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Apple
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October 4, 2018Apple has once again released new phones in the month of September gearing up for the holiday buying season. The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR look amazing and will sell great for Apple I am sure of this but there were some changes this year I would like to point out a few things about to everyone. In years past Apple has always kept the previous year’s phone as the cheaper lower cost option for consumers. This year Apple did not do that as they completely removed the iPhone X from their website but kept the iPhone 7 and last year’s iPhone 8 with the old form factor and home button as options. I would like to point out as well that Apple has completely removed the iPhone SE from the website as their cheap option to get users into an iPhone with a lower price point but kept the iPhone 7. The iPhone SE offered exactly similar internals as the iPhone 6S and sported the same 12MP camera capable of shooting 4K footage. iPhone SE was the last flagship 4-inch iPhone that Apple manufactured and brought back after the smaller size had been discontinued and was thought to be a replacement for the iPhone 5C that failed miserably. Now the most affordable and smallest iPhone Apple sells is the 4.7” iPhone 7 costing 100 bucks more than the iPhone SE at $499 I think this is an excellent phone at a great price but I will miss the SE. If Apple were to replace the iPhone SE I doubt that it would have quietly retired the current iPhone SE until its replacement was ready to be announced. It looks like the days of the iPhone SE are over its sad as it was the last of...
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October 2, 2018Trying to snap photos for social media that pack more of a punch and are able to grab the attention of viewers as they’re scrolling through their timeline? Don’t worry – you won’t need a new camera to do that, but you will need to switch up your technique a little. In particular there are a few tips that could help you snap much more impressive photos: Place the subject off-center using the rule of thirds To use the rule of thirds you just need to turn on the grid feature in your camera and position the subject along the left or right gridline – preferably on one of the intersection points. That should position them off-center, which will make your photo look more interesting. On top of that you could try positioning other elements using the gridlines or intersection points as well. If you do, your photo will be more balanced as the elements are spread out more evenly. Fill the frame with the subject Another easy way to come up with interesting photos of a subject is to fill your frame completely with the subject – removing any other distractions. Not only will this reveal details that may not have been visible otherwise, but it will look more unique too. It may help to use the rule of thirds in tandem with this technique as well. If you do use this method, be sure that you don’t use the digital zoom on your camera, as that can affect the quality of the photo. Instead, you should get physically closer to the subject until they’re large enough. Always try to make certain the lighting is good Good lighting and good photography go hand in hand, so if you want your photos to look impressive you should try to make...
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September 25, 2018As many of you know I have had issues in the past with hard drives and being a Mac user at times I was always upset that spin rite was not supported on a Mac without jumping through hoops. I recently found Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery online and have tested and used it and it’s actually a great product I would recommend if you are a Mac user like myself. The first thing I like about Stellar Phoenix is a simple interface. You pick what you want to recover Then what drive you want to recover Then you get a preview of your data and can decide where you want to put the recovered data. One thing really nice about Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery is you can recover data off of encrypted hard drives, boot camp partitions and time machine backups with is more than Spin Rite could ever do for me. The fact that you can recover data off a machine after deletion, formatting or corruption really shows this software has their act together. The one thing is a well put together piece of software does not come without a good price tag $79 dollars for the basic since system license with all the recovery tools. The Premium is $99 dollars which give you everything included in professional plus Video and JPEG repair tools. The Technician version gives you everything in Premium plus a 3 system license. If you don’t have a mac and still want this great product Stellar Phoenix makes a data Data Recovery Windows and for iPhone that is available at about the same price point as the Mac version. I have looked for data recovery solutions for macs for a long time and believe me when I say there are a lot of...
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July 31, 2018I recently tried the Apple Watch Series 3 as my everyday driver for smart wearables and I have to say I was not overly impressed. I would like to say that this is my first impression I will need a few weeks of using it at the gym and wearing it every day to give you my final review. My first and probably biggest issue with the Apple Watch Series 3 is the design and build quality. While Apple is known for always making a premium product the Apple Watch Series 3 just reminds me of the touchscreen iPod Nano with a wristband. I was not overly impressed with the design or look while there are millions of different bands and cases for the device it just does not have a slick sporty design to me as a consumer. My other issue with the design is the edge to edge bezels design that Apple has done on every model since the original series one. The design just makes me uncomfortable using it at the gym. Without a case or bezel, the glass just seems to exposed and able to break when hit into something at the gym like an exercise machine or weights. One thing I really loved about the Apple Watch Series 3 was the LTE the fact that you could exercise and leave your phone behind while still getting streaming music, calls, texts, and notifications is great and really did move the needle for me as a smartwatch. I would like to point out there are Android Wear Watches with LTE as well. I did have one issue with the music streaming you can read about that in my previous article titled Music Apps on the Apple Watch Series 3 The fitness portion of the watch was ok...
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July 26, 2018What is a Podcast? In simple terms, a Podcast is a radio session conducted over the internet on specific topics for listeners. The word Pod in Podcast stands for iPod, while Cast refers to broadcasting that is similar to a radio transmission but in this case, is exclusive for internet devices. The content of the Podcast is portable and one can listen to a Podcast from anywhere. Today Podcast is a phenomenal platform that hosts brilliant performers conducting interviews with guest speakers or doing a single monologue. Some Podcast is by individuals who are merely sharing their thoughts creatively and getting huge audience and followers. How to Start a Podcast? Is the idea of starting your own Podcast intriguing? Here is a simple guide on how to start a podcast through which you will be able to launch and start your own. Decide the Content and the Audience Before starting the Podcast decide the topics and the audience for your transmission. It is advisable to stick to your expertise when planning your broadcast. For example, if the political analysis is your strong area you can express your opinions through the Podcast. Do not be tempted to go for a domain you are not familiar with as you will fail to make any impact or get the attention of the audience with a lackluster broadcast. Once you know the topic for your Podcast time it out so it can reach the intended audience at the right time. Add Value to your Broadcasting Your Podcast is for the listener and it should give them good value for their time. If you are doing a health-related Podcast, you can add useful tips that can help your listeners. If you intend to do a comedy Podcast use original jokes. If you like to give...
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July 16, 2018I recently purchased an Apple Watch Series 3 to test and to my surprise, the watch does not have a native Spotify and Pandora app. Not all Apple Watch Series 3 have an LTE connection mine does because I bought it through Verizon, but this was kind of a concern to me and I will tell you why. I have been on a major fitness kick lately trying to lose weight and get healthier. I have AirPods and they are great I figured the Apple Watch would be a great companion to my Apple headphones that’s why I picked the Apple Watch. The first negative about the watch was there is NO Spotify or Pandora app on the Apple Watch Series 3. Spotify was rumored to release a WatchOS app at Apples WWDC and that never happen so the only way to stream music from my watch is to get Apple Music. On my first jog earlier, this week I went to play music and realized I had no cell service so I then offlined a bunch of playlists to my Apple Watch Series 3. To me signing up for Apple music at $9.99 month is no big deal I have a Spotify family account and it kind of stinks that I need an Apple Music Subscription, but I have MacBook Pro, iPhone 8, AirPods, iPad Mini and now Apple Watch so the $9.99 month will not be wasted. Not to mention thinking about it I buy a lot of Apple hardware but have bought little to nothing from Apple echo system besides a few apps from App Store, so I am sure this will make Tim Cook happy to read this 😉 I started looking around and this not something just Apple is doing to help get subscribers in...
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There is always a reason why consumers are drawn to a particular brand of product. Apple has the record for drawing people in, and not just Americans, why? Ease of use, that’s why! You need to understand that the exterior design alone is not the only reason Apple products are still at the forefront of the world’s multimedia technology. Hidden designs and also compatibility of the products software and hardware within Apple’s iPod and Mac have really helped to achieve this. Compatibility? This simply means that the users of Apple products really get to enjoy using the product and truly have a trouble-free experience. For example; the design of Apple Mac OSX offers a fast and very logical operating system, which truly surpasses Windows Vista in almost every area – No wonder the character, Carrie Bradshaw of the show, Sex and The City, preferred to write her column pieces using an Apple Mac. The ease of use even extends to the software that is known to come with the purchase of every Apple Mac, such as Safari web browser. Safari’s function does not stop at finding information very quickly from the internet, it is also known to: • Keep up with the newest web technology • Help to organize your data • Assist you in distinguishing one item from another. Apple’s Safari is known as the number one web browser in the world, and the recognition of other software from Apple such as the iLife suite applications, is to a degree because of the constant revisions. One of the great things about Apple’s software specialist designers is that they never wait for things to happen first! They are constantly searching for different ways to keep developing and improving. The users of Apple Mac are always confident that their software is...
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April 25, 2018Apple has started to phase out iTunes music in favor of their subscription music service Apple Music. Apple has been slowing transitioning users to their $9.99 a month service which has grown like wildfire since its announcement on June 30, 2015, surpassing over 40 million subscribers. All this stemming from Apple’s purchase of Beats Electronics for 3 billion dollars back in May of 2014. Look back at the Beats purchase this was a multiyear plan for Apple to move to subscription music. If you think about it that 3 billion dollars spent for Beats Electronics is nothing when you realize with 40 million subscribers times 10 dollars monthly is about 400 million a month Apple makes just on Apple Music. I am sure by now they have made their investment back plus profit. Apple moving to a subscription music platform is defiantly the future for them in the music space just from a financial standpoint. First Apple sells songs for .99 cents on iTunes, a person may only buy one or two songs or they may buy an entire album for 12.99. After that purchase, they will never rebuy the song again so it’s a one-time revenue grab it’s not a recurring revenue like a subscription service. Apple has stated that at the end of this month (March 2008) they will stop taking iTunes LP submissions. Apple has released a timeline saying they will look to discontinue downloads by the beginning of 2019, shortly after next year’s holiday season. In the even more recent news, the music industry had a fantastic 2017, driven by subscription music service revenues. The writing is on the wall and Apple is headed in the right direction on track to surpass Spotify’s 70 million subscribers in record time. Spotify who is Apple’s main competitor in...
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Recently I have been messing around with Pandora and their full music service and I have to say it has a great look and feel. Pandora is considered the godfather of music streaming as they were one of the first music streaming services online. Pandora has struggled in recent years with Spotify and Apple Music growing in numbers but it’s important to remember Pandora is an internet radio company and makes the majority of their revenue on ads. Recently in their earnings report, Pandora mentioned they have about 5.5 million subscribers to their paid services. Pandora does two paid service tears one being Pandora Plus $4.99 which is internet radio only with no ads or Pandora Premium for $9.99 being their fill on music service. Pandora has not disclosed which service has the majority of subscribers. Apple has over 40 million subscribers and Spotify has 70 million subscribers making it look like Pandora has little to no market share. Pandora has mentioned that they have over 90% of users listening through mobile which is very impressive, to say the least. Pandora who does make a majority of its revenue via advertising like most radio companies. Back in September SiriusXM invested $480 million dollars in a strategic investment with Pandora. Then in March Pandora acquired tech startup AdsWizz. AdsWizz tech aligned with Pandora’s specifically in the areas of audio monetization and ad-buying capabilities. Pandora says that it will continue to invest in AdsWizz technology that supports its core business. It’s important to realize that Pandora has 74.7 million active users which is a drop of about 6% compared to the previous year. It’s import to realize that Apple and Spotify offer artist based radio which can and has hurt Pandoras business. When you are comparing Apple Music to Pandora it can be hard because Apple Music...