Monday, November 26, 2012
Patch kicks off its holiday gadget gift guide with a look at the best headphones available.
Thanksgiving is over, the leftovers are dwindling and December is almost here. That means the holiday lights will start appearing, the Christmas music will be blasting through department stores for the next month and, most importantly, it's time to start shopping for gifts. Each Monday, Patch will be throwing some gadget gift recommendations your way. Your Gadget Gift Guide kicks off with a look at headphones. Best full-size headphones: The Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones are comfortable, sport a balanced sound and, at $105, are a bargain. CNET gives these headphones a four-star review (out of five). The only downside is there's no integrated microphone, so you can't use them to take calls on your cellphone. Best Bluetooth headphones: If…
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Apps to help you navigate and find the great deals on Black Friday.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Apps to help you navigate and find the great deals on Black Friday.
Black Friday sales require a good strategy, comfortable shoes and a lot of coffee. There’s one more thing to add to the list: your iPhone or Smartphone. A variety of apps can turn your phone into a shopping tool that will help you navigate stores, get coupons and find the best prices. Wired reports more apps are being rolled out as retails “acknowledge the new reality of anytime, anywhere retail, a reality in which getting someone to tap an app on Black Friday is at least as important as getting them through the door.” A few recommendations from PCWorld.com includes: Google Maps Google Maps provides maps for stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom. This app can also be used to help you plan out your route and find items on store shelves. Google …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The much anticipated Apple product is coming Sept. 21.
The next generation iPhone is coming out later this month, Apple announced Wednesday, and there are at least seven places near Wilmette and Kenilworth to buy it. The Apple website points customers to: The smartphone officially goes on sale Sept. 21 at 8 a.m., but all stores may not stock the iPhone 5 immediately. The new iPhone is thinner and lighter than the last two generations, but it is taller to accommodate a bigger screen. Apple says its processing speed is much faster than its predecessors, as well. The iPhone 5 starts at $649.00, but the price can come down to as low as $200 with a cellular plan subscription. iPhone 5 sales could boost economic growth in the U.S. by a third of a percentage point during the fourth quarter, J.P.…
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Glenview electronic giant's Apple expert chats about the iPhone 5 release, what users can expect and why you need to check it out. From a new processor to a killer camera and lots of other goodies, Apple's latest toy will 'blow your mind.'
Mark Sept. 21 in your calendar. It’s iPhone 5 release day, baby! After yesterday’s highly anticipated iPhone 5 announcement, Patch chatted with Abt’s Apple Boutique manager Joshua Davis about new features, why the iPhone 5 will “make you drool” and how you can make sure you have one when they go on sale. Davis, of Morton Grove, has worked with Abt for eight years. He has appeared on a variety of local television shows and is often an expert source for national publications. Patch: Tell us about some of the cool features we can expect with the new iPhone release. What are some of the biggest changes/upgrades? JD: Apple's announcement today has got us all geared up. There's two major things going on with the new iPhone 5. The hardware …
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Evernote's mobile app lets you record audio notes, photos and text.
I'm sure you've experienced it too: Someone recommends a time-saving mobile app to you. And life is busy, so you put off trying it out. But when you finally download it, you can't imagine life without it. That was my journey to Evernote, the all-in-one brain in your pocket. Now, as an editor for Patch and an (occasional) author, I'm always taking notes. I take photos of places I want to visit again, jot down memorable quotes and talk to myself on my audio recorder almost constantly. Before Evernote, I'd use the iPhone's built-in yellow pad Notes program or, most recently, Genius Scan (a very good scanner app) to keep track of my thoughts. Evernote (which is free for the iPhone and Android) made them both seem redundant very quickly, …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
This week's review includes a look into the TonePad and Songify apps.
I am not musically inclined. Or, rather, I'm not much anymore. When I was a teen, I played trumpet in a touring jazz band, but my ability to hit a high C has long since past. Which, I suspect, is why I'm in love with the free TonePad and Songify iPhone apps. With TonePad, there's no instrument to learn, or even music to read. You simply open the app up and run your finger across a field of dots--and voila, music! Now, it takes a little tinkering before you're making anything but pleasant-sounding noise (the simplicity of the program makes it difficult to create pure cacophony). But once you start lining up dots (aka, notes) in vertical lines, the player recognizes them as chords. You can build on the chords and the progressions to create…
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The apps Downtown Oak Park, HopStop and MetroPulse are reviewed.
This week: A couple of quick hits on Chicagoland apps, starting with… Downtown Oak Park: I don’t know why more suburbs don’t have their own apps. This one, released by Evanston-based SweetPerk, was commissioned by a downtown business group to offer shoppers events listings, attractions, deals and business listings. The good news: It’s simple to use and looks great. The bad: The content is underdeveloped. A few days ago, there were no events lists and thus far, only one attraction: The Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio. Given time, though, this could be a killer app. Right now, the architecture is there—but the app needs furniture. PS: SweetPerk also has released Passport for Downtown Evanston, with plans for similar apps for Naperville and…
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Starbucks' iPhone app is robust and useful — but in need of streamlining.
This job takes me to a ton of coffee shops. Mobile journalism means mobile offices, and for me, that means local cafes and caffeine dens. Oftentimes, I find myself at Starbucks locations for hours on end, which is why I was excited to try out the Starbucks iPhone App. What does it do? For starters, the mapping function allows you to not only find the Starbucks near you, but also its hours, which is handy for us suburban nighthawks. You can also buy drinks by scanning your phone, which deducts money from gift cards you've stored in there. And you can keep a log of your favorite caffeine addictions (mine: chai latte — but does that even have caffeine?) Earlier: Eliminate Rewards Cards Clutter with CardStar Other features let you browse food …
Saturday, October 1, 2011
This week, the App Hunter delves into the pros and cons of one photo app, the Pano.
Last week, I collected a roundup of photo apps – but did not nearly get to test all the cool photography-related apps I wanted. So, I devoted this week to Pano ($1.99), an app for the iPhone and Android that builds a string of photos into a detailed panorama. In short: There's a lot to love. Developed by Debacle Software, Pano is simple, intuitive and almost disaster-proof, in terms of its user experience. Related: Check out other apps for your iPhone. Now, there are a few drawbacks. Unlike other programs, you cannot go back and stitch together photos taken outside the app to create a panorama. Instead, you have take all the photos in succession, lining them up one after the other. When I first tried out Pano, the app wanted to stack the …
hellotina
9:25 am on Friday, November 30, 2012
Ferrari sealed second in the http://www.coachoutletonlinegg.com constructors' championship, holding off McLaren while Caterham overtook http://www.coachoutletonlineaol.net Marussia for the lucrative 10th place in constructors http://www.coachfactoryoutletwy.com when Vitaly Petrov overtook Charles Pic, who is http://www.coachoutletstorefc.com driving for Caterham next year, on lap 65. http://www.… more ›