Case Station selling rad cell phone cases for Breast cancer Awareness Month

Case Station has debuted 5 artist designed iPhone, Samsung and LG cases in an effort to bring Awareness and a Cure for Breast Cancer.

And… they’re really rad.

These are the type of phone cases that not only look amazing, but will invite others to comment – which is the whole point, because that’s the time you tell people that they’re designed to promote awareness of Breast Cancer.

Not only that, proceeds from every “Aware of Your Pair” case purchase will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

There’s 5 to choose from, and they run between $35 -$45 until the end of October.  Go grab yourself some! (No pun intended)

You can donate to Hurricane Matthew Victims via Apple

Hurricane Matthew made big news last week devastating a lot of the southeast coast of the US and Haiti.

If you want to help out the many people now in need of help, you can donate through the Apple US website, iTunes Store, and the App store.

All donations collected will go to the American Red Cross.

Donations will be processed as normal iTunes or App Store purchases through a user’s connected Apple ID.

From the Sauce, Tim Cook:

Our thoughts are with all those affected by #HurricaneMatthew. Support relief efforts by donating to @RedCross at https://t.co/2b9MLALy4L

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 10, 2016

Apple V Samsung in the Supreme court this week!

Today, Samsung and Apple take their legal battle over smartphone design similarities to the United States Supreme Court.

It’s kind of a big deal, guys. 

The supreme court will be deciding on how much of a combined $548 million patent infringement ruling Samsung will be required to pay Apple.

Kinda crazily, the case also marks the Supreme Court’s first examination of a design patent dispute in 120 years, “which cover the ornamental look of an object rather than any functional aspect.”

Apple’s design patents cover “the rounded corners of its phones, the rim that surrounds the front face and the grid of icons that users view.”

Last December, a federal court in San Jose ruled in Apple’s favor, and Samsung appealed days later in attempts to avoid the $548 million reward payment to Apple.

In Samsung’s appeal, the company gave the court a metaphor centering around owing a car’s entire profits to a rival company for infringing upon their cup holder design.

Samsung officially stops all sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7

Samsung has officially announced that it has asked its global partners to cease all sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 while it further investigates claims of ongoing safety issues with replacement devices.

This came about because a number of customers who were given ‘safe’ replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, caught on fire. 

These were devices  that were supposedly using batteries Samsung said were “not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire.”

Yikes.

A flight from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated when a Note 7 began smoking,  a 13-year-old girl in Minnesota received burns from a defective device while a man in Kentucky suffered from smoke inhalation after his Note 7 caught fire while he was asleep. Additional Samsung note 7 fires were reported in Virginia and Texas, as well as reports of fires from Taiwan and South Korea.

Danger Will Robinson.

Hence, sales will temporarily end worldwide.

This is the important bit –

According to Samsung, customers with an original Galaxy Note 7 or a replacement Galaxy Note 7 should shut down their devices and stop using them right away.

from the Sauce:

“We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place.

We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available.”

For customers in the United States who still have a Galaxy Note 7, all of the major carriers are now offering to replace the defective devices with another smartphone, such as an iPhone 7.

Um, win for Apple.

New Google Releases!

At its media event in San Francisco last week, Google announced a boatload of new Google products.

We’re talking Google Home and other products supported by their AI intelligence and 2 new smartphones called Pixel and Pixel XL.

There’s also the company’s new Chromecast Ultra streaming dongle, and a VR headset called Google Daydream.

Let’s begin with Google’s artificial intelligence platform, Google Assistant. It can perform tasks like playing music, performing search queries, and providing navigation directions, as well as carrying on a normal conversation with the user.

From the Sauce:

“When I look ahead at where computing is headed it’s clear to me that we are evolving from a mobile first to an AI first world,” Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, told the audience at the start of the presentation.
Ok, now the phones- Pixel is the first official device with its machine learning AI built directly into it.

We have 5-inch Pixel and 5.5 Inch Pixel XL. They come in two storage options: 32GB or 128 GB and both come with unlimited full-resolution photo and video storage via Google Photos.

Acpparently one of the biggest advantages of Pixel is that it has the highest DxO Mark camera rating (89) of any smartphone on the market. The 12.3 megapixel camera has a f/2.0 aperture and includes features like “Smartburst,” which intelligently selects the best image from a burst of images, while HDR+ lets the smartphone shoot images in bright and low light situations.

Both devices are built by HTC and powered by the Snapdragon 821 processor.  Both have a fingerprint sensor, hi-definition AMOLED Display, and all of the smartphone’s components are covered by a combination aluminum unibody and polished glass encasement.

Both models will be a Verizon exclusive in the United States, but will also be available unlocked for $649 from the Google Store. Each phone comes in “Very Silver,” “Quite Black,” and “Really Blue” colorways.

Next up! Google Daydream is a virtual reality headset – the evolution of Google Cardboard if you will.

 
Over fifty companies have partnered with Google and will bring VR experiences by the end of the year, including video games, video streaming apps like Hulu and Netflix, and even journalism publications.

It will ship in November for $79 and will come in one color at launch, “slate.” Later this year, “snow” and “crimson” options will be added. In the US, preorders for the headset start on Oct. 20th. They will be available in Canada, Germany, Australia and the UK in early November.

The Daydream View requires a smartphone to work. It currently only works with the Pixel, but the headset will be able to hold any phone that ends up supporting the Daydream platform in the future.

The company revealed Google Wi-Fi, which will bring support for the expansion of network throughput in a home with a modular system that users can place in each room that needs a signal boost. Google Wi-Fi is coming in December with a single pack for $129 and 3-pack for $299.

On the entertainment side of things, Google announced the Chromecast Ultra, which supports streaming of up to 4K video content, includes Ethernet support and is also 1.8 times faster than the previous Chromecast. It’ll be available in November for $69.

Thinking of upgrading to the iPhone 7? Read this!

Thinking about upgrading to the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus? We got you! Here’s the how’s and whys of upgrading.

Most people can’t take upgrading lightly– it can be expensive, time consuming, seem wasteful, and sometimes the improvements don’t seem large enough to really matter.

But here’s the thing about upgrading- take a minute and think about all the memories created with your iPhone, all the photos you’ve taken, text messages & emails sent and received, websites you’ve visited, games you’ve played, time you’ve wasted, time well spent, love & relationships built.

The effect mobile technology has on people’s lives is massive, and it’s all in that little shiny black (or rose gold) box. Additionally, the current iPhone release- the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus- both have very impressive features (more impressive on the iPhone 7 Plus).

They both feature a very nice camera, extra space for all the activities, new colors, water and dust resistance, the fastest iPhone with the longest battery life with the A10 Fusion chip, as well as a brighter screen and more colors.

For people that use their camera a lot and are not totally opposed to upgrading to a phablet, the iPhone 7 Plus is highly recommended. Especially if they haven’t upgraded in a while, the seemingly small hardware improvements combined with the software improvements of iOS 10 will seem like a surprisingly huge improvement.

If you’ve decided to upgrade, there are a number of options for upgrading. Give it to someone in your family, use it as an iPod, donate it to charity, or sell it to try and recoup some of the costs of upgrading.

What state is your current iPhone in? If it’s used, cracked, water damaged, beer damaged, or just plain smashed, selling it and upgrading to the new iPhone is one way to declutter and improve life.

The important priorities when selling an iPhone are trust, value, security and ease of transaction.

Before selling an iPhone, consider this: Is the business trustworthy? Are they known for giving the quoted values on their devices? Will the data be secure? Will this take more time than it’s worth?

1) Look for a company’s Better Business Bureau ratings. Read their customer reviews. Make sure that the quote won’t be revised due to unclear levels of damage.

2) We recommend avoiding using Craigslist unless meeting the buyer in a safe environment.

3) Put a dollar value on the old iPhone, and make sure to get it. More than that, aim to rave about the transaction.

4) Securely wipe the data from the iPhone before giving it to anyone or sending it to any company. Sign out of iCloud. Back up the iPhone. In Settings, choose “Erase All Content and Settings”. Erase.

5) Make sure that the time it takes to get a quote to sell the iPhone, mail it in a pre-paid box, and collect payment is worth the time it takes to get it paid.

If there is a way to sell the iPhone that meets all these requisites, go for it. Upgrade to the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

Why not? Upgrade tech, upgrade life.

How to plug a USB in right side up all the time everytime

You guys know what a USB drive is, right? It’s that thing, looks like some kind of a stick, you use it to store and transfer data?

You know, the thing that never plugs in the right way the first time?  Anytime?

We thought that was the case, too, until someone told us that actually, there was a trick. We’re not sure if it’s just us that didn’t know this secret trick and we think it might be a conspiracy on the level of why Mars Bars are different in different countries but no-one talks about it…

But just in case you don’t know the trick – here it is.

Go grab a USB. Look at the USB. On one side you’ll see two holes that look like open eyes.

Flip it over -on the other side, you’ll see two holes that looks like eyes, but they’re closed. That side’s sooooo sleepy.

Guess what? Plug those suckers in open eyes up every time, all the time. Open eyes up, sleepy closed eyes down.

Don’t worry about looking for the USB symbol, because it’s not always there, just look for the open eyes.

BadadaDAAAAA!

Ok, so let us know if you have a USB cable that this doesn’t work on, because it works on every single one we have at home and in the office, and we have a lot… but the world is never perfect.

Deals of the week!

Hi Guys!!

It’s Fall! That means a whole bunch of orange stuff and lotsa leaves, and pumpkin spiced stuff and spooky things…

More importantly – it means it’s deal season. 

We’re talking lots of tech releases, Black Friday, Christmas shopping, all the fancy tech shopping. We’re going to try to find you the best deals so that you can enjoy this time of year as much as we do! And all those Pumpkin spiced people out there.

Deal Number 1.

We’re not sure if you know or not, but we’re in the business of buying stinky old and broken iPhones. If you have one, sell it to us! We’ll send it to live happily on a farm and we’ll send you cash so that you can enjoy tech buying deal season! If you have a used, broken or water damaged iPhone sitting in your draw, use it to your advantage! Super awesome deal buying advantage. Get a quote here.  That includes you, office managers who wanna look good in time for bonus time. Make your boss happy! Send us an email at iPhoneantidote@iPhoneantidote.com if you have a bulk order.

Deal Number 2. 

StackSocial.com has VPN Unlimited Lifetime Subscription for $29.

License must be redeemed within 30 days of purchase, and it can be used on up to 5 devices simultaneously.

Deal Number 3. 

Newegg.com is offering an additional $25 off $200 or More when you checkout w/ MasterPass and apply promo code MPGAMER16.

Deal Number 4.

Amazon is releasing their  2nd Generation Amazon Echo Dot Wireless Bluetooth Information Hub on the 20th of October. The 2nd Gen looks pretty rad, and you can preorder now for only $49.99 with free Shipping. We would recommend looking at Google Home and the big guy Amazon Echo as well if you’re after some in-home AI, they’re at different price points but look at what your needs are and purchase accordingly.

Also – Buy 5 and get 1 FREE after Coupon Code: “DOT6PACK” or buy 10 and get 2 FREE after Coupon Code: “DOT12PACK”.

Deal Number 5.

Groupon has a Refurbished Vizio SmartCast 4K Ultra HD LED LCD Smart HDTV for a low $259.99  with free Shipping.

Check back for more in the coming weeks! Yay Fall Tech Deal Season!

Say Bye Bye Microsoft Band

Say bye bye Microsoft Band.

Introduced back in 2014, the Microsoft band is no longer. As of this week, Microsoft has removed all Microsoft Band models from the Microsoft Online Store and has eliminated the Band Software Development Kit.

From the Sauce:

“We have sold through our existing Band 2 inventory and have no plans to release another Band device this year. We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to invest in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS, and Android devices.”

A second Gen model was released in October of last year, but it failed to gain any momentum, and continually faced less than stellar reviews.We’re sorry you turned out to be the Betamax of big tech wearables Microsoft Band.

Google Home – The lowdown.

Google Home is coming at your faces!

So what is it and why might you want it?

Well, it’s Google’s version of the Amazon Echo, and according to them, it’s just like it, but better.

Obviously.

You use ‘Ok Google’ to activate the device, and it has a bunch of microphones so that it’s always listening for your voice commands. It can control smart home devices, play music through speakers in different rooms, and, well, do it’s whole Google thing. You know, the Google thing that works so well that it’s now verb as well as a noun? Yeah, that thing.

Google Home can also tap into other Google services, like Google Photos and Google Maps, and you can get a daily update on your events, reminders, traffic and weather from a feature called ‘My Day’ .

It will also work with Chromecast, and in the not too distant future, it will support Netflix.

The new AI device will be available on Nov. 4 for $129 from Google themselves and from big box retailers like Target and Walmart. It’ll come with a fancy  6-month trial for YouTube Red and will come in 6 different colored body cases. It’s also totally rad looking, although that may be subjective.