Category: Articles

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FCC Publishes 400 Page Document Detailing Net Neutrality Rules and Objections

FCCThe FCC’s announcement that they would be reclassifying the Internet and regulating it as a utility came with a five page summary detailing the commission’s plans.

Yesterday the FCC quietly released the full set of rules to the public, and including the dissenting opinions from the Republican members, the document is 400 pages long.

We’re currently reading through the rules now to see if there are any surprises, but so far no red flags or severe changes from the initial summary. The rules seem focused on preventing ISP’s from throttling services, and blocking any actions towards creating a tiered internet with “fastlanes”.

There’s also a pretty healthy section on Forbearance, detailing all the things that the FCC wont be enforcing like public utility pricing. Still, even though this resembles the situation we found ourselves in when the cell phone industry was reclassified, which ultimately provided for more competition and better consumer experiences, we can expect the ISP’s and carriers to start mounting an attack now that the rules are available.

You can read the rules for yourself, instead of just accepting pundit’s opinions, at the link below.

In the Matter of Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet

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Apple, Fashion, and Perceived Exclusivity – Keeping Desire High for iProducts

I recorded a video earlier this week in response to Apple’s MacBook and Apple Watch announcements, where I washed my hands of the tech angst many of us gadget geeks face when discussing Cupertino. Many of us who are now the most critical of the company, were at one time the most passionate advocates of the brand. I myself was an Apple product specialist for a company that sold systems and maintenance contracts to Department of Energy research facilities. The general thesis of my video focused on the realization and acceptance of the fact that Apple is not (and some would argue hasn’t been for some time) a tech company, but is now a full-fledged fashion and lifestyle brand.

Apple Watch stainless steel premium smartwatch iosScanning through Apple’s site and ads, we see a company showcasing design in much the same way that a jewelry website would show off luxury, premium offerings. Sure, there’s a tab you can click on to get a full listing of hardware specs, but it’s neatly tucked to the side, while large banners talk about “Reinventing the Laptop”, or how Apple Watch is their “Most Personal Device” yet. Marketing intangibles, statements designed to make you feel good, appeal to you emotionally, but which aren’t quantifiable or verifiable.

macbook gold new apple laptop OSX USB C netbookWhile Apple has often been accused of recycling their designs, the tick-tock update schedule of the iPhone is a perfect example, the company has learned an incredibly important strategy from the retail arena. While iProducts rarely change much from year to year, the subtle design changes keep brand awareness high amongst the demographics of folks with money to burn.

When moving from the Black iPhone 5, to the “Space Grey” iPhone 5S for example, this was a clear visual signal that you had spent money recently to acquire the new phone, instead of slumming it with an old phone. A Silver MacBook likely wont stand out much in a coffee shop when surrounded by MacBook Airs, but a Gold MacBook gives up a ready signal that you are on the pulse. It just wouldn’t do to be seen with last season’s Apple gear. We can count on the next MacBook to be a modest iteration improvement to the internal technology, but we’ll likely focus more on a new design accent or a new color option. Continue reading “Apple, Fashion, and Perceived Exclusivity – Keeping Desire High for iProducts”

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Android 5.1 Brings Better Device Protection for Lost or Stolen Phones and Tablets

Android Lollipop ForestTrying to steal a few headlines from Apple today, Google officially and publicly announced Android Lollipop 5.1.

Alongside bug fixes and performance improvements, Android 5.1 brings a much improved security with Device Protection. We’ve detailed Device Manager in the past, which can be used to locate a missing phone or wipe it clean in the event it’s stolen.

Device Protection now includes the ability to lock a device to your Google ID. Even after wiping and hard resetting a phone, Android will require you to enter in your Google account password before the phone can be used again. This follows recent state legislation in California and Minnesota mandating a “Kill Switch” on phones. The idea being a stolen phone will be far less valuable if it’s essentially a brick without the victim’s password. Continue reading “Android 5.1 Brings Better Device Protection for Lost or Stolen Phones and Tablets”

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Gear Review: IntoCircuit 13,000 mAh Power Castle Portable Battery

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Back in October 2014 I reviewed the IntoCircuit 11200 mAh Power Bank. Today we are looking at IntoCircuit’s 13000 mAh Power Bank.

Not much has changed aesthetically for the IntoCircuit power bank. The body of the battery has a nice brushed aluminum finish which measures 5.1″ X 0.9″ X 3.1″.

It might be a little too bulky to keep in your pocket, however it will fit nicely in your backpack, messenger bag, or purse. At the end of the power bank you will find a durable rubber face with a 1 Amp USB charging port, a 2.1 Amp USB charging port, and the MicroUSB port to recharge the power bank. Instead of a “four dot” capacity readout, you get a nice LED status bar showing your power bank’s charge percentage!

Also on board is an LED flashlight that does a pretty good job lighting up the night. The Intocircuit 13000mAh power bank comes with a nice velvet bag to keep the aluminum finish from getting scratched.

Continue reading “Gear Review: IntoCircuit 13,000 mAh Power Castle Portable Battery”

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Adventure Gear Review: OxyLED Motion Sensing Headlamp

OxyLED makes some budget friendly lighting options and today we are taking a look at the OxyLED motion sensing headlamp.

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The OxyLED Motion Sensing Headlamp uses a bright 200 lumen Cree XP-E white LED bulb which will last 50,000 hours and is powered by 3 AAA batteries which will power the light for 6 hours. This light will shine about 328 feet (100 Meters) in front of you. Your path will definitely be lit up at night. The light has 6 adjustable angles to suit your needs. The housing has 2 buttons. One button is to turn on the motion sensing option which when engaged, all you need to do is wave your hand in front of the light to turn it on and off. I use this option when riding my bike at night. I wave my hand in front of the light to turn it off  in order not to distract any drivers while I am at a stop light.  The button on top of the housing will give you three lighting options: high beam, low beam and strobe.

Continue reading “Adventure Gear Review: OxyLED Motion Sensing Headlamp”

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Android 5.0 “Lollipop” Update Rolling Out to LG G3 on AT&T

Google’s newest phone operating system has only made it to around 5% of the Android handsets out in the ecosystem, but that’s set to improve soon as the Lollipop update is starting to roll out to AT&T LG G3’s.

The update brings the slick new Material Design, and the ability to use USB Audio hardware, which I just tested on my G3 with a Zoom H4n. Pretty exciting to use professional grade recording equipment with my smartphone.

As with most rollouts, expect it to be delivered in stages, so fret not if you go into your settings and you don’t have an update ready to install. It should be on its way soon.

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Huawei Impresses with Fashionable Android Wear Smartwatch

huawei-watch-100570928-large.idgeThe wearables market is expanding, and we’re seeing more competition from tech companies trying to create fashionable accessories.

Primary in the Android Wear ecosystem, circular displays are becoming equated with “premium”. Leading up to MWC this year, Huawei took the wraps off their smartwatch solution. Huawei Watch will sport a higher resolution display than the LG G Watch R or Moto 360, but to keep the device slim, will use a smaller 300mAh battery. The smart guts powered by a Qualcomm 400, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of storage.

The stainless steel housing will arrive in three different colors, black, gold, and silver. I’m really happy to see that the front face will not be clad in glass, but sapphire crystal, which we know is far more resistant to abuse. While we don’t have pricing or shipping info yet, we can be pretty sure that combo means this is targeting a “premium” market. Continue reading “Huawei Impresses with Fashionable Android Wear Smartwatch”

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Microsoft Unveils Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL Smartphones at MWC 2015

Microsoft took the wraps off a pair of new Lumias in Barcelona. Unfortunately no flagship phones were to be had, but the former Nokia hardware team showed off handsets adding even more pressure to the mid-range market.

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The Lumia 640 looks like it’ll be fairly standard Windows Phone fare. A 5″ 720p display will be paired up with a Qualcomm 400 and 1GB of RAM and a 2500mAh battery. The rear camera will be an 8MP shooter and the front will have a 1MP sensor for video chat.

The Lumia 640 XL takes the place of the 1320, moving the size up to 5.7″, a 13MP camera, and a 3000mAh battery. Both phones come with 8GB of internal storage with support for up to 128GB MicroSD cards. Both phones will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, but will be updated to Windows 10 when available.

The design is plastic, polycarb shells in a variety of classic colors Orange, White, Yellow, and my favorite Cyan. The naming convention should be less confusing than the lower powered 1320, which had a higher number naming convention than Nokia’s flagship phones.

The positioning makes sense, placing these features in-between the upper entry-level Lumia 635 and the higher mid-range Lumia 830.

Microsoft also showed off a new fold-able Bluetooth keyboard specifically designed for phones.

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Buying one of these new Lumias will come with a one year subscription to Office 365, which includes a license for a tablet or PC, 1TB of cloud storage, and 60 minutes a month for Skype. A one year Office 365 license sold on it’s own costs $70.

Not bad at all considering the 640 will retail for 139€ for a 3G version and 159€ for the LTE variant. The 640 XL will sell for 189€ for 3G and 219€ for LTE. Both phones should be available in April worldwide with partnerships already announced with AT&T in the United States.

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