Marcel Brown

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Apple released the iPhone 5 on September 21st. As with any iPhone release, there is a lot of excitement and hype surrounding the latest release from Apple. To this point, the iPhone 5 is smashing sales records. So is the iPhone 5 right for you?

The iPhone 5 has several minor and a few major changes from the previous model, the iPhone 4S:

• Overall, almost everything in the new iPhone is faster than the previous generation iPhones. If you have a iPhone 4 or older phone, you will immediately notice the difference. iPhone 4S users will not notice as big of a change, but it will feel snappier overall.
• There are incremental improvements to the cameras and battery life. Apple has also included their new “EarPod” headphones, which are much more comfortable than previous Apple headphones.
• The iPhone 5 is a full ounce lighter than the iPhone 4s. This may not seem like a lot, but it is definitely noticeable. When you first pick up an iPhone 5, you may think you’ve picked up a cardboard mock-up!
• The iPhone 5 is the first iPhone to include 4G LTE data networking. LTE is the fastest 4G cellular networking available on the market, and in areas that have 4G LTE availability, it can make a big difference in data speeds for your phone. But note that not all areas have extensive 4G LTE and it varies from carrier to carrier. This is true with all phones from any manufacturer, but I thought it was worth mentioning here.
• The most noticeable difference with the iPhone 5 is the larger screen. Instead of just making a larger screen overall, Apple chose to keep the same width while increasing the height. Apple claims that by keeping the width the same, they keep the phone manageable in the hand.
• There are also many improvements in the iPhone 5 that are attributable to the new iOS 6 operating system. However, many of those improvements are also available to prior iPhones. In fact, virtually every new feature that iOS 6 brings to the iPhone 5 is available to the iPhone 4S. However, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, while capable of upgrading to iOS 6, do not get all the new features.

So what is the bottom line? Should you purchase an iPhone 5?

• If you own an iPhone and have an upgrade available to you, the iPhone 5 is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.
• If you own an iPhone 4S the answer comes down to cost, as most iPhone 4S owners do not have an upgrade available. If having LTE speeds is very important to you and/or the increased screen size really interests you, then you must decide if the full price of an iPhone is worth it. The good news is that you may be able to sell your iPhone 4S for a price that will help pay much of the cost of a new iPhone 5.
• BlackBerry owners who have been holding on should definitely switch to an iPhone now. The BlackBerry platform is all but dead. It’s time to let go and move on.
• Owners of Android or Windows phones who are not satisfied and looking to upgrade to an iPhone have no reason to wait any longer. The iPhone 5 compares favorably against any current Android or Windows phone, and with the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Windows 8 phones, it  would be wise to let that platform prove itself before committing.

Make sure you read this article in its entirety and view the videos I link to. This technology has huge promise and you should all be aware of it now. Imagine being able to control your computer by waving your hands and fingers out in front of your computer screen. Sounds like something out of the movies, doesn’t it? Until now, that was true. But starting early next year, a company is promising to ship a device that will do exactly that.

“The Leap” by the company Leap Motion, is a 3D motion sensing device about the size of flash drive that plugs into nearly any computer with a USB port. Once connected, The Leap will allow a user to control their computer using motions of their hands and fingers. The Leap is sensitive enough to detect individual fingers and track movements down to 1/100th of a millimeter. But words don’t really do The Leap justice. It needs to be seen to be fully understood. Luckily, Leap Motion has a nice introductory video that does just that. Plus I also found another demo video that shows The Leap in action.

So take a look and let me know what you think. How do you think you’d make use of The Leap?

The iPad is becoming an increasingly popular device to give presentations with. When combined with the small, lightweight Apple TV plus an HDTV, the iPad is an excellent tool for Powerpoint or Keynote presentations. By wirelessly transmitting the presentation from the iPad to the Apple TV, it simplifies the setup of a presentation as compared to using laptop. However, most venues still make use of projectors and most projectors use the analog VGA connector rather than the HDMI connector that the Apple TV uses to connect to an HDTV. That has limited the ability of many people to use their iPads for presentations. However, now a new inexpensive adapter allows the use of the Apple TV with standard projectors.

The Kanex ATV Pro is an HDMI to VGA adpater designed to allow the Apple TV (or any device with an HDMI port) to connect to a projector (or any device with a VGA port). The device is extremely simple. It requires no external power adapter, software, or configuration. By using the Kanex ATV Pro, the Apple TV can connect to virtually any projector. Through the use of AirPlay technology, the iPad – or iPhones or newer Macs running the new 10.8 Mountain Lion operating system – can wirelessly transmit presentations, photos, video and/or audio through to a projector. The need to have a laptop nearby the projector is eliminated. This could allow churches and other venues where the projector is mounted high on a ceiling to take advantage of iPad presentations.

If all that wasn’t good enough, the Kanex ATV Pro is only $59. Previous digital-to-analog adapters have been much more expensive. While the device is fairly new, reviews so far are favorable and the Kanex brand has generally marketed good products before. So if you have wished you could connect an Apple TV to a projector, this may be the device you have been wishing for.

Every so often I see a new technology product that makes me stop and take notice. This month’s Tech Toy is one of those products. It’s an idea that whose time has finally come and actually gives a tangible benefit to those who use it. Plus it is extremely simple to setup and use and it does most of the work for you. I really think this product is the first of its kind and we will soon see devices like this in almost every home. We’ve seen “smart” thermostats before, but you’ve not seen anything like the Nest Learning Thermostat.

Simply put, the Nest is a thermostat that learns your household’s lifestyle so that it can save you energy – and money. Additionally, the Nest uses wireless networking so that you can monitor or control your Nest and your home’s temperature from anywhere – whether you’re in just in another room or around the world. Finally, the Nest allows you to review your home’s energy usage so you can understand how to further optimize your energy usage.

The Nest learns your household’s lifestyle through the use of various sensors. Using this data, the Nest knows when you are not home and will not run your furnace or air conditioning when you are not there. Additionally the Nest learns your family’s schedule to proactively adjust energy usage. The idea is simple: if you are not home, there is no point in using energy to control the temperature. Note that there are settings for “away” and “safety” temperatures where the Nest will kick in to keep the house within a reasonable range while you are gone, so you don’t need to worry about your home going into extreme temperatures. Nest claims that 50% of your energy bill is controlled by your thermostat. And the EPA says that a properly programmed thermostat can cut 20% off your heating and cooling bill. Since the Nest can automatically learn your schedule and can automatically adjust when you’re not home, the Nest should be able to create significant savings for most homes.

Energy savings is the key feature of the Nest, but almost as important is the ability to remotely monitor and control your home’s temperature. We’ve seen thermostats before that allowed some level of remote control ability, but they were generally very expensive and complicated to setup and maintain. Because the Nest uses standard Wi-Fi to get networked, integration into your home’s network is easy. And combined with the use of the Nest apps for smartphone and tablets, remotely monitoring and controlling the Nest thermostat is just as easy. Imagine knowing what the temperature is at your home and being able to adjust your thermostat from anywhere in the world. Well stop imagining because the future is already here with the Nest!

Finally, if you are at all concerned about your home’s energy usage, you probably are interested in knowing exactly when your furnace or A/C is running. Previously, this information was almost impossible to get. But the Nest keeps track of exactly when your HVAC system is running. Using this information, you can see reports that detail exactly when your system was running, and cross-reference that with the weather report for your area during that time. For the energy geeks in us, this is highly useful information.

As I mentioned, I was so impressed with the Nest when I first found out about it, that I purchased one for my own use right away. Physical installation was as simple as replacing my existing thermostat with the Nest. With the detailed instructions provided, as well as the instructional videos available on-line, I think most people would be handy enough to install a Nest themselves. But if not, it should not cost very much for a professional to install a Nest. The setup of the Nest was very easy as well and I’ve been keeping track of the Nest’s operation for about two months now. The operation of the Nest is very simple and I am able to see exactly when our system is running. Since I bought it in spring, I will need to watch our bills during the summer to get a real estimate of how well the Nest is saving us money, but I already have a feeling that the Nest is making some difference, especially on those days when we are not home a lot.

When I first found out about the Nest earlier this year, it was still in early distribution and was only available to those who specifically requested one directly from the Nest company. Now the Nest is in full distribution and available online to anyone, but Nest just recently completed a deal with Lowe’s to carry them in their stores, so picking one up can be as simple as driving down to your local home improvement company. At $249, it may not be your father’s thermostat, but with the rising cost of energy, it is likely the Nest will pay for itself many times over.

If you have any questions about the Nest or any other technologies, please do not hesitate to contact me and I’ll be happy to offer my advice!