This Week's Tech News & Opinons





News of the Week //06/20/13//



A lot has happened over the last couple weeks with E3 and WWDC. E3 was it's own mess of things--in both good in bad ways. I think it is safe to say that WWDC came across the same way to those of us on the sidelines and not actual investors (that includes the emotionally invested too).  




Apple revealed iOS 7 after stressing that they can still innovate. They detailed how absolutely lovely and "beautiful" the new design is. The design came across as very familiar to many and prompted copy-cat calls from social media outlets. What were they copying? The very OS Apple is mainly competing against may have just served as a source of inspiration.  Check out this article for a side by side comparison of Android and iOS 7.

There was also a little bit of outrage on twitter over the design, some saying the design needs a complete re-do. Khoi Vinh, a prominent graphic designer, tore apart Apple's rampant use of the Helvetica Neue Ultra light font. Honestly, I love this font, but Vinh has a point that the actual user base might have a hard time using the OS as a daily driver.

E3 has long been over, but one of the biggest announcements just came as I am writing this. Xbox is reversing some of their DRM policies after waves of online backlash. The question cycling the tubes now is but is it too late? Since pre-orders were capped before this announcement I think this will only help Microsoft, but that doesn't mean that Sony has lost all of their swayed gamers--including me.


There were quite a few phone announcements and rumors this week. The HTC Butterfly looks like a dream and sounds like it will perform like one too. The battery alone will be well worth the upgrade when compared with other devices. More and more consumers are opting for extended batteries which bulk up the phone and make case buying awkward. The phone is boasting a 3.5 day music playback rate, but lacked specifics when factoring in actual phone usage. Does the 3.5 day playback include the screen being awake? Using on board speakers? Streaming through WiFi or mobile data? From my experience with 3500mAh batteries the screen would be off and the phone would be playing back music already on the device, but this is all speculation.

The Oppo Find 5 may just be a Google phone which would join the ranks of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. It will be interesting to see how manufactures react to sales without their overlaying software such as Sense, Blinkfeed, or Touchwiz. Software is what brands Android phones. Sure, us power users care about hardware, but the average user cares about the interface--and sometimes the megapixels in the camera. This is a great phone though, and the manufacturers are all about helping people root and put custom roms on their phone as if it is a feature. They even highlight the range of roms that can be used on the phone on their website. If they do make a Google phone, I hope the company will see a little more success and stop letting HTC and Samsung hog the limelight. 




I'm not even sure where to begin with the Huawei phone, the Ascend P6. Brown. They're making a brown one, and I like it--I don't even.

The world's slimmest phone sparked a lot of attention on social media, but many were left unimpressed. There were some concerns about privacy in a lot of threads such as Chinese spyware, but once again, this is all speculation. Huawei has stated that they will not be making a Google phone. I didn't notice anyone else mentioning this, but in all of their announcements they came across as a little cocky.

Tomorrow the Samsung active is promised to start shipping from AT&T. It looks like a great phone, but I'm anxious to see the YouTube videos where people start actually testing how well the device works.


Samsung announced earlier today that they will be releasing a new camera with specs quite out of my price range. The camera will be running android and carries the name Galaxy. I think this could be the gateway to a new realm of photography. Plus, I think once the camera is rooted, the custom roms could be really fun to play with. 



On the last note: I like big screens. The Samsung Mega might be for me.

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Samsung Galaxy S2 APN Settings for Straight Talk (AT&T)

If you're here then that means you had problems too.  Let me be up front,  I had to root and install a Jellybean rom to get this to work.  I used these settings with Gingerbread and it would not work.

As of this post I am running AOKP Build 5.28.2013 and my phone works great.  I recieve mms and fast Hspa+ data.  Hopefully, this will help some of you out.  If it does please plus one this post so I know to leave it up.  Thanks.



Keywords: Samsung Galaxy SII, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung i777

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Top 5 Chrome Extensions

The Browser of Choice

Chrome is my browser of choice and the browser you should be using.  Internet Explorer has come along way, but it also left many users behind.  Microsoft won't let users of XP upgrade IE without upgrading their operating system, but Chrome doesn't care if you're running Windows Seven or Windows Eight.  Secondly, Firefox will always have a special place in my heart, but when I was more invested in web developing Firefox just wouldn't render things the way I wanted.  Also if you're using Safari, it's time to move on.  Chrome delivers webpages the way website designers want them to be seen.  Chrome will also link across computers and devices.  Use Chrome at work and at home and your favorites and extensions will all by synced.   Install an extension on one and it will be on all your devices that run Chrome.


Chrome Extensions

One of the greatest things about Chrome is the ability to install extensions or web apps.  These apps can be as up front as games or in the background like an ad blocker.


Top 5 Chrome Extensions

5. Turn Off the Lights

Turn Off the Lights is an extension that runs in the background and dims the screen when you are watching a video.  I make everything full screen so I don't really notice it much, but on those rare occasions when I'm just browsing videos or I want to keep my tabs in sight for notifications, it is a really nice extension to have.  

Everything is dimmed with Turn Off the Lights.  I have also adjusted the settings so my background is blurred as well.
Turn Off the Lights comes with a lot of settings to full around with, but the one I recommend ticking is the automatic dimming when playing a video.  There is a lightbulb that will appear in your address bar for you to click every time you want to dim the background for a video, but clicking that every time you want to watch a video is a step to easily eliminate.  

They are working on some other features which will be great once they work correctly such as dynamic lighting.  With this feature, a glow will be placed around the video, but the color of the glow will change along with the video.  This feature hasn't been working a hundred percent for me though and when it does it causes a lot of lagging.  

Be sure to dig into the customization of Turn Off the Lights for something that suits you, and you will probably find it as handy as I do.

Download Turn Off the Lights for Chrome Here


4. Hover Zoom

This great extension has become so integrated into my life that when I'm on a computer without it, I have a hard time remembering that Hover Zoom doesn't automatically come with my internet experience.  Hover Zoom basically takes the work out of looking at a photo on the web. First, you have to click on the photo then you have to wait for the page to load a light box just so you can see the photo.  Or, you could just use Hover Zoom.  


Any Image in Facebook's Gallery will pop up over the page

Hover Zoom takes the light box or redirection to a new page out of the equation.  Simply place your cursor over an image and it will pop up without any clicking needed. 

This extension is great for social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, and it's great on Deviant Art.  The beauty of this extension really comes alive on Amazon.com and Ebay.com.


I don't even have to navigate to an item's page to see the picture in full view.


3. Mail Checker Plus For Google Mail

Mail Checker Plus is a great extension for those of us that use Gmail and use Chrome.  Basically, you can get notifications and a snippet of what a new email contains without ever going to the actual Gmail page.  You can delete and archive messages right from the popup.


There is a subtle sound followed by the noninvasive popup with new emails.
Of course you can disable the sound or even the animation if you don't like those bits because this extension remains useful with all of it's other features. There is a persistent button the app gives located on the top right that says in a glance how many messages are unread.  Clicking on the button extends the information given to snippets of the emails with options to mark read, archive, spam, or delete for each.  Even if you have no emails you can click on the button and compose a new email without ever leaving the page you're on or share the page you're on all within this extension. 



The extension is clean and will speed leave your internet experience feeling quick without the sensation you've missed anything.  If you do install this extension, be sure to give a look over the settings.  You're in control of many things including the look of the icon that stays on your Chrome tool bar.



2. Feedly

For those of you who like Flipboard, you may want to check out Feedly.  On its surface, Feedly is an RSS reader which means it pulls content from other websites as they update with articles or stories.  Think of your Facebook wall and how it is constantly pulling content from your friends and randomly liked pages from five years ago you may or may not care about and feeding it to you.  This is what Feedly does, but on a much more organized and personalized level.
Feedly giving me headlines from all of my different news sources.
I could narrow it down easily by clicking a topic on the left of the screen.

Feedly has many different styles and ways of viewing pages.  If you don't like the reader look above maybe look at their other styles and see which you prefer.  You can even change the way Feedly shows you content by topic.  For example, I like having a photography feed in Feedly, but I don't want to have to click on a list of a 100+ photos just to look at what others are doing.  For my photography topic I have it set to a Pinterest-like tile view.

The great thing about Feedly is that pairs with its apps for Android and iOS--and its app is beautiful.  If there is an article you want to save to read on the computer later you can save it an it automatically syncs.  The app is very quick  and feels light.  Going into the advanced settings can be fun too.  The mobile app can be customized for gestures and animations.
The Android app with the navigation panel and a page of feeds.  Feedly looks at your content and will use image heavy content for more of a magazine feel like Flipboard.
*side note: Can we STOP talking about the X Phone?  Please?

What's great about Feedly is I've just barely started covering it.  Feedly is one of those tools that you didn't know you needed until you have started using it.  Instead of visiting ten different sites for information you just visit Feedly and it's all there.  Yes, this includes your local newspaper and your favorite forum all in one place.  Don't have content?  Feedly will help you create some!


Everything is easy to organize or delete with dragging and dropping.
Lastly, one of the best things about Feedly is its handy share and bookmark tool that follows you around the web.  A Feedly icon sits almost transparent on the lower right side of the screen called Feedly Mini.  If clicked on a page with content a menu will appear with many sharing options from Twitter to Facebook and Google Plus.  What's great about this icon is the plus icon which will add the feed straight into your Feedly.  So anytime you are wondering the web and you stumble on a blog or website you want to keep track of click the plus button in Feedly Mini.
Download Feedly for Chrome here




1. AdBlock

There isn't much to say about AdBlock other than you should have it if you don't.  Basically, it takes the noise out of the web.  AdBlock is available on other web browsers  but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be the number one add-on or extension for all of them.


Facebook looks very clean without the clutter of ads.
AdBlock even blocks some video ads, so if you use Hulu you will have to tell AdBlock "Don't run on this page" which is easy by clicking the button in the top upper right of your Chrome browser.  


YouTube looks very sleek without obtrusive, large ads on every other page.
Don't judge my YouTube subscriptions.  If you want to understand Google "ASMR".
Even if you don't think you need AdBlock, download it anyway.

Download AdBlock for Chrome here






There you have it, my top 5 extensions for Google Chrome.  Be sure to explore Chrome's Store.  There are a lot of free extensions showing up everyday--including games.  

Update: Here are some more great extensions that will change your internet experience.

Google Dictionary - Instead of opening another tab to look up that word you don't know just use this!

Google Quick Scroll - This extension automatically takes you to the relevant part of your Google search when you click on a result.

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The New Google Maps


The new Google maps is rolling out, and I must say, I think it is a vast improvement.  In fact, I didn't realize how much I didn't like the original Google maps until I started using the new Google maps.

"One of the only good things with the Google maps interface is street view"













If we look at the old Google map interface we can see that the map is small.  Browsing the map isn't all that interesting.  Even if we turn on the satellite view the map doesn't do much for me.  One of the only good things with the Google maps interface is street view, but a lot can still be done with it.  When you think of Google maps you get this familiar view as if you just opened to a page in an atlas.  Your directions are off to the side like you pulled up a piece of scratch paper and figured out your route.  Don't get me wrong, the experience much more productive and fluid online compared to the the grueling task of defining your own path.    

New Google Maps with satellite view enabled 






















In other words, there wasn't much done creatively with Google maps.  It was an amazing web that has revolutionized the way we think when it comes to travel since around 2005.  Since its debut, Google has never really changed their maps interface, until now.


"The experience is very fluid and fast in Google's browsing app Chrome. "



I must say I find the new redesign of Google maps beyond refreshing.  Satellite view is my favorite way to view the new app by far, because of the way Google is redefining discovery.  After I have input my directions a grouping of places shows up across the bottom of the screen.  These are considered noteworthy places either along my route or not far from where I'm going to be.  I can get a photo tour just by clicking on an image and it pops up over the maps. If I just hover over an image a line will appear showing me where on the map the image was taken. The experience is very fluid and fast in Google's browsing app Chrome. 

One of the newest features that makes using the app extremely fun is that you can actually change the perspective of the map.  



You can now zoom in and see how high buildings are in relation to each other which might become essential and very helpful for city navigation.

Now, it may seem easy to get lost in all of this, but there is a simple button on the bottom left hand of the screen that will bring beautiful transition and the atlas like map we all know and love.


Unfortunately, the new Google maps is not available for smart phones yet and is by invitation only for the web app as of right now.  You can request an invite by visiting this link and giving Google your email.  All in all, I'm glad to see Google thinking out of their predefined map box and moving into a more integrated atmosphere.  I mean, we should be glad their innovating at all.  Whose their competition?  Bing?

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