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How to secure your earbuds 0

The earbud headphones you wear are as essential and practical to your mobile lifestyle as the device you use them for. But sooner or later, you’ll have to take them out of your ears and leave them dangling around your neck, or tangled in your pocket.

This is where Zipi comes in.

The Zipi is the brainchild of project creator Frank Cho and the focus of a Kickstarter campaign that’s raised nearly double its goal of $6,000. Cho designed a plastic strip with magnets on the end that connect to each other. Plastic clips secure the earbuds to the Zipi, which wraps around behind your neck.

Yes, people actually think up stuff like this.

Techcrunch has a nice piece about the Zipi. Here’s a video courtesy of the Kickstarter site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reports say new Apple iPhones to boast bigger screens 0

Apple reportedly plans to release two iPhones this year that will feature bigger screens.

The Wall Street Journal says that Apple will unveil an iPhone with a screen size bigger than 4.5 inches, and another one that features a screen bigger than 5 inches. The Journal report cites people with knowledge of the company’s plans. The iPhone’s 4-inch screen is currently one of the smallest on the market.

The Journal report is subscription only. Read more here on CNET.

The report follows a similar report this week by Chinese-language website QQ Tech. According to Apple Insider, the new iPhone, featuring a 4.7-inch screen, will debut in June, with a 5.7-inch variant to follow.

 

 

 

The Mighty Purse: One chic phone charger 0

So, ladies, what’s in your purse?

Makeup? Check. Sunglasses? Ditto. Smartphone?  Gotta have it.

How about a smartphone charger?

Definitely, if you have a Mighty Purse.

The Mighty Purse is made of quality leather, comes in a number of colors and — this the functional, mobile-tech part — has a hidden self-contained battery source attached to a USB cable. The rechargeable high-capacity battery can charge your smartphone up to two times. mightypurse_art

It is compatible with all smartphones with a micro-USB port. It is also compatible with the iPhone, though adapters must be purchased separately.

The Mighty Purse is a product of Handbag Butler, an Australian company founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Ana Slavka and Stephan Kljajic. Since launching in June 2013, the Mighty Purse is selling in more than 1,000 stores worldwide.

 

 

 

 

Well, ‘G’ whiz: South Korea banking on 5G development 0

CNN Tech is reporting that South Korea is dropping $1.5 billion into upgrades to its wireless network that will substantially increase connectivity speed for its mobile communications there.

South Korea’s science ministry put its intentions this way:

“We helped fuel national growth with 2G services in the 1990s, 3G in the 2000s and 4G around 2010. Now it is time to take preemptive action to develop 5G … Countries in Europe, China and the US are making aggressive efforts to develop 5G technology … and we believe there will be fierce competition in this market in a few years.”

It’s the next tech step for a country that is the most wired in the world, where 82.7 percent of the population is on the Internet and 78.5 percent of South Koreans owns a smartphone. This is a country where almost everyone ages 18 to 24 — 97.7 percent — has a smartphone.

But don’t turn in your 4G mobile device yet. South Korea is taking its time, with a trial rollout for a 5G network planned for no earlier than 2017.

That’s a long time in tech years.

 

 

 

 

Please turn off all cell phones and glasses … 0

Google Glass as a bootleg recording device?

According to Inforworld, a man was detained and interrogated by federal agents after he was observed wearing Google Glass in a Columbus, Ohio, movie theater. The man said he wearing the device with his prescription eyeglasses, but had turned it off so he could concentrate on watching “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.”

Theater management called the Motion Picture Association of America, who called the Department of Homeland Security agents. After lengthy questioning, the man was able to convince the agents that he was not using his Google Glass to record the film for duplication and eventual sale at a convenience store near you.

Take a look at the original account as published in the Gadgeteer.

 

 

 

 

If you’re reading this, you’ve found your smartphone 0

polldinnerLiving the digital life can be a high-wire act.

That’s what can be learned from a poll that asks a sampling of 3,583 women how smartphones and social media affect their lives. The joint poll by Real Simple and the Huffington Post came up with some interesting findings. A sampling:

Where’s my phone? More than half of the respondents keep their smartphones close enough to the dinner table to hear, but conveniently out of sight. At bedtime, 47 percent keep the phones on the nightstand.

Now, where did I put it? The poll says 39 percent of respondents have checked for their smartphone in the bathroom. Another 15 percent have looked for it at a church, funeral or wedding.

This is illegal in many places: Some 39 percent of the respondents have texted behind the wheel, but only at a red light. Another 36 percent have, hmm, texted while driving.

Depends on the quality of content: Almost half of respondents say they would rather go without sex for a month than without their smartphones.

Read the rest of the results from the poll here on Real Simple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you pay me now? Banks try out voice-recognition technology 0

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is joining a growing list of financial institutions testing voice-recognition technology that would allow customers to one day interact with their bank through their mobile device.

Wells Fargo is fine-tuning its app that responds to vocal commands before launching it to its 12 million mobile banking customers, the Charlotte Observer reports. The bank tested the technology with a group of its employees over the summer.

Mobile technology represents a substantial part of the banking industry, and financial institutions are looking for innovative ways to capitalize on the growing mobile customer base.

U.S. Bankcorp, the corporate parent of U.S. Bank, has developed a new voice recognition app that lets customers conduct basic banking tasks by speaking requests, like “check balance” and “transfer funds”, into their mobile device. The app was developed with Nuance, which sells mobile voice recognition software, according to American Banker.

 

 

Crowdfunding powers the ARK launch 0

Los Angeles-based startup Bezalel is turning to the crowd for help in its launch of a portable, compact cordless charging device.

The ARK is poised to enter the growing market of consumers tired of having to find a place to plug in their smartphone, iPad or tablet when it runs out of juice. Bezalel’s charging device is compatible with Qi-certified devices, including the iPhone 4 and later, the Nokia Lumia series, and Samsung Galaxy S3/S4, and Nexus 4.

The company is raising money through Kickstarter, Techcrunch reports, and with 39 days to go its goal of $35,000 is in sight.

When Was the Last Time You Set Foot Inside a Bank? 0

mobilebanking_artLong gone are the days when you would drive to the bank, park, go inside and fill out a paper withdrawal slip, then wait in line for the teller just to get 40 bucks out of your account for groceries or to pay a phone bill. Today, the majority of your banking can be done through your smartphone or tablet.

The major banks are releasing banking apps for mobile devices with cutting-edge features and tools that make online banking easier and more convenient than accessing the bank’s website through the device’s Internet browser.

The competition for this consumer market is robust, according to Business Insider (subscription required):

“The banks that establish a  reputation for mobile innovation are likely to benefit in the future from  greater market share and more engaged — and high-margin — customers.”

While you still can’t withdraw cash from your iPad like an ATM, you can use your bank’s mobile app to transfer money between accounts, apply for loans or other forms of credit, check your mortgage status and more.

Bill paying is where the bank mobile apps really demonstrate their usefulness, in terms of saving time and positively affecting our lifestyle. No more filling out paper checks and mailing them. Now, it’s just a few taps on your mobile device and the deed is done. There’s no waiting in line for a teller, and it is less likely you’ll be late on a payment.

Perhaps this may not seem like such a life-changing spinoff of mobile technology advancement, but think of those people with mobility or health issues who find it difficult to get around town to complete tasks. In the past they would likely have to rely on family or friends to assist with banking and other activities that others take for granted.

With mobile technology, such as banking apps, people can maintain their sense of autonomy and that is always a very good thing.

  • How do you use mobile technology for banking?
  • Do you have concerns about the security or safety of banking online from a mobile device?

Keep a Lookout on Your Smartphone 0

Lookout Keys, wallets, Phone, Purse, laptop…there are a lot of things to keep track of. I have to do inventory every time I leave the house. I can’t decide which is most important because I will need them all during the course of the day but I would be a mess if my phone were to go missing. It has my whole life on it. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t misplaced or legitimately lost their phone at some point in their life. I have misplaced it plenty of times but if it wasn’t for Lookout I would have lost it.

Lookout is the safeguard every smartphone needs. Once it is installed, it will help you find your phone every time it isn’t where you need it to be. All you have to do is log into Lookout.com from another device and a map will show you where your phone is within 6 meters.

There have been three occasions where I had to use Lookout to find my phone. Once it was in my car, it had fallen between the seats. The second, it was home, I placed it on top of some clothes in the laundry basket and it fell in between the clothes. The last time it was actually stolen. I was at a restaurant and I was moving from one table to another so I was moving my stuff and in the midst of the move someone lifted my phone.

After I looked everywhere (you know how you check the same place ten times, expecting one time to find it there?) I looked all around the floor, on the chairs etc before I finally gave up and borrowed my friends’ phone. I logged onto Lookout MapLookout.com and my phone was 7 miles away! Fortunately I was in a small town where the police were able to assist in recovering it. I was so happy to get my phone back and so happy there is such an app that can target exactly where my phone was. Can you imagine the surprise when the police went knocking on the door of the house Lookout identified my phone to be?

I tell everyone I know to install it on their Androids, iPhones, tablets and iPads. Most people don’t think about installing it until it’s too late. It can be installed over the air if you have an Android which means you can go to the Google Play market and send it to your phone.

Besides locating a missed phone, it also backs up your info and scans for malware or questionable websites when you are surfing the web, all for free. Lookout is the ultimate security tool. It’s safety in the form of an app. It literally tells me everything is okay!