Google Glass-Are We About to Disconnect As a Result of the Future of Connected Technology?

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Send to KindleTweet Google Glass may well be the future of connected technology.  While people once quipped “who would want to carry a phone with them everywhere they go?” (yes, I am old enough to remember a world before the rise of the cellular phone) most of us could not live without our smartphones today.  Some are skeptical of the success of Glass, given its unusual and not entirely fashionable appearance, but all indications are that it will be one of the most wildly popular tech gadgets since the iPhone when it is finally released to the general public early next year.  But will Google Glass add to our lives or further strain our human interactions? Read more »

Think Everyone Wants an iPhone 5? Think Again

(L-R): iPhone 5, 4S, 4, 3GS, 3G, 2G

Send to KindleTweetSure, news has now been spreading around cybertown that demands for Apple’s iPhone 5 are falling. This may be true to some point – mainly because some Apple fans are smart enough to wait for the later iteration of Apple’s “insanely great” phone; may also be untrue  as there is also this one article discussing about how the iPhone 5 is a “not-so-cool-anymore” smartphone according to teenagers, but we all know this could be just too incredible to believe. But there is one question to ask Apple fans, including myself: Does everyone really want an iPhone 5? If you are like me, as a personal preference I don’t really need to jump from the iPhone 4S to its younger brother. A colleague of mine owns an iPhone 4, but he doesn’t really plan to upgrade either. Maybe if I owned a really old phone – the first iPhone, perhaps?  Or even if I had an iPhone 3G. I wouldn’t even tolerate a 3GS, in my humble opinion. But there’s a different story for everyone. Take freelance journalist Peter Falck for a good example. As reported from The Unofficial Apple Weblog, this guy displays one unique kind of loyalty to Apple. He owns an iPhone 3G, which he obtained way back in January 2009. Yes – with an officially a four-year-old smartphone, Falck says he still loves the very same features Jobs boasted off about back in 2009. These days, those kind of phones would have already been damaged. In other cases, not even the newest smartphones are given the proper treatment that they deserve – take some of the craziest experiments done by teenagers on the iPhone 5, as seen on YouTube. There are actually a few advantages to the iPhone 3G, even against today’s standards. Some of these are as follows: The curved plastic back. According to Falck, this ergonomic quality gives off that ease of holding the 3G, as compared to recent improvements in aesthetics of the iPhone 4 up to the 5. The old, smoothly rounded design feels easier and friendlier to the hand. Sure it’s fatter, but fat can be sexy, too. Slow can be good, too. As a writer, Falck says that the slow speed of his phone forces him to write slowly. He also tends to be careful with his choice of words, thanks to this uncanny feature. But this can be a double-edged sword; Falck shares that this also slows down his train of thought, which results to some ideas lost in the process. Web and Media content is still there. While the lack of compatible apps due to updates can be a nuisance to using such an old device, Falck is still happy with the things he can do with his 3G – IP Telephony and eMail. Besides, it can still play videos nicely. Well, I’d give him a good two thumbs up for that. Anyone else sharing the same philosophy as Falck? Feel free to tell us about it below in your [...] Read more »

iPhone 4S Parts Cost Apple $190

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Send to KindleTweetRecent reports have been released, showing that the iPhone 4S costs Apple $196 to make. This doesn’t include things like licensing and it can increase when going up the model range to the 32 + 64Gb models. To break the cost down, the iPhone 4S only costs $8 to manufacture, the flash storage 16Gb costs $20, the 32Gb costs $40 and the 64Gb costs $80. So now you can bare this in mind when choosing the model of your 4S, you will be able to take into account the amount your paying for double the storage! As always, Apple has blown up the prices for the iPhones to pay their bills, but that’s expected with pretty much every Apple product. Read more »

iPhone 4S Review

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Send to KindleTweet It’s that time of year again; Apple recently released the new version of the iPhone: the 4S. Boasting new additions such as Siri, this new phone was shown by Apple as the best yet. In the following review, I will be going over the new additions to the phone, along with several other things. SIRI The newest addition to the iPhone is called Siri. This is a new type of voice command that is special to the iPhone. The app “understands” exactly what you are saying, then completes an action based on what you ask it. For example, if you tell your phone that you want Italian food in your local city, it will pull up a list of all near-by Italian restaurants. In my opinion, this is the coolest part of the iPhone. Although the Siri servers have been fluctuating up and down for the last couple of days due to high numbers of new users, it will hopefully be consistently up as the number of users diminishes. From my experience, the system has been about 95% right. As most of you know, old voice recognition systems would botch whatever you were saying and tell you it couldn’t help. Siri is shockingly smart. I applaud Apple for their amazing development to future voice-recognition devices. CAMERA I have one word for the camera on the 4s: wow. This is the greatest phone camera I have ever seen. The 8-megapixel front and back camera deliver perfect crisp pictures with delicate layering. The new multi-person auto-focus is extremely nice. I was with friends last night, and we all decided to take a picture with my phone. My 4s was able to detect everyone’s faces and take a focused picture. This is a huge improvement from the last iPhone. The HD 1080p video that has also been added is gorgeous. The video is perfect. SPEED INCREASES: This is by far the fastest iPhone yet. Because of the A5 chip also in the iPad 2, the phone is supposed to be 7 times faster than the last one. The speed in which apps open up, pictures are taken, and generally everything is ran is mind boggling. I just hope that the next iPhone will find a way to be even faster; if that is even possible… Running IOS 5, this phone has unbelievable capabilities. It has never lagged once, and connecting to wifi or internet is much faster. This phone makes every application ten times better with better graphics, speed, and feel. THE BIG QUESTION: SHOULD I UPRGADE? There are many of you out there, just like me, who have the 3gs and are waiting for your contract to expire so you can get a new phone. If you are in this situation: yes. Go to the store as soon as your contract expires, and buy the 4s. It is such a spectacular piece of work, there is no way to pass it up. However, if you have a 4 and [...] Read more »

Lookout iPhone 5! HTC Developing a Super Smartphone

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Send to KindleTweetSo recently rumors have popped up on tech sites that HTC is developing, the codenamed, Pyramid super smartphone, that competes directly with the upcoming iPhone. The phone’s specs are impressive. Supposedly it sports a qHD display, at a similar resolution to the Retina display (960×540), on its 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen, a 1.2GHz Dual-Core Snapdragon and the device has the ability to go on the HSPA+ network of T-Mobile. The really surprising thing about the device is that it may sport dual 8 megapixel camera sensors for 3D images, or for normal images a combined 16 megapixel shot. Truthfully I would have liked to hear of a Tegra 2 chip instead of a Snapdragon and would like to see this device on other networks and use LTE instead of the slower HSPA+. Look forward to seeing this one at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Read more »