Hey guys, I have a "decent desk", and I feel like I need a new one. I would like one which measures just 120cm in length. Width and height aren't a problem.
Would be great if I could have some drawers too. Thanks for reading!
With wearable technology becoming more and more affordable as well as available, would it be long before the possibility of a full-fledged suit is more than a mere thought? #VR
I always turn off my router for no other reason other than it being the logical thing to do. It is good to know that there is a security benefit in doing this, despite it shortening a network device's working life.
Apple TV launched recently, accompanied by a lot of goodies. It's cheaper than the competition, but with lesser content. Anyone who has purchased an Apple device since September 10 gets a free year-long subscription. Is the strategy going to pay off in the long run? #AppleTVPlus #subscription #PayTV
Apple made more from its wearables and services businesses, as compared to its iPhone business. Does this point of a paradigm shift? Apple TV Plus costs less but for less content. It is such unfamiliar territory for this company.
According to the company, it expected changes in the Pay-TV industry to be fast. While it is true that the content and network deals are expensive, Vue might have failed to generate the target revenue!
Privacy is slowly becoming an elusive subject, with more and more apps gathering data (at times) without users' consent. Would you opt for an app that enables you to share your location, speed and battery life, among other things? It should never enter public use.
The tech world moves fast. It feels like every other month new handsets are coming out from the countless smartphone manufacturers out there. Each one routinely releases phones that are just a simple spec bump from the last generation. A couple of new colour options and a slight change in the processor and Apple calls the iPhone 7 an upgrade from the iPhone 6. Samsung has a similar approach. The jump from the Galaxy S8 to the S9, for example, is so unimpressive that you might mistake one for the other if you don’t look at where the fingerprint scanners were placed.
This is because the tech hardware industry’s release schedule has become famous for following a strict release schedule for upgrades just to maximize sales. iPhones, for example, are released on or before the final quarter of the year to make sure that they get some of that holiday shopping cash. During this segment of the year, people are more willing to part with their cash than at any other time. Others take this even further. OnePlus, for example, release phones in both the 2nd and 4th quarter of the year. This makes innovating less of a priority.
What we end up in is a sea of new phones every year and an even bigger ocean of outdated ones that can still function well for what they’re intended for. All of this results in an avalanche of choices for consumers.
This aggressive upgrade cycle has a pretty nuanced effect on consumers. While some people need to scratch the itch of the new upgrade whenever their favourite device gets a new model, some people have the complete opposite reaction and choose to hold on to their devices even longer. Which they can do because outdated doesn't mean unusable in the gadget world.
In the long run, it’s the consumers who win. It all makes for an exciting market.
So, if you're one to go for value rather than flashy new features, here are a few tips on how you can leverage the highly competitive market to score great gadgets for less.
Buy Last Year’s Model
As mentioned before, some manufacturer's release schedules are so gruelling that it leaves virtually no room to implement innovations between devices. The iPhone SE, for example, is basically a recycled design with updated specs.
If you're not too conscious about using an old-model phone, you can save a lot of money by buying last year's model. They're often just as capable as current-generation models. Some companies don't even stop manufacturing old models because they often keep selling them even if they've already released new ones. The sales numbers for these outdated phones often sustain a decent range because of the slashed prices.
Versions of the bestselling iPhone 6, for example, stopped rolling out of assembly lines only in 2018 – a good 4 generations since its original release.
You can stretch your cash even further by buying gadgets second-hand. Just make sure that you have the know-how on choosing which ones to pick.
Research Where and When to Buy Gadgets at the Best Price
Geography can play a huge role in a certain product’s pricing. For one thing, the laws of the land must be observed in pricing. Some places impose more on certain products which could drive the prices of products higher in some places and lower in others. Ever thought about buying a Surface device in Canada? Holding off on your purchase until you go to a US territory could potentially save you hundreds of dollars.
Different stores might also sell the same items for different prices. Everything depends on what sale is in place in each location. This makes it important to do your research before pulling the trigger on your purchase. Know when the item you’re after is going on sale and buy it when the price is more acceptable to you. Your gadgets, after all, are a kind of investment. Buy low when you can so you can make most out of it.
If you prefer shopping for your gadgets online, you could also take advantage of the vast browser extensions available. They scour the internet for deals for the same item you're looking at. This saves you the hassle of searching the internet manually for each store. With just a click of the button, you can compare prices and deals on offer.
This applies to current-generation devices as well. Black Friday is one of the biggest sales of the year in a lot of countries. Retail stores such as Bestbuy and Gearbest in the United States often put the latest devices on sale at these times too. The Surface Pro 6, for example, went on sale immediately during Black Friday which took almost $100 off on the original price.
Make Your Devices Last
Inflation isn’t the only thing making new gadgets cost more over time. Manufacturers have been slowly increasing prices too. For a while, the iPhone’s base price was at $1,000. But upon noticing a dip in sales because of it, they’ve brought it back down with the current generation of iPhones.
If people are willing to spend a premium on devices, their prices will continue to rise. The keyword there is ‘if'. People were unwilling to buy $1,000 iPhone XS. This gave rise to the popularity of the iPhone XR. The pricing and branding of the follow up to that generation of iPhones is a direct response to this. It proves that upon reaching resistance, Apple and presumably other tech companies, are nimble enough to adapt to the market forces.
Devices have gotten so good in recent years that you don't need to buy the next-generation device that directly comes after yours. This makes it easier to hold on to the device that you currently have especially if you don’t need the current generation of devices.
There are also software and hardware upgrades that you can still exhaust. Is your iPhone battery giving up on you? Get the Apple-branded Smart Battery Case. Or better yet, try to see if you're eligible for the battery replacement schemes that Apple has implemented recently. The same goes for the other components of your phone.
So, if you don’t need to buy the latest one, my simple advice is to just don’t. You’ll be saving a lot more money that you can use to buy the generation or two after the current one.
We have subscription services all around us, but I don't see how buying MP3s can be an alternative to Spotify. With Microsoft pushing us to a subscription model of Office, Google Docs comes in handy!
I have always been restarting my PC through the Start menu, but the method I like most is through the command prompt, with a batch file. It will be interesting to alternate between all these options, from time-to-time.
I have used the Rapportive tool before, and it proved to be effective. All you need is a company/personal website, first and last name. It uses an algorithm to generate all possible email combinations.
While it doesn’t come without its shortcomings, MacOS Catalina has arrived with a lot of excitement. It comes loaded with exciting features such as Sidecar that could be a huge boon to making Apple computers a lot more productive.
Other improvements are much less likely to get the same enthusiasm as Sidecar but are just as important. Here’s some of them:
Axing iTunes and Turning to Project Catalyst
One big change is that Apple has given iTunes the boot. It’s been the default media management software on Apple devices for as long as I can remember. This move by Apple shows just how confident they are at nudging users into their Project Catalyst initiatives.
This means we'll be using iOS-style apps in managing media on Apple computers from now on. The company introduced Project Catalyst last year when it was still known as Marzipan. They initially released a suite of iOS apps that were converted into usable desktop applications. iOS media management applications such as Apple Music, TV, and Podcasts have already been rolled out then. This aims to unify user experience between mobile and desktop devices. Whether this will be received well is yet to be seen.
Sidecar Implementation
The Apple Store already has a couple of software that lets you use tablets such as an iPad as a secondary display for your Apple laptop. One such example is the Duet Display designed by former Apple engineers. They’re great apps but they’re more geared towards heavy users who require such a setup. They’re also paid apps that only unlocks more features if you cough up more money. The wireless connectivity, for example, is not available for the basic $10 app download.
Sidecar is Apple’s answer to these types of apps. The best thing about it is that it’s free for users. So long as you have compatible devices, you’ll be able to use Sidecar. You also won’t be limited to wired connections because Apple’s very own Airplay technology can hook up the iPad and the laptop.
Since it’s a feature that Apple itself developed, it should also be more uniform and easier to use. The interface is almost lag-free. Software compatibility is also no issue. Some apps even have their very own specialized functions. You can, for example, use the iPad as a drawing tablet if you use the Apple Pencil with the Affinity Designer & Photo, Adobe Illustrator, and a lot more.
There are caveats though. One of them is that it only works for modern Apple hardware. You can only use 2016 or newer MacOS laptops or a late-2015 unit of the iMac. On the tablet side, on the other hand, you can only use iPads no older than the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 4. The paid apps, on the other hand, should work with a lot more devices.
Apple Photos Improved Curation
AI technology is going to have a more active role in photo curation. The Photos app in MacOS Catalina aims to aid you in your quest to organize your photos by featuring your best photographs and by automatically removing duplicates. Don’t fret though, they haven’t axed the chronological search hasn’t gone the way of the iTunes yet.
The result is a slight change in photo organization. For example, photos are now organized in Years, Months, and Days as opposed to Years, Collections, and Moments in the previous version of the app. This may seem like a subtle change but it's a huge leap in helping you find your photos. Machine learning kicks in to choose the best thumbnail that represents the most interesting photo you have for a particular year. It does this for the Months and Days categories as well. If you click on the Months tab, it might feature only one photo while other months might show you a collection of related photos that machine learning deems is a better representation of photos you have for that month.
Security Improvements
Apple’s MacOS and iOS are famous for being extra careful about security. For one thing, the well-curated iOS App Store is a case study in what heavily policing apps for both quality and security can do for your device’s reputation.
MacOS Catalina further improves your laptop’s security in various ways.
One of the most useful ways is known as Sender Block. This allows you to block emails sent from an email address of your choosing. If this feature is activated, the messages would go straight to the trash.
But there are more subtle changes that Apple has implemented to increase security. On the app-level for example, the Cupertino-based tech giant has begun making developers jump through more hoops if they need access to your computer’s files. They do this by making apps ask for permissions first before allowing them into the folder.
Apple is also nudging users to be more active in trying to protect their privacy and data in MacOS Catalina. They do this by warning users about weak passwords that you may have to websites when you’re logging into them via Safari. It would then recommend a new, stronger password that you can save in the browser for later use.
But they’re not all about making your laptop difficult to break into. The new security updates also make it easier for you to access your computer. It does this by letting you log in to anywhere that requires your Mac password via your Apple Watch.
Previously, you can only use your Apple Watch to log into the computer itself. The new OS, however, lets you access a lot more via your watch. You can, for example, now see all the passwords stored in Safari just by double-clicking on the side button of your Apple Watch.