Zinc Blog

The influence of COVID-19 has permeated through most aspects of daily life, from the way we live, communicate, work, and for many, the way we learn. As schools must remain closed for now, that is not to say that the learning process will necessarily be suspended for all. Many institutions already have the necessary tools in place to continue their students’ education in the form of remote learning, but for many, this is uncharted territory.

Virtual reality was once the “next big thing.” As predictions for VR were made over the decades, it showed great promise to be a truly ground changing technology for businesses to adopt, especially for remote work. So… what happened? 

While blockchain technologies may have entered the public awareness thanks to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, this is far from the technology’s only application. We wanted to take a few minutes and explore how the blockchain’s features promise many benefits to established and emerging industries.

As the holiday season we just survived shows us, new technology can be a really popular topic, especially for consumers. Businesses, on the other hand, have a lot of their excitement tempered by how much of a risk new tech presents - something could just as easily be a game-changer for their operations as it could prove to be a major source of problems that ultimately creates huge issues.

While most businesses need the same basic technology to support their operations, some industries have additional, more specific needs that require a more specialized tool to accomplish. As we leave this series behind, let’s briefly consider how a managed service provider can be a valuable resource for a business operating in one of these industries.

A person’s smartphone is more than just a phone to most people. In fact, smartphone use is now so expected that companies are now trying to find a way to utilize their employees’ use of their devices rather than keeping them from using them. Today, we thought we would take a look at the current smartphone market. 

Not all that long ago, green technologies were known as such for two reasons: yes, they were beneficial to the environment, but they also came at great expense to the businesses leveraging them. This has recently changed. Now, businesses are seeing plenty of reasons to go green, from increased customer appreciation for conservation efforts and, yes, even cost savings.

Many small businesses are making the switch to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP is able to provide many advantages over traditional landlines. Today, we will discuss features that even if you’ve already made the switch, you might not be taking advantage of. 

With several emerging technologies threatening to change the way that we look at the world, we live in a very exciting time. One of the most intriguing technologies is called blockchain. What was once looked upon as a technology that had no practical application is now beginning to be looked at as the answer to some of the most pressing security issues facing 21st-century technology users. Let’s take a look at blockchain.

It seems that wireless power has fully upgraded from the electric toothbrush to our other electronics. This technology, known as near-field induction charging, has taken off… but it is still limited in the fact that the device has to be in contact with the charger. For now, at least.

The smartphone has changed the world as much as any physical product over the past decade-plus. Today, people have near-ubiquitous access to the riches of the Internet. They can communicate in a multitude of ways. They have applications that can help them live the life they find most fulfilling.

Every so often, we encounter an IT solution that could prove to be intensely beneficial to businesses when it can be fully adopted, but also has a few obstacles to its complete implementation. Here, we’ll review how augmented reality can be used practically in the future, and the challenges that will need to be overcome in order to do so.

Technology has helped many industries push beyond their limits and embrace new operational methods that may not have been possible in the past. One of these industries is healthcare and medical IT. Thanks to these advancements, patients have more options now than ever before in how much control they have over their records, but providers must be wary of these changes in order to take advantage of them.

The Internet of Things has verifiably exploded in popularity in almost every conceivable fashion, as was more or less expected before 2018. What can we expect from the IoT in 2019? We’ve compiled a few predictions.

The small business owner has to be much more diligent in the way they spend their company’s resources. Technology, and the automation that it often brings, can work to make your business more agile and efficient. The problem with implementing this technology is that it typically comes with large capital outlays and committing to spending big chunks of money can be impossible. We’ll take a look at how other small businesses have been investing in technology to help you determine what you should be prioritizing.