Many business owners and managers are so busy working on what their customers and clients need that they forget to take time on their own business. But being efficient is the first step in business success, so it is worthwhile investing the time.

Acer has successfully rolled out the largest deployment of Windows 8 tablets in Australia to Tasmania Police, replacing a fleet of 1100 desktop computers - including 600 Windows XPs that were at end of life - and 200 in-car mobile data terminals.

Germany's largest market research institute, GfK, has released results on a survey of 5800 consumers across Brazil, Germany, Russia, the UK, the US and China. The survey asked participants to rate the appeal of different types of 'connected car' concepts.

It's still early in the year, so still seems appropriate to make predictions for 2015. Luckily, I have a community of service leaders who offer insights into their field service plans for the year. Here are their top five focus areas for 2015. [ + ]

EnergySafety has issued additional safety precautions for the type of high-voltage (HV) switches involved in the explosion at the Morley Galleria Shopping Centre in Perth. [ + ]

Deakin University researchers have found a cheaper, safer and more reliable way to operate emergency lighting and exit signs. [ + ]

New technology containing magnetic field sensors is being developed by a team of experimental physicists in Germany to be used for surveillance in fenced-in places such as airports, nuclear power stations, industrial sites or even private plots of land. [ + ]

With increased penetration of LED lighting and significant advances in technology, the demand for lighting controls is soaring. [ + ]

According to a report released by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), the number of road fatalities in Australia halved between 1990 and 2014. While BITRE attributes this to a number of factors including the availability of safer vehicles, the development of safer roads and improved law enforcement, offsetting factors such as increased driver distraction suggest that technology improvements, changes to legislation and interventionist activities including random breath testing are largely responsible for the huge turnaround. [ + ]

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is urging the community to get a licensed electrician to check if degrading Infinity electrical cables are installed in their homes or businesses, as recent progress reports show that only 179 premises have so far been rectified and approximately 5% of the supplied cable remediated. [ + ]

Ute, tray-top, service body or van? Selecting the right vehicle for field service is driven by many factors. [ + ]

BICSI’s representative on the CT-001 Australia New Zealand cabling standards committee - Ashley Martin, Technical Manager Australia/ New Zealand at TE Connectivity - attended the recent CT-001 meeting, and compiled the following update. [ + ]

Yes, according to one in three voters across 26 New South Wales electorates. The National Roads & Motorists' Association (NRMA) surveyed 16,000 voters across 26 seats, 34% of whom believe that their daily commute, on roads or via public transport, has progressively worsened in the last four years. Conversely, 23% indicated that their commute had improved since 2011. [ + ]

As a leading telecommunications and information services company in Australia, Telstra offers a full range of communications solutions with a focus on connecting business, government, community and individuals. Part of this is the development and delivery of products and services over the National Broadband Network (NBN), which come online as the network is rolled out nationally. [ + ]

Fuel has been a hot topic lately; it's going up, it's going down, regional areas are being unfairly targeted by higher pricing, our nation's fuel security is at risk ... the list goes on.