Gadgets posts

There are memes out there that make fun of people who pretend to be geeks because “geek is chic” in 2011. In many cases, it has given the real geeks of the world a bad name. Thanks to the good folks at Uncommongoods, you can keep a good test on your wrist at all times. Just whip this puppy out to so-called geeks and ask them to decipher it. No, it’s not good enough for them to know that 3! is six just because it’s at the bottom. They need to know that it means 3 factorial (basic stuff for many juniors in high school, let alone a true geek). If they can get 4 or 5 of them right, they might be a geek. Half or more and you’re…

The Netflix Android app was updated to support mobile devices running Android 2.2 Froyo and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Users who have a Netflix unlimited membership will be able to watch television shows and movies streaming directly from Netflix on their Android devices. Being unlimited, the only limitations would be data plans from the ISPs. The app also allows users to continue watching where they left off on their television or computer. Check out this infographic that compares Netflix vs Redbox….

The art of the transaction is one of the first things that made us truly human. We started with bartering, often exchanging cattle and other goods for items that we didn’t have. Over the centuries, it evolved into the use of currencies. Today, money is still there, but the way it is tracked and delivered has changed dramatically. As our friends at Flowtown put it, “For decades it has been theorized that one day we would pay for items by swiping our computer chip-implanted hand over a scanner that is directly tied to our back or credit account. Will this ever be a reality? We’ll have to wait to find out.”…

The digital age has been upon us for a while, but there are certain things that people simply prefer to do the old fashioned way. For many, holding an actual book in their hands is the key to their reading enjoyment. Have we reached a tipping point where e-readers are becoming more popular? Perhaps it’s not a tipping point yet, but it has achieved double-digits. 10% of American adults use some variation of electronic readers with another 12% saying they are likely to buy one in next 6 months. What does all of this say about our reading habits? GOOD tackles the question in this infographic. Click to enlarge….

Bill Gates and Microsoft had the right idea a decade ago when they first started releasing tablet PCs to the market. They were clunky, too expensive, and the company didn’t improve them over the years. As a result, they missed the flood when Apple turned the tablet valve to full blast a year and a half ago. Microsoft is ready to jump in, but is it too late? Next week, Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division for Microsoft, is expected to show an early version of a tablet-enabled operating system code-named (wait for it) Windows 8. There was a lot of excitement when the first of a series of videos…

One might think that AT&T was expecting Sprint to file suit against their plan to buy T-Mobile based upon the speed of the response. With a very aggressive style and stance, AT&T had choice words for their competitors and the attempt to block the formation of a super-cell-provider: This simply demonstrates what we’ve said all along – Sprint is more interested in protecting itself than it is in promoting competition that benefits consumers. We of course will vigorously contest this matter in court as AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile USA will: help solve our nation’s spectrum…

There are very few environmental perspectives that grab our attention. In 2011, we know we need to recycle, to not litter, to buy green — the basics are already embedded into western thought. It still isn’t enough, as we seem to ignore the “inconvenient truth” about the environment, but there hasn’t been a strong message with actual solutions popping up lately. This video by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a good start. It is thought-provoking and bold, building upon the concept of licensing merchandise rather than purchasing it. When a washing machine goes out, for example, we would return…

You don’t have to be a tech geek to know about apps. Just about anyone with a smartphone or a tablet has downloaded and installed apps onto their devices at one point or another. Some do it nearly every day. Gaming is the biggest category – we love our distractions – but business and productivity apps are starting to make a push and are being used by individuals and companies alike. This infographic by our friends at Intuit breaks down the boom of applications in the small business realm. As people become more accustomed to utilizing applications rather than websites and online resources, we can expect…

Everyone knows that technology is advancing. What we use today is so different from what we used a year ago, let alone a decade ago. Another thing that is changing, particularly for students, is what gets put into the carry-all of high school and college: the backpack. This infographic by our friends at Rasmussen takes a look at the last couple of decades of backpacks and what is getting put inside them. What’s that beeping? It’s a pager, of course. Try asking today’s students about pages – they may not even know what they are. Click to enlarge. …

As mobile technology continues to become more prevalent in use and present in our hands, so too do the “bad guys” make gains in skill and tools. As such the recent malware report (PDF) released last week by McAfee showed a 22% increase in malware over the same period last year. Android was hardest hit with malicious software disguised as legitimate apps. The attacks are getting more sophisticated as well, finding exploits through downloads of common apps with hard-to-detect holes that open up for more malware to be downloaded behind the scenes. Much of this can be blamed on Google’s “less rigorous…