New technologies launched for small businesses

LAS VEGAS  – If the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show is any indication, 2011 might just be the year for small-businesses technologies.

Here are four picks for small-business technology on display at this year's CES:

Intuit Complete Credit Card Solution for the iPhone 4
Intuit GoPayment App (rates start at 1.7% per transaction); Mophie marketplace card scanner ($180).
Adding credit card scanners to smartphones is all the rage. With so much buzz around such tools as Square and MerchantAnywhere, it's no wonder transactional giant Intuit jumped into the market. The company announced an interesting Apple iPhone 4 app for its mobile GoPayment system. The downloadable app supports direct interface with the Mophie add-on credit card scanner, as well as smooth access to Intuit's QuickBooks accounting software, used by roughly 4 million firms in the U.S.

Nuance Communications FlexT9 Mobile Input App ($5)
For all of us who spend our lives answering emails and text messages on our smartphones, here's a better way to interface with your virtual keyboard: a keyboard tracing technology called FlexT9, rolled out by Nuance, the maker of Dragon Naturally Speaking voice-recognition tools. This downloadable app competes with other sketch-based, data-entry tools such as Swype, and lets users trace the path between letters on a virtual keyboard to quickly sketch out words and sentences.

SugarSync online backup (5 GB account, free)
SugerSync, which backs up data and makes it available on any Web-connected device, dreamed up a sweet deal to compete with the likes of Google, Microsoft and Dropbox for the small-business data backup market. It offers a full 5 GB of online backup and storage for absolutely nothing. What makes SugarSync unique and small-business friendly is that the system is well-designed, easy to use and works across just about any mobile, desktop or other device.

EcoSquid Cell Electronics Recycling Service(free)
Move your office or upgrade your electronics and you'll learn darn quick and that getting rid of your old gadgets is no easy feat. Recycling services vary by town, with regulations on what stores, landfills and disposal services will – and will not –  accept. EcoSquid founder Nik Raman saw an opportunity in all this confusion to create a centrally located, active market in electronics recycling.

The result is an easy-to-use Web portal that connects those with electronics to recycle with those who buy or recycle used electronics. Simply enter your device's make and model number along with details that affect the price of your gadget – wear and tear, which accessories are still intact and other specs. And poof, active offers for each item are proffered from local and international markets.

To read more about these products and small-business technologies, click here and read the entire story.