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Apple has done it again. They've just announced a new pair of apple earbuds, once again, trying to brainwash apple fanboys in buying their extremely overly priced product. "EarPods", they call it. They say the EarPods have been in development for three years now, making this the "perfect" apple accessory. Although the EarPods, compared to the old apple earbuds, have majorly improved in comfort and sound quality, it's just not something I personally would be crazy for. For 30 bucks, I can honestly and hands-down say that this is a total rip-off. When buying apple products, keep in mind that you are paying around 30% for the product and 70% for the name, Apple. Im not saying that Apple products are bad, I just think it's unfair to have to pay such a high price for products you can get for a lower price and better too.

This article is about the comparison of the old apple earphones and the new EarPods. Apple claims that the new EarPods sound as powerful as the expensive earphones invented in the world (example: Beats by Drake.. if that's what they're called). These new EarPods are as powerful as a expensive pair of earphone, but cost only 29$ and if you purchase any apple device (iPhone, iPod touch, etc.) these earbuds are free.  I have watched the video below, and some people say they can't tell a difference from the old earphone, while other people say it's a big difference. I have never used the EarPods before, but in my opinion I do think it would make a difference because technology is improving and becoming more successful. One little piece of technology can make a big difference in the world. Also, the customers have commented that these EarPods are more comfortable to fit into your ears. These EarPods are not a great device to repair. However, they are a low price so once your EarPods break, you could buy a new pair.

This article discuses the fact that google TV is now getting a voice search. I think this is a very good thing because it would save a great deal of time for everyone while they are scrolling through google. You now do not need to spend countless minutes scrolling through pages and pages of information and finding what you need. The voice search will allows you to find the exact information you need at a certain point of time. Google's also adding Primetime, an unobtrusive improvement to the on-screen guide. In my opinion this would be a good addition to google. I and lots of other students use google for help with homework, assignments, and just general research. Now students will be able to find the exact information they need, and in a very short period of time.

This article is about how just recently, companies Apple and HTC have signed a 10-year licensing deal meaning that every single one of Apple's and HTC's lawsuits filed against each other has now been settled. Both have been sued by each other for infringing on each other's patents. This new licencing deal means that the companies can use each other's patents to a certain extent- giving their phones an edge over the rest of the smartphone market. HTC says they signed the deal to focus on making better products instead of spending so much time dealing with court. Some analysts say that Apple settled the lawsuits quickly to deal with Samsung and their lawsuits towards them. Apple has signed agreements previously with Nokia and Microsoft allowing them to use certain patents. I chose the tag of portable computing because both Apple and HTC produce many successful smartphone portable computing. Hopefully this deal will help improve both of their smartphone operations benefiting us consumers. In my opinion I think that this whole suing fest (lack of a better word) that has been going on recently is pretty silly as many cases don't seem as if they are worthy to be being sued about. I am glad to see that Apple has settled their disputes with HTC to cut down on this smartphone lawsuit drama.

This article talks about new gesture that could be used in addition to finger touch in order to have more options easily and launch new apps using your knuckle, fingertip, fingernail and more. A trio of Ph.D. students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh managed to modify a Samsung Galaxy SIII to accept input from all three different touch variations, and tell the difference between them. It accomplishes this with the help of a vibration sensor and software that listens for the acoustic differences that come with the different types of touches. A man named Harrison has already started a company called Qeexo to start selling this tech. This vibration sensor can easily be added to any smartphone's "guts" and the software added too.   This article has a lot to do with portable computing because different companies are always coming up with new innovative ways to make smart phones more "smart". This is one of those things that a new company called Qeexo is doing. They are looking to improve the options and speed of using a smartphone for example instead of opening up a note pad by going into the menu and clicking it with your finger, you can use the "shortcut" of taping your knuckle twice to open it. This can also be used in gaming, option menus etc.  The main point is that companies are always changing making technology much more natural and easy to use. I think that this is a very good idea and over time if people hear about this depending on how much this would cost to upgrade it may become big and even become a pre-installed feature. 

LG released its newest refrigerator called the Smart Thing.which as you can guess, is a "smart" fridge. The fridge can communicate and interact with your Android phone to complete or help complete some of its tasks. This fridge can tell you what is in the fridge, scan barcodes of food products, suggest recipes based on the user's preferences and lifestyle, notify expiration dates, and count your calories. All these features can be done on an Android smartphone. Everyday, technology is improving itself to be better than its predecessor and allowing us to live simpler, more automated lives. This fridge is bringing computing into the kitchen by allowing us to do more things with our fridge other than just store food. We can now have our questions like "when will the eggs expire?" answered automatically by this new fridge. It appears as time goes on, the implementation of computers into our daily lives will be more and more prominent. The LG Smart Thinq is an amazing appliance because it is redefining the refrigerator entirely by making it so that modern fridges should soon have built-in computers. Yes this fridge is expensive at about $4500, but over time this price will drop to something more reasonable and also influence other companies to make fridges just like this one. Though this is a cool fridge, I still wonder who would buy a $4500 fridge.

This article is about the transition from HD to 4K, which is know as Ultra High Definition (UHD). It talks about how a decade ago, we were introduced to HD TV, which is now a standard in the TV and technology community, and how the consumers reacted to it and how it transitioned compared to how we were transitioned into 3DTV. At the time, HD TV was expensive, but when the price came to an affordable price, it was a big hit and made a lot of money over the years. Now we are being introduced to UHD and the question people are asking is how will the consumers react to this. When 3D TV was introduced, it sounded like it was an amazing thing to have, but it did not sell well, as it was marketed to children and the only real 3D programming were sports and some action films. 4K is a huge improvement in technology from HD, but not many people think it will bloom just as HD did. We will have to wait for an answer when the public is able to purchase these TV's, but for now, the road that 4K is looking like it will take is right down the middle.

Yes

This article is about a space capsule named the Dragon capsule. The capsule will be going to the ISS (international Space Station). it is going to supply the ISS with food and new improvements.  NASA and SpaceX have been trying to send  it earlier but they have experienced problems with their thrusters and they had to delay it for a couple of weeks. They have finally solved the problems and the capsule will arrive at the ISS at March 3rd at 6:01 am (so precise). This will be available for veiwing a NASA TV and will start at 3:30AM the same day.

your mother was right- Posture is important! In this article, a new innovating chair has been introduced to the market, Gesture chair. Ever since the progression of technology in the last decade, tablets, smartphones and computers are everywhere- including the office. These new technologies, and their frequent use have uncovered nine new postures that have never been seen before. And with these new postures, a new chair is needed for the proper support. Many overlook the importance of posture in you health but good posture is as imperative as eating right, exercising and so on. For example, when we are sitting at a computer much like you are now reading this, you are most likely hunched over with you head and neck tilted forward.This hunched over position creates an imbalance between your head and your spinal column forcing the human body to stretch certain spinal ligaments to support your head. This can eventually cause fatigue and pain. However, this is where Gesture comes in; this chair has the ability to support you body's many postures and movements through out the day. Its features include movable arm rests, fluidity in the back that cradles your back and more. This chair encourages movement rather than restricting the body to a certain position. Overall, it is something that can positively affect your health, and shares new ideas regarding the chair and how we can use technology and kinesiology to improve our lives.

This article is about Freescale launching the world's smallest arm chip. It is made of silicon and is only 2 x 2 x 0.5mm. It can hold 48 HMz ARMM Cortex-M0+ processor, 32KB flash memory, and 4KB of RAM. This, however, is not designed to run desktop software, but is instead intended to be used for products that can be swallowed. I think this is an improvement on "Portable Computing", as this technology can be used in the medical field. This also follows the trend of minimization, as we can now see the potential and advantages of having smaller chips, for example, inserting them into pills that can be swallowed. Freescale is pricing this product at 75 cents apiece, if purchased in 100 000 unit loads. However, I am certain that the cost will go up dramatically if launched successfully, causing the a shift in the electronic market and economy.

JavaScript is a well known programming tool that has been around for quite awhile. Many up and coming programmers start out with JavaScript based on it being flexible, maintainable, powerful, and very easy to use. However, once these startups start becoming larger and larger, many lines of coding are needed, and this is where the issue arrives. When being used on a larger scale, JavaScript is in no way the main performer as it is on the smaller scale. JavaScript's features previously stated are what attract programmers to using the engine. However, now that larger companies are using it, the limitations are becoming evident. Being described as an 'iron triangle', JavaScript's issues lie in the fact with an improvement in one area. another area suffers. If you want high flexibility and performance, it's going to be harder to maintain the code. If you want great performance and maintainability,  the flexibility and ability to adapt to change will be reduced. Big budget companies don't have time to be messing around with JavaScript's shortcomings, which is keeping them attracted to lesser engines, such as Flash. The article then continues to discuss whether or not JavaScript is on it's death bed. Some argue that a total revamp is required to keep JavaScript afloat, while others believe that the death of JavaScript will allow newer, more optimized engines to be developed and brought to the world's attention. I tagged this article as economics simply for that last point. Browser engines such as JavaScript and Flash have been around for quite awhile, with no threats to their status in sight. JavaScript is in no way broken, and it is still a very viable tool for web development. However, it may take the death of JavaScript and perhaps Flash for companies to be inspired to build from the ground up a new engine that will pick up all the short comings of the past years and completely rid of them. At the end of the article, JavaScript variants and languages are seen a

This article informs us on the latest news about Sony's new OLED TVs, which can output in 4K.  4K resolution is the highest resolution possible so far, and Sony wants to be one of the first companies to put a product out on the market with 4K resolution.  Sony's 30-inch 4K OLED prototype is set for a 2014 release date, with the A series monitor available in May.  This 4k technology will either be a break or bust for Sony.  If consumers are interested in 4k technology, then Sony TVs will help the company prosper.  That said, 4k may not be good for Sony. 4K TVs may end up not generating much of a user base, as 1080p is very good, and there is little improvement between that and 4k. Instead of buying these new TVs, people may just stick with their 1080p televisions. Only time will tell.

Microsoft has recently announced Windows 8.1, an update that will attempt to win back all those disgruntled Windows 8 users. A main feature that is being added is the world renown start button, a feature that caused a lot of dissatisfaction among users who upgraded from previous versions of Windows. A big note however behind this announced change is that Microsoft is staying with it's word of actually using user feedback to improve their system, and by doing this, admitting that they were wrong. Another author comments that Microsoft NEEDS Windows 8.1 to have positive feedback, or else Microsoft could be in trouble in the ever changing OS market.  In the end, hearing of this news is VERY good for the average user, as Microsoft is trying their best to fix an error in direction that might have resulted in huge loses for the market dominating company. Let's just hope that Microsoft continues the support of their brand, and turns Windows 8 into the best OS in the PC world.

Earlier today, Twitter announced  a brand new update for it's searching features for the web and smartphones including Android and IOS. This new update adds a search button to the Iphone making it up to speed with Androids and any form of a tablet. Also, this update improves search results for photos, tweets and twitter accounts. Secondly, the connect tab automatically defaults to interactions which will display new followers, mentions as well as re tweets. Lastly, which is probably the most favourite new addition, is a change in Twitters mobile implementations handle links. Meaning, you can now click a URL directly from your twitter timeline without having to open a related tweet. This is the new twitter search update that was released earlier today. Make sure to install this update and the mobile site is already sporting the latest updates, but you will need to update your IOS or Android smartphone at their respective store.

With the thin, sleek design, the shiny screen, and the convenient touch screen, the iphone has grown to become one of the most wanted phones in our country. Behind the high-tech phones and tablets though there's a much more serious issue. Iphones are often created in factories in China that exploit their workers. Things like child labor and abuse are practiced often in these factories. However, this article didn't only bring up the issue of human rights violations, but also our role in it. In the past, companies like Nike have been forced to improve the quality and treatment in these factories after many people boycotted the brands once discovering the ethical issues in the production process. We have not let the exploitation of workers in China pass before, so why are we doing it now with these Apple products. Every time we lay down our money and pick up a new iphone or ipad, we are encouraging this type of production and becoming a part of it. Even our simple, silly complaints about the Apple products can make the conditions worse for those poor workers. They are forced to work even harder and longer, no matter how tired, underpaid and overworked they already are. Has it become important for us to own the best phone, that the rights and sufferings of other human beings no longer matters? Why are we not taking the action necessary to help those workers and send a clear message of opposition? Before, reading this article I also wanted an iphone. It's a great phone, very convenient and high-tech. Knowing the conditions these phones are made in though has started to really make me doubt what I used to consider an amazing phone. It's an ethical issue. Do I want this phone so badly that I'm willing to turn a blind eye to the places it came out of? What scared me was that as much as I knew what the clear answer was, it was still a hard decision to make. Exploiting other humans is wrong and no matter how big Apple is, they are not an exceptio

As a social generation, we use various online 'social networks' to connect with others and share information (e.g. photos, text, videos.) But has anyone ever considered integrating one of these networks into a scholastic environment? This is exactly what Assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, Christina Greenhow has found in a recent study. While most say that social networks like Twitter are poisoning the minds of our youth, destroying their grammar and face-to-face skills, Greenhow finds that using Twitter in her class has allowed for more engaged students proven to attain higher grades. By integrating Twitter into some of the class' exercises, Greenhow was able to contextualize the material into something the students could relate to, "The students get more engaged because they feel it is connected to something real, that it's not just learning for the sake of learning." Twitter; something bored students would initially hide from teachers in class is now seeing some valid and practical applications in the classroom. This article relates to the tag "eLifestyle" because teachers are constantly trying to integrate web-based teaching into their classrooms in this constantly evolving technological age. This relates to ICS20 because we are one of the classes in the school on the forefront of technology, integrating web services such as Codeacademy, Diigo and even Twitter to enhance our learning experience. This article is not meant to give students excuses to wander off to Twitter during class, but to show teachers the validity in using a web-based social network to improve their teaching methods in the classroom.

Love this post. I've been thinking about this stuff for a while, as in - how do I work twitter into class activity? Any ideas?

This article (by Emily Price) details a few interesting facts surrounding the social media giant 'Facebook', particularly around gaming. We are all familiar with social games, such as Mafia Wars and Farmville, and Facebook has been recently seeing most of their income from in-game advertisements and in-app purchases. Facebook has seen a 13% growth in gaming users since September 2011 (226 million - 251 million.) Facebook now has over 900 million users, and over 500 million users are utilizing Facebook via a mobile platform. Facebook says that games grow on the network in five different ways: App Center, Notifications, News Feed, Timeline, and games users have Bookmarked. 8 out of the 10 top iOS games have Facebook integrated, and the top two categories of games users play on Facebook are 'Simulation' and 'Games and Puzzles.' This relates to Portable Computing because Facebook has recently taken large steps to improve the user's mobile experience, understanding that most of their core audience is on smart devices. This relates to eLifestyle because we see these social networks like Facebook integrating gaming into the user's social feed, allowing them to spend more time on the site. This relates to Economics because as games become cheaper and more accesible, we see that most of the gaming market is taken by mobile games; no longer do we have to go to an electronics boutique to purchase a $60 triple-A game, when we can buy the $0.99 version of said game or another digitally. Mobile games are the consumer conscious choice because you get the most "bang for your buck." This relates to ICS20 because although most of us say that our time on Facebook is deteriorating, we still are entrenched in the social gaming environment; this is demonstrated by Facebook's 65 million user growth in 2012 alone.

Youtube now has a new feature to let viewers watch videos in 3D format using a pair of 3D glasses for a full on HD effect. So far there are a few videos on the site today that serve as a  beta-test for the new feature and since Youtube is constantly improving its ways to watch videos, this'll be just another new and interesting thing for us viewers to look forward to.

this article is about Google + improving their look, on the site making it easier to navigate and to get information.  Google+ will now offer profile pages that will include bigger photos, a la Facebook's Timeline, and feature a chat list that puts friends front and center on your page.

Windows users like myself have all experienced it when your computer starts to slow down.  this article shows tips and ways to improve how your computer runs, its speed and how it opearates as a whole.