Technology has changed the way we work, live, and do business. Embedded processors have given us all sorts of versatility and new ways of doing things. Small businesses, in particular, have seen a wealth of new gadgets and devices appear on the market that can provide significant aid in doing business. 

Yet, small business owners have to be careful. It's not like they have an open-ended corporate expense account; they need to pick the tools that truly help their businesses, that can improve productivity and efficiency.

Here are some of the top gadgets small businesses might find useful:

A tablet.

Let's face it: the biggest thing to hit the gadget market in the past three or four years has been the tablet. iPads and Android tablets have swept the nation, and with good reason.

You can use your tablet to accomplish all sorts of business tasks. There are apps that let you handle expense reporting and accounting. There are apps that let you take and edit photos. There are apps that connect you with your email and social media accounts, to say nothing of actually browsing the Internet. 

If your small business is looking to invest in some gadgets, a tablet really should be the first device you consider.

The Swivl.

Many small businesses are using the power of social media to build their business. Creating videos for YouTube that can be shared online is one great way for just about any small business to engage customers. Yet few small businesses have the resources to produce high-quality video.

The Swivl works with your iPhone to help you create videos. You set your iPhone into the Swivl, grab the “marker” used by the Swivl, and do your thing. The Swivl pivots to follow the marker, making it perfect for product demos, lectures, and video chats.

A quality Bluetooth headset.

Bluetooth is a great idea, but so many Bluetooth headsets have poor quality or a poor fit. There are more advanced Bluetooth headsets, such as the Zik by Parrott, that are a cut above the rest on the market. 

The Zik relies on ear cups to enclose your ear entirely. In that regard, they look like a set of audio headphones. Like other high-end Bluetooth headsets, this one uses advanced noise cancellation technology to make your calls easier to hear. 

While the Zik isn't for everyone, make sure to do some serious research before you plop down hard-earned money on a Bluetooth headset. Some work fine, but others leave a lot to be desired.

Portable scanner.

One of the best ways to increase the efficiency of your business is to reduce the amount of paper that flows through your office. If you can't reduce the amount of paper, at the very least you should get to the place where you only touch a given piece of paper once. That will save you tons of time over the long haul.

A portable scanner such as the Fujitsu ScanSnap 1300 lets you digitize papers as soon as you get them. It might be a business card, for example. The device's OCR (optical character recognition) will read the information, and can even export it to your contacts. You might scan a receipt so that it can immediately be uploaded to your accounting software. 

USB chargers.

Chances are that, when you're traveling for business, you've got several USB-powered devices such as your tablet, your smartphone, and probably more. Having a charger like the Powertech USB charger lets you plug in standard devices such as your laptop, but also has USB inputs for charging those devices. 

Square.

If your business caters to the consumer market, you often need to be able to process credit card transactions. This can be a problem if your business is mobile. Fortunately, Square (as well as a few other companies in recent months) have put out devices that let you swipe credit cards via your smartphone.

You simply plug the dongle into your smartphone, swipe the card, and the user signs the screen of your smartphone. The Square app transmits the credit card data, authorizing the charges. 

Tools like these make your business more efficient. In some cases, they also open up new opportunities for sales, marketing, and more. Take a look at some of the cool things embedded processors are able to make happen today, and consider adding some of these gadgets to help your business run better.

Nick Simpson is Social Media Coordinator at Kontron, a leading designer of the ARM module as well as the nebs server. Kontron caters to a number of industries including the energy, military and medical industries.