Edward Kiledjian

MetroTwit is a fairly new Twitter client and they have done a fantastic job of bringing a visually pleasing yet easy to use and powerful interface to Windows 8. It allows you to watch multiple streams simultaneously, check user profiles, update your own stream, create and manage lists, URL shortening, infinite scrolling and much more. It has a desktop and Start menu versions.

The ad supported free version supports one account (which should be good enough for most people). If you are feeling generous or want to manage multiple accounts then fork over $15US to help the developer, remove ads and enable multi-account management. 

After installing Windows 8, you will find that Internet Explorer 10 and Bing are the default browser/search engine. If you like them, then congratulations you’re done. If you are one of the millions of Windows users that prefers the warm embrace from the sultan of search then keep reading.

In a direct yet playful way, as soon as Windows 8 launched, Google opened its “Get Your google Back” webpage. The fine folks at Google provide step by step instructions on how to bring them back into your computing life.

Instructions 

1. Download the Google search app from the Microsoft Windows 8 store. It provides a Start screen enhanced (aka the interface formerly known as Metro) interface and is touch enabled for touch devices.
2. Download Google Chrome for windows 8 and bring a refreshed Google experience back in your life. 

My readers should know how much I love Evernote and I was happy to see their Windows 8 version. This updated version allows you to use all of the Evernote goodness from the new Start screen (the interface formerly known as Metro). Some people have said it is not as feature packed as their Windows 7 client (and they are right) but at least you don’t have to launch the desktop everytime just to add or check a note.

Evernote for Win8 in the MS app store : here

You’re adventurous and want to jump head first into the raging water that is Windows 8. I’m with you but be aware Windows 8 has a bunch of new tips, tricks and shortcuts. Enter Memonica from Microsoft. It’s a simple learning app  that teaches these new tips, tricks and shortcuts through repetition.

It covers:

• Tips & Tricks
• Mouse gestures
• Keyboard shortucts
• Repetition scheduling 

The app Splash Screen

A sample question

Over the next couple of days, I will post tips and tricks about windows 8. If you are a Linux or Mac user, sorry and I promise I’ll get back to my typical posts by the end of the week ;-)

Have a great day 

There are hundreds of blogs, articles and podcasts about living an uncluttered life but very few of them actually talk about your digital world. It’s time for an intervention. Sit down, grab your smartphone and read the following.

How many apps do you currently have on your smartphone?

How many of those apps have you used today, in the last week or even in the last month?

Research shows that most new apps get used for less than 30 days and then fall into the abyss of uselessness. These useless apps take up valuable space, slow down your device, make backups bigger (plus it takes longer to backup). It’s time you decided which apps really need to be on your phone and get rid of the rest.

Now take the time to re-evaluate where you place your apps and how you group them. Chances are your usage habits have changed and your phone doesn’t reflect it (which means everything you do is being unnecessarily slowed down. Take the time to rearrange your apps based on their current usage pattern and priority.

How many do you have on your phone and do you really need all of them on your device? Best case you have too many pictures/videos but they are backed up anyway. Unfortunately most people keep too many of their digital memories on their phones and never take the time to back them up. Imagine how you would feel if your device was stolen or malfunctioned. Dust off that USB cable and move most of your pictures to your home PC (which is backed up right?).

Now we clean the outside

Now we step out of the digital and talk about physically cleaning your device.

The only products you can safely use to clean you mobile device is purpose made cleaning solutions, distilled water and isopropyl alcohol. Never use glass cleaner, abrasives, disinfecting wipes or anything else you would use to clean a bathroom. Never use paper based towels (paper towels, brown bathroom towels, toilet paper, etc). 

Step one, turn off your device and remove the battery where possible.

For smudges and light dirt

Use a dry microfiber cloth to gently clean the device. This is the real cleaning microfiber cloths (with hundreds of little microfiber legs), not eyeglass cleaning ones. You can pick one up for about a dollar a piece.  

Cleaning a keyboard

If your device has a keyboard, use quality cotton swabs (with wood or strong plastic stems) dipped in rubbing alcohol to gently wipe in, on and around the keys. Take your time. Don't rub too hard or you may remove the printed key identification. Your cotton swab should be humid but not dripping. Repeat as needed.

Once the keyboard is clean, use a microfiber cloth to dry and polish the keyboard.

Cleaning the metal trim

If your phone has metal trim, don't use alcohol on it. lightly dampen a small section of your microfiber cloth in distilled water and clean the metal trim. Once clean, use the dry section of the microfiber cloth to dry and gently buff it.

Cleaning the body of the phone 

to clean the outside of your phone, lightly dampen a section of your microfiber cloth with distilled water and clean the outside of your phone. Make sure water doesn't get into any of the holes (speaker, microphone, connector, etc). As soon as the outside is clean, use the dry section of the microfiber cloth to dry and buff the phone.

Cleaning the camera lens 

If you have a dSLR lens cleaning kit, use it. Otherwise dampen the tip of a cotton swab with distilled water and clean the lens using a gentle clockwise spinning motion. Once clean, dry off the lens with a dry microfiber cloth.

how to disinfect your phone

Mobile phones are excellent peatry dishes for bacterial growth. There has been a handful of well documented studies that prove that many smartphones are dirtier than a public toilet seat. This is some scary stuff. As a business person, I use my phone very often and when I started reading these reports, I was taken aback.

My solution is a little device I bought called the Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer. You simply drop your phone in (you can also use it to disinfect your Bluetooth headset, earphones, etc), place the top cap and wait until the activity light turns off (about 5 minutes). The germicidal UV light kills strep many of the bad things living on my device like e.coli, salmonella, listeria, and H1N1 virus.

Cover isnt actually transparent, this is just to illustrate how it looks when working.

Microsoft will livestream its official Windows Phone 8 launch event on October 29^th 2012. From the Microsoft blog:

As many of you know, we are landing in San Francisco on Monday October 29th to showcase some new things from Windows Phone. For those that can’t join us in person, no need to worry! You can tune into a live webcast here, all from the comfort of your couch, cubicle or coffee table. We hope you can join us, see you on the 29th!

The event starts at 1000 PST (1300 EST).

Love Apple’s new products but hate the fact that the new Lighning cable costs $19? Fret not my friend for the Chinese have already reverse engineered the cable (authentication chip and all). iPhone5Mod will be shipping knockoff lightning cables for a mere $9.99 (plus $4 shipping).

It is interesting to note that most “reputable” accessory makers haven’t even been briefed by Apple yet about these new cables. I’m not sure how safe these cables are but if you are interested, check out the video and their site.

Even without the venerable Steeve Jobs, Tim Cook and company put on an excellent show for reporters during their iPad mini unveiling. They announced a slew of new and updated products. One refresh that seems to have caused a lot of controversy is the iPad 4th Generation. Typically Apple had a 12 month update cycle for the iPad and customers were happy in the knowledge that their investment would keep its "best device" value for at least the next year. Many customers were upset by the mid-cycle update.

What's new 

The main new features are: 

• The new A6x processor which doubles the CPU/GPU performance
• The new smaller lightning connector
• "Improved WIFI" - the current versions work pretty well
• Better front facing camera - nice to have but not something I would spend money on
• Siri - siri is fun but nothing I seriously use. 

So what?

The new features are good and I am a fan of a faster device but I think I'll wait until the 5th Generation. I expect Apple to make the (5th gen) device much thinner, lighter and improve the battery performance. One reason why battery performance didn’t improve is the screen they used. The retina display needs a lot of backlight and power to drive it.

Since the release of the Retina equipped 3rd generation iPad, Sharp has started marketing a technology called IGZO. What would IGZO provide? 

• A thinner display assembly  - which means we would likely have a thinner bezel making the device easier to hold and use (bezel like the iPad mini)
• A brighter screen - always a good thing
• New technology requires less LEDs so the device could be thinner and the battery could potentially provide 50-100% more runtime

Sharp has said it will be ready to mass produce these screens Q4 2012 which means they would be ready for the next iteration of the iPad sometime in early 2013 (typically released each March).

The Verdict

I believe the iPad 4th Generation is the absolute best tablet a consumer can buy today. It is a well build device that feels great in the hand, performs very nice, has a great display and wonderfully diverse ecosystem (apps and accessories). If you need a tablet today, you can't beat the iPad. If you own an iPad 3, the move isn't compelling enough so stick with your device. If you own a gen 1 or 2 iPad, change if you really have to but I recommend waiting until early 2013 to see what the next gen will bring.

The piano

iPad Mini Smartcover

Various high profile reviewers were given early access to the Surface tablet but because of strong NDAs, weren’t able to write about it until yesterday. Now that the floodgates are open, I wanted to provide (in a short write up) the review summary of the various reviewers. 

• Wired - Article - Thinks its a great device but will likely confused long time Microsoft customers.
• Laptop - Article - Great hardware but needs a stronger ecosystem to make the device truly worthwhile.
• The Verge - Article - "INSTEAD OF BEING NO-COMPROMISE, IT OFTEN FEELS LIKE MORE-COMPROMISE". Joshua said he really wanted to like the device but there were too many irritants.
• Time - Article - Impressive for a 1.0 version product but will closely follow Microsoft and see if they continue to improve the product through constant innovation to really make it a must have. 
• Gizmodo - Article - Surface is priced close to the the most premium tablet, the iPad, yet the Surface is inferior in most ways.

My personal rule of thumb is to never buy the first generation of any product (e.g. Microsoft Surface and even the Apple iPad Mini). I wouldn't spend my own money to buy this just yet but I will be following it with great interest.

Square is a little iPhone and Android dongle that allows anyone to process credit card transactions for a small flat fee of 2.75% (without a merchant account or monthly fees). Unfortunately Canadians were left out in the cold but Square just changed all of that with their new Canadian presence.

In Canada, they will accept Mastercard and Visa cards (US users also get American Express and Discover). To get started, you visit their site, complete a 5 minute online questionnaire and they mail you a free credit card reader dongle. Once your application is approved and the dongle received, you download the square app on your iphone, ipad or Android and you can start accepting credit cards instantly.

This is a great option to get paid during a garage sale or product sale via Kijiji or Craig’s list. It is a great way for small businesses to accept credit cards when volume is small, mobility is required or when no other options are available.   There are lots of ways this can be used and since it is free, you have no reason not to get it now.

Press Release : 

Sign-up and more information

Walk into any Apple store and you will likely see Lark’s wristband alarm clock which tracks your sleep and gently wakes you up with its vibrating wristband. The company has decided to enter the growing lifestyle tracking world and compete head on with the likes of Nike’s Fuelband and Fitbit’s One and Zip activity trackers.

Similar to its main competitor, the Fitbit, it will track activities and calorie intake through a custom smartphone application but they claim they will provide more value by providing immediate and customized user feedback.

Larklife learns your unique internal clock, or circadian rhythm, and finds the small changes you can make, like moving your exercise time to when your energy is at its peak, or adding in a snack when you hit a low, to make a big difference in how you feel.

Smart tips are designed with the world’s top energy, health and sleep experts, including professors, scientists, pro-athlete coaches and top business executives.

As I try to live a healthier lifestyle with more exercise and a healthier diet, I am realizing that I am a person that needs metrics to keep me motivated. I need to know that I am constantly improving and these types of tools sound like a great way to measure & report. I was about to buy the Fitbit One until I heard about the Lark Life and now I want to wait and see if their final product is as good as they are claiming.

Lark Life is up for pre-order now with an expected ship date "this year".