• apple,  ces,  google,  htc,  motorola,  verizon

    CES 2010

    January 2, 2010 /

    The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is set to kick off on January 7 in Las Vegas. Since the focus of the show is consumers, CES starts on a Thursday and ends on a Sunday.

    According to the CES website, there are over 600 technology companies from the West Coast in attendance and event organizers are expecting 110,000 attendees for the trade room floor and workshop sessions. Tickets to the event are $200.

    For more information about this year’s CES event, please visit the CES website.

    Rumors Aplenty

    As usual for this time of year, there is a flurry of rumors about upcoming devices from a number of technology vendors. This year’s rumors include: HTC’s new touchscreen tablet device, Motorola’s expected announcement of two new smartphones, Google’s Nexus One smartphone press event on Jan. 5, with the device available from Google and T-Mobile.

    Palm will also be at CES this year, however, it is expected that the focus will be on software development, and not on new device launches. However, there are those pesky Verizon Wireless Pre Plus and Pixi Plus rumors to deal with.

    Apple won’t be at this year’s CES or MacWorld Expo events. Instead, it is widely rumored that Apple will hold their own press event on or around January 26th. Speculation is running wild in the face of mounting evidence that they will finally announce the table computer that has rumored to be under development for many years now.

    [Via Boy Genius Report, Barron’s Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo, PreCentral]

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  • apple,  att,  iphone,  itunes

    iPhone Adventures

    December 29, 2009 /

    On Monday I picked up a used first generation 8GB Apple iPhone. (Thank you Shirley!) The phone is in good working condition. What I didn’t know, is that that you must activate the iPhone before you can use it; even if you plan on using it, essentially, as an iPod touch.

    So what did I learn with my adventures activating my iPhone? First of all, there is no problem with you walking into an AT&T store an signing up for a new service plan with the original G2 GMS iPhone. Secondly, you can use a pre-paid AT&T GoPhone SIM card in your iPhone. To use a pre-paid card, you will need to purchase and activate the pre-paid SIM card in a phone and then move it into the iPhone once it is setup and then activate the iPhone in iTunes as an existing customer. The CellFanatic blog has a good run down of how to do this.

    But what if you are like me and don’t want to have to deal with another monthly cell phone bill and just use the iPhone as a glorified iPod touch (with a camera), then you may want to go with the slightly shady jail breaking route. My SIM card was disabled because I hadn’t used it in 6 months or more and I wasn’t planning on throwing $15-30 away on a new one just to activate the iPhone. I used the Blackra1n jail breaking utility to by pass the activation process and make the phone available in iTunes. I did end up putting my “dead” AT&T SIM card into the iPhone to keep it from constantly reminding me that there was no card inserted.

    The good news is that everything, minus the Phone and Messages applications, are working normally. If I change my mind, and want to activate the voice and SMS text messaging features, all I need to do is to put in a new, activated 3G AT&T SIM card and I’m ready to rock ‘n roll.

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  • apple

    Troubleshooting a “Dead” iPod touch

    December 13, 2009 /

    I went to sync some new music and apps to my touch and was surprised to see that it didn’t respond to being connected to the sync cable that was attached to my Mac. No problem, I’ll just reboot the iPod and move on. Not so fast! The iPod was not responding to the reboot command either! I was sickened to think that my first generation 16GB iPod touch had just died on me. The holiday season is no time to have to make an unscheduled $400 purchase. And so began the long, drawn out, troubleshooting process.

    The first thing you should do when you have an iPod that is misbehaving is to head over to the Apple iPod Troubleshooting Assistant web page. Here, you will be able to select your particular model of iPod and use Apple’s easy to follow directions for setting things right.

    In the past, rebooting my iPods has always resolved the issue. In this case, the touch was scrambled in such a way that I couldn’t reboot it. But there is one other way to achieve a similar effect: drain the battery and recharge.

    Draining the battery is an easy thing to do if you use your iPod all the time. But if you are a bit of the impatient type, like I am, you want something to help speed things up a bit. One of the apps loaded on my iPod touch is a flashlight application. It doesn’t matter which of the dozens of flashlight apps you use because the end result is the same: start up the app, crank up the screen brightness, set the Auto-Lock feature to “Never”, and wait for the battery to drain. Just to be sure that I drained the battery completely, I let my touch sit on my desk for an extra 2 hours after it would no longer turn on.

    After that, I let my iPod charge up for 15-3o minutes on the wall charger and then connected it to my Mac. This time, iTunes quickly recognized it’s missing friend and began to sync my new content.

    At the end of the day, I was able to fix the problem, although I’m still not sure what went wrong in the first place. I also don’t have to worry about getting a replacement iPod. That’s good news because I expect that Apple will finally get around to releasing an iPod touch with a camera and 802.11n Wi-Fi in 2010. The only question I have is when? Will Apple refresh the iPod touch line in the first half of the year, or will they choose to focus on rumored Apple table in 1H and refresh the iPod line up in 2H, which typically happens in September in advance of the holiday shopping season. I’m not sure, but I’m looking to keep my G1 iPod touch running until then.

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  • apple,  iphone,  pre

    PC Magazine: Palm Pre Most Innovative New Platform of 2009

    December 10, 2009 /

    It must be that time of year again…where everyone feels compelled to pick Top 10 lists for everything. Following up on Time’s declaration that the Motorola Droid is the top dog for their Top 10 Gadgets of 2009 list, PC Magazine has come up with their own list of top picks.
    This year, PC Magazine has selected the Palm Pre as the Most Innovative New Platform of the year, writing:

    “Palm has returned with the coolest handheld device we’ve seen in a long time. The Palm Pre has the same exhilarating sense of possibility as the iPhone—and it’s even worth switching to Sprint for. The Pre is the start of something genuinely new: Palm’s webOS, an innovative operating system that’s benefited a lot by what the company has learned from Apple’s smartphone successes.”

    The iPhone 3GS did take the top spot for Best Consumer Smartphone.
    You can check out PC Magazine’s top smartphone picks on the PC Magazine website.
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  • apple,  iphone,  motorola,  verizon

    Time: Droid Bests iPhone 3GS for Gadget of the Year

    December 10, 2009 /

    Ok, I really wasn’t expecting the iPhone 3GS to get knocked off it’s perch by a publication, especially by the likes of Time Magazine.
    Apple fan site AppleInsider is reporting that Time has named the Google Android powered Motorola Droid the top gadget of 2009, beating the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre.

    “The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it,” the magazine said. “The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone.”

    Not to worry iPhone fans, the 3GS ranked number four on the list. The Palm Pre didn’t even make Time’s list.
    You can read Time’s full Top 10 Gadgets of 2009 list on Time.com.
    Related Posts:
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  • apple,  astraware,  iphone,  itunes

    Astraware Releases Police Range for iPhone/iPod touch

    December 2, 2009 /

    Astraware, the gaming branch of Handmark, has released Police Range for the iPhone/iPod touch.

    “Put your skill and accuracy to the test as you train on the shooting range to become a crack police marksman. Compete against your friends or others worldwide to post the best scores on the online high score table and show off your shooting skills!”

    Police Range offers two modes of play: Target Practice and Crime Alley. Use the Target Practice mode to improve your accuracy and reaction times on the shooting range. And when you are up to the task of taking out the trash, and change over to Crime Alley to take out targets of potential perps lurking in windows and doorways. Just be sure not to accidentally shoot any civilians.

    Police Range is available now for $0.99 from the iTunes App Store (iTunes link). For more information, or to watch a YouTube video of Police Range in action, visit the Astraware website.

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  • apple,  dataviz,  iphone,  itunes

    Documents To Go for iPhone/iPod touch 2.1 Update Released

    December 2, 2009 /


    DataViz Documents To Go for iPhone and iPod touch has been updated to version 2.1 and is now available for download from the iTunes App Store.

    The 2.1 update is the result of customer feedback and adds a number of refinements to the PDF To Go application, which includes the following enhancements:

    • “Go to” page
    • Maintaining last viewed location
    • Opening password-protected PDFs
    • Thumbnail, Fit To Screen, Fit To Width & Actual Size views
    • Full screen view with floating navigation controls
    • Tap zooming
    • File opening speed improvements

    “Documents To Go” (iTunes link) and “Documents To Go with Exchange Attachments” (iTunes link) are available for $9.99 and $14.99 respectively from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at: www.dataviz.com/itunes. All customers who purchased a previous version of Documents To Go for iPhone/iPod touch will receive a free update to version 2.1.

    “Documents To Go with Exchange Attachments” has the same functionality as “Documents To Go” and includes a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync client for sending and receiving Exchange email WITH attachments.

    For more information, visit the DataViz website.

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  • apple,  microsoft,  sprint,  verizon

    Black Friday Technology Deals

    November 26, 2009 /

    Black Friday has become a crazy, insane, shopping frenzy that jump starts the holiday gift buying season and puts many retailer’s balance sheets “in the black.” Here are some deals that have caught me eye and might be of interest to you today as you build your plan of attack for tomorrow morning.

    Amazon

    Apple

    Best Buy

    • Sprint Palm Pre (requires 2-year service agreement), $79.99

    Staples

    • Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 3000 Keyboard & Mouse, $24.99 (online, phone only)
    • SanDisk 8GB Cruzer Micro Skin USB Flash Drive, $14.99 (online, phone only)
    • Jabra BT4010 Bluetooth Headset, $14.99 (online, phone only)

    Target

    • Western Digital Elements 500GB Portable Hard Drive, $59.98 (in store only)
    • Western Digital Elements 1TB Desktop Hard Drive, $58.98 (in store only)

    Verizon Wireless

    • BlackBerry Curve 8530, Buy One Get One (2-yr service contract, online, in store)
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  • apple,  rumors

    Rumor: Multiple Versions of the Apple “iTablet” On Tap

    November 17, 2009 /

    AppleInsider has a new article up today talking about a new round of what I’m calling “iTablet silly season.” According to AppleInsider, a number of tech stock analysts have received new information about Apple’s unconfirmed tablet computer that is suppose to hit store shelves before the end of Q1, 2010.

    “In a roundup of speculation on the still-unannounced device, CNNMoney.com spoke with a number of analysts about the forthcoming tablet, set to debut in the first quarter of 2010. Most analysts heaped praise on the mythical device, predicting that it will take on a number of markets and eliminate the need for numerous devices.

    One analyst, Laura DiDio with ITIC, reportedly provided supposed specifics on the hardware. She said the device will sport a “high-end graphics card” that will offer picture at a “stunning resolution” greater than the iPhone and iPod touch. She also stated that the device will come in “several different models,” suggesting that a 3G-enabled version would be tied to a contract with a wireless carrier such as AT&T.”

    You can read the full article on the AppleInsider website…

    [Via AppleInsider.com]

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  • app catalog,  apple,  iphone,  palm,  web os

    Facebook for webOS Released, Updated for iPhone

    November 15, 2009 /

    This has turned out to be a Facebook-tastic weekend! Earlier today, Facebook 1.0.0 for Palm webOS was released for the Pre and Pixi smartphones.

    The new Facebook client, written by Palm, became available from Palm’s App Catalog today and requires that Pre and Pixi customers upgrade their phones to webOS 1.3.1 or later before it can be installed. The Palm webOS 1.3.1 update was made available to Pre customers on Sprint and Bell Canada yesterday; and should be available in the next few days for customers who purchase the new Palm Pixi smartphone starting tomorrow.

    And Apple iPhone and iPod touch customers also got a little Facebook love this week with a minor bump to Facebook version 3.03 which includes bug fixes and adds Japanese and Chinese localizations. The update is available via iTunes App Store (iTunes link) from a Mac or PC. If you have the app installed on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can download and install the update over the air (OTA) using the App Store application on your device.

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