Use These 24 Tools to Run Your Business From Anywhere in the World

Nearly a quarter, 23 percent, of Americans worked from home in 2014, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. If you’re one of the lucky few that enjoys the ability to work from anywhere you like, the following tools will help keep you productive -- no matter where you are:

1. Basecamp

Even on the road, you need to connect with your staff. Basecamp allows you to manage projects, communicate with your team and stay on top of who’s assigned to what tasks. Never be out of touch, no matter where you are.

2. Boomerang

When you’re working abroad, your time zone may not be lined up with your employees or customers. No worries -- Boomerang allows you to schedule your Gmail emails and send them out at specific times using Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

3. Dropbox

This tool should be a given, but I’ll say it. When you’re working abroad, you need a virtual location to safely store documents while allowing everyone access that needs it. Dropbox is that solution.

4. Join.me

A reliable virtual meeting and screen-sharing software is another tool you can’t do without as you run your company remotely. Join.me is intuitive and doesn’t require any downloads or subscriptions from you or your clients -- a big bonus in my book.

5. Narrow.io

This great tool allows you to grow your Twitter following quickly and easily. And that doesn’t mean fake, meaningless followers -- Narrow.io delivers a targeted Twitter following and makes it effortless to engage with them.

6. Trello

Tracking a project visually is important -- it can help lay out clearly where you are in a project and what step is next.Trello is a great tool for that. You can create tasks in various lists, drag them from one list to the next, assign them to team members and more.

7. Toggl

Looking to track your time but tired of using pen and paper? Toggl is a great tool that helps you understand where your time is going -- a must if you’re going to be productive remotely.

8. Skype

This is a well-known tool, but it’s one that’s essential for keeping communication going affordably. Sometimes you just need a voice-based or video chat. Forget high international phone rates -- Skype keeps you connected no matter where you are in the world.

9. Trade Ability

If part of your business involves moving products, even if you just need to ship once, Trade Ability makes it easy. This free UPS tool helps you estimate costs and makes you aware of duty fees and international-trade restrictions.

10. Evernote

Get tired of having papers everywhere and fear you’ll lose your key documents? Me too. Evernote is a lifesaver, especially since you can easily clip notes from webpages and emails.

11. Freemind

Freemind lives up to its name. An amazing mind-mapping software available for free, this open-source tool allows you to plan your work graphically. It’s a great tool for visual learners.

12. PayPal

This is another common tool, but it’s one that’s essential when you work abroad. No worrying about exchange rates, corrupt banks or mailing payments -- just use PayPal to securely send money wherever it needs to go. You can even get a PayPal MasterCard linked to your account to make purchasing easy as well.

13. Infusionsoft

This small-business email provider is an amazing solution for anyone, including those working from around the world.Infusionsoft allows you to automate huge portions of your business with customized funnels, email chains and more. It’s a huge lifesaver.

14. Zendesk

If part of your business involves providing customer service, you needZendesk. This is especially true if you work remotely. Zendesk allows you to track all interactions -- nothing is ever lost or hidden, no matter where you are in the world.

15. Time Trade

Having others able to set up appointments with you automatically is a massive time saver. Time Trade allows clients or colleagues to see your availability and syncs automatically wit

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Samsung review

Introduction
Samsung is definitely a veteran on the smartwatch scene, perhaps even more so than LG. The Korean giant has already done a few experiments in the field, some of which arguably quite successful, but the Gear S2 might just be the biggest one yet.

The Gear S2 is radically different from any other wearable Samsung has put out. There is, of course, the obvious fact that it is the first to utilize a round form-factor, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. The new Gear is yet another radical development in Samsung's wearable family that has been frantically moving towards and then away from standardization and the Android Wear OS.

While still relying on the custom Tizen platform, the Gear S2 now looks to be more in-line with today's smartwatch trends, as set by Google and Apple. Samsung might have finally found a proper course of development to stay in tune with the general flow, while still working on its own vision and delivering a fresh and alternative, yet somehow familiar experience.

The Gear S2 is the first milestone on this new path and it is eerily familiar and surprisingly different all at the same time.

One important note to make, before we dig in any further, is that the Gear S2 actually has three distinct variants. The Gear S2 and S2 Classic share the same hardware, but have quite a few design differences. The Gear S2 3G, on the other hand offers 3G connectivity and it is a bit thicker and heavier than its siblings and comes with a different chipset. Here is a quick rundown of its features:

Key features
1.2" Full Circle Super AMOLED display, 360 x 360 pixels, 302ppi, 31mm screen diameter
Samsung Exynos 3250, dual-core 1.0GHz Pega-W CPU / Qualcomm MSM8x26 dual-core 1.0GHz (3G), 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage
250mAh / 300 mAh (3G) Li-Ion battery
49.8 x 42.3 x 11.4mm, 47g / 39.9 x 43.6 x 11.4mm, 42g (Classic)/ 44.0 x 51.8 x 13.4mm, 51g (3G)
Stainless steel casing with rotating ring control, IP-68 certified, water-resistant for up ti 30 minutes and up to 1 meter deep, comes in black or white
Tizen based wearable platform
Heart rate sensor, gyro, accelerometer, barometer, ambient light, GPS(3G)
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC and 3G in the respective model
Vibration
Microphone with S-Voice support
Wireless charging
Support for non-Samsung devices as well, although still buggy
Main disadvantages
No Speaker, unlike its predecessor
Tizen lacks extensive third-party support and app ecosystem
No support for iOS yet
First things first, let's talk about version and how they differ. There are three varieties of Samsung's new wearable. The plain Gear S2, which we have here for review, features a fine and uniform finish all around and comes with a silicon band with a proprietary connector. In contrast, there is the Gear S2 Classic, which has a lightly different wheel and uses a standard strap that you can easily swap for an after-market solution.

Last, but not least, there is the 3G model Gear S2, it looks practically identical to the plain one, but is overall a bit bigger, bulkier and heavier. It complements the wearable line in much the same way LG Watch Urbane LTE does, but should enjoy broader availability.

The name of the watch itself definitely suggests some relation to the Gear S, but apart from the Tizen-based OS, the two devices actually have little in common. As already mentioned, it seems Samsung has decided to draw from its abundant experience in the wearable field and start working towards similar goals as most of its competitors, which are now shaping to be the new direction of the niche and possible, the future of smartwatches as a whole.

This all falls in line perfectly with natural tech evolution. Wearables are starting to mature and with that comes a stride towards standardization, compatibility and uniformity. Samsung knows this all too well and is now striding to fall in line with the rest and not be left out in the long run.

Culled from gsmarena

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