The Italian Windows website “Windowsette” somehow managed to get a hold of a super-secret, highly confidential PowerPoint presentation outlining many of Microsoft’s goals and plans for Windows 8. Apparently this sensitive data (complete with UNDER NDA watermarks) was just found sitting around the Internet.

MSFTKitchen has an extensive breakdown and detailed posting of all the slides from within the slide deck. The presentation details many of Microsoft’s thoughts going forward for Windows 8, including the fact that it is taking direct cues from Apple on how to build something customers want to pay for.

While we’ve heard various rumblings about time tables and features of Windows 8, according to the slides, it looks like the internal plan is to have the product to market sometime in 2012. Of course, that could change (see Vista), but from the roadmap presented in the presentation, 2012 looks like the accurate release date.

Facial Recognition, Fast Boot Up and a Windows App Store

There are lots of new ideas being considered for Windows 8, but a few really stood out to us. First is the concept of user accounts being the primary method identifying a user. So instead of just having the traditional, “admin,” “user,” “guest” paradigm, accounts would be customized for individual users in a much more customizable way.

Additionally, Microsoft is looking at integrating facial recognition technologies to log users into computers automatically. According to the slides, Microsoft is also considering connecting Windows accounts to the cloud. This is actually a really cool idea because it means that your preferences, bookmarks, e-mail account info and other data could all follow you from system to system.

If you consider that more and more storage might be done in the cloud, via something like Windows Live SkyDrive, the possibilities are pretty cool, especially if used across ultra-portable devices like tablets.

The presentation also shows that Microsoft is looking at making the startup and boot process of Windows 8 as fast as possible. The idea is to make it as “appliance like” as possible, so that instant-on connectivity is available.

Finally, one of the most interesting new developments is that of the Windows App Store. Now, you could make a joke and say that that already exists as the software aisle of any major electronics store, but the concept of having a way to discover new applications online and to get them from a trusted repository is actually not a bad idea.

For desktop operating systems, the idea of a central software repository is not new. Package management tools like APT and PackageKit have been a part of the Linux world for years. In fact, Microsoft has tried to do this to some degree with the Windows Marketplace and Zune Marketplace. Looking at the slides, the Windows App Store will be a much broader strategy with a much more Apple-like approach.

For instance, there is discussion about a “Windows Reset” feature that would back up a users files and reformat the system in case of some sort of system problem. Upon reinstallation, apps purchased from the App Store could be reinstalled and applications not from the App Store would be listed for a users convenience.

Trying to Bring the Smartphone Experience to the Desktop

Looking at many of the broader trends posited for Windows 8, we couldn’t help but notice how many similarities exist between current smartphone solutions and paradigms and with what Windows 8 might end up becoming.

The idea of keeping user profile data backed up to the cloud and being portable is something that Google is doing with great success on Android. To a lesser extent, Apple is doing this on the iPhone and iPad with MobileMe and iTunes accounts.

Furthermore, the big focus on quick startups and shutdowns and being “more appliance like” seems to describe the kind of experience that we have on our smartphones and iPad devices today. Since a broader part of the Windows 8 strategy seems to be all about being on many different device types, this makes sense, but it also sounds like Microsoft is trying to bring this sort of experience to the regular desktop.

Of course, the Windows App Store is almost a recreation of the mobile app store paradigm. While an app store is probably less needed for Windows than any other Operating System, having a curated, searchable database of software programs, filled with user reviews and the ability to re-download and re-install on demand is still a compelling feature, provided of course that software can still be found and installed more traditionally.

Future of the Desktop?

Two weeks ago, Farhad Manjoo wrote an editorial for Slate entitled, Flight of the Desktops. In it, he made the argument that desktop computers (ie, NOT laptops but main desktop machines) will continue to lose relevancy over the next five years. This isn’t the same argument that a Google executive made back in March (that argument was that smartphones would replace desktops in three years time), but it hints at the same trend, which is, if our mobile devices become more powerful and our data becomes more accessible, for many people, conventional desktop machines will only be needed for certain tasks. If you don’t need to do one of those tasks, a desktop computer may eventually end up irrelevant.

Manjoo got a lot of pushback for his post, but in the wake of 3 million iPads and booming iPhone and Android sales, I’m more open to his opinion than I was even four months ago. While I think Google’s prediction of an operating-system free world (in the traditional Windows sense) is extremely premature, three’s no doubt that the way we use and interact with our content is changing. The definition of computing itself is changing too.

For that reason, many of the slides in the Windows 8 presentation make a lot of sense. Now, how many of these ideas are deliverable and how many can be integrated across a broad set of different devices remains to be seen, but if the traditional computer operating system could take on many of the qualities of a smartphone operating system, that would be a very interesting future.

What do you think of the slides for Windows 8? What do you think about the shifting of the desktop to becoming more mobile-esque? Let us know!

Reviews: Android, App Store, Google, Linux, MobileMe, Windows

More About: future, microsoft, operating systems, software, Windows, Windows 8

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Gathering friends, followers and “likers” online can only take you so far in the world of networking. Organizing a Meetup is a great way to move your virtual network to a tangible territory.

Quite simply, a Meetup is a planned event where like-minded people meet and typically chat over cocktails and listen to a guest speaker. Organizing one of these events is an excellent way to establish yourself or your business as a “go-to” person in your industry.

Yet it is easier said than done. Anyone who has ever tried to organize a dinner with just a small group of friends knows that preparation is the key to any successful event. Meetups require planning, and given that you want to make a good impression you should take your time to make sure everything goes smoothly.

1. Why Your Meetup?

First, consider why you want to organize a Meetup. Do your research and find out what groups are already meeting, and decided what your Meetup could bring to your industry. Sign up on Meetup’s website and create a personal profile to see what the scene is like already. Search for terms that pertain to your field, and decide on what is missing so you can position your Meetup to satisfy that void.

Next, you need to craft a clear lead statement that explains exactly what your Meetup is about. Break it down so that people will understand what type of conversations you hope to develop.

2. Create a Meetup Group

Meetup’s services make it easy to get the group rolling. Create your group, and choose your location, the group’s name, headline and your lead statement describing what the group is all about. Pick a theme for your group’s page; you can choose from several templates or create your own.

The next step is important. Pick up to 15 topics that describe what your group is targeting. Picking the right keywords is how you’ll find the right members for your group. Meetup’s site offers some good suggestions and shows you how many groups already exist under each umbrella topic.

Then pick a pricing plan. Meetup is free to join, but if you want to actually start a group, pricing will run as low as $12 a month. With more than 6.5 million people signed up and over 60,000 groups formed it’s the simplest way to organize a group and reach out to the most people.

Now that you have created the group, you’re officially the “organizer.” 72 hours after you have created the group the site sends out an alert blast to everyone who has listed the topics or keywords you choose to categorize the group, and invites them to join.

If you have contacts who aren’t members of the site but that you know you’d want to attend, send off a personalized e-mail informing them of your new group. You can also tweet the link to your group’s page so your Twitter followers get the message as well.

3. Grow Membership

Don’t rush to create an event right away says Yuli Ziv, who organizes the Meetups for her group Fashion 2.0 and is the co-founder of My It Things and Style Coalition. Ziv’s group has more than 1,000 members, and she has organized 20 Meetups since 2008. She advises that you wait for the membership to grow before you announce your first event.

Once you decide to put a Meetup event on the calendar make sure you announce it and give yourself some time to promote the event so that people can RSVP.

4. Format

Meetups don’t have to adhere to one format. Most include networking over cocktails and often feature a panel discussion or guest speak and Q and A session from the audience. If it’s you’re first event, you may want to try something more informal.

Julia Kaganskiy organizes the 1,300 member strong Arts, Culture and Technology group. A former social media strategist and community manager for an entertainment agency, and current Digital Learning department intern at the MoMA, Kaganskiy held her first meet up nearly two years ago as a way to meet people in the specific communities she wanted to work in.

For her first event, Kaganskiy says she ran more of relaxed gathering because she wanted to get a feeling for who would come out. “I wanted to see what fields people were in and find out what they were really interested in. I worked the room and got a sense of what kinds of questions people wanted to explore.”

Fourteen Meetups later, Kaganskiy now creates each event with a different theme or topic and invites top industry leaders as guest speakers. Sometimes she’ll invite a few speakers to speak for 30 minutes or she’ll invite four or five guests with a variety of viewpoints to each speak for 10 minutes. Either way, the goal is to get the conversation flowing.

5. Venue

Once you decide what you’ll be doing at the event, you need to tell people where to actually meet. Finding a venue to hold your event can be the most difficult part. Depending on where you live there may be more or less available space. The key is, and both Kaganskiy and Ziv agree, is to find somewhere for free.

“Find a bar on a Monday or Tuesday, and most places will be thrilled to have you. If it’s a low traffic area they’ll be more than happy to have you bring in 50 people for a couple of hours,” says Kaganskiy.

Once you have space set there is always the question of if you’ll have enough. In places like New York City, space is often an issue.

As Fashion 2.0 has grown in membership, Ziv says that they have outgrown the venues where past events have taken place. To avoid turning people away, Ziv suggests capping the number of people admitted if there is enough interest. “Some events are better in an intimate setting,” she says. “A big event doesn’t mean a great event. It could be 30 people and be just as relevant and interesting as one with 100.”

Once you have established yourself as a group, Ziv suggests making a wait list if too many people RSVP to your event. “It can make people more excited. It means it’s a special event and people want to be a part of it. This way you can encourage people to RSVP early,” she says.

6. Day of the Meetup

For everything to run smoothly, it’s important that you do some last-minute preparation before your group meets. Call the venue to confirm, and make sure they have all the equipment you need (microphones, speakers, screens). If you’re bringing your own supplies, make sure the venue knows that ahead of time and confirm that you’ll be their early to set up.

If you’re in a private room at a bar or restaurant, try to make sure that the staff know who you are and that they’ll communicate to arriving guests where the event is being held.

On the day of, don’t forget your Sharpie pens, name tags, and the RSVP list. Have someone besides yourself man the door, so you can take care of last-minute needs. If you decide not to cap your admission number, make sure to have a sign-in sheet so you can get everyone’s contact information.

7. Sponsorships

Initial Meetups tend to be low-key affairs, but once you’ve organized a few and keep gaining members, sponsorship is a great way to make your Meetup more professional and enjoyable, while taking the costs off your hands.

Getting sponsored can happen in different ways. Fashion 2.0 was lucky enough to find some of its sponsors within some of its own members according to Ziv. “We have executives in the group and it’s to their benefit to tell their companies about a relevant group with great people who they would want to reach out to.”

The benefits of being sponsored mean that Fashion 2.0 can afford a bigger venue and host events with an open bar, which definitely attracts people. “It really takes it to the next level and makes it a serious event. The fashion industry has high standards and people expect a big production,” she says.

Another way to find a sponsor is through Meetup’s website. Three years ago the website noticed that groups were starting to get sponsored by local businesses.

“Running groups were sponsored by the neighborhood running store, and we saw that there was an opportunity for big brands to come in and support these groups,” said Cindy Laning, the account manager for Meetup sponsors. Since organizers pay to use the site, Meetup is committed to supporting the success of each group, and found that groups grow, on average, 7% faster with a sponsor.

Laning explained that organizers have the option of whether or not they would be interested in sponsorship, and Meetup reaches out to groups who they think would benefit from working with, including dozens of top brands like Columbia Sports, Dove, Vitamin Water, Equinox, Blackberry, Huggies and Microsoft.

“The point is to get as many groups sponsored as possible. We reach out to the group and act as the middleman between them and the brand.”

According to Laning, Meetup has a 75% opt-in rate for sponsorship, which insures that brands are welcomed into the community. “We get qualitative feedback; brands come in and they recognize these communities by financing them or with other things. The groups are so grateful for that support, that when it comes time to make a purchase decision they are likely to use the brand that has been helping them out. It’s a pay it forward mentality.”

8. The Future

Once you’ve organized your first Meetup, start thinking about the next. Talk to people to find out what will keep bringing them back, and try to come up with innovative ideas that will place you where you want to be in your industry: a connected, relevant contributor.

“Running the Meetup was the single most important move I’ve made in my professional career thus far,” said Kaganskiy. “It positioned me at the center of this community that I was just making my way into. It allowed me to create my own networking opportunities. Because I’m creating a public service by organizing these events, I’ve gain a lot of respect.”

9. Keep Connected

The event may be over, but your work is far from done. Now that you’ve met all these new people, it’s your job to stay connected with them via your group’s Meetup page, but also through other social media platforms. Follow your members on Twitter and Facebook. Keep your community buzzing. Was there a controversial question that generated a lot of discussion? Tweet it after the event and keep people thinking about you so that they can’t wait for the next event. For example, John Hyland and Anthony Quintano of the NYC DSLR Meetup, keep up with their members via Twitter to keep conversation rolling before, during and after their Meetups.

At Fashion 2.0 there is a whole conversation on Twitter in addition to the event. Ziv says members all follow and support each other, and foster new discussions.

Kaganskiy uses her personal Twitter account to promote the group and says that following up with members on other networking sites really helps to cement the relationships. She reflects, “I was an outsider looking in. Now I have friends at every major museum in the city, and it is because I maintained those connections I made at the Meetups.”

Have you organized a Meetup in your community? Add your own tips on organizing a successful Meetup in the comments below.

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More business resources from Mashable:

– HOW TO: Improve B2B Sales Productivity with Social Media
– 13 Essential Social Media Lessons for B2B Marketers from the Masters
– 10 Essential Social Media Tools for B2B Marketers
– HOW TO: Build A Twitter Strategy for Your Business
– Why Small Businesses Shouldn’t Take Social Media for Granted

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, iofoto

More About: business, meeting, meetup, networking, social networking

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

It seems like social media is everywhere these days. But the 2010 Business Monitor United States report — commissioned by UPS — shows that when it comes to small- and medium-sized businesses, social media is still a missed opportunity. A mere 24% of respondents said they’ve received sales leads from social media, with just 1% citing it as a factor for business growth.

The data would appear to indicate that in spite of all the positive press that social media gets, and all the use cases we’ve seen emerge over the past few years, small business owners are taking social media for granted. When done right, social media can be a valuable source for customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction. Here a few reasons to help drive the value home.

Information is There for the Taking

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to the web. Ignoring, avoiding or just not looking at what people are sharing online about your small business or your competitors is just plain lazy.

Now more than ever people turn to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Yelp and a slew of other sites to share information and make it publicly available. As such, there’s a wealth of information that existing customers, future fans and online detractors are putting into the public domain, and there’s a plethora of tools to make it easy for you to follow along.

The customer that tweets about a poor experience, the guy that leaves a tip about a venue on Foursquare, or the woman that tweets about being overwhelmed by an event she’s planning, are all real humans sharing real bits of information that if ignored could translate into missed opportunities.

In the case of the person with the poor experience, if it’s your business being discussed, offer to step in and fix the problem. If it’s a competitor, offer to let the person try a comparable product free of charge. When it comes to Foursquare, acknowledge great Foursquare tips, even if they’re not for your own business. If you can help the woman who’s overwhelmed, do it, even if it is just by responding, “is there any way I can help?”

As a small businesses owner, it’s your responsibility to use these bits of public information to build relationships, improve customer service and enhance your products.

Simple Works

Finding the right way to use social media can be daunting, especially when there are so many examples of big brands pushing the limits of creativity and possibility when it comes to their Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare initiatives. Often times the big guys forget that it’s the simplest of gestures that can have the greatest impact. But simple works.

On the simple side things, just take the time to acknowledge customers that mention you. Did someone tweet about dining at your restaurant? Did they checkin at your venue? Did they share a story about your small business on Facebook? These actions that take place in the public domain are all opportunities to connect with a current or potential customer and make them feel special.

Responding is easy — a simple “thanks for stopping by,” or “how can we make your next visit better?” tweet can go a long way and even make someone’s day. Yet, it’s something most companies take for granted. People like to be recognized, but often times they’re never presented with an opportunity to associate restaurants, stores and other venues with the people behind him. You can create that opportunity by recognizing their patronage, which in turn should help ensure that they return for a future visit.

Another simple thing you can do is post signage — on your website and in your store — to indicate that you’re social media-friendly. The Express retail chain has their chief marketing officer’s Twitter handle printed on all their bags, which works to reinforce that the company cares about person-to-person connections. Take that idea and apply it to your own business. For that extra touch, make stickers, punch cards or window decals that showcase your small business’s online personality and reinforce that you’re interested in conversations with your customers.

Your Size Works in Your Favor

Starbucks is the perfect example of an early adopter brand that gets social media right, and yet their size prohibits them from engaging with every customer that walks in the door.

As a small business, your size is your friend in social media channels. Use your small size as an advantage and respond to each and every person that mentions you. Since you’re working with a smaller customer base, you can also build customer Twitter Lists to separate different categories of customers into groups, which should help you offer more personalized customer service — something the big businesses don’t have the time or resources to support.

Here’s an easy example: Who are your most frequent customers? Make a Twitter List called “Regulars,” and add your regulars on Twitter to it.

In doing so, you’re associating patronage with prestige. Your efforts could even inspire semi-regular customers to frequent your business more often just so they too can get added to the list. This tactic might also serve as a catalyst for one regular to connect with another, though you could also facilitate customer-to-customer connections with introductory tweets. So if a customer tweets for a recommendation, you could respond with something simple as, “@customer1 good question, I like the cheesecake but @customer2 really loves the custard.”

These types of personal exchanges highlight the advantages afforded to small businesses using social media.

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[img credit: thomashawk]

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube

Tags: facebook, foursquare, small business, twitter, Twitter Lists, yelp, youtube

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While many of us were focused on the Facebook privacy saga, an ongoing debate about access and transparency in regards to the much more critical problem of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was taking place.

British Petroleum (BP) originally announced that it was going to live stream video of the “top kill” procedure to the public, only to later backtrack and say it wasn’t sure if it could “maintain a live feed” during the operation.

After considerable blowback from government officials, such as Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass), BP acquiesced and announced via its Twitter stream that it would continue to serve its live stream.

The “top-kill” procedure was started about five hours ago, but because most of what takes place is happening inside of pipes, most of the action won’t appear on camera anyway. You can still watch the live feed for any noticeable changes in the plumes of oil. BP says the procedure could take up to two days.

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Tags: bp, environment, gulf oil spil, gulf oil spill, oil, public policy

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In much the same way that Dunkin’ Donuts and Mountain Dew are tapping their online fans to create new products, Papa John’s is using Facebook to find their next speciality pizza.

The Papa’s Specialty Pizza Challenge tasks Facebook fans with creating the winning recipe for the company’s next specialty pizza through June 14. Although the campaign is just a few weeks old, there are already more than 6,500 entries.

Since the campaign launched, the application tab has been loaded close to 80,000 times, with users publishing upwards of 1,700 Facebook news feed items.

The volume of attention is to be expected as pizza creators are all vying for some serious cash and prizes. The top three submissions — as selected by “Papa” John Schnatter and corporate taste testers — will be integrated into the Papa John’s menu and sold in stores from August 2 to August 29. To the highest-selling pizza victor go the spoils:  1% of pizza sales post challenge (up to $10,000), pizza for life and a guest appearance in a Papa John’s TV commercial.

Masterminding a new specialty pizza is pretty simple. Users can name their pizza whatever they want, select a crust, pick a pizza sauce, add up to seven additional toppings and describe their machination. The final result is then posted on Papa John’s Facebook page where other users can like or share the specialty creation.

While it’s not the most original idea, the chain’s pizza challenge is an extremely savvy social media initiative. Since the contest is housed within Facebook, sharing is essentially baked into the campaign at every turn. So not only do Facebook users have to “Like” the Page to see the contest — with that behavior posted back to their activity feeds — but they can invite friends to take the challenge and post their pizza creations to their wall.

Another key element to the campaign is that the three finalists will likely need to use their social media presence to promote their pizzas if they want to win the grand prize. To help them with that endeavor, Papa John’s will give each finalist a marketing budget of $1000.

We’re curious to see how this challenge develops over the course of the summer. In the meantime, let us know if you plan to enter the contest, and tell us how you think the strategy compares to its rival company’s pizza holdout social media initiative.

[img credit: akuban]

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Tags: MARKETING, papa john's, social media, social media marketing

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This year has seen more location-aware applications than we could have imagined. Everyone from big brands to one-app startups is scrambling to integrate location features right now, and at least one company is doing a lot of business based on that fact.

SimpleGeo, a startup that gives developers the ability to add location-based features to their applications, has just announced a new round of funding and a slew of new hires.

Having set up shop last fall with a grand total of $1.67 million in seed money, SimpleGeo has now raised $8.14 million in a Series A round from Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, the Foundry Group and angel Ravi Narasimhan.

As for new staff, Digg’s recent personnel cuts following founder Kevin Rose’s takeover of the CEO role have been this startup’s gain. SimpleGeo has snapped up Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Ian Eure, Paul Lathrop and Nicole Williams, all formerly of Digg. The company also hired Rob Bailey of Yahoo/Lotus Vodka. The year-old company is now 18 employees — and a reported 4,000 developer partners — strong.

SimpleGeo’s location-services infrastructure, including a cloud-based storage engine and a geodata marketplace, was formally launched about 6 weeks ago. Altogether, SimpleGeo’s products shave months off development time for location-based services. The marketplace itself is like an “iTunes for geodata,” according to co-founder Matt Galligan. Here’s a video demonstrating the kinds of data available:

According to the company blog, these new funds and new people will be instrumental in “changing and improving our product, positioning, marketing, etc. over the next few months.” SimpleGeo plans to make “significant improvements” to its API and add some impressive new features.

img credit: caveman]

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Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Twitter, blog

Tags: funding, location, simpelgeo

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We have confirmed with Twitter that beta testing of its new business features, dubbed the “Twitter Business Center,” has begun.

According to the company, “only a handful of accounts have these features presently,” but it will expand on a gradual business to more accounts. One of the biggest additions: the ability for businesses to accept Twittter direct messages, even from people they don’t follow.

We were able to grab exclusive information and screenshots of the Twitter Business Center thanks to our friend Dave Peck, a social media strategist at LSF Interactive/blogger at New Media Chatter.

Here is an overview of some of the new features that businesses can expect to enjoy in the near future:

Starting Up with Twitter Business Center

A small group of business users are getting emails from the Twitter team, inviting them to test “the Twitter Toolkit.” This is how the invite email begins:

“Congrats!

Your account has been invited to participate in testing one of Twitter’s newest business-centric features, the Twitter Toolkit. We’ll be rolling it out to you within the next few days (if you don’t have it already) for your business or organization’s Twitter account. To get started, visit your business’ Twitter account settings…

http://twitter.com/settings/account

…and look for the “Business” tab. From there you’ll be directed to fill out some information which will help us verify your business or organization.”

Once businesses clicks the link, they have to activate the business features for their accounts. It then takes them to a page where they fill in information such as business contact info and whether they are a small business, large company, or an individual/group:

Digging into the Features

Once a business activates its account, it is automatically verified. This is important because Twitter Verified Accounts have been limited to individuals thus far. It seems like Twitter has finally decided to expand the Verified Accounts program to brands and organizations.

After activation, four tabs appear: Overview, Business Info, Verification, and Contributors. Overview provides basic information about business accounts and Business Info allows a company to change the information that it submitted during initial registration. The Contributors tab, which we revealed several months ago, gives businesses the ability to add multiple users to a business account so that they can tweet on its behalf.

The tab that interested us the most though was the “Verification” tab. Take a look at the “Preferences” section in this screenshot we obtained of the Verification tab:

Twitter has a new feature for businesses: the ability to accept direct messages from any of its followers, regardless of whether they follow that person or not. This is huge for businesses that perform customer service via Twitter: they can get feedback and deal with private customer issues without having to follow the person back first.

The microblogging startup seems focused on getting more businesses the tools they need to effectively manage their Twitter accounts. There are no details yet as to how much Twitter will charge businesses for these features. For now though, the company is refining and testing its Twitter Toolkit before its eventual public debut.

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: business, contributors, EXCLUSIVE, twitter, Twitter Business Center

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Despite living in the age of e-mail, wireless networks, smartphones, and tablets, many small businesses are still beholden to paper. There are a variety of reasons for this. Often, it’s the other businesses or government agencies that you interface with that demand paper forms or faxes. Sometimes, it’s just that old habits die hard.

However, there are software solutions to some old paper problems that don’t require the network infrastructure of a large corporation. And making a small technology investment now could save your business a bundle long-term — not to mention reducing its wasteful reliance on paper products.

1. NitroPDF

We mostly see PDF (Adobe’s Portable Document Format) files as immutable documents — the opposite of an editable MS Word file. But PDFs are actually extremely versatile, and can be edited, graphically manipulated, and used as fillable forms — if you have the right software.

The standard in PDF editing software, Adobe Acrobat, will run you $299 for an individual license, but there are alternatives. One of them is NitroPDF, an extremely powerful editor that starts at $99 for a single license. With it, you can easily create PDF forms that clients can view and complete with standard software, like Adobe reader and most web browsers. You can also edit existing PDF documents without resorting to printing and white-out.

Another great paper-saving feature is the built-in and extremely stable PDF printer driver. Instead of sending that important e-mail or website to your laserjet, select Nitro’s printer option and generate a full-color PDF that you can archive digitally on your hard drive and in the cloud (more on that below).

2. PDF995 Printer Driver

On the topic of PDF printing, if you don’t need the full editing suite that comes with NitroPDF, but you’re looking for a way to render important documents as PDFs, check out PDF995. It’s a PDF printer driver, plain and simple — no user interface or controls. Simply install it and it will add a PDF option to the print menu of all your applications.

A PDF printer driver is an excellent way to digitally render invoices, graphic mock-ups, and long text documents that you’d like clients to read, but not change — all without ever touching a piece of paper or a scanner.

PDF995 is free, but it is ad supported. Whenever you generate a PDF, a small pop-up window will appear in your default browser, which you can simply close when the file is done rendering. It may take a few seconds of your time for each one, but it’s a small drawback for an excellent free product.

3. Fax to E-mail Services

In the words of Michael Scott from NBC’s comedy The Office, “Fax? Why don’t you just send it over on a dinosaur?”

Indeed, there is little excuse for using a fax machine in 2010, but many businesses do so because other businesses they correspond with, including the U.S. government especially, still rely on the technology. Your business can break this vicious cycle (and save piles of paper in the process) by switching your fax number over to an e-mail conversion service.

Setting up an account will assign a new fax number, ideally in your business’s area code, and use a web or e-mail interface to send and receive faxes as PDF files. New faxes will come directly to your inbox instead of that paper-spewing fail machine in the break room.

Some of the leading fax to e-mail services include:

• 
  
  
• eFax
• UnityFax
• jConnect

Rates and features vary between services, so investigating how much faxing you plan to do each month is worthwhile. Additionally, if you already host your website and/or business e-mail with GoDaddy.com, they offer an integrated fax to e-mail feature for an added monthly fee.

4. EchoSign Online Contracts

Nearly every type of business, from a law firm, to a construction company, to a lone freelance designer, should be using contract agreements to legally protect itself from issues with clients and other businesses. Typically, this means generating paper and gathering a signature in ink, either by mail (even more paper) or in person.

But for over 10 years, e-signatures have been equally binding under the law, and a few companies have made the process of creating and sending secure electronic agreements very efficient.

One of them is EchoSign, a feature-rich and user friendly service for generating and archiving digital contracts. If you’re already working with a paper version of your business agreement, simply upload it to EchoSign and enter the recipient’s e-mail address. They will receive a copy of the document with a link where they can e-sign. The executed contract is stored in your EchoSign account for reference. The software is completely web-based, so there’s nothing to install, and you can access your documents from any Internet connection.

EchoSign has a scalable pricing model, starting with a free account that lets one user gather up to five signatures per month, through unlimited signature accounts with multiple users, starting at $40 per month.

Besides saving paper, the speed at which your business can execute binding agreements via e-mail should be enough to make you part ways with the old mail and ink system.

5. Online Backup and Record Keeping

Even if your company has gone digital in a number of paper-centric areas, perhaps the over-arching challenge, especially for small businesses, is archiving your records and files.

Often this data is disparate, spread between e-mails, computer files, and paper records. But if you’re diligent about maintaining a searchable, web-based archive of the items listed above, the dividends paid in time and money saved will be enormous in the long-run.

Depending on the volume of your existing paper records, it may not be cost effective to digitize older files. But if you start fresh by printing to PDF instead of paper going forward, you can create your web-accessible archive with a number of services, including these highly recommended ones:

• 
  
  
• Box.net
• DropBox
• Mozy
• Backblaze
  

Additionally, if you’re using Google Apps for business, the existing infrastructure of document sharing, collaboration, and large storage capacity makes the system ideal for generating a cloud-based business archive that all of your team members can actively use and update.

For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

More business resources from Mashable:

– 5 Ways For Small Companies To Better Engage Reporters
– How One Small Biz Turned Their Company Retreat Into Social Media Success
– Growing Your Business: 5 Tips From the Founder of Foursquare
– 5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page
– HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Roob

Tags: business, List, Lists, paperless, productivity, small business

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Much can be said about the Twitter development community. Since day one, they have been building functionality on top of Twitter’s minimal web features to better the overall Twitter experience.

Initially we saw a frenzy of desktop and browser-based add-ons. Then, just as smartphones were becoming ubiquitous, the demand and interest in mobile Twitter applications became so high that application makers could not release updates fast enough.

As Twitter works to round out their portfolio of official applications — something we witnessed with release of the Blackberry app, acquisition of Tweetie and now the birth of Twitter for Android — developers building applications for Twitter are being eclipsed by the company that started it all. Suddenly third-party seems to be no party at all.

Fee Free or Die

Android Market, Blackberry App World and the App Store: Query each of them and you’ll find a bevy of Twitter apps. Next, judge the quality of the free apps against the quality of the paid apps. The trend has always been that the best Twitter apps come with a price tag. It’s not just mobile either; some of the best Mac-only Twitter apps come with a surcharge. More often than not, they’re better and more reliable than their free counterparts.

Enter Twitter. Things are about to change. The BlackBerry app is free. The iPhone and iPad app will be free. The Android app is free. There’s a trend here, one that’s likely to be repeated when (I believe it’s only a matter of time) Twitter releases a desktop application.

Unofficial apps with fees don’t stand much of chance (power users aside), even those with feature sets that are arguably better than Twitter’s offering. The official stamp of approval from Twitter will be more than enough for the average Twitter user.

Twitter, Features and the Cross-Platform War

In the midst of the Twitter application frenzy, we saw the best application makers rise up and compete head-to-head. TweetDeck versus Seesmic. Tweetie versus Twitterific.

And then a funny thing started happening. Singular platform was no longer good enough. Both TweetDeck and Seesmic created a new layer specific to each of their applications, so that you could login to your TweetDeck or Seesmic account regardless of platform and maintain your Twitter settings. The feature back-and-forth continued, but the new battle became cross-platform.

Not many expected Twitter to become a contender in the cross-platform battle and yet here they are, putting on their boxing gloves and entering the ring as crowds cheer and developers moan.

If Twitter is everywhere, where can developers thrive? Perhaps the answer lies not in where, but how. Features will continue to be an important battle ground for third-parties — look no further than HootSuite or CoTweet for proof. Still, gone are the days when a third-party Twitter app is newsworthy or relevant on its own.

Now is the time to show me the metadata. Better yet, make Twitter a small part of something more significant — something larger. And no, a dual Twitter-Facebook client is not something grander.

Twitter’s Biggest Loser: Seesmic

Seesmic began as a video service. After the acquisition of Twhirl however, Seesmic phased out video in favor of Twitter. Now Seesmic offers web, desktop and mobile apps (Android and BlackBerry with iPhone in the works). All of the apps are robust, some offer Facebook integration and each take an “update once, publish everywhere” mentality thanks to the Ping.fm acquisition.

But what does Seesmic do that Twitter doesn’t? The world is aware of Twitter, but even Twitter is having a hard enough time driving home a value proposition. With that in mind, and Seesmic merely being a Twitter afterthought, does Seesmic even stand a chance? Especially given the hundreds of other Twitter application challengers.

Let’s face it: competition is a good thing. I happen to love Echofon for Mac, so too does my much younger fellow Twitter addict Justin Beiber. Ashton Kutcher tweets with Brizzly. Ellen and Lady Gaga tweet from the web. Shaq is a TweetGenius user.

Great. The plethora of available Twitter apps reward personal preference. There’s no reason why hobby Twitter app developers can’t continue to make a fair enough return with small fees or in-app ads. But Seesmic, as a heavily-funded startup ($12 million in total), has tied its yolk to Twitter and Twitter is trying to break free.

To that effect, Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur argues that, “Twitter official apps will always be about Twitter only. Seesmic apps are about helping you stay in touch with the news in realtime, your friends and build your brand across social networks which is very different, we don’t compete with them, we are on the user side who really doesn’t want to keep switching apps all the time.”

We’re not convinced. Facebook has a phenomenal iPhone app and Twitter’s Tweetie is also quite marvelous. We have a sneaking suspicion that users will opt for brand affinity and simplicity over anything else. Why get a copycat when you can get the real thing?

[Img credits: Pawsforlove.com, Thomas Hawk and Geekr]

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Android Market, App Store, BlackBerry Rocks!, Brizzly, CoTweet, Echofon, Facebook, HootSuite, Seesmic, TweetDeck, Twhirl, Twitter, tweetie

Tags: android, blackberry, iphone, seesmic, twitter, twitter apps

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