The Future Is Now: 5 Apps That Prove The Booming Business Behind Web App Development

If any doubt remained about the power of web application-based industry, they were wiped away by the recent news of Apple’s purported $3.2M takeover of the Dr. Dre-driven Beats Music, which is poised to provide the iTunes Radio service provider extra ammunition in its web-based rivalry against Pandora and Spotify for listener’s ears—and subscription and advertising dollars. How did virtual come to replace brick-and-mortar startups, with companies such as Netflix wiping Blockbuster Video out of existence, and what other innovative companies and clever entrepreneurs should be on our radar?

The Innovation of Bitcoin: How Does It Really Work?

Exchange of goods and services happens every day around the world. Here are two scenarios in which it may occur.

1. The Middleman

I have an orange, and you want my orange. We agree that you can have my orange if you wash my car. You wash my car, and I give my orange to a stranger along with a dollar bill. That stranger hands the orange to you and keeps the dollar. You have been paid your one orange and the stranger has been paid a dollar for being the middleman in our transaction. This is how most of our monetary transactions currently happen.

2. Peer Exchange

I have an orange, and you want my orange. We agree that you can have my orange if you wash my car. You wash my car, and I give you the orange. No one has witnessed the transaction but the two of us, but we know I had an orange and gave it to you. No third party was involved, and we both got what we wanted: a sweet juicy orange and a clean car.

Game Changers: How Innovation Changed The Way We Play Golf

The eyes of golf lovers worldwide are currently on the Augusta National Golf Club as Augusta, GA, hosts the 2014 Masters Golf Tournament. This ancient game, first thought to have been played by the Scots in the Fourteenth Century, is today much different than it was even a hundred years ago. Even novice golfers are playing better than ever before—the average handicap of golfers has decreased consistently over the past 15 years. What can account for this? Golf innovations have made playing easier, and recent equipment innovations have taken playing to a whole new level. Let’s look at the history of the basic rules and equipment used at the Masters Tournament today.

Innovation Defined

by Bill McHenry, President and CEO of Widgeteer, Inc.

in.no.va.tion (ine’vaSHen) noun: the action or process of innovating.

Synonyms: change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis, breakthrough. 

Everything that exists came from an idea. A seed that blossomed. A vision in the mind brought to life by will and determination in the heart to make that dream come true. From the simplest Widget to the Taj Mahal, it takes INNOVATION to create it…to see ways of improving upon that which already exists.

Innovation seems to be the buzz word of our generation…and there’s a good reason why. Read the definition. If we are not changing, altering, revolutionizing, up heaving, transforming, creating metamorphoses, and making breakthroughs, then we are stagnant and growth becomes stifled. We need to be innovating in order to be evolving.

10 Quotes from Shark Tank’s Sharks Every Entrepreneur Should Know

by Mary Faller

The hit reality television show “Shark Tank”, which premiered in 2009, has been bringing entertainment to America by showcasing entrepreneurs hoping for the chance to bring their dreams to fruition. These hopefuls present their “big ideas” to the sharks – successful business people that took their own dreams and turned them into highly rewarding empires. Entrepreneurs present their ideas to these sharks in the hopes that one will invest in their idea or product, thus making their dreams a reality. 

Innovation and the Winter Olympic Games

by Mary Faller

The Olympic Winter Games will take place from February 7 through February 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. The Olympic Games have been around since the late 1800s in Athens, Greece. Each year the summer and winter Olympics showcase the talents of thousands of athletes from all over the world. It is a joining of cultures and athletic competition that never fails to excite viewers from all walks of life. The Olympics have come a long way since their introduction centuries ago. So how has innovation changed the way athletes perform and viewers watch the sports within these exciting games?

The Best and The Worst: Super Bowl 2014 Product Commercials

by Mary Faller

The Super Bowl is one of the most watched broadcasts in television and one of the main reasons, aside from the big game, is for the commercials. Businesses spend about $4 million on a 30-second spot. If they succeed in their marketing strategy, that particular commercial could be the buzz of the Internet and indeed the world. If they do not, their brand name could suffer negative buzz. We are always on the lookout for the best in innovative product marketing and advertising, so we made a list of what we thought were the best and worst of Super Bowl XLVIII.

First, let’s take a look at the best commercials:

1. Budweiser “Puppy Love” Budweiser has been a major contributor to the commercials of past Super Bowls and with each passing year, the commercials evolve and improve. This commercial was memorable because it struck a heart chord with the adorable puppy that didn’t want to leave his best friend (the Clydesdale horse). The Clydesdale horses are a signature icon and this commercial brought heart to the major company.