Category: Articles

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AIO Wireless prepaid phone service now available online for all

AIO wireless prepaid smartphone service available for all online somegadgetguyConsumers are starting to take notice of prepaid solutions. We’re all getting a little more cost-conscious, and depending on how you use your phone, and what features you actually need, prepaid might be the right solution for you.

AT&T backed service AIO is now available online to everyone shopping a prepaid, no contract service with access to 4G LTE. In addition to their online roll out, AIO has started opening retail brick and mortar stores in Florida, Georgia, and Texas if you’d like to peruse their wares.

AIO currently offers unlimited talk, text, and data, though high speed access is capped. Plans start at $40 for 250MB of high speed data. They’re currently running a special for customers who sign up for service before September 29 will get their third month of service for free.

For more info: http://www.aiowireless.com/

Full PR after the break.

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Microsoft will give you at least $200 to trade in your iPad for a Surface

microsoft promo store trade in your ipad somegadgetguyIf you’ve been wanting to make the jump from iOS to Windows 8 for your tablet usage, Microsoft is more than happy to help you make the transition by cutting you a check.

Yup, on the Microsoft store, they’re currently running a promotion that will pay out a minimum of $200 for you iPad 2,3, or 4. Sorry first gen iPad owners, but no one really wants anything to do with tech that old…

Now, this might be a good, convenient solution for people who just want to buy a Surface or Surface Pro and don’t want to hassle with offloading their old Apple gear, but if your iPad 2 is in good condition, and if you’ve kept the box, it’s likely you could score around $250 for that tablet on eBay.

Microsoft Surface “Trade in your iPad” Promo.

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NASA’s Voyager 1 Leaves Our Solar System For Interstellar Space. V’Ger to return in 2273.

Voyager spacecraft solar system interstellar travel somegadgetguyThere’s something kind of amazing that Voyager 1 is not only the first man made craft to leave the confines of our solar system, but that NASA believes it will continue to function, sending data to back to us until around 2025.

Voyager 1 has been in operation for 36 years, and has traveled more than 16 Billion miles during that time. From John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for science in Washington:

“Voyager has boldly gone where no probe has gone before, marking one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science, and adding a new chapter in human scientific dreams and endeavors. Perhaps some future deep space explorers will catch up with Voyager, our first interstellar envoy, and reflect on how this intrepid spacecraft helped enable their journey.”

Perhaps even more amazing, the entire operations budget for the Voyager program, including both Voyager 1 & 2 spacecrafts has been less than $1 Billion. Not a bad bang for buck from a research perspective.

For more info on the Voyager program: http://www.nasa.gov/voyager

Read a Reddit AMA with the Voyager scientists and engineers: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1m9wke/were_scientists_and_engineers_on_nasas_voyager/

And some day, maybe in the late 23rd century, after the Klingons report a strange disturbance featuring a humongous space craft, and we’re all wearing pastel jumpsuits, we’ll know what’s up…

Full NASA Press Release after the jump. SCIENCE!

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Petition to keep “Cortana” as the name of Microsoft’s Voice Asisstant.

halo-4-cortanaHere’s a petition I can wholeheartedly support.

We recently found out that Microsoft was working on a Google Now / Siri competitor, and we also know that the code name for the project is ‘Cortana’, which is a terrific little nod to XBox fans. Cortana is the name of the AI which aids players in the popular HALO franchise of video games.

Well, people know a good thing when they hear it and an industrious Halo and/or Windows Phone fan has left a suggestion on Microsoft’s official feedback site. ‘Keep Cortana as the Name of the Personal Assistant’ is already over 1500 votes, and I was proud to add my name to that list.

Microsoft has always had a reputation for lacking synergy between the various teams working on various products and services. This could be a nice, if a bit tongue in cheek, way to signal some cooperation between the XBox, Windows, and Windows Phone teams.

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Appropriately, Twitter announces IPO with a Tweet

twitter logo

What else would you have expected?

The long rumored Twitter IPO looks like it might be happening. Now the dance of managing expectations begins. They need to drum up excitement about their public offerings, but they can’t go overboard like Facebook. It’s an extremely delicate balance. How do you get investors to open their wallets without getting them overly hyped up. We’ll see if Twitter can figure out the formula where other services have faltered.

Fittingly, they announced this long anticipated industry news with a tweet:

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Ask Juan: How useful are 41MP pics from the Lumia 1020 when uploading to Facebook, Instagram, etc?

nokia lumia 1020 pureview camera test video samples somegadgetguyA wonderful question from one of my YouTube viewers, Will F.

“What are your thoughts about the images with respect to sharing? At sharing size (Facebook, etc), only so much detail is really visible. It seems like the 1020 would be overkill in these situations, especially since you have to do a little extra work to get the full size images off of the phone. My only real gripe about this phone is the slow shot-to-shot time.”

Let’s take a look at some pics from the 1020, and see if we can address Will’s concerns about the camera!

Click here for high definition video samples from the Lumia 1020!

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I Ask YOU: Why Do We Need 64-Bit Processors in Phones?

apple a7 and m7 processors 64 bit somegadgetguyNo seriously folks. I don’t get it, and I need your help to understand.

Why do we need 64-bit processors in our phones?

First Apple announces 64-bit will be included in the iPhone 5s, and now Samsung says they’ll be getting in on the trick in 2014. As best as I could understand, one of the primary reasons we moved to 64-bit on desktops and laptops was to allow us to use more than 4GB of RAM.

Are there other advantages I’m not aware of? Might this be a preemptive move for some future technology? I’m nonplussed…

Drop me a comment. School me folks!

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OLYMPUS New OM-D E-M1 Flagship Camera to arrive in October

Olympus-OM_D-E-M1Hello sexy.

I’ve recently started taking a warming to Oly’s audio gear, and now they’re sprucing up their flagship camera with some new tech under the hood. Having held the previous OM-D, it felt like a near perfect balance of SLR and range-finder with performance matching my favorite APS-C cameras from Nikon and Canon.

The new OM-D E-M1 features an improved 16.3 MP image sensor paired up with Oly’s fastest TruePic VII image processor. These in conjunction with their M.Zuiko lenses should provide for excellent photo and video output. TruePic VII supports 10 frames per second RAW capture for up to 41 shots, and improved auto-focus should help insure those pics are clear and sharp.

Olympus-OM_D-E-M1_rear

I’m really curious to see how the improved Image Stabilization works in conjunction with Micro 4/3rds lenses. OIS is built into the camera, as opposed to Canon where OIS has to be built into the lens. This means you can keep your lenses smaller, and ALL lenses will be stabilized, even fast primes, which usually don’t have stabilization on traditional SLR platforms. Oly’s Multi-Motion IS buffers against movement from five different directions for both photos and videos.

Also being added to the tech is built in WiFi. This is something I’ve long criticized the camera industry, that in recent years, many cameras still required large bolt on hotshoe or battery grips to add WiFi. The E-M1 skirts this by building it directly into the camera. Scan a QR code on the camera screen, and your phone will automagically pair with the free ImageShare app to mirror the camera’s live view for control on your phone!

All of this new gear built into a splash resistant, freeze resistant, dust-proof shell. Expect the OM-D E-M1 to drop in October for $1399.

Full PR after the break.

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