July 02, 2007
Proof Our Economy Thrives: iPhone
I've often said to people who doubt the virility of our economy that if we are so bad off, you couldn't afford to pay $2 every morning for a cup of Starbucks coffee. You wouldn't be able to shop at the mall, or drive your SUV. The fact that our economy can sustain our lifestyles is proof positive that our economy is flourishing. The latest proof that our economy continues to boom: the iPhone.
"Overall, Apple met strong demand over the weekend with adequate supply," he wrote in the report. "We were surprised by the rate at which Apple was able to sell the handsets, with 50 cashiers processing up to 1,000 iPhones an hour in some stores."
Apple was not immediately available to comment on that estimate early Monday. It has set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, and analysts are generally looking for it to sell about 3 million units this year. The phones went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday, with long lines outside many Apple Stores.
So I'm going to use basic math. I haven't seen any real numbers as to how many of each model (the $499 or $599) was sold, so I'm going to use an average of the two which is $549. Multiply $549 by 500,000 and you get a grand total of $274,500,000. In one weekend. Americans spend nearly THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS ON A FREAKING PHONE THIS WEEKEND!
If Apple's projections are correct, by the end of 2008, Americans will have spent a total of $5,490,000,000 on the iPhone. Five BILLION, four hundred ninety thousand dollars. Damn George W Bush and his tax cuts!
Posted by Mays at 09:44 AM | Comments (6)
June 11, 2007
Safari for Windows
So Apple has released their slim web browser for the Windows users in the world. Only having the program installed for about 30 minutes, I must say that I do find it to be a lot slimmer than Internet Explorer or Firefox.
There are some features I think could use improving and some features I wish it had, but for the most part, it's a superior web browser over IE and FF. I wish it would store usernames and passwords like FF does.
Apple does a really great job of using anti-aliasing. Another cool feature I just noticed is that Safari will allow you to resize text boxes embedded in web pages. For example, the text box I'm using to write this blog can be resized depending on my screen size or preference. Safari also has a built-in RSS aggregator! No more using third party apps or sites like Google Reader.
I recommend that you all give it a try. Just head on over to Apple's Website and check it out!
EDIT:
I take that back. It does store usernames and passwords like FF. You just have to make sure to enable it! :-)
Posted by Mays at 02:51 PM | Comments (1)
May 02, 2007
You CAN actually learn something from CNN
Arguably the worst news outfit around, sans the Glenn Beck show on Headline Prime, CNN is basically a left-sided liberal powerhouse which pumps out information that the media elite have wet-dreams over. Not the case this morning, as I read this article about HD signals over the airwaves. What this mentions is something that I already do. I have an LCD Flat-Panel HDTV with an antenna to pick up HD broadcasts, but what I learned from them is that the HD signal being transmitted in the airwaves is actually better than any signal you're going to get from Comcast or DirectTV.
Local TV channels, broadcast in HD over-the-air, offer superior picture quality over the often-compressed signals sent by cable and satellite TV companies.That's pretty significant. You have DirectTV promoting their superior HD quality services, but my stupid antenna is better than mounting a satellite dish to my apartment? Pretty cool stuff. I actually invest in an outdoor HD antenna a couple of months ago, and I'm picking up HD channels from as far away as Cookeville, TN. I couldn't be happier with the results either. One of my brothers stayed at my apartment in Nashville and couldn't believe the quality I was getting from a broadcast signal.When you're using an antenna to get an HD signal you will be able to receive true broadcast-quality HD," said Megan Pollock, spokeswoman for the group [The Consumer Electronics Association]. "Some of the cable and satellite companies may choose to compress the HD signal."
Compression involves removing some data from the digital signal. This is done so that the providers will have enough room to send hundreds of other channels through the same cable line or satellite transmission.
I would still like to get Comcast again just because I am missing out on a lot of great television, but I can't justify paying what it costs, especially since I'm on the road all the time. I just thought that was an interesting tidbit of information. 80-year old technology is better than the most current and up-to-date technology. Wow, our grandparents really did build stuff better!
Posted by Mays at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)
February 22, 2007
ActiveSync Problems with the Verizon XV6700
This is a techy article I'm writing for fellow users of the XV6700 and the PPC6700 (Sprint) who are having difficulties getting their ActiveSync to work in Windows XP.
The origin of the problem has to do with Windows allowing the phone, once connected via the USB data cable, to be recognized as a network device and port 990 opened so that ActiveSync can communicate with the phone. All goes well but ActiveSync get's stuck on "Connecting" and eventually times out.
What you need is a utility that UTStarcom has made that manipulates the hardware and software from restricting the 6700 as a network device. Here's what the Documentation for the program states:
Installing the software in the device and switching the option of RNDIS (Remote Network Driver Interface Specification) to USB (Universal Serial Bus), will allow an authorized connection of new hardware being installed on a computer instead of a new network detection disengaging the 6700 as being recognizable to Active Sync.It's super easy to do and it can be downloaded from this link. Oh, and click here for the installation guide.The chart below will give an explanation to which VPN’s, antiviruses,
firewall’s and other laptop’s can Active Sync with the 6700 when Active
Sync Mode is switched to USB. McAfee, on the other hand is not suitable to complete the Active Sync connection due to their hidden features in their updated software.
For other updates to the 6700 series of phones, check out the UTStarcom website.
Posted by Mays at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2007
Flashblock
If you use Myspace and Firefox at the same time, chances are that you have been extremely aggravated at how slow all of the embedded Flash objects make Firefox. It got to the point, with all those stupid Flash games and movie advertisements, that Firefox would completely come to a halt and I had to close it using task manager. Well, there's a plug-in for Firefox called Flashblocker that it just wonderful! It blocks all flash objects, but allows you to grant permission for some sites while restricting other sites. It's awesome, so check it out! This has been my public service announcement of the month.
Posted by Mays at 02:46 PM | Comments (1)
January 09, 2007
Apple iPhone and more
Apple, Inc. (as it is now affectionately called) is a constant innovator. Year after year, they push the technology and cultural envelopes with breakthrough products that are simply untouchable. Today, Apple did it again.
Introducing the iPhone. This is Apple's version of a cell phone but it's so much more. Probably the most impressive thing I noticed about the iPhone is that the screen will automatically change from Page-View to Landscape view depending on how your holding the phone. You turn it sideways and the screen automatically flips. Unbelievable! Apple said that the product is so innovative that there are currently 200 (TWO HUNDRED!!!) patents being processed for all of the new technology inside that thing. Once again, Apple is taking something and turning an entire industry on it's ass with fascinating concepts turned into reality. I can't even begin to list all the crazy features of this thing, so go check it out for yourself at www.apple.com/iphone
Their Apple TV device that was released today is also something that will probably change the way we watch TV and movies. Unfortunately I'm short on time today or I'd blog more about it, but it's an amazing product itself. Go check it out at www.apple.com/appletv
Posted by Mays at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)