A few well-planned business dinners and the business section on the morning train used to be all that the busy entrepreneur needed to keep up to speed on trends and news in the industry.

Now, the constant proliferation of information means that entrepreneurs need to work even harder to keep up with industry-specific current events.

The following five tech tools are just what busy business owners need to keep abreast of the current situation in any field.

Dolphin Browser

Surfing the web can be a powerful way to collect news, check in on the competition, and amuse yourself, but it can be time consuming and distracting. With the Dolphin Browser, your internet surfing experience becomes a little more intuitive and a little less distracting.

With Dolphin, you can create “speed dials” of your favorite sites. Using the gesture tools, you can simply draw a letter on the screen to elicit a response. A “V” for example will take you to the bottom of your screen while an “N” will open a new tab. The longer you use this browser, the more it gets to know you and the easier surfing becomes.

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Open Forum App

Modeled on the idea of an ancient forum, the American Express Open Forum App allows people to gather and discuss ideas. When you open the app, you get access to a variety of speeches on key business concepts like management, technology, and others. If a speech or an idea strikes a chord with you, you can share it with colleagues and friends on any social media network. Available for both Android and iOS operating systems, the Open Forum App can help you find information on business financing options, marketing techniques and small business trends.

NewsBlur

With NewsBlur, you pick the stories or topics that are important to you, and NewsBlur will create a virtual newspaper that is perfect for you. As they are published in online journals and newspapers, the stories that matter the most will be sent directly to your RSS feed. You can check out the original publication site if you want to see more about the story or read the reader comments. Finally, you can share the stories with business contacts who also have NewsBlur accounts.

Google Alerts

Using Google Alerts, you can tirelessly search the internet for the keywords of your choice. Google Alerts will check the web on your behalf for the words you want at the intervals that you select. These alerts will keep you informed about your competitors’ activity and your SEO rankings.

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FlightView

Sometimes, the trend you need to track is the one that is the most critical to your life right now. With FlightView, you can see updated information about airline arrivals and departures. Whether you are worried about a delay or wondering about a gate change, FlightView will tell you exactly what is happening. It also gives you weather updates so that you can plan for potential delays – valuable for small business owners!

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