Posted by Angela | 0 Comments
Tweet Faster!
Internet Search has hit a new level. After Bing and Google both integrated a real-time feed into their search results, the world is catching on to the trend. We want our updates and we want them NOW!
Twitter is our pioneer, facing the old, slow updates of Internet olden days and still having the determination to create realtime streaming for third-party Twitter apps. Apparently, TweetDeck and Echofon are both currently trying out the new Streaming API that pushes data to appear in realtime across these desktop applications. This new feature is called User Streams and has gotten much praise so far.
Friend updates, direct messages, search results all come up in an instant. You will notice this especially id you were to search a very popular phrase like Apple or Google. The results will appear so fast it is hard to read what they say.
So if you didn’t like TweetDeck before because it lives on your desktop, this feature just made it a lot cooler. However, before you get too excited, it is still just in beta and doesn’t have plans of coming out until at least the end of August.
Read MorePosted by Angela | 0 Comments
Solar Powered Laptop with Surprising Price Tag
Tablet, touch-screen, solar powered, 9 inch screen… All of these words would lead you to believe I’m talking about a solar-powered iPad, or something equivalent. You probably would never guess that I am describing a new $35 laptop developed in India.
Yes, it has a 5, 7, or 9 inch touch screen with battery and solar power capabilities. And a $35 price tag! Just last year America came out with a $100 laptop to be used in the non-profit One Laptop One Child program. Now, India wants to help in the push to better educate the developing world. Currently, the developers are looking for a partner to mass produce the product and make it available to developing countries. They also hope that through mass production, the price will be driven down to as little as $10.
The computer runs on a form of Linux OS and comes with Web access, a PDF reader, media player, among other features. One down side is how it doesn’t have any storage space. So you would have to save files to a memory card. The solar powered aspect gives it an advantage for potential owners in developing nations because owners might have limited access to charging.
This could be a huge opportunity for developing nations if everything pans out accordingly. The major step to getting out of a poverty stricken area is education, and increased access to the Internet and technology would definitely help educate the masses.
Read MorePosted by Angela | 6 Comments
Check Your Tone Before You Send that Email
We have all experienced the humiliation of sending a slightly rude email to get the attention of the reader only to realize later that the problem you were blaming on the reader was in fact just a miscommunication. It’s embarrassing. (I’ve done it one too many times.) Well, Lymbix is trying to fix that problem with a new “Tone Check” tool. Still in beta version, ToneCheck will tell you when your email is being mean. This program will analyze your connotation in an email just by clicking a button.
Let’s look at an example of how ToneCheck works:
Here I started an email to the Keystone information email address about a broken email account. As you can tell from my language, I am pretty upset. Email is important to me and obviously I do not like when it is not working. But then I click the ToneCheck button before I send my email just in case I’m too harsh.
Well what do ya know, ToneCheck says I’ll make the reader feel humiliated and shameful. Instead of just labeling my language as generally negative, ToneCheck identifies a range of emotions when it describes your sentences. The range goes from friendliness, enjoyment, amusement, and contentment to sadness, anger, fear, and humiliation.
ToneCheck lets you edit sentences that it finds offensive in any way. Here, you can see I’ve tried to edit my sentence, but I guess I’m still being a little too firm because the system finds my connotation to be angry. I’ll try one more time to get it right…
There we go! I finally got a “contented” verdict after having to use the word “please.” Then, I’ll hit the accept button and my original sentence in the email will be replaced with this last one.
ToneCheck is a pretty interesting tool, and I can see it being very useful for people who are known to send off messages in the heat of the moment. A few flaws I found in the system were how it seems to clump firm sentences in with the “angry” label. I don’t think my second sentence up there was very angry. I was just stating a fact that I have a problem with my email. I had to use the word “please” just to get “contented,” not even “friendliness.” Also, when the program finds my sentences offensive it doesn’t give me any kind of suggestions. That may be something the developers should look into when moving it out of beta.
Despite these minor shortcomings, ToneCheck is a much needed program in the world of email. And if you know anyone who needs a little censoring on their emails, just forward them this post and they’ll get the hint.
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Apple is Stirring Up Trouble Again
Apple and Steve Jobs have stirred up more trouble regarding antennas just when we all thought the drama was over. It all started about a week ago at the Apple press conference to address the iPhone 4 problem. Ole Steve Jobs started out his presentation not with an, “I’m sorry for all the antenna issues,” but with a “We’re not perfect.” By we he meant all smartphone creators. He said the Blackberry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, and the Samsung Omnia II all have the same problem and proceed to show footage of each one’s signal dropping.
That was a little underhanded, but he was trying to make a point. If you missed the conference or weren’t following along online, Apple created a page on their website dedicated entirely to antenna failure among all smartphones. The website has footage of the iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, Nokia N97 mini, Samsung Omnia II, and iPhone 3GS each dropping signal strength when a finger or a hand cover the antenna.
Blackberry maker RIM decided they won’t sit back and let Jobs get away with pointing fingers at them. RIM’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie released a statement here saying, “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claim about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.” They go on to say, “One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity.”
Just after that statement, where RIM is very clear that their phones do not have any antenna problems, a video leaked of someone playing around with the new BlackBerry 9800. The video, which has already been removed, showed the unreleased phone to have some serious death grip issues. Sure it was a pre-release version of the phone, but should be the final design.
Since this huge blowup with the iPhone 4, new smartphones are going to be under a magnifying glass when it comes to antenna performance and “death grip” symptoms. Something that (if Apple’s right) has been going on since the beginning of smartphones will be noticed and talked about more than ever. So this is a heads up. We’re going to be hearing a lot about cell phone antenna performance… as if we haven’t already heard a lot.
Read MorePosted by Angela | 0 Comments
Jobs Says: “This is Not Antenna-Gate”
Steve Jobs just got done slapping the wrists of a room half-full of tech news reporters. In the first forty minutes or so, Steve talked about all the alleged problems with the iPhone 4 and gave out some data to prove his point that the problems with the iPhone 4 are not all that awful. The remainder of the conference was made up of a question and answer session.
Jobs was clear that the problems with the iPhone 4 had been blown way out of proportion. He backed up his argument with many different statistics. First he looked at the percentage of all iPhone 4 users who have called AppleCare to complain about antenna/reception issues. That number was less than a half percent. Sounds convincing, except that I wouldn’t call AppleCare with my reception issues with the iPhone 4, I would probably call AT&T. Also, AppleCare deals with complaints and issues with all Apple products. The iPhone 4 takes up a tiny sliver compared to all the other products Apple has on the market.
Jobs went on to say that AT&T’s return rate for iPhone 4s was 1.7%, which is much less than the iPhone 3GS. And he concluded his numbers part of the session with the statement, “The iPhone drops less than 1 additional call per 100,” as compared to the iPhone 3GS.
Steve Jobs, and Apple, decided to solve the reception problem by giving free cases to any iPhone 4 user who wants one. They must apply online to have them delivered and it must be done before September 30. Also, Apple and AT&T will be giving full refunds to anyone who returns their undamaged iPhone within 30 days of purchase.
After hearing Jobs’ opinion, it appears the media is what’s making this issue seem so severe. He kept saying over and over, “We’re not perfect.” Poor Steve loves his customers more than they know. We love you too, Steve!
Read MorePosted by Angela | 0 Comments
Will iPhone 4′s Problems Ever be Addressed?
So all the negative media has finally gotten to the heart of Apple Inc. and good ole Steve Jobs. Apple is planning a press conference for Friday at 10 A.M. (Pacific Time) at Apple’s headquarters in California. The conference is expected to address the problems with the iPhone 4 exterior antennae. Finally, some Apple is recognizing that there is a problem with the iPhone 4.
For a while now, Apple has been in denial about all the problems with the antenna on the iPhone 4 saying it was a software problem. Once Consumer Reports revealed that the exterior antenna did in fact affect the phone’s reception, doom and gloom surrounded the iPhone 4. Now, Apple has decided to address the problem and hopefully take steps to fix it.
The iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million units in its first three days of availability. So I have concluded that the public was too mesmerized by the excitement of the new iPhone to care about its major problems. Or maybe no one noticed its multiple problems until they had already bought it. I know a few people with the iPhone 3Gs that will be waiting for an updated iPhone 4 before they upgrade.
The exterior antenna is definitely the most talked about issue, but it is not the only problem with the iPhone 4. I listed a few of the other problems back in June and just recently a proximity sensor glitch has been discovered. Even though Apple will be addressing the main problem with the phone’s antenna at this conference, it is still highly unlikely for a recall to be the answer to the problem, especially in the eyes of Apple executives. However, there has been talk of Apple giving away free iPhone cases to all iPhone 4 buyers.
Too bad Woopi already destroyed hers.
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