Need to learn how to use a Mac? There's an app for that … and it's on sale. Back in Oct., Apple released their fourth quarter sales figures, and there were many impressive numbers being thrown around. The statistic with the most meaning to the average consumer is that Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter, a 27 percent increase over a year ago, and of those sales, more than...
Making ringtones in Apple’s GarageBand takes about five minutes of your time, and is a whole lot easier than you’d expect. Everyone likes to customize their phone in one way or another, maybe it’s with a cool case, funky wallpapers, or some sort of customized skin. The most prevalent way to personalize your phone is with a distinct ringtone. The problem is, ringtones cost money, and no...
In a keynote address at the mHealth Summit, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates proposed a solution to a problem that has been facing health administrators for as long as anyone can remember. Registering births, and having parents be diligent about vaccinating children, has been a concern, especially in developing countries, and Gates believes he may have a high tech solution. Gates...
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is selling quite well and it seems to be a viable option if you aren’t into the iPad and other tablet solutions. Despite the cheers coming from Samsung with higher than expected sales, ITG Investment Research has found that by the end of January 2011, 16 percent of all Galaxy Tab purchases were eventually returned. “Consumers aren’t in love with the device,” ITG...
It appears that Apple has loosened its policy on how much water damage prevents you from having your iPhone replaced. Water. Two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen has always been the kryptonite to iOS owners and their devices. The smallest amount of moisture can spell doom for your warranty, and Apple has made that perfectly clear over the years. Well, good news comes down the pike,...
Figure 1 Macworld promises many new items, but what was the one to grab my attention? The month of January is jam packed with industry shows and conventions, CES at the beginning of the month,and Macworld at the end. Honestly, after last year’s less than pathetic Macworld I found myself wondering why I was driving to the Bay Area in extremely dense fog. I didn’t have high hopes, but...
There are many ways to store contact information these days and the two I implement are Google contacts and Apple Address book. I have yet to commit to one or the other for a number of reasons, but the two that seem to be at the top of the list are lack of features in one or the other and offline access. When using Apple address Book if for any reason I don’t have connectivity I can...
It’s been just about three weeks since the Mac app store was launched, Jan. 6 to be exact, to what was perceived by many as a lack of fanfare. Maybe it was due to the fact that many media and industry analysts were busy preparing for another frantic day at the International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Whatever the reason, although the App Store opening was reported, the...
Some of my best childhood memories where those birthdays when I got a new set of walkie talkies, and headed out into the neighborhood. There was nothing better than immersing yourself in a land of make believe, sometimes we were the cops catching the robbers, while others we were astronauts looking for aliens. This week I stumbled upon a cross platform application called HeyTell that...
Two big players in the Internet world are going in different directions, as Yahoo! announced its second round of layoffs in two months, Google is announcing a wave of hiring that will near record proportions. As one of his final duties, soon to be former CEO,Eric Schmidt met with President Barak Obama and other business leaders to discuss ways to stimulate the stagnant economy. Merely...
With today’s smartphones it isn’t enough to have a fantastic minute plan for voice calls, which today are pretty affordable. What really starts jacking up the bill is the data and dreaded text plan. With AT&T recently changing their texting plans there are now fewer options to choose from. AT&T will now only offer 1000 text messages for $10 a month or unlimited for $20 per...
As a member of the media I get to see many ultra cool items while attending the Consumers Electronics Show, all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that would make the most geeky of geeks head spin. Most products are solid offerings as it’s not cheap to attend the largest electronics show in the world. This year one product stood out, and has the potential to change the looks and feel of the...
Apple has long been using proprietary parts in their devices coming directly from the factory, but numerous reports from consumers state that Apple is now installing some after the fact. There has been a lot of outrage after iFixit posted a video detailing what happens when users bring their iPhone 4 into Apple stores for repair. These customers brought the phone in with its original...
When you start a business, no matter how successful or popular you are with consumers, the question remains, “How do I know when I’ve made it?”. I would have to say, in the technology field anyway, you know your company has made it when you start getting sued. It really doesn’t matter by who, but when you get that certified letter you can pretty much conclude you have “made it”. The...
The NBC/Comcast merger is one of the biggest in recent memory and has been given the thumbs up from the Federal Communications Commission, but as might be expected, it comes with a host of conditions. One of them really sheds light on exactly how much we rely on the internet these days. As a matter of fact, if you don’t have an internet connection you are at a distinct disadvantage...
Wireless carriers have kept rates pretty stable over the last two or three years, but with the eventual move to LTE and 4G (every carrier has its own catch phrase) it seems as if rates will be on the rise. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have either already raised rates or taken away some of the customer loyalty discounts that had been in place for quite some time. In any event,...
YouTube is the world’s most popular video website, and many of your online personalities started right there. Our very own Jon Rettinger, Mark Watson (SoliderKnowsBest), and yours truly have all started their tech loving careers on that very website. YouTube is a fantastic medium to convey and acquire knowledge, and contains everything from people falling in fountains while texting, to...
My trip to the Consumer Electronics Show each year never ceases to amaze me. and now that I have had some time to research and evaluate all the products I saw, it’s time to reveal what I feel was the most innovative product in Vegas. There was a ton of great stuff: tablets, cool high def televisions, phones that are computers and computers that are phones, but none of them impressed me...
The record labels think they have figured out a way to stop music piracy, but will earlier sales really help all that much? Ten years ago music pirates started to pillage the music industry and record labels have been trying to remedy the problem ever since. They have spent million of dollars shutting down file sharing sites and the likes of Napster, but have yet to stop pirating of...
Microsoft is talking a lot about how wonderful its Windows Phone 7 handsets are, but some wonder if they’re looking at the same devices other people are. The battle to woo customers into purchasing a particular cellphone is nothing new. There are all sorts of flashy commercials for the hardware, ‘I can do this and you can’t do that’ spoofs and carriers have had “map battles” during the...