V.I.P This!

For an easy way to know about information about your lost iOS device, create a contact for the email noreply@icloud.com. Then, go to the Mail app. Hit the upper left button several times. You should find button that says, "VIP". Tap the small white arrow surrounded by a blue circle. Tap "Add VIP…". Add the contact you just added. Whenever a lost device gas been located or if you send a message to a lost iOS device (this is only if you've enabled lost mode from Find My iPhone) via Find My iPhone, email notifications will be in your lock screen and as banner notifications. Now, you can read the vital emails ASAP.

iTunes Ping

Yesterday, I was on iTunes and found that the iTunes Ping feature was being removed on September 30, 2012. I was saddened at this loss, however, it was not surprising for several factors.

1. In iOS 6, Ping is no longer in the menu bar.
2. Nobody uses it much.
3. The new iTunes will display this information more elegantly without the help of Ping.

For those who don't know what Ping is, iTunes Ping is Apple's version of Facebook. But for music. It would show what music you like and buy. It also gives you concert information. Ping was released in September 2010 with the breakthrough iTunes 10. iTunes 10 also came with AirPlay and HD TV show rentals for 99¢.

Some features like concert information will be kept and will be in the new iTunes coming later this October.

No ads 4 Geeks

Did you buy a Kindle with the ads and want to remove them? Don't buy another Kindle just yet! There's another way! Go to Amazon.com on your computer or in a web browser (like Safari) on your iOS device. In the upper right hand corner, tap or move the cursor over the "Your Account" button and click "Manage Your Kindle". Sign in if needed and click the link in the left bar that says, "Manage Your Devices". Find the Kindle that you would like to get rid of ads. Then, click the "Edit" button next to where it says, "Subscribed". Here, you can get rid of ads for $20. It's also $20 more for the ad-free Kindle. Same price. Good deal.

Get Back to Drafts

To quickly get back to your email drafts (saved, unsent emails), in the Mail app, hold the compose button until a new screen comes up. The compose button is the notepad with a pen. It should always be in the bottom right corner of the screen on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The button will be in the top right corner button of the screen of an iPad.

Keyboard Çhäráčtërš 4 Gęēks¡

To use symbols with special accents, touch and hold the character you would like to accent and select the accent by moving your finger over to the character you choose. This also works with question marks and other punctuation marks.

In Safari, when typing in a web address, hold down the ".com" key to reveal ".org", ".edu" and other domains.

Multitasking DJ

To take control of your music anywhere, go to the multitasking bar by double clicking the home button (bottom button with square). Then, swipe from left to right in the bar. You've just entered the Music Zone! On iPad, you can either mute or use the orientation lock (based on your settings) using the grey button. You can also adjust the brightness on iPad. For both iPhone, and iPod Touch, I believe you have the rotation lock only (you may have to swipe one more time) and no brightness control. For all iOS devices, there should be pause, play, fast forward, and rewind functions. There is also an AirPlay button if there is a speaker system or Apple TV nearby to broadcast the audio to. Finally, there is an icon showing what source the audio is coming from. If there is no music coming, it is the music icon. For example, if you're using the Pandora app, the icon will be the Pandora app and you can tap on it to go to the app. Congratulations! You are a Multitasking DJ!

Creating Folders

Another great feature introduced in iOS 4 are the folders. To add a folder, go the the home screen (The place where all the apps are, not the multitask bar) and hold any app until all the apps wiggle. Take the app that you would like to put in a folder and drag it to another app that you would also like in that folder. If you only want one app in a folder, well, let's talk this through.
Take one app and hold it over the app you want in the folder by its self until it reveals a folder. Without releasing the app, press the home button (bottom button with square). Then, hold the app that you don't want in the folder and drag it outside of the folder. Don't try making a folder and simply removing the app from the folder because that just removes the folder. At least that's what it does for me.

iOS Maintenance

Is your iOS device running slow? Before restarting try clearing out your multitasking bar. To do so, simply double click your home button (bottom button with square) to make the multitasking bar appear. Then, touch and hold an icon in the multitasking bar until they wiggle. A red circle with a minus sign will appear with each app. Tap on it to close the app. The app and app data will NOT be deleted. Repeat the process for every app you want to close (I recommend closing every app if your device is running slow). There is currently no way that I know of to close out every app at once. To get the icons to stop wiggling, click the home button. Click the home button or tap outside of the multitasking bar to return to whatever you were doing. You can always return to the multitasking bar to switch through apps.

iOS CPR

WARNING: Any unsaved data from apps may be deleted.

When your iOS device is completely frozen (and that includes unresponsive buttons), hold the lock button (top button) and the home button (bottom button with circle) until the screen goes black. Then hold the lock button until the screen turns on again. You should do this very rarely in your device's life.

iPhone 5: Review

I recently reviewed the iPhone 5 at an Apple Store. It's the most amazing iPhone ever!

At First Glance:
When you first see the phone, it looks somewhat different. It comes in two colors. The black color looks sleeker. The white color looks like a jewel. Last I checked, people like jewels. The texture of the back side feels nice to just feel. It doesn't even feel taller. Just lighter. Crazy light. How does that work? It's magic.

Camera:
This camera is amazing! The camera lens is made out of sapphire crystal. When you use it, you can take up to five shots in one second. Just compare it with a 4S. It's faster than already fast. Panorama pictures are also amazing! They are so pretty. And it's so easy to make one.

Performance:
With the brand new A6 chip and LTE networking, the new iPhone is very fast from downloading an app to talking to Siri. What else is there to say? It's fast and powerful.

iOS 6:
iOS 6 comes with many new features. iPhone 5 takes advantage of all of them. Hands down, my absolute favorite iOS 6 feature has to be Passbook. If you're looking to fill your virtual wallet, try the Starbucks app or the Target app and sign up for Mobile Coupons. Also, Siri is very accuate even in a noisy Apple Store. For Maps, I know about the flaws and Apple is working hard to fix them. Otherwise, I think the Apple Maps app is great. I love the new "Tap to Resume Navigation" feature.

Lightning Connector:
Although the Lightning connector is hard to test out the reversibility feature because of the docking system (Sure Apple! Why not make a dock only for Apple Stores and their resellers?), I did try it and it was functional and a great feature.

All in all, the iPhone 5 is the most amazing iPhone yet. From it's look to it's features, I highly recommend this as your next phone. Because of that, I give it five out of five geek glasses for a great camera, speed, OS, and other great features…

...for the AT&T model. For the Verizon and Sprint models, I give them four and a half out of five geek glasses because of the carrier limitations like the inability to use data while on a call.

Also, Apple released some ads for the iPhone 5. Check them out!

iPhone 5: Countdown to Happiness

We're almost there! The iPhone 5! Get ready people! 8:00 (PDT) is when the glass doors open. You're looking at a heck of a line. I hope to do a review after school! Probably after 3 pm.

P.S. The iOS review takes a long time to write. I hope to have it out by the end of the weekend. 

Take a Picture… Like a Geek!

To take pictures quicker and easier on an iOS device, simply use the volume up (+) button. Bam! You've taken a picture that has been saved to the Camera Roll. This works on all iOS devices that have a camera.

We Have A Go 4 iOS 6!

You may have read my snippet telling you to not upgrade to iOS 6 because of a Wi-Fi issue. I am proud to say that the issue has been resolved. If you have already upgraded, there is no need for any more upgrades. For some reason, Apple's method to find if users are connected to paywalled networks leads to a 404 error. All that aside, I believe that it is now safe to upgrade to iOS 6. I recommend to check for any bugs before upgrading by searching for it on Google or the Apple Support Forums. Search for items like:
iOS 6 Bugs
iOS Bug
Etc.

It will save you in the long run.

Screenshots 4 iOS

Here's a handy tip for taking screenshots of whatever you're viewing on the iOS device's screen. Simply quickly press the lock (top button) and the home button (round button with square) at the same time and you will see a flash on the screen. The picture will appear in your camera roll in the Photos app. You can use this for many tasks. I mainly use it to look at stuff from the internet offline, like a web page.

Something's Missing

When the iPhone 5 was announced, there was one thing that was missing. And no, it's not an iPhone Loop or Near Field Communication feature, or NFC. Although I think that would cool, that's not what's missing. There is no dock. And it's official, because Apple's own Phil Schiller (Senior Vice President of Marketing) sent an email about it.

Schiller wrote:
We do not plan on making a dock for the iPhone 5. Most people who use docks use them with speaker or clock systems.

He signed the email with, "Sent from my iPhone 5".

iCloud and Passbook

A few days ago, I looked deep in Apple's website and found a screenshot of the iCloud settings in iOS 6. What I found is a setting showing Passbook using iCloud. Does this exchange passes over the cloud? Probably. However, Passbook is not compatible with the iPad. Meaning, that you can't exchange passes with the tablet. That leaves you with the iPod Touch. Unless you have two iPhones using the same iCloud account.

What do you think? Leave your ideas, questions, comments, or whatever you want (within reason) in the comments below.

Caps Lock 4 iOS

One of the most missed handy features of iOS is the caps lock function. To use it, simply double-tap the shift button on your iOS device while typing. You should now be able to type in all capitals. To return to normal typing, tap the shift key. If this doesn't work, go to Settings > General > Keyboard and set "Enable Caps Lock" to on. 

iPhone 5 Pre-sale

Apple has already sold out on pre-sale orders for the iPhone 5. In only an hour, Apple sold out and now the expected delivery time is 2-3 weeks. If you want the iPhone ASAP, you're going to have to camp out in front of your local Apple Store and get it on September 21st.

iPhone 5: The Scoop

Yes, it happened. The iPhone 5 has been announced! The new iPhone shows many new features. Some more surprising than others. 

The iPhone now has a much taller screen. Apps that are not updated for the new display will be letterboxed seamlessly. You won't even notice. The home screen now consists of five rows of apps. It's 18% thinner, 20% lighter, and 12% less volume. 

The new iPhone now has LTE, or Long Term Evolution, connectivity. LTE has been known to be even somewhat faster than Wi-Fi. Although, the new technology in the iPhone 5 comes with a faster Wi-Fi experience as well. 

In addition, the new iPhone comes with the new Apple designed A6 chip which gives 8 hours LTE internet browsing time, 8 hours talk time, and 10 hours of video. 

Apple also announced new ear phones dubbed, EarPods. These new headphones are made to fit perfectly in your ear. 

In the camera department, the iPhone 5 has a new Panorama mode that can take pictures up to 240° and up to 28 megapixels. There are also 40% faster photo captures, 1080p HD video, and the front camera makes a huge jump from VGA quality to 720p HD FaceTime calls and 1.8 megapixel photos.

With the new Lightning connector (which somewhat looks like the ThunderBolt adapter for the Mac), there's no wrong way to plug in your iPhone to the charger. And it's easier to plug it in.

iPhone 5 also comes with iOS 6, the newest operating system for the iOS lineup, which will be released September 19th. iOS 6 introduces new features for Siri, including compatibility with the New iPad and the 5th Generation iPod Touch. Maps will be remodeled in Apple's new design. Passbook will also be released with the update. 

The iPhone 5 will be available (if you can manage to get to the front of the line before they sell out) September 21st and available for pre-sale September 14th.

iPhone 5 Name Confirmed

Apple's website is hiding something new. It's not on the home page. It's not on the site map. It's a last minute search change. Simply go to the search part of Apple's site and search "iPhone-5". Be sure to type the dash. You will find the future sites of the iPhone 5. This also confirmed the name "iPhone 5". Remember, don't Google iPhone-5, just search it on Apple's website.

iPhone 5 Decoration Gives Out Big Secret

If you've seen the decoration for Apple's iPhone 5 event, at first glance, there's nothing really hinting at any new products.

However, thanks to Mac Rumors, we found out that with a little perspective, you might see something much more. Take another look at the picture above. Then, take a look at the picture below.

What you're looking at, is a skewed version of the image above provided again by Mac Rumors. But, even like this, you might not be able to see what the picture is hiding. 

Ah ha! The picture is hiding many stretched iPhone app icons. Now, what does this tell us? It could be used to represent a taller iPhone by stretching out the icons. We can't know for sure. And that's it for our image analysis. Be sure to check out my coverage of the iPhone 5 coming Wednesday after school (hopefully around 3:00 PDT).

A Weekend with the Galaxy Nexus 7: Sunday

I know. I didn't write for yesterday. That is because my first hour with the tablet was so bad, I decided to not write anymore for the tablet. Like my parents say, "If you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all." Sorry. To end on the positive side, we do have the iPhone 5 coming out this week. I hope to have some coverage of that. You know, if homework doesn't take over. I can't wait!

A Weekend with the Galaxy Nexus 7: Friday

I recently obtained one Galaxy Nexus 7 for the weekend. It's pretty much a 7" tablet. It's the the perfect opportunity for a review. Right away, the device seemed very heavy for it's size. And to use any app, you must have a Google account. When signing in, it takes a long time because it's tailoring the tablet together for you. A great part about it is that it can fit it in your pocket. But when I was needing another hand, the tablet was in my hand and a drink in another. I couldn't put it in my pocket with one hand and there was no where to put the drink. Pocket powers couldn't help me there. While blogging on this, I found the keyboard and text editing was much harder than an iOS device. Also, the home screen is hard to navigate without any apps on a page. The navigation bar at the bottom is very hard to see too. All the permissions you must approve for apps and Google Accounts can be a pain too. Although, I must say that the updates feature on the contact list was a nice touch. I'm going to finish this review on my iPad because this keeps deleting some of my work. It just did it again!!! Not to mention, I've only had this for an hour!! People are starting to stare. However, the voice to speech is good. Now people think I'm crazy because I'm talking and yelling at a tablet. By the way, if you start to type, "feature", it suggests the word, "death". In my house, there's a rule about Droids. "Don't throw it out the window!"

Thanks a Thousand!

Oh my gosh! I didn't expect Tech Talk 4 Geeks to reach over a thousand page views before the one month anniversary! This is great! I thank you a thousand times over!

Sincerely,
-Alex

Extra Credit 4 Geeks Shows Off A Secret

Apple has recently announced the sale that gives you App Store credit for buying an iPad or Mac for school is ending September 21. That is the same date the iPhone 5 is expected to be released. This tells us that the iPhone 5 will probably be released on that date. After all, the date that is already expected came from a reliable source, iMore.

Apple Makes an Announcement about an Announcement!

Today, Apple has announced that the company will be holding an event on the 12th. You know what this means. The iPhone 5! Take a look at the invitation below.

Notice that the number 12 leaves a reflection that creates the illusion of a five. Very clever Apple. This probably means the name of the phone will be iPhone 5. And that I was wrong. Now all we can do is wait for the day.

Kindle Review

The Kindle is extremely thin.

For the last month, I've been talking mainly about Apple products. Let's try something new. Last year, I bought a Kindle from Amazon.com, the cheapest Kindle. So cheap, that it's only called the Kindle. However, it gives you a good run for your $79. But, why would I buy a Kindle if I already have an iPad? I needed a light reading book for school. So I bought this. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros:

• It's the lightest device you will ever hold.
• Much cheaper books.
• The E-Ink display is strangely interesting.
• The ads are "G" rated and don't appear while reading. Having ads are worth it.
• It can fit in your back pocket.
• It doesn't strain your eyes.
• It is cheap.
• If it gets stolen, it's not a big deal.
• Integrated book store.
• Amazon automatically registers your account to the Kindle.



The Kindle is light enough to hold with just a few fingers.

• There's a one month battery life.

Cons:

• There's no color.
• It's hard to tell what the battery is because of the display's resolution.
• Images from the book appear, however they are at low resolution.
• A case makes the Kindle's weight significantly heavier.
• Typing can be a hassle with it with no keyboard or touch controls.
• The only Kindle without audio support.
• Some series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid are not supported on the Kindle store.

For the most part, the Kindle is a great device for a great price. I recently took it hiking and it didn't weigh me down at all. In addition, it was able to survive three days in 9,000 feet of altitude. All in all, I give the Kindle 4 1/2-out-of-5 Geek Glasses.