Category: Articles

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Are Tablets Ready for Productivity? The Promise of What’s to Come…

Yesterday Google unveiled their new Nexus line up, new Chromecasts, and showed off a slew of services. One curious tease towards the end of their keynote revealed their strategy for offering up a new tier of productivity device.

The Pixel C.

Previous “Pixel” products utilized Google’s Chrome OS, but this next entry to the line will run stock Android, the operating system reserved for phones and tablets. Clearly Google is looking to compete with the recently announced iPad Pro, and the focus on productivity is clear. The Pixel’s signature accessory is a magnetic keyboard cover which includes and adjustable hinge.

There’s been a bit of a scramble lately in the tablet market. Sales are generally down. After being the hot item, destined to replace those boring old laptops, even Apple is struggling to grow sales year over year.

Continue reading “Are Tablets Ready for Productivity? The Promise of What’s to Come…”

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Guest Article: How to Keep Your Smartphone Secure When Using Public WiFi

wifi

Caroline Black from Secure Thoughts shares some tips on how you can better protect your mobile data using public networks.

Public WiFi can be an easy access point for hackers to obtain your personal information. Whether you’re on your tablet, laptop or smartphone, the risks remain the same: some creep could be around the corner or even at the next table spying on your online activities, lurking on your accounts and taking down your login and banking information. It’s likely that there are many personal details stored on your device, whether you know it or not.

Smartphones especially come with risks because you are always logged into one of your accounts (as required by the operating system). It’s also easy to forget to log out on the websites you visit and many users save their passwords for a simpler way to access the pages later on. Anyone who sneaks their way into your smartphone can easily find this information, whether they physically have your device or if they’re hacking into it through an unsecured network.

So how are you able to prevent this from occurring anyways? Avoiding public WiFi is not an option for many smartphone users, especially when they’re on the go. So instead of ditching the public WiFi, consider securing your device. Here’s how you can do just that:

Check Your Accounts

Besides keeping an eye on your account activity on a regular basis, you should avoid saving your passwords on your device. Sometimes your web browser will ask you if you’d like to save your passwords, though you could have also stored them in a memo on your phone. Whichever might be the case, you should never store your passwords on your smartphone. Continue reading “Guest Article: How to Keep Your Smartphone Secure When Using Public WiFi”

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Ask Juan: Why do Dark Lines Form on Photos Shot Under Fluorescent Lights?

Got a question from a reader on Twitter over some strange camera performance.

The first time I ran into something similar on my DSLR I had a minor panic attack that my sensor was damaged. While it can be frustrating to deal with, it’s a fairly common issue we face with consumer fluorescent lights.

The light that comes from a bulb is not constant. The electricity we use is AC, or alternating current, and cycles between 50 or 60 times a second. This refresh rate is fast enough that the human eye perceives it as constant. You can also think about film and video, where 24fps and faster frame rates produces fluid movement, even though each individual frame is a still photo. Continue reading “Ask Juan: Why do Dark Lines Form on Photos Shot Under Fluorescent Lights?”

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Friday Fun: Web Comic Predicts iPad Keyboard Cover THREE Years Ago

Is this how predictable Apple has become?

We geeks like to joke about Apple being around three years behind the tech curve when it comes to new features, but Joel Watson, the author of web comic Hijinks Ensue, might have just proven our hypothesis.

When the Surface was first launched THREE YEARS AGO, and featured  a new kind of keyboard screen cover, Joel drew this comic:

2012-06-19-surface-tensionOf course, what did Apple reveal during their 2015 keynote for the Ipad Pro? This:

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (27)_result

JOEL CORRECTLY PREDICTED THE YEAR APPLE WOULD MAKE THIS! He just missed the actual keynote by a couple months as WWDC was back in June. Say what you will about Nerd-Boy Haterade©, but Apple’s making it pretty easy to poke fun…

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Apple iPad Pro: Is it really a Surface Pro Killer?

Tech comparisons often fall into confirmation bias, telling people what they want to hear. Let’s get my personal bias out of the way right now. I’m a big fan of Microsoft’s current strategy of consolidating their operating systems under Windows 10, and making sure you can access all of their services no matter which phone, tablet, or computer you use.

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (26)_resultApple made a lot of news yesterday announcing new iPhones, a new Apple TV, Apple Watch updates, and the iPad Pro. It seems pretty clear that Apple has the Surface Pro in their sites, as Microsoft is starting to build a little momentum with their “PC in a Tablet Shell” formula. There was a lot of talk from Apple over how their new tablets and phones were “desktop powerful” devices thanks to new mobile processors.

Pricing, form factor, accessories, even the apps showcased, Apple claims they have the solution for mobile productivity. How does their new iPad Pro compare to the older Surface Pro 3? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading “Apple iPad Pro: Is it really a Surface Pro Killer?”

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Apple Unveils the iPhone 6S, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch Updates at Special Event

Apple dropped the bomb on a ton of new products during their yearly keynote!

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (11)_result
Apple Watch Updates

Apple Watch will be getting updates for richer notifications, and a new view controlled via the crown to scan through your day called “Third Party Complications.

Future 3rd party apps coming to the Watch, Facebook Messenger will be bringing chat features, and Go Pro will enable live video streaming from their cameras straight to the watch screen to use a wrist mounted screen as the viewfinder.

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (8)_resultWe’ll also see more focus on health care apps and fitness tracking. The new Watch OS will provide better tools for the hardware for tracking vitals, and sending health data to physicians.

Lastly new watch bodies and bands are coming. Gold and Rose Gold Apple Watch Sport in aluminum will join new bands for the same price as the current Sport. There will also be a new Product Red Stainless  model where a portion of all sales will go towards fighting HIV/AIDS.

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (12)_resultAll new Apple Watch models will start shipping today. The Apple Watch OS2 update will be coming September 16.

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New iPadApple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (19)_result
Continue reading “Apple Unveils the iPhone 6S, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch Updates at Special Event”

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Samsung Reveals Their First Circular Smartwatch, The Gear S2

samsung gear 2 black smartwatchThe original Gear S was a beast of a smartwatch experiment, blending a large curved display with a 3G cell radio. Their follow up looks to be more subtle and refined.

The Gear S2 aims to blend in more, looking like a more traditional timepiece, and it’s the company’s first circular watch face. A 1.2″ screen with a 360×360 resolution, in an 11.4mm thin frame.  The smaller screen means Samsung can also shave a little size off the battery and continue offering 2-3 days of use on a charge.

This will not be an Android Wear affair, powered by Samsung produced dual core CPU, it’s a Tizen OS watch designed specifically to pair with Samsung phones. NFC on board will tie directly into Samsung Pay for mobile payments.

samsung gear 2 silver smartwatchSamsung has a number of partners on board supporting apps utilizing the new round display, and it will be interesting to see how current apps might eventually work with this smaller screen.

There will be two flavors of Gear S2, a BT and WiFi only model and the S2 3G which incorporates an “e-SIM” for voice and data services when not directly paired to a phone. Two color options will be available, silver and dark grey, and there will be different band options for those watch bodies.

We don’t have pricing info yet, but Samsung expects the Gear S2 to start shipping in October. You can read the full press release below.

Continue reading “Samsung Reveals Their First Circular Smartwatch, The Gear S2”

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Lenovo Bets BIG on 6.8″ Smartphone – The Phab Plus

I’ll be honest. With the rise of phablets like the Note and Lumia 1520, I’ve almsot entirely stopped using mini-tablets like my Nexus 7. Lenovo is doubling down on big screen phones with the Phab Plus.

We can joke about what this might look like holding it up to your face, but the calls are no longer the primary use for our “phones”. We expect excellent data driven experiences. In a way, it is kind of silly that our LTE enabled tablets can’t make and receive calls…

PHAB Plus_Gold_Details_01The Phab Plus sports a 6.8″ 1080p screen paired with a Qualcomm Octa-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. 32GB of storage is built in, and you can add more via MicroSD. A 13MP rear camera and 5MP FFC should handle most photo and video tasks, and the larger body means there’s more room for a larger speaker and “sound chamber” Lenovo claims will offer a more immersive audio experience.

This LTE device will have a 3500mAh battery which Lenovo claims is good for “up to 2 days of battery”, but I would imagine this will likely be a “charge every night” kinda phone.

From a design standpoint, it follow in the footsteps of their Vibe series, rounded aluminum frame.

PHAB Plus_Gray_Hero_05-1This mini-tablet phone wont break the bank. $299 seems pretty reasonable for such an audacious experiment. We’re still waiting out shipping info, but expect the Phab Plus before the holidays.

 

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