Month: February 2014

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Asus VivoTab Note 8 – now available on Microsoft’s store for $329

ASUS VivoTab Note 8 M80T Touchscreen Tablet microsoft storeBuilding a little momentum with their Windows 8.1 offerings, Microsoft now sells Asus’ mini tablet, and the price is pretty reasonable.

$329 gets you an 8″ screen powered by an Intel Atom quad-core and 2GB of RAM running a full version of Windows 8.1, giving consumers yet another reason to ignore Windows RT. 32GB of storage on board, but with the full OS and recovery partition, a good chunk of that wont be available to consumers. You’ll probably want to opt for a memory card as VivoTab accepts MicroSD upgrading. A 5MP rear camera is on board. You’ll also get Microsoft Office Home & Student, which usually retails for $140.

Plus, this budget friendly tab comes with a Wacom stylus for precision selection and pressure sensitive drawing. It makes the VivoTab a handy all-rounder, and an interesting alternative to the Android and iOS solutions available.

Asus VivoTab (Microsoft Store)

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Glance Lock Screen Now in Public Beta: Smart Alerts, Better Battery

Qualcomm snapdragon glance dynamic lock screen screen shotThe next stage of our mobile devices will be contextual notifications and smart alerts. Google Now feeds us info before we search for it, and now Qualcomm wants to improve your at-a-glance experience on you lock screen.

Snapdragon Glance analyzes your behavior, and will attempt to prioritize notifications based on your past actions. It will also rank apps and contacts for quick access to the services you use most and the people you most often communicate with.

Snapdragon Glance also works in tandem with Qualcomm’s Battery Guru to help improve run time.

While this all sounds great, there is a small hitch. To run this new lock screen, you must have a phone using a Qualcomm processor, and it must be running Android 4.3 or higher, so a pretty significant chunk of the Android ecosystem wont be allowed to play. If you do meet those criteria, it’s free on Google Play.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Glance on Google Play

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The Ultimate Technique for Playing Flappy Bird (Video Tutorial)

flappy bird iconThe insane difficulty of this awkwardly controlled bird navigation makes it crazy addictive. It taunts you. You can’t let it beat you.

Thankfully Youtuber DSV has provided this handy tip, which after watching it, is truly the only way to play Flappy Bird. Enjoy!

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It’s a Cloud Services World. We just pretend it’s about the hardware…

server rack front panelsWe all like to speculate about what’s coming down the pipe, what “THE FUTURE” will look like. One thing is becoming abundantly clear however, a good chunk of what’s coming is going to be delivered via networked, over the air, services. AKA The Cloud.

I know, shocking revelation. I’m sure none of you saw that coming, which is why it’s a good thing you read this blog, as I’m pretty terrific at delivering the obvious. All joking aside, we’re seeing some pretty exciting trends, and a few concerning ones.

Storage & File Delivery
This was essentially a proof of concept that basic data intensive services could work online. Putting larger files onto a server for easier delivery than email or “sneaker-net” style solutions. From YouSendIt to DropBox and everything else in between, we’ve flirted with the cloud primarily to sync and share information. It’s only been recently that data networks have gotten robust enough to offer…

Media Services
We’ve had Youtube for about nine years now. It’s made such a profound impact that it’s difficult to remember the internet without it. Of course, the push for HD video, and then competing services like Netflix and Hulu, really took hold over the last couple years. Online streaming radio is hot right now, and improved sharing and creation tools have lead to…

Collaborative Services
It’s not enough that we can upload a document. Multiple people can now work on it at the same time instead of emailing revisions back and forth. It’s not enough that I can vlog in front of a webcam, I can now broadcast to a live audience with multiple participants and have that automatically added to my Youtube channel.

So What Comes Next? Continue reading “It’s a Cloud Services World. We just pretend it’s about the hardware…”

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Newegg Premier Membership aims to take a bite out of Amazon Prime

newegg premier membership serviceOh, the time I used to spend putting together dream workstations on Newegg. Looks like they’re getting tired of people like me putting products in our shopping carts, and are looking for ways to make it easier for us to push “Ship”.

Welcome Newegg Premier, a $49.99 per year membership fee gets you three day shipping (better rates on 2-day and overnight), no restocking fees on returns with complimentary shipping, early notifications on sales and events, and exclusive deals. You can sign up for a free 30 day trial, and Newegg will throw in 100 “Egg Points” (worth a dollar towards your next purchase).

Newegg will have to combat Amazon’s included media services, but the timing on this move could be pretty good, as there are rumors Amazon might be increasing the price of Prime. For people focused on the shopping experience, this could be an interesting (potentially cheaper) alternative.

Newegg Premier Membership

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Microsoft Offering Free Nokia Lumia 1020 or 1520 with iPhone 4 or Galaxy S2 Trade in!

lumia 1520 1020 trade in your iphone 4 or galaxy s2 microsoftHere’s the scoop.

Trade in an iPhone 4, 4S, or a Galaxy S2 in good working condition.
Sign up for a new two year agreement on AT&T.
Walk out with either a Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520 for free.

But seriously, if you were shopping a new phone, and were considering a Windows Phone, you can pick between the best smartphone camera on the market, or one of the best phablets available. All you have to do is turn over a phone which was likely destined for a recycling center.

Full details on the Microsoft Offers page!

nokia lumia 1020 pureview camera test video samples somegadgetguy

(via Baran Gercek, Analie Cruz)

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Long Term Review: Samsung ATIV S Neo on AT&T – 2 Months with a Non-Nokia Windows Phone…

I’m a fan of Windows Phone, but I’ve primarily used Nokia devices.

My one other experience with a Samsung WP was decent enough, so I felt it was time to revisit them with the ATIV S Neo on AT&T. I really wanted to give the phone a fair shake, and see if I liked Windows Phone, or if I just liked Nokia hardware.

The grand experiment. It didn’t go so well…

Continue reading “Long Term Review: Samsung ATIV S Neo on AT&T – 2 Months with a Non-Nokia Windows Phone…”

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UPDATED: Sony’s Next Stage? Reforming TV Business, Selling Off PC Division

Sony logo*** Update: Enobong Etteh from BooredAtWork.com joined me on Youtube to discuss all the Sony news announced today (embedded below)*** 

It seems to be the major challenge for large corporations, adapting to current market trends, and attempting reorganization.

Sony has their hands in a lot of different tech markets: phones, PC’s, TV’s, Cameras, Playstations, and media (TV/Films/Music). That’s a big ship to steer, and they’ve attempted two previous company wide reorganizations in 2009 and 2012. Ahead of their positive third quarter financial statement showing a 20% revenue increase over the same period in 2012 thanks to the PS4. Unfortunately they’re forecasting a shocking $1 Billion loss for the fiscal year, and now  Sony is announcing their next major corporate reform plans.

Their intention with TV’s is to reduce R&D costs, and streamline manufacturing. They’ve reduced losses from this division from 147 Billion Yen to 69 Billion Yen over the course of a year, and they estimate they should be able to reduce that further to 25 Billion Yen ending fiscal year 2013. They don’t expect the TV division to become profitable until early 2015 (ending fiscal year 2014).

sony-vaio-flip-575x368More drastic, Sony is also selling off their VAIO PC division. Rumors pointed to VIZIO or Lenovo possibly acquiring them, but it’s now official that Sony will be selling to Japan Industrial Partners Inc.  It’s unknown how much the PC line will be sold for. Sony will cease design and production of new PC models after the current announced line up of PC’s is released this Spring.

On top of these measures, Sony will also be cutting 5000 jobs in response to this new poor forecast. In early trading this morning Sony stock is up almost 5% following the announcements.

Enobong Etteh from BooredAtWork.com joined me in a Google Hangout to discuss the announcements:

Full Sony press release below.

Continue reading “UPDATED: Sony’s Next Stage? Reforming TV Business, Selling Off PC Division”

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