Smartphone Users, By The Numbers

INFOGRAPHICS! YEAH! These things make everything fun to read what with the colors and the shapes and the little pointy arrows!

We give you the best fun of 2014 so far- Smartphone infographics!

YEAH!

This Infographic is produced by Coupon Audit (provides Converse promo code) and iPhoneAntidote – Sell Your Cracked iPhone

The fastest growing iOS game in History?

Black Friday deals

Yay!

Here’s a couple of excellent, techy, exciting, WONDERFUL  Black Friday deals for y’all  to look out for!

1,

Walmart will have the 16GB Apple iPad Mini + $100 Walmart Gift Card for $299.00.

Apparently they will have stock guaranteed for 1 hour BUT you can’t use the gift card on the mini. Walmart says they will price match but you must have the ad and the store must be open with their sales starting when you try.

Walmart, opens at 6 p.m on Thanksgiving day.

2,

Target  will have the iPad Air 16GB w/ WiFi + $100 Target Gift Card for $479.00 for Black Friday.

Target opens at 8 p.m on Thanksgiving day.

It also seems that both online and in-store shoppers get a 20% gift card if they spend at least $75 between Thanksgiving and end of business on Black Friday. The gift card can be used Dec. 1 to Dec. 7.

It’s almost here!

Image courtesy of CNN & somepets.com

The first guy to break his 5S

We just received our first iPhone 5S!  And it was, drumroll please:

Cracked!

Even though the guy at first was like:

We gave him $$$ CASHMONEY and turned that frown upside down!

Apparently, our lovely 5S customer was using his brand new shiny iPhone 5S in a crowded area, someone came running by and hit him in the shoulder and the shiny 5S went flying ever so prettily before smacking itself onto concrete. And there you have it- a cracked screen.

In his own words, just a bit of bad luck.

But good luck that he had heard of iPhone Antidote! Yay!

If you have an unlucky cracked or broken iPhone, or a stinky old used iPhone, go to iPhone Antidote right now!

We’ll give you CASHMONEY for those unlucky, stinky old iPhones and turn you from grumpy cat into happy, baller cat in one of the easiest, stress free transactions you’ll ever experience!

Images courtesy of Phonearena, Geeknation, Lol-cat & Pandawhale

All the cool teenagers have iphones

Are you a cool teenager? Do you have an iPhone? Well, uh, sorry, cos we’re sure this might not be what you want to hear and all…. but you’re now in the majority!

According to a survey administered by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, 55% of teenagers now use an iPhone. This is up compared to 48% in an April survey and 40% this time last year.

“Our most recent semi-annual Teen survey demonstrates that Apple remains the most popular tech brand amongst teens. As of Fall 2013, the iPhone represented nearly 55% all phones used by teens and the iPad family remained at close to 70% share of tablet ownership.

We believe that while Samsung seemingly had some momentum with teens over the past year, Apple’s brand and product quality has enabled it to remain the top choice for teen consumer electronics.”

Here’s the table of results straight from the sauce!

Mmmmm… sauce.

We mean… yay Apple! Way to keep ahead in one of the most important demographics!

And take THAT other smartphone companies for suggesting, like we know you have, that Apple products are for uncool parent type people!

Hey! Everyone’s cool in our books! As long as everyone accepts Bill Murray as their cool King. K? K.

Image courtesy of Rogerfields.com, foodnetwork.com & Imgur.

Got Denied Your Apple Warranty? It’s Class Action Lawsuit Time!

GUYS THIS IS LIKE RON BURGUNDY. KIND OF A BIG DEAL.

Image courtesy of askmen.com, squidoo.com, sonnyradio.com & vh1.com

Shenanigans!

Shenanigans!

Yes, we really like that word, but also, Samsung and others are totally participating in SHENANIGANS! And so we thought we should tell you about them. The SHENANIGANS!

The smart phone market is one wrought with lawsuits, competition edging on plain schoolyard bullying and lots and lot of money. Hence, the top competitors in the smartphone industry put a lot of work into making their product seem the best.

‘Seem’ being the operative word.  Sometimes, the competitors just wanna make sure it seem like their product is doing really well. Take Samsung, who recently have been caught artificially increasing the CPU speeds on it’s Galaxy Note 3 smart phone when benchmark apps are running. 

Benchmark apps are apps that measure the performance of your device and compare the scores with similar devices, in this case, other smartphones.

Ars Technica have found out that inside Samsung’s operating system on their smartphones sits a special little code. this little code identifies when benchmarking apps are being used, and in turn boosts CPU clock speeds and prevents CPU cores from entering low-power modes.

They’re big fakers, basically. In this specific case, anyway. Allegedly. And stuff.As a result of this special code, the Galaxy Note 3 benchmarks report CPU performance roughly 20 percent faster than most apps will experience on the device.

According to the guys at Ars:

“The difference is remarkable. In Geekbench’s multicore test, the Note 3’s benchmark mode gives the device a 20 percent boost over its “natural” score. With the benchmark boosting logic stripped away, the Note 3 drops down to LG G2 levels, which is where we initially expected the score to be given the identical SoCs. This big of a boost means that the Note 3 is not just messing with the CPU idle levels; significantly more oomph is unlocked when the device runs a benchmark”.

AND HERE”S THE BEST BIT:

According to Apple exec Phil Schiller via Twitter-

“shenanigans”.

Awesome.

Now… Anandtech has published evidence suggesting that nearly all mobile manufacturers, WITH THE EXCEPTION of Apple and Motorola, use CPU/GPU optimizations to game benchmark tests.

WHAAAAAA? IT’S ALL A LIE!

“With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we’ve worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. It’s possible that older Motorola devices might’ve done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. It’s a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung.”

Way to destroy our trust and beliefs everyone except Apple and Motorola. What else can we believe in if not technical benchmark data? At least we have Captain Halloween coming soon. Gosh we love Captain Halloween. You know, the guy.

You know the guy.

Image courtesy of gsmnation

How many people have upgraded to iOS 7?

iOS 7 has been out for just over two weeks and although there have been some bugs surrounding the software upgrade (hi iMessages and Mail), and despite some of the media beating up on it, the general consensus is that iOS 7 is a good thing.

With the help of the guys over at Mixpanel, we can track the the number of people who have upgraded their devices to iOS 7.

The number is currently sitting at just over 65% and is still rising, which is much greater than the uptake of iOS 6. Maybe those media beater upperers had a plan…

Anyway, Apple is fixing the bugs that came along with the release and millions of people using it, and a new version of iOS 7.0.3 is due next week.

Have you upgraded? Check out this link to see the status of how many people have upgraded their devices ( it’s updated by the hour).

https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/ios_7

Image courtesy of Cult Of Mac.

We might be able to do what on planes now?

There are three types of travelers in the world-

1, Those who turn their mobile devices off before they’re told to and place them neatly in their carry on bag with a smile.

2, Those who wait until the last minute to turn their devices off or (with a sneaky, guilty look) place them on airplane mode before ever so anxiously and reluctantly sliding them into their pocket.

AND

3, Those who smile as the flight attendant walks by, then checks their email whilst waiting to see when exactly during take off their phone will stop getting service, smiling calmly at anyone who looks in abject horror in their direction.

This, boys and girls, is because for, like, forever, everyone has had to turn off their phones and other devices capable of transmitting data during take-off and landing.

This is so that your device doesn’t interfere with the plane’s communication and navigation equipment.  These rules are, by all accounts, predominantly precautionary.

With the rise of portable devices and smartphone capabilities, there has been a similar rise in complaints from really busy business dudes and general everyday people that not being allowed to have their devices on is stupid and bad. Sometimes they even put it more eloquently.

Now some of the high up important people might have paid attention!

Smile! Because we might soon become one big happy flying family, friends! Except for the people who grab the top of your head from behind when they’re getting up or walking by. Or the people who steal your Apple juice AND blanket ( totally happened). God, those people. We’ll never be family.

Anyway.

By the end of next week, the FAA ( Federal Aviation Administration) will hear back from a panel of industry folk regarding the possible relaxation of the in-flight device rules. Um… AWESOME!

According to the FAA:

“The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft, that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions. . . . We will wait for the group to finish its work before we determine next steps.”

( Statement was made to USA Today)

Well, independent panel of dudes from the flight industry, we eagerly await your results and suggestions!!

By the way, how awesome is this photo on a scale from 1-100?

Images courtesy of designboom.com, thesavoia.com & smh.com.au

What to do if you water, wine or vodka damage your iPhone!

Hey guys. So we seem to have been referencing getting your beloved shiny iPhone wet recently. Tackling the hard to talk about stuff, as per usual…

We understand that it’s not funny when someone accidentally drops their phone into a pitcher of beer, or falls into a pool, or does something to a person that gets them so mad they revenge pee on their phone ( happened to a friend of a friend of ours…)

Well, no, scratch that. That stuff is really  funny, as long as it’s not your phone, and if it is your phone, you usually get your sense of humor back if, IF you can rescue your wet wet iPhone.

Here’s what you should do to try rescue that poor wet puppy!

1, Don’t freak out. Crying will just bring more wetness. Duh. Your phone needs you to be strong, just like your Grandfather when he used to, like, walk all day in the snow to get to work and stuff.

2,  If the phone is submerged, unsubmerge it. Dry the surfaces real quick.

3, If the phone is still on, turn it off ASAP. If it’s already off, don’t try and turn the phone on RESIST THE URGE! Trust us. If your iPhone refuses to respond to your touch and refuses to turn off, well… no you can probably cry a little bit.

4, From here, it kind of depends on what stores you have at your disposal. The easiest helpful drying ingredient most people can get their hands on is Rice.  Put some rice in a ziplock bag or tupperware container – anything airtight- and completely envelop the phone within.

5, Rice is a great option, but what’s better is Silica Gel. Silica Gel is the stuff that’s inside those little packets of stuff you get in Beef Jerkey bags.

You can buy these at craft stores ( It’s intended use here is for flower drying). Again, submerge your phone in an airtight container full of the sachet’s.

6, If you have a good hardware store nearby, you could try to get DampRid.Works the same as the Silica Gel. Again with the airtight container, submerge, etc.

7, Place the container/ziplock bag in a warm dry place.

8, DON’T TOUCH YOUR PHONE FOR 24 HOURS! Even if you think it might really be ok, and you’re expecting the most important text ever, leave it in there. We would actually recommend leaving the phone for a full 48 hours, but the minimum has to be 24 hours to give it the best chance of surviving.

Poor little fella.

If all of this fails, send him on over to us, we’ll give you some CASHMONEY and make a nice new home for him out here on the farm.  You can do this HERE. 

Image courtesy of gameconsoleworld.com, robotroom.com & countrylife.co.uk

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