DEC 2012• VOLUME 4• ISSUE 12
Its our holiday
issue! We’ve put
together 20 holi-
day gift ideas to
help make your
shopping easier.
2 & 3
10 things we do
better than our
competitors
4
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WHAT’S INSIDE Wow, it’s been a great year in tech-
nology with things changing at lightning
speed. While there are always new things
and hot trends that emerge, we’ve been
watching closely to see what has impacted
our clients the most.
Here’s what we see as the most im-
portant developments in 2012.
The Fall of Blackberry – we’ve all wit-
nessed and many have experienced the fall
from grace of Research in Motion (RIM)
and the Blackberry. Once a market leader,
many people turned in their Blackberrys
and shut off their BES servers this year.
An Ipsos Reid survey reported that Black-
berry’s smartphone user market share this
year went from 41 percent to 27 percent
and the free fall is bound to continue dur-
ing the holiday season and into next year.
The Rise of Android – the main bene-
ficiary of RIM’s woes has been devices
using Google’s Android operating soft-
ware. Android devices are now the market
leader in Canada with market share of 36
percent (up 10 points this year) according
to the same Ipsos Reid survey. We’re see-
ing tons of our clients move to Samsung
Galaxy or other Android devices.
But Don’t Forget Apple – even with-
out Steve Jobs, Apple continues to grow
its market share and bring out new devic-
es. While some question whether the pace
of innovation has slowed, for those of us
with the iPhone 5 we’re still pretty im-
pressed. Mobility has been primarily a two
horse race this year between Apple’s iOS
and Google’s Android devices.
Speaking of Apple, Where Did All
These Macs Come From? Another in-
teresting trend we’re seeing with many
businesses is that it’s no longer a PC only
world. Many companies (including ours)
have some Mac computers in their office
for design work, video editing or simply
because their staff prefer using Macs. This
is creating more challenges to integrate
these devices into Windows-based net-
works and making it more important to
have an IT partner with experience with
both Macs and PCs.
Tablets – you can’t talk about 2012
without talking about Tablets. There are
so many new ones out on the market that
the choices are endless. But the real de-
velopment this year has been in how
businesses are using these devices. They
are no longer just toys; many business
leaders are using them for day to day
work and leaving their laptops at home.
Any IT strategy looking forward has to
include how to manage and integrate
tablets into your network.
Bring Your Own Devices – Having
staff bring their own computers or mo-
bile devices into the office used to be
unheard of, now it’s commonplace.
We’ve seen this trend accelerate in 2012
and pose challenges to many businesses
that have to balance security with the
privacy of their staff and their personal
machines.
- Continued on page 4
Here’s Our Take On The Year In Tech
Monthly Tips and Tricks on How to Prevent Pesky Computer Problems While Improving the Security, Performance and Reliability of Your Technology (Plus a Little Fun From the Team!)
Managing Uptime
Our Mission is to use technical wonder to wow businesses.
OUR THIRD ANNUAL
The TDCNet Team Has Put Together We know how difficult holiday shopping can be so we put
Below is a selection of fabulous
PAGE 2
Shikha’s Ideas: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 - The 10-inch Galaxy Note adds capabilities that no other tablet, not even the Apple iPad, currently offers. The Galaxy Note 10.1 nearly matches the superb battery life of the iPad and has a memory-card slot not found on Apple’s tablet.
ANSR Beam Light Therapy - The ANSR beam is a small skin therapy device that uses red and blue photo-light to treat acne and reduce wrinkles and pore size. It’s a super simple at-home treatment that only takes a few minutes everyday. Brian’s Ideas:
Nikon Coolpix S800c - This 16-megapixel, Wi-Fi-enabled point-and-shoot camera is the first that runs Goog-le’s Android operating system and the apps that go with it. The apps enable us-ers to edit an image, quickly and easily, post it their FaceBook and create a slideshow with music.
Apple iPad mini - A beautiful display, powerful A5 chip, FaceTime HD camera, iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording, ultra-fast wireless, and over 275,000 apps. iPad mini is an iPad in every way, shape, and slightly smaller form.
Megan’s Ideas: Bodum Cham-bord Aluminum Stovetop Espresso Maker – Bodum’s stovetop espresso maker brews really good espresso, is super easy to as-
semble and clean up, and running it costs next to nothing. Vizio CinemaWIDE XVT3D – This ultrawide TV is aimed
at movie buffs who want to see films on a 21:9 display that mim-ics the shape of a movie-theater screen. This means most wide-format movies will fit on the screen without the black bars you see on other TVs.
Stefan’s Ideas: Corkcicle Wine Chiller - This nifty little BPA-free, gel-filled icicle will keep white
wine at the desired cool tempera-ture, so you don't have to keep running to the fridge to get refills or fuss with a too-freezing ice bucket on the dinner table. Lenovo Twist with Windows 8 - Lenovo IdeaPad Twist is a laptop/tablet hybrid that is aimed at the more serious-minded end of the Windows 8 audience. The screen of the device rotates wide to convert it into a tablet, allowing people to seamlessly move from keyboard to touch.
Shannon’s Ideas: Godiva Con-noisseur Choc-olate Gift Bas-ket - Offering an alluring assort-ment of dark chocolate truf-
fles, chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate bars and chocolate biscuits, this gift basket is the perfect companion for moms in dire need of some “me time” after a hectic morning of present opening. Windows Surface - From touch to type, office to living room, from your screen to the big screen, you can see more, share
MANAGING UPTIME FOR <MM_COMPANY_NAME>
DEC 2012• VOLUME 4• ISSUE 12 Page 3
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Great Holiday Gift Ideas to Help You Out our heads together to come up with a bunch of great ideas!
techie and non-techie presents! Graeme’s Ideas:
Waterproof iPad Cover - This cover is designed specifically for the Apple iPad tablet computer, which means you can op-erate the keyboard and navigation interface through the case with ease. It protects against water, dust, dirt, sand and other ele-ments, ensuring your children will not ruin
the iPad by dropping food all over it. Create your own Photo Watch - Design your own watch from a variety of styles features on the ArtsCow website. Whether you are looking for stainless steel, leather, or charm straps, ArtsCow offers them all, even including key chain watches for some special event. John’s Ideas: It’s a Man’s Man’s World - The Liquid
This recipe book features manly recipes by famous chefs like Tom Colicchio and Mario Batali. Now you will be able to cook up delicious meals like bourbon and brown sugar salmon during the times you want to treat your wife to a rest. GoPro HD Motorsports
HERO camera - Offering professional quality 1080p resolution, this high-performance camera takes both video and still photos, and can be easily mounted to helmets, motorcycles, ATVs, cars, boats and more. Jose’s Ideas:
iSafe Laptop Messenger Bag – Perfect for the professional in your family, the iSafe Lap-top Messenger Bag keeps precious contents—and their carriers—safe with a built-in alarm system designed to deter would-be thieves. eWood Watch - Invest in some sustainable
fashion this holiday season with this watch, a stylish timepiece made of 100% natural wood. Light, and hypo-allergenic and completely free of toxic or artificial materials, this is a watch for the environmentalist in the family. Matt’s Ideas:
ProToast NFL Toaster - This is a Two-slice toaster, that features your favorite NFL team’s logo on the outside and toasts your bread in your team’s logo. It works with bread, as well as, frozen waffles and English muffins.
Beats by Dr Dre Studio High Definition - The CyberPad is the ultimate notepad for anyone and everyone that takes notes. It is the only solution that links handwritten notes and graphics to the PC, providing a digital reproduction for future reference. You can easily view, edit, organize and email your handwritten notes on your computer. Brendan’s Ideas:
E-books - The best thing I could get this Christmas are e-books or Kobo Gift cards. I’ve read a bunch of great books this year. Here are 3 of my favourites:
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Great by Choice by Jim Collins
The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
Chris’ Ideas: Sonos Play: 3 - Compact stereo systems are a dime a dozen, but this one is a great, easy way to enjoy music throughout the house. With one speaker, you’ll get very good sound quality. If you set up two in one
room as a two-speaker pair you’ll get excellent sound that rivals what testers have heard from any home-theater system.
MANAGING UPTIME FOR <MM_COMPANY_NAME>
885 Don Mills Rd., Suite #112, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 1V9 Tel: 416.913.8998 | Toll-free: 1.866.483.2638 | Fax: 416.479.4157 Web: www.tdcnet.ca Email: [email protected]
DEC 2012• VOLUME 4• ISSUE 12 PAGE 4
Attention Business Owners: Check out 10 Things We Do Better Than Our Competitors
We are the leaders in IT services for businesses in and around
the GTA. Here are 10 things we do better than our competitors:
We’ll Have a Technician Working on Your Issue in
60 Minutes or Less – Our Guarantee. Our experienced
qualified technicians will answer immediately or will re-
spond to your service request in less than sixty minutes –
Guaranteed.
Ultra Speedy Repairs. We know you don’t want to
waste your valuable time waiting for your computer to be
fixed so our remote network IT support services are the
answer. We can fix 93.5% of problems immediately by
taking control of your computer from our office. For any
problems that require an onsite visit, we’ll send a techni-
cian over.
We Talk Like You Do. If you have any problems or
computer support questions, you can ask and we will
answer in PLAIN ENGLISH. Don’t worry – there is no
“geek speak” by our team of IT support technicians.
We Guarantee Absolute 100% Satisfac-
tion. Complete satisfaction will be yours with our prod-
ucts, technology services and IT Consulting. With our IT
management services, nothing will get in the way to
make sure you are a happy customer.
We protect your critical business data and back it
up offsite. The most important part of your network is
your data (hardware and software can always be re-
placed). We back up your data securely offsite in case of
fire, flood, theft or hardware failure. We completely man-
age and monitor the process so you don’t need to worry
about taking tape or hard drives home with you and you
won’t lie awake at night wondering if your data is proper-
ly backed up.
We are far less expensive than hiring a full time
computer support staff. By outsourcing your computer
support to us, we can save you thousands of dollars on
hiring salaries and benefits. We have a proven track rec-
ord of reducing IT and internet costs, sometimes by
more than 50%!
We will give you fixed quotes on all work and prod-
uct. This ensures your project gets completed on budget
without any surprises at the end.
We proactively look for ways to improve your busi-
ness. We monitor your network 24/7 to prevent prob-
lems before they occur and will give you proactive sug-
gestions regularly to improve the way your business runs.
We integrate your IT and Internet services. When
you have an email or internet problem, you don’t have
to worry about calling five different people. We take care
of everything whether it’s your internet services, Black-
berry, server or individual computers.
We are always here to help. We have technicians on
call 24/7.
The Year in Tech (continued from page 1) Cloud Computing – the increasing trend of companies putting their IT assets in the
Cloud continued this year, however we saw a cautious approach and many companies
smartly doing the homework and ensuring cloud solutions are a fit for their business.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution and the most common thing we’ve seen is compa-
nies moving their Exchange servers off-site or using hosted services like Office 365.
Windows 8 – last but not least, we can’t forget about the launch of Windows 8 to-wards the end of this year. This is Microsoft’s hail mary pass to become relevant in mobile computing. It’s too early to see its success but it’s a huge development for 2012. For our clients, we’re suggesting a wait and see approach before making the leap to Windows 8.
In our next issue, we’ll give you some advice on what you should be exploring for 2013!