2012
Samsung announcement at CES 2013
On December 6 2012, I wrote an article about the rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S IV. Samsung isn't wasting any time and has started teasing the public, encouraging us to "get ready" because "something new" is coming. Samsung has released a teaser video which doesn't clarify anything. We know CES 2013 is taking place January 8-11 so it is possible we will see a couple new devices announced there. The reality is we don't even know if these teaser is related to a mobile device but we can all hope.
Securely format your hard drive
Many readers will buy new computers and laptops during the upcoming holiday season and some wil sell their older products. For the security minded, nothing is more important than protecting your personal information so here is a quick suggestion on how to securely format your hard drive. Formatting your hard drive is the only way to ensure your personal information is unrecoverable by the new owners. This advice applies to anyone that is using a mechanical hard drive (aka not an SSD).
Mehr is the official video service for Iran
Iran's religious and political leadership view Youtube as a great evil and are launching an alternative called Mehr. Mehr allows registered users to upload videos and allows anyone to watch posted videos (like Youtube). Of particular interest may be the content provided by the national Iranian broadcaster IRIB. Iran is increasing its control on information and is even expected to lauch it's own Iranian Internet (or should we call it a national intranet) in 2013. We have read reports from activists that many Iranian's, thirsty for uncensored information, have started using technologies (like VPN, TOR,etc) to bypass controls.
Google Nexus 4 can LTE in select US locations
By all accounts, the Nexus 4 is a benchmark for other OEMs building Android devices. It is a beautiful, fast and intuitive device. The biggest complaint most customers have is the inexcusable lack of LTE. Imagine our surprise when it was reported that some Telus customers were able to force their phone onto the carriers band4 (AWS 1700 / 2100MHz) LTE network. Now users on XDA Developers have made similar claims in the US where AT&T uses the AWS 1700 / 2100 MHZ (Phoenix, Raleigh, San Juan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Chicago, Athens, etc.
Pandora shows some love in Australia and New Zealand
Pandora has been available on the desktop in Australia and New Zealand but Pandora has now announced that its radio stations are now fully available in those countries. What is interesting is that this is the first time Pandora has offered its full service portfolio outside of the USA. This also means the Pandora Android and IOS apps are now available for OZ and Kiwis (downloadable from the app store).
Ubuntu is spyware
Richard Stallman, the creator of the GNU Project and a leader of the Free Software Foundation, recently called Ubuntu spyware. He made that claim because the latest version of Ubuntu (12.10) sends desktop search information to Canonical (the makers of Ubuntu) so they can show you customized Amazon ads directly in Ubuntu's program called Dash. His exact explanation was "Ubuntu, a widely used and influential GNU/Linux distribution, has installed surveillance code. When the user searches her own local files for a string using the Ubuntu desktop, Ubuntu sends that string to one of Canonical’s servers.
Lark Life available in US Stores
Related articles: Lark Life May Be A Fitbit And Nike FuelBand Alternative When Will Lark Life Be Available In Stores? I haven't been able to reach the Lark website for the last 24 hours but a tweet from their official account probably made some people very happy: The official company tweet says that the Lark Life is finally available in US Apple stores. A quick search of the online Apple store came back empty (no Lark Life)
Canadians hate the 36 month mobile phone contract
The CRTC is considering to create a national code for wireless services and had asked Canadians to provide input. A total of 1043 submittions were presented. It seems the most common complaint was the 36 month cell phone contract term that Canadians find excessive and that it stiffles innovation. The CRTC used twitter to thank participants and asked their followers to check back January 28th for the draft version of the code. CBC articled entitled "
Kindle store comes to Canada
As a Canadian north of the border, we have had to rely on the US Kindle store until now. This meant we had a US centric portal with limited Canadian content and all transactions were conducted in US$. Amazon has finally opened a Canada flavoured version,were Canadian authors are prominently shown and we can pay in our own currency. Too bad we still can't get the full Amazon experience (many of the products sold in the US are not yet available in Canada, we can't buy the Kindle Fire HD, we don't have Amazon Prime, etc).
Save $50 on a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" today only
The Kindle is a fantastic device if you live in the US and have access to its ecosystem. Well now Amazon is giving you one more reason to buy one [today], you get a $50 instant rebate on the already cheap Kindle Fire HD 8.9" tablet. Use the coupon code FIREHD89 during checkout. I first spotted the deal on the Kindle Twitter account:
Facebook Tip - It's time to unfriend
Go through your facebook friends list and I guarantee you will quickly find a handful of people you don't know why you friended. It is a good habit to periodically review your friends list and unfriend people you are no longer interested in. Keeping a "clean" friends list means you are sharing your personal information (pictures, locations, personal relationships, etc) with the appropriate people. Q. If you unfriend someone, do they get notified? A.
It's time to secure your social networks
Most social media users don't realize how much of their information they allow 3rd party apps to access. It is such a problem that I use IFTTT to send me a monthly reminder to check my social media security settings. My recommendation is to use MyPermissions and I recommend you read my write-up here. It takes 5 minutes each time and it is time well spent. If there are any accounts you want to close, take a look at AccountKiller, a neat site that shows you (step by step) how to delete your account from the most popular sites on the internet.
The best HDMI cables are the cheap ones
As we approach the holiday season, you're probably thinking about all the guests you'll have to entertain. I can't think of a better way to entertain the boys than with a new high quality TV. Just because you bought one of those new fangled really cool 3D TVs doesn't mean you have to fork over $100 for a "name brand" HDMI cable (regardless of what the teenage sales rep tells you). There are dozens of reputable blogs and audio video specialists that preach the same sermon.
The best USB cables for travellers
As a one-bag business traveller, I carefully calculate everything I bring along during my trips. After having researched and tested different types of "travel friendly" cables (rollable, foldable, retractable, etc), I can safely say my favorite kit is the Griffin USB Mini-Cable Kit. Why did I choose these? They are well built (they will hold up well to the torture of travel) and they are short (which means they take up very little space and won't get tangled). The plastic coating is nice and solid, yet the cables are flexible enough to bend into the right position.
Bring back the start menu in Windows 8 for free
Other related articles your may like to read: Bringing The Start Menu Back To The Windows 8 Desktop RetroUI - Bring Back The Start Menu In Windows 8 I recently discovered a new way to get the start menu back for free and improve the performance of your PC for free. When I was on Windows 7, I was using a free PC maintenance software called Soluto. I used Soluto to: Keep Windows up to date cut down boot time find out what programs are crashing find out what programs are using the most horsepower Easily install some of the most useful free software around After upgrading to Windows 8, I found out Soluto was compatible so I installed it then logged into their management web interface and saw a new option
Run any Android app on your Windows or Mac computer
Imagine being able to run [almost all] of your favorite Android apps on a standard Windows PC or tablet. Bluestacks does just that. Using a proprietary emulation engine, they allow you to run almost any Android app on your Windows PC. If there are some non PC android apps you absolutely love and can’t live without, you can now use them on your PC (or Mac or tablet). Windows 8 RT doesn’t have enough apps The biggest complaint I have heard about Windows 8 RT (aka Surface RT) is the lack of apps.
Corning unveils thin & flexible glass called Willow Glass
Glass is rarely an exiting topic but most tech analysts were extremely rilled up when we saw Corning's announcement of Willow Glass. It is a 100 micron thin flexible glass for LCD and OLED screens. This will allow manufacturers to come up with new and interesting mobile product designs... It seems that with all the flexibility and thinness, Willow Glass maintains the though Corning Glass qualities. Corning has said this will first be used in mobile phones. Here is hoping the Samsung Galaxy S IV uses this new product in wonderful ways.
Outage Analyser shows cloud service outages
Outage Analyser is a free website that compiles data from 150,000 Compuware Application Performance Management agents deployed at customer sites. This is an interesting administrator tool because it attempts to show the root cause of an internet service outage, regions that may be affected, dependent services and detected down websites. Each service provider has its own service status page (Amazon AWS, Google Apps health dashboard, Microsoft Azure Status Dashboard, Salesforce.com system status, etc). Outage Analyser is a neutral third party which attempts to aggregate most of that data (and more) and show it in an unbiased map.
Google apps & gmail will no longer be free for small business'
The Google blog has stated that the free Google Apps for business option is going away. Until now, a small business with fewer than 10 users could opt for the free version instead of the $50 per user per year business option. Google says this will be better for individual "who often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready" and better for business' "which includes 24/7 phone support for any issue, a 25GB inbox, and a 99.
Samsung Galaxy S IV rumors are here
The Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3) is one of the best selling phones ever and is seen as the real competitor to Apple's iPhone 5. With all this popularity, Samsung is the butt of many jokes and the motivation behind many rumors. Hold your Android phone tight and tell it you love it because we are now hearing rumors from "unnamed sources" that the S IV may see the light of day as early as April 2014. Little is actually known about the rumored device but it is said: the project is called project J (internally) It will come with an unbreakable screen It will come with Android key lime pie a 5"