Troy Media — Page 9

Time to dump your old iPhone?

September 9, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

EDMONTON, AB, Sep 9, 2014/ Troy Media/ – The closer we move to the introduction of the iPhone 6, and its many expected variations, you are probably asking yourself if it is time to dump your current iPhone.

In fact, there are a growing number of iPhones on offer on the resale market. According to eBay Canada there was a significant jump in the number of listings offering the iPhone 5 leading up to last year’s announcement of the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S models, compared to the same period a month prior. Read full article at TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: Apple, Business, GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, In the news, Signs of the Times, Troy Media · Tagged With: Apple, eBay, iPhone

Troy Media: The day the Beatles shook Vancouver

August 21, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

August 22, 1964. Photo by Owen Coppin. From the private collection of Red Robinson

The Fab Four’s first appearance in Canada 50 years ago was cut short because of a near riot

EDMONTON, AB, Aug 21, 2014/ Troy Media/ – While February 7, 1964 was the day The Beatles crossed the big pond to conquer America, it was on August 22, 1964, the day before the legendary Hollywood Bowl Concert, that The Beatles made their first appearance north of the 49th Parallel. That concert was held outdoors at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, B.C.

Legendary broadcaster and Disc Jockey Red Robinson, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in1994, had previously introduced the likes of Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Buddy Holly to the general public. But it was on that night in Vancouver that Red emceed the show that would go down as an unforgettable date in Beatle’s history.

Robinson, then 27, was at the time the Program Director and DJ at CFUN Radio in Vancouver. “It was a great day,” says Robinson. The concert was held on a football field on the site of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), built in 1954 for The British Empire and Commonwealth Games. It was during those games that Roger Bannister and John Landy broke the four-minute mile. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Audio, GadgetGreg, In the news, Signs of the Times, Troy Media · Tagged With: history, music, The Beatles

Seidio Innocell Plus Combo makes your hip “hip” once again

August 8, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

EDMONTON, AB, Aug 8, 2014/ Troy Media/ – The bigger smartphones get, the less likely we are to see people opting to wear them on their hips. And the need of the latest and greatest for even more power and bigger and extra batteries is another reason to simply sock them into your pocket or purse.

But sometimes (think if you’re working out in the field or up on a telephone pole), a phone on your hip still makes perfect sense.

The Seidio Innocell Plus Combo is a nifty little accessory for your iPhone 5 or iPhone 5S that acts as a case with a battery plus holster in an all-in-one combination.

The case is a snap-together sleek slim protector for your phone. It features Seidio’s signature soft-touch coating, that feels nice to handle while keeping your phone free from scratches, and doesn’t add too much excessive real estate to your phone. It has a built-in 2000mAh battery which, in effect, doubles your iPhone’s battery’s capacity, with an extra 25 per cent more to boot.

Your Innocell Plus case clips right into the perfectly matched felt-lined Innocell Plus Holster, which you then simply need to clip it right onto your belt. It allows quick access to your phone and swivels in seven different directions to accommodate almost any type of hip. The belt clip also has a lip on it to make it less likely that the phone will fall off your belt. READ FULL ARTICLE at TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: accessories, Apple, GadgetGreg, Hands On, Product review, Troy Media · Tagged With: accessories, iPhone

Living Plug Inlet redefines electrical outlet

July 25, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

E 0 Inlet Before and After DMONTON, AB, Jul 25, 2014/ Troy Media/ – With all of the innovations in telephone communications, home entertainment and computers over the last 500 years, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed – the electrical outlet.Until now that is. Thanks to San Francisco-based Living Plug and its Inlet, the outlet will never be the same.

Now, we’re not talking about modifying or rewiring an existing outlet. That would require a major overhaul and a change to electric standards around the world.

Instead, the Inlet gives the outlet a simple but very useful makeover. It comes in the form of a 5” x 5” x 1 1/2′” square housing that fits over the outlet plate and plugs into an existing socket. It moves the two room-facing sockets to a safer location – the bottom of the Inlet, making it safer for children. (There’s also an additional safety screw that you could use to secure Inlet to the actual outlet so the kids can’t pull it out of the wall.) They’ve also added a third tamper-proof outlet, rotated 90 degrees, making it a triplex outlet.

READ FULL ARTICLE at Troy Media

Filed Under: accessories, GadgetGreg, Hands On, New Product, Product review, Review, Troy Media · Tagged With: electrical, power

Nokia Lumia 625 4G on a Tight Budget

July 8, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

EDMONTON, AB, Jul 8, 2014/ Troy Media/ – If you’re in the market for a budget 4G Windows smartphone without being tied down in a two-year contract, you’ll be surprised to find out that the Nokia Lumia 625 might just fit the bill. And the price is right; for only $200, you can have one with no strings attached.

It’s a recent model that’s only been available in Canada for a few months. The polycarbonate shell measures 133.2 x 72.2 x 9.2 mm and weighs 159 grams. It houses a 4.7” LCD display with a resolution of 480 x 800 at 201 ppi (pixels per inch), is powered by a respectable 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and comes with 8GB of internal memory, expandable to 64GB with a micro SD card. It houses two cameras: a 5MP megapixel rear camera with LED flash and delivers hi-def 1080p video at 30fps (frames per second) and a second camera that offers basic VGA resolution. It has 802.11n Wi-Fi and comes with a hefty non-removable 2000mAH battery that’s rated at 14 to 15 hours of talk time and 23 days standby.

The Lumia 625 feels solidly built, albeit a little on the heavy side. But even with a 4.7″ screen, it’s easy to hold in one hand. If you favour your left hand, you might find yourself accidentally hitting the power button located half way up the right edge. Powering it up, you get the Windows 8 tile-like interface that tells you right away that it’s not an Android or iOS handset. It also has three soft-touch buttons (back, Windows and search) on the lower portion of the screen, which offers super-sensitive touch. The same also holds true for navigating from screen to screen and operating the large key on-screen keyboard – they’re fast.

READ FULL ARTICLE AT TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, Hands On, Product review, smartphone, Troy Media · Tagged With: Review, smartphone

Netflix subscriptions jump by $1

May 12, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

But still a very good deal.…

EDMONTON, AB, May 12, 2014/ Troy Media/ – If you’ve been putting off subscribing to Netflix and watching the scheming Kevin Spacey in Emmy-award winning House of Cards until now, it’s going to cost you just a little bit more to subscribe.

Netflix says the $1 price increase (from $7.99 to $8.99) is necessary if it was to continue to add more movies and TV shows to its roster and continue to provide original and exclusive (and expensive) content. House of Cards just released Season 2 in February and Orange is the New Black will debut Season 2 on June 6th.

Netflix recently sent out an e-mail to current members advising them of the change and how it would affect them now and in the long term.

“As a thank you for being a member of Netflix already, we guarantee your plan and price (excluding tax) will not change for two years.”

The company added that they would guarantee the current price members pay as long as they maintained current membership.

READ FULL ARTICLE at TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: Announcements, Digital Video, GadgetGreg, In the news, Troy Media · Tagged With: Netflix, TV

Windows XP vulnerabilities go way beyond home and office PC

April 8, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

Greg-Gazin-Senior-Editor EDMONTON, AB, April 8, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Windows XP is more than just a desktop and notebook computer operation system. It is also used in a significant number of retail point-of-sale systems (POS), restaurant systems and even ATM Banking machines are running it.

And with Microsoft ending support for XP today, April 8th, all of these systems will be vulnerable to severe data breaches such as theft of credit card numbers and other personal information.

Christopher Pogue, Director for Chicago-based Trustwave, an information and security company, said that everyone still using Microsoft Windows XP – and there is a significant number of them – should be concerned. “XP has been in production since 2001 and (is the) de-facto standard in many business verticals like point-of sale systems,” he said.

But even worse, he added, are those people who don’t even know their systems are running XP. READ MORE AT TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: accessories, Apple, GadgetGreg, Signs of the Times, Troy Media · Tagged With: Microsoft, security, Windows

Steve Jobs to be immortalized on 2015 U.S. stamp

February 22, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

Photo by Greg Gazin; Stamp Template by PictureItPostage, real U.S. postage created by Endicia

But will the design guru behind the iMac, iPhone and iPad be consulted in the design process of the “iStamp”?

EDMONTON, AB, Feb 22, 2014/ Troy Media/ – If you head to a United Stated Postal Service (USPS) outlet some time next year, you should be able to pick up a commemorative postage stamp featuring the late former CEO and co-founder of Apple Computer Steve Jobs.

Jobs’ name was included amongst a list in a document of approved subjects for future stamps posted on-line by The Washington Post in January and issued by the U.S. Postmaster General Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.

The list covers the years 2014 to 2016. Some of the stamps are designated as approved for Reprint, Rate Change or as Collectible stamps. Jobs is listed under “collectibles” for 2015.

READ Full Story at Troy Media

Filed Under: Apple, GadgetGreg, In the news, Signs of the Times, Troy Media · Tagged With: Apple, news

HISY helps you snap the perfect selfie

February 14, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

HISY PIc 1

The perfect gift for the self-indulgent

EDMONTON, AB, Feb 13, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Last November Oxford Dictionary declared “Selfie” the 2013 international word of the year. Simply put, Oxford define it as a photograph – typically taken with a smartphone or webcam – of oneself and uploaded to a social media website.

And while “Selfie” may have achieved a certain status because of the venerable dictionary, many of us still consider such self-indulgence as either vain or simply downright annoying. This is particularly true in crowded areas when those trying to get the ultimate self-portrait create chaos as they push and shove others aside. But no matter, people are happily snapping selfies in record numbers, and continually flooding Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social media sites with them.

If you are one of them, you might as well at least do it right.

Unless you have a long arm or a gadget like the QuikPod – an extendible monopod – you’re still either at the mercy of the steadiness of your hand or your device’s 10-second timer to get a decent in-focus shot or the shot you really want. With HISY – pronounced “high-see” – however, that ends.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: accessories, Apple, GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, New Product, Signs of the Times, Troy Media · Tagged With: Gadgets, photos

Apple shatters App Store numbers yet again

January 7, 2014 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

EDMONTON, AB, Jan 7, 2014/ Troy Media/ – With International CES 2014 about to kickoff, Apple jump-started this highly tech infused week by announcing some record app numbers in a number of categories, including downloads, dollars spent and monies paid to app developers.

According to Apple, December was the App Store’s most successful month in its short five-and-a-half-year history, with close to three billion downloads, And not all of them were freebies, as is reflected in the over $10 billion spent at the app store during all of 2013.

Apple, of course, showed its appreciation to those of us who dug deep into our pockets. “We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.” READ FULL ARTICLE at TROY MEDIA

Filed Under: Apple, Apps Alive, Business, GadgetGreg, In the news, News, Signs of the Times, Troy Media ·