Computer Support Blog

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 »

Many of us remember sharing story time with our parents as kids or even to our own kids as parents.  The tradition of storybooks remains strong because it is a strong bonding experience between parent and child.  Mobile technology has made it even easier to share this experience with your children wherever you are, as mobile apps for narrated and interactive storybooks have become more and more commonplace.  However, cool person in technology Woody Sears believes he can make it even easier and more convenient with his new service iStorytime.  iStorytime is a subscription-based service that offers a large, growing collection of digital storybooks to its customers for a monthly charge.  Parents can also buy these digital storybooks a la carte within the iStorytime app.  Sears wants to consolidate the digital storybook experience into one app, so parents have an instant collection of books for their kids whenever they need it.  In theory, this takes away some of the headache of finding new material to read to your kids.  It also ensures that children have access to more varied content to help them learn. Read more »

Video streaming services on the Internet have become wildly successful since their inception, and because of that, you will often find just as many people sitting down in front of their computer to watch something as people sitting in front of their televisions.  Internet streaming services have become just as varied as TV channels.  There are subscription services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go and Amazon Prime as well as pay-per-video services like iTunes and CinemaNow.  It’s becoming just as difficult to remember what videos you can find on what services as it is to remember what TV channel plays a certain show.  Luma is a cool product that is here to fix that issue.  Luma aims to be a comprehensive guide for what’s available and playing on Internet streaming services.  Users can simply search for any show they want to watch and Luma will tell you everywhere it’s available online and whether it’s free, part of a larger subscription or available for a one-time purchase.  You will know exactly where you can find what TV show or movie you want to watch and you can keep a list of what you want to see from every service all in one place.  Luma could potentially make streaming movies and TV shows a much easier process for those who use multiple online video services. Read more »

E-mail marketing is a useful tool for any business, but it does come with its own set of risks and challenges.  Making your company’s e-mails stand out is essential, as is targeting the correct consumers.  Otherwise, people may not trust your e-mails and regard them as spam before blocking them with Internet security software.  MailChimp is a cool product that helps you design and implement professional, high-quality e-mail marketing campaigns to avoid this.  MailChimp gives customers several tools to create a complete e-mail marketing campaign including everything from format and design to analytics and strategy.  The MailChimp client includes ways to split up your e-mail audience into segments for targeted newsletters and offers.   MailChimp also gives users a drag and drop editor to design e-mails to match up coherently with your business’s brand.  MailChimp wants you to be able to give your e-mails a clean and professional look while letting you plan your campaign all in the same program. Read more »

Historically, musical instrumentation and composition has always developed alongside technology.  The potential tools at a songwriter and performer’s disposal have always determined the music that people have written and performed.  With mobile technology now such a prominent part of social existence, how can it impact the development of music now?  Mike Butera and his company Artiphon believe they have a possible answer with his newly developed device—“the Instrument 1”. Butera claims that the Instrument 1 combines modern mobile and touch technologies with the form factor of a string instrument to create a new experience for composers and performers.  While many have played with the idea of integrating a smartphone into a musical instrument as a gimmick, Butera and his team have taken a more sophisticated and serious approach.  The Instrument 1 has professional grade components and a hardwood finish that make it clear Butera and Artiphon want this piece of tech taken seriously.  Read more »

If you have a smartphone, there’s a solid chance you have several mobile apps that you can’t imagine living without.  In fact, with so many programs and applications sticking exclusively to mobile operating systems like Android, you may even wish you had the ability to run your apps on all your machines, even laptops and desktops. Cool person in technology Rosen Sharma is relying on the idea that this is true for many users.  His company Bluestacks has developed a program that allows users to run Android applications on their PC or Mac.  Sharma’s software gives users access to hundreds of thousands of Android apps directly on their computer, allowing people to integrate their favorite apps into their lives even further if they so wish.  Read more »

Using wireless security cameras is a popular way to protect your home or business from intruders.  However, many wireless security cameras are difficult to set up and maintain.  Cam.ly is a cool product that is aiming for users to avoid the many headaches associated with wireless security cameras.  The Cam.ly is an IP camera that adds several unique features based in the cloud to distinguish itself from other video security options.  Cam.ly claims that their wireless security takes only seconds to set up properly before use.  This is possible because Cam.ly uses a cloud system to record and host your security video.  Therefore, you do not need to worry about excessive wiring or connections beyond the wireless network in your home or business.  Read more »

People spend thousands of hours watching web video content, but finding videos specifically tuned to your tastes is not always an easy task.  Video websites like Youtube and Hulu have vast arrays of video content and while they do their best to organize it for their users, it can be overwhelming to sift through everything on your own.  Reece Pacheco is a cool person in technology who believes you shouldn’t need computer support just to navigate video content on the web.  To help, he has created Shelby.tv, a video curation service that creates a personalized “channel” of web video content for you based on what you find most important.  Pacheco wants to create a one-stop space for users to view and discover all of the web’s video content.  Pacheco created Shelby.tv to simplify and personalize the process of finding and watching videos online so viewers can simply focus on enjoying content rather than sifting through endless options on a video service.  Read more »

Many technology companies are in the business of mobile payments, including juggernauts Google, Square, and Isis.  Most of these companies depend on a technology called NFC or Near Field Communications for their mobile payment systems.  However, the problem with this system is that it is expensive and difficult for many vendors and retailers to implement in their stores.  Therefore, mobile payments aren’t seeing widespread use and customers are still carrying around many different credit and debit cards in their wallets.  Omne is a cool product that attempts to solve the same issues as mobile payments—consolidation of your wallet—but does do from a different perspective.  Rather than pay with your mobile phone directly, Omne allows you put all of your credit and debit card accounts on a single payment card.  This card works at any vendor who accepts credit cards so stores need no large and expensive overhauls to accept the payment.  With all your accounts on a single card, you can make payment all the more convenient and may even be able to eliminate the clutter of your wallet.  Read more »

One of the downsides to the gesture and touch-based UIs of today’s mobile devices is that they don’t leave many options for the disabled.  If you are visually impaired or otherwise unable to navigate device using a touchscreen, taking advantage of today’s mobile technology is a near-impossible process.  Cool person in technology David Bong doesn’t think that should have to be the case.  As CEO of Angle, Bong leads a team that’s developing smartphone applications that use voice control to give the visually impaired the ability to use mobile devices as easily and safely as everyone else.  Bong founded Angle in the hope that they could provide more options for those who have difficulty with the current options for accessing content on smartphones and tablets.  Read more »