GizmoSapiens Show 85 - Windows Phone 7

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:30:17 -0400

Chris, Adam and James discuss Chris' experience in switching to a Nokia Lumia 900 for two LONG days. They span the gamut from mobile OS's to Mac OS X and Windows back to Mobile OS's.

We want to hear from you! Please send us feedback to gizmosapiens@gmail.com.

We are in the process of moving from our iWeb published site to our new typepad blog. Please be patient as we transition over the next 60 days.

-CC

GizmoSapiens Show 84 - iPad

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:43:56 -0400

Chris, Adam and James walk through the new iPad as well as other tablet related information including Windows 8.

We want to hear from you our listeners. Send us some feedback at gizmosapiens@gmail.com and we will be sure to read/play your feedback on the air.

See you on the digital flipside!!!!

GizmoSapiens Show 83 - Tablet Productivity

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:31:52 -0500

In this episode Adam, James, and Chris discuss tablets. We talk about Adam's new ginormous Samsung Galaxy Note Phablet. Chris poses the big question about data creation on tablets vs. content consumption.

We want to hear from you…please send an e-mail with text, audio or video comments to gizmosapiens@gmail.com.

See you on the digital flipside.

Mountain Lion

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:48:17 -0500

Today Apple announced the next version of OS X dubbed “Mountain Lion”. There are a lot of new features which I will go into detail later in this post.

Apple has broken tradition by letting the Press and Developers have almost simultaneous access to the preview release of Mountain Lion before WWDC as well as dropping “Mac” from the OS X name. So now we have OS X and iOS.

Most of the improvements in iOS 5 are making their way to OSX to give a unified user experience over all OS X and iOS devices and providing services that extend the functionality of all devices.

The first new feature is the inclusion of Messages. This iOS app that allows iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches to message each other via an SMS/MMS interface. Now your Mac can join in and Apple has already released the Beta of Messages for your Mac today.

Reminders - The Reminders app that is in iOS 5 is now part of Mountain Lion. You can search through your reminders, set due dates and receive alerts. This is similar in functionality of to-do lists in iCal but much more robust.

Notes - Now when you use the Notes app on your iOS device they'll appear on your desktop. You can pin notes to your desktop like stickies and you can also drag and drop images into notes. You can also send notes off via e-mail and other transport mechanisms.

Notification Center - The OS X version of Notifications is very much like the iOS version. It has a drop down menu with banner updates. Many people have been compared this to the functionality of Growl and very well could replace that functionality for OS X moving forward.

Gatekeeper - Gatekeeper is a simplified way for users to stop malware by not allowing the download or installation of software. Gatekeeper lets you assign one of three set download levels: anything, Mac App Store only, or programs from trusted developers plus everything in the App Store. If something is not allowed by the security level you set, it won’t install. This feature is for added security but I also think is a tip to Mac’s becoming more prevalent in the corporate environment and is similar to Group Policy for installation of software on Windows machines.

Share Sheets - If you are familiar with the arrow icon on your iPhone or iPad then you now will be able to do the same thing with OS X apps. Email notes, upload videos, and tweeting can all be done with this new functionality
.
Game Center - The same Game Center that you use on your iOS devices will now give you acces to the same leader boards and friend-finding like on your phone

AirPlay Mirroring - Another nod to adding functionality for users in the corporate world, Mountain Lion now has the ability to mirror your Mac’s computer screen to the television via the Apple TV. The mirroring functionality is limited to 720p HD video and stereo audio but gives a wireless video extender for a very low price. This will surely replace the expensive to maintain and power hungry LCD projector. The Apple website shows examples for this functionality with the desktop, Keynote (Powerpoint will work too), and iMovie all being mirrored.

Twitter - Tweeting is now native to OS X. Mountain Lion will let you tweet photos and links directly from iPhoto and Safari. You will get automatic notification for every mention or direct message. You will no longer need any third party Twitter software.
Apple says there are over 100 new features on the way for Mountain Lion with:
“Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch™ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.”
As Apple see the halo effect of the iPhone and iPad in corporate environments they have given both business and consumer users some very cool new features that as soon as I have a chance will try out with the developer preview.
-CC

GizmoSapiens Show 82 - January Jump

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:31:16 -0500

First Episode of the year!!!

We want to hear form you so please send us a message (any way you want via audio, e-mail, or video) to gizmosapiens@gmail.com.