August Consumer Tech
DFA’s Back to Work Back to School Picks
By Richard M. Sherwin
Despite the gloom and doom of the latest job and unemployment reports, despite the fluctuation of gasoline prices that have turned vacations into staycations and despite the rise and fall of the stock market, nearly every consumer spending survey indicates that people are gearing up to spend a lot towards the end of the summer and early fall. From mobile products that entertain or help families stay in touch to devices that clean, purify and generally simplify what folks do around the house, consumer retail purchasing indexes have been inching up, since last March. The index is supposed to peak by early fall with Amazon, E-Bay and every brick and mortar entity stocking up for the expected buying surge. Here are our picks based on our gut feelings in addition to our product reviews. Read MoreRead Your Phone Bill Lately? You Should.
By Bob Plunkett...
Last Month, the U.S. Postal Service found it had been charged $550,000 in unauthorized telephone charges so far this year. It hired an auditor to examine its bills. The audit uncovered two problems - illegal charges had been going on for nearly two decades and the Postal Service never bothered to review its bills so it was partly responsible for being ripped-off. Read MoreLife is about to get very interesting for anyone who creates websites.
By Bob Plunkett...
Last month, the three big search engines, Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, decided to cooperate on a single markup language that webmasters and SEOs use to enhance their sites in search listings. That language is called schemas - a collection of codes you can place around content on your site in order to help search engines better find your site and understand what kind of site it is. The better a search engine understands, the higher your site is placed on search results. Read MoreHoliday Gift Show Round-Up
By Susan Davis...
Visited this year’s Holiday Gift Guide Show this week. Yeah, I know, it’s a little strange looking at tinsel and bells and Santa-themed gifts in the summer, but that’s when companies get together to sell their newest and best products to stores for the holidays. Some I thought were pretty silly, some I really liked. So if you want to get a jump on your holiday gift-giving ideas while you’re still wearing shorts and flip flops, take a look at my take on the latest and greatest: Read MoreJuly Consumer Tech
By Richard M. Sherwin...
The fallacy and dangers of upgrading your home electronics Is your free upgrade for your software or hardware electronics really free? During the Spring product previews, I was truly amazed as television and high end audio makers were touting that their 2011-12 products had the advantages of the computer industry: A consumer, with little or no help from the manufacturer, can fix or upgrade their TV or stereo system with a USB flash drive or direct from the Internet firmware program. Like many industry veterans, I struggle with our Windows and Mac Operating System upgrades. Read MorePlaybook by RIM – A Luddite’s Experience
By Rachel Stine...
A huge rug, with a couple of deliberately-sewn imperfections, hangs on the wall of the UN lobby “to remind us that nothing is perfect.” The sleek Playbook by Blackberry might be hung next to that rug. It is a beautiful machine, weighing in at a comfortable .9 lbs (425g) with the clearest display I have ever seen. Read MoreSodaStream Soda Maker = A Great Father’s Day Gift
By Livia Bergovoy...
Making carbonated water and soft drinks is simple! Turn tap water into sparkling water in under 30 seconds, with no clean-up. Enjoy the freshness and convenience of homemade soda and protect the environment at the same time. Read MoreWORX TOYS FOR THE CURIOUS MIND
By Jennifer Auspitz and Susan Davis...
The idea for Worx Toys began when an inquisitive 5 year old wanted to see the inner workings of his toy fire engine, so he took it apart.The company was started by three fathers who’s revolutionary new type of toys enable children to have fun while learning about ‘how things work.’ Kindergarten age kids are interested in all manner of things. With Worx Toys they can explore their natural curiosity in a fun and educational way. Read More
3D Sound with Coby Sound Bar
By Katharine Czechowski
Much like the home stereo system department at major Electronic Retailers like Best Buy, Home stereo systems themselves have become more compact to match the slimmer LCD televisions and accessories. The CSMP88 sound bar by Coby Electronics is no different. Is it the best sound bar in the current marketplace? For the price (around $100) and features it offers, it is definitely a contender for those wanting to improve their entertainment consumption from nothing to something. Read MoreFather’s Day for Digital Families
By Livia Bergovoy One Idea: Landline and Cellphone All In One - It's called the Vtech DS6421-3 Now you can answer your cell phone and your land line from one handset. You can also make calls via this handset from your cell phone number or your land line number. And it really works
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