Category: News

The deadline is almost up for small firms, who have just 8 weeks to prepare for a massive shake-up in the way their payroll is reported to the HMRC. The introduction of ‘real time’ reporting will take effect on April 6^th, and affect every business in the country, even if you only have one employee.

Revenue & Customs hope the introduction of RTI will make it easier for firms to deduct the correct tax every payday and eliminate the need to do the dreaded year end returns. They also claim this will help companies to avoid late payments and penalties. Businesses will have to use the software to send the HMRC immediate details electronically as they run the payroll.

However, research shows that many small firms are still unaware of the coming changes and a recent study by the Accounting Software giant Sage revealed that 64% of businesses were not prepared. This worrying statistic has brought Sage and other payroll specialists to urge firms to act now and make sure all employee data is correct.

If you have any concerns about these changes or are worried that you’re not prepared, please pick up the phone and give our Payroll Bureau a call. 

Still to this day the confusion into whether Microsoft’s Surface Pro can be classed as a tablet or laptop rages on, and now, new beanchmark findings have shown it to be as fast as any ultrabook on the market adding to the argument. Besides the keyboard functionality that allows Surface to resemble a laptop, it’s what’s inside that worth remembering why this machine is the top if the speed beanchmark tests.

Inside is the Micron Technologies C400 solid-state drive. The Micron SSD post speeds of 400 megabytes per second when reading data and just under 200mb in writes. Compare that to the 4^th Gen iPad, which is typically in the 20-30mb/s range, which I’m sure you’ll agree, in comparison is horribly slow.

Other benchmarks have been testing just how fast the Pro is compared with other high-end tablets and smart-phones. Their results were astonishing showing that the Surface Pro manages to deliver almost 5x the performance of the iPad 4.

Internally the Surface Pro is clearly not an Ultrabook and the fact the Pro has trouble squeezing out 4 hours of battery life compared to the 10+ hours delivered by the iPad shows it’s not all good news for Microsoft. The blistering speed is the reason for this drop in battery life, and anyone who knows anything about technology will know that you have to compensate somewhere, but this is not great for a product being marketed as a mobile device.

The future of Surface will undoubtedly offer better battery life as Intel moves to its more power-efficient Haswell generation of processors in the summer but for now Microsoft owns the rights to brag about developing the “fastest tablet on the market”.

By Claire Gard

With the Christmas season in full swing and the more people choosing to shop from the comfort of their homes instead of pushing through the crowds, standing in the queues and braving the cold, it’s important to make sure your website is working to its full potential. This time of year its imperative to ensure your customers can find exactly what their looking for and make it as easy as possible to complete their transactions. Getting this wrong could see you loosing potential customers to other sites that are offering a better online service.

The nice guys at Google come up with tips to help gain more customers over the festive period, they do this every year, so we at Itexpress decided to come up with a few for you to consider.

 

Are you distracting your customers with out of date information?

Always make sure your home page meets your customers’ expectations. If you’re filling it with ads make sure those products are in stock and if they’re not then remove the ad. There’s nothing worse to a customer who has seen an advert, gets their card ready to pay only to find it’s out of stock. Customers find this misleading and will go elsewhere, even if you can still offer them another product they wanted you have already put them off by advertising something you can’t deliver.

 

A search bar is priceless!

Your potential customers know exactly what they want. The reason their shopping online is because they want to avoid all that trawling through shelves trying to find that perfect gift. Adding a search bar gives customers the opportunity to find that product immediately.

 

Time saving with a sidebar!

Adding a sidebar with related products can be a god send. Imagine, you buy an iPad, then you have to search for a case and screen protectors. You can add all this to your related items sidebar and the customer can easily browse through everything they need.

 

Customer service still applies!

Just because your sale is not face to face doesn’t mean you can scrimp on the customer service. At Christmas everyone has questions regarding delivery times, prices, stock, you name it customers will want to know it. Offer somewhere on your site where their questions can be answered. Good customer service will always have people coming back and referring your site to their friends. Good customer service = more sales, more sales = happy you!

 

Don’t blame the post office!!

We cannot stress this enough. Always tell your customers when to expect their delivery and when the final cut off is for Christmas delivery.  Also giving the option of delivering to an alternative address is a good idea. People are working longer hours and with Christmas being such an expensive time we simply can’t afford to take time off work to wait in for deliveries. If you allow deliveries to alternative addresses you gain the upper hand on many companies that rule this out.

 

A website is for life… not just for Christmas!

 

These tools can be used all year round. If you’re willing to put the work into your site you will see more interest and more sales. Your website is a crucial tool in the development of your business and without it you are simply living in the dark ages. If you don’t update it and offer something that other sites don’t then you may as well not have it at all. All year round you should look after your site, feed it with new information and products, keep your visitors interested and happy and prove that your hard work is not in vain. If you look after your website your website will look after you.

It’s not hard to follow these few simple rules, you can do them yourself very easily and it can result in selling more this Christmas and making people happy. By giving customers the experience they expect it will have them coming back for more.

If you would like information on SEO, website development or if you simply want to ask our opinion on how to make your site work better for you then call us today and our friendly team will be more than happy to help.

By Claire Gard

Microsoft has revealed its prices for it Windows Pro Edition of the Surface Tablet. It announced that the device, which will be released in January, will start at $899 (£560) for the basic model.

The price is a massive $400 more than the existing Surface tablet, which sold out in the first few weeks of its release earlier this year. However the difference in price reflects in the performance of the Pro Edition.

Surface with Windows Pro features an Intel Chip which allows it to run the full version of the Windows 8 operating system. Its faster processor also enables you to run software such as Photoshop, which is a massive bonus for people taking full advantage of the built in 1080p HD camera.

Both versions of the Surface can be operated as a 10.6inch touchscreen tablet or used alongside the detachable keyboard to mimic the functionality of a notebook computer. The Windows RT version of Surface is powered by an ARM-based chip from Nvidia offers a longer battery life but can only run a limited about of third party software that you can download from Microsoft’s app store.

Although the Pro version is more expensive it is faster and avoids any of these restrictions. However, it is heavier because it features a higher capacity battery to run a more power-hungry processor.

Microsoft have developed two models for you to choose from. A 64GB version for $899 and a 128GB version for $999, neither price include a detachable keyboard which will add at least another $99.

While many industry watchers have high hopes for the Surface Pro, one actually commenting that it would be far more attractive to the market that the RT version. Others suggested that buyers sit back and wait for new devices to be released, which may be more compelling and cheaper.

By Claire Gard

After selling 4 million upgrades in 4 days, Microsoft is off to an amazing start thanks to its newest operating system Windows 8.

Many “techies” suggest this is mainly down to the multitude of changes and dynamic new approach to altering how we all use our PC’s and mobile devices.

Not since Windows XP have Microsoft produced such a massive overhaul to their operating system, and over time has been criticized for being creatures of habit. That title can now be squashed, Enter Windows 8!!

The release of Windows 8 has already helped the computing giant smash Apples record of 3 million downloads in 4 days, of its OSX Lion operating system, and it looks set to become one of the most popular operating systems of its kind, with millions of Smartphone handsets and Tablets due to be released running Windows 8, popularity for this software is only going to grow.

So, have you upgraded to Windows 8 yet?? If you have why not let us know how you like it.

By Claire Gard

Today, Microsoft have introduced the new version of Office that is available on every Windows Phone 8.

They have worked tirelessly to complete their 5 main objectives for this piece of software, seemingly putting sync-ability and sharing top of the list for those who need it on the move. The whole point of a mobile phone is that it’s mobile after all, and this is another bit of software gadgetry that will mean you can work from literally anywhere.

Where sharing and syncing are concerned there have been some really intuitive changes. Microsoft have redesigned The Office Hub, your “go-to” place for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Finding and accessing your documents on SkyDrive, Office 360 and Sharepoint is easier and more streamlined.

If you one of many who currently use Office 360 your documents will now travel with you, Even if you have them on different devices. No matter which device you used last to view or edit your files it will show up in your recently used documents on your Windows Phone 8. Any email attachments you’ve opened in Outlook Mobile will show automatically in the Office hub and you will be able to share these with others.  Office hub also takes advantage of the new “Tap + Send” feature in Windows Phone 8 to let you share your documents by tapping your phone to another NFC-capable device.

Office content viewing is now a more delightful experience, with the view adjusted for the unique attributes of Windows Phone 8. Editing in Word, Excel and PowerPoint have been made even easier by introducing a number of noticeable improvements.

PowerPoint works seamlessly and the added portrait mode with speaker notes and slide thumbnails make navigating between slides a lot easier.

The new full-screen reading mode in Word is an amazing improvement. Your controls automatically move out of the way to put your content at centre stage.

Excel also has some vast improvements. Workbooks open at the last saved sheet and zoom level, navigating through a large excel worksheet is now faster and more fluid. New touch-friendly handles make range selection and resizing a breeze.

Microsoft has converted its OneNote Mobile to a separate app that’s always ready to capture your notes as soon as you need it. Simply tapping the OneNote tile and you can take quick text, photo and voice notes. It also offers you the option to access your notes from other devices. With many new features to the OneNote app such as speech notes and allowing you to make spontaneous notes even if you phone is locked, makes this a really noteworthy app.

Windows Phone 8 continues to offer the best Office communications experience on any mobile device. The integration of your Outlook emails, calendars and tasks are simpler than ever. Many communication apps available like Skype and Yammer mean you can communicate with all of your networks as and when you need them. Windows Phone 8 is now available 50 languages, supports complex script and UI mirroring. With the new Office update and the amazing new features added to this device you can take your work with you everywhere.

By Claire Gard

On 23^rd October 2012 we are hosting our popular IT workshop at the Courtyard on Boothferry Road in Goole.

The workshop starts at 5.30pm and topics to be discussed by Andy and his team are the changes to the HMRC Payroll Communications and a full rundown of the new Real Time Information (RTI) System. He will also be going through a demonstration of the new Microsoft Operating System, Windows 8, and bringing you up to speed with the latest Google SEO moves and giving you plenty of pointers on how to increase your Google ranking.

For a limited time places are free, you must book before 15^th October to reserve your free seat. If you book after this date prices are £10pp.

The workshop starts at 5.30pm and will finish around 7.30pm and tea, coffee and cake will be served.

If you would like to come along then don’t hesitate to contact Andy or Claire at Itexpress on 01405 765782 to book your seat.

Smartphone maker HTC has reported a 79% drop in profits for the third quarter as it continues to lose the battle against rivals, Apple and Samsung.

This is in a sharp contrast with Samsung, who have forecast record profits for the same period, mainly thanks to the strong sales of its Galaxy smartphones.

At this moment it time it look unlikely that HTC will catch up to its rivals in the near future. If it is to catch up it is in much need of a hit model in 2013, otherwise margins will continue on this downslide.

Although the firm was among the early pioneers of Andriod-based smartphones and enjoyed a considerable share in key markets, it has been hurt by the success of Samsung’s Galaxy range as well as Apple’s iPhone. The two rivals have consistently launched new models, with Samsung unveiling the Galaxy S3 and Apple its iPhone5 earlier this year and this has only extended their lead over HTC.

But in an attempt to regain it marketshare, HTC have also launched new models, including two Windows 8 phones. Although critics say they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the  firm’s fortunes.

Time will only tell for HTC. With new phones such as the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Sony Xperia S hitting the consumer market and offering an abundance of gadgetry and technology, HTC have a lot of ground to make up.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday announced plans for a new kind of employment contract called an owner-employee.

New owner-employees will exchange some of their UK employment rights for rights of ownership in the form of shares in the business they work for, any gains on which will be exempt from capital gains tax.

Companies of any size will be able to use this new kind of contract, but it is principally intended for fast growing small and medium sized companies that want to create a flexible workforce.

Under the new type of contract, employees will be given between £2,000 and £50,000 of shares that are exempt from capital gains tax.  In exchange, they will give up their UK rights on unfair dismissal, redundancy, and the right to request flexible working and time off for training, and will be required provide 16 weeks’ notice of a firm date of return from maternity leave, instead of the usual 8.

Owner-employee status will be optional for existing employees, but both established companies and new start-ups can choose to offer only this new type of contract for new hires. Companies recruiting owner-employees will continue to have the option of inserting more generous employment conditions into the employment contract if they want to.

Legislation to bring in the new owner-employee contract will come later this year so that companies can use the new type of contract from April 2013.  The Government will consult on some details of the contract later this month.

Sony has had to draw back sales of its new Tablet, the Xperia S, after discovering that the device is not water resistant as previously advertised.

The Tablet, which was unveiled in August and went on sale to the public in September, was pulled from shelves this week after Sony Corps found a gap between the screen and the casing on some of the devices.

At the unveiling it had been heavily marketed as “splash-proof”, and because not many tablets promote waterproofing it’s obviously a big selling point. However this has to be an embarrassment, to create a tablet that’s supposed to be usable in tough environments only to find out a month after the product has been on the shelves that it’s not.

A statement issued by Sony said the defect is due to a manufacturing flaw and that they will repair or replace any damaged devices. There is no date at the moment for sales to recommence.

Where most people won’t worry about waterproofing, it’s a huge selling point in the Japanese market and with more and more companies creating water resistant devices this could put a big dent in Sony’s pocket.

By Claire Gard