Posted by Rhonda Stites, Global Head of Industry Solutions, Google for Work

Coming out of the holiday rush, retailers are already thinking about the year ahead and how to compete in 2016 and beyond. We’re headed to the industry’s largest global event, Retail’s Big Show (January 17-20 in New York City), hosted by the National Retail Federation (NRF), to talk about just that. With more than 30,000 attendees, Retail’s Big Show is the hub of conversations about retail innovation. Many of our own customers will be there, and we look forward to hearing how they’re evolving for the digital age.

Thousands of the world’s top retailers rely on Google Apps, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Cloud Platform and Google Search to work better, wherever they are — from designing the latest trends to selling must-have gadgets (see top tips from our retail customers).

With customized retail tools and APIs, Google helps retailers to master fast fashion, create leaner supply chains and gain a better understanding of customer data. Retailers can grow revenue, reduce costs and innovate quickly.

On the first day of Retail’s Big Show, our partner PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will host a panel of retailers innovating with Google Apps: Chico’s, Kohl’s, OVS SpA and Waitrose. These customers will discuss how retail CIOs are leading organizational transformation and how their teams transitioned to Google Apps — which reduced costs, strengthened customer experience, shortened product launch cycles and improved how their teams work together on a global scale.

We’re continuing to build an ecosystem of solutions that support the next generation of digital business in retail — including partnerships with technologies for retail workforce management, digital signage, and merchandising, planning, operations and supply chain. Googlers will be hanging out in partner booths at Retail’s Big Show to talk more about these integrations. Look for us in the booths for Kronos Software, Scala and JDA Software to learn about our joint solutions and offerings, and stay tuned for future blog posts from each of these partners and their Google for Work integration stories.

If you’re planning to attend Retail’s Big Show, we hope to see you at the Connected Retailing panel on January 17 at 3:15 p.m. in Hall E, 1E 07.

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Use another monitor with your laptop and enjoy better working conditions, while being able to open more programs at once. This is not only more useful for designers and graphic artists running Windows, but also allows you to watch a DVD on one screen while answering email on the other. You can also present to an audience while seeing on your laptop screen what they are seeing on the big screen. projector

What You Will Need

1. Hook up your second monitor using the VGA jack on the back or side panel of a laptop. Many people use a second monitor to work in more detail with higher resolution. This comes into its own when you work in design. You will need a decent-sized flat panel with a good resolution. Just about all flat panel monitors come with a VGA socket. Many come with a DVI socket, and some come with HDMI and DisplayPort sockets too. To hook up a Windows laptop, you will need the VGA socket.

Connecting Up

2. Connect up the second monitor to the laptop, using the VGA port, which is a multi-way blue-colored slanted socket. If you look at it, there are three sets of five sockets, making a 15-pin connection. Usually, the top part is wider than the bottom. Once the monitor is hooked up and switched on, you will need to go to the desktop on the laptop and right-click it to get the display settings. When the box opens, click "Properties" at the bottom. Next, on the far right tab, "Settings," you will see a grey window at the top with two boxes in it, numbered "1" and "2." With the display set to the monitor that you just hooked up, check the box next to the words, "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." You will now need to adjust the screen resolution to get the right proportions. When you have got the correct resolution, (and this may be quite different from the laptop screen, particularly if the laptop is a "wide-screen"), move your mouse to the right of the primary screen (the laptop screen), and you will see the mouse cursor extend on outwardly to the second screen. Drag an application window on to the second screen. If you use Adobe InDesign, PhotoShop or Illustrator, you will find it easier to use the second screen for working in the design window, while administering your Windows laptop in the left screen. When it is all set up, you will wonder how you ever did without it.

Using the Laptop Display To View A Presentation on a Projector

3. Presenting to an audience is a snap when you have the show on a laptop, and you also have it displaying on a big screen coming out of a projector. Carefully unplug the second monitor from the VGA port and plug in the VGA cord from the projector. Now go back to the display settings again. You will need to go to the desktop on the laptop and right-click it to get the display settings. When the box opens, click "Properties" at the bottom. Next, on the far right tab, "Settings," you will see a grey window at the top with two boxes in it, numbered "1" and "2." With the display set to the monitor that you just hooked up, uncheck the box next to the words, "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." With the system configured like this, you will also be able to view videos on the second display, be it a projector or a second monitor. Windows Media Player lends itself very well to this arrangement and always detects the second monitor when it is plugged in.

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