iPhone 4s

We all knew it was coming. We didn’t know the name eg. (iPhone 4s or iPhone 5) but we knew that it would be here soon.

Let’s take a quick look at the major enhancements of the iPhone 4s over the iPhone 4.

• Siri personal assistant (watch the demo)
• 8mp still camera with additional lens and expanded aperture
• Shoots 1080p video
• Ships with iOS 5
• Pricing: 16GB @ $199.99, 32GB @ 299.99 and 64GB @ $399.99

Airfoil takes your audio from your Mac or Pc and streams it to various devices on your network. Rogue Amoeba (developer of Airfoil) also has several applications that will allow your to turn your regular devices into speakers for Airfoil (Mac, Windows, Linux, IOS) as well as hardware devices such as the Apple TV and the Airport Express.

“Play any audio across your network to a whole host of devices, all in sync!”

Airfoil sends audio to remote speakers including iOS devices, other computers, and hardware devices like the Apple TV and AirPort Express. Airfoil for Mac gives you any audio, everywhere.” (From the Airfoil page)

What is great about this software is how it just works. To get started, download the software for Mac or PC from there website , install the software and you are ready to go. Available devices will show up in a list, here you can control what devices will receive the stream. You can choose single devices or all of them and your media will be streamed across the network in sync.

Audio:Airfoil works with several different audio services that are available online such as Pandora, Last.fm, and Spotify. The software also works with another “Rogue Amoeba” software title, Pulsar which pulls your XM and Sirius streams into a local application. The streaming does not stop on the web, any application that is on your computer that has sound can also be hijacked i.e. Quicktime, i-Tunes, and VLC. Another nice feature is the streaming of Metadata to IOS devices such as the Apple TV. Now you will have all of the information about the sound that is being played displayed on the device.

Video: Video at this time is not streamed to devices but the audio from devices is. There is a built in Airfoil Video Player that will play content and make sure that the audio stays in sync. You are also able to pull in the audio from sites like HULU and Netflix and play the sound through your Apple TV which in my case is connected to my surround sound system and the quality is not to bad. Airfoil also works with any Flash or Silverlight video so you can watch failblog in all of its glory and have great sound as well.

There are a few other utilities that I use in conjunction with Airfoil in order to enjoy different content and they are definitely worth a look:

Miro – is an application that brings together thousands of shows from all over the web. i.e. Hulu, Youtube.

PandoraJam – Pulls your Pandora stream into a local application on the Mac.

Perian – a free, open source QuickTimecomponent that adds native support for many popular video formats.
Remote (IOS) – Controls your i-Tunes from your IOS device such as the i-Pad, i-Pod Touch, i-Phone.

Hulu Desktop- Brings Hulu to yourdesktop for Windows and Mac.

If you have any other cool apps let us know!

Until Next Time

Carpe Noctum

You can be watching the newest episode of “Family Guy” in the PIP (picture in picture) while reading the “Times Online”. There are a few applications that have already arrived on the platform notably Netflix, Pandora, and Napster with more promised in the future. With the advent of the Google Chrome Store I think we will see more and more apps show up in the future. Now onto the hands on.

Scott:

The first thing that I noticed was the touch pad. I enjoyed the ability to two finger scroll but then I tried to double tap with the pad and wasn’t able to. No big deal, there is a click bar right below. to my dismay the click bar did not work in some applications. Sometimes you had to use the “ok” button located on the keyboard rather than the click. This alone not a big deal but it would be nice to see overall likeness with navigation on the device.

Continuing on, the first thing I did was Navigate to to Hulu, this is the perfect stage for Hulu content, to my dismay, there was a message stating “Viewing from the Google TV is not available at this time” the message did hint that they were working towards an agreement for the Hulu Plus users but it was un-availble at the time of the review.

Then I checked out the Netflix app. I logged into my account no problem, but went to play a movie and it didn’t work. I tried a different movie didn’t load. Tried a different account, nothing…

*Note this was tested by all 3 users and we were unable to play Netflix movies with any of our accounts.

I’m not an active user of Twitter, but I did notice there is a Twitter application available.

I performed a couple of quick google searches and they seemed to work alright.

The keyboard made for a great way to interact with the TV. Logitech makes good products and they also stand by there products. Being such a new device there are some bugs that need worked out but they can easily be fixed with a firmware update.

Final thoughts: This device would be a great addition to any system if the cost was a little bit cheaper but at $300 I don’t feel that it is worth it at this time.

TJ:

Bringing together web and media makes for a very rich experience. I have found that the Google TV like the i-Pad is a great content “consumption” device.

User interface: The user interface is a little on the confusing side, There is a place for applications such as chrome and Netflix and then there is a “Channels” section that is links to websites such as Amazon on demand, it is hard to distinguish where you would find certain things. Youtube has a new “mode” on the Google TV, leanback mode which takes the movie and puts it into full screen like you were watching a movie from netflix. One thing that was a little bit annoying was the screensaver coming on in the middle of a movie that was purchased from Amazon on demand, again not a big deal just a minor inconvienence. The search functionality is great, it searches youtube and the web but unfortunately not Netflix or USB attached devices. I would like to be able to click search and find the media I am looking for whether it is a song from my library or a video from Netflix. I do have a HP Media Smart Server (Twonky) in the house and it serves up DLNA content over the network. The built in Logitech Media Player was able to find the content and display it without any issue. As of right now the following standards are supported:

Audio

• MP3 – MPEG-1 Layer 3
• MP4 – AAC
• M4A – AAC
• OGG – Vorbis (Only when a USB device is connected to Revue)

Video (Currently in Beta)

• MKV – H.264/AVC
• FLV – H.264/AVC, H.263
• MTS/MT2S/TS – H.264/AVC
• AVI – H.264/AVC, DivX MPEG4, XVid MPEG4

Images

• JPEG
• PNG
• GIF
• BMP

(Source)

Keyboard: I found that I did have to look down at the keyboard when ever I was going to click in fear of hitting the back button which is very close to the left click button on the mouse. I do like the two finger scrolling it feels very natural to scroll in this way. I did not have a problem with not being able to click on the touchpad, I just adapted and used the buttons. The keyboard is very lightweight and it is a good fit for the product. The extra keys are mapped out well and I do like the one click search button located near the bottom of the keyboard. Another great addition to the Google TV is the Harmony remote application for Android. This is a free application on the Android market and it works great with little to no lag controlling the TV as well as the Google TV.

Final thoughts: I would purchase this device. The way I look at it is it can only get better from here. I have already retired my Apple TV in favor of the Logitech Revue. The device is a little bit pricey but it is cheaper than building a HTPC (Home Theatre PC) and it has an operating system that is very quick and very responsive. I only hope that Google TV does not become the next Google Wave.

Today we will be reviewing the Targus Laser Presentation Remote.  A solid unit that fit’s perfectly into your hand.  Out of the box it’s compatible with Windows PowerPoint, Apple Keynote and Apple PowerPoint with the flick of a switch.  There are seven buttons on the unit.  The center button controls the laser pointer.  And the two buttons straddling each side move forward and backwards throughout the slides.  Towards the top there is an upper left button and an upper right button.  The upper left button blacks the screen for the end of the presentation and the upper left button jumps in and out of presentation mode.  Don’t think you will be using those buttons during your presentation?  Or maybe you’re nervous that sweaty jumpy hands may bump these in the middle of your presentation.  Worry not!  There is a lock button on the side that disables these two buttons and turns the power leds red.  Finally the power button makes sure you save battery.

The unit comes with 2 double a batteries and a stowable usb connector.

Everyone knows that these stowable usb connectors are the bees knees.

As most device it comes with two batteries.

But WAIT! It only uses one battery, while the other one is a spare ready to go in that moment of truth.

In conclusion, a great unit! 5 out of 5 stars!

First thing you need to do is download the firmware. (Download)

Rename the file to “update.zip” and copy it to the root of your SD card.

Now we need to get your droid into recovery mode.

1. Power down your droid.

2. Now when you power your Droid back on hold down the “X” key on your keyboard.

3. You will now see a triangle and an ! point

4. After you see the recovery screen hold down the “Volume +” key as well as the camera key

5. You will see a menu appear towards the top, use the D pad to navigate to the update option.

6. Sit back and let the droid update.

7. Enjoy

As a blogger and avid Blackberry user, I have found a need to do screenshots for new product reviews as well as demonstration for How to’s.

The old way of screen capturing involved connecting your BlackBerry to your PC and using a program like JL_Cmder and take a Screenshot.

I will tell you, this was a pain. Since then I have found a few apps that do a much better job at creating screenshots to share with others. The app that works the best, is a free program called “Capture It” from “The Tech Mogul”.

Description from the website:
A simple screen capture utility for Blackberry devices with 4.3 or higher. You simple assign the the application to a Blackberry convenience key, and press the key on the screen of your choice. The device capture will be saved to the first available storage medium (Storage Card or Device Memory)

This has made Screenshotting much easier to do. I definitely recommend using this app if you find yourself needing to showcase an app or a theme on your blackberry.

Developers Website:

http://www.thetechmogul.com/

Over the air Download:

http://www.thetechmogul.com/CaptureIt/CaptureIt.jad

Good Luck

T.J.

[What everyone should do.]

Pure Genius! I simply had forgotten that Ubuntu released a new version recently. And since I haven’t played with Linux in a while, I found this idea very appealing. I was just perusing some of the comments people said. You had your classic Windows hater that talked about how crappy Vista was. And then of course, unfortunately you had your mislead Windows lover. I wish there were words strong enough to express my HATE for Windows Vista. I was one of the few who dropped 250 opening week for Vista Ultimate. Apart from finding out that Santa and the Easter Bunny were a hoax. This was one of the most disappointing events in my life.

I have been using Vista since its release and at first was very excited about all the “new” features. The cool new start bar and the flashy colors, the way it utilizes my system for once taking advantage of my decent processor and filled ram slots. Au contraire, it turns out all these things could not prevent my eventual dissatisfaction with the product. At this point I would encourage everyone to…
1.Stay with XP
2.Move to
A. Apple
B. Linux
C. DOS

At this point in the blog I would like to provide you with the link to 7.1

[Ubuntu 7.1]

For Gods sake, stay away from Vista. I’m signing off.

Cheers.

[What everyone should do.]

Pure Genius! I simply had forgotten that Ubuntu released a new version recently. And since I haven’t played with Linux in a while, I found this idea very appealing. I was just perusing some of the comments people said. You had your classic Windows hater that talked about how crappy Vista was. And then of course, unfortunately you had your mislead Windows lover. I wish there were words strong enough to express my HATE for Windows Vista. I was one of the few who dropped 250 opening week for Vista Ultimate. Apart from finding out that Santa and the Easter Bunny were a hoax. This was one of the most disappointing events in my life.

I have been using Vista since its release and at first was very excited about all the “new” features. The cool new start bar and the flashy colors, the way it utilizes my system for once taking advantage of my decent processor and filled ram slots. Au contraire, it turns out all these things could not prevent my eventual dissatisfaction with the product. At this point I would encourage everyone to…
1.Stay with XP
2.Move to
A. Apple
B. Linux
C. DOS

At this point in the blog I would like to provide you with the link to 7.1

[Ubuntu 7.1]

For Gods sake, stay away from Vista. I’m signing off.

Cheers.