In response to recent natural disasters, the IRS is offering two webinars to tax professionals. These online events are designed to help tax professionals better understand tax relief for victims of disasters–for both individuals and businesses.

The web conferences cover:

• Tax relief for individuals and businesses
• Special rules for disaster areas
• How disaster losses affect taxes
• Calculating and reporting disaster area losses
• Tax issues related to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria

Each session will also include a live question and answer session.

The IRS designed these webinars to help tax professionals with disaster-related issues.  Tax preparers receive a certificate of completion. They can also earn up to two continuing education credits for attending.  Use these links to register:

• Oct. 18, 2017: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. EST
• Oct. 19, 2017: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. EST – this conference includes closed captioning

For more information about tax issues related to disasters, tax preparers and taxpayers can visit the Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page on IRS.gov.

More Information:

• Publication 2194, Disaster Resource Guide for Individuals and Businesses
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Small Business Administration
• Disasterassistance.gov

Photos: istock

At SmallBusiness.com, we call this  Small Business Gadget Week in honor of the gizmos that are unveiled at the annual CES in Las Vegas (formerly called the Consumer Electronics Show). Here are just a few of the gadgets being unveiled at CES that would come in handy – or just be cool – in any small business. They each were awarded a CES Innovation Award in one of 28 categories. 

Cota Tile | Ossia, Inc.

How the company describes it:

“Cota Tile delivers wireless power without plugs and pads. Built to replace a standard ceiling tile, Cota Tile can charge electronic devices within a 30-foot radius. From offices and hospitals to coffee shops and homes, Cota Tile makes power as convenient, safe and invisible as wireless internet.”

Cubit | Plott

How the company describes it:

“Plott is the consumer technology subsidiary of NWi. Cubit is our first step in tools that are capable of thinking/problem solving, and we are passionately excited about it. By freeing us up from complex measurements and the many, many calculations needed for layout placement, it enables us to focus on the reason why we’re doing a project in the first place. To visually plan out from ‘how it is now?’ to ‘how I want it to be,’ and guiding us to the points to make those changes in real life.”

Nighthawk X10 R9000 Smart WiFi router | Netgear

How the company describes it:

“Nighthawk X10 is the fastest router for media streaming with a Plex media server. Nighthawk X10 with 802.11ac and 802.11ad WiFi technology delivers ultra-smooth 4K streaming and instant downloads.”

Samsung Lifestyle TV | Samsung Electronics

How the company describes it:

“The innovative Samsung Lifestyle TV is a beautiful, always-on, truly smart display that transforms the TV to art, making a home or office more welcoming and aesthetically pleasing no matter the content on the screen.”

Steadicam Volt | Tiffen Company

How the company describes it:

“The Steadicam Volt is a compact, three-axis motorized smartphone camera stabilizer that allows users to stabilize videos like no other product on the market. The Volt is a unique hybrid: direct, precise Steadicam operating for smartphones with electronic gyro-simulated mass.”

NOTE | Currently the Steadicam Volt is a Kickstarter project. As of January 5, it had not reached it goal and a special CES price of $119 is available. Retail will be $199.

VIA | CES.tech

istock

It’s just a prototype now, but Western Digital Corporation yesterday unveiled the SanDisk 1TB (yes, terabyte) SD (secure digital) memory card at a major video and photography tradeshow in Germany. How much storage is a terabyte? Probably more than you have in your laptop computer. It’s enough storage for 500+ movies. It’s an unbelievable amount of storage. Well, not exactly unbelievable, as there’s a computer science theory called the (Mark) Kryder Law that, like Moore’s Law predicts processing speed and price, predicts that by 2020, a  2.5 disc will hold 40 terabytes and cost $40. 

The price of the card was not revealed, but likely be a lot more than $40, perhaps $500 or more. However, it is being aimed at the market of professional photographers and videographers who no longer will have to change cards during a photo shoot or video assignment.

“Sixteen years ago we introduced the first SanDisk 64MB SD card and today we are enabling capacities of 1TB. Over the years our goal has remained the same; continue to innovate and set the pace for the imaging industry,” said Dinesh Bahal, vice president, product management, Content Solutions Business Unit, Western Digital.

Each year on SmallBusiness.com, we declare this week “Small Business Gadget Week,” because a sub-group of products launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show are as much a “small business” product as a “consumer” one. It’s all about how you use technology, not the technology itself. Get ready for several posts that will tickle your gizmo bone.

Product: Ehang 184 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle
Availability: A long time from now

On SmallBusiness.com, we regularly update the progress of commercial drones — devices that are close to a tipping point in many industries (as long as they are far away from urban centers). So when Ehang, a Chinese drone company, unveiled the Ehang 184, a self-flying, personal “autonomous aerial vehicle,” which, in english, means, “a 440-lb. pilotless robotic eight-rotor drone that carries a passenger,” we were happy to declare it the Friday selection for our annual Small Business Gadget week. The Ehang 184 is designed to carry a person up to 10 miles per charge. Don’t know how to pilot a helicopter? No problem: it flies itself after you chose your destination on an iPad. (Really, what could go wrong with that?) All that, for $200,000 or so. If it sounds too good to be true, it surely will be. Why? The FAA likes at least one person in an aircraft to be a pilot because someone needs to know how to avoid all those drones that will be delivering Amazon packages. Oh, and did we mention $200,000.

Below, see photos and video provided by Ehang

Cool, huh?

Each year on SmallBusiness.com, we declare this week “Small Business Gadget Week,” because a sub-group of products launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show are as much a “small business” product as a “consumer” one. It’s all about how you use technology, not the technology itself. Get ready for several posts that will tickle your gizmo bone.

Product | AIO Robotics Zeus Plus

At this year’s CES (2016), one of the four 3-D printing innovation award winners was AIO Robotics’ Zeus Plus, an integrated 3-D scanner and printer with its own all-in-one touchscreen interface. The general trend in 3-D printing is currently on improving speed and ease of use. The industry still has lots of market education to accomplish to help 3-D printers be perceived as a tool for small businesses beyond product designers, developers and custom manufacturers.

AIO Robotic’s current product, the Zeus ($2,500), is featured in the video below.

Each year on SmallBusiness.com, we declare this week “Small Business Gadget Week,” because a sub-group of products launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show are as much a “small business” product as a “consumer” one. It’s all about how you use technology, not the technology itself. Get ready for several posts that will tickle your gizmo bone.

Product | The HP Envy 5540 All-in-One Printer 
Availability | Now

The HP Envy 5540 All-in-One Printer ($129 via HP.com, $77.98 via Amazon.com) is a multifunction printer that features a quick mobile installation process so users can print from a smartphone or tablet with or without a router or local wireless network. Users can scan, copy, and access Web content directly from the color touch screen. While ink cartridges can add $0.10 or more for each copy, HP launched its Instant Ink service in 2013, a subscription plan that allows owners to choose between three plans: The Occasional plan ($2.99 per month, 50 pages), the Moderate plan ($4.99 per month, 100 pages), and Frequent printing plan ($9.99 per month, 300 pages).

Each year on SmallBusiness.com, we declare this week “Small Business Gadget Week” because a sub-group of products launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show are as much a “small business” product as a “consumer” one. It’s all about how you use technology, not the technology itself. Get ready for several posts that will tickle your gizmo bone.

Product: Pilot ECO USBCell Battery
Availability: TBA

Pilot’s ECO USBCell battery, a CES 2016 Innovation Awards winner, is the first USB rechargeable battery to use lithium polymer technology in a standard AA or AAA battery size. Traditional rechargeable batteries lose capacity retention and performance degrade quickly compared to lithium polymer technology. An additional advantage of lithium polymer technology is that there is no dangerous acid leakage or corrosion. Most amazing: The battery can recharge for 500 cycles making it equivalent to 500 regular non-rechargeable batteries. (via: Press Release)

(Photo: EcoUSBcell.com)

Each year on SmallBusiness.com, we declare this week “Small Business Gadget Week” because a sub-group of products launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show are as much a “small business” product as a “consumer” one. It’s all about how you use technology, not the technology itself. Get ready for several posts that will tickle your gizmo bone.

Product: Griffin Technology BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Power Cable ($40)
Availability: April 2016 at GriffinTechnology.com

For Mac users, the break-away “MagSafe” connector has saved millions of laptops from damage caused by tripping over a power cord. But with Apple’s latest release of MacBooks, a new type of power cord using USB Type-C is introduced — and the MagSafe safety feature is absent.

Griffin’s BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Power Cable brings back a magnetic breakaway power cable to USB-C compatible laptops. The patented quick-release magnetic connector plugs into a laptop’s USB-C port and safely disconnects from the rest of the cable when put under stress or strain from incidents like tripping over the power cord.

Photos: Griffin Technology

Until the day comes when batteries for mobile devices last as long as we need them to (we’d love a few weeks, but will be glad when they last past dinner), we must depend on the creativity of those who come up with an endless array of ways to hide a battery that can be used as a backup charger when your iPhone peters out.

When it comes to clever backup battery bling, we agree with our friend, Khoi Vinh (Subtraction.com): Nomad keeps us charged with a steady stream of clever products. They’ve found ways to hide backup batteries or USB charging wires in a wide array of pocket-sized items like key fobs and carabiners.

Their latest is a battery hidden in the spine of a leather wallet. Nomad, a company known for it minimalist design, gave its new product a minimalist name: Wallet.

The battery holds enough electricity for a single charge for an iPhone 6 or 6s. Sure, you can find backup batteries with more capacity, but not with the same patina.

(via: Khoi Vinh at Subtraction.com)

Photos: Nomad

But there are a couple of alternatives to using a keyboard altogether: (1) Handwriting recognition and (2) Voice recognition. In this post, we’ll take a look at handwriting recognition.

Here are three ways to make your smartphone or tablet screens work more like pen and paper than hunt and peck.

Google Handwriting Input (Android)

Released last month, Google Handwriting Input allows a user to write text on an Android smartphone or tablet in 82 languages (and, right, emoji). It recognizes both printed (block) and cursive writing, with or without a stylus. After you’ve written your word or emoji, the software will convert it into text or emoji (or not, if you prefer to preserve your message as drawn).

Windows

Handwriting input has been a part of the Windows operating system for many years, but with Windows 8 and the touch sensitive screen of Microsoft’s branded Surface Pro line of tablet computers, handwriting input became a key feature. Early reviews of the pre-release version of Windows 10 suggest handwriting recognition and input becomes even more native to Windows touch screen devices.

MyScript

MyScript provides third-party* iOS and Android apps that use handwriting input in several ways. For example, the MyScript Math app converts numbers and math symbols into calculations and complex equations. And, like Microsoft 8, MyScript can turn hand-drawn charts and graphs into digital versions of the shapes that can be imported into graphic design tools. MyScript also licenses it handwriting recognition software and APIs to other app developers or enterprises.

*It works on the iOS platform but it’s not a product created by Apple.

(Illustration: ThinkStock. Images: Google, Microsoft, MyScript)