Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Cell Phones
Free Tech Support For Your Christmas Tech Gifts
Dec 25th
If you’re like most homes, you’ve probably unwrapped one or two Christmas gifts today that require a battery or outlet to plug it in.
Today’s gadgets are increasingly complex and require more than a QuickStart guide. Sometimes it can be frustrating since you want to get the tech toy up and running asap, right?
Well, BestBuy has opened up the lines to give everyone access to their GeekSquad tech support this week. If you have a computer, HDTV, iPod, smart phone, GPS, DVD player, Wii, etc and you are have some questions on how to set it up, get on the phone or fire up the web browser for a web-based chat with GeekSquad support.
It’s completely free this week until the New Year.
Hey, even if it’s not about a new toy, use GeekSquad this week to troubleshoot that annoying problem you’ve been having with your printer or webcam or media player or Tivo or . . . .
The cool part is that their tech support is available 24/7.
Just call 1-800-GEEK-SQUAD or click over to their TechSupport live chat page
A Snapshot of the Top 5 Snapshot Cell Phones Today
Nov 10th
The photographic capabilities of mobile phones are increasing with each new batch of handsets and now it is almost impossible to find a high end smartphone which does not offer high definition video capture along with a high megapixel count for still shots.
Here are five of the best. . .
iPhone 4
With a five megapixel camera and LED flash the iPhone 4 is the best in Apple`s range when it comes to taking pictures. It also has the ability to shoot 720p video clips at a smooth 30 fps and has extra features such as touch to focus and various effects to apply. A forward-facing VGA camera supplements its rear-facing snapper for video calling and with 16GB or 32GB of storage space on board you can capture hours of footage and thousands of photos without filling it up.
Nokia N8
The N8 is intended to be a serious camera phone, so it is no surprise to see its 12 megapixel camera outclassing every other handset in this list. With a Xenon flash it is also the most capable when it comes to illuminating dark spaces. Digital zoom of up to 30x magnification is on offer when you are taking stills or recording video in 720p HD and like the iPhone it has a forward-facing secondary camera for video calls. Geotagging is applied to both videos and photos so you can find out the location later and there is 16GB of onboard storage space expandable by an extra 32GB if you buy a separate microSD memory card, which should be more than enough for all of your media.
HTC Desire HD
With an eight megapixel camera and dual LED flash the Desire HD is able to handle solid still photographs and can also shoot video in high definition at the same 720p resolution as its rivals. You can enable the LED flashes to act as a light for videoing in dark situations and you can tweak the settings from sharpness to exposure using simple on-screen sliders which are touch sensitive and intuitive. The autofocus is fairly competent although unlike other phones you do not get a dedicated macro mode for close-up shooting, which might be a problem for some users.
Samsung Galaxy S
Like the Desire HD this is an Android smartphone and it packs fairly similar five megapixel camera which matches up with the iPhone 4`s unit. Thanks to the 1GHz processor onboard it is responsive and easy to capture images or shoot video at 720p. You can find Galaxy S variants with 16GB or 8GB of onboard storage, which should give you enough room to work with as long as you upload images from time to time. Sadly the lack of any kind of flash, LED or otherwise, means that when the light is dim the Galaxy S is less than perfect.
BlackBerry Torch
Another five megapixel camera is affixed to the Torch, showing that this is the de facto image capture resolution for a high end mobile phone. An LED flash is also present although it is not as bright as the dual-LED solution of the Desire HD or the Xenon flash found on the Nokia N8. You can alternate between different shooting modes depending on the situation, but a lack of HD video capture lets it down.
DO YOU TAKE MORE PHOTOS WITH YOUR CELLPHONE CAMERA OR YOUR DEDICATED POINT AND SHOOT CAMERA?
14 Educational iPhone Apps Parents Should Know About
Sep 17th
If you’re a parent like me, making the most out of any screen time is something you have to attack with relentless pursuit. Instead of letting our kids become TV or game device zombies, there’s an alternative in today’s tech-dominated world.
With hundreds of thousands of apps being sold in the iTunes app store, there’s got to be a handful of great educational app, right?
Well, I was relieved and excited when I found out that there are in fact a bunch of really good educational apps available to choose from.
Here’s a selection of educational apps that fellow parents, teachers and app developers themselves have tipped me off about so that you can go straight to the App Store and start download these apps for your kids. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Wake Up And Remember By The Coffee
Sep 17th
So I was headed into Starbucks for my Grande Pike Hazelnut Cold Soy and plopped down onto one of the stuffy armchairs to take a load off my heels.
I cracked open my laptop and started to wince because I didn’t remember if I used my Starbucks registered gift card within the last 30 days or not and I just paid cash.
Why is this important? Because you get up to 2 free hours of WiFi daily at any Starbucks if you just use a registered Starbucks prepaid card within the last 30 days. Otherwise, pay up pal.
But then it hit me and I remembered!
And in fact, there was no real need to remember, because my browser screen told me everything I needed to know right then and there:
YUP, Starbucks finally got rid of that last forced-loyalty obstacle and is giving away free one-click WiFi to anyone that seeks it out.
The connection is still on the AT&T Wireless network — which means my iPhone gets free coverage anyway there. But my laptop can now jump on the net instantly without any authentication nonsense.
Whew. One less thing between me and my emails.
BONUS TIP: When you’re out and about, Starbucks isn’t the only national chain to offer completely free WiFi these days. Check out McDonald’s too — you now have access to free AT&T WiFi at those locations as well. That’s not enough? How about Barnes & Nobles? More you say? Ok, stop by any Office Depot or Staples or even Panera Bread nationwide. Heck, you don’t even have to go into a store many times — like when you’re in the NYC metro area, you might find yourself in a free wifi zone in town. Enjoy!
QUESTION: What other national chains are offering free WiFi?
An Apple A Day. . .
Sep 1st
Today was a big Apple day.
Steve Jobs donned his jeans and black shirt again to announce the latest round of updates to Apple hardware.
Among them was the 4th generation iPod Touch which now includes dual video cameras for FaceTime video conferencing, an HD back cam that is basically turning this device into a FlipCam killer, and the super-resolution screen and Game center that makes the device a PSP & Nintendo DS all-in-one killer too.
I just might have to get one of those too.
But in the meantime, back iPhone mania…
But there’s another reason I celebrated Apple today when I got home today.
That’s because this was waiting for me on my doorstep. . .
Apple made good on their word to give me a free iPhone 4 bumper or case. I chose the Speck Tartan fabric-back fitted case.
After taking my temporary iPhone bumper off and putting on this 2-piece click-together case, I’m happy I chose it. Thanks Steve for the neat-o iPhone case.
QUESTION: ARE YOU USING A CASE ON YOUR CELL PHONE RIGHT NOW? Please share your answer in a comment below!
17 Must-Know Habits of iPhone Super-Users That Save And Extend Battery Life
Aug 31st
If you’re an iPhone 4 power user like me by the time lunch-time comes around, you start to get concerned about just how much longer you can last without an outlet and phone charger. . .
While the battery in the iPhone 4 far surpasses the older generation models supposedly, I find that I use my iPhone so much now that it has so many features (and apps!). So seriously, there are times where I’m done to 20% battery life by lunch time!
How do you keep your iPhone charged to extend the battery life when you’re out and about?
Well, I checked with a bunch of self-proclaimed iPhone gurus that I’ve connected with in the recent past.
Check out some of these tips below. Hope you find some new ideas to save the battery on the iPhone: Read the rest of this entry »
How To Get Free Access to 3 WiFi Hotspot Networks
Aug 12th
Last time, I blogged about getting access to Comcast’s WiFi hotspot network for free. It’s a little known secret that the marketing department over at the cable internet company hasn’t really pushed for some reason.
But today, I found out that there’s more to the story!
Comcast customers now get free access to two other cable internet wifi networks, completely free…and vice versa.
If you are a Comcast Internet customer like me, all you have to do is log onto one of the three wifi networks: xfinitiwifi, optimumwifi or timewarnercablewifi with your comcast email address and password like you do with your own Comcast wifi network
If you like Free, this is like FREE TIMES THREE.
If you don’t believe me, just look-up the coverage map for Optimum Online’s WiFi network and Time Warner see for yourself!
This is a huge win especially those that live in the tri-state New York City area since each company dominates different geographies around the City. So now when you travel about the region, you are most probably near either a Starbucks or McDonalds — or one of the three major wifi cable company wifi networks — You’re covered!
Check out this quick video that shares the details of the wifi network collaboration, worthy of to be called the real triple-play deal!
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!