It seems that toys are getting smarter nowadays playing with our gadgets simply because well the kids are more spoiled (I blame myself I have spoiled Lujain and my little cousins crazy with those Apple products) and so the toy industry is losing if they don’t join the techie crowd.
So, Mattel is coming up with this “Barbie Photo Fashion” a barbie that comes with an enormous LCD implanted in her abdomen and instead of purchasing a digital camera for the little ones they can shoot pictures with the lens that’s sticking out her back. The pictures can then be customized with frames and more making this really every little girls dream doll.
Seriously it’s Vampentines! No flowers, no candy, bah humbug! I’m the Scrooge of Valentine’s Day but I did get something awesome, smoking hot pictures :P
Damon Salvatore (a.k.a. ) wishing me a Happy Valentine’s day by telling me that he finds me ‘compelling’ seriously OH EM GEE! *Swoons*
But wait that’s not all….
OMG I just had to write this regardless of how when what where! I just had to!
I was just checking my Instagram feed and well I’m following my ultimate favorite guy, hell he’s my TV Husband #1 from “The Vampire Diaries” and I commented on a picture he put up there!
And guess what?
He replied!
He personally replied to only my comment and I went bonkers! I seriously did!!!! I can’t believe it!
Gosh I’m so excited! 2012 you are starting off on an excellent start! I love you already! And I love you Ian Somerhalder too!!!!
I just got some amazing news a few minutes ago from my friends at ! (They have become my friends their amazing Social Media Team is nothing but the friendliest, helpful bunch) Anyways this is the first you will ever hear about it and it is coming to you exclusively on Couch Avenue!!! [P.S. This is the best news ever!]
Anyways, will be launching the iPhone 4S very very soon and you can now it through their website. So hurry up and place your orders!
Note: Filling out the form will allow you to reserve your iPhone 4S, you can select the model you need and you will be able to pick up the phone after its release. Only one pre-order is permitted per phone number. All mobile numbers are accepted.
Thanks to Mohammed & the Social Media Team for giving me the exclusive!
What are you waiting for! Go go go go!!!!!
The main focus of the event was the , judging by the name of it “Let’s talk iPhone” however most of you out there will feel that this update lacked the hype that we were seeing the past few weeks in which everyone expected it to be the launch of the “iPhone 5” a redesigned iPhone. Let’s face it I thought the same as well but judging by the updates we’ve seen today it is still something good and not to be shunned away. I personally will be purchasing a brand new iPhone since I’ve been wanting a White one and the selling feature for me was the increased capacity (yes I eat capacity from my iPhone!)
Judging by the looks of it, the has the same outside design as the current iPhone 4 but it’s the inside that has change, after all beauty is within a person (or in this case device). It has the same retina display available in today’s device and the same glass on the back but let’s try to see what’s new.
So what’s new with the ?
- It has an A5 Chip which is up to 2 times faster than before, with dual-core graphics which are said to be 7 times faster than previous iPhone (Yay SPEED!)
- Battery life has improved to 8 hrs for 3G Talk time, 14 hrs for 2G Talk time, 6 hrs for 3G browsing, 9 hrs for Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hrs for Video, and 40 hrs for music. “Fantastic battery life.” (Let’s hope it actually performs that way!)
- It has a completely redesigned antenna system for the iPhone 4S making the device the first phone to intelligently switch between antennas for sending and receiving. It also supports both GSM & CDMA technology, and supports HSDPA download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, twice that of the iPhone 4. (Wooohooo Faster downloads!)
- It includes an all new camera with the most advanced optics of any phone. The 8 megapixel sensor has 60% more pixels so you can take amazing high quality photos with more detail than ever. It includes a new custom lens, a larger f/2.4 aperture and an advanced hybrid IR filter that produces sharper, brighter and more accurate images. It has backside illumination that gives you 73% more light. It’s faster too – one third quicker! There is a new image signal processor that Apple designed, enabling face detection and 26 % better balance.
- The camera is now fully capable of recording 1080p HD resolution videos with video image stabilization and temporal noise reduction.
- Airplay Mirroring is now available on the iPhone 4S and so amazing to watch yourself playing the game on a big screen TV wirelessly!
- Comes with iOS5 built-in.
- It comes with Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking it nicely. It is launching as a beta with support for English, French, and German, additional languages will be added later. Siri basically lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. Siri is so easy to use and does so much, you’ll keep finding more and more ways to use it.
And that is basically most of the new features of the brand new . You want to know how much it costs? Well the 16GB model is selling for $199, 32GB model is selling for $299, and the brand new [yes you heard it right] 64GB model is selilng for $399 (with a 2 year contract). The unlocked version prices should be available soon. It will be available for pre-order on October 7th with availability in retail stores and shipping date of October 14th in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.
The iPhone 4S will debut in an additional 22 countries by the end of October (October 28th). Those countries include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. []
And with that my friends I give you the “most amazing iPhone ever,” as stated by our new dear friend Tim Cook.
I was somewhat disappointed with the event with the lack of an updated redesigned iPhone 5 but at the same time I expected the iPhone 4S since Apple recently redesigned it so it was just too soon. So I will be getting a brand new one, a white 64GB model to add to my collection courtesy of an early birthday present from father dearest!
P.S. The iPhone 4 is now available in 8GB model for 99$ and the iPhone 3GS 8GB model for Free.
At the event we were introduced to the brand new which does not feature an updated form factor but instead it has interface changes to imrpove the navigation and they gave us 16 new clock faces to facilitate its use as a watch. Its fitness features have also improved with Nike+ compatibility out of the box with no requirement for additional accessories to track walks and runs. Let’s give it to you in bullet points shall we?
What’s new with the ?
- Larger icons for easier navigation
- 16 new clock faces including a range of designs from a Mickey Mouse watch to a classic digital and Roman numeral design
- Nike+ compatibility out of the box (no need for extra setup), capable of tracking distance traveled, pace, time and more out of the box
- Instead of a grid menu it is now a horizontal and you can swip to get through them.
The best thing about the ? It’s price is now reduced! The 8GB is available for $129 and the 16GB is available for $149. They are available from today in 7 colors for both capacities: silver, graphite, blue, green, orange, pink, and red. []
The next introduction was for the iPod touch one of the major updates was with the price reduction as well as the availability of the white model.
What’s new with the ?
- Ultra thin design
- Retina display
- FaceTime
- HD video recording
- Gyro
- iOS 5 and iCloud
Similar to the iPod nano, the price reduction makes this an awesome deal with the prices of $199 for 8GB model, $299 for 32GB model, and $399 for 64GB model. All sizes come in both black & white and they will be available for order on October 12th same date as the release of the iOS5. []
On this day we witnessed the updates that Apple has deigned to grace us with. The event marked the first event in which Tim Cook introduces new products and is the first event in which we did not see our beloved Steve Jobs. For this event I will be posting each update separately in different posts so as to not over crowd your eyes with talk here and there. So let’s give you a summary:
- Tim Cook took the stage and gave us the updates in regards to the retail store launch, there are now 357 total stores in 11 countries. He gave a walk through each of Apple’s four product areas: The Mac and Lion: 6 million copies of Lion sold so far up 80% of Snow Leopard and 23% year-over-year growth for Mac, 58 million users; Music: market share has been above 70% for a very long time and the iPod has 78% share right now with over 300 million iPods sold, and the iTunes Store has 20 million tracks with over 16 billion downloads; iPhone: 125% year-over-year growth, the iPhone 4 is responsible for over half of their total iPhone Sales ever #1 smartphone in the world; and finally iPad: has 75% market share in the US with high customer satisfaction rating and iPads showing up everywhere it is the #1 tablet in the world.
- Scott Forstall came on stage to talk about iOS5 highlighting the top ten features which were mentioned earlier this year. Before that we were given an overview of iOS being the #1 mobile operating system with 43% market share, Apple has paid out $3 billion to developers and sold 18 billion App Store downloads. Top ten features: Notification Center, iMessage, Reminders app, Twitter Integration, Newstand, Camera app, Game Center, Safari, Mail, PC-Free Setup. iOS5 will be available as a free download on October 12th.
- Cards, a new app released by apple that allows you to create your own greeting card on your phone and Apple will print your photo/design and mail it to them for 2.99$ mailed within the US and 4.99$ worldwide. The app is a free download available on October 12th.
- Eddy Cue came on stage to discuss iCloud highlighting its features: it is integrated right into apps, everything happens automatically, photo stream documents in the cloud, and the coolest thing is that daily backups of contacts and calendars across your devices are up in the cloud. Find my Friends is a new app in which you can share your location with a bunch of friends and stalk them. iTunes Match is the ability to scan and match your entire library to the iTunes Catalog, create and edit playlists, updated across devices for only 24.99$ per year. iCloud launches October 12th, iTunes Match at end of October in the US.
- Phil Schiller came on stage to talk about the iPods and introduces the new iPod Nano and iPod Touch. (Goodbye iPod Classic, you are as good as dead) [Link]
- iPhone 4S is introduced [Link]
- Scott Forstall on stage for a Siri demo.
- Phil Schiller back on stage to continue with the Siri demo.
- Tim Cook back on stage to wrap up.
And with that marks the end of the event.
[]
We are almost 2 hours away from the Apple “Let’s talk iPhone” event and I am getting excited hell I am sitting here anticipating a brand new baby to come out! My new child! Yaay! A new addition to my family it’s been a while since I last purchased an Apple product, last time was hmmm I believe April with my MacBook Pro!
Can’t wait! I’m counting the minutes! Be sure to come back later to see the post summarizing the event!
P.S. I am actually moments away from copying his pose!
Today was the day Amazon held their conference in which they announced their enhanced Kindle family. They did not remove their previous Kindles (otherwise known as the Kindle 3rd Generation) but instead changed their name to “Kindle Keyboard”. But that wasn’t all that happened at the conference. You see the e-book reader market is growing with competitors such as Barnes & Nobles Nook and Sony’s e-Reader that Amazon thought to step up their Kindle and make it even more awesome.
At the conference, they announced the new Kindle (for lack of a better word the one without the keyboard). The most awesome thing was that it’s their cheapest Kindle being priced at $79 a price that beats all the lower priced e-Book readers out there. The key features of this baby is that it is 30% lighter (at less than 6 ounces), has an 18% smaller body while maintaining the 6″ screen size, has the most advanced e-Ink display, built-in wifi (can get books in 60 seconds), and for a model without any special offers or ads all you have to sell out is $109. It has buttons on it but no keyboard which will make it a bit difficult to type on but as a reader it’s awesome. [I has jealousy and feels like I want this one to add to my collection]. The best thing here is that this model is ready for you to order and have it shipped out today. []
The next baby that was announced was the Kindle Touch which comes in a 3G model and a Wi-Fi version priced at $149 and $99 for each. The $99 version comes with ads and to get it without ads you’d have to pay $139 which is still a great price. The touch screen on this baby uses an infrared touch system which is similar to the latest Nook & Kobo and also has no physical keyboard. It’s slimmer, 11% smaller and 8% lighter than the existing 3rd generation Kindle with a muted silver chasis that looks nothing like today’s Kindles. It has the most advanced e-Ink display with multi-touch (better than the model above), and can hold up to 3,000 books. It has text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s; both models have built-in Wifi to get your books quickly. Unfortunately this model is available for US only and will be released on November 21st 2011, but if you’d like you can pre order it today. []
Battery life for both models mentioned above can go up to 2 months and I know it can go longer because I remember I purchased my 3rd generation Kindle last December and charged it once and it lasted for 2 months without draining much.
Finally, the piece de resistance (as they say in France) was the announcement of the uber sexy Kindle Fire (burn baby burn!) [Seriously I'm on fire for this thing I wants it!] This is a 7-inch device running an iPS panel with Gorilla Glass coating, has a 1GHz TI OMAP dual-core CPU, 512 MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a chasis that weighs 14.6 ounces. The real awesome thing is that the Kindle Fire is going for the price of $199 which is insanely awesome. With this device you can get access to up to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books. You also get the Amazon Appstore with thousands of popular apps and games. You get ultra-fast web browsing using the new “Amazon Silk”. All your data can be stored internally or via your free cloud storage with all your Amazon content. And if you’re an Amazon Prime member you can enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV Shows. This baby is a powerhorse I wouldn’t mind riding but as with the Kindle Touch this device will be available for the US only and will be released on November 15th 2011, but you can also pre-order it today. []
Now that all the geeky stuff is out of the way, the inner insane geek-aholic in me wants to grab all 3 devices whereas the broke me wants to just grab the Kindle Fire. Even if I do not use it faithfully (I know I am neglecting my Kindle baby) I still wants it! I guess this goes on my Birthday Wish List this year! YAY!
Next week, the iPhone extravaganza!
With the recent cable cutting and slow down of the Internet comes my beautiful exclusive article with , not to mention the crappy data cap that has been put on most of the Mobile Internet Devices provided by other Service Providers. Earlier in March I was invited to attend a private demonstration of one of the top-secret new devices that would be coming out in the near future, I was invited by Mr. Mohammed Al Muhaini, who is part of the Social Media Group along with some of his other colleagues. I felt all important and special to get a real life glimpse at this secret device which in all reality if it fell in my hands would be abused simply because I would be able to satisfy my heart’s worth with all the TV Shows and Movies I would love to watch.
What is this device you say?
Well you have all heard of the LTE Technology that is being used abroad in many countries such as the US & Japan, as well as some Middle Eastern countries I believe such as KSA. To state it scientifically, LTE is “a preliminary mobile communication standard, formally submitted as a candidate 4G system to ITU-T in late 2009, was approved into ITU (International Telecommunications Union, IMT-Advanced and expected to be finalized by 3GPP in early 2011.” () In short, it is a new form of technology similar to what we have today as EDGE/3G networks, well LTE is a variant of the 4G network. It was first proposed in Japan and ever since has been adopted as the international standards.
What does LTE mean to you?
With LTE the download speeds and upload speeds have surpassed anything and everything that a normal connection can give you it can go all the way up to 3.3 Gigabit peak download rates if not more however when it comes to the device that will soon be provided by it would probably reach the 100 Megabit connection if not a bit more.
How would LTE look like?
You know at right now how you can easily go out there and subscribe to any e-Go package from , WNet package from , or even the Internet from ? They provide you with a USB Dongle which you plug into your computer and allows you to access the Internet. Well the LTE technology is no different than that you will be given a similar device in which you plug it into your computer and experience the Internet as it should’ve been!
What did I do in my visit?
From the moment I got there, I hit it off with mostly everyone on the Social Media team, it helped that I was already sort of famously known as the Apple Guru (due to my insane obsession [see something good can always come out of it]) but that wasn’t the awesome thing. I was shown to one of the computers where an LTE connection was already there established and it was being used. I was told I could check out the download speeds for myself and well I did. I decided I wanted to check out the latest BluRay Rip release of a movie which was around let’s say 3GB in size and asked them to download it for me to see the speed of the device. For some reason it was a bit slower than usual in which it took close to 3-5 minutes to fully download 3GB movie. Whereas, previously a 3GB download would’ve taken all of 1 minute or so; it all depends probably on the traffic and because this device is not out in public yet there shouldn’t be that much traffic but once in a blue moon it happens.
What is my verdict?
I fell in love with this product and I told it to Mohammed and the guys, if you ever released that beautiful piece of technology rest assured I will be the first to grab me one (granted that the subscription rates are a bit decent and not insanely high) but I warn you I will actually abuse it to no return therefore consider this my warning. After they laughed with me on that topic we grabbed some screenshots and off I was back to my normal life.
Stepping into the land of Hi-speed internet is just awesome it makes me feel as if I am Alice and I’m in Wonderland I never want it to end but good things always end sometime. So that’s been my take on the LTE Technology that will soon be offerred by Zain.
Thanks to Mohammed & the Social Media Team for welcoming me into your humble home and showing me this awesome device, I highly appreciate it!
Note: The image provided above is not the picture of the actual device, I had forgotten my camera at home that day and forgotten to actually snap some shots other than the Screenshots I snapped.
a 28 year old Kuwaiti Gadget Freak who is obsessively in love with Apple Products so much that she probably has everything made by Apple. Currently she's being a lazy bum and putting off writing and everything else but when she does this is her space where she likes to vent and release everything, so welcome to it.
A blogger for the past 8 years and still loving it.