Apple to Release No Contract 3G iPhones

March 19, 2009 9:57 PM
Many have been curious as to when Apple was going to lower the price of its 3G iPhone however, Apple thought of an alternative. Rumor has it is that Apple will start selling iPhones without a contract attached to them. The 8GB iPhone will go for $599 and the 16GB iPhone will go for $699, according to a Boy Genius Report.
 
The Boy Genius Report obtained an AT&T power point presentation regarding the news. Slide four states that the offer will be starting March 26, 2009 for existing customers.
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Apple's New Third Generation 4GB iPod Shuffle Speaks

March 11, 2009 4:30 PM
With the release of the new iPod shuffle from Apple, I could care less where Steve Jobs is or is not in the company's corporate ladder. Apple shareholders should now be able to rest easy knowing that even though Jobs is not currently the poster child for the company, they are still releasing products that extend the quality of the previous models.
 
What makes this third generation 4GB iPod shuffle better than the rest is the VoiceOver function, size and overall function of the device. With VoiceOver, the iPod shuffle can tell you the artist and song name that is being played, status information such as the amount of battery life and the names of the playlists you have stored on the shuffle.
 
"Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. "The amazingly small new iPod shuffle takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists."
 
In addition to English, the iPod shuffle can speak 14 languages including Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
 
Significantly smaller than a double A battery, it can hold up to 1,000 songs and is easier to use with all of the controls conveniently located on the earphone cord.
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New Skype 4.0 Review

February 27, 2009 7:00 PM | 1 Comment
For those who may not know, I lived in Chile, South America for about two years and when I needed to call home Skype would come to my rescue. Nothing beats free and all of the Cyber Cafes I ever went to in South America had Skype already installed on every single PC.
 
Now, this could be because of the Internet connections South America but there were times where Skype was not my friend and I was very close to deleting the program all together. Needless to say, I did continue using the previous version of Skype until my return to the States, dropped calls, echoes, or the other caller could hear me all plague my calls. However, in Skype's defense these problematic occurrences didn't happen all the time.
 
Now, Skype introduced a new version, Skype 4.9 and TMC Contributor, Vivek Naik reported, "For prospective and potential first time users, the application is used for Voice and Video over Internet Protocol, or "VVoIP," calls, and its services are mostly for free - audio calls, video and audio calls, instant messages, sending files and emailing.
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Forrester: Customer Experience Counts

February 27, 2009 5:08 PM | 2 Comments

Customer satisfaction should be the number one priority in any business. Customer experience is usually measured by whether the company meets a customer's needs, whether the company is easy to work with, and the satisfaction of a consumer's interactions with the company.

 

Companies especially call or contact centers need to deal with customers on a daily basis, making sure each one hangs up the phone satisfied or at lest close to it. A new report from Forrester Research shows that customer experience is closely tied to customer loyalty, and that the relationship between the two has increased since last year.

 

The report measures loyalty by a customer's willingness to repurchase from a company, reluctance to switch and likelihood to recommend.

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Lose It! App Helps Those in Weight Loss Need

February 19, 2009 7:32 PM
For some reason since the start of the new year, every morning I wake up a few minutes before my alarm rings and although I'm--for the most part--awake, I still sit in bed and stare and the ceiling in an almost a state of panic. During this time I tell myself that today is a new day, a day for change and that 'hope' will still be a four letter word in my vocabulary.
 
Eventually, I muster up the courage to get out of bed and start my daily routine with the first order of business: weighing in. You see, nutritionists (and demons) say in order to get an accurate calculation of ones weight, punishing yourself in the wee hours of the morning right before you go to work, which for some could be another punishment, is best. This suggestion I fairly understand and it is because of this that I have also come to the realization that without nutritionists and personal trainers, there wouldn't be jobs for therapists or psychologists.
 
One can only imagine other four letter words that are also in my vocabulary during weigh-in, the word 'hope' usually doesn't exist at this time.
 
The biggest New Year's resolution is to lose weight.
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Hurray a New Home Recycling Center!

February 13, 2009 5:54 PM
Money does not grow on trees, wish it did but, sad to say it doesn't. Regardless, for some reason companies cannot grasp the concept that people in this day and age, mainly because of economic reasons, cannot afford gadgets that although may assist in our everyday tasks, the bottom line is we usually don't actually need it because we can still do the task manually.
 
Perhaps this needs a bit of clarification. In my daily online search of gadget wonders, I came across a green gadget that aids users in the recycling process.
 
Though technology usually means it will make lives easier and comfortable, the cost is the catch. I present to you the Mode All-in-One Home Recycling Center, where convenience meets functionality.
 
According to the Brookstone Website, "Mode All-in-One Recycling Center has a 2-bin sorting system plus a built-in compaction chamber--so it can hold up to 3X more recyclables than typical units!
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Amazon.com Announces New Kindle

February 10, 2009 6:23 PM
It is my personal belief that reading has always been portable. Simple pick up a lightweight paperback at your favorite bookstore carry it around in your hand or purse and read it at your leisure, anywhere.
 
For some reason, it has been embedded into our minds that in order to get the most out of a product, it needs to be sleek, slim and most importantly, portable. For this thought process I blame Apple and their iThings. Not that there is anything wrong with sleek and slim portability but, at what cost?
 
Amazon.com has recently announced its releasing a slimmer version of its Kindle electronic reading device, but it will still costs $359.
 
"This device is a significant improvement versus the first generation," said Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.
 
Bezos said there was no way to lower the price given the upgraded components in the Kindle 2, which is a bit more than one-third of an inch thick -- about half the thickness of the first Kindle. Its 6-inch screen can display 16 shades of gray, compared with the previous Kindle's four shades.
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Congress Lends a Digital TV Transition Hand

February 6, 2009 2:47 PM
America, are we all still up-in-arms about the digital TV transition? Looks like it. First the government said that to keep up with the times people needed to get rid of their analog, rabbit ear TVs for a digital one leading Congress to pass a budget of $1.34 billion to give out coupons for those who wanted assistance in buying converters to convert the signal if a new TV was not in the constituents future.
 
Then the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the arm of the Commerce Department said, "Umm, we're out of money," leading to a wide-spread panic (maybe not so wide) of people not knowing what to do. Fast forward a bit, Obama becomes president, one of his fixer-uppers is this digital cable fiasco so he says, "Uh, what we need to do is, uh, delay it."
 
Up to speed?
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Trillion Dog Dare You

February 5, 2009 8:29 PM
I realize that everyone around here in the office is all in bunches about the ITEXPO which ended yesterday. Chatter around the water cooler is that it was a success and VoIP is Alive and Well. Needless to say I didn't go, I was too worried about the deficit!
 
Reading a report on CNN.com the story highlights nearly sent me into cardiac arrest.
 
  • One trillion stacked dollars would reach nearly 60,000 miles, 1/3 way to moon
  • Professor: You couldn't spend $1 trillion if you spent $1M a day since Jesus' birth
  • All financial market interventions, loans, bailouts total more than $7 trillion
 
Excuse me Christine Romans of CNN's American Morning? (You have to give credit where credit is due, you know.)
 
Ok the first one, I'm a visual person so I would have to actually take a trip up to the moon and have a marker saying that's where a trillion dollars ends, the second...he's pictured below and quite frankly I want to know if he traveled in his time machine and met Jesus too.
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Panasonic Still Trying to Hold onto Those Ideas

February 4, 2009 6:15 PM
Looking for a new plasma TV? Better wait until the summer when Panasonic is slated to launch its new plasma TV here in the States.
 
Already set to launch in April in Japan, Panasonic's new plasma TVs are said to be 50-inch and 54-inch screen models with a quarter of the thickness and consumption of half as much electricity as conventional models. Wider is not better and green is in. Panasonic has introduced its newest model in a bid to stir up demand amid a spreading recession.
 
According the company, Panasonic, is ahead of Samsung Electronics and aims to boost its combined sales of LCD and plasma sets by 50 percent to 15.5 million units this coming year starting in April.
 
The 50-inch is likely to sell for in Japan for 600,000 yen or 6,685 dollars and the 54-inch model for 700,000 yen.
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What, Ten Dollar Laptops in India?

February 4, 2009 5:53 PM | 1 Comment
When asking the average gadget savvy, consumer electronic wench if he or she romps around with a laptop in their messenger bag, chances are they do--and they are on their way to (free Wi-Fi) Starbucks.
 
It's even customary for U.S. university students to not only have a cell phone but also a laptop in hand on their way to their noon classes, in their pajamas. Laptops are replacing PCs not only for their portability and lightweight bonuses but because they are getting cheaper and cheaper. Moreover schools and universities sometimes strike deals with major vendors.
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Nike Slam Dunks in Online Sales

February 2, 2009 6:37 PM
NIKE.jpg

Nike, the athletic footwear conglomerate has announced that they are doing rather well, online. Nike's US chief executive Mark Parker has stated that the company is seeing "a fairly dramatic increase in online sales."
 
Parker announced the news to a panel at the World Economic Forum annual meeting.
 
Conclusions could be made that Nike is experiencing a sharp increase in online sales, driven in part by cost-conscious shoppers conserving gasoline. With consumers looking for ways to save money and gas prices now on the rise again, a leisurely drive is now out of the question.
 
The company last month reported a nine percent rise in quarterly net profit showcasing that they are solid and secure from the current global economic crisis.
 
Industry analysts say the online sector continues to grow as more shoppers opt to shop on the Internet for convenience and the ability to compare bargains.
 
Most recently, Nike sported a deal with the University of Richmond in Virginia.
 
According to Martin Newton, Nike's college basketball sports marketing manager, Richmond became attractive to Nike as the company changed its business model.
 
"In the past, we didn't have necessarily the resources to go to that high-mid-major level and do an all-sports deal," Newton said. "The all-sports deals were kind of reserved for the BCS-type schools.
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The Fall of Kennedy

January 22, 2009 7:00 PM
For some reason I just can't help but think technology drove Caroline Kennedy to drop out of the race for the senate seat. Political figures have always been in the spotlight and their business' known. Take Timothy F. Geithner for example, who, even though, was endorsed by the Senate Finance Committee as secretary of the Treasury, was grilled prior to being sworn in about his failure to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes.
 
According to the New York Times, "that lapse caused considerable embarrassment for Mr. Geithner, even as some members of the panel said they were willing to accept his word that the failure was an honest mistake."
 
Undoubtedly, nevertheless Mr. Geithner stuck it out and is now the Secretary of the Treasury.
 
Of course, his issues are neither here nor there in regards to Ms. Kennedy, as her main problems and the reason I believe she decided to withdrawal her name, is because one she cannot, under any circumstances, speak well in public and two she didn't like being in the public eye.
 
"I have, you know, quite a lot to learn, but I feel like I bring a lot with me, as well," Kennedy said.
 
You know, umm, like I understand what you're saying but you know you should realize that you were running for a very public position, maybe a diction class would have benefited
 
"I feel this commitment, and this is a time when nobody can afford to sit out. And I hope that I have something to offer," Kennedy said.
 
Again, perhaps not the best choice of words, HOPE is the key word here signifying to every New Yorker that yes, she does want to help however she's unsure if she has the capability or capacity to do so.
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Apple is Good!

January 22, 2009 3:19 PM
Thank the Gods, who control the technology sector, Apple has reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 a share, on revenue of $10.17 billion. In other words this is excellent news showing people, especially stockholders that, even without Jobs, Apple can still do well.
 
"It was a great quarter and I think better than most people expected,'' said Yair Reiner, analyst at Oppenheimer."I would say iPod sales were well ahead of the consensus. Mac sales were strong, iPhone was a little bit softer than I hoped, but people were braced for that.''
 
According to CNBC, the December quarter is traditionally Apple's strongest, fueled by holiday sales. The company sold 2.52 million Mac computers in the quarter, up nine percent from last year, while iPod sales rose three percent to 22.7 million units.
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How Did CNN Partnered with Facebook Inauguration Coverage Do?

January 21, 2009 12:34 PM
When I saw that Facebook and CNN were going to be working together on streaming the President inauguration a few days prior, I clicked the "Yes I'll attend" button and waited with anticipation to watch while sharing comments with friends.
 
According to InsideFacebook.com, more than 1 million people had updated their Facebook status through the CNN.com Live Facebook feed as of 2 p.m. Eastern time today. The Web site also reported that there were 8,500 statuses updates the minute Obama began his speech and 4,000 status updates every minute during the broadcast.
 
Logging on about a half-hour before the actual swearing in of the then President-elect, I waiting for the LIVE video to start playing and I too updated my status, "Jessica is waiting on the world to change." (I know, I'm clever.) However, that was the only thing I was able to do. As the time neared for Obama to take the oath of office the video was still waiting to connect!
 
Scott Bouchard, a Web designer here at TMC and who also blogs for his Design vs.
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