Give Us Some D: Tesla Unveils New Electric Vehicle

Give Us Some D: Tesla Unveils New Electric Vehicle

I have been a critic of all electric vehicles for a while now, but as a pretty big car fan, I feel that Tesla has the best vehicle yet to deliver this technology, albeit at quite a cost. The Tesla S turned heads when it was unveiled and finally shipped. I personally know two people with them that absolutely love them. However, both of them said that the drivetrain wasn't phenomenal for Michigan weather. Well, that is all about to change. Tis week, Elon Musk announced that all wheel drive will be available as an option on all Model S Trim options, as well as, wait for it, the top-end Model S P85D. Not a great name, but the specs of this new model speak for themselves.

The Car

The D is a phenomenal engineering marvel, in my opinion. Not only did Tesla figure out how to add all wheel drive, they were able to do this while extending the range by 25 miles, to 275. The Model D also boasts a 3.2 second 0-60 time, which is the same as the McLaren F1, the fastest production car ever made. There is, however, something that comes in this car that goes beyond performance and looks. Technology.

The Technology

Every Model S sold now comes with some amazing technology. The car has the ability to park itself without a driver in it, it can avoid danger on roadways, and, to some extent, can even drive itself. It can read speed limit signs, has adaptive cruise control, can stay in its lane, and, above all else, it can completely stop itself if a crash is imminent. The hardware that is put into place to do all of this is pretty great. The car boasts radar that can see through fog and snow, a camera that can recognize stop signs and stop lights, and 360-degree ultrasonic sonar. Musk even went on to say that if you fall asleep with driving, the car should be able to get you home and if you try to steer toward danger, the wheel will resist. That. Is. Awesome. According to Musk, the safety systems aren't reliable enough for the car to be fully autonomous. Also, there are no regulations in place for fully autonomous vehicles.How, before people get upset with me, I know that other manufacturers have been doing this for a while. However, other manufacturers don't boast a fully electric vehicle that can go 275 miles on a charge and do 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. According to Musk, the safety systems aren't reliable enough for the car to be fully autonomous. Also, there are no regulations in place for fully autonomous vehicles.

Conclusion

With Musk's goal of being able to get an electric car in consumers hands that is capable of going hundreds of miles for $35,000 on the line, I think the updated Model S is a welcome addition to his plan. The Model S P85D will be available in December for a mere $120,000 and I can't wait to see some D on the streets.

Tip of the hat,

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GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

The Product

I’m a tech nerd through and through. New technologies, new gear, new ideas, I love them all. I’m also a video production professional and love what I do. That is why I’m excited for GoPro’s new product line, but more excited for the lifestyle they just created.

On Monday, GoPro announced an entire new lineup of cameras. The new cameras come with twice the video resolution, increased frame rates, and some models even come with a built in LCD display. They’ve also raised the price on their highest end model by $100, to $499.

Specs and prices are well and good, but there’s something larger here. GoPro has figured out how to put technology that was $20,000 five years ago into a $500 unit. What’s more, they are creating a lifestyle. Yes. A lifestyle. Here’s why.

The Lifestyle

GoPro is in-between a product company and a social media company. They create a great product, with a good price point, and make it very easy to edit with included software and share on social media. They’ve also figured out how to get them everywhere. Whether it’s water-skiers, skydivers, wingsuiters, firemen, policemen, stunt pilots, or anyone else that has a need for a rugged, nearly indestructible camera, GoPro has figured out how to get it in peoples hands and get people to share what they shoot with their networks, which in turn gets more people to buy and share and on the cycle goes. Essentially, you pay them to be a spokesperson.

In all of this, though, it let’s people share who they are through video. Not photos, not status updates, but videos. As the world becomes more centralized and we all become part of this big thing called life and the world around us gets smaller and smaller, sharing ourselves will become more critical. When I meet people now, I already get told that they know me. Whether it’s through social media or friends, people now know you before they meet you, to some degree anyway. GoPro has created the share everything lifestyle, and it is going strong among almost everyone.  

I love my GoPro Cameras and have owned almost every version and will probably buy the new one. I will also probably share all of the videos I do across my social media, but that is the type of person I am. I tahink this lifestyle is cool, but I’ve been living this lifestyle since before social media and will probably continue this lifestyle well after all of this is gone.

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iPhone 6: A Week In Review

iPhone 6: A Week In Review

On Friday, September 29, Apple started selling the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. I was lucky enough to get one (64GB, Space Gray) and, after an entire week, have realized it is an amazing device. Although I will not go into great depth, I will hit on what matters most to the majority of users. Here is my review.

Design

To start, the design is flawless. The rounded sides, the sleek screen and front glass, and button shape and placement all come together to create a beautiful piece of art. It feels good in your hand and is easy to handle. The camera sticks out of the back just a little bit, but does not interfere with any use or storage of the phone.

Function

Fast. The iPhone 6 is stupid fast. Everything seems to have pep when you click it, move it, or just plain use the phone. It is amazing how much better the new processor is.  If you’re like me and have way too many email accounts or emails in general, the speed is a great thing when searching or scrolling through 100s of emails. It also comes in handy while trying to get through all of your photos or videos. There are no ‘burps’ when scrolling through anything.

Speaking of videos and photos, the camera is awesome. Yes, I know there are bigger cameras on phones and that there have been bigger cameras for years. However, Apple excels in internal components and doesn’t disappoint when it comes to photo and video processing. The photos are crisp and clean and the auto focus is just plain fast. The slo-mo feature works well and is fun to mess around with, although I haven’t found a real-world application for it yet.

iOS 8 is fast, blazing fast. Are you convinced on how fast this thing is yet? If not, let me assure you that it is fast. I like being able to use different keyboards and having a little more control over the entire experience as a whole. Messaging has changed significantly using the new fill-in feature, where the iPhone tries to figure out what you’re trying to say. The first few days of this feature where rough, but after a week, it’s starting to learn who I am and how I talk and is becoming more useful.

Another great feature of iOS 8 is the family sharing. With my wife and I using different devices at different times, it’s nice to be able to share purchases across devices, as well as calendars, photos, and videos.

The biggest feature of iOS 8 that I will use is Handoff, which won’t be fully available until OS X Yosemite gets released in October. This feature will allow you to push items from one iDevice to another, as well as from iDevice to computer. All of this will happen through iCloud, which I’m becoming a big fan of.

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iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus? It’s an Easy Decision.

Courtesy of The Verge

iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus? It’s an Easy Decision.

The day is upon in which you can pre-order the iPhone 6, hoping for delivery next week. As someone who will be ordering the phone either today, or in the very near future, I have spent countless hours over the past few days trying to decide which one to buy, and all of the options can be more confusing than a homeless man on house arrest. I am not a big fan of big phones, but the iPhone 6 Plus may be an option.

First, the basics. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7”, 1334x750 pixel Retina HD display, while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 1920x1080 pixel Retina HD display. iPhone 6 Plus comes with optical image stabilization in the camera, while the iPhone 6 does not. The iPhone 6 Plus also has a bigger battery and some software tweaks to help iOS handle the bigger screen. The iPhone 6 measures 5.44” tall, 2.64” wide, and is .27” thick. The iPhone 6 Plus measures 6.22” tall, 3.06” wide, and .28” thick. So beyond screen, camera, battery, and physical size, they are the same phone. I’ll come back to this later.

With the advent of massive data consumption, and our phones becoming more and more of an all-in-one device, you should start at 64GB. This will be the base for 99% of users. 32GB fills so fast, and 128GB is probably unnecessary. Moreover, to go to 64GB is only $100 more and I’d hate to see someone get three months into a two year contract and run out of space. Also, if you have AT&T, skip the AT&T Next plan. It’s expensive over the life of the phone, over double to cost to be exact, and the savings isn’t enough to make up for the extra cost.

So we know that 64GB is the way to go for everyone, so let’s get back to basics. Most of us don’t need optical image stabilization (OIS), as it helps with camera shake, but doesn’t help with making the subject look still, even if it’s moving. If most of your photos are low-light with a still subject, OIS would be a consideration for you, but I don’t know many people who do this. Next, a bigger battery may be nice for power users, but, again, for most of us the battery life in iPhone 6 would be just fine, as most of us charge the phone at night.

So, when it comes down to it, the only question you need to answer is: Can I deal with a bigger phone and all of the compromises that come with it? This is because the massive size of the iPhone 6 Plus will put you in a spot where it’s more of a phablet (phone and tablet combined, think Galaxy Note). I’ve had a Galaxy Note in hand and it’s pretty huge for my hands. It also doesn’t fit well in my pocket, so that is a big consideration. Moreover, many of us won’t find the larger size any more usable compared to the big phone. Believe it or not, the vast majority of people don’t watch movies or TV on our phones, which would be a big reason to have a big screen.

To recap: except for power users or users who just want the biggest and best, a 64GB iPhone 6 for $299 will be perfect for you.

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Apple Event Recap: September 9, 2014

Apple Event Recap: September 9, 2014

Disclaimer: I’m an Apple Fan Boy. I was born in 1985. My father opened the first Apple Specialist in Michigan in 1984. I’m more Apple than most. Any sensed biased is not on purpose. It just seems to happen. I firmly believe that Steve Jobs was one of the greatest people in history and that there is not a better tech company on this planet than Apple.

It’s here. The day we’ve (I’ve) been waiting for. It’s Apple Day. So let’s get started.

iPhones

Courtesy of Gizmodo

Tim Cook says this is the biggest advancement in iPhones since the debut.  They showed a really cool video. It was sexy and amazing. The new phones are called iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+. They have Retina HD Displays. They are stunning. The iPhone 6 will come in 4.7” and 6.9mm thick., while the iPhone 6+ will come in 5.5” and be 7.1mm thick. Both are HD.  There are two up displays for email and text, and when in landscape mode, you can have the dock on the right side of screen instead of the bottom.  There are also new gestures, which help with dealing with the new real estate. There is now a great scaler built in for apps to use all of the real estate of the screen without sacrificing quality.

A8 Chips have 64-bits of amazingness. It is also more efficient, by 50%, than the A7 chips in the iPhone 5s. The graphics are also beautiful. They are 84% better than the original iPhone. The demonstration by Big Evil Megacorp was very cool to watch.

Now battery life. It’s incredible compared to the iPhone 5s.  Up to 16 days of standby time, 80 hours of audio, 14 hours of video, and 24 hours of talk time (iPhone 6+). All of this is so much better than any other iPhone. The motion chip is great. It can keep track of what activities your doing and can even measure elevation changes, heart rate, and works with new apps to be more accurate. The iPhone 6 will also feature VoLTE (Voice Over LTE), WIFI calling, and a few other features that will be dependent on carriers. The WiFi calling switches seamlessly to LTE when you move away from the WiFi. That is slick.

Camera

The camera will feature an 8MP, 2.2 aperture lens with true tone flash and a new sensor. One cool feature is Focus Pixels, which is phase detection autofocus, which means a faster autofocus. Great news for the panoramic junky - up to 43MP panoramic photos and stitching is near seamless. The 6+ will have optical image stabilization and both will have 1080p at 60FPS with slo-mo up to 240FPS.

Order Details

Starts at $199 (6) and $299 (6+)

Available on September 19

Pre-order on September 12

iOS 8 on September 17^th

iPay

Apple wants to replace your wallet, one step at a time, and it’s called iPay. And it’s pretty cool. Cards are stored on the iPhone, the device uses a one time number to pay, and it’s that easy. Apple stated they were not in the business of collecting data, which means Apple has no idea what you’re paying for, which might be a good thing.  Most places that accept contactless payments will accept iPay. Many vendors and developers have already signed on. I believe this will be big very quickly. This feature is only compatible with the iPhone 6, 6+, and…iWatch

One more thing…

Courtesy of Engadget

The next chapter in Apple is…iWatch. It is a precise customizable time piece. It creastes new, intimate ways to connect and communicate. It is a health and fitness device. It a fully functional traditional crown, with a twist. It is digital. It senses your finger rotating around and reacts just as you’d suspect something from apple to react. It is amazing. The design is wonderful. The user experience seems great. As far as design goes, only this video will show you what it all really means. All I can say is flexible Retina display that can tell a touch from a press and wonderful interactions throughout.

The watch contains a Taptic engine, which does a lot. Mainly it will tap you on the wrist without anyone else knowing. It does this for anything that requires a response or anything that is an alert. The heartbeat sensor is on the underside of the watch and consists of LEDs and photodiodes. This, along with wifi, gps, and an accelerometer in your iPhone create a wonderful fitness tool. The S1 chip is a fully integrated computer chip and completely encapsulated to protect it. Charging it is simple with induction charger through magnets. This allows you to easily charge it overnight with no worries about open ports or misalignments.  They come in two sizes and 3 different models.  First you choose from either 38mm or 42mm case, then you can choose from iWatch, iWatch Sport, or iWatch Edition. The iWatch is stainless steel with ceramic back and sapphire crystal display, the iWatch Sport is aluminum with Ion-X glass and a composite back, and the iWatch Edition is 18kt Rose Gold with a ceramic back and sapphire crystal display. You can have custom watch faces, move things all over, and customize just about everything. The swipe might be crazy if you have big fingers, but the demonstration looked like it was flawless. Notifications are supposed to work without anyone knowing except you. That is cool. Siri is built in. iPhone is required to use.  All in all the iWatch seems very responsive and looks just like any Apple product should.

The Watch works with iPhone 5 and newer. It starts at $349 and will be released in early 2015. Apple Pay will work with iWatch.

Also to be noted, U2’s new album is free for all iTune subscribers until mid-October, so go and download it now. You can see the ad here.

So who will be upgrading and what watch will you buy?

Tipping the Hat,

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