversions and entire industries have sprung up around making this happen for you. Hiring an SEO expert is definitely a worthwhile consideration, but in the meantime here are four simple tricks for moving your website up the Google ladder.

Make sure that you’re indexed by Google

This is the first, and simplest step. Go to Google.com and search ‘site:’ with your website domain listed after the colon (example: ‘site:acme.com’). If you don’t see any results from your page listed, that means Google hasn’t even added your site to its search results yet. Although some advisers recommend filling out a request form that Google offers, there is a much faster way to get recognized by the search giant.

Google is constantly scanning web pages for updates in content to include in their search results. As soon as they see a link to an external site on one of their already indexed pages, Google will add that link to the queue of new sites to be scanned and indexed. Feel free to fill out the form, but you’ll probably be waiting a long time. If you can get your domain name linked on a popular or trusted page, you’ll start seeing your page in the search results in no time.

Now go out and get more links

Alright, so your site is showing up in Google’s search results -- on the third or fourth page. Pretty much the only people making it that far into search results are students writing papers at 4 a.m., desperately looking for barely-related citations to pad out a bibliography. In this particular situation, we’re lucky enough that the solution is more of the same from step 1. The more links to your site from external pages, the higher you climb in the search results.

Other than getting affiliate businesses to link you on their pages, consider managing a blog or RSS feed. Content generation not only promotes interest and traffic in your site, it also opens up the opportunity for you to submit yourself to blog directories like Technorati and Alltop that compile source material and get you those external links.

Fine tune your content

After you’ve spent some time generating traffic to your site from links on external sites, it’s time to put a magnifying glass over your own site and start perfecting the little things. For starters, make sure Google has your .xml sitemap on file. It’ll help any content updates on your site get pushed to the indexes a little bit faster and improve your ranking. Head over to Google’s Webmaster Tools to submit your sitemap.

Once your site has been indexed, be very careful not to change any of your core ‘permalinks’. If users have links that direct them to pages that can’t be found, it could knock you pretty far down the ladder. Keep your pages live, and keep them named efficiently. Some website platforms, like WordPress, use default link structures that create complicated, number-based links that can be off-putting to users and confusing to administrators and search engine indexers. If possible, make sure your links use category and page title references for more appealing links and organizational structure.

Measure and track your ranking

All the points listed in this article are ongoing projects. Just because you believe your site has achieved a desirable ranking on Google doesn’t mean it will stay there. Keep an eye on where it stands and never let yourself get lazy with your content production, site management and SEO monitoring -- it could mean the difference between moving up the search page, and disappearing from it altogether. Online tools like Cyfe and give you a more in-depth look at your site traffic and external links so you’re always ahead of the competition.

Optimizing your Google page indexing is a little like visiting an auction house where everyone has a megaphone and a bigger budget than you. Some designers spend countless hours becoming experts on this specific topic and market their services to a wider audience. Sure, a truly great and well-reviewed business is going to generate a lot of organic traffic, but why not call one of those experts to give you the boost you need? We’ve got the skills and the time to sit down with you and get your site moving up the ladder.