AT&T Continually Slapped With Worst Customer Satisfaction; Still Pursues T-Mobile Merger
Anyone who has any kind of experience with AT&T knows that their service can, on occasion, be less than stellar. As a user myself with an iPhone 4S (great phone), I’ve most definitely had my share of dropped calls; albeit the new iPhone’s “switching” antenna system vows to fix that. From my overall personal experience, I think it’s great. I know many people who, when I speak to them about their experience with AT&T, will say it’s fantastic, that they love it.
Others will tell me that they’re absolutely sick of it, but remain bound to a 2-year contract with the wireless carrier, and cannot purchase a different phone on a new carrier unless they shell out some ridiculous sum of money, including cancellation fees. Regardless, the opinions I get from people are pretty mixed from the most part.
What’s that you say? You want to see some numbers? I’ve got you covered there. According to Wired, “The carrier said that this year it has improved 3G dropped call performance by 25 percent and invested billions of dollars in infrastructure.” That’s billions, with a b. That’s quite a steep price tag for improving your national infrastructure, but it is indeed necessary if you wish to be taken off the “Worst Customer Satisfaction” list.
A Little Printer Takes A Bold Step
Imagine all the Kardashian’s tweets compiled in a neat row next to your coffee every morning?
Now as terrible as that breakfast sounds to me, the idea of a tangible newsreel of your interests just a tap away is intriguing. At a time where everything from fitness plans to designer purses to luxury cars can be digitally tailored to your specific needs, personalization is key to any product.
Little Printer makes the big question ‘what news should I read?’ a whole lot easier.
Little Printer, created by BERG, is a tiny inkless thermal printer that prints your daily RSS feeds from your phone on to paper around the same size as a receipt. You can personalize which updates and news you want to print like personal messages, social networking notifications, pictures, news, anything really, all from your phone.
Microsoft Updates Xbox 360 With New “Metro” Interface
Change has come to the the Xbox 360! That is…in the form of a UI update. The interface that most gamers had been using was known as the NXE or New Xbox Experience. Well, out with the old, and in with the even-newer!
For the uninitiated, this new experience is known as Metro, and has been built around the Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion-controller, capable of extremely high-accuracy motion detection from the user. The new menu system has undoubtedly been re-designed to fit the likes of the non-gamer, further proving that Microsoft aims to bring its console, as well as ease-of-use, to more than just gamers. The new design takes on a modern, indeed very “Metro” look; simplicity+power at its core.
Navigation is now literally as simple as waving your hand naturally in front of your screen, in order to take you wherever you want to go. The same goes for voice-activated search; say “Bing” or “Xbox”, followed by what you’re looking for…and whoosh, you’re there! Xbox information and other media news is displayed first thing as you boot up your system, as well as music, social applications, and even Bing search, from Microsoft.
Apple & 4G LTE?
Apple? And 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)? Could it be? That’s what has the rumor mill churning once again, thanks to an unnamed source at Nikkei Business.
With so many high-end LTE Android handsets currently on the market, like the new Droid Bionic and even more recently the RAZR, this could be a very crucial competitive edge for Apple. Though the question arises; how will LTE perform on AT&T’s constantly ridiculed network?
Tablet Trouble
As of today, the new Nook Tablet from Barnes and Noble and Amazon’s tablet the Kindle Fire are available in stores. Except, as far as this Nook user is concerned, there’s only one worth buying.
Both the Android tablets have longer battery life and flash video watching capability. The Nook Tablet comes installed with Netflix and Hulu. Yet, while the Nook Tablet has potentially more storage when you include the potential memory card (48GB), Amazon’s Fire offers much more in terms of design, service, and price.
The Fire’s new design is a complete overhaul from it’s previous model’s look, whereas, the Nook Tablet resembles much of its predecessor the Nook Color. Add that to the fact the Fire comes with Amazon’s already burgeoning app store, movie collection, digital library, and a cloud service allowing you to access your files anywhere, and the Nook’s developing app store begins to look negligible. In addition, the Fire ($199) is a good $50 cheaper than its rival.
However, what seems to be the consensus on the blogosphere is that neither of these Android tablets are anything we haven’t seen before. Actually, the point that makes the Android’s operating system so valuable to the user is the Android marketplace, which isn’t offered on either. Unless, that is, you want to attempt to hack your Kindle Fire, you’re stuck with what each provider offers.
What is interesting is the effect these two soon-to-be popular holiday gifts will have on the elite $500-and-up iPad 2. There is no doubt Apple will milk every penny out of the iPad possible, but take a look at some other Apple products fiscal history.
Planned Obsolescence
Have you ever bought an iPod and found out a month later that they are releasing a new one with some fancy new features, a new color, or design? I’m sure this has happened to most of us, and man is it upsetting. The idea of “Planned Obsolescence” is when a company deliberately plans or designs a product to have a limited life, so it will become obsolete after a certain period of time. Guess what happens after that? You go out out and buy a new one. Not only does this relate to product design and features but, also hardware and functionality. Apple has consistently been one of the most successful at planned obsolescence but, is it a good business strategy or evil ploy to have consumers keep buying your products.
Surf’s Up
No more carrying around a book bag laden with notebooks for every class, the new Boogie Board is here. The Boogie Board Rip is an LCD Writing Tablet with a paper like writing surface that allows the user to write down notes, images, reminders, etc., via a Stylus writing pen. According to their website, the Improv Electronics eWriter has the ability to save written work as files and then later transfer them to a computer. Weighing in at 11.5 ounces – almost half the weight of the iPad – with a 9.5-inch LCD screen, the tablet has a numerous amount of accessories for customization and a smaller 8.5-inch version that clips easily into a binder.
The iPhone Suave and Swag
After suffering the devastating loss of my Crackberry to some unsurprising, and seemingly predestined, water damage… I stood in the AT&T store at a crossroad. Setting my feelings aside, I hesitantly converted the iPhone 4 (prior to the release of the iPhone 4S). My reservations about the iPhone quickly vanished.
To ensure this bad boy would be protected, I invested in the most durable phone cover and case on the market: the Otter Box.
The shock absorbing, polycarbonate exterior was created to be resilient enough for even outdoor professionals. Better yet, the Otter Box has proven its durability in the most threatening of college conditions.
Apple Everything and iOS 5
The switch to the iPhone wasn’t all that foreign since I am an avid user of Apple products and my MacBook Pro. In conjunction with the release of the iPhone 4S, the iOS 5 software-update was available for existing iPhone carriers. My favorite new feature, since applying the iOS 5 update, is the notification center.
