Month: December 2012

Assorted Cool Tech News Stories – Just In Time For The Weekend!

Linda Reimer

So many tech stories, so little time!

I am swamped today; however, I have found links to a number of interesting tech related stories that I thought I’d share! And I’ve listed the links for them below with their titles and a brief description of what each article is about.

Have a great weekend!

Linda R.

SSCL

1. Netflix Reaches Deal to Show New Disney Films in 2016:  Netflix will be the only outlet for streaming new Disney films starting in 2016. However, if you have a Netflix subscription you’ll be able to stream some older Disney films like Pocahontas and Dumbo immediately.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/netflix-bests-starz-in-bid-for-disney-movies/

2. What will TV look like in two years? Radically different (we hope): The author of this article, Hamish McKenzie, speculates on how TV will evolve in the near future. He makes the very valid point that the reason the evolution television is not keeping pace with the changing technology, and the corresponding demand of viewers to be able to content where they want and when they want, and that fact is due to the cable and media companies that prefer doing business on an outdated, but profitable, business model.

http://pandodaily.com/2012/12/06/what-will-tv-look-like-in-two-years-radically-different-we-hope/

3. Rallee – the clever Facebook walkie-talkie (freeware): I thought this article was cool! It is about a new app Rallee that allows you to turn your smart phone or tablet into a walkie-talkie and talk to your Facebook friends via that walkie-talkie:

http://www.redferret.net/?p=34640

4. Amazon bringing Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features to Kindle Fires for vision impaired users: These new features are actually already available for Kindle Fire users – there is an update to the article that says so! And Voice Guide is a tool for the visual impaired that allows users to hear what app they are touching or what function they are accessing via audio and Touch does the same thing for the visual impaired by providing text descriptions of apps and functions:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/06/amazon-bringing-voice-guide-and-explore-by-touch-features-to-kin/

5. You Know What Else Started Out Like Apple TV? The iPod: This one is from the Wall Street Journal’s All Things D blog and discusses some more reasons why Apple may well come out with a new television product in 2013 that revolutionizes the way TV shows and movies are accessed by viewers:

http://allthingsd.com/20121206/you-know-what-else-started-out-like-apple-tv-the-ipod/

6. The Importance of Album Track Order In The Digital Age: And this final article is from Billboard and offers a look at why the order of tracks on a digital album is still important – it has to do with the shortened attention span of listeners!

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/the-importance-of-album-track-order-in-the-1008037002.story

*By “evolution” I mean what new and catalog TV shows and movies are available and how they are available to be accessed (streaming – watching on smartphones, tablets or via TVs),

References

Barnes, Brooks. (4 December 2012). Netflix Reaches Deal to Show New Disney Films in 2016. The New York Times. Online.

McKenzie, Hamish. (6 December 2012). What will TV look like in two years? Radically different (we hope). Pandiodaily. Online.

Paczkowski, John. You Know What Else Started Out Like Apple TV? The iPod. Allthingsd.com. Online.

Rallee – the clever Facebook walkie-talkie (freeware). (6 December 2012). Redferret.net. Online.

Trust, Gary. The Importance of Album Track Order In The Digital Age. Billboard. Online.

Try It Before You Buy It Program Is Tonight & Tim Cook Interviewed by Brian Williams On Rock Center

Linda Reimer

Try It Before You Buy It Program Is Tonight: This evening the library‘s tech staff is hosting a Try It Before You Buy It program. We will have a variety of e-readers and tablets for people to play with and ask questions about. We will also have a MacBook Pro and a Windows 8 laptop for anyone who is interested in buying a new laptop to check out. The program starts at 6 PM and runs until 7 PMish. Staff will be on hand to answer any usage questions. Join us!

Tim Cook Interviewed By Brian Williams Tonight On Rock Center: Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple who succeeded Steve Jobs last year, will give his first major network news interview to Brian Williams on the RockCenter show tonight.  RockCenter will be shown on NBC Stations and starts at 10 PM. Topics discussed in the interview include Apple’s decision to begin assembling some Macs in the U.S. again and the Apple maps debacle. Cook also is quoted as saying, regarding television that: “When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years,” Cook told NBC News anchor Brian Williams in an interview. “It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.” So just perhaps Apple is either working on a real television or some type of super media streaming player; check out the full interview tonight at 10 PM or via the free Rock Center app tomorrow.

Here’s the link to the RockCenter article, titled Apple CEO Tim Cook announces plans to manufacture Mac computers in USA, which relays the basic information regarding the interview.

http://goo.gl/3nz9M

Have a great afternoon!

Linda R.

References:

Polidoro, Ronnie. (2012, December 6). Apple CEO Tim Cook announces plans to manufacture Mac computers in USA. Rock Center. Online.

New Amazon FreeTime Unlimited Service For Kids & And More

Linda Reimer

New Amazon Unlimited Service For Kids: Amazon has just introduced a new service for kids called Kindle FreeTime. This new service can be accessed through newer Kindle Fires and offers users unlimited access to the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited library which includes access to thousands of e-books, games, movies, TV shows and educational apps for kids ages 3 to 8. FreeTime Unlimited is a subscription service that has two tiers of costs; one tier for Amazon Prime members and another for all other Amazon customers. Amazon Prime members pay $2.99 per month per child for the service or $6.99 per month for a family of children (up to 6 children); the cost for all other Amazon customers is $4.99 per month for one child or $9.99 for a family of children (up to 6 children).

And just in case you were wondering, you can indeed set up Kindle Fires so that kids can’t buy anything while they are using the Kindles, so they cannot access the web browser and you can also adjust the setting so that kids using Kindle FreeTime can only access certain formats for a certain period of time. So for example, if you want to you can allow your kids to read at all times but limit their watching of videos to a hour an day and their usage of apps to an hour a day.

The PaidContent site offers an article on this new service today titled Amazon’s All You Can Eat Kids Kindle Content Should Scare Competitors – here’s the link:

http://paidcontent.org/2012/12/05/amazons-all-you-can-eat-kids-kindle-content-should-scare-competitors/

And here’s the link to the official Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?&docId=1000863021

And More: The “And More” in the blog title for today referrers to the fact that I came across several tech articles that I thought I’d share but that I didn’t want to write a book length blog posting to discuss (who me write a long blog posting!). So here are the links as well as a brief description of the articles:

There are five “More” tech articles links listed below.

Tech articles one and two are the second and third articles in the Mac Observer series, that was first mentioned in this blog on November 30, that discusses the differing types of e-reading devices, the different types of e-book formats and highlights the big differences between dedicated e-ink e-readers, reading tablets (like the Kindle Fire and B&N Nook HD) and fully fledged tablets (like the iPad and Google Nexus).

Article 3 is from Forbes, is titled When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers and discusses the growing trend of authors self-publishing their works online; article 4 is Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg’s review of iTunes 11; and article 5 is from CNET and offers a quick review of how you can pre-order e-books for your new Android tablet or smart phone – from the Google Play Store.

1. Mac Observer Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 2: eBook Types:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/everything-about-ebooks-ereaders-pt-2-ebook-types

2. Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 3: Apple’s iPad:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/everything-about-ebooks-ereaders-pt-3-apples-ipad

3. When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2012/12/03/when-self-published-ebooks-become-best-sellers/

4. iTunes Gets an Upgrade Without Missing a Beat:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324355904578159220876451226.html

5. Preorder E-Books From Google Play Store:

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57555623-285/preorder-e-books-from-google-play/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited. (2012, December 5). Amazon.com.

Cozma, Nicole. (2012, November 28). Preorder E-Books From Google Play. CNET.

Greenfield, J. (2012, December 3). When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers. Forbes.

Martellaro, John. (2012, November 29). Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 2: eBook Types. The Mac Observer.

Martellaro, John. (2012, December 4). Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 3: Apple’s iPad. The Mac Observer.

Mossberg, Walt. (2012, December 4). iTunes Gets an Upgrade Without Missing a Beat. The Wall Street Journal.

 

 

Tech Programs of the Week & How To Work At A Computer All Day And Reap The Benefits Of Not Sitting All Day!

Linda Reimer

Tech Program of the Week: Hi everyone, we have three tech programs scheduled for this week: Dream & Create with Pinterest which is tonight, an iPad basics workshop tomorrow and a tech Try It Before You Buy It on Thursday.

Here are the descriptions for the programs:

Dream & Create with Pinterest! (Tuesday, December 4; Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM): Tonight hostess Jenn Gaylor will be assisting all attendees in creating tomato cage Christmas Trees and making avocado salsa puffs. It should be fun and delicious! Join us!

Wednesday One Hour Tech: iPad Basics (Wednesday, December 5; Time 2:00 – 3:00 PM): Our next iPad workshop will be held this Wednesday, December 5 from 2:00 – 3:00 PMish. The “ish” simply means that the official program is from 2 to 3 and that if anyone has an extra question or two members of our tech staff will be on hand past that time to answer any additional questions. So if you just bought an iPad or an iPad Mini – Join us!

Try It Before You Buy It! (Thursday, December 6; Time: 6:00 – 7:30ish): This is more of a question and answer session than an official sit-down-and-go-over-how-to use-a tech-device program. We’ll have tablets, e-readers, a Windows 8 touchscreen laptop and a MacBook Pro set out on tablets for attendees to come in and try out as a precursor to purchasing a new tablet, e-reader or other tech device during the holiday shopping season. So if you interested in purchasing a new tablet or e-reader feel free to stop in and check out our devices before you buy one!

How To Work At A Computer All Day And Reap The Benefits Of Not Sitting All Day! I found an interesting article on the New York Times site titled Taking A Stand For Office Ergonomics. The article discusses the growing scientific evidence that indicates that people shouldn’t sit for long periods of time and that, of course, this is a big issue today because so many people spend their working lives sitting in front of a computer for hours at a stretch. Basic suggested for improved heath, i.e. reaping the benefits of not sitting all day, include the obvious getting up and moving periodically and utilizing adjustable work stations that allow workers to stand up while working or even to walk on a treadmill while working. It is a cool article that makes the valid point that we shouldn’t simply sit in front of a computer for hours on end we should stand up and move at least periodically!

Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/business/stand-up-desks-gaining-favor-in-the-workplace.html?_r=0

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Lohr, S. (2012, December 1). Taking A Stand For Office Ergonomics. The New York Times.

Video Streaming: Netflix, Vs. Hulu Plus & Amazon Instant Video Available for Wii U

Linda Reimer

Video Streaming: Netflix Vs. Hulu Plus: The Geek website offers an article today that is a basic introduction to the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming video services.

Both services cost $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming and both services are available via laptops, Macs, PCs, smart phones, most smart TVs, some gaming consoles and traditional (aka non-smart) TVs via inexpensive media streaming players (Roku, Apple TV etc). Netflix offers a more extensive catalog of movies and TV shows but Hulu Plus offers more currently-on-the-air shows.

So just FYI if you’re thinking of buying a new tablet, smart TV or media streaming player this season!

And I will also put in a good word in for this cord cutter’s favorite streaming video service – Amazon Instant Video (and Pandora via Roku) which actually offers most television shows for streaming the day after they air – and I find Amazon Instant Video offers a more extensive catalog of newer movies and TV shows than Netflix or Hulu Plus so it is another service to consider. And you can try out any of these video streaming services on your computer if like. You can rent or buy movies and TV shows from Amazon without subscribing to a service.

Netflix and offers a 30 day trial version of their service and Hulu Plus offers a free one week trial.

Also of note, in addition to their Instant Video service, Amazon offers a “Prime” streaming service that you can try for free for 30 days. It costs $79 per year and allows movie and TV fans unlimited streaming access to any of the videos in the prime library.

And here’s the link to the Geek article which discusses the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming subscriptions:

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/netflix-vs-hulu-plus-video-streaming-2012123/

Amazon Instant Video Available For New Wii U: And here’s a second link that discusses the fact that Amazon Instant Video is available for the new Wii U so if you are one of the thousands of people nationwide that have purchased the new Wii U – or if you receive one during the holiday season — you can check out Amazon’s Instant Video store – when you’ve completed the current level of whatever game you’re playing that is!

Here’s a link to the aptly titled Slashgear article, Amazon Instant Video For Wii U Released, on the subject:

http://www.slashgear.com/amazon-instant-video-for-wii-u-released-22258024/

Have a great day!

Linda R.