Computer Support Blog

There are two significant barriers for most people to traveling the world and seeing all that it has to offer: money and not knowing the languages native to the places you wish to visit.  Once you have enough money to travel, you have to determine whether you want to learn a new language or hire a guide.  Either choice may require an investment of time or money you may not wish to spend in that manner or, in the case of adding an additional person, it may fundamentally change the experience you were hoping to have.  Thanks to ECTACO there is now a third option!  If you want to visit Korea, you need not learn the language.  Instead, you just need to take the Partner EK900 Deluxe English-Korean Talking Electronic Dictionary with you! Read more »

Given how fast the smartphone has gone from a novelty to a ubiquitous accessory in the hands of people from every demographic, it might be unsurprising to you how few manufacturers of smartphone accessories have tapped into all of the benefits of the smartphone for their accessories.  While many manufacturers focus on creating accessories that protect your mobile computing device or interface devices that make your mobile device act like a more traditional audio or video player, real innovators continue to create gadgets that use the full range of your mobile device.  Already, there are products that connect your smartphone to a controller to create a new handheld gaming system.  Brookstone wants you to use your Apple mobile devices to control Rover! Read more »

Even with the rise of the smartphone, the need for specialized personal safety devices persists.  For sure, a smartphone may be very helpful in a medical emergency or when there is a threat against your life.  However, with so many smartphones running sophisticated programs, one must often unlock their smartphone and wait for it to boot to a menu screen from which you select the applications you wish to use.  The time it takes to unlock your smartphone may be the moments – especially in a heart attack or assault situation – you need to actually be able to make an emergency call.  Fortunately, as communications devices have become more sophisticated, so too have the specialized emergency/personal safety devices.  One useful personal safety device is the ZOMM Wireless Leash Plus. Read more »

The name Hallmark Cards is virtually synonymous with greeting cards, much the way people refer to MP3 players as iPods or inline skates as Rollerblades.  To its credit in the rapidly changing world, Hallmark Cards has worked very hard to keep with the times and it has a robust online presence.  The physical greeting card manufacturer effectively competes against many online digital greeting card sites and Hallmark Cards continues to innovate.  Seeing the intense interest in mobile computing among many of its fans, Hallmark Cards has released the Hallmark Go Cards application! Read more »

It does not take long, when shopping for new technological gadgets, to realize that every major manufacturer of tech has a different way of connecting, recharging, powering or operating their devices to make them distinctive.  For those who do not want to ally themselves to a single corporate standard and would like to buy gadgets from a wide range of manufacturers, they either end up spending a lot of time figuring out how to maintain each of their devices or they end up spending a lot of money to be able to recharge and synch all of their devices simultaneously.  Callpod, the makers of the ChargePod, FuelTank, and other connectivity devices, saw that problem and has been steadily working to make the lives of consumers much easier.  A lot of the credit for Callpod’s success comes from Craig Lurey. Read more »

You should not attempt to operate your smartphone or tablet computer while driving.  In many states in the United States, legislators are proposing and passing more rigid guidelines pertaining to using a smartphone or texting while driving.  However, because the most aggressive bills proposed to limit smartphone usage in automobiles would also affect the use of radios or dashboard c.d. players, the odds are very good that hands free laws are ones most likely to continue being written and passed.  Thus, anything you can do to make your mobile computing device truly hands free is a good idea.  For those who prefer tablet computers to smartphones, one of the very best options is the Arkon Universal Tablet Car Mount 18” Seat Rail or Floor Mount. Read more »

The smartphone is becomes a more vital piece of technology with each upgrade that manufacturers make.  What was once a basic communication device has transformed into a personal assistant, post office, shopping mall, video camera/camera, art studio and entertainment center!  The power of smartphones is impressive, but for all of their great qualities, each smartphone is limited by the size of its screen.  Smartphone screens are compact and no matter how good the resolution is on your smartphone screen, there are some things – like special effects-driven movies – that lose incredible amounts of detail simply by virtue of the screen size.  While you cannot make your smartphone screen bigger, you can make the images you see there bigger and for those who truly rely upon their smartphones for entertainment and storing business information, the BenQ Joybee GP2 may solve many issues with your small smartphone screen. Read more »

As more and more people get cooler and more expensive home electronics devices, it is hard not to feel insecure leaving home.  While the obvious solution would be to get a security system, the media portrays home security systems as drastically ineffective.  In fact, most people would be hard pressed not to be able to recall a time when they watched a movie or television program and a security system was compromised by cutting the wires from the cameras to the monitors.  One of the obvious, real-world, solutions to that problem is to assemble a security system that does not have wires that can be cut.  For that, you might want the Uniden Guardian Wireless Video Surveillance System. Read more »

For the Holiday Season, 2011, one of the hottest gifts on the market was the Amazon Kindle Fire.  Amazon released the right product, at the right time, to compete against Apple’s iPad and the Barnes & Noble Nook line.  Moving out of the pure e-reader market, Amazon moved closer to a full tablet computer with the Kindle Fire e-reader.  Their gambit (and marketing) paid off: the Amazon Kindle was one of the most-bought, most-desired electronic devices of the fourth Quarter, 2011. Read more »

Power is rapidly becoming the hardest aspect of mobile computing devices to improve upon.  Manufacturers continually find new gadgets to add to smartphones and tablet computers, but with all of the new components that rapidly drain batteries, there has been no radical leap forward with manufacturing batteries.  As a result, users have not gotten significantly greater battery life from their mobile devices with the newer smartphones and tablet computers.  This is especially irksome for mobile device users who use their devices primarily for business purposes.  They do not need improved video cameras or more realistic speakers to play digital music; they require reliability and endurance.  While the manufacturers of electronic devices may not be radically improving batteries, peripherals manufacturers are focused on delivering stronger power supplies to consumers.  One of the leading products for augmenting the innate power supply of thousands of devices is the Fueltank DUO. Read more »