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Black Friday!!

Dan Thompson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:57:15 +0000

Holy cow! Can you believe it is almost Christmas time again? Hard to believe as it is, the holiday season is upon us… and Black Friday is THIS FRIDAY! As usual, I’ve sat down with my friends over at WBIR to help you find some awesome deals as well as a couple gift ideas for the gadget geeks on your list.

Alright, I’ve thumbed through loads of leaked Black Friday ads, been privy to some insider information, and the best deal of the season I’ve seen so far is at (believe it or not) Staples. They’re going to have an early bird special on an HP laptop with a 15.6” screen, 3GB of RAM, 160GB Hard drive, and pre-loaded with some Windows 7 goodness for only $299.98!!! This deal will only be available in stores, so I’d recommend showing up early. I have talked to a representative of the stores and they claim they’ll have plenty in stock for the morning rush… but I’d count on those going fast. While you’re in the store, check out the Garmin Nuvi they’ve got for $119.99 if you’re in the market for a GPS (that’s $100 off!). They’ll also have an HP 8GB flash drive on sale for $12.99… and you KNOW those make great stocking stuffers for computer geeks.

If that is not quite what you’re looking for, here are some links you’ll want to check out before you go shopping to make sure you’re getting the best deals:

black-friday.net – Check out the bar down the right-hand side for the stores you are thinking of stopping by. The links take you to all the known sales they’ll be having. This site is updated regularly, so pay close attention!

bfads.net – Click the ad scans link at the top to check out all the leaked ads that will be in Friday’s news paper. This is a great way to start planning your morning shopping sprees. Also check out the guides link at the top for some helpful information on the differences between products. This might help you make up your mind if your stuck on something. This site has been around for a few years and is always a reliable source for good information. Write this one down for next year!

cybermonday.com – If you know exactly what you’re looking for but want to make absolutely certain you’re getting the best deal; check out this site. Put in the item you’re looking for in the search bar and it will go out and find the sales on that particular item that are currently going on.

In addition to these, I’ve recently reviewed two products I think are going to be a big hit this holiday season: the MiFi mobile hotspot and the Motorola Droid. Give those a look if you’re struggling for ideas on what to get those hard-to-buy-for techie people!

Keep your eye on this blog as I’ll be posting the videos from my WBIR morning show interviews on all the Black Friday deals real soon!

– Dan Thompson

Motorola Droid: The “iPhone Killer”?

Dan Thompson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:05:33 +0000

There seems to be a whole lot of buzz surrounding the new Motorola Droid phone, so much so in fact that people are now referring to it as the “iPhone Killer”. With all that hype I just had to check one out for myself and try to answer the question; does it have what it takes to knock the iPhone off it’s perch as the coolest phone on the market? Since I’m including it in my Black Friday series for the WBIR Morning Show, you have probably already guessed that I like it… but just how much do I like it? Let’s take a look around the device and see what it’s strengths and weaknesses (Hint: there aren’t many) are, and I’ll let you decide for yourself.

What did you say?

Before we dive in, lets take a quick vocabulary break, as this has the potential to get a little confusing. Android is an operating system, designed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, to run on phones and like devices… much the same way Microsoft Windows runs on your PC. Droid actually refers to a model of phone manufactured by Motorola and is currently available on the Verizon network in the US. So, while there are several phones on the market running Android, there is only one Droid phone.

Now that we’ve got that cleared up, I know there is another question looming in everyone’s mind… YES, there is a fart app. Moving right along.

It slices, it dices!

Lets cut right to the chase. From a feature standpoint, there was nothing I wanted the Droid to do that it couldn’t do. The Droid can be configured to check multiple email accounts, including your corporate Microsoft Exchange account (Android 2.0 supports this natively now), and then leaves it up to you whether you want see all those emails in a combined inbox or in separated mailboxes… and you can easily change this view at any time. In the combined mailbox configuration, email accounts are assigned a different color flag which is displayed to the left of each message, so even though all the emails are displayed at the same time you can still decipher which account the message came in on.

Composing emails can be done with an onscreen keyboard in either portrait or landscape layout, however if you don’t particularly care for the touch screen, slide it over and there is a keypad underneath (although, call me crazy, but I swear I can’t find the question mark on the keypad). This is a particularly nice feature as some people seem to just not quite get the hang of the onscreen keyboard. I would suggest that new users at least give it a shot though, as the word recognition seems to be pretty intelligent at determining what it is you were meaning to type… even if you fat finger the word pretty badly, and doing so in portrait mode is really the only way the phone can realistically be operated with one hand.

If you are using an Exchange account, all your contacts and calendar events can by synced to the phone in one easy step, which greatly simplifies day one of using your phone. You will note, however, that you now have a “Corporate Calendar” and a “Calendar”. The “Corporate Calendar” is obviously the one from your Exchange environment.

Surfing the internet is extremely easy as a Google search bar is built right in to the home screen. Tap twice and your recent searches are displayed. Favorites can be saved and placed right on the desktop as well, so you can quickly get to the websites you visit often. Non-mobile enabled websites render very well in the built in browser, and while the zoom feature is nice, I will admit it’s not quite as sexy as the iPhones’ two finger zoom in / out feature. Zooming is done by double-tapping the screen and selecting the zoom in / out button for the function you’re after. The browser will also log in to Google Wave as well, despite there being pretty stern sounding warning that it is not yet supported on the Android browser (apparently this is possible on the iPhone as well). While I was playing around with Wave on the Droid, the browser did crash a few times during certain actions, so clearly this is still being sorted out, but the mobile version of the page promises to be very user friendly and easy to navigate.

These days, everyone is concerned about the amount of apps that are available for a particular phone, and this is certainly an area where the Droid doesn’t leave anything on the table. Verizon claims there are over 10,000 apps for the Droid, and while I didn’t count them all, I can say there are a LOT of them out there. Android has a “market”, which is similar in functionality to the Apple App Store, that allows you to download apps and install them to your phone (which, like the App Store, may be free or have a small fee associated). One edge the Droid has over the iPhone (unless of course you want to void your warranty by jail breaking the phone) is that you don’t have to get your apps from the Android Market… you can download them from anywhere. I personally appreciate the openness of this platform in that light, however users need to be aware that installing apps that aren’t written very well could cause overall stability issues. All the popular apps; like Facebook, Twitter (checkout Twidroid), Pandora radio, YouTube, and so on, are readily available from the Market… some even come pre-installed on the phone (like Facebook and YouTube). Want to tether your phone to your laptop so you can surf the internet there (queue famous and now trademarked slogan regarding apps)? Check out an app call PdaNET.

An app that really stood out to me as a “game changer” was the total integration with Google Voice. If you haven’t checked Google Voice out yet you should really give it a look. The service allows you to consolidate all your phone numbers in to one number which can then forward to all your phones should you choose to set it up that way. The (free) service also provides visual voicemail and call blocking just to name a few. With the Android phones, you can configure the dialer to dial out as your Google Voice number or your actual cell number and there are no extra apps to launch before dialing… just open your address book and call someone. This is a great improvement over Google Voice integrations I’ve seen with other phones out there (read: Blackberry and iPhone). Additionally, the integration can be configured where it does not even prompt you, it simply dials everything through Google Voice (or not at all).

GPS / Navigation, while not singular to Android phones, is also another cool feature of the device and one of the more impressive apps. Using the maps from Google Maps, and audible turn-by-turn directions, it is as good or better than any of the dedicated GPS units on the market today. Turn on the satellite layer and zoom in and it will take you all the way to “street view” where the image on the screen is literally what you’re seeing out our windshield (FYI, this image doesn’t advance forward as you drive, you actually have to zoom back out to continue with the visual navigation. I would venture a guess that as hardware and connection speeds increase, this will be changed). Pretty amazing stuff really… so much so, it could be a little dangerous! I’m kind of a map geek anyway, so playing with all the functionality is best done in the parking lot… or the passenger seat. Oh, and by the way… because I know someone will ask, I had my wife drive me around while I was jumping between nav views and grabbing screenshots. I was not operating a vehicle AND doing all that at the same time. I have to draw the line somewhere. Note to entrepreneurs out there; someone make a windshield mounted holder for the Droid like all the other GPS units have and you’ll make some sales I promise (I require a 10% royalty fee for the idea though). In addition to driving routes, you can also search walking routes, bus routes, find local favorite restaurants, movie theatres… you name it.

…But is it the iPhone killa?

I could go on and on about the features, but really, you get the idea. The phone is awesome. So how does it stack up against the iPhone? In my opinion it fares very well against the iPhone. It might not be as rounded, and some would argue it is not as pleasing to the eye; but does it do everything that the iPhone does? Absolutely yes. Would this be a good alternative to the iPhone to people who want better coverage than AT&T has to offer? I mean, after all, Verizon is going to great lengths to tell everyone their network is better (to which I would agree). Absolutely yes. So will the Droid knock the iPhone off its perch as the coolest phone in the land?? No. Why? Because in my opinion there is so much more to the iPhone than just the device. I think people who make statements like that miss the fact that Apple turns each of it’s products into a franchise. Their marketing people are geniuses, their brand recognition is off the charts, and THAT is something that can’t be outdone by simply releasing a device that “does the same thing”. Six months (or less) from now there will be another phone, by a different name, and probably running Android, that will hit the market… all the while, there will always be an iPhone. Is it possible that the sum of all Android phones sold will be greater than that of iPhone sales? Absolutely… unless of course Apple adds more networks to the fold and then I would say you can forget it.

Should you check out the Droid if you’re considering the iPhone? YES!

Okay, so let’s talk price. As of this writing, the Droid can be had for $199 with a mail-in rebate and a contract commitment. The plans for the phone start out around $69 a month ($39 / month voice plan + $30 / month data plan), which lines it up exactly with the 16GB 3GS iPhone (which I might add here that the Droid comes with 16GB of storage but is upgradable… try THAT with an iPhone. Oh yeah, and you can replace the battery yourself instead having to send it off).

That’s what I think… what do YOU think?

– Dan Thompson

P.S. Special thanks to my friends over at Cellular Sales for hooking me up with a Droid to demo… I promise I’ll give it back one day.

Hey Look, I’m a (WiFi) Hotspot!

Dan Thompson — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:03:59 +0000

For this year’s Black Friday spots on the WBIR morning show I decided to look for a handful of devices that I thought were either going to be a big hit over the holiday season or at least had HUGE potential. This is different from the years past when we did the “shotgun approach” of doing just quick little highlights of tons of stuff… and to be honest, I think I like this better. I reserve the right to change my mind down the road, but for now… lets dig in. The first device we’ll have a look at is the MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot from Sprint.

Manufactured by Novatel Wireless for Sprint, the MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot is just what you would imagine it is… a mobile spot. The device itself is roughly the size of a credit card and about a quarter of an inch thick (guessing here), and is about as simple as you can get. You push a button; it connects to the internet via Sprint’s 3G network and then begins broadcasting an 802.11 b/g WiFi signal which you can connect up to 5 devices to. Once connected, you can surf till your heart is content… or until the battery dies (approximately 4 hours of constant use), whichever happens first. Pretty sweet. The days of driving around town trying to find a restaurant with WiFi are over, now you can go wherever the cellular signal takes you. Granted, you could do this with an air card of some nature as well, but four of your friends couldn’t join you (okay… so you could turn your laptop into an access point, but really, only an ubergeek would do such a thing). Also, consider this: there are no drivers to install! You’ll never find yourself in a bind because you just reloaded the OS on your laptop and it didn’t occur to you to install the air card drivers until after you’ve already hit the road. You simply connect to it like you would any other accesspoint and you’re off to the races.

Setup and Use

The MiFi setup is as straightforward as any other wireless AP. On first use, you connect to the wireless SSID (Sprint Mifi 2200…) and browse to http://192.168.1.1. You will be prompted to login with the default login password (admin) and then a setup wizard takes over.

The setup wizard allows you to configure a new login password, followed by the WiFi profiles setup, and then you are finished!

The WiFi profiles are actually a neat and interesting feature of the device. The unit comes with three different profile types available for you to choose from (only one can be in use at a time): Open, Secure, and Temporary Hotspot. Open is just a traditional WiFi hotspot with no security and any device within “earshot” of it can connect. The Secure profile allows you to configure a protected wireless network with WEP 64, WEP 128 (seriously people… can we please stop referring to WEP as secure? It’s not… let it go already), WPA Personal/PSK, WPA2 Personal/PSK, or WPA/WPA2 Mixed Mode (which is nice if you’ve got two laptops, one that supports WPA2 and one that only supports WPA. Otherwise, WPA2 Personal is what you should be using). Think of this as your own little personal wireless network that only you connect to and one that allows you to do sensitive transactions over the air. The last option, the Temporary Hotspot, generates a WEP 64 key that you can then share with your friends. This is great if you are hanging out in a public place and want to maintain some control over who connects and who doesn’t. Keep in mind though that this is using WEP, so I wouldn’t recommend doing anything sensitive over this connection. It’s merely an option to keep the casual laptop user off your network. A determined user will be able to jump on given enough time (which really only requires a few minutes if the person knows what they are doing).

When you go back home, or your friends leave, you can jump back in the administration interface and switch the profile back to Secure. Really cool idea.

After the initial setup of the device, you can also enable GPS on the unit which opens up some fun functionality. With GPS enabled you can do searches, based on your location, for things like the nearest coffee shops, hotels, banks, and of course the nearest Sprint store.

The search results will be displayed on the selected provider’s maps page, which can then be used to get directions from your current location. Very handy idea for those who’ll be using this as their internet access while on the road.

Additionally you can do things like setup port forwarding, change the wireless IP settings, manage how the unit uses power, AND backup the configuration. That is a WHOLE lot more than I was expecting.

But is it fast??

The most common question I’ve been asked since demoing the unit is “How fast is the internet connection?” Fortunately since it connects to Sprint’s 3G network, the answer is a good one. I found the connectivity to be roughly that of my home DSL connection (the upload speed was actually faster) and have been able to consistently get just under 1Mb download speeds from the device as compared to 1.14Mb download speed on my Bellsouth DSL. Now, we’re not setting any records here by today’s standards, but it is certainly fast enough to download a song or two from iTunes while you’re at the park or watch your favorite YouTube or Hulu videos. From a business use perspective, you’ll be able to connect to your corporate email system or VPN without a hitch.

Another common question is “What is the range of the wireless?”. Novatel actually advertises it to be around 30 feet but I would say that is a tad conservative. As I’m writing this, I’m actually connected to the device which is sitting in another room in my house and is definitely farther than 30 feet away and through a couple walls. I admittedly only have 1 bar from this distance, as compared to my home wireless AP which has 4 bars from the same distance, but it is working just fine considering the fact that the MiFi has no external antennas and is drastically smaller than the ‘ole Linksys (and much more mobile!). This is great news for businesses as they could send one device with a sales team to use while they are on the road together and it wouldn’t require them to be in the same hotel room in order to share the connection. A lower number devices obviously equals a lower total cost of ownership for mobile wireless internet connectivity.

Okay… what’s it cost?

Posting prices of things always gets a little tricky with blogs so I’ll say “as of this writing”; the local Sprint corporate store has them for $199 with a $100 mail-in rebate and the online Sprint store has them at $249 with an instant $100 rebate and a $50 mail-in rebate… either way you cut it, they are $99. Both the online store AND the local store are offering a $59 per month data plan for the unit with a 2 year contract and the local store also offers a $79 per month plan if you just want to pay monthly with no contracts. When you consider the cost of DSL plans today and then throw in the mobility factor, that’s a pretty good deal in my opinion.

So what’s the final word? I personally think this is an awesome device and a great value for personal or business use (especially business use actually). Given the size, price, and the overall functionality of the unit I don’t think you could go wrong picking one of these up for yourself or a loved one this holiday season. Check one out and let me know what you think! Also, keep an eye out for the spot on WBIR (and on this blog), it will be airing Thanksgiving morning at around 6:40AM-ish. Till next time!

– Dan Thompson

P.S. Special thanks to Alissa Phillips, store manager at my local Sprint corporate store, for letting me borrow a MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot!