Tag: Mobile

  • Your iPhone or iPad warranty: check the fine print!

    At Christmas, I bought my wife an iPhone as a gift. I live in Portugal, but purchased the device (unlocked and SIM-free) in a London Apple store during a work trip to the UK. There is an Apple store in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, but it is three hours drive from our home, so buying the…

  • Three steps for taking better smartphone pictures

    If there’s anything that photo sharing apps like Instagram have taught us, it’s that there are a lot of people who are really bad at taking pictures. Never before have so many poorly-lit, out-of-focus, over-filtered images been shared to so many people. In all likelihood (and backed by a statistical sampling of Instagram), you’re part…

  • Communication Alternatives: Voice vs. Text

    Communication Alternatives: Voice vs. Text

    Forms of communication come in all types of technology. There are computers, cell phones, landlines, “telephones” made of tin cans and twine, and, of course, actual face-to-face talking. While each method holds its own unique traits, they all allow us to talk, listen, and create conversations. But as gadgets continue to advance, these virtual interactions…

  • Astrid is a near perfect to-do list for both iOS and Android

    Astrid is a near perfect to-do list for both iOS and Android

    Calendars for 2013 are still fresh off the printing presses, and even though we are only a few weeks into January, I suspect that most people’s New Year’s resolutions are being broken by the minute. I started with six, but unfortunately they are being picked off faster than zombies on the Walking Dead. So, in…

  • Get back into comics with comiXology

    Growing up, I was never a big comic book fan, partly due to limited options. The small towns I lived in didn’t have comic book stores, so I would only occasionally get a copy of X-Men or Batman at one of the local gas stations when they happened to have them. The writing and stories…

  • Get curious and play the mobile game Curiosity

    Curiosity is not your average mobile game. It doesn’t tell you to knock down forts built by pigs, it doesn’t ask you to draw something, and it definitely doesn’t ask you to harvest a field. No, all that Curiosity asks is for you to answer one simple question: What’s inside the cube? This simplistic, mysterious…

  • The last missing iPad feature: pressure sensitivity

    Every time a new iPad (or any Apple device) is released, people ask, “What can Apple do better?” This often happens within 30 seconds of the new product announcement. With the iPad people are usually expecting a thinner and lighter device, a better camera, a faster processor, and possibly better speakers. Nothing too spectacular or…

  • How to create Instagram-style photos without Instagram

    Instagram is a sinking ship. Don’t worry, I don’t mean that Instagram is going anywhere. After their $1 billion acquisition from Facebook (well, it ended up being more like $741 million after Facebook’s stock price tanked), they don’t have much to worry about anymore. Now that Instagram is financially secure and under the protective wing…

  • Holiday Gift Guide 2012: Creativity and Digital Artist Edition

    When I am not writing I am an art teacher and an illustrator, and I am always looking for cool toys to help me with my artwork. Here’s a few that I have tried that could make great gifts for the creative person in your family. Wacom Input Tablets One of the best investments I…

  • 3 free apps to replace SMS on your mobile phone

    Depending how old you are, you may be able to remember the time where text messaging was the next big thing in the cell phone world. Before iPhones and other smartphones, text messaging was the preferred way of contact for millions of people across the country, and it was particularly popular with the younger crowd.…