Sprint continues to expand their LTE 4G footprint

| May 2, 2013

Looks like there might be LTE service at the boat? The speedy expansion of Sprint’s LTE network continues with a total of 21 cities with speeds of 6 to 8Mbps with peaks of up to 25Mbps. Here’s the list of markets where Sprint will be offering LTE service: California: Los Angeles, Contra Costa County Florida:Palm [...]

A good phone, not a great phone–Walt Mossberg

| April 24, 2013

The Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone … not a “must have” upgrade for Android users. It has a bigger screen, higher-resolution camera, and good battery life, but Walt Mossberg tells us that the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 is "a good phone, not a great phone, and it’s not a game-changer." MORE

Tech Friday: iOS apps stuck in updating mode

| April 19, 2013

Sometimes the iPhone or iPad will get stuck in updating mode from the App Store and no matter how many “kills” of the app or rebooting of the device the app continues to show a stuck progress bar or “waiting” message. Often an easy fix: On the home screen, tap the icon until you see [...]

An updated iPhone to begin production this quarter

| April 2, 2013

Apple shareholders have a lot to grumble about when it comes to stock price and a lack of immediacy in addressing investors. Some are questioning if “they still know what they are doing” and I can’t help but be a little bit disappointed with rumors that next quarter’s iPhone release will maintain the “smaller” form [...]

SlingPlayer updates coming to iPhone and iPad

| March 27, 2013

Glad to see updates for SlingPlayer, but considering I have the “350″ and my biggest complaint has yet to be addressed — no “audio-only” — I’m still disappointed. Not everyone lives in 4G or LTE land! Even the original Slingbox had support for audio on all devices including my Palm Treo!

Impressed with the new half-priced Jambox bluetooth speakers

| March 19, 2013

Occasionally I make one of those spur-of-the-moment impulse purchases that doesn’t give me buyer’s remorse. I have been wanting a bluetooth speaker to improve the sound coming from my iPhone or iPad without resorting to plugging in the 3.5mm cable or using earbuds. I thought, “hmm, this will work great on the desk and even [...]

Automatic now available for Pre-Order–no subscription fee

| March 14, 2013

Automatic’s online video and marketing phrase, “save hundreds on gas every year,” seems a little bit hokey, but the idea of a device which connects your smartphone to your vehicle’s OBD port by bluetooth is pretty smart. For a pre-order price of $69.95, the tech gadget should be able to give you plenty of diagnostic [...]

Tech Friday: How does your cell network rank?

| January 25, 2013

OpenSignal.com offers a free online tool that compares cellphone networks in given markets. Obviously my choice of Sprint isn’t giving me the best service in south-western Ohio, but does improve when I drill down to my exact location … although I question the tested download (.81 Mbps?) and upload (9.03 Mbps?) speeds (below)?

Tech Friday: Protect your expensive phone for resale sake

| January 11, 2013

Here’s a helpful “Tech Friday” post that is really just some smart advice – it has nothing to do with the photo of Tootsie above except that it was taken with the iPhone 5. Anyway, a client of mine regularly upgrades his high end phone (and now his iPad) every 2 years as permitted by [...]

Yet another reason to take a walk: Just charge it!

| January 4, 2013

Up and coming shoe technology that charges gadgets could be one of the more interesting inventions this year. I suspect we’ll see more wearable charging in the future. "This charger works using pressure, as you walk you generate pressure that in turn generates energy, once you have arrived where you were going you can now [...]

Mobile devices are close to replacing everyday computers

| November 26, 2012

Mobile smartphone and tablet devices are closing in on replacing at least our portable notebook and laptop computers (story link), but according to early “Cyber Monday” sales numbers, laptop/notebook computers are the number one sellers. I’m personally not ready to eliminate the notebook or desktop computer, but mobile OS devices have improved dramatically and I [...]

It is time to upgrade my original Slingbox and add an iOS app

| November 19, 2012

Upgrades, discounts, sales, coupons … way too much temptation. There is yet another reason to ignore email advertising or online marketing. Unfortunately I’m not taking my own advice and caved in to SlingMedia’s offer of a discount to upgrade my device either of their newer Slingboxes – 350 or “melted and warped” 500. I’ve opted [...]

Tech Friday: iOS Passbook, Eventbrite & RomneyRyan Rally

| November 2, 2012

I found an excuse to use the Apple iOS Passbook app on the iPhone 5 yesterday while adding tickets to a Romney Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally being held tonight just north of Cincinnati in my hometown of West Chester Ohio. The ticket distribution site EventBrite makes easy checkout and automatically adds the QR coded [...]

Killing time and testing an iPhone5 close-up panorama

| October 27, 2012

It was a cool and rainy morning as I waited to meet with a businessman from China interested in talking with me about homebuilt airplanes, and so I experimented with the new iPhone5’s panorama feature to kill some time … this time trying a close up panorama. I was more curious to see how it [...]

Tech Friday: Are you sharing your phone numbers on Facebook?

| October 19, 2012

After receiving plenty of election oriented phone calls this year, it is time to purge all my phone numbers from the public roles … something I thought I had been doing for years — obviously not!  An area overlooked my some is the increasingly popular way to share address and phone number data with contacts [...]

FreedomPop: A free wireless 4G Internet connection

| October 8, 2012

Last week I started testing the new wireless Internet being offered by FreedomPop.com. The service is interesting because light data users can connect and use the Internet basically for “free.” Higher data use plans are available for those needing more, but requires paying for it, helping to build out the user base or completing offers [...]

Those Google Goggles may not be that far off?

| September 26, 2012

The Internet was down for a while yesterday (might have been my network issue) and realized I could no longer tether to my Palm Pre. Now that I have the iPhone 5, I’ve lost the emergency wifi connection that had come in so handy. Hmm, next best thing was to connect my Kensington bluetooth keyboard [...]

Smartphone photography with the new Apple iPhone 5

| September 22, 2012

The Apple iPhone 5 camera makes for a substantial improvement over my previous smartphone’s camera and so I was anxious to experiment with image quality and play with a few of the hyped features. Since I’m upgrading from the nearly “extinct” Palm Pre, running a rooted webOS install, any modern smartphone camera would have been an [...]

Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T Mobile: Comparing LTE markets

| September 21, 2012

While waiting for delivery of a new 4G LTE phone, it made sense to compare carriers who currently have markets offering these higher data rates (currently Verizon, AT&T and Sprint). For many in the U.S. and overseas who are locked into existing contracts or not near LTE metro areas, buying a 4G LTE phone will [...]

Apple’s iOS 6 is available for download to many devices

| September 19, 2012

Ahead of the “hopeful” Friday delivery of a new gadget, the iPhone 5, I figured I’d give the new Apple iOS 6 a try on my iPad2. The download was made available this afternoon, but was a bit slow … which is no double due to it being 561 MB and that a “couple” other [...]

Have iPhone 5s actually left the warehouses?

| September 18, 2012

Call me anxious or just curious to know if I should be keeping my eyes open for an iPhone 5 on Friday. Hmm … what does “shipped and/or” mean in checking the Sprint status page? If it is shipped, how about a tracking number?

Placed an Apple iPhone 5 order with Sprint this morning

| September 14, 2012

I’m not sure when my new iPhone 5 will arrive, but ordered the smallest 16GB version as an upgrade to replace my aging … but much loved … Palm Pre. Unfortunately the Apple website wouldn’t take my order this morning so switched to the Sprint.com site. Unfortunately Sprint also has a glitch in their online [...]

Apple unveils their newest iPhone … finally the iPhone 5

| September 12, 2012

I followed the Engadget liveblog and listen to the Leo Laporte’s TWIT gang during Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5, and it only seems appropriate that I chime in (I tweeted too much already). I’m sure there will be a few other blogs commenting today (chuckle, chuckle) and some will offer far more intelligent insight [...]

Android and Apple iOS devices to be less similar in the future

| September 9, 2012

After Samsung’s recent lost to Apple in federal court, Android users will start to see a few changes to the look and feel of their phones and tablets and those being designed by Apple. One would assume that the individual manufacturer’s tweaks to Google’s Android – skins –will be modified from the current attempt to [...]

Anticipation heightens for Apple’s new iPhone 5 announcement

| September 4, 2012

I do enjoy the hype and speculation surrounding a new gadget release in the tech world … and few do it better than Apple. Last year’s iPhone 4s announcement was expected by most of us to be the iPhone 5, but it was not to be. This year everyone again expects them to adopt the [...]

Jury says Samsung infringed on six patents held by Apple

| August 25, 2012

It’s no secret that I’m a long time Apple user and have done my part in supporting the company as computer and gadget buyer and as an $AAPL shareholder, but I’m also rebellious when their eco-system boxes out competitors. I dislike Apple telling me what software I can and can’t install on my computer devices [...]

Smartphones are making me rethink taking pictures

| August 23, 2012

I’m still amazed at the notable improvements in cellphone cameras since my Palm Pre was release a few years ago. Here’s an attempt (after a slight crop) to see how images look when a close up was taken with my wife’s new Samsung Galaxy S II Epic. I can see Brenda and I are not [...]

Checking out my wife’s new Samsung Galaxy S II Epic

| August 19, 2012

Ah yes … Brenda is working night shift hours this weekend so it gave me a chance to monkey around with her new Samsung Galaxy S II Epic … purloined it while she was sleeping today. One of her ploys to keep me from playing with her new smartphone was to add the new protective [...]

Finding yourself distracted while driving?

| August 18, 2012

It seems like I’m driving a bit more than usual this summer and am working to pay more attention to the road than to my gadgets inside a the car. This is not to say I’ve been a terrible driver, but I certainly have been prone to using technology way more than is safe. Driving [...]

Looking forward to reading Motorola Photon Q reviews

| August 14, 2012

Still pondering the new Motorola Android phone for Sprint’s LTE 4G … obviously no rush since this phone is not available yet, nor has the LTE service been rolled out. http://www.sprint.com/landings/motorola_photonq/index.html Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.