Monday, 28 November 2011

Cricket Debuts ZTE Chorus as New Muve Music Android

Cricket is continuing their lineup of Muve Music-enable Android smartphones with the ZTE Chorus. Most notable for it;s low cost of $40 after rebates and inexpensive month-to-month service options, the Chorus won?t turn any heads with what it packs within its plastic shell. A meager 600MHz CPU, 3.2-inch resistive touch display, and 2MP camera all amount to something decidedly entry-level, but for those unwilling to sign away the next two years to a carrier to maintain subsidized pricing on more powerful hardware, it could be an option.

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 23, 2011 ? /PRNewswire/ ? Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), and ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, today announced availability of the ZTE Chorus? featuring Cricket?s Muve Music service.

The ZTE Chorus is ideal for value-conscious consumers looking for a single device to simultaneously manage their mobile and music needs. The bar-style feature phone delivers high functionality with 3G web browsing capabilities and 600 megahertz of processing power while serving as an ideal platform for Cricket?s innovative and unlimited Muve Music service. The ZTE Chorus incorporates SRS WOW HD technology for advanced audio playback quality and a dynamic 3D entertainment experience with a deep, rich bass and high-frequency clarity. Users can customize their sound preferences with SRS sound settings that complement popular music styles including acoustic, blues, hip hop, pop and rock.

The ZTE Chorus provides a robust multimedia experience with its vibrant 3.2-inch WQVGA TFT display with resistive touch screen, 2.0MP camera/camcorder, music and video players, stereo Bluetooth?, and speech recognition capabilities. XT9 Trace technology and a virtual keypad provide a convenient messaging experience with fast and easy text entry. In addition to Muve Music, the ZTE Chorus comes preloaded with Mobile Web, MyBackup, MyAccount, Cricket Storefront and three customizable idlescreens.

?We are excited to bring the ZTE Chorus to our line-up of Muve Music enabled phones,? said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president, devices for Cricket. ?With the enhanced audio features, it?s like having your music library with you wherever you go. The quality music experience of Muve Music and the great value the ZTE Chorus offers offer an unbeatable combination for our customers.?

?ZTE is again pleased to work with Cricket to bring consumers an affordable device with unique features that enhance the mobile experience,? said Lixin Cheng, CEO, ZTE USA and President, North America Region, ZTE. ?The ZTE Chorus was designed to enrich users? interaction with their music without sacrificing the functionality of a well-built phone.?

The ZTE Chorus, with an MSRP of $119.99, is available for as low as $39.99 for a limited time at www.mycricket.com, Cricket branded retail stores and dealers.

With the $55 per month Muve Music plan for the ZTE Chorus, Cricket Wireless customers will enjoy unlimited song downloads, ringtones, and ringback tones, as well as unlimited text, picture, and video messaging, 3G mobile data, mobile video, data back-up, and 411 assistance.

Muve Music is the first unlimited music service to be included as part of a wireless rate plan and now has more than 270,000 customers. By applying its philosophy of unlimited services and value innovation, Cricket and Muve Music have given their customers a new music experience that ranks high in customer satisfaction.

For more information about Muve Music, visit www.muvemusic.com, and for Cricket?s dynamic device lineup, visit www.mycricket.com. For the latest Cricket news and updates online, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Click Here Read More

Sunday, 27 November 2011

Gift idea for the cycling wine fan on your list

by Julie on November 27, 20110 comments

in Miscellaneous,News

hello

Cycling and wine drinking are two activities that I never considered going hand in hand. Obviously I have been severely misinformed because the Bicycle Wine Rack from Oopsmark allows the wine drinking cyclist to transport their favorite bottle along for the ride. Wacky? Yes. But it?s made of leather, so you know people aren?t going to laugh and point when you ride by. They will be jealous and want one of their own. The Wine Rack is made of vegetable tanned leather and is available in 3 colors. It?s priced at $29.00 ? $34.00 and fits 1? bike frames and 3? bottles. What do you think? Are you going to order one for your Schwinn?

Subscribe to our RSS feed.

For More Information Click Here To Know More

SteelSeries rolls out limited edition Fnatic headset and mouse

by Edwin - on November 27th, 2011

When it comes to gaming, you cannot fault gamers for their seriousness in doing business ? after all, the choice of hardware does matter when it comes to making the difference between the victor and the loser. Needless to say, forking out huge amounts of dough to make sure you have the best equipment to suit your playing style (there is no single ?top brand? per se ? really depends on the kind of gaming style you use, as well as the type of games) is always of paramount importance to serious gamers, especially for those who want to go pro. SteelSeries is one name that should not be discounted, and their latest foray into the gaming world has resulted in the Fnatic headset and mouse.

Dreamhack Winter, the world?s largest digital festival and LAN party has already started, Team Fnatic, being one of the most established and recognized teams there will team up with SteelSeries to roll out the SteelSeries 7H Fnatic Limited Edition headset and SteelSeries Sensei Fnatic Limited Edition mouse. Both pieces of hardware are already readily available over at the SteelSeries Web Shop, where the Limited Edition 7H headset will boast of 50mm dynamic driver units as well as spanking new, sound isolating SNDBlock ear cushions; whereas the Limited Edition Sensei delivers award-winning technology such as its 32 bit ARM processor that will power SteelSeries? ExactTech settings and customization abilities ? where everything will be magically crammed within an ambidextrous, black, orange and white Fnatic color design, not to mention sporting an illuminated Fnatic team logo so that the world will know just which gaming team you?ve been cheering on for the better part of your gaming life.

The SteelSeries 7H Fnatic Limited Edition headset will retail for $139.99/?114.99 a pop, while those who want to pick up the Limited Edition Fnatic Sensei will have to fork out $99.99/?99.99 if you are interested. Any takers?

Press Release

Click Here Read More

How to Slightly Increase Silk Browser Performance on Kindle Fire

When I first got my hands on the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Silk Browser disappointed me the most, even more than the overall performance of the Kindle version of Android. Amazon promised us it would benefit from caching content pulled from the web. They?d be caching it at their own Amazon Web Services (AWS), the host to a large percentage of the net. Yet it seemed that their webkit-based browser performed slower than others ? Chrome and Safari. Now there are numbers to prove I wasn?t imagining it. AnandTech did some testing on both the speed and efficiency of the Silk Browser cached with AWS and found that this feature actually slowed things down instead of making them faster.

Anandtech tested the speed by loading the AnandTech website, the New York Times and Engadget repeatedly. Averaging the various downloads they found that with page acceleration off, sites loaded faster than with the feature turned on.

AnandTech Silk Browser Test Results

Notice that the unaccelerated tests are faster than those with acceleration (blue faster than light blue)

Today there are no obvious performance benefits to using the feature and even on AT&T?s 3G network I didn?t see an advantage. From the perspective of the end user, Silk?s ?cloud based? caching is not only meaningless, but it?s a detriment to the overall user experience. (Anand Lai Shimpi, AnandTech.com)

They did find that caching through AWS did decrease the number of bits pulled, helping only those with extremely severe data caps, like people on lower end smart phone plans. Unfortunately, the Fire only uses Wi-Fi, so such compression doesn?t really help very many people. Most people will be using the browser on home, work or public hotspot networks. Few of these services limit your bandwidth in the US. International users might benefit from this, but the amount of data saved was minuscule ? only 174KB per page on average.

Kindle Fire Settings - uncheck Accelerate page loading

Uncheck Accelerate page loading to get a very tiny performance boost out of the Silk Browser

The extremely tiny bandwidth savings doesn?t make the speed hit worth it. So, I recommend that all Kindle Fire users disable Accelerated page loading in the Fire settings. Do this by opening the browser. Just tap Web on the main Fire page. Once it loads, then tap the menu icon at the bottom of the page and choose Settings. Scroll down till you see the option Accelerate page loading and uncheck it. You may need to restart the browser for it to take effect. You can do this by forcing it to close from the main screen?s settings window. Tap the home icon and then tap the settings icon in the upper right. Choose More and then Applications. Tap Browser, which has an Amazon logo. Choose Force Stop and then you can reload it by tapping Web from the main screen again.

I didn?t see a lot of difference either way, so don?t expect much. Amazon needs to go to work to really improve this browser. Until they do I will be using the LastPass browser. LastPass keeps a database of your login passwords for websites one signs up for. The browser seems to be a little faster than the built-in Silk Browser. Even if it isn?t it saves passwords for sites I log into which saves me the time of having to look them up. Remember to lock down your Fire with a lock screen password as we suggested in our article about first things to do when you get a Fire.

About the Author (Author Profile)

Kevin writes for many publications including our sister site Notebooks.com as well as iPhone Life magazine, Christian Computing Magazine and a few others.

Click Here To Know More Click Here

As Verizon Begins Motorola DROID 4 Training, Preliminary Specs Revealed

The Motorola Droid 4 is definitely shaping up to be the DROID we?ve all been looking for. With rumors of a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4 inch qHD display and 4G LTE radios alongside that iconic QWERTY keyboard, we?re sure this is poised to be the best DROID (in this particular series) yet.

First up, the device has entered training at indirect retailers. Nothing special, but it means we?re getting closer to launch (hopefully in time for the holiday seasons). And we?re sure Verizon employees and employees at other retailers will soon be undergoing the same training regiments if they haven?t started already.

We?ve also got a legit looking list of specs that features everything we mentioned above plus an 8 megapixel 1080p HD camera with LED flash, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, WiFI N, Bluetooth 4.0, a 1,750 mAh battery and more. Look out for it at Big Red sometime soon. [Droid-Life 1, 2]

For More Information Click Here To Know More

Saturday, 26 November 2011

Thanksgiving: 8 Tech Items I?m Truly Thankful For

As we gear up for Thanksgiving Day, I promise you that the things below fall way down my list of things in general for which I?m truly thankful. My faith, family, careers and health top my list. After things like these plus freedom and friends I would say that technology cracks the top ten ? near the bottom of the list.

I chose these things because they have really become game changers in my life. I?ll share how each of them have changed my life for the good.

So, here are the things that I am truly thankful for in the area of technology.

Apple TV

I first got my Apple TV last year, but this year it really became a truly useful gadget for both entertainment and work. For just $99 it has become a game-changer tool in my life.

First, I use my Apple TV primarily as a Netflix and Podcast box. My family watches mostly DVRed TV but Netflix movies and TV shows come in a close second.

In addition to viewing Netflix, I watch a few video Podcasts religiously. I learn a lot from them and sometimes just enjoy having them on in the background as I work.

Apple TV

Thanks to the upgrade to iOS 5 and AirPlay mirroring, the Apple TV has become a useful work tool. I teach and use the iPad to make my presentations. I used to have to hook up to a projector and stand next to the wall somewhat far away from my class members in the large fellowship hall of our church. With AirPlay I just walk in the room, turn on the projector and Apple TV and hit the share button on my iPad before firing up Keynote or a whiteboard app. I love being able to teach this way.

We also use the Apple TV and streaming to play background music during church dinners. I play all my videos on it by ripping DVDs to my Mac Mini in my office and stream them to the Apple TV via Wi-Fi.

SiriSiri

Siri could do much more than it does and I believe it will. But already it has become such an integral part of how I use my iPhone. Unless I?m in a situation where speaking voice commands or dictating would be rude (movies, meetings, etc.), I almost never just type on my iPhone anymore.

I send text messages, check the weather, search the Internet all using Siri the majority of time. It speeds things up and makes me more productive and more connected since I?m not staring at the keyboard on my little iPhone screen.�Now if only Siri could launch apps and become integrated into them, then it would be the coolest new iOS feature since Apple created the iPhone.

Kindle Fire

I used to love my Kindle and then Amazon let me put apps on it and also gave it a color screen that I can now read at night. They called it the Fire and I love this thing. It has become my third most used mobile tool, behind my iPhone and iPad.

I read on it and check email. I check Twitter and play a couple of games. I?m addicted to checking the Amazon App Store for the free app of the day. The one app I missed the most since switching back to the iPhone from my Android phone was Daily Bible, an app that notifies me each day with a single inspiration verse from the Bible and reminds me to do a daily reading.

Kindle Fire

At only $199, this thing gives the iPad a run for its money. It still won?t replace my iPad because of the ability to make presentations through the Apple TV, some apps that are either not as good on the Fire or not available, and sometimes I want a bigger screen. Despite all that, the Fire burned its way into my pantheon of tech and deserves a place on this list.

Spotify

Spotify, the subscription all-you-can-eat music service that lets you stream or download almost any song you want, joins this list not because I use so much, but because my son does. I?ve given him a subscription and now he doesn?t bother me to buy him iTunes music anymore. You see our family shares one iTunes account. When he wants a new album or song he has to come to me and get it. $10 a month alleviates that need and both of us are much happier.

Nikon D3100

Shot taken from my Nikon D3100

I took this shot with my Nikon D3100 at Ft. Myers Beech, FL

I used to be a Canon guy, but then I chose to sell my XTi and get a PowerShot G12. Big mistake! Not because the G12 was a bad camera, but because I?m a DSLR guy. I then started looking around and decided the ability to shoot HD video and take great shots at a bargain price was worth switching to the dark side. I?m glad I did because the D3100 is a great entry-level DSLR.

I?m not a great photography, but I love to take pictures. I also really love having the power of a DSLR but also the simple hand holding this camera offers when you just don?t feel like thinking about the shot. I can use the advance features when I?m feeling artsy and I can use it like a point-and-shot when I?m not and just need to get a quit pic. The video this camera takes isn?t great, but good enough for most of my needs.

Kensington 2-in-1 Charger AUX Cable

Kensington 2-in-1 Car Charger AUX Cable

A lot of people will think I?m nuts for picking an adapter cable for this list, but this little cable makes my life so much easier. In one cable I can charge my iPhone and send the audio from it to my car stereo all with just one plug in my car. I never have a low battery now thanks to this cable. Sometimes I don?t even plug my iPhone in at night knowing the next day I?ll be in the car for at least an hour or two, plenty of time to charge my phone all the way. The audio is better than bluetooth and more dependable too.

Facebook Groups

I hate Facebook. So why put this feature on the list? As much as I hate Facebook, I know that everyone on the Internet uses it. So I?ve set up two special groups. One for my church in general and one for a group of single adults at our church. Through the groups people in my church keep in touch and encourage one another during the day. For example, just this week a lady in my church had surgery. She posted when she was having it so I knew when I?d be going to the hospital that day to pray for her. Other members encouraged her and after she came through the surgery her husband notified us.

The singles group at our church has some people in it who really struggle with social integration. From the privacy of their homes they can get encouragement and support from the group. One young lady really came out of her shell and blossomed thanks in part to this Facebook group and the positive reinforcement from the group through Facebook.

I still hate Facebook in general, but these two groups have really helped me connect to people in my church in ways that I don?t think would have happened otherwise.

iPad 2 3G

Apple iPad 2

While I love the Fire it won?t replace my single most uses and enjoyed piece of technology behind my laptop. I?ve shared ways I use it, but because of how versatile the iPad has become thanks to the plethora and variety of great apps, I am far more productive during the day than I was previously.

For awhile I turned off the 3G access through AT&T. But with it I am always online and able to get the information I need. I am an unabashed iPad fanboy!

About the Author (Author Profile)

Kevin writes for many publications including our sister site Notebooks.com as well as iPhone Life magazine, Christian Computing Magazine and a few others.

Read More For More Information

HAPPY HOLIDROID CONTEST: 30 Kindle Fires, 10 Galaxy Nexus & Much More!

Every single day from November 24th through December 25th we?re giving away a Kindle Fire from Amazon.com along with a ton of other amazing goodies. Our prize pouch is Mary Poppins deep: 31 Kindle Fires, 10 Galaxy Nexus, 10 Galaxy Tabs, 4 NVIDIA powered tablets, and a bunch of phones and accessories that even Santa would envy.

We?ll explain the rules in detail below, but here are the basics:

  • Every day between November 24th and December 25th, we?ll make a new contest post on Phandroid
  • The post could come AT ANY TIME during the day/night
  • Some of the contests will be SPEED related (ex: first person to comment with the correct answer to a trivia question wins)
  • Other contests will be creative (ex: write a haiku about the Galaxy Nexus, our favorite wins)
  • There is only ONE winner each day? and that winner will get an epic prize pack that includes a Kindle Fire and other goodies from our awesome sponsors

Now? let?s talk about the amazing prizes up for grabs, made possible by the coolest sponsors on the planet.

Amazon Kindle Fire (Quantity: 31 ? one each day!)

The Kindle Fire could be this holiday?s hottest product: at only $199 it?s not only one of the most affordable Android tablets, it?s also one of the best. That?s a killer combination. With a beautiful UI, great battery life, carefully curated apps/games, and an amazing array of media options thanks to Amazon?s Digital Content Ecosystem? the Kindle Fire is a sure win. Good luck winning one in our contest, but at only $199 it?s probably worth buying one just in case!

Galaxy Nexus (Quantity: 10)

HUGE props to Nikolay Ananiev, the developer of an app called Tiny Flashlight + LED, who donated 10 Samsung Galaxy Nexus for giveaway. His app has OVER 10 MILLION downloads and Nikolay contacted us asking for ways he could give back to the community as a way to say ?thanks?. I?d say this is a success ? gotta love that Android community spirit! Not to mention, Tiny Flashlight + LED is hands-down the best Flashlight app for Android. Download Tiny Flashlight, give it 5-stars of awesomeness, and check out Nikolay?s other great apps/games as well: Bebbled and Tiny Compass.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus (Quantity: 10)

Everyone seems to be craving Samsung Android devices these days, and for good reason. Samsung makes some of the best hardware out there, coupled with great software integration, and the Galaxy Nexus (above) and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus are two great examples of Samsung?s industry leading products. These devices were sponsored directly by Samsung, thanking our readers and forum members for their excitement, interest, and support over the past year. With a 7-inch screen, 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB RAM, MicroSD slot, camera that records in 720p HD, and screen that displays in 1080p HD, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a high end alternative to the Kindle Fire? and you can win BOTH in our contest!

NVIDIA Powered Android Tablets(Quantity: 4)

I can?t say enough good things about our friends at NVIDIA who have donated a Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Sony Tablet S, and ASUS Eee Pad Slider for giveaway in this contest. NVIDIA helps companies like Samsung create cutting edge devices by providing a powerful processor that help optimize graphics, stability, battery life, and overall performance. Use a dual-core Android device powered by NVIDIA?s Tegra 2 processor, play a game from TegraZone that?s optimized for dual-core, and you?ll recognize the power and beauty of NVIDIA-based devices. Stay tuned for Tegra 3 devices, which are the first QUAD-CORE Android devices, launching in late December. The first will be the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet? but there will be many phones and tablets to follow, and trust me when I say you WILL and SHOULD want one. Or many.

JAMBOX (Quantity: 10)

Ever wanted a small, portable speaker that plays music LOUD and CLEAR and isn?t a pain to setup? Let me introduce you to the Jawbone JAMBOX speaker. This bad boy packs a powerful bunch an extremely small frame, easily connects to your Android device via Bluetooth, and is an absolute pleasure to use. Bluetooth means you can stream not only music, but also games, apps, phone conversations, movies, and any other audio playing on your device! It also means no cords! Put it on your desk. Carry it to the kitchen. Bring it to the basketball court. Take it to your friend?s party. The Jawbone JAMBOX is a music lover?s dream device.

Isotoner SmarTouch Gloves (Quantity: 31)

Every single holiday season these SmarTouch smartphone gloves are consistently one of my favorite gift giving items. They eloquently solve one of the most fundamental problems a tech lover faces: using your device in cold weather. Wearing gloves usually prevents your touchscreen from working: take your phone out, take your glove off, use your phone, hand gets gold, shove phone in pocket, rush to get glove on. NO MORE! Isotoner?s SmarTouch gloves, designed in my colors and sizes for both men and women, has technology that passes the electrons your body gives off, through the gloves, onto the capacitive screen and allowing it to work. VOILA! Seriously. It works. Trust me. Try it? and you?ll love them forever.

Seidio $30 Voucher (Quantity: 31)

With so much smartphone use comes battery drain. Thankfully, Seidio makes some awesome extended batteries that fit many smartphones, allowing you to get longer battery life with the same device. No more toting around a charger everywhere you go: just snag a Seidio and call it a day! Seidio also makes cases, holsters, and other great accessories for your smartphones.

Andy Robot T-Shirts (Quantity: 17)

True Android enthusiasts and tech lovers enjoy expressing their Android attitude and there is no better way to do so then with an Android Robot T-Shirt from the brilliant folks at iSteamAndy. They?ve created a series of artistic, creative Android Robot themed T-shirts with fun, rich imagery. They sell like hotcakes and have limited production runs so get each design while you still can. Some of their top designs (and ones we?re giving away) include: �Dark Night Andy, iSteam Andy, �Flying Andy, Exploded Andy, �Andy Verus, and Unstoppable Andy.

Radio Shack Phones (Quantity: 3)

The folks at ?The Shack? have, in the past couple years, have really solidified themselves as one of the best retailers for purchasing phones and gadgets. They?ve got amazing prices, knowledgable staff, an easy-to-navigate website, and overall have really performed well for their customers in this smartphone gadget boom. They sent us three phones to say ?thanks? to our community: the HTC EVO Design 4G, Samsung Stratosphere, and Samsung Infuse 4G. Thanks for your contributions!

Pay especially close attention to this section so you can give yourself the best chance of winning, make sure you?re eligible, and understand the rules!

  • Every single day between (and including) November 24th and December 25th, we?ll post a new contest opportunity on Phandroid.com
  • Each contest post can come AT ANY TIME during the day? so check Phandroid often and be prepared
  • Many of the contests will require speed (1st to answer a question, or you only have 1 hour to enter) while others will require creativity and other entry methods. Each individual contest will have its specific rules on the daily contest post.
  • There will ONLY be ONE winner each day who wins that day?s ?prize pack?
  • Each person can ONLY WIN ONCE during this contest timeframe
  • Every daily contest (starting Nov. 25th) will include AT LEAST: 1 Kindle Fire, 1 pair of SmarTouch gloves, 1 $30 Seidio Voucher. The other prizes will be sprinkled throughout the 31 day timeframe. Each day?s contest post will identify what is being offered in that day?s prize pack.

Contest Rules/Regulations:

  • Must be 18+ to enter and win
  • Must be a United States Resident �with a United States Mailing Address to claim your prize. Foreign entries will be accepted and considered, but (1) shipping fees must be paid for by the winner, (2) devices tied to American carriers will be forfeited, (3) Phandroid reserves the right to deny international winners at our own discretion. If an international winner is selected/denied, we will select an alternate, eligible winner.
  • Phandroid reserves the right to disqualify any entrants for any reasons including but not limited to: spamming, cheating, creating multiple accounts for the purpose of creating multiple entries, attempting to circumvent the rules, failing to meet the age requirement, failing to reach the residency and mailing address requirement.
  • Phandroid will select and identify winners at our sole discretion
  • Phandroid will make a reasonable attempt to contact each winner, but if a response is not received within 7 days, and Phandroid is unable to communicate with the winner, entrant will forfeit their winnings and another entrant will be named the winner
  • Phandroid may update these rules/regulations at any time to address specific concerns or needs identified by Phandroid, which may be enforced retroactively
  • Winners will be selected within 24 hours of each contests ending and will be contacted within 24 hours of being selected
  • Winners should expect 7-10 days for processing and shipment from the time an actual and correct mailing address is provided and received by Phandroid staff

Today?s Contest!

Because we want EVERYONE to know about our contest? today it will be a little bit different. We?re going to have THREE winners and each winner will get a Kindle Fire (and only a Kindle Fire). Here is the scoop:

  • There are 3 ways to enter and each entry method will have 1 winner.
  • You can enter using all 3 methods but can only win once
  • Entries will be accepted until 11:59 Eastern on November 24th, 2011
  • One winner will be randomly selected for each of the 3 entry methods (Twitter/Facebook/Google+)

The entry methods:

Today?s contest is subject to the rules and regulations seen above.

DON?T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE!!!

Click Here To Know More Click Here

 
Design by Wordpress Theme | Bloggerized by Free Blogger Templates | Best Buy Printable Coupons