If there's one tool no business traveler should be without, it's a mobile hotspot. It's like the Internet in your pocket, a high-speed but portable modem that can share its connectivity with multiple devices: laptops, tablets, and so on.
These handy gizmos have been around for years, but Novatel's latest is rapidly emerging as the hot hotspot, especially for holiday gift shoppers. Why the fuss? The MiFi2 Liberate is the first hotspot to feature a touchscreen.
That may not sound like such a big deal for a device that typically just sits on a tabletop while you hop online, but it's quite helpful for things like tracking your data consumption and viewing which devices are connected. Older hotspots relied on small LED screens and awkward button-powered menus, or lacked any kind of interactivity at all.
Although some (arguably crazy) folks are already lining up at Best Buys around the country, most analysts agree that online sales will well exceed this year's Black Friday storefront frenzy. And while Cyber Monday may end up being the peak of sales for online retailers, some, including Amazon, have already begun offering up freak-out-worthy deals, extending the buzz across an entire week of insane sales.
Among the most popular gifts this year? Tablets. The tablet computer market has exploded alongside a flurry of tablet-optimized apps, the new Windows 8 OS that hybrids the laptop and tablet experience, and the skyrocketing trend of enterprise mobility that demands the constant connectivity and sleek, convenient portability that only tablet devices can provide.
That's bad news for the beleaguered airline, which faced a similar issue as recently as August, but even worse for road warriors racing to important meetings, conferences, and the like.
Windows 8 is barely two weeks old, but apparently it's already in need of patching. As reported by PC World and other outlets, the new operating system's first security updates will arrive tomorrow as part of a package of fixes released during Microsoft's monthly patch-fest.
That may seem a little discouraging, especially if you recently purchased a new Windows 8 laptop with the hopes of a more secure computing experience. After all, Microsoft has touted such advanced security features as systemwide SmartScreen protection, Dynamic Access Control, and the Windows App Store, which carefully screens software before making it available for download.
