Category: Technology

Apple iPhone 12 Fake Selfie Night Mode Photo Used Studio Light

Apple iPhone 12 fake selfie night mode photo used studio light

phone 12 Selfie pictureApple announced a that you can night mode without a flush, but you can clearly see that the photo was taken with studio light or some kind of light in the background.iphone 12 selfie nigh mode close up

The eyes don’t lie, the light reflecting in the eyes show that there is a light focusing on the subject. Despite that iPhone 12 cameras might be great, why did apple lie in their presentation. It is very possible to get great results with F1.6 Aperture at night but clearly has either edited the photos or they were staged.

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Apple New Impressive iPhone 12 Lower Price Expected

Apple New Impressive iPhone 12 Lower Price Expected.

If you have missed it Apple September event dint include iPhone 12, however we saw new Apple iWatch and New iPad Tablets which all had something in common. Can you guess what it was?

There was a lot to talk about the new devices from Apple but the one thing that caught are eye was that the prices of the new devices were little lower than expected. Not only were they lower but they actually looked attractive. But this is Apple we are talking about, so just because the devices had attractive prices that does not mean that there is a catch to their pricing strategy.

At first glance the prices are lower than expected and we believe it will bleed over to the iPhone 12 side as well. But we thing we figured out what Apple is up too regarding pricing structure. There are few variables that contribute to are believe that Apple is dropping prices but is probably has plan to make the difference in other ways.

What is Apple trying to do? Apple is trying to look more appealing for few reasons. For one they are currently in a legal battle with Epic Games over Apple store 30% commission. The second one is that just like the new iPads, it will not come with power brick. Whether cable be included and the type it will use is still in question as well. iPhone 12 may see lower price but it will also not come with the power brick and no charging cable (unless they change it to USB-C finally). Accessories that are needed and will be required to be purchased separately which may end up costing as much as $100 total, depending on the power brick wattage and cable length.

This is how Apple is expecting to make up the difference on their new iProducts. This extra cost will hit your walled one way or another. And we still do not know if the new iPhone 12 will have lighting connector or if Apple will finally switch to USB-C connector. Either way you will pay for new accessories sooner or later. But you should expect to see lower prices from Apple as long as you have the accessories from last year’s models.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Disappointment

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Disappointment

Samsung just announced its new flagship phone Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ at a event held in NYC.
Samsung did not go in to details about its Flagship phone but they focused on some new features that were introduced, some quite impressive some not as much. The biggest disappointment was when Samsung has confirmed that it has removed headphone jack to make room for the larger battery. Larger battery is very welcoming but we will defiantly miss the Headphone Jack.

This year Samsung has announced few new tech innovations that will change the phone world but it dint include it with this yea Note 10 which means that next year Galaxy S11 and Note 11 will probably be the most attractive phone yet. Especially with the New 48MP Camera sensor that Samsung has started to mass produce but it is possible that this new massive camera will not be exclusive to Samsung.

The new software features were mention at the event but Samsung has not mentioned them to be exclusive to Note 10 which means that those features will most likely come to Galaxy S10 later in time. At  this item it seems that the only exclusive thing will be the S Pen that received few new features like gesture control.

One thing we did appreciate is the starting price of the phones is just $949.99 for the Note 10, $1099.99 for Note10+ and $1299.99 for Note10+ 5G.

Update: Despite the disappointment, it is still the most popular galaxy phone of the year.


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Is Fitbit trying to force new sales claiming it’s just a malfunctioning device?

For those who are not familiar with the company Fitbit, they were once the kings in wearable fitness trackers. Their wearable devices come in a variety of styles and prices. The company went public in June of 2015 and after hitting its highest point in August of 2015, things quickly began to go downhill. After a lot of ups and downs, Fitbit’s stock has seen a significant downfall since 2017 and continues to disappoint shareholders. The company went from $51 per share to falling just below $5 per share in February 2018, to today trading at just under $5.50 per share.

Fitbit has struggled a lot throughout the last 2 years, from failing to raise stock value to failing to sell large enough quantities of their new fitness trackers, especially with competitors such as Apple and Samsung that came in and stole the majority of the niche market with their own wearable devices.

It is obvious that fitbit is losing customers and losing profits, while constantly searching for solutions to meet shareholders expectations. Fitbit relies heavily on sales of their wearable fitness trackers to stay afloat, but how do they plan on selling more fitness trackers if less and less people are buying them?

With profits not meeting expectations, it is possible that Fitbit could be cutting corners on the quality of their products. They have admitted that they have cut prices on some of their fitness trackers in order to make sales, but usually when companies are cutting prices, they are also cutting costs which could also mean cutting corners on quality and functionality. However, with so many technology advancements throughout the years where it is no longer necessary to physically go to a store in order to have a tech gadget fixed or restored, could it also be possible for companies to cause software glitches to their devices.

From personal experience, I own a Fitbit Charge 2 and had a fishy experience with my device. After seeing that I had a low battery on my device, I plugged it into the charging port, like I usually do. This time however, the battery would not hold a charge. I followed all the troubleshoot options with zero results. I reached out to customer support where they were no help since my fitness tracker was no longer covered under warranty, 4 months over the allowed time period to be exact. Customer support did however offer me a 25% discount off of a new device from the Fitbit store. I always take good care of all my electronic devices, so I was definitely shocked when this had happened out of the blue. Due to my curious nature I decided to do some research and investigate if there were any other reports of similar issues with the fitness trackers.

Filtering through the community Fitbit forum, there were a lot of reports of sudden unexpected issues with Fitbit devices, that strangely were all reported within the last few weeks. Digging further through the history, there were many reports last year as well, but oddly the complaints only correlate within the first few months of the year. The reports all claimed sudden unexpected battery issues or display issues. There was also a forum where a hefty number of users had begun reporting battery issues with their device as of March 31st 2019. Consumer reports say that Fitbit customer support would not offer any assistance to fixing current devices, but only offer a 25% discount off of a purchase of a new device, and the coupon being valid only X number of days. One customer wrote that they were having software issues with their new Fitbit Charge 3 a few months after purchase, when this person reached out to customer support, they were apparently no help and responded saying that it was a known issue and they are working on a solution, but there was no ETA available. After being aware of a hardware issue with the new Fitbit Charge 3, it took Fitbit weeks before acknowledging that there was faulty equipment with the devices still under warranty, and only replaced a selected number of consumer devices. There seems to be a trend happening with Fitbit and their devices. It could be that cost cutting is causing product quality to suffer, and as a result customers are suffering as well, or it could be that Fitbit is purposely causing glitches to their devices. Regardless of what is causing these fitness trackers to malfunction, Fitbits customer service is definitely set up to try and force new sales to users. Compared to their competitors such as Apple and Samsung where customer service is top priority, Fitbit needs to step their game up before they lose all their customers. Seeing the current trend that is happening with the company and consumer reports, I would not recommend purchasing a Fitbit fitness tracker as the cost vs. benefit does not measure up to competitor fitness trackers. There are many cheaper options on the market that provide the same features as fitbit devices for the same or similar product lifespan. If someone is willing to spend more for a device with better quality and a longer product lifespan, then Apple and Samsung have a variety of options that could be right for you.

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New Samsung Note 10 and Apple iPhone 11 Leaks Update

Its the time of the year where it will be very interested as this is the first time Samsung and Apple will be releasing new phones very close to each other. Usually by this time Samsung Galaxy S10 is available to everyone and everyone moves on to the next thing which would be Apple iPhone 11 or iPhone XI, what ever the name will be. This time however no one forgot about Samsung because the shocking release of a foldable phone that even grabed Apple fans to take a look. To make things worse for Apple, Samsung foldable phone had a design flaw which you would think is hurting Samsung. But its not as bad as you think.

Quick Galaxy Note 10 and IPhone 11 Leaks and Rumors Update

Samsung name lives on, even if it is bad press everyone still keeping eye on when the Galaxy Fold will be release to public. That is bad news for Apple as Apple fans will be looking out for new iPhone 11 and still looking at Galaxy Fold. Some may just skip the iPhone 11 and get Galaxy Fold just because it is something new.

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Highlights and Disappointments.

Samsung Galaxy S10 phones were announced on Feb. 20th 2019. The key features of the Galaxy S10 that were announced live were indeed impressive, but the company did not provide much about the specs and details. Lucky for us, we do have the specs and some are impressive while others are not, at least when comparing to the Galaxy S9. We will not be going over the release of the Galaxy S10e since the price is too high and the specs are just not all that impressive.

The price is little higher than we expected but if you pre-order the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10+ by 3/7/19 you will receive free Galaxy Buds. Does not apply to Galaxy S10e. You can order your New S10 or S10+ Unlocked from Amazon:

Samsung Galaxy S10 : https://amzn.to/2EwfWnQ
Samsung Galaxy S10+ : https://amzn.to/2TddTPO
Samsung Galaxy Buds: https://amzn.to/2HLYos7
To Get Samsung Galaxy S10 LED Back Case : https://amzn.to/2EpmO6I
To Get Samsung Galaxy S10+ LED Back Case : https://amzn.to/2EH8wiW

Samsung Galaxy S10 Factory Unlocked Phone with 128GB (U.S. Warranty), Prism Black

Key features that we really liked:

3 Main Cameras. UltraWide Angle , Wide and Telephoto lenses. 12MP and 16MP for the UltraWide.

10MP Selfie Camera

4K Video Recording 60FPS and 240 at 1080p similar to S9

8GB Ram – Yes Please

128GB-512GB internal Storage + up to 512GB SD Card

Under Display Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor

Headphone Jack – Some of us still use it.  I use it all the time to connect external Microphone when I am recording video in 4K

Bigger batteries in both S10 and S10+  3400mAh for S10 and 4100 for S10+

Not so impressive features but still worth Mentioning:

Faster charging with 25W USB-C but it will actual charging at 15W same as in S9

Reverse wireless charging – it is nice but you will probably not use it often.

FM Radio (US & CA Only)

USB C Charging Port

WI-Fi 6 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax – It is the first phone to have that but unfortunately most of us will not used it, the technology is just too new. By the time it is available to most folks we will be looking at Galaxy S11 and S12.

What we really Did Not like:

As you probably already guessed, the phone price tag: starting at $900 for the S10 and it goes up from there.

Galaxy S10 and S10+ are not 5G. Samsung will be coming out with 5G version later in 2019 but from the specs we were a little disappointed.

The 128GB and 512GB configuration, we would really like to see 256GB option. Looking at their website, it is possible that Samsung will introduce 256GB version later in 2019/2020

Adobe Rush still not available, but at least it should be later in the year.

Conclusion:

Wi-fi 6 is impressive but most of us will not be able to use it. 80211 ax is a new technology and having to spend more money to replace a router that can handle the faster speeds is not recommended until you at least have Fiber 1 Gigabit Internet connection. 5G will be exclusive to Verizon for now and not available to the rest of us probably till 2020. Most major carriers are testing 5G in selected cities but 5G will most likely not be available to consumers until 2020-2021.

We mentioned the 128GB configuration and that we don’t like it because 4k video might be filling it up fast. We can add a 512GB SD card but in our experience when you are recording in 4K, it saves the video to internal memory because the external SD card is not fast enough to capture so match data.

Am  I going to pre-order the Galaxy S10? No I am not, but I will be upgrading to S10 later on this year. Just because I really want to get my hands on it first to see if S10+ might be better for me and I am waiting for Adobe Rush to be available for Galaxy S10.  That does not mean you should wait. If you are thinking you will want to get it soon, then now is defiantly the time to pre-order and take advantage of the Free Galaxy Buds. But if you can wait then who knows, Samsung may offer little discounts later in time.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Factory Unlocked Phone with 128GB (U.S. Warranty), Prism Black

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Choosing Backup External Hard Drive

Choosing Best Backup External Hard Drive to meet your needs.

Hey guys, today we are going to talk about external backup hard drives. Yes, those boxes that get attached to your desktop or laptop, so which one is best for you.

If you start looking around then you will notice that there are lots of choices and you have to choose between things like capacity, size, speed, connection interface, brands, warranty and price.

I could say just go get Samsung Portable T5 SSD 1TB Drive for under $400 from Amazon or Newegg.  Problem Solved!!! But what if you don’t have that kind of money to burn? Well, if you don’t have that kind of money there are still lots of options on a budget.

Let’s go over few thing that people ask often when they are choosing external storage device.

  1. Q: Does physical size matters?

A: Yes and No. The only thing here is that you really need to know is that the 2.5” hard drive has a limit of 4TB but most commonly you will only see 2TB for external drive. Even larger drives are in the works but the are expensive. Where as 3.5” you can go as high as 14TB (14,000GB) Mind Blowing!! There are additional things you need to know about size but we will talk about it later in the article.

  • Q: Does Hard drive RPM matters?

A: In general; faster RPM drives are considered faster and better. However when it comes to external backup drives the RPM speed is not really important. I will explain little later on as too why.

  • Q:  Does Brand Name Matters?

A: Yes, try to stick with brand names like Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi (Hitachi is owned by WD). Your data is important and you want to keep it in a reliable drive.

  • Q: What connection interface should I get? USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, USB 3.1 (USB C).

A: Well the best would be thunderbolt or USB C but they tend to be expensive and rare at the moment. The most common would be USB 3.0 because it is popular, fairly available and fairly fast. You still can use USB 2.0 but it can make a huge difference if you are transferring large files and you are doing it on the fly. However it is still used but lots of people.

  • Q: What size drive should I get?

A: Well it really depends on what you are going to store on the Drive. In my opinion the sweet spot would be somewhere between 2TB and 4TB because it should be large enough to support your important files and with some room to grow. But you don’t want it too big because if it fails then you lose it all at once; I rather have 2 separate drives of 2tb than one 4TB Drive.  That is because If you buy one dive that is 4tb for let’s say for $100  which is little cheaper then two 2TB drives and it fails. You lose all your data and the $100. Where as if I have one of the 2TB drives fail I would only loose half of my data and only like $65. Do you see my point?

  • Q: Warranty?

A:  Warranty is only important to see how reliable the manufacturer things the hard drive is. Even though this is not a good indicator if a hard drive is reliable or not, but it is good to give you an idea. However because we are talking about external hard drives that are not in use it 24/7 , its not that important. You will most likely keep the drive way longer than the manufacturers’ warranty because you will not be using it all the time.

  • Q: Are there any external hard drives I should stay away from?

A: Yes, there are so called fat 2.5” portable drives. Its hard to be specific but they are typically small drives that the twice as thick as a regular 2.5” drives. The reason is that they typically include two drives stacked on top of each other to give you slightly better performance and larger capacity. The problem is that to make them appear as one drive they are connected internally to be in Raid 0 mode so that it looks like one drive. Raid 0 strips your data and splits it into two drives. The problem is that if one of those drives fails not only is your entire drive dead, and the data most likely would not be revocable even by a professional recovery company.

So which might be right for you?

I would suggest going with a 2.5” Backup Hard drive. Why? Because small 2.5” hard drive run on 5V witch can be supplied by a USB port which provide 5V and since you are connecting it already to a USB port That’s all you need to connect, USB cable and you are all set. Large 3.5” hard drives run on 12V so they need external power supply to supply the power. That means they are not that portable as a small ones.

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Apple watch is sexist once again with Apple watch series 4 pricing.

Apple watch is sexist once again with Apple watch series 4 pricing.

Apple has been under fire for being sexist when it comes to work environment for woman and lots of apps aberrantly but this time it is different. Apple is punishing the man and plus size people this time by making them pay more for Apple watch. Its no secret that most men have bigger hands than woman in most cases and if you are overweight you most likely have gained a little on your wrist. This time it actually matters to your wallet because if you have big hands then expect to pay as much as $50 extra.  The cheapest version is $30 extra for 10mm gain and premium bands are $50 extra for 20mm gain.


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Apple Watch series 4 Disapointment

Apple Watch Series 4 Disappointment .

Apple has finally announced a redesign Smart watch called “ Apple Watch Series 4”. One major key feature that apple points out is that now its  a Health Watch.  Capable of detecting a hart attack and capable of dialing emergency services if you fall. This is nothing new as some companies already have this feature in the watches. Another issue we have is the pricing that starts at $399 which is slight increase from last year model and once again you will pay premium for colors.

The only one thing that grabbed are attention that might get us to upgrade to a new watch is the edge to edge display and improved microphone and sound.


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Best Buy Galaxy S7 Best Pre-Order Deal

Galaxy-S7-EdgeBest Buy Galaxy S7 Best Pre-Order Deal of the Year.

Best buy did it. They managed to offer the best deal when it comes to getting the new Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge.

The Deal losers are AT&T and Sprint which has not offered anything extra besides the Gear VR Headset.

Best buy is not really the winner of the best deal on Galaxy S7, T-Mobile is and Verizon comes in second. But there is a reason why we chose Best Buy as are winner.

We chose Best buy because they offer additional Free + 64Gb microSD ($30 Value) to the current pre-order deal of free Gear VR headset with Galaxy S7. But that is not all, they will also attempt to ship it all at the same time as your Galaxy S7. We were unable to verify this yet but that’s what we have been hearing. We chose Best Buy because this deal is not exclusive like Verizon or T-Mobile is. This deal is available to anyone if they pre-order by 3/18/2016

T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and At&t offer Free Gear VR but you will have to provide proof of purchase to Samsung and wait up to 6 weeks to get it. Where Best Buy will likely get it to you a lot sooner.

T-Mobile offers Gear VR Headset with purchase of Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge but they also offer free 1 year streaming subscription to Netflix ($100 Value). But they are exclusive to T-Mobile new and old customers.

Verizon offers even bigger deal, you can choose to get Samsung Gear VR or Samsung Gear S2 Watch ($350 Value). Unfortunately only available on device payment plan which means you will likely have to pay for it in a way, and you will be subject to 2-year contract. Also only exclusive to Verizon customers.

Best Buy Free Bonus Items

Samsung – Gear VR for Select Samsung Cell Phones – Frost White

Available for Gear-VRpre-order online or immediate purchase in store.

Samsung Gear VR for Select Samsung Cell Phones: Mobile virtual reality is finally here. Watch movies in your own private cinema, be at the center of your favorite games, and socialize with friends in a virtual world all your own. The lightweight design and intuitive touchpad drop you right in the action and allow for hours of immersive entertainment.

 

 

samsung-microSD-evo+Samsung – EVO+ 64GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card – Red/White

Store plenty of files on your action camera, smartphone or tablet by adding this Samsung EVO+ MB-MC64DA/AM microSDHC memory card, which features a generous 64GB capacity. A water-, temperature-, x-ray- and magnet-resistant design offers protection.


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