Macworld 2009 Bingo
One of my favorite things to do while watching a Apple Keynote is to play Keynote Bingo. Keynote Bingo puts the main rumors and predictions in boxes and you cross out ones that happen during the keynote! I play Bingo every year and although I rarely get Bingo, it makes the keynote more interactive and even more fun!
Gdovin.net is proud to announce that starting at Macworld 2009 I will release my own Gdovin.net Macworld Bingo! I have it availible as a PDF that you can feel free to download and print out and play along! I hope you enjoy it and helps you enjoy the keynote even more! Download the Bingo board below and enjoy!
Why I got Flickr Pro and why you Might Consider It
Originally, I did not see why people would spend $25/year for Flickr Pro just to post pictures online. That was of course, before I began using Flickr originally as a Free user and discovered how powerful it was and how enjoyable and simple it was to share your pictures!
At first I decided I could try Flickr out at first and use a free account and see if it would be necessary for me to pay for the Pro account. However, because I had a free account I was limited to only uploading 100 Megabytes each month and because of that I would have to stagger the pictures that I upload to get the best pictures online and hold off on the lower-quality images until the next month. I also could only make 3 sets, which group pictures from similar events or similar subject matter. This was not too much of a problem until I got my new Cannon Powershot 1100IS, which takes much higher resolution, pictures to significantly larger, file sizes. These two factors were huge in my decision to get Flickr Pro. Sets were essential for me because I like to have everything organized and easy to find. I thought about if for a long time but, then I realized it was totally worthwhile for me with as many pictures I take and would like to share with my friends and family.
For anyone who is considering getting Flickr Pro I recommend trying the Free account first and see if you want the extra features and if you do then go ahead and buy Flickr Pro. For $25 /year you get unlimited picture storage which I think is an unbelievable value to you. Flickr is great for casual photographers and if you are a more serious photographer, then you are probably better off with paying for Flickr Pro!
Macworld 2009 Predictions
On January 6th, Phil Shiller will give the closing keynote at Macworld expo and will presumably announce new Apple products for the final time at Macworld! Although Steve Jobs is not giving the announcement I still think this will be an exciting keynote. As I do for all the other Apple keynotes I will predict what I believe will be announced at Macworld 2009.
1. Mac Mini Updated or Cancelled
The Mac mini has just sat on the sideline as all the other Apple Products have been updated. The Mac Mini as a reminder is the Mac in a small box and sells for $599, making it the most affordable Mac. The Mac Mini does not come with a display, keyboard or mouse but is still a good machine. If Apple upgrades it, I think it will get a faster processor, more ram and larger hard drive. I also think it will have a Unibody like the new macbooks. The other option is they turn the Mac Mini into a Apple TV and computer and make an affordable media center pc. Or Apple might just decide that people prefer their less expensive notebooks and discontinue the mini all together.
2. iPhone/iPod Touch 3.0 Software-
Last year, Apple released the iPhone 2.0 software and I think it is time for them to put a new update and more features for their amazing touch device. I think Macworld will be a great time for it since they already updated many of their other products during the year.
3. Guest Appearance by Steve Jobs-
As I said in my “Can Macworld survive without a Stevenote”, Macworld is not the same without Steve Jobs and even though he isn’t giving the keynote, I think that he will make an appearance either for a demo or over video chat. They need to do something to appease all the angry Steve Jobs fans.
4. iMac Update-
With the Macbooks and ipods being already updated in the fall, the iMac is due for an update to a faster processor, a larger hard drive and most likely, an Nvidia graphics card to keep up-to-speed with the Macbooks.
5. Ultraportable Macbook
Ultra-portable Macbooks have been all the rage this year and all the other major computer companies have created one. Apple tried to make their own portable Macbook, the Macbook Air, but it is too big and too expensive to compete with Ultraportable Laptops like the EEEPC that sells for $300. I think Apple will create their own affordable, ultra-portable Macbook.
These are all my predictions for this years Macworld, it was difficult to make predictions for this Macworld mainly because there were so many events this year that many product lines are not due to be updated again. Also, check out gdovin.net on Wednesday, after the keynote for my reactions and summary. Finally remember to check Gdovin.net before all future Apple events for future predictions.
Can Macworld Survive Without a Stevenote?
A few weeks ago, Apple Inc. released a Press Release announcing that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, will not be delivering a keynote at Macworld and that Phil Shiller, Apple’s Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the keynote instead of Steve. It was also announced; that this will be the last keynote Apple will be giving at Macworld. This came as a major disappointment to many Apple fans and fanned the flames that Steve Jobs’ health is failing. According to an inside source, Steve is fine and is not attending for “Other Reasons”. I was personally disappointed when I heard this news but, I will not be commenting on Steve’s health because as of now it is all speculation. I really hope he is not sick, because for the 13 years that he was away from Apple were the worst years in the company’s history. But, the fact is that if he isn’t sick, he is not immortal, and he will have to leave Apple eventually. Because of that, Apple needs to begin to put other people into the limelight and make it so Steve Jobs isn’t the only public face of Apple so it can go on with or without Steve.
As far as Macworld Expo, Technology tradeshows have faded out recently and especially with the poor economy people and companies are much less likely to pay expensive Tradeshow fees for admission and for companies to have a booth. For Apple, it was totally not worthwhile for them to continue giving a keynote at Macworld, when they can do it themselves for much less. Plus, this year especially, Apple has given their own product announcements that going forward is a better way to go because, they can focus in on one product line and go into much further detail instead of covering multiple lines, and bouncing around and not going into enough details on each product.
Macworld will not get nearly as much attention without the major-draw of a Steve Jobs Keynote and will loose much of the buzz it had before. Macworld claims the show will still go on next year, but I think that it will not last much longer, because it will not be the same without the Stevenote. I think it will help the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), which is the same week as Macworld and is lesser known than Macworld. I think Macworld will fade out until it becomes just a memory. This is because without the major draw of a Apple keynote, people would not be willing to pay for flights, hotels and the expensive show admission fee. I believe that Macworld will be one by 2013!
There is one more thing, this will cause Apple Consumers who have learned not to buy anything from Apple for a month before Macworld in January which will be no longer necessary. I think it is a good decision for Apple to do their own product announcements and this is all for the best. I will still make my predictions for Macworld 2009 and will write my reaction the day after, as I do for all Apple events now and will for all future events.
Technology Predictions for 2009
Last New Years Eve, as the 2007 was about to end, I posted my predictions of what technology will be unveiled in 2008. Once again it is New Years eve and I am ready to announce technologies that I think will be prominent or will be unveiled in the new year.
1. More Ultraportable Laptops
In 2008 Ultra-Portable laptop computers became extremely popular. I credit this partially to the ailing economy and also to the growing dependence of people on computers and people needing to have a computer that they take where ever they go. I believe there will not only be more ultra portable laptops but they will be more powerful and able to do more than you could ever imagine! The demand for affordable portable laptops are highly in demand and every company will want to capitalize on that.
2. More Android Phones
In 2008, the HTC Dream G1 was released and was the first phone running Google’s Android Operating System. There is already talk about another Gphone and I think that there will be many more in 2009. I also think that every major cell phone provider will have at least 1 Android phone available so that that T-Mobile won’t be the only one.
3. New Nokia Internet Tablet
I have loved my Nokia N800 since I got it and the N810 is even better. However, I think it is time for Nokia to put out another internet tablet, and can provide more features. I think they should add cellular internet so that the Internet Tablet can be use anywhere instead of only where WiFi is available.
4. Affordable 3G Modems
With day-to-day life being more and more dependant on the internet, more and more people want to have the internet where ever they travel. If 3G internet becomes more affordable and modems do as well, which allow you to tether you computer or portable device over Bluetooth and gives internet access anywhere you travel.
5. All-In-One Desktops become standard
Apple created the first All-In-ne in 1984 with the Macintosh and continues to this day. Other computer companies have made some all-in-one models but, I think the era of Tower computers is over and more ergonomic All-In-One computers will take the place of towers. Not only do they take less space, but All-in-ones also require only one power cord and takes less packaging than tower computers.
6. Nationwide Wifi
President-Elect Barrack Obama announced a few weeks ago his plan to provide all Americans with access to computers and the internet. The FCC has created a plan to use the broadcast space that currently carries Analog Television and turn that into free WiFi for the entire nation. This would allow all Americans to get online all across the country and enable better access to web services.
I am excited for what Technology will arrive in 2009 and think it will be an excellent year for tech. I encourage you all to check gdovin.net frequently or subscribe to the RSS feed so that you can read my coverage of all the technological advancements in 2009!
Blog Vacation Announcement
The Holiday Season is a time for family and because of that I will be taking time of from posting new blogs posts and spends some time with my family. I will be taking a vacation from blogging starting today and going until Deceber 30th! I will be putting my usual Technology predictions for the new year on New Years eve and then will begin to kick off the 2009 blogging year. I will be spending my vacation time not only relaxing but, I will also be stock piling new blog posts for the new year. I will also be developing some new projects, The Weekly Spin is doing well, and I will have a new site launching in the first few months of 2009!
2009 will be a great year for Gdovin.net, I plan to expand this site a lot and can’t wait to share all my new ideas with you all! Just as a preview some of my blog posts coming in 2009 will be: Macworld Predictions, Why there are too many Social Networks, and Why Firefox is the best Web Browser! I look forward to the new year and can’t wait for all the new content. I hope all my readers have a great holiday and come back on New Years eve for my 2009 blog kick off!
Holiday Gift Guide: Part 3
Now that the gift giving season is only a few days away, here are my final tech gifts that are great for the holiday season. I enjoy reccomending gadgets and technology for people to give as gifts and I continue to do this every year on Gdovin.net! Here are my final suggestions for 2008 Holiday Tech gifts:
Macbook:
The new macbook from Apple is an amazing machine it has a sleek alluminum design, and is extremley powerful. It has a Nvidea grpahics card so it is great for work and games. This a great laptop for the average laptop users who don’t need the extra power of the Macbok Pro. Since, it runs Mac OSX, it is very stable and reliable so you can get what you need do when you need it!
Dell Studio Hybrid-
I put this one in because I know some people don’t want or can’t afford a mac so I wanted to give an option. The Dell Studio Hybrid is a sleek machine, it is perfecxt for both the office and home and even as a home entertainment center. I think it may be the nicest designed Desktop Dell has ever made!
Ipod Touch
The ipod touch is an amazing devices it plays music, games and surfs the web all in one little device. You can load applications either over iTunes or directly on the device over WiFi, it is the best iPod Apple has evermade and I think it will be for a long time.
Flip Camcorder:
This device is probably the simplest camera ever to be used by you. It makes taking high quality video and pictures a snap and lets you transfer it with a built it USB port. There are two models one is Standard definition, the other is high definitition. This is great for people who like to travel or just someone who likes to take pictures and video!
I hope you all enjoyed my holiday gift picks this year, i hope you all have a happy holiday and read Gdovin.net throughout 2009 and read my holiday gift guide next year!
OLPC Thoughts
The One laptop Per Child, also known as the OLPC or the XOPC was originally, the $100 computer but is now $200. It is intended for people in developing countries to gain access to affordable computers. Last year they were availible for purchase through the company’s site around the holioday season, and this year, it is able to be purchased through Amazon. Both years, you could either buy one and donate it to a developing country which is great if you want to make a donation and think of someone else over the Holiday season, or for $400, you can do what they call: Give One, Get One where you give one to a developing nation and you also get one to keep yourself. The idea is great, I think it is very important to have everyone in the world be able to have access to a computer and the internet. One crucial part of this laptop, is that it has what is called Mesh networking, which allows laptops to serve as a wireless access point to others. This could let people who live in the Middle of the African Congo be connected to the internet. The one issue that I have with the OLPC is that it has the astetic of a child’s toy computer, I would know I had one when I was little. I am describing both the physical design of the machine and the operating system.I think it would be much more effective for use a full operating system and provide them with tutorials because then, if they know how to use Windows, they will be able to use the vast majority of computers in the world.
All-in-all, the OLPC is a step in the right direction for developing countries and I hope that in the future that they will develop a more advanced computer inorder to give those people a better chance of using those skills in a career. It is still a great start and if you want to give technology to people who need it than this is the way!
Holiday Gift Guide: Part 2
As Christmas and the holiday gift-giving season is around the coner, I will suggest more gift ideas for this holiday season:
The Amazon Kindle is an amazing ebook reader that for the price of $360 you can store over 200 books and you also get newspaper subscriptions that can be downloaded over the built-in EVDIO and you can also buy additional books anywhere! This saves you from having to carry arround tons of books and coulde be a great alternative for students who need to carry around many textbooks.
I have already mentioned how much I love my Nokia N800 but, there is also a newer Internet Tablet called the Nokia N810. The N810 not only provides a faster processor but, it also has a hardware keyboard that allows much faster typing on the device for email and instant messaging. The N810 also has a built-in GPS for getting directions and finding places. The N810 is a great upgrade to the N800 and is great for people who need to get a lot of work done on the go.
I recently got this camera in September as a birthday gift, and I have loved every second of using it. The pictures are amazing quality, it has many features to make sure you can get the best quality images and did I mention that this camera was only $150 and for a limited time comes with a 2 GB SD Memory card. The build of the camera is slim and can fit in any pocket and can go anywhere! This camera has a great 8 Megapixel image and has a 3X zoom and one of the neatest things is as you rotate the camera, the image rotates rotates similar to the iPhone. This camera has become the de-facto point and shoot camera because it is such a great value for such a high quality result
Just like many other computer manufacturers, HP has relese their own line of Ultra Portable Laptops and I believe theres is one of the best. The keyboard is 92% of a full sized keyboard and has a 1.6 GHZ processor and 512 Megabytes of RAM. The computer runs Windows XP and is perfect for business people who travel or college students. The reason is that, at $360 this is a great computer for taking notes, checking your email and surfing the internet, which is all people usually use portable computers for. This is great for anybody who travels a lot and wants to take a decent computer with them where they go!
Well this is the end of this installment of the Holiday gift guide. Next week, I will have a special Dexluxe Gift guide that will have extra gift ideas!
Personal Update: 12-11-08
I plan on using these Personal Updates to inform what is going on in my life and what I am up to.
You may have noticed that I have not been posting as frequently and that is because I have started a new Audio Podcast, The Weekly Spin, and because of that I needed to dedicate a lot of time getting the website setup and preparing the first show The Weekly Spin is a podcast that I Host with my friends Steve Stinson and William Termini and we discuss news stories and have a little fun too! Plus, I am also participating in a Junior Achievement Company, which is a program where High School Students create and run their own company. Our company will sell Tote bags and sports bags (Duffel Bags). I am serving as Vice-President of Production leaving me in charge of picking the product, buying the product and managing sales of the product as well as the other employees in the Production department.
In School I am taking: English, Video Editing, Business Law and Senior Project. I plan to post some of my video editing projects on here in the near future. My Senior Project is on the topic of “Is Cloud Computing able to Replace Local Computer Applications?” and I also plan to post this online when it is complete in Late January. As a part of my project, I have begun to use more Cloud computing tools like: Gmail, Google Docs, Zoho, Delicious and I got a Flickr Pro account. I am doing this first of all, because I want to be knowegable about my topic and secondly, because using these service have really enriched my life and made certain tasks much simpler.
I am very proud of what I have done with this blog in a few months I have over tripled the daily page views in two months of more vigously posting and this is just the beginning. I have many plans for the rest of this year and much grander plans to expand Gdovin.net in 2009. I have decided not to try and post every single day because I noticed that by trying to do that, I forced myself to write lower-quality articles just to hit the daily numbers. I decided to try and post as many times but, I will be posting very frequently and keeping the articles as high quality as I can.
I hope to post these Personal Updates about once a month if possible, however some months I may post more and others I might just skip.