Category Archives: Technology

Mobile Operating Systems, Technology

iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 6S Plus — Worth It?

Let’s face it, although Apple wants you to buy each iPhone every year, most consumers simply don’t — but there are some year over year upgrades worth the Apple tax?  In some cases yes and overall the iPhone 7 Plus is the perfect incremental upgrade to it’s successor.
(Source: Apple)
Water Resistance
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are rated IP67 under IEC standard 60529 — making it splash, water and dust resistant — a first for an iPhone.  Although the 6S and 6S Plus do not have the official IP67 rating, tests have shown that it is largely unfazed by water.  What do all of these numbers mean?  Simple.  Rain storm and need to make a quick call — your phone will survive.  Dunking your phone (accidentally) into the toilet — your phone will survive.  Taking your phone to a beach — your phone will survive (Note: salt water is not good for any smartphone).  These are just a few of the circumstances that bringing your phone to is now something that you need not worry about.
Dual Cameras
The camera on the iPhone has always been the industry standard even when other smartphone cameras pull more pleasing images at times (Samsung Galaxy devices and Google Pixel).  This phone is no different, the iPhone 7 Plus with it’s dual lens setup takes gorgeous pictures at 12 megapixels and has a telephoto lens that allows you to crop in without losing any quality (usually you use digital zoom, which creates a grainier image).  Additionally, Apple touts it’s latest software miracle in “Portrait Mode”, which is only available on the iPhone 7 Plus and this creates a stunning bokeh effect that when done properly blurs the background of the image and leaves focus on the subject almost flawlessly.
Enhanced Screen Quality
With the iPhone 7 Plus the screen quality is upped from the previous years model.  Looking at the display, you can immediately notice the difference in any object that you seen on the screen.
2024ABCC-28AE-4CC9-96C7-0CB8618D6BFB.jpg
Left: iPhone 7 Plus, Right: iPhone 6S Plus
Stereo Speakers
Every phone should have stereo speakers!!  That’s right — after this device is is unacceptable for a device to be released without stereo speakers.  On all previous models of iPhone, it has featured a single downward facing speaker.  Now in addition to the downward facing the earpiece is additionally a speaker — which gives a much fuller sound that the previous models.  You would think that an additional speaker doesn’t make a big difference but it does and the entire device illuminates with sound.
(Source: DHTV – Dan)
Speedier Processor
A10 Fusion, this new processor in the iPhones 7 are noted by researchers as blowing away the competition and upon release is the fastest SoC put into a phone.  Day to day, it’s tough too tell how snappy the device is, as iOS devices have and maintain high performance consistently.
Taptic Home-Button
Literally my favorite part of the device!  Upon my first hands-on with an iPhone 7 and 7 Plus I was taken back by the taptic button and it not being a button, being more of a circular trackpad.  I must say that it is phenomenal.  Removing a physical home button from the device removes yet another potential point of failure since the old button was mechanical.  The new home button is a miniature force touch track pad that simulates a click, whose sensitivity can be changed through settings.  Additionally, there are taptics (vibrations) that occur all throughout the operating system of the new devices, which further heightens the experiences of iPhone 7.  Examples are scrolling through calenders, clearing all notifications and more just feel different and more immersive on these new devices.
(Source: 9to5 Mac)
Overall
I know what you want to hear…  Are the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus worthy upgrades?  Yes and no.  Cameras are driving factors in smartphone purchases and if you want class leading camera performance (the non-plus model gets OIS this year) it’s worthy.  In addition, having the latest and greatest gives you the new A10 Fusion SoC with peace of mind that the device will be able to handle the latest round of even more demanding apps.
However, if you’re looking for an all new redesign then no.  However, if you have a 6S or 6S Plus and you get the 7 or 7 Plus, you will not be disappointed in this great device.
Technology

Apple’s New tablet — iPad 2017

Let’s talk about the new iPad from Apple. 
So what we’ve got here is a case of a new tablet brought to us by Apple that is not an iPad Pro but at the same time it does have a lot of unique qualities. For example, this tablet’s best and most forefront quality is it’s price, starting at $329. This tablet is in the perfect position to take on the education market and be a perfect entry-level tablet for consumers of media and internet services.

Source: Gizmag

Next, let’s talk about look. It’s earily similar to ghosts of iPad past; however, this time around — it’s thicker, packing a larger battery and a non-laminated display. Will this make a difference you ask? To most users no and at this price point; you probably shouldn’t be that picky anyway. This tablet is designed as a perfect “gateway drug” to tablet computing and it’s bound to get many first time buyers hooked.

Technology

Senate votes to undo Internet Privacy laws?

Let’s give a round of applause to our excellent administration, huh?  Crickets.
When you think of lawmakers, you think of people, who have the best interests of the people in mind, not the best interests of businesses; however, this is exactly what we are seeing with the most recent news from Washington.
The Senate voted to repeal a set of rules that were established to keep consumers (me and YOU) data safe by barring ISPs from selling and sharing usage data.  Nowadays, everyone wants to be the next Google or Facebook and have all of your data.  Some companies are straight-forward with what they do with your data, like Google — others are a little more nefarious.  It is clear that this is a move to sponsor more business activities on the sides of AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and others — not protect the people.
Isn’t our data going through enough channels already?  Now, we additionally have to worry about what are ISPs are going to do with our information — while they should be doing nothing more than providing the pipe for access.
This is nothing more than a pathetic money grab.
What should you do?
  • Read/Scan all End-User License Agreements (look for keywords and phrases such as “data”, “share” and “other companies”)
  • Limit what level of access social media accounts have to your data
  • Use a VPN when possible, especially on public and untrusted WiFi (lean more about VPN, here)
TLDR; Senate votes to kill internet privacy, let’s hope the House stops it.
Technology

Your Guide to VPN and Online Security

Privacy on the internet. At times, it’s almost blasphemous to think we can attain it, right? We hear about company A getting hacked and service B scanning all of your outbound data for reasons they don’t disclose all the time, then you have the government who thinks It’s ok to know your exact location, thoughts and details at all times — but I digress. So what can you do to protect yourself? Should you only open private sessions in your favorite browser (which conceals NOTHING from your ISP or network admin — you’re only fooling yourself), should we be terrified of the technological world around us and never take advantage of these mind-blowing tools around us? No, don’t be silly. Although, there are a wealth of ways to be tracked online without your consent or knowledge, there’s also a wealth of tech and tips to help keep you flying under the radar.
What are two helps?  VPN and increased scrutiny of your online habits.
What kind of tool is a VPN, really?  Source Webopedia: ” A virtual private network (VPN) is a network that is constructed using public wires — usually the Internet — to connect to a private network, such as a company’s internal network. There are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. It secures the private network as these systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.”  Nowadays, with US citizens and those of other nations constantly being watched, a VPN is almost a must to maintain privacy and ensure that you can access the internet that YOU want to access — not one that your ISP or anyone says you should access.  What’s worse, now, is that many regulations that have been successfully put in place in the FCC to protect the privacy of consumers are on the brink of being reversed by politicians, who want to put more money inside these large corporations pockets.  Essentially, we are entering a state of extreme monitoring by government bodies that infringes on our rights in more than enough ways to count.
VPNDataKeepSafe_030717
So what VPN should you get?  VPNs come in a variety of “flavors” and tiers.  There are free options that can incorporate into your browser, via an extension, such as BetterNet.  In addition, there are other VPNs that require a yearly subscription, but offer far more server options (good if the servers you connect to are full of other users — more users equals more traffic going through that host, which can make your overall connection slower), more bandwidth, no ads and overall greater performance.  Some popular paid VPNs are PrivateInternetAccess, IPVanish, ExpressVPN, NordVPN and more (please find a valuable VPN article, Source: PCMag, here).
What’s an example of scrutiny?  Have you ever read a EULA (end user license agreement) to see how a company actually uses your data?  (Pro tip: Read every EULA you can, but do it efficiently.  Open the “Find” feature by hitting Ctrl + F on your keyboard and keyword search for things you are concerned about, such as “data”, “information”, “privacy” and “ads” to see what you’re really signing up for).  Companies are very clever and most people are so anxious to use the latest app or service that is free — they forget to read what they are giving up in order to get that service.  After all, it’s fun getting an inbox of unsolicited emails and having all moves you make on your devices tracked, right?  NOPE.
TLDR; We have officially entered an age where we all need to carefully watch what we do online, apps that we install and more.  It’s always been something to think about; however, at this point we are at the greatest risk of losing our right to privacy while traversing the internet.  The surveillance state is becoming something that could soon be upon us.  Please arm yourselves with the necessary tools to keep your data safe.