Computer Support Blog

Keeping track of one’s money has never been something people enjoy.  While the act does come easier to some of us, many people struggle with even their day-to-day financial planning and run into trouble all too quickly.

Chext is a cool product available on the web and on mobile devices that helps people who struggle with their money.  Chext provides customers with a web platform for keeping a financial calendar and scheduling payments, but the real innovation from this company involves text messaging.  Chext tracks people’s spending and sends them texts whenever there is an unexpected purchase or when their bank accounts drop uncharacteristically low.  These texts alert clients when something is wrong with their account or when they are simply spending too much money.  Chext provides a way to alert someone automatically when money management has become an issue.  With this cool product, even people who generally struggle with handling their personal finance can have a safety net that keeps their unnecessary spending in check.  Read more »

Living with diabetes is no easy task, even with all the advances of medical technology in the last few decades.  One of the most difficult aspects of living with the condition is the need to keep track of one’s body chemistry constantly.  Cool person in technology Erez Raphael wants to make it easier and more convenient for diabetics to track their blood sugar and insulin.  Raphael’s company, Dario, has developed a small mobile phone accessory and companion app that let diabetics check their blood with their smartphone.  Usually, people require separate devices for checking their blood sugar and insulin levels.  Even worse, these devices are often very expensive and invasive to the user.  Dario is a very small device that plugs directly into a smartphone’s headphone jack.  The device holds a number of strip cartridges that provide minimal discomfort when sampling blood.  Users can easily insert and eject cartridges without expending much effort. The lightweight convenience of this device is certainly a preferable alternative to more complicated and painful dedicated devices for the same purpose.  Any user who has a broken headphone jack on their smartphone will need smartphone PC repair in order to use Raphael’s device. Read more »

Battery life is always a key issue whenever reviews for a new model of cell phone come out on the web.  Smartphones become more demanding and power intensive as time passes, and while battery technology continues to improve, many of us still find ourselves charging our phones once or twice a day just to keep them running.  Cool person in technology Tibor Fabian founded Ardica to tackle this problem and find new ways to improve mobile battery life with his startup Ardica.  Ardica researches, develops and sells new mobile battery technology, and Fabian directs his company away from just improving the standard lithium-based batteries that are most common today.  He wants to find innovative solutions that surpass what is expected and put out more power for longer periods of time.  That’s why Fabian and his team develop batteries based on fuel cells and chemical hydride technology rather than using conventional techniques.  Fabian believes this technology will produce more efficient batteries that last longer and have greater overall lifespans.  Mobile device users who have needed smartphone computer repair for battery issues know all too well that current technology can be quite frustrating.  Read more »

A company’s logo is integral to its identity.  It’s the first point of interaction between a business and its customers in most cases.  It is the symbol of a company and is what comes to mind for most people when that business comes up in real world conversation.  However, for all of its importance, a logo is just a static image.  Even the best-designed logos can only engage so much with their audiences.  Cool product LogoGrab wants to change that fact.  LogoGrab is a tech startup that has developed a technology that links logos to digital content on the web.  When LogoGrab applies its technology to a design, the logo can then work the same way as a QR code might with a smartphone.  People in the physical world can scan the logo and it will take them directly to any web content of the company’s choosing.  LogoGrab adds a layer of interactivity to a company’s logo, making it more than simply a symbol to a business’s customer base.  In a way, LogoGrab makes designs that act as an ambassador to a company’s audience, since the interactive logos connect users to more content from that company.  Any company who wants to use LogoGrab and integrate it with an existing mobile app and mobile site will need sufficient mobile IT support resources. Read more »

Have you ever been at a theme park, but been without an easy way to find out when certain shows and attractions occurred?  Maybe you’ve been at a museum and walked through hundreds of exhibits with no way to get more in-depth learning about them.  Venues such as museums and theme parks could invest in more workers to fill these gaps, but the costs are usually too much for them.  Cool person in technology Todd Marks wants to provide a solution to these institutions that will solve these customer-related problems in an affordable way.  Marks’s company viaPlace has developed technology to deliver people useful information on their mobile phones based on their location at a given time.  For example, theme parks could provide maps and attraction times to users’ phones with viaPlace.  Marks’s company could help museumgoers get more details when they’re at certain exhibits.  These use cases are prime examples of when Marks’s location-based content delivery system would be useful.  Read more »

The holiday season is only a few months away and for many people that will mean the buying and receiving of copious amounts of retail gift cards.  Thickening your wallet with these cards and even remembering to use them all can be inconvenient and troublesome—not the sort of experience you want to have associated with gift giving.  Cool person in technology Vinny Lingham founded his startup Gyft in 2012 to attack the problem of physical gift cards.  Gyft uses mobile technology to make storing, keeping track of, and using gift cards a seamless process for consumers.  Users download an app on their smartphone where they can enter the information from their physical gift cards.  Lingham’s app stores the information and lets users access it directly from their phone so they can toss all the plastic versions of their cards away.  Read more »

Kairos is a cool product in technology that utilizes biometrics to form the base for a timeclock system at a place of work.  Kairos runs on a smartphone or tablet and checks employees in and out of their shifts through facial recognition technology.  When an employer uses Kairos, all an employee supposedly has to do to punch in for their shift is look at the smartphone or tablet camera.  Kairos will automatically recognize the employee as legitimate and record their punch-in time.  If this cool product works as advertised it could be seriously advantageous for small businesses.  It doesn’t require any extra equipment beyond a working tablet or smartphone that a company might be able to repurpose.  It can also effectively prevent any type of timecard fraud.  If employees must have their faces recognized by the camera in order to punch in or out of their shift, then it would be impossible for someone to punch in someone who wasn’t on time or absent.  In theory, this would increase the accuracy of timecards and avoid any potential abuse of the system.  Employers who want to take advantage of Kairos but have no experience with smartphones or tablets can seek help from business computer services. Read more »

QR codes can be a very useful tool in business and marketing because of the way they connect the physical world with web content.  When someone scans a QR code with their tablet or smartphone, the code instantly connects them with a web page containing specific content—a picture, a video, a coupon, a blog, etc.  Companies can use these QR codes for promotions, sales, and viral marketing. JumpScan is a cool product that gives you your own personalized QR codes and allows you to track them and how people engage with your advertising.  When you want to run a promotion and use QR codes to market it, JumpScan provides you with a simpler user interface that lets you customize your QR code even if you have no coding knowledge.  JumpScan streamlines the process of marketing with QR codes for companies that don’t have the capability to create their own. If you don’t understand QR codes or would like to learn more about how they work, find a tech support service for assistance.  Read more »

External batteries for the extended use of mobile devices have grown in popularity over the last few years.  Power users who travel frequently like having constant access to an extra power source so they don’t disconnect at inconvenient times.  Unfortunately, not unlike smartphones themselves, these external batteries can sometimes be quite fragile.  Zendure CEO and founder Bryan Liu has developed an external battery where durability should not be a concern.  Liu calls these batteries the A-series.  Zendure is aiming these products at those who want extra charge for their mobile devices on the go, but don’t want to worry about carrying around another easily breakable electronic accessory. Liu is a cool person in technology who wants to solve this type of problem for consumers. Read more »

We still use paper and plastic in many unnecessary situations despite the rise of mobile technology.  Loyalty cards, gift cards, boarding passes, concert tickets, and coupons are all still most commonly physical items that are inconvenient and to both customers and businesses alike.  Some time ago, Apple created Passbook to encourage people to replace these physical items with digital version on their iPhones.  However, while use has grown steadily, Passbook has still only seen relatively limited uptake.  Kevin William David is a cool person in technology that wants to change that.  David founded Walletkit in 2012 to help businesses integrate Apple Passbook into their model.  David designs, codes, and delivers professional grade passbook passes to Walletkit’s clients to suit their specific needs.  David clearly believes in a more convenient future based on mobile technology and he’s doing his part to spread it with his company.  If you’ve never tried Apple Passbook, but are interested in using it, you should speak to iPhone support to learn more about it.  Read more »