Over the past few weeks it seems like we’re seeing all kinds of strange and bizarre promotional materials leak out of Cupertino. Maybe someone found the key to Steves secret “never let anyone see” vault and found the mother-load.
The latest example is a Ghostbusters themed anti-IBM promo from back in the 80′s. Look carefully and you’ll see both Steve and Woz making appearances. Who know’s what else we’re likely to see come out of the vault.
Posted in Technology
I’ve been playing with a service called Kickstarter recently and have funded a number of pretty great looking products. The basic Kickstarter premise is for “backers” (you or I) to promise an amount of money to a project in return for some return from that project. For example a copy of a game or a physical piece of technology. This allows for small businesses or individuals to crowd fund an idea and put it into action.
The projects have a goal amount of money they need to collect before they are considered “funded”. Goals range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands. When a project successfully reaches it’s goal your funds are taken and the project is funded. If a project fails to reach its goal you do not pay your pledge amount and do not receive the item/service. It’s a fairly simple concept that has generated some amazing products.
Here are some of the great projects I have chosen to fund so far:
Double Fine Adventure – An old style adventure video game from Double Fine productions (Mr Tim Schafer’s production company). Funded $3.3M back in March.
Pebble e-Paper Watch – eInk smart watch that connects to your iOS/Android phone to integrate with applications and calling features. Includes an open SDK for future community development. Funding is currently open, but with 31 days left they have already raised $3.7M.
****UPDATE – Project cancelled prior to funding**** Police Warfare – PC first person shooter based on a cops and robbers style large scale gameplay. Funding is currently open with a goal to raise $325,000 by May 18th.
Posted in Technology
I recently purchased a magazine subscription on my iPad. When purchasing the yearly subscription a pop-up appeared telling me that it would auto-renew and charge me for another years subscription when my original year ran out.
Personally I didn’t like this idea. What if I forgot about it and was just automatically charged the following year? What they don’t tell you is buried in your iTunes account is an option to turn off the auto-renewal for subscriptions.
The below short video will show you how to do this via iTunes:
Update iOS magazine subscription auto-renewal from Kevin Doyle on Vimeo.
Posted in Apple
Last week Apple updated their “hobby”hardware project, the Apple TV into it’s third generation. If you don’t already have an Apple TV, do I suggest you purchase one? MOST CERTAINLY! But what if you fall into the “I already have a second generation Apple TV”, do I suggest you purchase a third generation device? That’s a tougher question to answer! Lets start out of a spec Comparison:
If we were just to look at the physical device, it’s identical in every way. Same dimensions and the same ports. If we were to look at the spec sheet we notice a few differences, namely the processor being updated and the video output upgraded to 1080p from 720p.
So an upgrade is an easy choice right? Why wouldn’t you want to upgrade to all that 1080p glory? The biggest benefit of the 2nd generation Apple TV over the 3rd is the ability to jailbreak. Jail-breaking your Apple TV can bring a whole new dimension of awesomeness to an already great device. Adding support for XBMC, NitoTV, RSS feeds and so much more. XBMC alone has so much functionality and add-on capability it’s amazing!
To upgrade or not to upgrade? That is the question. Let me know your situation and thoughts in the comments.
Posted in Hardware
Just like any portable consumer technology these days whether it be the latest smart phone, laptop or tablet, it needs a good case for protection (and/or looks). The Kindle fire is no exception. So here is a run down of our top 10 picks for Kindle Fire cases.
10. If you don’t travel much and your Kindle Fire rarely leaves the house then you could take a minimalist approach and use a simple screen protector. The Marware Clear Screen Protector comes is a two pack and offers simple screen protection for less that $8.
9. The Decalgirl Kindle Fire Skin also fits into that minimalist approach with just a little bit more protection and flare. The Decalgirl kit includes both front and back decal protection and comes in a large assortment of different designs. It won’t protect your Fire against a drop, but it’ll save you some of those minor scratch problems.
7. The BUILT Slim Neoprene Sleeve Case is an extremely simple sleeve style case that offers great protection. It’s also has a plush interior to protect the screen and is machine washable. I suppose thats a bonus if you ever get a mark on the case exterior.
5. Watching movies on the Kindle Fire can be a great experience. That experience can be enhanced if the Fire has an easy way to stand at a good viewing angle. That’s where the Lightweight MicroShell Folio Cover by Marware fits the requirements. Protection front and back, and elastic strap to hold the cover in place and a great design to allow for hands free movie watching.
3. The Thule TKFS-101 Kindle Fire Semi-Rigid Sleeve Case has MANLY written all over it. It just screams rough and rugged. While THULE are known for their travel accessories (roof rack systems and cargo boxes) they apparently also made a great Kindle Fire case.
The DODOcase is our top pick. It’s the one that I personally own and highly recommend.
Posted in Shopping
