All Posts Categorized: ‘Technology (General)’

No One Knows Me Like TiVo…

I recently upgraded to a TiVo Premiere a few weeks ago and since the hardrive is significantly bigger than my previous Series 2 TiVo – I decided to let TiVo make suggestions of what to record with TiVo suggestions and was pleasantly surprised. I have gotten back into the original Batman series (Adam West, Gilligan’s Island, and even some Little House on the Prairie – all some of my favorite shows from my childhood).

TiVo Suggestions also recoded some great movies, documentaries, and other great TV shows so I am now able to watch pretty much whatever I want whenever I have a few minutes to relax – even if I did not purposely record it. At this point – I do not know what I like better – watching shows it records for me or seeing what new shows it thinks I would like each day.

I love TiVo!

My iPad

My iPad…do I love it? Yes.
Is it everything I imagined? Yes.
Is it better than expected? Yes.
Is the keyboard easy to use? Yes.
Do I love it? Oh my yes.
Am I using it now for this post? Yes!

Beautiful work Apple. I best describe this as “the future”.

Ahh, the iPad

Well – I have been holding my breath since the death of the Newton (10+ years ago) for something like the iPad and the day is finally here.

Will I get one? For sure!

Even the first version? Yes!
(Even though Ben usually gets screwed with version 1 of Apple products – my favorite all time Apple products have been version 1 (my beloved Blue & White, iPhone, Mac Mini, and the Bondi blue iMac)

Will I stand in line for it? Possibly – depends on the weather.

What do I love about it?

  1. I have been thinking about getting a new laptop for the kitchen or the livingroom – just something to have around to check email and look things up on the web. Now I can get something cool and cheap!
  2. I travel a lot…and with a 3 year old. My iPhone has been great for him (photos, games, videos) – this will be better.
  3. I can easily watch my favorite episodes of Modern Family now anywhere, any time – very easily – on a great display.
  4. The price. How amazing was that – to be completely shocked with the low price (usually Apple shocks you the other way)
  5. Ken will have some crappy complaint(s) about it and I will laugh and laugh as I enjoy mine and watch him get one a few years later ;)

I think Apple did a great job with the initial release and look forward to buying one soon! I really think this is exactly what my grandparents need as well (and my parents if they had high speed or wifi).

The Only Apple x Killer is Apple

All these crazy commercials and talk about the new Droid phone makes me smile. I think back about all the proposed “Apple x killers (x = Mac, Newton, iPod, iPhone) and what makes me smile is there is no third party Apple product killer and I do not see any in the foreseeable future.

The only real threat that these products have/had is actually Apple itself. Either Apple will kill it internally (Newton) or will create something bigger and better that will replace it’s own product.

So even though I enjoyed the Droid commercials – it all sounded a bit familiar (recently with the “iPod killer” Zune) – which come on, who knows someone that has one and has got you so excited you had to have one?

Companies may try and copy, add new functionality that people want…but when it comes down to it, there is just something about those Apple products…

Have a great weekend!

Media Mondays: Chipolte Chipotle Ordering iPhone App

Last week I did some browsing and found something really awesome (for the Chipotle fans out there) – an iPhone app that will find the nearest Chipotle(s) then allow you to place an order using the iPhone app.

The application is call Chipotle Ordering and is a free download. No more waiting in line or carrying a paper filled with Amy’s weird requests. I am super excited with this look forward to quick and easy Chipotle visits.

Media Mondays: The Price is Right iPhone App

One of my favorite games

One of my favorite games

I have been a Price is Right fan since I can remember. I watched it every day I was home sick from school, in the summers, at Penn State while eating lunch at the Hub, and now any chance I get either online or while Amy religiously watches it during the summers. When I saw there was a Price is Right game for the iPhone – I downloaded it and have been enjoying it ever since.

The graphics are pretty good, and the actual game is spot on to the actual game. I enjoy every aspect of the game, and Evan is a professional wheel spinner. The only downfall to this game is that it drains my battery pretty fast, but it is something worth while when you are looking for a nice break away from work.

If you are a Price is Right fan – check this out for sure. It is worth the $2.99 you will pay for it!

Random Fridays: May 29, 2009

This past week has been absolutely crazy. Hectic work days, a baby shower at my house, a car accident (with Amy’s $51k loaner) – not her fault, crazy deadlines, etc. I will be happy when I can just sit back and relax this evening (before the weekend chaos).

Through all of this craziness – I have to say I have been enjoying playing some online Scrabble using <a href="http://www.eamobile.com/Web/iphone-game/scrabble" target="_blank" EA's Scrabble for the iPhone with Doug using Facebook to link us together. The game can take an hour or a few days, depending on when we have time, but it is nice to just stop everything now and again and take a turn playing Scrabble. Now all I need is to find a chess game like this and Ken and I will be set!

Hurray for the weekend!

TiVo Mobile

I am a huge TiVo fan (TiVO – not your clunky generic DVR). Outside of TiVo – I cannot thinkg of anything I have used/seen technologically that have worked as expected for years now and still after years of the same – are still as impressive to me as the first time I used them. Skip commercials, view all my photos from my computers, listen to any music I have encoded on my computers, check weather, play games, order videos, season pass shows across multiple channels, record shows by actor, etc, all while being fast and looking and sounding great.

A few weeks (or was it months?) ago I read something about TiVo Mobile. This is a site that is built for mobile devices to make it easy to search for shows and then set your TiVo(s) to record them. I have been using my phone to do this sort of thing since I had a Treo 600 – but this new mobile only site makes it super easy to find that program you forgot to record.

Within a few minutes you can choose your show to record, set a season pass or view upcoming episodes. Thanks TiVo – great job!

Google Voice

A few years ago – Doug pointed me to an interesting service called “Grand Central”. This service was supposed to take care of the issue of several phone number changes. By using Grand Central – you could use one number for life and forward calls from that number to your home, cell phone, or any other phone depending on caller, time of day, etc. This also means – you can have someone call your Grand Central phone number and it could potentially ring all your other lines until you pick up (great for traveling or people who always use the excuse “you should have called my cell phone instead of my home phone, etc”).

We both signed up for accounts – but soon after I ended up not using it because of some reason or another. Almost a year and a half ago – Google bought it and finally – has released it under the name “Google Voice“. I look forward to trying this out because of the added features (voicemail transcription, conference calling, new UI, etc) and increased reliability (and coolness).

*This also takes care of my never remembering what phone number I have registered for my Dominick’s card ;)

A Trip Down Apple Memory Lane

I have been a die hard Apple fan since I can remember. I have a closet full of old Apple products (desktops, laptops, a Cube, eMates, Newtons, displays, iPods, etc) that I have either had in the past or have since bought for my collection. I ran across a blog post filled with pictures (and memories) of The Evolution of Apple Design Between 1977-2008. If you were ever an Apple fan or have an interest in design – check this out!

On another note – I have been collecting all this Apple stuff so that one day I can go through all of it with my kid(s) and show them just how far we have come. Let’s hope they at least find it semi-interesting!