Time of the Tech

Did you know that by switching carriers, you may be eligible for a credit? Since I am in the process of looking for a new phone and carrier (buh-bye T-mobile), I called Sprint to see what kind of magic they can work for me if I were to cancel my contract with T-mobile and port my number over to them. If I signed up for a non-smart phone two year contract, Sprint would give me a $50 dollar credit. That is impossible though, because I will never sign a two year deal with a "dumbphone". And neither should you. Sprint was also offering a $125 credit for a two year contract with a smarthphone. Now we are talking... Keep in mind, there were two caveats with the Sprint offer: I would still have to pay my cancellation fee with T-mobile, which is $50 dollars at the moment. The credit would not show up in my account until 60 days after my contract started. I have yet to talk with Verizon, but I surmise they have a similar program. As always when trying to get these deals, talk t...

"I have a Nexus One that was sent for repair twice within a year of purchase, for dust inside the screen and a power button malfunction. After one year from the date of purchase and 5 months since the last repair, the power button died again. The power button is a known issue, I am highly dissatisfied that I have to pay to get my issue resolved since my warranty expired. I'm in the market for a new phone and I am reluctant to ever buy an HTC phone again, and will voice my opinion when others ask me for phone advice. A generic "we're sorry we couldn't resolve your issue" would go a long way. If you ignore me, I will be even more infuriated with HTC. I can be contacted by e-mail. My phone line has been disconnected since it's hard to have a phone plan without a working phone. Thank you." And that my friends is how I finished off my HTC customer satisfaction survey under the "comment" section. As you can infer, my Nexus One phone has died. I ...

Long ago, when Amazon announced their cloud storage/music player, the wise tech bloggers predicted that Google and Apple would also come out with their own cloud storage/music player. One prophecy has come to pass, Google recently announced Google Music Beta during their annual event at Google I/O. As part of the Google Music Beta launch, those with Android phones should have seen an update to their stock music application. The update was a much needed face-lift to Android's "fugly" music application. No longer will Android users be ashamed to browse their music library while in the company of iPhone owners. Yes, I admit, I was secretly jealous of the iTunes player for iPhone. Too bad iTunes still can not connect to the cloud. Google Music Beta is only available through an invite. If you would like to request an invite from Google click here. From the video above, Google Music Beta looks smooth. Google Music Beta can help to integrate your music collection on your h...

In this world exists a game development company by the name of Zynga. You might not know the company name by heart, but you have most likely played the games they make. Zynga made $850 million in revenue in 2010. Wowzers! Zynga started off in Facebook, but they have managed to migrate over to mobile phones, tablets, and their own website. Here is a list of some of their games: FarmVille Cafe World Mafia Wars Treasure Isle FrontierVille CityVille Words With Friends I never did play any of the Zynga games while my Facebook account was active, but a couple of months ago, I heard loud whispers about a game called Words With Friends. The game itself was not impressive since it was just a Scrabble clone. What was impressive was that I could play with anybody that had a iPhone, iPod, iPad or Android phone. This feat has rarely been done. However, the problems started after I would play a game of Words With Friends. Zynga put no effort into creating a win-lose record statistic, let ...

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been busy watching my beloved Los Angeles Lakers get swept by the Dallas Mavericks. And thus ends the Kobe Bryant Era. Sigh... But much like the fall of dynasties in sports, dynasties in the tech world also fall. Except in the tech world, once you hit rock bottom, you do not come back (i.e., Atari). There is no magical player that can resurrect your franchise, like Kevin Garnett did for the Boston Celtics in 2008. We are witnessing the potential collapse of the Microsoft dynasty. Once Microsoft was the undisputed tech giant, now they are being assaulted on all fronts. They needed to act. And so they have! Microsoft has agreed to buy Skype for $8.5 billion dollars. Skype is a company with 170 million users. Skype is also a company synonymous with video chat. Video chat will continue to become an integral part of the future of how we communicate. This acquisition is a Charlie Sheen approved "winning" move. Google had just released an up...

Technology advancement is amazing. From a record player to an iPod Nano, computers the size of a room condensed to the size of a business card, technology is always evolving. Behold the next great invention! A Thermochromic Wiz Wall! [ Link ] Pee on this thing and it changes color based on heat. It works pretty much like a mood ring, except I don’t think you will want to put this on your finger to check your mood, I guarantee it will be foul. I can only imagine what kind of debauchery this wall will produce. I for one, cannot wait until one is placed at my local watering hole so I can per-fect my Urinal Unicorn, rainbow colors and all. No longer will the human male, and in some cases, the female gender be limited to just standing in the cold and writing their names in the snow. Thank you scientists, you never disappoint!

After months of waiting, the white iPhone 4 has finally arrived. While this seems like good news, let me assure you it is not. The timing is horrible and makes me question the motives of Apple. Once again, I am forced to put on my consumer activist hat. Please follow me on this journey: Question : "Thomas, currently, I do not have a contract with any cell phone carrier, should I get the white iPhone? I do love the color white and not many people have it..." Answer : "No. Apple has conveniently released the white iPhone 4 a couple of months before they will announce the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 will be worth the wait, so if you buy the white iPhone 4, you will be kicking yourself by this coming September. If my prediction about Apple's horrible timing is correct, the iPhone 5 announcement will happen just as the exchange period on the white iPhone 4 expires." The only people that should buy a white iPhone 4 are people that really love the color white AND have h...