Technology Guides

Some people may have not heard what an Android phone is but in simple terms, it is the software that is made by Google that run some of the best phones in North America. With the release of the Nexus One almost upon us, the chatter about Android phones is reaching an all-time high since the first Android phone was released way back in 2009.

Today I am going to take a look at why you actually should not be buying one; at least in Canada. The new Android software, Gingerbread 2.3, is supposed to be amazing but with all products, there are drawbacks (even the Apple iPhone 4 has drawbacks).

1. Software Upgrades

I commend Apple for being able to get the newest software to users the quickest. If you are an iPhone user, there is a 90% chance you have the newest OS, but with Android, that number is drastically low at 0.4%. Granted the most recent iPhone OS has been out for a little longer, that number still should not be that low. Below is a breakdown of the percentage of users on each OS distribution and it is shocking how far behind Android is.

The reason? It’s not that Android users are lazy, it’s that carriers are being greedy and holding back updates so there’s more reason for people to buy the newer phone with the newer OS. This issue is global but the next issue applies more to Canada.

2. The Quality of Phones Offered

The Nexus One is supposed to be an amazing smartphone when it is coupled with the new software that includes Near Field Communication (NFC). In Canada though, we won’t be seeing this technology anytime soon and if you look at this list compiled by PC World of the Top 10 Android Phones, none of them are available in Canada.

3. Application Development

A big reason why the Apple iPhone is so successful is due to the large database of applications available for download. The reason for this success is it is well regulated with little room for piracy which makes it attractive for developers. Android on the other hand, has rampant piracy issues. A developer for one of the top 10 apps is seeing 97% of the users in Asia using a pirated copy as well as 70% in Europe and 43% in North America. Those aren’t good numbers to show developers to entice them to make amazing applications. For the time being, Android won’t be able to touch Apple’s App Store.

Popularity: 16% [?]

The Apple iPhone 4 has a lot of things going for it. I’ll be the first to say that the App Store is second to none and Apple’s ability to update its software continuously is enough to justify the 30.3 million units sold worldwide. But with everything jolly and good, there is a dark, hidden closet with many bad things hidden inside it. I know all you iPhone users may be disgusted by that last comment but bear with me. By no means is any phone perfect, including the Blackberry (which I own) or the ever popular Android phones, but wouldn’t it be nice to know everything you could about a product before putting all your eggs in one basket?

No Legitimate Keypad

For all you non-texters out there disregard this but I know a lot of people do this. I personally send out 2000 a month and so it is a priority to be able to type fast. As hard Apple tried to mimic the keypad, it can never replicate a real keypad. I own an iPod and I type faster on my Blackberry by leaps and bounds and I had my iPod before my Blackberry.

Battery Drainer

As much as Apple says it improves the battery life, it can never keep up with the power intensive apps that continue to come out. It seems that the battery life gets worse with every generation. The MacBook and from what I’ve heard, the iPad, are the two exceptions in Apple’s portfolio.

No Battery Removal

So, Apple provides you with a bad battery and then says, when it breaks down, you can’t replace it. Now in my opinion that just adds salt to the wound. Like most people though, they reach into their pocket and buy a new iPhone.

Multi-tasking Problems

Apple was laughed at for being really late to the multi-tasking game and then it had the audacity to come out with their version of multi-tasking, or what most of us call it, fake multi-tasking. It’s not real because not all apps can take advantage of it, including a lot of games. Also it drains the battery life considerably and clutters the dock so you may never know it, but you could have up to 20 apps running at a time.

If anyone has any more stories or reasons why not to buy an Apple iPhone please feel free to share.

Popularity: 17% [?]

There has been a lot of talk about tablets and with the Apple iPad 2’s release coming in early 2011. It only seems like yesterday that the 1st generation was released. I do however continue to see contests with the iPad as it’s main prize and I believe that’s happening for one reason. The Apple iPad has yet to establish itself as a household name, a product that you will see constantly, like Apple’s iPhone.

In my opinion, the iPad will only be a luxury. It does not offer something you NEED, yet. Most people need a portable device they can put in their pocket to do tasks that are basic. If they need something more, they pull out their laptop to handle more heavy tasks such as running Adobe CS4 or in my case editing my Google Sketchup model. My belief is it’s just as portable as a laptop and based on its price, I’d rather have a basic laptop that does so much more.

My brothers friend recently said, he would love to just have one for the family in the living room. This is the niche that the Apple iPad fits into. It is solely a luxury item that complements other gadgets and your lifestyle. The cell phone went from a want to a need and so did the laptop. There is a very good chance that the tablet will follow that model as well. It is just a matter of time but there are a few things the product needs to work on.

1. It needs to keep up with processing power to handle intensive software.

More and more people are using software where a tablet doesn’t offer the processing speed it needs which is why those pieces of software are not offered on tablets. If the tablet market can speed up development of microprocessors, they will be serious competitors.

2. Offer at least one USB port.

My friend will not even consider buying one until the iPad comes out with a USB port. Blackberry trumped Apple in this department but it has to be a standard on tablets, especially USB 3.0.

3. A Purpose

As bold as this sounds, tablets will never be huge if they continue to have the app-based OS. Sure it works for smartphones but that is because the apps are secondary to the phone itself. A tablet isn’t a computer and it isn’t a phone, it’s a whole mishmash of things and thus it needs something to define it. It needs a purpose and if it just has random apps cluttered through it, it will never find it.

If it can accomplish those things I believe the market for tablets will skyrocket and push down demand for laptops. It will then take the course that cell phones and computers once did.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Facebook, the premier social network, has become so big because of one premise. That premise taps into the Western culture that is greed. The more friends you have, the cooler you are. Facebook succeeded following that plan to a tee and it overtook MySpace a long time ago and is approaching 600 million users with no signs of slowing down. What comes up, usually comes crashing down and General Motors or Toyota can testify to that. People are getting tired of the constant privacy holes, the new profile page that you MUST have and the fact that most of your friends on Facebook aren’t actually your friends. Facebook’s downfall may also be caused by the slew of new specialized social networks that take advantage of Facebook’s weaknesses. In this article I will take a closer look at these new social networks.

Path

I’ll start off slow because I know it can be hard to believe that there is something else other than Facebook. This site allows you to connect to Facebook to share photos and videos but it limits the amount to 50 friends. It also allows you to find friends on Facebook who use Path.

It is a simple social network meant to be much more private than Facebook. With as little buttons as possible and no notifications it accomplishes that goal.

Instagram

Instagram, also like Path, acts as a compliment to Facebook. Instagram specifically focuses on photos and is only available on the App Store although an Android App is in the works. Once you upload pictures you can add a filter to it such as the soft-colour Toaster which for the most part make the poor quality pictures you take on your phone, somewhat bearable. From there you can post it most of the popular social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and FourSquare.

Diaspora

The problem that plagues Facebook is the privacy issues it constantly has to deal with. It will only get worse as it plans to roll out features that will make it a communications hub. Disapora plans to change that as it makes it impossible for its users personal information to be collected on one server that can be accessed by a lot of people. Diaspora gets the users to host the information on a private server that is so secure that even its own designers can’t access it. The current problem is it is invite-only so there are very few people to share it with.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I have yet to order my Apple MacBook Pro but I have already ordered all the accessories that I could possibly want. This post is all about my recommended products that you should get for your Apple MacBook.

1. MacBook Skins

If you buy a Mac, it looks exactly the same as anyone else who bought a Mac. On the other hand, if you buy a PC, there’s a much better chance that your PC will not be the same as the PC next to you. That is why I highly recommend getting some sort of skin for your MacBook/Pro. I went to MacStyles for one reason, and one reason only, because it had skins that left the Apple sign alone. They also offer MacTatts which is what I bought (pictured below) that offers more intricate designs than MacStyles. MacStyles are $20 and MacTatts are $30 and can be bought at MacStyles.

2. InvisibleSHIELDS

I usually end up scratching or doing something to ruin my gadgets so I’m glad I found this site earlier rather than later because these clear shields as mentioned above can help preserve your gadget. Zagg offers invisibleSHIELDS that protect the bottom, front and side of your laptop. It has a lifetime warranty so if it does wear or scratch you can get a free replacement. You can also customize the front part of the laptop with one of their designs or one of your own. For a non-customized clear version, it costs $55 but to customize it you’ll have to fork over $65. Luckily at the time of this writing they were offering a 50% off coupon if you entered their contest and considering they’ve sold over 7 million of these for various gadgets like the iPhone 4, it was definitely worth the shot.

3. Cooling Pad/Laptop Stand

I own both and they both do serve slightly different purposes but in the end the main reason you buy it, is so your laptop doesn’t overheat. The extra use for the laptop stand is so you can have your keyboard at an ergonomic angle. I bought  a cooling stand from Targus costing me $25. Unlike most cooling pads that just suck out the hot air, this actually forces cool air into the MacBook.

4. USB Hub

One of the big drawbacks of a MacBook is there are very few USB hubs, 2, and most of my friends find they need more. So I purchased a 4 USB Hub from Targus ($10) so I can now use my cooling pad, mouse, external hard drive and a friends USB key for exchanging files all at once.

5. Keyboard Protector

I know all of you once in your lifetime have eaten or drunk with your laptop or desktop within reach so each and every one of you has taken the risk of ruining your laptop keyboard, me included. That’s why I looked around for a keyboard protector and the best deal I found was at iSkin. They have various designs including the basic clear design. For $25 it’s a huge asset because any muck in your keyboard can ruin it for your life.

Popularity: 40% [?]

While many of you looking here on Technology Guides might be used to the usual and typical posts of how to improve the efficiency and performance of your computer, I thought I’d write a post about what digital DJ sets consist of and what all the different components do.

My name is BMO and I’m doing a guest post from Early Mixologists. I am part of a group of DJ’s who have recently been spending quite a while building up our own DJ sets.  If you’re anything like me, you probably have the stereotypical perception of what a DJ set consists of (i.e. turntables, mixer, amplifier, and speakers).  While this is not really incorrect; today there are a wide variety of options for DJ equipment.  In this post I’m going to be talking about all the DJ setups that revolve around the use of a laptop or desktop.

Before I begin talking about the setups I want to explain that in all of these setups the mixer is used as a medium from which DJs will transition from a song on one deck to the song playing on the opposite deck to create a continuous flow of music.  In almost all cases the mixer is from which the main music output is sent to an amplifier or powered speaker.  You can use an amplifier to send amplified signals of music to non-amplified speakers, or you can send non-amplified music signals directly to powered speakers and altogether skip on using an amplifier, but for information on this it is recommended you do some research on the internet.

The Turntable Setup:

2 turntables

1 Mixer

1 USB soundcard

1 Laptop/ Desktop

*headphones recommended.

Turntables are the original DJ music players.  From Grand Wizard Theodore to Grandmaster Flash, turntables are the preferred choice for hip-hop DJs.  They offer a very nice feel since all the buttons and music tables are very large and easy to control.  Using a laptop has even made turntable Djing portable since now music can all be stored on one, instead of having to bring crates upon crates of vinyl just to dig through them to get at the song you want to play.

The turntables can be connected to a USB soundcard such as the Native Instruments Audio 8 DJ, combined with special time coded vinyl and RCA jacks it is possible to manipulate music on your computer as if it was being played directly on your turntable as a vinyl.  Programs that are recommendable for this are: Serato Scratch Live (this is the one that started it all), and Traktor Scratch Pro (My personal favourite).  Just to note, all the equipment needed for this such as the time coded vinyl, soundcard, and cables come packaged together with both of the programs mentioned above.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 33% [?]

Everyone has dealt with this problem sometime or another and I know I have dealt with it more than once. The question is, how do you deal with it? I’ve also been on both sides where a citizen has taken their anger out on me, a helpless servant to the town. There are two general ways you can deal with the situation as a consumer: get really angry which is the natural option or you can try and negotiate a compromise of some sort. I’ve tried both and found that the latter is the best option.

Getting Angry

Many people, including me, like to take this approach because it’s the most natural thing to do. You receive poor customer service and by taking that anger out on someone in the company you feel that you are getting something accomplished. In my experience what happens is the customer service rep shuts down and is taught to try and mediate it by calming you down and if that doesn’t work they’ll hang up. Therefore nothing is accomplished on both sides; you don’t benefit and the company just logs another angry caller.  Occasionally, something will come out of it but it’s too rare to be noticeable.

My experience came back in 2009 when I had problems with my Hewlett-Packard (HP) laptop and so I went to their online help as it is much quicker. They gave me advice, I was supposedly happy and then after rebooting my computer wouldn’t start up. Since I couldn’t log onto the internet I couldn’t receive more help on the issue, I decided to call them up. Turns out they wouldn’t help me because my phone support had expired. I got really angry because they gave me advice and wouldn’t take responsibility for it. I eventually hung up on the representative even after I asked to speak to the manager and nothing got resolved.

Be Calm and Come to a Compromise

This is the approach I highly recommend if you want something out of the poor customer service. The keys to this approach is be calm, explain your side and in the back of your mind realize that sometimes it’s not the fault of the customer service representative. Many good things can come from this and I’ve only had success while using this approach.

My experience came on Canadian Thanksgiving 2009 when I lost my SIM card (don’t ask why ) and so I went and replaced it. I phoned up Fido, registered my new card and cycled down my phone. As soon as I got it up and running I had a different account. Not only that but someone else had my account. Obviously I was ticked off as the representative told me to get a new SIM card on them. When I went to get it at the store they said they weren’t authorized to do it. So I called them back and they changed their story saying I had to get it shipped and wait another week and I couldn’t switch back to my old account but I could use this account all I wanted to. The next day rolls around and I go to make a call, lo and behold, I can’t because my account has been canceled. Now this is where I get really pissed but luckily my brother was there to give me advice. Here I put the second approach into action. I called them up again and they told me to go to the nearest Fido store and register a new SIM card and it would be credited (don’t know why they didn’t suggest this before). Once I was up and running I called them up and followed these steps.

1. Explain your situation and in my case highlight the fact that you’ve lost x number of hours (or days),
2. Be calm and never blame or take your anger out on the representative because it’s not their fault, and;
3. Tell them you deserve better and want something in return for your inconvenience.

In my case I got a $12 add-on for my inconvenience and at the end of the day, just making them realize they screwed up and needed to make things right was all I needed.

Hopefully these tips help you next time you receive poor customer service or get a product that stops working.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Many people know how to make your own ringtone for the Apple iPhone when you have a Mac. You just use GarageBand by adding a song and clicking Share–>Share as Ringtone and voila, your done, but for Windows users it’s a little harder but still very simple. This little tutorial will help you create a free ringtone in less than 2 minutes.

Step 1

Firstly, open iTunes and select the song (preferably mp3) you want to use as your ring tone. Pick your favourite part because the ring tone is only allowed to be a max of 30 seconds. Once you’ve found the part you like, right-click the song and click Get Info. For this tutorial I have used Ghosts N Stuff by Deadmau5 featuring Rob Swire.

Step 2

Now hit the Options tab and check off “Start” and “Finish” and enter the section you want the ringtone to be.

Step 3

Once that’s done, you can go ahead and start converting the file. Right-click the song and select Create AAC Version. If you can’t see this option, go to Edit–>Preferences–>Import Settings and make sure AAC Encoder is chosen.

Step 4

iTunes will now start converting the song, but only the snippet that you selected for your ringtone. Next step is to go to the file location of this new file. It usually will be in My Music–>iTunes–>iTunes Media–>Music. Once there you’ll want to rename your file so iTunes recognizes it as a ringtone. Right-click the file and hit rename, changing the file extension to m4r. If you can’t see the file extension, you’ll want to go to Tools–>Folder Options–>View (tab) and scroll down to Advanced Settings. Uncheck, Hide extensions for known file types.

Step 5

Once it’s renamed, you can import it your iTunes library and then sync it to your iPhone. Just remember when you sync it to check off Ringtones and you’re good to go.

Popularity: 27% [?]