Gadget Tech Reviews

Upcoming Review…

Upcoming Review…

I was excited when I first saw this product at launch.  $25 a month unlimited 4G access for up to 8 iOS devices.  After all, I am currently paying $30 a month for unlimited 3G access for just my iPad through ATT.  They are already getting $30 a month for my unlimited iPhone data plan.  I was hoping to stop using my iPad data plan and use the iSpot service.  I was fortunate enough to purchase the iSpot for $30, which normally sells for $99.  The 70% discount was a promotion for early adopters when the product first launched.

You just bought a new iPhone 4 or upgraded the iOS to 4.xx.  You downloaded a bunch of apps  and try them out.  After using the iPhone for a few days, it begins to run slower and apps are beginning to crash – end abruptly.  It may be that you never actually closed any of the applications that you use.   That’s right, with the multitasking feature of the iOS, you now need to close out the apps that you opened once you are through using them.  Unless, it is one that you want to run in the background.  It may seem like a pain in the butt to do this, but once you get into a routine, its really no big deal.

Here is how to close out applications:

To see which applications you have open, press the “Home” button on the iPhone twice (2x) – see picture below:

After you press the “home” button twice, the opened applications will be displayed on the bottom of your iPhone – see picture below:

[Note:  up until this point, this is also how you switch between open applciations. Just touch the application in which you want to access]

To close out of an application, simply touch the app and hold for two seconds until the icon starts to shake, then touch the “minus sign” in the red circle – upper left corner of the app (similar to deleting an application – - DON’T WORRY – you are not deleting the app, just closing it.) – see picture below:  [Note: You may need to scroll horizontally to view all of your open applications.]

After you close your selected applications, press the “Home” button twice (2x) again to exit out of closing an applciation.

A neat little feature that is not well known for the iPad, iPhone & iPod is the capability to perform a “screen capture”.   It’s like taking a picture of what is currently on the screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod.
Simply press the “Home” button and “Sleep\Power button” at the same time. The screen will flash and make a sound of taking a picture. Voilà! That’s it! Now you can access the screen capture in your photo gallery.

Upcoming Review …

Rumors have begun about when Apple will release the next generation of the iPad.  There are reports that Apple will have the iPad 2 ready for release by the holiday season this year.  Although, many would like this to become a reality, it will most likely be announced in January 2011, with a release date by the end of 1st quarter 2011.   Apple recently caught up with the demand of the iPad, with orders now shipping within 24 hours of being placed from Apple.com.  Demand remains high and Apple is producing 2 million iPads per month and looking to increase this to 3 million per month.  Apple also just launched the “magical” device in China this month.  An annual refresh of the iPad would align with the annual refresh of the iPhone.  Look for a March or April 2011 iPad 2 release, which will most likely have included cameras for FaceTime, an updated display (perhaps retina), additional RAM and more.

Upcoming review …