Why the Samsung Galaxy S4 May Be Better for Business Than Apple's iPhone 5

image credit: Technobuffalo.com

Last week in New York City, Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy S4 smartphone. Obvious questions arise. Is it a good option for business users? And, how does it compare to Apple's iPhone?
Here's a look at some of the most important features and how the Samsung Galaxy S4 stacks up:
Screen: The S4's five-inch touchscreen is slightly larger than the Galaxy S3's 4.8 inches. But it is substantially larger than the iPhone 5's four inches.
The screen size alone will be a key benefit over the iPhone 5 for many business users. When you're working with documents, databases, or taking notes, a larger screen is often easier to use -- especially for touchscreen typing.

The resolution of the S4 display is comparable that of the iPhone 5's Retina display. The S4 features a high-definition Super AMOLED screen, with a resolution 441 pixels per inch (ppi). Apple's iPhone 5 Retina display has a resolution of 326 ppi.

How Your Network Can Make You More Productive

Have you found that your productivity fluctuates, relative to the people you spend the most time with? There are people in your network who will encourage your productivity and people who will drain your enthusiasm and energy -- even after just a conversation with them. You want to spend more time with that first group.

"Change who you spend your life with, and your life will change," Les Brown, author and motivational speaker, once told me when we were backstage together at a conference. We have choices about who we spend our time with and some people help us be more productive than others.
Imagine having a fabulous team of people around you that provides honest, constructive feedback; helps you move forward and grow your business and has only your best interests at heart. Even as an entrepreneur with limited resources to hire and recruit people, you often have such a team in your corner when you take the time to activate them.

10 Questions You Must Ask Before Buying a Business

Andrew Cagnetta bought his first business -- a pasta shop in Wethersfield, Conn. -- at age 25 and quickly realized he hadn't done his homework thoroughly enough. Although he stuck to the shop's original recipes and products, customers began complaining that the recipes had changed. Sales declined, and in less than two years, Cagnetta and his cousin, the co-owner, ended up selling the store.
They had bought the shop from two elderly women who had run it for years, not realizing how integral the previous owners had been to its success. "One question I should have asked [the previous owners] was what do they think drove people to the store?" Cagnetta says.

He would never make that mistake again. 22 years later, he now owns Transworld Business Advisors in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which helps buyers ask the right questions before buying a business. "There are no stupid questions," Cagnetta says. "The more questions you ask, the less risk there will be."
Where to begin? Here are 10 key questions to ask sellers before agreeing to buy their business.

10 Questions to Ask Before Quitting Your Job to Start a Business

Giving up the security of a full-time job to start your own business is a risky, often stressful move. "The biggest reason people don't end up quitting is the fear of uncertainty. They don't know what might happen and they don't want to give up the security that they already have," says Sean Ogle, who quit a job in finance to live in Thailand and run a virtual search engine optimization and Web consultancy.
How do you know when the time is right to make the leap? Here are 10 questions to ask before you quit your job.

Are you just miserable in your current job?
Some people who think they want to be entrepreneurs are just unhappy in their current roles, says Pamela Slim, the Mesa, Ariz.-based author of Escape from Cubicle Nation (Penguin, 2010). Developing a thorough business plan can help you avoid any impulsive decisions. "In addition to wanting to quit, you have to have a viable business idea and an effective marketing and operations plan," she says. As you work on your plan, she advises, keep your job and income as long as possible.

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Choosing an Office Space

image credit: Office Space

Choosing office space can be very challenging because your decision will have so many repercussions for your business. The wrong location, for example, could cost you employees or clients. What's more, you have to base your choice on your company's future needs, not just your current situation.
Given that landlords prefer lease terms of three to five years, entrepreneurs should consider these questions carefully before signing on the dotted line:

Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod

Comic author Rob Reid unveils Copyright Math (TM), a remarkable new field of study based on actual numbers from entertainment industry lawyers and lobbyists. 

Rob Reid is a humor author and the founder of the company that created the music subscription service Rhapsody.

Why you should listen to him:     
Rob Reid is an author and a serial entrepreneur. He founded the company that created the Rhapsody music website, and his latest book, Year Zero, will be published in July. In it, aliens seek to erase the ruinous fines on their vast collections of pirated American music by destroying the Earth. Parts of it are made up. The audiobook version will be read by John Hodgman.

Amanda Palmer: The art of asking

Don't make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer: Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer (drop a dollar in the hat for the Eight-Foot Bride!), she examines the new relationship between artist and fan.

Alt-rock icon Amanda Fucking Palmer believes we shouldn't fight the fact that digital content is freely shareable -- and suggests that artists can and should be directly supported by fans.


Why you should listen to her:
Amanda Palmer commands attention. The singer-songwriter-blogger-provocateur, known for pushing boundaries in both her art and her lifestyle, made international headlines this year when she raised nearly $1.2 million via Kickstarter (she’d asked for $100k) from nearly 25,000 fans who pre-ordered her new album, Theatre Is Evil.

 
But the former street performer, then Dresden Dolls frontwoman, now solo artist hit a bump the week her world tour kicked off. She revealed plans to crowdsource additional local backup musicians in each tour stop, offering to pay them in hugs, merchandise and beer per her custom. Bitter and angry criticism ensued (she eventually promised to pay her local collaborators in cash). And it's interesting to consider why. As Laurie Coots suggests: "The idea was heckled because we didn't understand the value exchange -- the whole idea of asking the crowd for what you need when you need it and not asking for more or less."

Summing up her business model, in which she views her recorded music as the digital equivalent of street performing, she says: “I firmly believe in music being as free as possible. Unlocked. Shared and spread. In order for artists to survive and create, their audiences need to step up and directly support them.”

"Palmer is set to join Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails as the artists people mention when they talk about the new music business." - Billboard

Outgoing IFAC chief executive pushes G20 on accounting standards

Ian Ball, chief executive of IFAC Photo: Sam Kesteven

The outgoing chief executive of the International Federation of Accountants has called on Russia to use its presidency of the Group of Twenty leading nations to press for wider adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards. 

Speaking in Moscow on the eve of last week’s summit of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Ian Ball said supporting the adoption and implementation of Ipsas would strengthen global financial stability.
The Russian presidency, which runs throughout 2013, should create a better understanding of the need to significantly enhance the quality of accounting by governments, he said.

Accounting bodies hail G20 emphasis on public sector reporting

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at last month's meeting in Russia

The Group of Twenty leading nations’ emphasis on transparent and comparable public sector financial reporting at its latest meeting has been welcomed by CIPFA and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board. 

In a document issued after a meeting in Moscow last month, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said achieving a stronger public sector balance sheet would require work to better assess the risks to public debt sustainability.

This included taking into account country-specific circumstances, looking at the ‘transparency and comparability’ of public sector reporting, and monitoring the impact of financial sector vulnerabilities on public debt.

NLNG earnings hit N9tr, gas production rises to 23 mtpa

THE Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has earned about $60 billion (about N9 trillion) from its gas production and shipping business in the past 13 years.

The Managing Director,Nigeria LNG, Babs Omotowa, who revealed this at the 2013 yearly Olobiri lecture Series in Lagos, on Thursday, said the earnings were made from 3000 LNG shipments made locally and to the international market.
According to him, the company’s gas production has incre
ased to about 23 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), an increase of one million from 22mtpa from previous production.

Although, stakeholders in the industry have recently raised concerns that Nigeria’s LNG production may not record any significant increase until 2015, due to some unfavourable factors, Omotowa was however, optimistic about growth in LNG output.

Tax implication of IFRS adoption in Nigeria

IN line with section 8 of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Establishment Act 2007, FIRS issued a draft circular in October 2012 to provide direction to stakeholders on the tax implications of the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS is expected to far have reaching implications on taxpayers, knowing that quoted companies are expected to adopt it, beginning from 2012, other businesses from 2013 while SMEs are to fully adopt the guidelines in 2014.

This is to give effect to the Federal Executive Council’s acceptance of the recommendation of the committee on the roadmap for the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria, which places emphasis on the adoption of globally accepted accounting standards by reporting entities.

SME development: Path to becoming Nigeria’s engine of growth

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute nearly half of Nigeria’s GDP and are central to its future prosperity and social balance. Yet too little is known about Nigeria’s SMEs and what obstacles stand in their way. A new, Pathbreaking study carried out by SMEDAN, Nigeria’s apex body for small and medium enterprise development policy in collaboration with the German Agency for International Co-operation (GIZ), highlights some of their challenges in Nigeria and also possible ways to help their businesses grow.

IFRS: CBN sets 2014 deadline for SMEs’ compliance

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set up a roadmap On International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) stipulating compliance by all Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) by January 31, 2014.

The roadmap, The Nation learnt, requires that the entire business community in the country would implement and converge in phases, while the phases are submerged within a general implementation framework. The general plan would therefore ensure that appropriate changes and restructuring are made to processes, systems and the personel in terms of training and capacity building.

The IFRS is a globally-accepted set of accounting standards, framework and interpretations, adopted by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB and its interpretative body, the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC).

China-Africa Honeymoon Over? Nigeria Central Bank Governor Thinks So

The governor of Nigeria’s Central bank, Lamido Sanusi, has warned that Africa must “remove the rose-tinted glasses” through which it view China.

In this Financial Times article, Sanusi says the relationship is no longer that of two peers in the developing world. Instead, it was one of an imperialist power exploiting a weaker economy.

Sanusi then criticized the Chinese regime for hampering Africa’s industrialization and development.

Mike Morris is the director of Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing at Cape Town University. He says African nations need to have a united approach towards China.

[Mike Morris, Professor, School of Economics, Cape Town University]:

“China has a policy and a strategy for Africa. Africa as a whole doesn’t have one for China. In other words, what that means is that China can deal with 52 countries with one policy and strategy. The African countries are all trying to cut a bilateral deal between themselves and cut the next country out, and not able to stand together in one forum as one voice, and that would be to the best of their advantage.”

Wanted: Young African Entrepreneurs

JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, March 12, 2013 – African Press Organization (APO) – With more than $75 000 USD in prizes it’s one of Africa’s richest youth entrepreneurial competitions and young business people from around the continent are encouraged to enter.

The prestigious Anzisha Prize (http://www.anzishaprize.org) rewards young African entrepreneurs who are making a difference by transforming their communities. It celebrates initiative and innovation and identifies those who are leading by example and underscores their ability to significantly shape the future of Africa.

With $75 000 USD in cash prizes, the Anzisha Prize is hosted by the African Leadership Academy in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation. There is also a $10 000 USD Energy Prize which will be awarded to the applicant who demonstrates ingenuity in developing sustainable renewable energy sources.

Optimism emerges over European funding for African research facilities in Africa

Political momentum is growing in both Europe and Africa behind the idea that investment in research facilities is as important as investment in roads and schools for a country’s development.
But a lot of work needs to be done over the next few months, on both sides, to ensure that a willingness in principle to commit such funding is translated into the practical steps needed to get the money flowing.

This was the main conclusion to emerge from a two-day conference that took place as part of the meeting on EU Science: Global Challenges & Global Collaboration, which ended in Brussels on Friday.

The workshop was the concluding event of a two-year initiative, funded by the European Union, known as Promoting Africa-EU Research Partnership Infrastructure Project (PAERIP).

Fewer clean audits – AG of South Africa

South Africa Auditor General
Terence Nombembe

The number of government institutions receiving clean financial audits has decreased, according to the 2011/12 report released by Auditor General Terence Nombembe on Tuesday.

Only 117 of the 536 government institutions (22%) evaluated across South Africa achieved clean audits.

Analysis over a three-year period reveals a steady decline in the number of entities achieving clean audits.

During 2009/10, some 31% of audited entities achieved clean audits. In 2010/11, the figure dropped to 25%, and in 2011/12 only 22% received a clean bill of health from the auditors.

India's Bharti raises stake in Nigeria unit to 79%

Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile phone operator, said on Wednesday it had acquired an additional 13.36% stake in Nigerian unit, Airtel Networks, from existing shareholders to raise its total holding to 79.06%.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

Edited by: Reuters

More investment interest in Africa than anywhere else – KPMG

KPMG
Michael Andrew

Audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG received more enquiries for investment strategies into the African continent than for any other global market, developed or otherwise, KPMG global chairperson Michael Andrew said on Monday.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion ahead of the fifth yearly Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) Summit, to be held in Durban at the end of March, Andrew asserted that an emerging continental middle class was driving intensified interest in core consumer market investment.
“To give a sense of scale, about a year ago, we were receiving between two and three enquiries a week around investment strategies into Africa, which has now grown to between 15 and 18 enquiries a week. It’s really ramped up,” added KPMG global Africa COO Anthony Thunstrom.

Diezani: PIB Will Help Develop Nigeria’s Oil, Gas Reserves

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke

By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has stated that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which passed through second reading last week, would ensure the development of Nigeria’s abundant oil and gas reserves.

The long delay in the passage of the oil industry reform bill has resulted in rapid decline in new investments in the oil and gas industry.

 

Speaking at the Africa Energy Summit session during the Cambridge Energy Research Association (CERAWEEK 2013) in Houston, Texas, United States, the minister, who was represented by the Group Executive Director Exploration and Production, at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Abiye Membere, noted that the PIB would usher in new opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas industry.