Time of the Tech

They've actually been around for quite some time now, but if you're anything like me, and on the definite lower end of everything tech savvy, then you've probably just discovered the wonders of cloud computing softwares. Backup and file sharing services has never been as easy and  convenient, thanks to web-based online file hosting services like  Dropbox  and Mozy . Cloud computing may seem a small change, given that we've been sharing, emailing along information, paying bills, even ordering lunch over the Internet for who knows how long now. But this small change is actually a huge  change to our information technological world. The bundle of storage and sharing is not only bigger, we can now use and access personal computer files from any computer over the web, and luckily breath easier knowing that if a 16,000 lbs elephant stomps over our laptop, all our data and files will be safely secure and accessible over an Internet connection. Hallelujah. Almost all f

In 2010, The Social Network  movie announced Facebook had 500,000,000 members. They even announced it before Facebook, regardless, it happened. Now Facebook is said to have 600,000,000 members. That's quite a lot. Which brings up an interesting question, has Facebook peaked? We don't have to look far back at the history of social networking sites to know what happens after you stop growing. Remember Friendster or MySpace? Momentum is everything for social networking sites, in large part, because they require an insane amount of our time. Eventually we grow tired of these sites, like me. I dropped Facebook like a bad habit (which it was) 6 months ago. I had been a Facebook user since 2004 and I don't regret my decision to let go of it. My guess is that Facebook will be relevant for another two years, at which point a new site will come and take its place, and the cycle will begin anew.   

In a world where a sense of immediacy rules, why waste 30 minutes to a bank for hard cash when you can have “cash” in just 15 seconds using your mobile phone. Okay more so, electronic cash, but I’m not talking credit cards, although credit cards are involved. We all have friends who are too acquainted with using phrases as “Can I borrow money, I don’t have any cash", "Can I pay you tomorrow" and etc. Well these types of friends… BEWARE Square Inc. has revolutionized a new app, Square (or Squareup), here to narrow the gap of “cash-only” crisis by allowing payment card transactions right in the palm of your hands using your mobile device. This is the first that I've heard of an app like this. Squareup actually came out early last year, but experienced some technical problems, which the developers have assured consumers that have been fixed. The application is compatible on different Apple iOS and Google Android devices. Basically any person with an Apple iOS or And

When deciding on a new phone the cost of the monthly plan should be a significant factor. Because there are many permutations of different plans, I'm going to assume some things. The newbie bullets: You want the newest-baddest-smartphone, this leaves us with the big four carriers again (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-mobile).  This also means you'll be getting a 4G phone. This is an individual plan. You can make it on 450 anytime minutes a month. * You'll need at least 1000 texts a month. * You'll need at least 1 GB of data a month. * So with that in mind, here's a list of the plans you'll be getting from each carrier and the associated monthly fee based on today's prices: T-mobile, $80, 1500 anytime minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web. Sprint, $80, 450 anytime minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web. AT&T, $85, 450 anytime minutes, 1000 texts, 2 GB of web. Verizon, $90, 450 anytime minutes, 5000 texts, unlimited web. If you did different permu

The video below demos a completely new way to search. The name of the company behind this technology is Qwiki.  The developers of Qwiki were partially inspired from a scene in Wall-E.  Check out the video.  Skip over to the 0:35 mark if you don't want to watch the intro.

Has anyone seen the new ads they have for the Church of Scientology? I'm a little perplexed because I, personally, have never seen a commercial for a religion before (and yes, I will denote it as what it is recognized as here in America - a religion). I didn't quite understand what I was watching until the Scientology logo came on my television. I just wonder how many scientologists there are in network television to warrant this kind of filtration into everyday commercials. From a catholic's perspective (not a very good practicing catholic - I might add), I just find it a little invasive to advertise in a country that is supposed to be "secular". Anyways, back to the title of the blog. Now keep in mind that this is only my opinion and in no way identifies factual similarities between the two. So as I read my Wikipedia article on Scientology, I couldn't help but relate my experience with a very popular massive multi-player online role playing game called World

On our guide to buying to a new smartphone, one of the first things we advised to look at was the carrier for that phone and specifically their customer service. I'm sure we all know somebody that hates "x" carrier because they received sub par customer service. But that's not a good way to get statistically valid numbers, the sampling population is just too small. But if there was a study  with around 10,000 people, then we might be getting closer to a good sampling population, which is what we have with JD Power and Associates. The study they performed involving wireless carrier customer care was conducted from January to June 2010. To quote from their press release, "Now in its eighth year, the semiannual study provides a detailed report card on how well wireless carriers service their customers in three contact methods: telephone calls with a customer service representative (CSR) and/or automated response system (ARS); visits to a retail wireless store; a

Bienvenidos to the first Top Five article! This will be a monthly feature. The topic for this month is the top five companies in the operating system (OS) arena. This list is made from a variety of factors.  The factors include:  market share  of an OS market, the type of OS market (mobile, tablet, netbook, desktop/notebook), total assets  of the company, and percentage of the company devoted to the development of an OS. So, in sum, I'm pretty much pulling stuff out the air, but it works. Here the list of the top five companies in the OS arena with a World War II twist: **drum roll** 1) Microsoft in 2011 as the United Kingdom (UK) in 1944.  The UK was the world leader, starting in 1588 when they demolished the Spanish Armada.  The UK would go on to spread its seed around the world (Africa, North America, India). But by the end of World War II in 1944, they're about to lose one of their biggest colonies, India. Much like Microsoft, the glory days have come and gone fo

Hey everyone! So I just wanted to update everyone on the most recent update sent OTA (over the air) by HTC for the Evo. This last update seems to have resolved a lot of the issues that accompanied the update sent last year. Here is a list of items included in the update: Blockbuster (including WM DRM 10) Kindle eReader Preloaded game: NOVA Sprint Zone update Telenav update VVM App update Sprint TV app update SWYPE Keyboard Scan Now Widget for 4G I'll have to admit, I already signed up for a Blockbuster membership and switched over to SWYPE. Personally, it'll be difficult for me to switch from my Netflix subscription to Blockbuster but I think it's worth to have as a backup. I'm still waiting for the Netflix InstantPlay app for my Evo. As far as SWYPE on my phone, I absolutely love it. I did rag on this keyboard when it came out, being a former Blackberry user and not quite used to the virtual keyboard, but now I don't know how I got through messaging without i

There are many people I know that are loyal Apple customers, they are unaffectionately known as Apple fanboys and possibly "mactards" (not to be confused with "huntards"). These people might even read a little too much appleinsider.com, but when they speak some points are valid. I once heard from these people, "Google is a pretty good company, but they just throw things up in the air and see what sticks." While Google does seem to swing at fences many times, it's admirable. Admirable that a company thinks about the future of its company outside the scope of a quarterly report. With that said, Google has succeeded (Gmail, Android) and flopped (Wave*, Buzz).  What side of the line will Google TV land on? Reasons to believe Google TV will succeed. 1) Some computer tasks just work better on a TV (i.e. streaming Netflix videos, watching movie trailers, checking your fantasy team stats while watching the game). 2) The timing is right with the increase

Hi everyone! So this is going to be my monthly post about stuff that interests me and hopefully spread the word through this blog. So I'm sure everyone is still buzzing about the newest gadgets revealed at the latest CES. As much as I would love to talk about all the hodge podge of smartphones and tablets, there was one particular technology that caught my attention. Fulton Innovation's "eCoupled" technology is taking wireless to an entirely new dimension. This wireless technology is based on inductive coupling where you're basically using the current through one wire to create a voltage through another wire. This technology is already being used by Wireless Power Consortium (in which Fulton Innovation is one of the founding members) and their "Qi" technology (pronounced chee). The wireless technology allows you to charge your mobile device by simply laying it on a charging pad (no wires necessary from device to charger). I highly recommend going to

So you're ready to buy a new phone. And not just any new phone but a "smartphone". The first thing you should know is that one phone doesn't fit all (i.e. the iPhone is not for everyone, although it might be the best). Things to consider: 1) Carriers. This includes customer service , monthly prices , call quality, and internet signal strength. At&t suffers from a reputation of dropping calls. As far as coverage Verizon is better than At&t, Sprint which are better than T-mobile. As far as plan prices T-mobile, Sprint are cheaper than At&t and Verizon. 2) Physical keyboard vs virtual keyboard. Some people like the comfort and speed of typing on a physical keyboard. Some people like the sleek design of a virtual keyboard phone that doesn't carry the bulk of a physical keyboard. 3) Size of phone and size of screen. The screen should be no smaller than 3.2". Phones go as big as 4.3". Many people consider 4.3" too big (i.e.