Whether you are looking to start your holiday shopping or you’re almost done, here’s yet another holiday gift guide!
Let’s start with some tech gifts that cost less than $50.
The first item on the list is a 2,000 mAh portable battery pack from Amazon Basics. While it is only 2000 mAh, it won’t fully charge a Samsung Galaxy S6, but it will get you close to full, and it’s only $3.59!
If you want to be able to fully charge your Galaxy S6, you can get a 3,000 mAh version for only $5.15, which is a much better deal. However, neither of these two battery packs can charge Apple devices, as they have a built in micro USB output cable, and no USB output port. So, if you either want to get a much bigger battery bank, or just charge your iPhone a couple of times, you can get an entire 16,100 mAh on the same Amazon product page for only $29.99 and it can charge most devices that can plug into a normal USB port (not USB type C).
Next up, we have a 64GB flash drive from SanDisk. Not only is it USB 3.0, 64GB, and priced at $19.74, but you can also plug it into any Android device, since it has both a USB connector and a micro USB connector! This is perfect for people who have a new Samsung phone or any other Android device that does not have expandable storage, as it is almost equivalent to micro SD card that you would normally be able to insert into an Android phone. The one main downside to it compared to a traditional micro SD card is that it is a little bulky when it sticks out from the bottom of your phone, so you won’t be leaving it in there forever, just using it as a flash drive. However, an upside for this product is that it can be plugged into virtually any modern computer (assuming it has a USB port) and used as a flash drive, when with a micro SD card, you would need an SD card reader to view the files on your computer.
Now it’s time a mid-ranged gift!
If you or someone you know is running out of space on their hard drive, or just need a portable mass storage device, then the next item is for you!
The T1 250GB USB SSD from Samsung is the perfect portablee storage solution whether you’re looking for speed, ruggedness, or just overall reliability. Since it is an SSD and it
supports USB 3.0 speeds, it will be extremely fast for transferring files to or from your computer, along with it being durable, as there are no mechanical, moving parts. As an added bonus, it only costs $89.99, which is 40% off of its normal price!
Finally, we come to the $100 and up range.
If you’re looking to upgrade someone’s home media setup, one way you could help is getting them an Android TV box or an Apple TV.
Possibly the best Android TV device right now is the Nvidia Shield, which is going for $179.99 on Amazon right now. With the ability to stream videos in 4K, it will compliment a nice 4K TV well if you internet connection can handle it, or even use it on with a 1080p TV and downsample YouTube videos from 4K, as YouTube supports higher bit-rates at 4K resolution, creating a more crisp viewing experience. Plus, as an added bonus, you can play some Android games on it, with the included game controller.
Last but not least, we have another smart-TV box for people who are already integrated into the Apple ecosystem. The new Apple TV goes for less than the Shield at only $149.99, but lacks the key features of Android TV. One major feature that it lacks is the inability to stream content in 4K. With the increasing popularity of 4K content, this will soon become a problem, as there will be a higher demand for 4K media and Apple TV customers won’t be able to get this. Plus, you won’t be able to get many third party apps for it, as the app store for Apple TV has not been around for whole year yet, while Android TV has been supporting third party apps for much longer.
A couple of weekends ago, subscribers to the New York times received something bundled along with their newspaper, called the Google Cardboard.
(Watch the video below to see how to set it up)
To get the viewer to work with your phone, your phone must be big enough. If you have an iPhone, you need to have an iPhone 6/6s or later, and if you have an Android phone, you need to have a phone that is running Android 4.1 or later and that has a 5 inch screen or bigger. But, if you have a phone that has a screen bigger than six inches, it will not work with the Google Cardboard viewer.
Starting off, you will need to download at least two apps, and more if you want to do more things with virtual reality. The first app that you will need to install is the Cardboard app by Google. Once that app is installed, open it, and it will prompt you to set up the viewer, and all you need to do is scan the code on the bottom of the viewer and it will automatically set up the app for your viewer. After you have set up your viewer, there will be some demos built into the app, but you are probably going to want to do a bit more with virtual reality.
The next app that you need to install is one made by the New York Times. Fo on the app store that you use and search for “NYT VR”. It should be set up already for your viewer, so all you have to do is click on the video that you wish to watch. Once you have selected a video, put your phone into the Cardboard viewer without a case and look at the side of the viewer with the lenses. There should be a white or grey line on the screen of your phone. Just line it up with the notch in the bottom of the viewer and then look through the lenses to watch the video. (Move your head to look around)
Once you are done with the New York Times virtual reality app, there are a lot more apps compatible with Google Cardboard. If you have the YouTube app, search for 360 degree videos, and when you find one, click the little VR button in the top right corner. Another great virtual reality compatible app is Google’s Street View app. It is just like Street View on the computer, except for the fact that you can use it with virtual reality. Overall, the quality of the pictures taken by Google is good, but in some areas, they can be a bit fuzzy, which really stands out when you are less than six inches away from the screen.
Just to be clear, the topic of this post is consumer drones, such as quadcopters, not military drones.
As of December 2015, all citizens of the United States will be required to register their drones to the Department of Transportation. It is not yet been made clear by the government what types of drones people will have to register, but most people are assuming that all drones will need to be registered. People are already used to some drone regulations and registration laws, such as the state/town imposed regulations, but there haven’t been any laws about drones coming from the federal government before now.
There are many arguments that can be made that are for drone registration laws, but there are also many arguments that are against these laws. Perhaps the most common argument in favor of drone registration is based on the fact that drones are constantly landing in places that they shouldn’t be. For example, earlier this year, a drone crashed over the White House lawn. That is just one of the places that drones should not be allowed to fly in/over as it could be considered a threat to the nation’s security. Another place that drones have been showing up is in airports. This is even more dangerous, since if a drone flies into a turbine of one of the jets, it could cause a whole list of potential problems. Along with the possibility of a drone flying into a plane while it is on the ground, an even worse possibility is that one could fly into an airplane while it is in the air. This would cause the plane to crash, just like if some geese flew into an engine of a flying plane.
All of those arguments revolve around the fact that if all drones were registered, the government would be able to identify who was flying what drone, if and when it caused some sort of accident.
Along with the arguments that are pro-drone registration laws, there are quite a few that are against them. The main one is based off of the fact that criminals don’t follow the laws. Just because a law “requires” you do do something, if someone has criminal intentions related to the subject of that law, they aren’t going to follow that law. The only people who will register their drones would be normal, law-abiding citizens, not criminals who want to do something without getting caught. Another argument against drone registration laws is that it will just add another step and cost for people looking to buy a drone. Say someone wanted to buy a drone just to mess around with and have fun, they wouldn’t want to go to the trouble of registering their drone to the government. It really only makes sense if you are planning on using your drone for commercial use.
Here are some good videos on this topic, one coming from The Verge.
Tesla’s cars have always been very advanced in terms of technology, but with their new autonomous driving mode, many questions about liability have arisen.
Although it is not the first time that a car company has released an autonomous driving mode in a car, Tesla’s is the first one that can actually drive for you. That is not to say that you should turn on autopilot and go to sleep. The car is constantly checking if you are still paying attention by periodically beeping, signaling that you need to put your hands on the steering wheel. Most of the time, this is just a precautionary measure, but it does sometimes need your input when it can’t get enough information from its sensors.
Earlier this month, Volvo stated that it would take 100% of responsibility if one of the cars crashed while being driven by its autonomous driving mode. This might seem like the logical decision to make, but it could cause the users to become more careless when using their self-driving Volvo and not being able to take control during a difficult situation.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors said that they are not going to take responsibility if one of their cars crashes. He brought up the point that right now, their autopilot system is very similar to that in an airplane. It does a lot of the work for you, but still assumes that you are there and paying attention. Eventually, the technology will reach a point where the driver could fall asleep in their car and wake up at their destination, but that technology is not available today. That is why Tesla expects drivers to be alert at all times and will not take responsibility if their car crashes while on autopilot.
The whole topic of liability with autopilot/autonomous driving is very new and undeveloped right now, and most car companies probably won’t get it right on the first try.
Below is a great video on this, showing what the autopilot is like in the real world, with not-so-great conditions.
A couple of weeks ago, on September 9th, Apple held an event where they revealed some new products, and now Google did the same thing. On September 29th, they held an event where they revealed new products such as the Nexus 5X and 6P, the new Chromecast devices, support for Android Wear on iOS, and a few more exciting things.
An African proverb that relates to this event is
“Don’t set sail using someone else’s star.”
This proverb relates to Google’s event, since Apple held an event earlier this September and now Google is doing the same thing. I’m not saying that Google will not be successful with what they are trying to do with this event and the products they launched, just it seems that all of the big tech giants are holding events this time of year. First it was Apple, then it was Google, and even Microsoft is holding an event on October 6th.
About midway through the event, Google revealed the specs of their new phones: the Nexus 5x and Nexus 6p. They are both improvements on their older models; the Nexus 5 and 6.
The Nexus 6p, is their higher end model of the Nexus line, with a 5.7″ 1440p display. However, the QHD display is not the most exciting, nor important addition this year. The Nexus 6p has a 12.3MP camera that can record 4K video. In addition to recording video in 4K at 30fps, the 6p can record up 240fps slow motion video. Google did not mention a resolution for the slow motion video, but we can assume that it will be 1080p or less, as 4K at 240fps would take a massive amount of storage. The new Nexus also uses the new USB Type C connector, instead of the USB Micro Type B, which most Android users are accustomed to. This just shows how USB Type C is the way of the future, as it has been used on major products like the MacBook 2015, the OnePlus Two, and now the Nexus 5x and 6p.
Along with the camera, screen, and connector upgrades, the 6p has finally received a fingerprint sensor. Although, the fingerprint sensor is not integrated into the home button, like it is on many flagship phones. On the Nexus, the fingerprint sensor is on the back, forcing you to not use your thumb to unlock your phone. This could pose many problems
The new Nexus 5x is a mid-ranged smartphone made by LG. The 5x is basically a cheaper version of the new 6p with a smaller 5.2″ display. It also features the same USB Type C connector as the Nexus 6p, and the same exact camera. Although it can still record in 4K, the 5x’s camera can only record up to 120fps slow motion video, while the 6p can record at up to 240fps.
To add to the list of features that are also on the 6p, the Nexus 5x shares the same fingerprint sensor as the 6p, and is in the same position. This means, since it is on the back, that you can’t unlock your phone with your fingerprint, if your phone is on a flat surface. But, on a good note, the 5x has a 2700 mAh battery, compared to 2915 on the new iPhone 6s Plus and 2550 on Samsung’s Galaxy S6. This means, with the smaller screen, your battery will be able to last much longer than other phones.
Google also released two new Chromecast devices. The first one is a new version of the original Chromecast stick. Still priced at $35, it is a great way to connect your devices to your TV for a fraction of the price of a Smart TV. The second device is new, and it allows you to connect your speakers that have an auxiliary port, but are not capable of Bluetooth or WiFi to become wireless. All you need to do is plug it into your speakers and connect to it on your phone, tablet, or laptop and start streaming music to your speakers.
Along with the new Nexus phones and Chromecast devices, Google made a couple more announcements at their event. The first was that Android Wear (Google’s smartwatch OS) is now compatible with iOS devices. Although there will be significantly less features when using an Android Wear device with an iOS device, it is still good to know that iOS users have more options in the smartwatch department.
Google also announced that they will be releasing a new tablet, called the “Pixel C”. It will have the same USB Type C connector as both of the new Nexus phones, but it will have a 10.2 inch display. This is Google’s way of competing with Apple’s iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface, as the Pixel C has a keyboard that attaches magnetically, but it will run Android, a mobile operating system, just like how the iPad Pro will run iOS.
Apple announced a plethora of new products and updates at their September event this year. Most of these were expected to be announced by Apple, and a couple of them were a bit controversial. But most importantly, it provided everyone with a view into the future of Apple as a company and what their new products will look like. Apple recorded the entire event, and uploaded it to YouTube, allowing people who weren’t invited to the event to get a better look at what it was like, instead of just reading news articles about it.
The Verge also uploaded a shortened, highlights version of the event, which is great for anyone who wants to see what went on at the event, but doesn’t have time to watch a 2+ hour video.
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were the most predictable parts of the event, building off of the pre-existing iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The new phones have quite a bit of upgrades going on under the hood, while the only noticeable physical change being the addition of a new color. Apple calls the new color “Rose Gold”, which is more of a metallic pink, rather than a gold. As for the technical changes, the 6s will be sporting Apple’s new A9 processor and M9 motion co-processor. According to Apple, the A9 is a “desktop class” processor with a 64-bit architecture. Although 64-bit architecture is used in desktop computers today, the A9 does not come anywhere close to matching the performance of a low end modern desktop processor. To go alongside the new A9, Apple has finally given its flagship phones more than 1GB of RAM. An iOS app developed figured out a way to use the asset library in XCode 7 (The program used to create iOS apps) to reveal that the iPhone 6s has 2GB of RAM.
Another part of the iPhone that has been redesigned is the aluminum body. When the iPhone 6 hit the stores, owners of the new iPhone were terrified when they found out that their precious new device could bend in their pocket. This idea was based upon the concept that the iPhone 6’s lightweight aluminum body was so thin at certain points that it could bend under the pressure created when sitting down with your phone in your pocket. Apple addressed this flaw in the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus by making the body out of a higher strength, 7000 series aluminum and thickening weak points such as the volume and power button cutouts.
To accompany the faster hardware, and better build quality, there are some new toys that come with iOS 9. The two main ones, “Retina Flash” and “Live Photos”, are both camera-related. Retina Flash is a screen-based flash that is used with the front facing camera. When taking a picture with the front facing camera while Retina Flash is enabled, the screen will turn white, and turn the brightness up to three times the maximum brightness that the user is able to set. According to Apple, this will allow users to take great photos, no matter where the light source is. To go along with Retina Flash, Apple also announced a feature called Live Photos, which is meant to capture the entire moment. With Live Photos turned on, when you take a picture, the camera will capture a video (with sound) of the moment of the photo, and a still photo to go along with it. The interesting part about this is that one would assume that a photo and a video would take up a lot more storage than just a single photo, but Apple said that it would not take much more space on the phone… And storage is a limiting factor on the iPhone, as they still have the base model at 16GB of storage, and no 32GB version, while other companies such as Samsung have made the base model have 32GB of storage on their flagship phones, for the same price as the iPhone.
iPad Pro
Along with the highly anticipated new iPhone, Apple released a new variant of the iPad; the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro has a massive 12.9 inch display with a resolution of 2732 x 2048, which when turned in landscape mode, has the same height as the iPad Air in portrait mode. This means easier multitasking with apps designed for the original iPad, and a thin side window for things like maps or notes.
Along with having a massive screen, Apple announced that it would have an A9X processor, which is a slightly beefier version of the new A9 chip that will be in the iPhone 6s. They are marketing it as a replacement for the desktop computer, just like Microsoft’s Surface. But, the main problem is that the iPad Pro is running iOS, and not Mac OS. If Apple is trying to market their new iPad as an equivalent to a desktop computer, they should at least give it a more powerful operating system that can run the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, or the Microsoft Office suite.
The same developer that found out that the iPhone 6s will have 2GB of RAM discovered that the iPad Pro will have 4GB of RAM, which will allow for more desktop-like multitasking performance. In addition to a slightly more powerful processor and more RAM, the iPad Pro has a couple of extra features than the regular iPad. Apple has introduced a new connector that they call the Smart Connector. The Smart Connector will be used to attach accessories to the iPad, such as the new keyboard, which they are calling the Smart Keyboard. And to accompany the addition of a keyboard, they announced the “Pencil” which is essentially a stylus. The thing about Apple introducing a stylus, is that they have criticized Microsoft, and other companies that implemented styluses into their 2-in-one tablet-PC. Ever since Steve Jobs died, the product developers at Apple have been doing whatever they want, even going against what Steve Jobs had instructed them not to do, and it is the same case with the new iPad.
Apple TV
Apple also announced that they will be coming out with a new model of the Apple TV. There are three main features that they are trying to push. A new remote, apps, and Siri. With the new version of Apple TV, you can use Siri, the same personal assistant that you would have on an iPhone, but to browse TV shows, movies, etc. Adding Siri to the TV is Apple’s way of competing with Amazon Echo and other smart-house personal assistant devices.
Along with the addition of Siri to Apple TV, there is finally an actual app store for the Apple TV. This means that developers that make games for iOS or Mac OS can develop apps for your TV, such as games and other types of apps that other Smart TV platforms, such as Android TV or Roku already have. By opening up the opportunity for developers to finally make apps for people’s TVs, people will be able to utilize the new touch remote and Siri features to get the most out of their expensive entertainment system.
Watch OS 2
Another highly anticipated, yet exciting announcement at Apple’s event was Watch OS 2. Ever since they first came out with the Apple Watch, people have been realizing the potential features that the Apple Watch has, but they have not been able to use them. This is mainly because there was no app store for apps dedicated to the Apple Watch. When Apple introduced Watch OS 2 and the app store for the watch, they noted that users are now able to download apps from the app store, directly to their watches. This is a very important factor for people who are in the market for a smartwatch, because up until now, you had to have the apps stored on your phone and run them off of your phone every time you wanted to use it on your watch. Not only did this take up more space on your phone, it meant that you had to have your phone on you every time you wanted to use an app on your watch. But now, you could leave your phone at home, and still run the app on your watch without being connected to your phone. The only problem with that, is that if you don’t have your phone with you, you won’t be able to update any information from the Internet, as the Apple Watch relies on its parent phone to do all of the data transferring.
you would normally be able to insert into an Android phone. The one main downside to it compared to a traditional micro SD card is that it is a little bulky when it sticks out from the bottom of your phone, so you won’t be leaving it in there forever, just using it as a flash drive. However, an upside for this product is that it can be plugged into virtually any modern computer (assuming it has a USB port) and used as a flash drive, when with a micro SD card, you would need an SD card reader to view the files on your computer.
e storage solution whether you’re looking for speed, ruggedness, or just overall reliability. Since it is an SSD and it
n with a 1080p TV and downsample YouTube videos from 4K, as YouTube supports higher bit-rates at 4K resolution, creating a more crisp viewing experience. Plus, as an added bonus, you can play some Android games on it, with the included game controller.
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