mobile
Could Microsoft Have Kept Windows Relevant?
We have arrived at a point where Microsoft no longer has a Windows division. To a generation of computer users, Windows was the product that defined Microsoft and defined our own relationship to technology. Now that defining product is a legacy, used by many but beloved by few.
In this article: Could Microsoft have done anything differently? […] continued
Read moreRules For Computer And Online Safety 2018
These are the rules for computer and online safety in 2018. You can download a copy here.
You will be safe if you are cautious. Stop and think before you click on links, before you call unfamiliar phone numbers, before you install programs, and before you fill in passwords. Only your vigilance will protect you against bad guys. […] continued
Read moreConnecting The Always Connected PCs
Previously: Looking Forward: Always Connected Computers
If you were paying attention during the previous lecture, you know that Microsoft is working with Qualcomm on “Always Connected PCs.” HP, Lenovo, Asus and other manufacturers will soon be selling laptops that are always on and always connected and offer long battery life. […] continued
Read moreCreate PDFs With Your Phone
One of the technology challenges in 2017 is simply remembering what can be done with your phone or computer. It’s easy to add apps to your phone or install programs on your computer; it’s harder to remember them a few weeks later when you have something new to do.
There are several ways to create PDFs with your phone. […] continued
Read moreiPhone Tip: How To Make Sure Your Photos Are Backed Up
Here’s a tip for iPhone users that might make you sleep more soundly.
If you rely on Google Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox or other online services to back up your photos from an iPhone, open those apps when you’re connected to Wi-Fi and make sure they have synced your photos online. Otherwise there’s a chance that some photos won’t have been uploaded when you drop the phone or lose it. […] continued
Read moreGoogle Lens Might Be The Future Of Google, The Future Of Mobile, The Future Of Everything
Google announced a number of new products and services at its developer conference last week. One of them, Google Lens, might change the world. It might be the most important technology announcement in ten years. Of course, it’s just as likely that it will turn out to be nothing important, just another bit of vaporware that is underwhelming when it appears and is abandoned two years later. […] continued
Read moreWeChat, QR Codes, And The Future Of Mobile
China uses smartphones differently than anywhere else in the world. It’s a fascinating story! Understanding WeChat and why QR codes are displayed everywhere in China will give you a context to understand the importance of Google’s announcements last week. I’ll tell you about Google Assistant and Google Lens in the next article. […] continued
Read moreGoogle Gboard For iPhone: Swiping Is Better Than Typing
Have you started swiping instead of typing? Old news for some people, perhaps an eye-opener for others. Sure, your thumbs can dance like hummingbirds over your phone keyboard but there’s an even faster way to type messages. Let’s talk about phone keyboards, then take a look at Google’s iPhone keyboard, which raises the bar and makes it perhaps the best iPhone keyboard yet. […] continued
Read morePrisma Turns Your Photos Into Works Of Art
Prisma is a free app for iOS and Android that turns your photos into works of art in seconds. In a way it’s similar to the filters that have been around for Instagram and Snapchat for years, but these are the best filters you’ve ever seen.
Look at a few samples, then I’ll tell you some of the details down below. […] continued
Read moreGoogle Duo And Communication Overload
Google introduced a new app for video chats last week. Google Duo makes one-on-one video chats as easy as possible, with nothing required except a phone number and someone on the other end who’s running the app or willing to install it. Google Duo doesn’t even require a Google account. Setup takes only a moment, and once it’s set up it literally requires only a single tap to start a call. […] continued
Read moreScan Documents And Create PDFs With Your Phone
It has become easy to use your phone for quick scans and to create PDFs on the fly. Find an app to use and remember it when you get a receipt or document that should be scanned on the fly.
Each of the major cloud services – Microsoft OneDrive (Office Lens), Box (Box Capture), Dropbox, and Google Drive – has an app for scanning documents with the phone camera and storing the scans online. […] continued
Read moreThe World Is All Facebook, All The Time
On a recent earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg said that “people around the world spend on average more than 50 minutes a day using Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.”
Facebook has more than 1 billion active users every single day, more than 1.6 billion active users every month.
An average of 50 minutes a day. […] continued
Read moreOffice 365 And The Sharing Problem
The Exchange mailboxes run by Office 365 are now standard in businesses of all sizes. They are supported on every device imaginable, from Windows and Mac computers to the native mail/contact/calendar apps on iOS and Android. Office 365 is one of the most commonly deployed applications among businesses. It has surpassed Google Apps and it’s growing fast. […] continued
Read moreThree Reasons That Google Should Be Your Next Phone Carrier
The tech community is entranced with Google Project Fi, a partnership between Google, major carriers, and hardware manufacturers to deliver a unique and satisfying phone experience – and along the way deliver a powerful message to the carriers about how they should change their business practices. It’s audacious and ambitious. […] continued
Read moreAnother One Bites The Dust: Say Goodbye To Picasa
Google posted an announcement a few days ago that Picasa will be closed down soon. Picasa is two things – a cloud service for storing photos online, and a desktop application for managing photos on your computer. Both of them will be shut down in the next few months. Google is committing all of its resources to Google Photos, the online photo service that duplicates much of what is in Picasa, and more importantly works perfectly on mobile devices, the focus of everyone’s efforts these days. […] continued
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