Topline:&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pepp-pt.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pan-European team</a>&nbsp;of researchers announced Wednesday their plan to release a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-europe-tech/europe-to-launch-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app-initiative-idUSKBN21J4HI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">smartphone app</a>&nbsp;that would notify users if they’ve been exposed to someone infected with coronavirus, the latest example of tech-driven coronavirus solutions that have also raised concerns about user privacy.



<ul><li>A European project called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pepp-pt.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing</a>&nbsp;is working toward releasing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-europe-tech/europe-to-launch-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app-initiative-idUSKBN21J4HI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a coronavirus tracing app</a>&nbsp;in the next week that would use anonymous Bluetooth technology to track when a smartphone comes in close range with another, so if a user were to test positive for coronavirus those at risk of infection could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-europe-tech/europe-to-launch-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app-initiative-idUSKBN21J4HI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">be notified</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.who.int/features/qa/contact-tracing/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Contact tracing</a>, or determining people who may have been exposed to someone with a virus, is an established aspect of pandemic control and was used effectively to tackle coronavirus in countries like China,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-europe-tech/europe-to-launch-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app-initiative-idUSKBN21J4HI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Singapore</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/03/13/south-korea-sees-coronavirus-slowdown-without-a-lockdown-but-with-nearly-250000-tests/">South Korea</a>&nbsp;in the form of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00740-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">smartphone tracking</a>.</li><li>University of Oxford researchers and the U.K. government are working on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">similar project</a>— but unlike other smartphone tracking systems, the British version in development would be based on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">voluntary participation</a>&nbsp;and bet on citizens inputting their information out of a sense of civic duty.</li><li>The U.S. government is in talks with companies like Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/facebook">FB</a>&nbsp;and Google&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/google">GOOGL</a>&nbsp;and other tech companies about tracking if users are social distancing using large amounts of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/17/white-house-location-data-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anonymous, aggregated location data</a>— this information is less precise, and more likely to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anticipate outbreaks</a>&nbsp;rather than pinpoint individuals who have been exposed to the virus.</li><li>1.5 million Israelis have voluntarily downloaded&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-apps/1-5-million-israelis-using-voluntary-coronavirus-monitoring-app-idUSKBN21J5L5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a mobile app</a>&nbsp;that alerts users if they’ve come into contact with someone with coronavirus— but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has still ordered that potential coronavirus carriers have their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-apps/1-5-million-israelis-using-voluntary-coronavirus-monitoring-app-idUSKBN21J5L5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phones monitored</a>, a controversial move the government says is necessary, as the 17% of the population using the app is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-apps/1-5-million-israelis-using-voluntary-coronavirus-monitoring-app-idUSKBN21J5L5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">not enough</a>&nbsp;to fight off the pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Moscow&nbsp;﻿﻿, on a city-wide lockdown since Monday, announced Wednesday that a new phone app that will officials to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52121264" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">track the movements</a>&nbsp;of people diagnosed with coronavirus in the capital city would be launched on Thursday, saying the government will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia/putin-takes-coronavirus-precautions-as-moscow-unveils-tracking-app-idUSKBN21J4W8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lend a smartphone</a>&nbsp;to anyone unable to download the app.</li></ul>



Crucial quote:&nbsp;“We’re exploring ways that aggregated anonymized location information could help in the fight against [coronavirus]. One example could be helping health authorities determine the impact of social distancing, similar to the way we show popular restaurant times and traffic patterns in Google Maps&nbsp;﻿,” Google spokesman Johnny Luu told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/17/white-house-location-data-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Washington Post</a>. He made sure to note it “would not involve sharing data about any individual’s location, movement, or contacts.”



Key background:&nbsp;Private and public entities alike are looking for ways to fight off coronavirus as the pandemic continues. On Wednesday, there were more than&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">900,000 confirmed cases</a>&nbsp;worldwide and nearly 50,000 deaths.Officials told&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/new-york-times">NYT</a>&nbsp;that The National Health Service, Britain’s centralized national health system, is trusted by citizens— and paired with the strong data privacy laws in place, said they think people would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agree to join</a>&nbsp;the effort to share their private information to help trace infections. However, American tech firms are reported to still be skeptical about sharing substantial data with the U.S. government ever since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/06/10/why-nsa-it-guy-edward-snowden-leaked-top-secret-documents/#2b8d9fa56737">Edward Snowden</a>&nbsp;revealed the NSA was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">collecting information</a>&nbsp;from the firms clandestinely.&nbsp;



Surprising fact: The information tech companies have access to data that sheds light on Americans’ behavior in light of the coronavirus pandemic. According to a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/coronavirus-location-tracking.html" target="_blank">Facebook analysis</a>, restaurant visits fell about 80% in Italy and 70% in Spain— while Americans only stopped eating out at a rate of 31%.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/">Carlie Porterfield</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

gettyimages-1213352198-170667a

Surge Of Smartphone Apps Promise Coronavirus Tracking, But Raise Privacy Concerns

Smartphones have been stuck in the same groove for years, until the recent unveiling of folding screens. Are these devices, starting at a nifty $2,000, and that you would likely fold a 100 times a day, durable?



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



It’s no secret that the mobile phone industry has been
stagnant for some time now. Consumers are overwhelmed with similar hardware
being released every couple of months, making purchasing decisions more
difficult. But why are these faster, thinner and lighter smartphones not
cutting it anymore?



Tech giants Apple and Samsung have both felt the pinch from shrinking sales in 2018. In a letter to investors early 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook warned of weak earnings as a result of too many new products; a strong US dollar; and economic weakness in emerging markets, which resulted in, “fewer iPhone upgrades than it had anticipated”.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="How Mobile Solutions Are Paying It Forward (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2019/03/27/how-mobile-solutions-are-paying-it-forward/" target="_blank">How Mobile Solutions Are Paying It Forward</a>



Samsung also couldn’t match the success of the Galaxy S8
with last year’s almost identical-looking S9 that featured new cameras and
processors, and was forced to drop the price on its flagship to increase sales.



Mark Joseph, a director who heads up technology strategy at
Deloitte, says the smartphone industry is finding it increasingly difficult to
differentiate on the hardware layer as it becomes a commodity. 



“It is easy to compare it to the PC industry where the
consumer sees very little differentiation at all anymore.”



However, the market is expected to take a different turn as Samsung and Huawei have both come out with folding screen devices in 2019, which is arguably the most exciting thing to have occurred in ages. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Is This Technology the Answer to World Hunger? (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/12/21/the-use-of-this-technology-could-ensure-every-single-person-is-fed/" target="_blank">Is This Technology the Answer to World Hunger?</a>



Samsung introduced the Galaxy Fold earlier this year that
appears to be ‘tablet-first’ with smartphone support. The 4.6-inch smartphone
still looks like a first-generation product and opens into a 7.3-inch tablet,
which supports three-app multi-tasking and app continuity between modes. 



Days later at MWC Barcelona, Huawei unveiled its own folding
screen device called the Mate X. The 8-inch tablet has no notch, and folds into
two screens, a 6.6-inch on the front and a 6.38-inch at the back, primarily
aimed at people who want more from their smartphones and to be productive
on-the-go.



These innovations have generated a great deal of interest, says Joseph.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Folding screen devices are considered a new type of device, like a tablet vs a laptop rather than just a new version of a smartphone.</blockquote>



“The differences over the past few years have been mainly
cosmetic, like the number of cameras, changes to screen size with internal
changes like processor speeds, and memory increases. Folding screens are an
entirely new range of devices.”



But is the market ready for a new category device, and is
there a need for folding screens? Joseph thinks its success falls on how
durable and scratch-resistant they are. 



“If they break easily, they might be discarded rather
quickly or limited to a niche category, e.g. office use only.”



Samsung claims the Galaxy Fold is durable for up to 200,000
folds, which translates to 100 folds every day for five years.



If they are durable – and only time will tell – there is huge potential, he says. “In the corporate market, their multi-tasking abilities could lead to industry specific solutions being launched on their form-factor, in addition to being the primary office tool of choice for executives.”



Joseph says there is a growing corporate market using
smartphones for daily tasks previously done on tablets or laptops, like reading
and responding to e-mails. 



“Folding screen devices will enable an increase in
activities moving from tablets/laptops, which will then reduce the number of
people who use both laptops and tablets.” 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Software Pirates Use Apple Tech To Put Hacked Apps On iPhones (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2019/02/14/software-pirates-use-apple-tech-to-put-hacked-apps-on-iphones/" target="_blank">Software Pirates Use Apple Tech To Put Hacked Apps On iPhones</a>



It will also double as a weekend/evening entertainment
device of a busy executive who uses it extensively during the work day, he
says. 



As expected with any brand new technology, it won’t come
cheap. The Galaxy Fold has a starting price of $1,980, and the Huawei Mate X
will cost $2,600, both of which are expected to go on sale in South Africa,
with local pricing to be announced at launch.



So who is expected to purchase these eye-wateringly
expensive hybrids? 



“Like all the newest devices in each generation, there is
status associated with being one of the first owners, so naturally, there will
be those who fit into this category,” Joseph says. 



“Next, there will be the corporate user who currently uses
both a smartphone and tablet.”



There are also those who generally upgrade to the “best”
device every two years with their post-paid contract upgrade, he says. 



“In addition, there could be a niche in private schools
where this is a growing trend where students have smartphones and their schools
are now using tablets as part of their curriculum.”



“The area that I’m most excited by is the ability for
innovation around industry or corporate specific applications being developed
for a purpose using this form-factor,” Joseph says.



“Hopefully, folding screens will make it to a second
generation as this will allow for better pricing, better tech and, hopefully, a
more robust product.”

gettyimages-1127698881-594×594

Out With The Old, In With The Fold

The smartphone industry has been stagnant and lacking innovation for a good few years. With each new iteration, we witness handsets becoming thinner, faster, and lighter yet somehow bigger than before. The latter is due to screen bezels shrinking in size with very minimal to no borders around the edges.
Stand-out moments in recent years have been Samsung’s curved “infinity display” introduced on the S8, and Apple’s face-mapping feature on the iPhone X that projects 30,000 invisible dots on to your face.
For the most part, there has not been anything revolutionary, but we’re still holding out for a breakthrough in battery technology.
<div id="attachment_35822" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35822" class="wp-image-35822 size-medium" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-300x300.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-100x100.png 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-600x600.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-150x150.png 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-768x768.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Noka-8110-4G-copy-1.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Nokia&#8217;s revived 8110 slider phone. Photo supplied.</div>
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018, the largest mobile event of the year held in Barcelona in February, we saw announcements from several big mobile players, while some opted not to unveil anything, others simply refreshed existing devices.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/06/29/understanding-real-innovation-behind-iphone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ: Understanding the real innovation behind the iPhone</a>
Additionally, Formula 1 made its first-ever appearance at MWC to launch a live stream ad-free grand prix subscription service, and Spanish football league La Liga showed off new broadcast technologies like its cutting-edge 4K HDR broadcasts, a skycam for drone-like footage, professional analysis of the game during the game, and physical and tactical reports.
Meanwhile, Ford made Google’s popular live traffic, community-based app Waze available on its SYNC 3 infotainment platform globally from April. Another motor manufacturer, Land Rover, unveiled its first-ever smartphone, the Explore. The Android device is developed by the Bullitt Group and has durable features like handling extreme temperatures, surviving 1.8m drops and being underwater – including salt water, with a massive battery.
Google introduced a light version of its mobile operating system Android Oreo Go Edition at the end of last year, and at MWC 2018, we got to see these entry-level devices running it for the first time. It is created for phones with 1GB of RAM or less with minimal storage, processing power so performance won’t take a hit, and for limited connectivity, as in the African market. The six devices powered by Android Oreo Go Edition initially will be the Nokia 1, Alcatel 1X, ZTE Tempo Go, Lava Z50, Micromax Bharat Go, and GM 8 Go.
On the premium smartphone side, Samsung’s new S9 and S9+ flagships put focus on both the consumer and business user. The new camera has variable aperture, a mobile smartphone first. Regular smartphones have fixed aperture, but the S9 and S9+ have dual aperture that switches mechanically between F1.5 for low-light photography and F2.4 for bright, outdoor shots. It also shoots 960 frames-per-second slow motion video; and introduces AR Emoji, augmented reality based emoji similar to Snapchat’s Bitmojis. Business users get the Enterprise Edition software straight out of the box, a paid for service tailored to businesses. Powerful features include disabling of the camera, SD card or screenshots while at workplace, preventing sensitive information from leaking.
Sony’s XZ2 and XZ2 Compact devices come six months after its previous-generation flagships with a major physical change – new round edges (gone are the signature blocks). Both handsets do 4K HDR recording, a smartphone first, and following suit from Apple, the headphone jack has been removed. The front-camera takes 3D selfies, and rear does 960fps slow-motion videos, introduced last year. Wireless charging is available on the larger device, and the Compact is anything but, at 5-inches.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2015/02/01/is-there-a-future-in-cellphones/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Is There A Future In Cellphones?</a>
Nokia once again played the nostalgia card and revived the 8110 slider phone in an eye-catching bright yellow color, dubbed the ‘banana phone’. It has 4G support, runs on a new platform called KaiOS so apps will be made especially for it, with WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook announced. Nokia brought out four other handsets in addition to the 8110 4G: a flagship Nokia 8 Sirocco; a mid-range Nokia 7+, an updated Nokia 6, and entry-level Nokia 1.
Once again, MWC felt like an incremental update with some great new features thrown in here and there. In the age of instant gratification, it’s getting increasingly difficult for long-term excitement.
&#8211; By Nafisa Akabor

Noka-8110-4G-copy

The Banana Phone?

When Mike Lawrie fretted and sweated to connect Africa to the internet he expected a handful of dusty academics to use it. A quarter of a century on, African truck drivers, domestic workers and office clerks can’t live without it – the internet in Africa is as much a part of living as is breathing for millions.
“We know internet use in most of the continent has been growing. But it’s not even. So you have countries like South Africa and Kenya on the one hand where many people are using the internet. Then you have Ethiopia, the second largest population in Africa, and very few use the internet,” says Indra de Lanerolle, head of the South African Network Society project at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in Johannesburg.
De Lanerolle is the author of The New Wave, a paper released in 2012 that looked at the internet users of Africa.
“The internet has grown, but there is one thing that hasn’t… fixed lines. Traditionally you would connect with a PC. But only two percent of households have a fixed line. PC penetration hasn’t been going up much. In that context it’s not surprising that it leaves us with mobile and mobile devices.”
“It’s a success story in one way that this infrastructure works. But it’s also evidence of a failure in another. Many African countries have failed to deliver those other networks, or they are way too expensive.”
Internet on the move is expensive. Net costs are high, which means the poor, without PCs, surf less.
“You are buying data in sachet size bytes, 5MB at a time, and you are rationing yourself. Our research shows you are very biased against services when you know how much data they use. One of the good things about Facebook is lowering the data consumption in order to use it.”
Internet means economic growth, says Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Senior Vice President Commercial Africa at SES.
“According to our research, if a developing nation has 10 percent more broadband connectivity, it results in a 1.38 percent GDP growth for that country. It is expected that Africa’s population will double to 2.4 billion people by 2050. In 20 years, the number of cities in Africa with over 10 million inhabitants will double. Remote areas are pulling African economies down. Today, over 300 million Africans live more than 50 kilometers from the nearest fiber or cable broadband connection – 400 million people have no internet access at all, that’s 700 million unconnected people. This equates to 60 to 70 percent of the African population living in remote areas, cut off from the bigger cities without access to information and the necessary facilities required for sustainable growth. These people, by no fault of their own, are pulling their country backwards as they are not able to contribute to the economy, as much as they no doubt would want to,” says Guimba-Saidou.
Language is also a barrier, says De Lanerolle. The language of technology tends to be in English, French or Portuguese, making it difficult for those who don’t speak them to navigate on their phones.
“At a bank machine you can get numerous languages but on an app its less. In general e-commerce is generally English in South Africa. If I am a Sepedi speaker in Polokwane, and I go to a shop, I can probably speak Sepedi to a shopkeeper. I can use Sepedi to transact. I can go to a post office and do the same thing,” says De Lanerolle.
“There are a lot of people in South Africa who do not read and write English easily. It’s a significant barrier, but is a solvable one. People, who design services and content, need to take account of that, especially when you have got these limits when you have reached the limit of your clientele.”
Internet users on the continent may be on the rise, but almost half the population lives below the poverty line. According to De Lanerolle’s research, in 2008, one in seven people in South Africa were online. In 2012, this grew to one in three. By 2016, there could be as many as two out of three, he says.
The research bears out that the younger you are, the more likely you are to use it. Almost 50% of those under 25 are internet users, while less than 20% older than 45 use the net. Businesses need to be cautious when it comes to developing apps.
“When people are launching the business they say let’s design an app for an IOS system. First, ask why do an app? If your target market is a low-end income user, they are most likely using a BlackBerry. Why use smartphones?”
“Research, from the US, shows that most users use only 10 apps. It’s quite hard to develop an app that is quite easy to use. More seriously, it’s harder to make an app absolutely necessary that will be in that top 10. Most apps will be used and then dropped in a very short time, like games,” he says.
For those who have dreams of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg and designing a multimillion-dollar app in their garage in Africa, the road may belong and rocky. There is a shortage of developers in Africa, for a start.
“By far our biggest constraint is developers. I was speaking to a CEO of a fairly big company in Sandton; they alone have a hundred vacancies for developers. The problem is we don’t have enough, especially at an entrepreneur level. Because they have such shortages in Sandton, they are offering pretty good salaries. You have to be pretty brave and pretty confident to say ‘screw that I am going to do my own thing and hope I score.’”
Social media is the king of the internet. Seventy five percent of users have at least one account on Facebook, Twitter, Mxit or LinkedIn or other social platforms.
Dinesh Balliah, New and Social Media lecturer at Wits, has taught students to use the internet in journalism for four years. The growing generation of internet users are far less computer savvy than they are made out to be, she says.
“Students these days don’t even know how to burn a CD. I feel like the generation we have now, that deals in apps, don’t learn how to troubleshoot on a computer. Back [in 2000], if you stuffed up on a computer you had to fix it. Even a software error, you had to fix it. Now you just try something else, or reinstall. The way in which we learn about computers has completely changed.”
“I think social media has changed the game for everyone. What’s shifted drastically is initially when the internet came out it was very top down. Those who had power, money and influence were the people producing content. So you had very exclusive content producers. Then you shifted to Web 2.0, where internet users were producing internet content of their own. Now you have moved to a situation where it’s not very clear what production content is. Is a tweet content? Is a Facebook comment content? The individual matters now more than ever.”
The language of computers could be more important than learning Mandarin, she says.
“With me, my general rule with my kids is that they need to read and write properly first and then they can have access to a computer. If you look at people who became tech innovators, they played computer games. People have this aversion and get scared of games and computers, but we should be teaching our kids how to code through games,” says Balliah.
It may be for a privileged few, but it’s clear Africa is set to be changed even more by the growing, dynamic power of the internet.

Eat, Pray, eMail

Technology has made everything we do each day easier. We can navigate our way to a meeting, host a video chat with a client in Dubai, and check work emails from the golf course.
But all of this instant access has a price. As workers struggle to adapt to a workplace teeming with smartphones and tablets, it’s easy to make mistakes that can not only annoy co-workers, but damage reputations and destroy careers. If you find you’re focusing on your devices more than the people around you, you may be breaking the rules of technology etiquette. Here are a few guidelines for using technology in the office.
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li>
<h5>Don’t check email mid-conversation</h5>
</li>
</ol>
Don’t allow your attention to drift to your computer screen or your smartphone while in a conversation with someone. When you ignore the colleague in front of you to check your buzzing cell, you’re actually sending the message that something else is more important than the conversation at hand. You’re also making it clear that you don’t value your co-worker’s time, which may soon result in that person seeking conversations with someone else.
&nbsp;
<ol start="2">
<li>
<h5>Don’t wear headphones in communal areas</h5>
</li>
</ol>
For some employees, headphones are a great way to tune out distractions to focus on the task at hand. But when you step away from your desk to use the restroom or drop off something in the mail room, leave the headphones at your desk. This is also true of Bluetooth headset. Nothing annoys co-workers more than trying to decipher whether you’re on a phone call or not every time they see you.
&nbsp;
<ol start="3">
<li>
<h5>Lose the speakerphone</h5>
</li>
</ol>
A Bluetooth headset is far more preferable to speakerphone. Speakerphones are for conference calls involving multiple people in a room with a closed door. Speakerphones are not for one-on-one calls held in a cubicle because you can’t be bothered to hold the handset to your ear. Believe it or not, other people in your office have work to do, as well. One other thing to keep in mind: your clients and vendors may not be so happy with being broadcast through your building.
&nbsp;
<ol start="4">
<li>
<h5>Pay attention during meetings</h5>
</li>
</ol>
Yes, your BlackBerry’s buzzing. Yes, it could be important. But if you think no one in the room is noticing you’re spending entire meetings on your phone, you’re wrong. If you must be reachable at all times, give your phone only cursory glances when you’re in a meeting, saving your responses until later. It’s important your co-workers feel you’re part of the team, which includes being an active participant in every meeting you attend.
&nbsp;
<ol start="5">
<li>
<h5>Silence your cell phone</h5>
</li>
</ol>
These days, movie theater audiences can’t get through the previews without at least one reminder to put all cell phones on silent. The same rule should apply to any business meeting. If your work-related cell phone must stay on vibrate, be sure it’s on the lowest setting and keep it holstered. Buzzing cell phones can be just as distracting as
ringers. In fact, as a courtesy to co-workers, you should leave your cell phone on silent at all times while you’re in an office setting. Nobody wants to hear your ringtone 700 times a day.
&nbsp;
<ol start="6">
<li>
<h5>Use your inside voice</h5>
</li>
</ol>
For some reason, people feel the need to speak more loudly when they’re conversing on a cell phone, especially if the connection isn’t as strong as it should be. The person at the other end of the line can hear you clearly if you speak in a normal tone of voice and those in the office around you will thank you for your courtesy.
&nbsp;
<ol start="7">
<li>
<h5>Be sparing with “Urgent” emails</h5>
</li>
</ol>
If you mark everything as “urgent,” eventually nobody will pay attention to anything you send. Before upping the importance of an email, ask yourself if the person at the other end will see the message as a high priority. Also, make sure each message’s subject line clearly states the purpose of the message inside to prevent messages being accidentally discarded as irrelevant.
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<ol start="8">
<li>
<h5>Be sparing with CCs</h5>
</li>
</ol>
Before copying everyone from the cleaning person to the CEO on an e-mail, consider whether the information is relevant. While there are some issues certain key parties need to know about, if you involve the higher-ups in everything, you may be perceived as someone who is unable to make decisions without assistance. Workers should also use caution when CC-ing co-workers’ supervisors on emails. When done a certain way, this can have a tattletale-like impact that rubs those co-workers the wrong way.
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<ol start="9">
<li>
<h5>Avoid text shorthand</h5>
</li>
</ol>
While it might be okay to send a message to a buddy or spouse with text shorthand, avoid such behavior at work. Even if you’re instant messaging or texting a business associate, use proper grammar and complete, well-punctuated sentences. “U busy” doesn’t look as professional as, “Are you busy?”
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<ol start="10">
<li>
<h5>Keep emails professional</h5>
</li>
</ol>
Email is not the place to share office gossip. As a general rule, never put anything in email you wouldn’t say to someone directly. In many cases, once someone hits “send” on an email, there’s no way to get that email back. An email can easily be forwarded or misdirected, inadvertently ending up in the inbox of the very person who is the topic of conversation. If that happens, be prepared for years of awkward staff meetings and company parties.
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<ol start="11">
<li>
<h5>Look up</h5>
</li>
</ol>
Sure, constantly staring at your phone can make you look like you’re a busy, important person, but if you’re staring down at the device in your hand while you’re navigating through the office, running headlong into something or someone is the least of your worries. Hallways and elevators provide the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone, possibly making a connection that can help your career.
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<ol start="12">
<li>
<h5>Stay away from co-workers on social media</h5>
</li>
</ol>
If at all possible, set your social media profiles to private and avoid befriending colleagues on your personal social networking sites. You may want to set up a professional site on Facebook and Twitter to accommodate your networking needs. If you must add co-workers, be sure to avoid posting anything you wouldn’t want your boss to know about. Even a private social media page won’t be private for long if co-workers decide to show your boss what they’ve found.
Technology has come a long way since the first books on etiquette were published. One thing hasn’t changed, though. Etiquette is simply being considerate of those around you and treating others the way you would want to be treated. By doing that, you can continue to move forward in your career while using the best tools available today.

Tag: Smartphones

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