Announcements | Electronically Obsessed: A tech addict's guide to using the Internet to streamline your life

28Jan/100

The iPad review roundup

By now, I'm sure all of you have heard about Apple's new product, the iPad tablet computer. I will review this as soon as a get the opportunity to demo one, but until then, here's a summary of the features:

Price

Wi-fi Only

16GB - $499

32GB - $599

64GB - $699

If you want 3G, add $130 to the cost

Data Plans via AT&T (no contract)

up to 250 MB - $14.99/month

unlimited - $29.99/month

Reviews

Engadget: Solid feel, no Flash support, no multitasking, no camera, great CPU - very responsive

Gizmodo: 3G models include GPS

MacBreak Weekly's wall-to-wall coverage: Great panel of guests. Leo is always so enthusiastic, it's infectious!

Justine Ezarik: The lucky girl didn't have a press pass, but still was able to get into the demo room.

18Jan/101

Yet another possible Facebook misstep: Contact syncing

Facebook iPhone App (version 3.1.2) presents some troubling privacy concerns regarding your Facebook profiles (iStockphoto)

Recently, Facebook pushed a new update (version 3.1.2) for their Facebook iPhone app. While I personally have been unable to install that update for some reason, The Wife told me that this version attempts to sync Facebook profile pictures with the contacts in your iPhone address book. Apparently, she updated her iPhone 3GS today with version 3.1.2 and was asked if she wanted to sync her contacts with Facebook. She wisely said no.

In order to sync the pictures, the app appears to send the contents of your address book to Facebook, matches your address book contents with the Facebook database, and sends pictures matching the address book contents back to your address book.

As of this writing, I have been unable to install 3.1.2 on my iPhone 3G in order to confirm this. However, please be wary.

If this sounds confusing, here's a post from The iPhone blog (also sent to me from The Wife - Thanks, babe!) that details the possible embarrassing consequences (not to mention the privacy concerns) of this contact syncing.

Beware of your profile pics, or your boss might get one of you doing something you don’t want them to see! What happens is, [Facebook 3.1] takes [all] the emails and phone numbers on your iPhone and sends them to Facebook. It then cross-checks and syncs them back to your iPhone. That’s a major security flaw right there! It should only sync the ones you’re friends with.

So for an example I have my coworker’s email and cell but I am not her Facebook friend. All of a sudden when I got a call from my coworker I saw a picture of her in a bikini because that was her [Facebook] profile pic!

I’m using Outlook 2010 and it has a new feature called Suggested Contacts where it keeps all your emails you been using. Those sync to my iPhone via exchange 2007. So now I have Facebook profile pics in Outlook 2010 for a bunch of folks that I don’t even really know just because I have emailed them.

As of this writing, I am unable to install version 3.1.2 of the Facebook application on my iPhone 3G. I will continue to try to update my phone and will post more concrete news regarding this Facebook application.

Action Item

If the Facebook app asks to sync your contacts with Facebook, say no!
Tell me about your experience with the iPhone Facebook app. Does all this make you want to quit Facebook altogether? Comment in the comments section of this post or send me an e-mail!

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Filed under: Announcements, security 1 Comment

9Jan/100

My 3 favorite tech web destinations

Tech web destinations frequently focus on the latest cellular technology (iStockphoto)

Happy New Year to all of you! I had a wonderful holiday and one of my New Year's resolutions is to write more frequently. Today, I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to share three of my favorite tech web destinations.

TWiT (This Week In Tech with Leo Laporte): My iPhone is always filled with the latest netcasts from Leo Laporte. He's got over 15 niche shows starting with the more general This Week in Tech, the very technical Security Now!, to my personal favorite, MacBreak Weekly. What makes Leo interesting to me is that he's built a profitable tech empire without the help of traditional mainstream media.
Slickdeals.net: This is a great web community for finding the best online shopping deals. While most of the deals are tech-related like new computers and video games, you can also find deals on clothing and food. Here's a great example: JetBlue (my new favorite airline due to the personal video screens with in-flight DirecTV) is running a Winter Sale with great deals on air travel.
gdgt: From Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, gdgt is not just another gadget site. This is an community where users can interact with other gadget enthusiasts. Tell others your experiences with your favorite electronic toys. Feel free to friend me on gdgt!

That's it for now. Check back in the coming weeks for some new reviews of Boxee and Zinc. It will be interesting to see if either of these programs are viable Internet TV portals.

Action Item

Tell me about your favorite tech web destinations! Comment in the comments section of this post or send me an e-mail!

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Tagged as: tech destinations, web sites No Comments

26Dec/090

Any new toys? Comment below!

Christmas Shopping (iStockphoto)

So, what did you get for Christmas? I'm so excited to hear about your experiences with your newest tech gadgets!

This Christmas, we got a pair of Bose QuietComfort 15s and a couple of games for the Sony Playstation 3 (Rock Band and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2).

Are the Bose headphones worth the premium? Stay tuned for my upcoming review! Until then, enjoy the holiday season!

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Tagged as: Bose, Christmas, gadgets No Comments

29Nov/090

Free music and Blu-ray/DVD deals

Wreath (iStock) I just wanted to make a very quick update to tide all of us through the Thanksgiving holiday. I will be back to regular updates soon.

Amazon is offering tons of free MP3 downloads here. Original source here.

Here's a link to Best Buy's Blu-ray and DVD deals. They have select movies and television shows at deep discounts. If you missed out on Black Friday, you can still find some deals there. The sale technically ended on Saturday, but there are still quite a few selections at reduced prices. Original source here.

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Tagged as: Black Friday deals, free music No Comments

24Nov/090

Great Audible.com Thanksgiving Offer

Audiobook (iStock) I just heard about this offer today and I couldn't wait to share. Audible.com, a market leader in audiobooks, is having a Thanksgiving promotion. Basically, Audible.com (an Amazon.com company) is offering a FREE audiobook download from a list of selected titles. You don't even have to enter in your credit card information to participate.

These days, I don't have much time for reading, but audiobooks allow me to "read" a book during the day when I am stuck in the car. I've been listening to podcasts for a while now, so the audiobook was the next logical transition. Here's a partial list of the books you can get for free during Audible.com's promotion:

Pride and Prejudice
Fahrenheit 451
I Am Legend
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
A Christmas Carol
The Great Gatsby
The Secret Garden
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The catch is that you only have until 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, November 26, 2009 to take advantage of this free giveaway! Click here to get your free audiobook.

Update (11:45 PM)

If you like your free audiobook from Audible.com, here is a limited time offer - Get Your First 3 Months at Audible for $7.49/month!

Note: The above link is an affiliate link. This means that if you click the above link and subsequently make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring the sale.

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Tagged as: amazon.com, audible.com, free audiobook No Comments

23Nov/094

Free digital copy with DVD or Blu-ray purchase? Not so fast…

Read the Fine Print to determine if you're actually going to get your digital copy that you've been promised

Movies and Digital Copies

In the last few years, I've been pretty annoyed with the fact that you can't seen to enjoy your movies in all the different ways that you want. For example, if you buy a DVD movie, you can only watch that DVD on a device that includes a DVD player. For the most part, you aren't allowed to make an archival copy or make a copy of the DVD movie to watch on your iPod or any other portable device.

Some people started pirating their movies using peer-to-peer services or bulletin boards. The movie studios felt that if they offered a digital copy of a movie with the purchase of a DVD, people would be less likely to pirate the movie using a peer-to-peer service.

Free Digital Copies with DVD/Blu-ray Purchase?

When this process works, users are pleased. I recently purchased the new "Star Trek" movie on Blu-ray and received a free digital copy of the movie through iTunes by providing an authorization code included in the package.

Wait, there's a catch...

However, there is a catch to these digital downloads. As I found out tonight, many of these authorization codes expire about a year after the movie's release. Tonight, I purchased a Blu-ray copy of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." When I went to download the digital copy, I got an unpleasant surprise. The authorization code for the FREE digital copy of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" expired on September 30, 2009. This means that because I purchased the movie (new and unopened) after the authorization code's expiration date, I was out of luck.

Of course, the disclaimer regarding the expiration of the authorization code was buried in the back of the package and written in extremely small font.

Action Item

When you purchase a DVD or Blu-ray disk that advertises a FREE digital copy of the movie, read all the fine print to determine if the digital copy authorization code has an expiration date.

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Tagged as: Blu-ray, DVD, no digital copy 4 Comments

19Nov/090

Announcing the Electronically Obsessed Newsletter!

Why should I sign up?

Everyday, I find lots of great tech tips and tech deals that I simply don't have the time to mention on Electronically Obsessed. The tech deals include a wide range of products from laptop deals (a full functional laptop for $299? Don't mind if I do!) to deals on webhosting (unlimited data transfer for less than $4/month?).

Where can I sign up?

You can sign up in the "Subscribe to our Newsletter" form in the sidebar, in the form below, or you can click here.

What will be included in the e-mails?

The e-mails will include links to the past week's blog posts from Electronically Obsessed, a tech tip, and/or one or two tech deals of the week. The e-mails may also include a few announcements, if necessary.

I hate e-mail. What if I just want a list of your blog posts?

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Filed under: Announcements No Comments

23Oct/091

Exciting New Website Changes – Stay Tuned!

There are some big changes coming for Electronically Obsessed! In the last few months, I've been having a great time blogging about technology. Lately, however, I've been hard at work revamping an e-commerce website, AppleABC.com Teacher Gifts & School Supplies. It's been a great learning experience and I've decided to revise and refocus this website as well.

I'll be concentrating my experiences on moving my entertainment and data to remote storage. Stay tuned for more updates in the very near future!

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Filed under: Announcements, Internet streaming 1 Comment