Daily Brew

Best Lawn Care company in Orlando!

2011-03-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

I know this is a random post but I need to give this company some credit. I recently had lawn service from this company. Orlando Lawn Care Pro They did an amazing job and were very professional. I just needed simple lawn maintenance but they also do landscaping.

The price was right and I signed up for the monthly service. I highly recommend them!

Quadrocopters learn to build structures. Interesting...yet freaky.

2011-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Man discovers glasses-free 3D tech in the blink of an eye

2011-01-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

Report: iPad 2 Features Qualcomm Chipset, SD Card Slot. No LTE for iPhone 5?

2011-01-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

We’ve been hearing a lot about the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 heading up to Apple’s launch of its sequel. Now Engadget is reporting that the device will have a Qualcomm GSM/CDMA chipset, so it can easily support multiple carriers with the same design. The site is also reiterating what we’ve heard elsewhere. The iPad will be slimmer than its predecessor (the image they obtained confirms it), sport a higher-resolution display, and feature an SD card slot.

Moving on to the iPhone 5, Engadget says it will be a completely redesigned handset boasting a superfast A5 chip (based on a Cortex A9). This tech will allow the device to handle 1080p video, like Nvidia’s Tegra 2. Unfortunately, LTE might be left out of the iPhone 5, which would be a major bummer (if not a dealbreaker) for both Verizon and AT&T customers. We hope that’s not the case.

Via Engadget

Company Review: All Website Marketing

2011-01-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

SEO, PPC, Link Building, Content Strategies, and Local Internet Marketing. That's what it is all about. This website marketing and SEO company is one I highly recommend. AWM's approach to search engine opitmization is very effective. They have many years of experience and a great website SEO track record.
I enjoyed working with their team on a couple of SEO techniques and projects. Check them out on the web!

www.allwebsitemarketing.com

Finally.... the Verizon iPhone

2011-01-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

We've waited and waited, and now Apple and Verizon have made a million dreams come true: the iPhone is coming to Big Red. After talking up his new LTE network a bit, Verizon CEO Lowell Mcadam confirmed a CDMA (non-LTE) version of the iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon Wireless next month. Talks started way back in 2008, and the phone has been in testing for a year -- it sounds like they wanted to get this one right. The phone will launch on February 10th for the standard $200 price.

Don't Buy the Verizon iPhone...Yet

2011-01-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

Gizmodo urges readers not to buy the smartphone from Verizon -- yet

Ever since Verizon sent out invitations on Friday for a special event in New York City on Tuesday, the Internet has been buzzing with anticipation that the top wireless carrier in the U.S. will announce it soon will begin selling Apple's iPhone.

Assuming it's true -- and I'm making that assumption -- expect long lines outside Verizon stores on the day the iPhone goes on sale. But one of the Internet's most popular personal technology sites thinks you shouldn't be in that line.

(Also see: Verizon may be unveiling iPhone next Tuesday)

Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan on Monday advised readers to curb their impulse to run out and grab the Verizon iPhone 4 at the first opportunity.

What kind of killjoy is this guy? The kind that makes sense:

Apple will announce a new iPhone in June, as they have every year since 2008. It'll go on sale later that month, or in early July, as it has every year. That's six months from now. And it'll be better than the iPhone 4 in some tangible way. Maybe not on the order of the leap from the 3GS to the iPhone 4, but it'll have something new to offer. And everybody will want it, because that's how things seem to work with Apple: There's just enough new to make whatever Apple product you've currently got in your hand feel deficient in some way.

He's right, too. As fantastic as iPhone 4 owners think their smartphone is, it's going to feel like an iBrick 4 when the new toy comes out. That's just the way of the world in which we live, where marketing and human nature combine to create insatiable (and often irrational) desires.

The iPhone 5 envy will be bad enough for iPhone 4 veterans; imagine locking into a two-year contract for a smartphone, only to see it become outdated just a few months later. Every time you run into someone with the iPhone 5, you will feel envious, inadequate and, perhaps, a bit sheepish. For that could have been you, had you only been a bit more patient.

Buchanan suggests Verizon may sweeten the iPhone 4 pot by reducing the contract to one year or some similar inventory-clearing inducement, though my experience with Verizon makes that prospect hard to fathom.

Let's face it, though. If you've got a fever, and there's only one cure for it -- the iPhone -- all the well-intentioned advice in the world will fall on deaf ears. Still, Matt Buchanan and other voices of reason and restraint, you did your best.

Awesome Tax Layer! Krouse Tax Corp

2011-01-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Tax Resolution

Different than many of life’s difficulties, IRS problems simply do not resolve themselves. The alarming truth is that they only become worse as time goes on. Penalties pile up and interest accrues every day your IRS problems go unresolved, slowly but surely depleting your hard-earned dollars. Attempts for collection become more hostile the longer you go without IRS help. Don’t let your IRS problems pile up. Get IRS help now.

http://www.help-tax.com/

Obama administration moves forward with unique internet ID for all Americans

2011-01-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

President Obama has signaled that he will give the United States Commerce Department the authorityover a proposed national cybersecurity measure that would involve giving each American a unique online identity. Other candidates mentioned previously to head up the new system have included the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, but the announcement that the Commerce Department will take the job should please groups that have raised concerns over security agencies doing double duty in police and intelligence work. So anyway, what about this unique ID we'll all be getting? Well, though details are still pretty scant, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking at an event at the Stanford Institute, stressed that the new system would not be akin to a national ID card, or a government controlled system, but that it would enhance security and reduce the need for people to memorize dozens of passwords online. Sorry, Locke, sounds like a national ID system to us. Anyway, the Obama administration is currently drafting what it's dubbed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which is expected at the Department of Commerce in a few months. We'll keep you posted if anything terrifying or cool happens.

Verizon plans special event next week - iPhone?

2011-01-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg's Consumer Electronics Show keynote Thursday was a snoozathon, but the company sent an electric jolt through the tech world on Friday with a bright-red invitation to a press event on Tuesday.

Scheduled for early January 11 -- 1/11/11 at 11 a.m., to be precise -- in New York City, the event looks likely to be Verizon's long-awaited, widely leaked but never officially announced unveiling of a Verizon iPhone.

The Wall Street Journal confirmedthat late Friday, citing a source "familiar with the matter."

Numerous media outlets, includingFortune, have confirmed with sources that the iPhone would come to Verizon's network in early 2011, but so far Apple (AAPL,Fortune 500) and Verizon (VZ,Fortune 500) have stayed mum about their launch plans and timing.

The move will end AT&T's four-year run as the iPhone's exclusive carrier.

Apple and Verizon have gradually deepened their relationship over the past year and set the stage for an iPhone rollout. In October, Verizon began selling Apple's iPads in its retail stores and offering a wireless plan to let customers use the device on its own network.

So is this doomsday for AT&T (T, Fortune 500), which is infamous for itshigh levels of customer dissatisfaction, especially among iPhone owners?

Video: Hands-On With the Droid Bionic

2011-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

DROID BIONIC Hits Motorola Website

2011-01-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

The DROID Bionic just went live on Motorola’s website. This is the next DROID flagship device for Verizon and it’ll have a Tegra 2 processor, 4.3″ qHD display, front facing camera, 1GB of RAM, run on 4G LTE etc.. This thing is a beast. Oh, it’s running Google, so don’t worry about that Bing-ness getting anywhere near it.

Available early 2nd quarter.

You can check out all the BIONIC goodness here.

Live From The NVIDIA CES Event…

2011-01-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/01/05/live-from-the-nvidia-ces-event/

5 Details on Verizon’s New Upgrade Policy

2011-01-04T13:16:00.000-08:00

1. All customers who activate / upgrade on a qualifying plan prior to January 16th, 2011 are enrolled in NE2 (New Every 2) and eligible to use the NE2 discount for up to six months from the date they become eligible.

2. Any customer who uses an NE2 credit or Annual Upgrade after January 16, 2011 will no longer be eligible for either program. On March 6, 2011, VZW systems will be updated to reflect this.

3. All customers who exercise the NE2 or Annual Upgrade option on or after January 16th will receive a letter notifying them that it was their last NE2 or Annual Upgrade.

4. Business customers continue to receive either the two-year corporate matrix tiered device pricing or two-year retail device pricing per contract.

5. Customers will now be eligible for promotional pricing after 20 months on a 2-year contract and 10 months on a 1-year contract.

More Evidence of Imminent Verizon iPhone Launch

2011-01-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

Every day seems to bring another reveal in the ongoing wait for a Verizon Wireless iPhone launch. This weekend is no different, with online catalog screen shots from offwire.com leaked in news reports showing Verizon Wireless iPhone 4 cases manufactured by Case-Mate.

It's not clear whether or not there are any changes in case design required for the Verizon iPhone 4 model. The entries have since been pulled off of the web. Text anticipating the Verizon launch was also discovered on a Case-Mate landing page.

2011 starts with a glitch for some iPhone users

2011-01-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

A glitch on Apple's iPhone has stopped its built-in alarm clock going off, leaving many people oversleeping on the first two days of the New Year.

News website readers and tweeters have said the glitch has caused them to be late for work, miss flights and ruin other plans.

We want to know if your having the same issues.

With the Verizon iPhone release, AT&T must boost customer satisfaction

2010-12-31T20:54:00.000-08:00

Apple will probably introduce a version of the iPhone that works on Verizon Communications' network early this year, creating a challenge for AT&T Inc., until now the exclusive U.S. distributor of the device.

AT&T, ranked last in user satisfaction by a Consumer Reports survey last month, has reason to be concerned about losing the iPhone arrangement it has held since Apple introduced the device in 2007, but the damage may not be as severe as anticipated.
At least initially, Verizon's iPhone may have weaknesses compared with AT&T's. The expense and hassle of changing carriers could also work to AT&T's advantage, according to Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
"I'm sure some AT&T customers are sufficiently frustrated to switch, but the vast majority are at least happy enough," Golvin said.

Apple's introduction of a Verizon iPhone will come after next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to a person familiar with Apple's plans who isn't authorized to discuss them publicly. Estimates from industry analysts of the resulting number of defections to Verizon from AT&T range from 1 million to 6 million.

John Hodulik, an analyst at UBS AG in New York, comes in somewhere in the middle. He predicted that AT&T will sell 8.8 million iPhones in 2011, down from 15.6 million in 2010. Of the 13.3 million Hodulik expects Verizon to sell in 2011, about 2.3 million will be to AT&T refugees, he predicted. An additional 10 million will be Verizon subscribers who upgrade from other devices, and the rest will come from other carriers.

Still, even if AT&T loses more than twice as many customers as Hodulik projects, the carrier will not suffer a fatal blow. If 6 million of its customers defect, the $6 billion in lost annual revenue would amount to about 10 percent of AT&T's wireless sales in 2011, according to UBS projections. The $6 billion would be 4.8 percent of its total projected sales of $126 billion in 2011.

Promoting alternatives

AT&T is expected to try to mitigate the damage by promoting iPhone alternatives, such as cheaper devices that use Google's Android mobile software, said Mark Lowenstein, a former Verizon executive who is managing director of consulting firm Mobile Ecosystem.
Others hurt in the unfolding iPhone tale may well be rival carriers Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA. There are no indications that Apple plans to make an iPhone for either of them. Without Apple, their subscriber rolls could fall in 2011 by 650,000 and 950,000, respectively, Hodulik said.

HTC Thunderbolt Will Have 1.2GHz Dual-Core Snapdragon, Gingerbread, 5MP Front Camera?

2010-12-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

It feels wrong to even report on this, but even rumors need a little attention at times. The HTC Thunderbolt has apparently started to pop up in German retail systems with a set of specs that make almost any device on the planet sound like an unfed infant baby. You ready for this? According to the screenshot above, the Thunderbolt will have a 4.3″ screen, a dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.2GHz, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), an 8MP back camera, 5MP front camera, 16GB of internal storage, an SD card slot expandable to 128GB and an 1800 mAh battery. Wow.

Where do we even begin with this? First of all, the website screenshot looks like something out of a cheesy used car forum, but who knows, maybe Germans run retail websites like that. Second, 128GB expandable SD card slot? Yowzaz. 5MP front cam? Will we have a front hump to mock the Droid X’s back hump? Oh and then there’s that dual-core Snapdragon…you know, the chip that Qualcomm just announced a month ago? I guess it’s ready for prime time!

I have nothing else to say…you guys run with this. Fake? Faker? Fakest?

Oh, I should also point out that the tipster who sent it was from Germany and had a broken email address. Hello, giant hoax? Please be real though?

Via: HTCInside

Cheers Dan from Deutschland!

Apple Pulls iPhone App The Controls Volume Buttons

2010-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

There is an iPhone app that has been pulled from the iTunes App Store and the reason is because it allows a user to take a picture by using the volume buttons. Apple is not too happy about coders giving buttons on the iPhone other uses than what they were intended for. The app, named Quick Snap, has been pulled because “it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion”.

It appears that Apple does not want their users to be confused when they try and turn up the volume and all of a sudden take a picture. I mean, how confusing would that actually be, maybe even embarrassing? The developer Tap Tap Tap recieved a rejection letter back in August from the iTunes App Store. Apple stated “Changing the behavior of iPhone external hardware buttons is a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement”.

So, Tap Tap Tap just hid the function and allowed users to “find” the function if they used a specific URL in the Safari browser. This got the app back into the store and everything is back to normal. Then Apple figured out how Tap Tap Tap was getting passed the issue and banned the developer for 4 months. The app returned with the volume snap feature removed completely.

The iTunes App Store has been a target for developers not happy with the way things are regulated lately and the fact that Quick Snap was promoted including the volume button feature is just another case of confusion. Apple did not comment on the promotion. There are over 300,000 apps in the App Store and the reviewers need to have a consistent approach to regulating what ends up in the store, in order to keep developers happy.

Verizon to unveil half-dozen 4G LTE smartphones at CES

2010-12-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

The Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month will witness Verizon Wireless unveiling nearly half-dozen handsets based on its super-fast 4G LTE network.

While Verizon has not made any official disclosure about all the 4G LTE smartphones that it intends introducing at the CES, an informal announcement by the carrier last week revealed that a Motorola handset will be launched for the carriers 4G network.

During the course of an interview with the Wall Street Journal, John Stratton - the chief operating officer at Verizon - said: "We've got LTE smartphones on the horizon... Motorola will be right there."

On Tuesday, Droid Life posted images of the HTC Thunderbolt, claiming that the handset will be the first 4G LTE device to be launched by Verizon. The only details that the site mentioned about the HTC handset were that it features a kickstand and Google branding.

Verizon had said in an early October announcement that the 4G LTE network will be launched by the carrier in 38 US cities - including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Boston, and San Francisco - by the end of 2010; and will debut a half-dozen LTE smartphones and tablets at CES. In addition, Verizon also said that the LTE will also be available in 62 airports.

While making the announcement, Verizon president Lowell McAdam had said that forthcoming handsets, and even tablets, on the 4G LTE network will be manufactured by "the top OEMs around the world."

Gadgets -Android Market Boasts More Than 200000 Apps

2010-12-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

Ever since Google’s 2008 launch of the Android Market, used for downloading Android-based applications and games, the Android developers community has been mushrooming. As a result, application programs or apps have been on the rise. And the market continues to grow at an alarming pace, adding new apps and games continuously.

Another interesting statistics provided by AndroLib is the number of apps downloaded. It shows that more than 2.5 billion apps have been downloaded in the Android Market. Also, for clarification, an app for Android includes live wallpapers, widget apps, soundboards, ringtones, and other similar applications.Only a few months back, Google’s estimate indicated that there are more than 100,000 available apps are. A few months later, AndroLib, a website that keeps track of the amount and types of apps in the Android Market, released a new figure. According to AndroLib’s latest statistics, the Android Market now boasts a little more than 200,000 apps. At this rate, market watchers are optimistic that in another few months the Android Market could cross the 250,000 mark.

Even though this growth is phenomenal, the Android Market has a long way to go in comparison to Apple’s App Store., according to Mashable, an online guide to social media. As per this site, the App Store now offers more than 300,000 apps.

A poll conducted by Mashable early this month indicates that Android is popular amongst its readers. In this poll, Android devices were most wanted, taking first place with 41.2 percent votes as compared to 30.6 percent for iOS.

Android , a mobile operating system was initially developed by Android, Inc., which was bought by Google in 2005. Android is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. Unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second and third quarters of 2010, with a third quarter market share of 43.6 percent.

Samsung expected to reveal Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Tab 2 at CES

2010-12-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

Now that we know Motorola will unveil their Honeycomb tablet at CES, it appears that Samsung will rush out a competing product to try and keep pace in the tablet wars. We have heard little about Samsung’s CES plans, but a report from the Korea Times thinks that Samsung will reveal updated versions of their best-selling Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab products.

It was recently reported that Samsung placed a sizeable order with NVIDIA for their Tegra 2 and we expect to find the dual-core processor in their next wave of products. Google chose Tegra 2 as the lead platform for Honeycomb, so Samsung had little choice when it came to CPU choice if they wanted to keep up with Motorola and their hometown competitor LG.

When we first got our hands on the Galaxy Tab I said it was easily the best Android tablet, but I warned our readers about signing a two-year contract for one since we knew that Samsung was already working on a Honeycomb tablet. The same thing was also said about the Nexus S – it’s the best Android phone available right now, but much faster dual-core models are coming out early next year.

Several sources have said that Samsung was testing dual-core phones, but we have yet to hear any detailed reports about their Honeycomb tablet. We only have one more week to go until CES, so we will find out if there is any truth to the rumors soon.

Apple expected to hold event by Valentine's Day to announce Verizon iPhone

2010-12-29T17:53:00.000-08:00

Apple is expected to hold an event "very soon," perhaps by Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, 2011, to unveil a new CDMA version of the iPhone compatible with U.S. carrier Verizon's network.

In a report issued Wednesday evening by Bloomberg Businessweek, the alleged coming debut of the iPhone on Verizon is portrayed as an "enormous problem" for AT&T, the current exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. While AT&T has had sole access to the iPhone since 2007, problems with its network have caused bad press, including a recent reader poll from Consumer Reports ranking AT&T the worst carrier in America.

"Verizon enjoys a reputation for reliability," author Peter Burrows wrote. "AT&T is notorious for dropping calls, especially in densely populated places like New York and San Francisco where iPhones are most common and cell towers get loaded."

The report said that Apple would hold one of its own "splashy product introductions to announce a new version of the iPhone that work's on Verizon's network," and said that event would "maybe" come by Valentine's Day.

Some have speculated that Apple would instead allow Verizon to announce the product at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, an uncharacteristic move for the typically controlling iPhone maker. But the report specifically stated that a CES unveiling is not in the plans.

"Apple's introduction of an iPhone for use on Verizon's network will come sometime after the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, according to a person familiar with Apple's plans who is not authorized to discuss them publicly," Burrows wrote.

~Apple Insider~

Bad gifts may be history with Amazon's idea

2010-12-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO

For some, it's the red reindeer Christmas sweater. For others, it's the diamond-encrusted dreidel. Whatever your worst gift nightmare might be, Amazon may soon give you a reason to cheer.

The online retail behemoth that's the source of many presents -- may they be good, bad or ugly -- has patented a system that would let people exchange unwanted gifts for those they actually want. They could do this before they actually receive the gift.

Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. recently patented a "system and method for converting gifts" on its website. It took nearly five years; the company had applied in March of 2006.

For now, though, it's just a patent. So until Amazon figures out how to implement it, you may be stuck with that itchy sweater.

No 4G for DROID XOOM, Motorola's Honeycomb Tablet

2010-12-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

Billionaire Paul Allen Restarts Patent Lawsuit Against Facebook, Google, Apple

2010-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

Paul Allen, co-founder ofMicrosoft, relaunched a lawsuit against Facebook,Google , and Apple , saying the companies are illegally using technology owned by Interval Licensing, a company set up by Allen in 1992.

The patent suit was originally filed in federal court in Seattle this past August but dismissed.Interval is requesting compensation for damages and a ban on products using the disputed patents.Allen claims that Interval was crucial to the development of technology used to develop the Internet in the 1990s, and owns 300 patents. It is four of those patents, those related to how data on the web is sorted and presented, that Allen claims are being infringed upon.

~Forbes.com

USA Today: Three versions of new iPad in the works for 2011

2010-12-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

With the Consumer Electronics Show right around the corner, new rumors have surfaced surrounding a new iPad from Apple.

Taiwanese news site DigiTimes reports, citing "industry sources," that Apple plans on releasing three versions of the next-generation iPad, and will start production as early as next month.

According to the report, the models will utilize Wi-Fi as well as UMTS and CDMA cell phone technologies. The screen will also feature "anti-smudge and anti-reflective treatments in order to compete against Kindle and attract more consumers," reads the DigiTimes piece.Earlier this month, Reuters reported the new iPad will include front- and rear-facing cameras.

By Brett Molina

The Rise of Apps, iPad and Android

2010-12-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal- In 2010, the computer truly went mobile.

Sure, users of Apple Inc.'s iPhone have had the Web in their hands since 2007. But this past year, smartphones plunged into the mainstream, giving millions of people the ability to browse the Internet, watch movies and stream music anywhere they could maintain a cellular or Wi-Fi connection—and without having to find a place to sit down and boot up a laptop.

There were 81 million smartphones sold world-wide in the third quarter, the analysts at Gartner say, almost twice as many as a year earlier. They accounted for nearly one in five mobile phones sold that quarter. The chiefs of Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. think smartphones could account for nearly three of every four phones sold by the middle of the decade.

Bloomberg: Apple sued over data given by iPad, iPhone

2010-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the lawsuit was filed on Dec. 23 in federal court San Jose, Calif.The suit claims that the devices are telling advertisers what software is being downloaded and how much it is being used as well as a users' location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.

Dungeon Defenders Available Now For Android!

2010-12-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

Combining the depth of strategic gaming with the satisfying action of RPG character building, in a beautifully stylized ‘toon fantasy setting, Dungeon Defenders is designed to be a distinctly addictive, easy-to-play experience for casual and hardcore gamers alike!

Check it out! Dungeon Defenders

HTC Thunderbolt 4G Site Is Live

2010-12-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

The landing page for the HTC Thunderbolt 4G is now up and running. There isn't much to it but it leads me to believe that this will be Verizon's first 4G phone. You can sign up here.