Our Geek Life

W00T! Microsoft’s New iPhone

Posted by shegeek at August 18th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

This is so awesome I can’t even see straight!  I <3 Microsoft!

*drool iPod Touch HD?

Posted by shegeek at March 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

ican haz a super Touch?

I must admit…I love my iPod Touch.  It’s a cool gadget that I had to have, and HG surprised me with last year.  I have enjoyed it thoroughly, but truth be told, I have been dreaming about all the things that would make the Touch even better.

The end of 2008 brought a growing hum about the possibilities of Apple’s next great thing.   Michael Arrington wrote about it in a December 30, 2008 article  in TechCrunch:

We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple:  expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of ‘09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about mass production…. I’m not saying Apple is definitely launching a large form iPod Touch. But sources I trust are saying they are currently planning to, and one source has actually held the device.

While that was definitely a tasty morsel, it was still too early for any type of real anticipation.  Fast forward to today when DigiTimes quoted a daily Chinese-language financial newspaper, Commerical Times, as saying:  “Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for Apple’s new netbook, and shipments will start in the third quarter this year”, that hum became a buzz.  The internet was suddenly a flutter with commentary about the possibility of a netbook by Apple.

The information quote from Commercial Times states that the Wintek touch screens are for an Apple netbook.  A previous quote about netbooks by COO Tim Cook stating that Apple was ”not too impressed with what it’s seen so far” would seem to contradict this.  In fact, based on the popularity of the iPod Touch and the iPhone, it would seem to make a lot more sense that Apple has  been developing a hybrid device – something in between the Touch and the Macs.

So what do you think?  Netbook or a super coolio new iPod Touch?  I say, “BRING IT!”  I am ready for a new iPod Touch!!

Hello, Moto!

Posted by shegeek at March 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

I decided to refrain from posting about my rather nightmarish AT&T customer service experience that came with the return of the latest FAIL of my Samsung Blackjack II phone.  I couldn’t quite wordsmith an appropriate illustration of my displeasure without sounding like a complete head case.  Just trust me when I say that it was less than fun, more than frustrating, yet somehow ended with no blood spilled, no insults, no cursing, no shouting, and a new phone for me. 

Because I was about to be on Blackjack II number 4, I was given the choice of three other phones in the AT&T trash can…I mean arsenal:  the Pantech Duo, the Palm Centro, or the Motorola Moto Q 9h.  By default the Moto Q was the phone I told them to ship.  I already gave a big fat FAIL to the Pantech Duo last year.  HG and I both test drove that phone and while there were some cool things about it, the construction was so cheap and flimsy that I couldn’t justify the cost of the phone.  The call quality also sucked, which made that one a double no-go.  And I had decided previously that the QWERTY on the Palm was too small and too cramped for my liking. 

My phone arrived last Thursday.  I was happy to find that it came with 2 batteries – a regular life and an extended life battery.  I have never had a spare battery before, so it’s a treat.  I’m not sure how much I will use it, but it’s a “nice to have” I wasn’t expecting.  I was also pleasantly surprised at the spaciousness of the QWERTY.  The keys are a bit bigger which makes texting, tweetin’ and responding to emails a lot easier.  I am still learning the layout of the keys.  The placement of the special characters (i.e. @ , *, etc) is a bit different, but all in all I am having no problem getting my Tweet on!

I haven’t had a chance to completely test out the new device, but at first blush, I will say that I am happier than I thought I would be.  We shall see how I feel in about 60 days.