Monthly Archives June 2013

Does it still make sense to buy a Nook HD?

Rick Broida

Barnes & Noble will stop making color tablets, meaning its existing inventory will be sold on the cheap. Is now the time to buy a Nook HD?


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June 29, 2013: Microsoft Grand Opening Report and Smart choice for Smartphone?

 

Show Notes

Microsoft Store Grand Opening in Detroit

 

Foster Braun and Cal Carson attended the grand opening of the Microsoft Store at the Somerset Collection in Troy, MI Friday, June 28.  Report includes Steve Balmer’s address, statement by Lt. Gov. Calley, Tim Thewes, Store Manager and customers attending.

Microsoft Store Grand Opening

 

Smartphone….Smart choice?

HTC-One-vs-iPhone-5-vs-Nokia-920

Learn what smartphone Foster Braun chose after the discussion on air and on Facebook last week.

MiTechNews.com

Mike BrennanWeekly feature with Mike Brennan, editor and publisher of MiTechNews.com, highlighting technology headlines from Michigan and around the world that impact of our state’s growing high tech sector.

  

Hour 2:  Answering Listener Questions. 800-859-0957

Email your questions to us by going to the Contact Us button on our home page.  It’s as easy as that.

iTunes Logo LargeVideo: Behind the Scenes at the Internet Advisor

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Windows 8.1 fixes problems, adds new features

CNET News

During the keynote for the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, the company announced the preview version for Windows 8.1 (download the preview here). As a point upgrade to Windows 8, there are few sweeping changes to the operating system, but Microsoft has thankfully made some tweaks to the interface, along with upgraded apps and other enhancements that users will appreciate. 


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Microsoft Adds 500 New In-store Centers in Best Buys

Reuters News

SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. said it will open 500 special stores in existing Best Buy stores in the United States (150 in Canada) to sell exclusively Windows-based tablets and computers and other Microsoft products. It’s an effort to revitalize sales of its flagship operating system.

Microsoft, which has a chain of 70 or so of its own Microsoft Stores and kiosks in shopping malls, said last week that the initiative will add more than 1,200 Best Buy Microsoft-trained sales associates to help customers.

 


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FAA May Loosen Rules on In-flight Electronics

Cnet News

Airline passengers may be able to use their favorite electronic gadgets from takeoff to landing if new FAA guidelines come to pass.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to ease the restrictions on the use of certain devices at lower altitudes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing “industry officials and draft recommendations prepared by a high-level advisory panel to FAA,” the Journal reported on Friday that passengers would be spared from having to turn off all electronic devices, though cell phones may or may not remain on the banned list.


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Microsoft Caves to Public Pressure and Changes DRM Requirements

CNet News

Microsoft backtracked Wednesday on its much-derided policy that would have required Xbox One gamers to connect their consoles to the Internet once a day to prevent game piracy.

Microsoft faced a huge backlash when it announced the policy, just before the E3 video game conference earlier this month. Then, the company said it would allow gamers to play offline for up to 24 hours on a primary console, or 1 hour if they were logged onto a separate console accessing their library of titles. At that point, offline gaming would have been disabled until players re-establish a Web connection.


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Instagram Adds :15 Videos

CNet News

Instagram has video — 15-second, filtered, camera-stabilized miniature movies, to be exact. But more importantly, with the release, video will finally get its moment in the spotlight.

Thursday, Facebook-owned Instagram added video sharing, giving members a way to capture up to 15 seconds of video and frame their footage, using a filter or automatic camera stabilization, in the best light possible.

Though the product bears resemblance to Twitter’s Vine, which allows for 6-second clips, Instagram video comes with the qualities that its built-in audience of more than 130 million people have grown to love: it dramatically improves upon the act of capturing video. It’s as if Instagram is repeating history, doing for video what it’s already done for the photo by making the medium approachable to the masses.


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June 22, 2013: SNAFU Scan & Picking the Right Smartphone

SNAFU_logo

 

Show Notes:

Beating Used Car Scams

SNAFU Scan is free to download and use to scan unlimited vehicles for potentially dangerous factory recalls. If you want to know the dealer cost and 17 of the dirtiest used car dealer tricks–that’ll cost you $5 for a yearly subscription to SNAFU.

 

 

Which Smartphone Should Foster Get?

HTC-One-vs-iPhone-5-vs-Nokia-920

Or…How to Chose Your Next Smartphone

Special Apple iPhone 5 Trade in deal until June 30 at Best Buy…$0 with rade in of iPhone 4 or 4S.

MiTechNews.com

Mike BrennanWeekly feature with Mike Brennan, editor and publisher of MiTechNews.com, highlighting technology headlines from Michigan and around the world that impact of our state’s growing high tech sector.

  

Hour 2:  Answering Listener Questions. 800-859-0957

Email your questions to us by going to the Contact Us button on our home page.  It’s as easy as that.

iTunes Logo LargeVideo: Behind the Scenes at the Internet Advisor

#######

Welcome Michigan Talk Network Affiliates

WJRW

AM

1340

Grand Rapids

Sun 1p-2p

WJIM

AM

1240

Lansing

Sun 2p-4p

WNEM

AM

1250

Saginaw

Sun 12p-2p

WKMI

AM

1360

Kalamazoo

Sun 12p-1p

WKLQ

AM

1490

Muskegon

Sat 4p-6p, Sun 12p-2p

Tweet


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Pandora Buys a Radio Station

Pandora Media Inc., the biggest online radio service, has bought a station in South Dakota to gain the same access to music and rates as terrestrial competitors.

Buying KXMZ-FM in Rapid City qualifies Pandora for the same rights and prices enjoyed by competitors such as Clear Channel Communications Inc., CBS Corp. and Cumulus Media Inc. (parent corporation of WJR-AM, Detroit).  A spokesman for Pandora is quoted as saying that the acquisition may lead to cost savings of less than 1 percent of revenue. The company hopes to benefit from lower rates negotiated in 2012 with music regulatory agencies such as BMI and ASCAP.


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Microsoft rolls out Office Mobile for iPhone

Microsoft is making a mobile version of its Word, Excel and PowerPoint products available for iPhone users via its Office 365 subscription plan.

The roll-out begins starting June 14 in the U.S., with additional availability in 135 additional markets and 29 languages to follow next week. The Office Mobile for iPhone suite is available in the Apple app store.

Full ZDNet article by Mary Jo Foley


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