Tech

Do you know how to write a thank you letter? Or fake being sick? A new startup called Howcast is combining filmmakers, experts and business for one purpose: to create entertaining, well thought out how-to videos. Anybody can get involved. For example, if you're dying to let your inner Spielberg out, you can get paid to make videos as a Howcast Director. Or if you own your own business, the Howcast Network provides a great opportunity for free promotion of your company. It's a simple idea with plenty of potential.

Techcrunch recently wrote about Howcast and its founders, Jason Liebman, Daniel Blackman and Sanjay Raman, all former Google employees who worked on Google Video and YouTube before they left the company eight months ago. According to Techcrunch, Howcast recently announced an $8 million series A financing led by Tudor Investment Corporation.

Not only are these videos entertaining, but they actually teach you a thing or two. Our favorite how-to's are "How To Fix a Wet Cell Phone"--which could come in handy-- and "How To Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself," purely for the comic value.

If Microsoft has its way, Google may soon have a formidable competitor on its heels. A blog post on NYTimes.com's DealBook discusses Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo!, which was announced this morning. The proposed acquisition would be the largest ever by Microsoft. In a letter to Yahoo!'s board, Microsoft's chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, presented his pitch for the acquisition. "This proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders," he said. According to the letter, Microsoft and Yahoo! held talks early last year discussing collaborative efforts and a possible merger. But, at the time, Yahoo! turned down any takeover proposals.

As for potential problems with the acquisition, the DealBook blog points out that antitrust concerns, especially from the European Union, could get in the way. In addition, Microsoft and Yahoo! have very diverse corporate cultures, with Yahoo! described as having a "freewheeling ethos" while Microsoft is known for a more "restrained culture."

I'm back from Miami and ready to share some insight to those of you who were unable to attend  Entrepreneur's fabulous Women in Charge event, sponsored by OPEN from American Express. The first session I attended was called Internet Marketing: Secrets for Success, led by  Catherine Seda. Seda, chief internet strategist at Savvy Agency, has spent almost 13 years specializing in internet marketing. She had a jam-packed agenda for our hour-and-a-half session, and was able to cram just about all of the information in.

One thing Seda touched on was how to write an effective press release. I agreed with the comments she made, because as a member of the media, I deal with press releases on a daily basis. Seda recommended business owners write press releases like articles, just like a journalist would. She suggested distributing press releases through websites like  PRWeb and  Newsforce. A specific, detailed press release offering facts, survey results or even statistics can make the difference between whether I press delete or whether I save the pitch in my file.

As for blogging, Seda suggested all business owners try to contribute to a blog as often as possible. If it's too much for you to keep up your own blog, try posting comments to other people's blogs. "Search engines love blogs," says Seda. "I'm not a tech person, but I can blog!" Seda recommended sites like  Blogger,  WordPress.com and  TypePad  for creating your own blog. She said both Blogger and WordPress.com are free, while TypePad charges a fee each month.

Overall, the number one rule Seda suggested in search engine optimization to get free traffic is relevancy. "Think about how to be a specialist in your field--differentiate yourself," she said. Seda asked all the entrepreneurs in the room to raise their hands for how many pages they scour when they research a certain phrase or keyword on Yahoo! or Google. The majority of participants put their hands down after page 2, and just about everyone had their hands down by page 3. So, as Seda pointed out, the right words can make the difference between coming in as a top 30 hit on a search engine, or being ignored. For more information on how to find the right words to get your business traffic, check out Catherine Seda's newest book,  How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders.--Kristin Edelhauser Chessman

Today's under-10-year-old crowd makes up one-third of digital music player users. According to Advertising Age, that means there's a new market for specialized players and other products, in addition to a growing demand for kid-appropriate video and music content. "By third grade, half of the kid population in grade school has an MP3 player," said Paul Metz, senior VP at C&R Research. Their player of choice? The iPod Nano.

So far, accessory makers haven't flooded the market yet with cartoon-themed iPod cases, despite an estimate from the Consumer Electronics Association that the market will top $1 billion this year, increasing 45 percent from 2007. Forrester analyst James McQuivey believes marketers may be hesitant to push products to young children. But, he suggests they take a different approach--marketing with a positive parenting angle. "Smaller headphones with limits on audio [volume] for children could be beneficial, as well as things like packaging appropriate music for children. I would expect that we'll see more things like that by next holiday," said McQuivey. Don't forget about what goes inside those iPods--children will also be on the lookout for more kid-themed content, from videos to podcasts.

Wi-Fi hot spots are a relief to many entrepreneurs on the go. But according to this Wall Street Journal Online article, you may want to think twice before signing on. The article says that many Wi-Fi users aren't aware of just how easy it is for hackers posted at hot spots to steal personal information. And it's not just personal financial information they're after--it's also your company's network. As a rule of thumb, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's cybercrimes division, Shawn Henry, said, "You've got to assume that anything you are doing is being monitored." The FBI doesn't have any exact figures on the number of wireless-hacking incidents since many businesses that offer Wi-Fi, like hotels, don't report incidents for fear of bad publicity.

Here are some tips to help you stay safe while surfing the net, no matter where you are:

• Stay current--Make sure your laptop is up-to-date. Keep your firewall, antivirus and antispyware software current, too.
• Use a virtual pin number--VPNs can be set up for personal, as well as corporate use.
• Bank at home--Avoid conducting financial transactions at a hot spot.
• Name your home network--For your home network, don't use the generic name that came with the wireless router.
• Give Wi-Fi a rest--Turn off your laptop's Wi-Fi capabilities when you're done using the internet.
• Wire up--Use a high-speed connection that plugs into your laptop instead of Wi-Fi if at all possible.

Are the days of clipping coupons numbered? If supermarket chains have their way, they just might be. According to this article on MSNBC.com, several chains are testing paperless coupons. Instead of the traditional coupon-clipping method, shoppers load online discounts onto their store loyalty cards, then receive the credit at checkout. Some grocers, like Kroger Co., the nation's largest traditional grocery chain, are hoping to build loyalty among customers who are spending more and more time online. But this online process may not be welcomed by everyone. "If you're very computer savvy, this is probably a plus," said Peter Meyers, vice president of marketing firm ICOM Information & Communications LP. "But if you're more of a traditionalist, paper is very familiar and this is not."

Some stores are also offering in-store paperless coupons, which would cut the price electronically at checkout.

Last week, we told you about a good wrap-up of the Consumer Electronics Show on the TrendCentral website. Now we have more insight into CES from Entrepreneur's own assistant technology editor, Amanda C. Kooser. In general, Kooser discovered many incremental improvements to existing products. For instance, take GPS. She says many companies are jumping on this hot technology, including Hewlett-Packard. New features she noticed include more advanced voice commands, online route planning and sharing, and real-time updates that go beyond traffic warnings. In addition, HDTVs continue improving and are increasingly being used for home offices, meeting rooms and executive desks. More affordable HD video cameras are also coming on the market, as are digital video cameras that record to flash memory. Another new tech toy to watch out for is 3D TVs; Kooser says they're out, but don't have much content available yet.

As for trends to watch for, Kooser says recycling and reclamation are the name of the game. From the beginning stages of product design to packaging, watch for more green initiatives. Lastly, Kooser says design is becoming more important. For example, Lenovo has introduced a line of very slick-looking laptops, and HP has added some subtle imprint designs to some of their products as well.

The Intelligence Group's TrendCentral has a great wrap-up of the coolest gadgets and products from this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From fun items like the iPod BoomBox to the environmentally friendly Green Plug low-energy USB charger, they've got all the bases covered.

While traversing the giant spaces of CES, it's always nice to run into familiar faces. At the Microsoft booth, our friends at Office Live Small Business were happy to show me a new feature: Ad Manager. This lets you enter in possible keywords that pertain to your business' search engine results, and then shows you how much that keyword would cost across various search engines such as MSN and Google.

I also ran into Bill Rasmussen, who was featured in both our magazine and our website. He's the founder of ESPN and a serial entrepreneur, his latest venture being CollegeFanz.com. He was nice enough to show me his site's new facelift and revamps that were being launched in conjunction with CES.--James Park

My CNBC debut yesterday afternoon went great--though, I have yet to see the final product. I went on air with Donny Deutsch to announce to tech gadget startup Bug Labs that we'd like to feature the company in an upcoming issue of Entrepreneur, something the founder, Peter Semmelhack, had been long wishing for. So watch for the article in a future issue. In the meantime, check out the entrepreneur and me on The Big Idea tonight at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. PST on CNBC.

Night number four turned out to be the most fun so far. We attended Klipsch Audio's party at Body English Nightclub inside the Hard Rock Hotel. The speaker giant kicked off the party with an unveiling by the Orange County Chopper crew of their costume Klipsch bike. And then The Robert Cray Band took the stage for an amazing hour-plus set.

Today, our last day of CES, we played with Microsoft's Surface technology, the coffee table-like, touch screen computer launched in May; scoped out Samsung's latest offerings for consumers (and you mobile entrepreneurs); and got industry perspectives on what we'll see in wireless technology (watch for improved connectivity in devices like cameras, MP3 players and GPS systems).

We spent lunch with Kensington reps, checking out the latest brilliance of their engineers. Their innovative and versatile gadgets, accessories and peripherals will be joined by more cool stuff this year. But you'll have to get the details from them.--Lindsay Holloway

After a day of dealing with late shuttles and tired feet, we continued our CES adventure and headed to TigerDirect's 11th Annual Build Your Own PC Race for Charity last night. Our very own Amanda Kooser competed (as the only female) against 29 others to assemble a $3,500 computer in the shortest amount of time. The winner would receive a $10,000 check to the charity of their choice. Amanda came in 19th, and her computer will be donated to her charity. Way to go!

Today brought more meetings, with companies like Belkin, Canon, Lenovo and Microsoft; more wading through people and their pitches; and more free lunches and cocktail parties.

This afternoon, I have the opportunity to meet with the folks at CNBC as well as the innovative entrepreneur behind Bug Labs, Peter Semmelhack, who was recently featured on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. Check in later to find out when it'll air and more about our big reveal on the show.--Lindsay Holloway

CES is a huge show and for some small business owners, the price to exhibit here might be out of their range. But I've seen a few companies that have figured out a solution to this problem. Some fast-thinking entrepreneurs are foregoing renting booth space and are instead wandering the massive halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center and attracting media attention by doing the legwork themselves. Going out and approaching press attendees on foot might be unorthodox (and maybe against the rules) but for the smaller fish in a big sea full of large companies, it definitely works.--James Park

CES is among us. And we're fully immersed in the sites, sounds, companies and entrepreneurs that will be bringing us the latest and greatest technology in 2008.

The annual, four-day Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was put into full swing last night at the Pre-Show Keynote Address by Bill Gates, who delivered his last keynote address for CES, announcing his plan to step down as chairman of Microsoft and focus full time on The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates also announced media partnerships with MSN and Xbox, and discussed his visions for the "next digital decade," including expanding HD capabilities and offerings, and more user-centric PCs and other devices.

Early this morning, Consumer Electronics Association president and CEO, Gary Shapiro, and Panasonic president, Toshihiro Sakamoto, opened the gates with their State of the Industry Address, and three of us from Entrepreneur dove head first into a sea of 140,000 attendees and 2,700 exhibitors from 140 countries. From Netgear and Magellan to D-Link and HP, we've been on the scoop to ultimately bring the technology back to you.

Tonight is the keynote featuring Intel, followed by ShowStoppers--our exclusive peak at some of the hottest products in consumer electronics and business technology. So stay tuned this week for the inside scoop on fellow tech entrepreneurs and hot tech products you should know about.--Lindsay Holloway

Online community PartnerUp has compiled a list of acquisitions in the web and technology sectors from 2007. The list includes details of each acquisition, in addition to links to the official press releases and relevant coverage. PartnerUp.com estimates companies invested more than $43.5 billion into web, software and technology-related acquisitions last year.

First impressions can make or break a business deal, which is a rather scary thought when you consider that many first impressions are now made in cyberspace. This article in The New York Times explores how the concept of "impression management" has progressed through the years. Nowadays, people have to consider how to portray their virtual selves to the cyberworld. But that version of themselves must appeal to multiple audiences, including family, employees and prospective clients. An assistant professor at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania says the main problem with social networking sites is the notion of impressing "everyone out there." For online impression management to be effective, Keith N. Hampton said networking sites should be redesigned to let users reveal different aspects of who they are to different users. "We have real reasons for wanting to segment our social network," said Hampton.

In the meantime, some social networking members are choosing to play it safe. "Some people seem to pick an audience. Other people pick and choose the best parts of themselves. As a professor, my Facebook page is just watered down. I can’t have pictures of me playing beer pong, " said Mark R. Leary, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke.