Technology Guides

Google seems to be continually redefining markets time after time just like Apple obliterates the competition with its mind blowing gadgets such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and Magic Mouse. Google has GMail (best mail app out there by far for its continuous innovation), Talk and Maps Navigation (I know there’s much more Google has to offer but that’s a good summary for now).

Mark this day on your calendar, November 4, 2009, as a day the big navigation providers took a huge hit in their stock price because a lot of people realize that Google Maps Navigation could destroy their business. Sadly it’s only offered in the U.S. for now on phones with Android 1.6 or higher but there’s a bright end to the tunnel for Canadian consumers. DAVE Wireless, one of the three new wireless companies set to hit the market in the next 6 months, is planning to release Google’s phone with Android pre-installed. Now for the features of Google Maps Navigations.

• Search in plain ‘ol English (watch video). Much like searching on Google Maps, you don’t need to know the address of where you are going (unless it’s a house and then you may have trouble). All you have to do is type the name of the business (i.e. Best Buy) or the type (i.e. electronics)
• Search by voice (watch video). This is not a new feature as a Magellan GPS offers it, but now Google Maps Navigation does as well. Just speak your destination such as “Navigate to Air Canada Centre in Toronto”
• Traffic view (watch video). If your area is supported by Google Traffic then this feature is golden. On-screen you will see either green,yellow or red depending on the current traffic conditions on your route.
• Search along route (watch video). What I hate about some GPS’s (or at least mine) is that you can’t look at the map and see common things such as gas stations. Google fixes that allowing you to turn on layers such as gas stations, restaurants, or parking.
• Satellite view (watch video). A small feature but still cool is you are able to see a 3D satellite view of your route with Google’s high-resolution aerial imagery.
• Street View (watch video). This to me is the best feature. Just as you’re about to turn, Google Street View imagery is overlaid and navigation automatically turns on to Street View when you approach your destination. Pure genius!
• Car dock mode (watch video). Simply place your device on the car dock and it will activate a special mode that will make it easier for you to use your device at arm’s length.

Popularity: 18% [?]

As expected Apple released its update on the Apple iMac. Aesthetically it has kept the same body but with some slight changes. First lets start off with the screen. Taking cues from a HDTV, the Apple iMac has a black border going to the very edges of the screen and the aluminum border that was present on the previous generation is gone. Both of these changes give the effect that the screen is bigger. As well instead of offering 20-inch and 24-inch screen, Apple upgraded significantly with 21.5-inch and 27-inch screens that are only offered in the glossy finish. I apologize on behalf of Apple for not giving you guys the option of a matte finish.

In my opinion 27-inch seems a little too big for the mainstream public and they may want to consider offering something in between; say bring back the 24-inch. On top of that, it is interesting to note that many observers have said that the 21.5-inch looks much bigger than the previous 20-inch mostly because of the changes noted above, but both use IPS technology to deliver consistent colour at most angles, 178 to be exact.

The new Apple iMac is the fastest ever with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for up to twice the performance of last years mddel. The Apple iMac comes with improved graphics across the board with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics or ATI Radeon HD 4670 discrete graphics in the 21.5-inch model, and ATI Radeon HD 4670 discrete graphics or ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics in the 27-inch model.

Apple also upgraded in the RAM section with 4GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 with the possibility to expand to a whopping 16GB.

Prices for the new Apple iMacs come in at $1199(USD) for the 21.5-inch model and $1699(USD) for the 27-inch model. All come with a wireless keyboard and the new Magic Mouse, a world first Multi-Touch mouse. They also ship with a built-in iSight video camera, mic and integrated stereo speakers. On top of that the new Apple iMac includes built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, a grand total of four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and a new built-in SD card slot.

Prices in Canada start at $1299 for the 21.5-inch model and $1799 for the 27-inch model.

Popularity: 15% [?]

When I first heard about this update through my friend, I questioned it because why would Apple jump from firmware 2.2.1 all the way to 3.0? Well in fact, when I looked it up, it was dead true. Now I’m here to tell you about it. Apple is planning a major revamp of its OS which includes many cool things that might just blow your mind when you put it all together. There are loads of features, 100 last time I counted but these are the ones that I decided to highlight.

iPhone 3.0 Software

Push Technology

Apple was late to the push technology game and so when it released it, it basically killed the battery life. Now, it’s reconfigured its system so that it eliminates background processes and thus improves battery life. This makes the iPhone more business friendly because it automatically updates you if you receive new mail for instance even when the application isn’t running.

Push Notification on Apple iPhone

Cut, Copy & Paste

This to me is one of the biggest improvements for the iPhone after preserving the battery. How many times have you had a URL or some sentence that you wanted to copy and paste but couldn’t? I know I have many times. Now you’ll be able to use it with text messaging and even in Web pages and photos from the camera album. With this feature, you’ll be able to move the copy points and shake to undo. Now why did it take so long to do something so simple? My take is that Apple as we know them likes to control as much as possible which is why they delete apps with no warning. There excuse is that they wanted to deal with the security issue and make it work well with the touch screen.

Undo Paste on Apple iPhone

Real GPS Capabilities

Now you’ll be able to get applications that will have turn-by-turn directions making it a fully capable GPS with the free upgrade for iPhone users. The bad thing is because of licensing issues, the Google Maps app will not be used in conjuction with the GPS so developers will need to get their own maps which leads to the fact that these applications will probably cost users money.

Peer to Peer Connectivity

This is big as well for me at least because I remember I could play Worms on my Sony Ericsson phone with my friend who used to have a Sony Ericsson phone and it’d be great. We’d be sitting like 5m apart and be playing against each other. I was totally surprised to find that the iPod or iPhone could not do this. I’m an iPod Touch user and I was delighted to hear that the Apple iPod Touch does in fact have Bluetooth but Apple kept it locked. Now with this update, both the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch will have Bluetooth so you’ll be able to use this feature. Apple will build upon the original framework of the iPhone Bluetooth system and unlock the iPod Touch system. On top of that, Apple will have add onto the peer to peer system by putting in “in-game voice communication”.

Spotlight

This isn’t huge but it’s still nice. Before you could only search one area of your iPod/iPhone, but now Apple has designed this nice feature that will allow you to search everything at once including mail, iPod library, notes, contacts and calendar. What Apple has done is unique in my mind because it’s very easy to access this feature. Go the home screen (which you can do by clicking the home button anytime) and swipe left and then search away.

Landscape Keyboard

You may ask, we already have this? Well you are technically right but what about when you’re in an app such as Mail? In that situation you can only use the portrait keyboard which can get tiring. The landscape keyboard will now be accessible in any app which to me is long overdue. If you don’t know already, the landscape keyboard has larger buttons, more buttons and the buttons are more spaced out.

Landscape Keyboard

Multimedia Messaging

This is such a basic feature yet it was not apparent to Apple to include it on the iPhone. Many of the basic cell phones have it yet one of the most sophisticated phones doesn’t (most sophisticated can be argued). If you bought the basic Apple iPhone, then you’ll be out of luck since it does not carry the required radio to run MMS on it.

Upgraded Bluetooth

If you own the newer version of the Apple iPhone you’ll now have the opportunity to buy wireless headphones/earphones to use with the upgraded bluetooth. Listening to music with Apple’s version of bluetooth headphones may be closer than you think.

Conclusion

The strange thing about this software is that for the people that would want it the most, it costs $0, or free, whichever way you flip it. For the people who might not need it and has less benefit, the Apple iPod Touch users, it costs $9.95 which makes me wonder who the sales and marketing department are.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Apple has its App Store and when Google released the G1 phone, it also released the Android App Market. What happened when Microsoft released its Windows Mobile OS, well I think you know the story. It might just be a reason why Windows phones don’t sell as well as they used to. Well, now the story is about to change with the release of Windows Marketplace hopefully by the end of the year. 

If you are a developer, expect Microsoft to start accepting registrations for a developer by Spring, mobile applications in the Summer, and then if you’re a user, expect to see Windows Marketplace on your phone when Windows Mobile 6.5 ships later this year.

There are many things alike between Apple, Google and Microsoft when it comes to their respective application marketplace including the initial annual cost of $99 to be able to submit there applications, developers getting a 70% cut of their app sales and being able to set their app prices. There is a difference though and Microsoft gets the advantage here. Microsoft allows students to submit applications for free through the Microsoft DreamSpark Program whereas Apple charges the same for everyone except they charge more ($299) if you are a company with over 500 employees. 

Another big advantage Microsoft has if they continue on the right track, is they plan to make their approval process more streamlined. Apple has always been critized for the long process to get their apps approved and it is also very secretive. There have been stories where apps have mysteriously disappeared or were rejected without any reason. Microsoft plans to do the complete opposite by giving detailed feedback during and after the possible acceptance of their apps, having a more open system, and cutting down the time from submission to approval or rejection. In a statement by Microsoft, they said it wants developers to spend more time “writing innovative applications, and less time trying to navigate the approval process.”

Update: Blackberry is also planning to introduce its own App Store called App World but they are taking a slightly different approach. It will work with Blackberry devices running OS 4.2 or higher that either have a trackball or the Surepress touchscreen that is on the Blackberry Storm. Only available in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., Blackberry is aiming not at general consumers, but at the business market. You can register online to become a developer at RIM’s website. 

The biggest difference is the pricepoints that Blackberry will skip. It will offer some free apps, but will not offer any apps at the $0.99 and $1.99 pricepoint which is usually the price that the topsellers on the App Store is sold for. The bizarre thing is they will sell Apps for a price of $999, the price at which 8 people bought a useless app called I Am Rich. Will there be another one for Blackberry?

Popularity: 3% [?]

On the same day Apple released an update for iTunes, Apple releases a new iPod Shuffle that has everyone talking, including the iPod Shuffle itself. The new Apple iPod Shuffle, scheduled to be released on April 3, 2009 has revolutionized the sub-$100 mp3 market, once again. Not only does it talk with its feature called VoiceOver, but it also is much smaller with a size of 1.8″ by 0.3″. This is about half the size of the previous generation, and that was small, but it is also smaller than a key! There are no controls on the actual device as they have been moved to earphone cord. The 4GB version, which can hold 1000 songs is available at a price of $79 USD or $99 CDN with two colours, black and silver. For some reason they’re phasing out the 2GB version, and keeping the 1GB. If anybody can explain this to me, be my guest. 

New Apple iPod Shuffle

The new iPod Shuffle has some things that might shake your head, but that might just be because your listening to your tunes with it. In any case, I’ve spotted some flaws with it. First off, the headphones with VoiceOver are great but what happens if you lose it or break it. Then you’ll have to shell out another $50 for the earphones themselves and that’s about half the cost of the mp3 player. It’s almost like buying a printer and paying for an ink cartridge. Another small thing is the lack of colour in the lineup. Only silver and black Apple? Come on now. To coincide better with the Nano lineup, I think it’d be better if they released the same colours so one sibling who is older can have a Nano and the younger sibling can have a Shuffle in the same colour. Last but not least, is the fact that the controls are on the headphones so you have zero flexibility in respect to changing headphones (as they fall out of my ear) and if you are using it while running or it’s cold, some people like to loop their headphones under their clothes and then you have a problem with changing tracks. 

With all it’s problems, comes benefits, definitely, in my opinion, outweighing the drawbacks. Previously you could not communicate with the Shuffle because the lack of a screen, but now it’s communicating with you, giving you an update when your battery needs charging or if you want the song/artist name, you can press a button and as the music volume dips, the iPod will tell you. On the new Shuffle, there is now the ability to have multiple playlists with the addition of VoiceOver. There are also 3 different modes of listening to your music, shuffle (if it didn’t have this feature, what would they call it?),  straight, and just regular.

Conclusion

This is without any doubt in my mind that this is the best Apple iPod Shuffle to date. Who knows what they’ll think of next. My hope would be a way to call someone. But that’s just a wish, first they’ll have to do it on the Nano. What’s your wish?

Popularity: 4% [?]

How many times have you found yourself looking through a drawer and seeing charger after charger for your cell phone with no use at all? I know I have a bunch and I have no idea what to do with them. It’s the same with mp3 players and laptops. Every company has its own way of making chargers for its many products. Apple and Nokia, have always made their chargers respectively the same. It’s helped Apple become a major player, as its whole line-up is compatible with the same charger made over 5 years ago.

On Tuesday February 17th, 2009, a historic landmark was agreed on where 17 of the largest cellphone makers including Samsung, Nokia and Motorola, decided to work together to make a universal standard charging system for cellphones by the year 2012. This system will be identical to the trapezoid-shaped microUSB format used by RIM’s most recent devices, the Bold, Storm and Pearl Flip. Unfortunately, this standard will likely be released in 2012—light years in my mind. Nonetheless, it’s better than nothing. Apple will likely stick its trusty charging standard that has proven golden over the years.

At first glance you might think, oh why would these big companies change things that have worked for them for so long? Well this is a completely valid question because, like cheap printers with their more expensive replacement ink cartridges, cell phones have expensive replacement charging cords that see huge revenue. At the beginning of the implementation, companies will see slightly lower revenues but it will be made up later with lower packaging and manufacturing costs. Instead, companies will sell charging cords separately so big companies like Nokia will now not need to include it in their phone packages. Since it will save costs, these companies will also reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from 21.8 million to 13.6 million tonnes per year, as well as cut energy consumption globally by 50%. 

This might not be the biggest news though because as technology progresses, we will see more and more demonstrations of wireless charging. When Palm unveiled its Pre smart phone, it also introduced the Touchstone wireless charging adapter. 

Excerpt from wiredathome.blogspot.com

The power cord has long been the enemy of many people around the world. You always had to place things according to where the plugs were or you’d have some cord running all across the room. Nobody really notices or thinks about the power cord once it’s being used and has found its place. However, if it could be thrown away, it would make a world of difference.  Now there is a solution to get rid of some of those plugs, wireless charging. To get things straight, this piece of technology won’t replace all of your plugs but is a huge step in the right direction to making the power cord obsolete. Currently there are two ways to wirelessly charge a device, and they are being offered by two different companies. WildCharge will start selling a conductive charging pad and eCoupled will offer an inductive laptop specific pad with a compatible notebook all by the end of 2008. Both companies will offer adapters at a range of $30. If you are the type to enjoy science, then you’ll probably be able to guess the difference in technologies between the two. Conductive charging passes electricity when two objects come in contact. Inductive charging happens when there is a physical gap between two objects.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Everyone knows that Microsoft Windows Vista is pretty slow, especially when you have all the add-ons but there are a few things you can do to help speed it up. 

Sidebar

The sidebar is nice and all, but do you really need another clock, an RSS feed or some random stock prices? Not really. So right click the sidebar, and click properties. At the top, uncheck start sidebar when Windows starts. At the next boot, you’ll get rid of the CPU draining sidebar.

Visual Effects

In the system properties box, (from Control Panel–>System & Maintenance–>System–>Change Settings. At this point click the Advanced tab and then the Settings button. From here, you can choose which parts of Vista’s visual effects you’d like to take off. I personally have only “Enable desktop composition” and “Use visual styles on windows and buttons “. 

Always remember to take out programs you don’t need, removing them from the start menu so they don’t load when your computer boots. If you go to Windows defender, you can change the start up programs so they don’t load at the beginning. Virus software should always be loaded, but not Windows Messenger. 

Hopefully these tips will help you speed up your computer and if you have any more to share then please feel free to comment away.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I’m a big fan of Hewlett-Packard (HP) and for good reason. They are forward thinking. On that note, I give you two new HP desktops that grace the green market. The two new desktops are called the Pavilion Verde and the Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition. HP claims that these two systems are 45% more efficient that comparable PCs and they come in special packaging that is recyclable and adds a bit of flair with a green design. Now recycling packaging might seem like something small, but really, if you think about it, it is so important in our world today. Technology moves so fast, that our electronics become obsolete in no less than 3 months, and where do you think that packaging goes? We need recycled materials more now than ever. 

HP Pavilion Verde

These desktops achieve a high level of efficiency without making use of any power management technology which is critical to reducing the costs for the consumer. They don’t just sip power, but they have great stats to back it up. The Pavilion Verde houses an AMD Athlon X2 4850e dual-core processor, a 500 GB hard drive, 5 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE graphics processor with 128 MB onboard video memory, a DVD SuperMulti drive with Lightscribe, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition

The second green desktop, the Phoenix Special Edition, comes with the same as the Verde but with these few upgraded or extra features: an AMD 9150e quad-code CPU and a 640 GB HDD. 

The prices for these two are $579 and $659 respectively. 

Conclusion

My opinion on these two desktops can be summed up in one word: great. I think a 45% gain in energy effiency is amazing and it does it all with class and a low price. I’d personally pick one up myself if I had a home to store it in. For now I’ll stick to laptops, and small ones at that.

Popularity: 2% [?]