We’re on Instagram and we’re celebrating by giving away an iTunes Gift card!

GUYS! Have you heard about this rad thing Instagram? It’s awesome and it has ALL the pretty pictures! And we’re on it!

To celebrate, we’re giving away an iTunes gift card worth TWENTY WHOLE CLAMS!! That’s $20 for those of you playing at home. Simply follow us on Instagram between now and February 25th and you’ll be in the running!

We’ll pick a name out of a hat and send the winner a DM to confirm where to send their prize! (DM means Direct Message. We may have just learnt this.)

We promise to fill our Instagram with so many awesome pictures it’ll be amazing, we swear. We’ll also be running lots of competitions like this, AND we’ll pretty regularly be offering extra CASH coupons to use on top of your quote if you sell us your iPhone!

Get thee to our Instagram!

Apple planning original TV series with WHO?!

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD

Said a bunch of people, today, upon hearing the news that Apple appears to be planning on creating an original TV series, and that – wait for it – DR DRE is working on it with them.

Whaaaat. We know, right? Crazy town.

According to those who may or may not be in the know, the show is currently titles ‘Vital Signs’ and will be offered through Apple TV. This person also made to sure to let everyone know that they were not authorized to be speaking about the subject because it was private.  Well, Duh dummy.

Dr Dre has done pretty well recently, joining Apple after it acquired Beats Music for $3 billion in 2014, and producing the well received 2015 film  ‘Straight Outta Compton’.

Apple declined to comment on the project, and no-one anywhere was surprised.

Would you watch an Apple original TV series co-created by Dr Dre?

iPhone Tip of the Week!

Do you keep or have your iPhone on vibrate? Does it annoy you if you’re sitting in a meeting/movie/date/class/whatever and your iPhone vibrates – but it could be anyone or anything sending you vibes?

Did you know you can customize your vibrations? TA DA! Now you do.

Go to Settings >  Sounds.

Scroll down to where it says Sounds and Vibration Patterns

Select the alert you’d like to change (ringtone, text, voicemail, etc.).

Scroll up  until you see the word vibration and select it.

Scroll down until you see the word Custom.

Tap Create New Vibration.

CREATE NEW VIBRATION! BAM!

Hit Stop, play it to see what it feels like, then save that ish!

Now you can use it for whatever alert you want, or create a new one for every kind of alert!

You can also change the type of vibration for specific people by choosing their name in contacts, going to Edit, scrolling down to Vibration, and choosing your custom pattern. OR you can create a vibration specially for them right in the edit section.

BAM VIBRATIONS FOR EVERYONE!

Deals of the Week Thursday!

Hi Guys! It’s deals time! Just in time for Valentines day! Your one true love ( or that girl/guy you’re kinda dating?) would love some more pretty tech in their life, right? Right! If not, you do know V-day is the best day for self-love presents. We’re always being told how important it is to love yourself! Do it with deals!

Here’s what we got, lovebirds.

*Get a 8GB Amazon Fire 7″ Wi-Fi Tablet this week from, well, pretty much anywhere at cut price! You’re looking at $39.95 from Amazon, Staples or Best Buy.

*Do you or your loved one bring your work to bed with you sometimes? Or just, not make it out of bed and the work comes and piles on top of you like a giant less cute pile of puppies? This is for you! Multifunctional Laptop Table Stand with Built-In Cooling Fan and LED Light from Groupon, for $29.99.

*Best Buy has $100 in Microsoft Xbox Gift Cards on sale for $81 with free shipping or in-store pickup! Here’s what you do: Click here. Add 3-Pack $15 Xbox Gift Cards with a $5 Bonus gift card to cart, but then change the quantity to 2x in cart. A Buy One Get One 20% Off discount will be automatically applied in cart, and the final price for $100 total in Xbox Gift Cards will be $81. BAM.

*Amazon has Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (Kindle Edition) for $14.99. KABLOOMY GET IN MY KINDLE!

*Is learning romantic? Some say yes! Udemy is taking 75% off select courses with Coupon Code: “SPECIALOFFER75” You can also get up to 95% off over 30,000 Courses for only $15.00 each with Coupon Code: “GOALS015″Both of these expire soon, so get in quick smartypants!

*eBay is having a Presidents day sale! Get up to 70% off popular electronics, computer components and more WITH free Shipping. Get thee over there to check them out! They’re very good.

*Get a Straight Talk Apple iPhone 5S 16GB 4G LTE Prepaid Smartphone for just $199. Locked to Straight Talk, it’s a cell phone using minutes and data that are paid for in advance.

*Got some documents to shred before  V-Day, huh?  Check this out! Staples has the InfoGuard 10-Sheet Micro-Cut Document Shredder on sale for $17.50! This baby is normally $129.99! But, price is valid in-store at participating locations only… To check availability at your local store, use Brickseek Inventory Checker, and enter item # 1541822 along with your zip code.

*B&H Photo Video has 6″ Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Touch Wi-Fi E-Reader Tablet for $99.99 and free shipping. Get it here! 

*BuyDig has an Emson Star Wars Darth Vader Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier for $48.90 and free shipping with Coupon Code: “SW05”. Usually $60, so this is a pretty good deal, and it’s a Darth Vader Humidifier, so, yeah. Expires soon.

* Finally, for those looking for a deal on a romantic dinner – we got you! Sign up here for a coupon for one free Double Jack™ or Jumbo Jack® at participating Jack in the Box® locations!

But get in quick, because it all ends when 1,000,000 coupons have been distributed or by 2/15/2016 at 11:59 pm PST. Offer will not be valid for Jack in the Box, Inc employees. You’ll get your coupon within 48 hours of signing up.

Merry Valentines Day Shopping you guys! Don’t forget to love yourself!

Future Tech Of The Week! WOLO Life Clock

You know how looking at the clock can keep you on track with your day and your goals? Well, take that idea, and times it by a thousand. Introducing the WOLO Life clock.

A visual timer that shows you how much time you have left to live.

Time management is key to living life to the fullest, as is prioritizing what you do with your time on earth, and using it wisely. WOLO Life clock helps you do just that, and we’re all about it. We understand how time can pass without understanding that those seconds never come back.

Simply key in your date of birth and country of origin, and the Importance Tab on the WOLO Life Reminder will start to run – counting down your life in seconds.

As well as the importance tab, you have the Urgency Tab  which counts down to 3 important days chose by you.

The WOLO Life Clock is a Kickstarter campaign that raised $30,275 of their $30,000 goal with the help of 118 backers. Check out their Kickstarter campaign here! 

iPhone 7 rumors

iPhone 7! Or, as we like to think it might be – iPhone 6se (iPhone sixy)! Due to be revealed and released around September this year, the new iPhone already has mouths and minds swirling about what new features we could be getting. New features are the best aren’t they? New technology for all!

Apparently, the iPhone 7 will be similar in look to the iPhone 6 and 6S models. The rear camera is said to be flush however, not protruding thanks to a thinner camera module, and the 7 Plus will apparently have a rear dual lens camera.

There will also purportedly be no Antenna bands across the rear of the new iPhone.

No line of sight teleportation rumors yet, though. Dammit.

Future Tech of the Week! Wiivv

This week’s future tech of the week is one to help you #keepgoing! Are you a runner? If you are, you’re going to want to check these babies out, because, well, they’re awesome. Introducing Base by Wiivv.

A customized 3D printed insole with beautiful and durable design and foot digitization captured via smart phone.

Base by Wiivv has raised $105,957 of a $50,000 goal on Kickstarter with 17 days to go, and is exactly what you need to maximize comfort, promote alignment and lessen fatigue.

To customize your pair of insoles , all you need is 5 minutes and a smartphone. BAM!  2D images are taken through the Wiivv smartphone app, verified by an expert and processed to produce a 3D-printable file for a pair of insoles to perfectly fit you.

Some key science-type facts, straight from the source:

“In a kinematic analysis done by a 3rd party, BASE custom insoles have been found to significantly reduce joint loading in the knee and hip – which translates into reduced injuries and increased performance in athletic activities. They give you more control through your full range of motion and help spread the impact force of walking and running activities to areas best suited for absorption.
Our specially designed heel cup delivers optimum stability, shock absorption and comfort. The “hole in the heel cup” design was created in collaboration with pedorthic experts to reduce heel raise. Reduced heel raise is a key feature that allows users of BASE insoles to keep the built-in or removable insoles of their current footwear. The ¾ shell delivers biomechanical neutrality, lessens pressure on the forefoot, and offers better stability.”

Sounds like we should be running to get some before they’re all insoled out…

…We’ll be here all week…

Check out Base by Wiivv here, or check out their campaign on Kickstarter here. 

Apple Earnings call details

Today was the day when Apple held their earnings call, detailing the financial results of the first fiscal quarter of 2016 – which is actually, just to confuse you, the fourth calendar quarter of 2015.

So how have Apple been going? Plugging along quietly? Well, you might have guessed it, because they seem to be pretty good at it – it was record breaking.

For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $75.9 billion and a net quarterly profit of $18.4 billion.

Just a drop in the bucket, really.

Interestingly enough, international sales accounted for 66 percent of revenue. And just to put the cherry on top of the very expensive pie,  Apple currently holds $215.7 billion in cash and marketable securities, partially offset by $53.2 billion in long-term debt.

Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Apple sold (again, a record)  74.8 million iPhones during the quarter, Mac sales were down slightly to 5.3 million units sold from 5.5 million units in the year-ago quarter, and iPad sales were also down with a measly 16.1 million (from 21.4 million).

From the Sauce, CEO Tim Cook:

 
“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV, the growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”

Skype Bringing Group Video Calling to mobile!

Did you know that Skype free video calling is 10 years old? But… but how can the future be so old? Weren’t we just dreaming about video phone calls? Weren’t we just watching a Jetsons epsiode about that? Are we that old?

Yes. Yes we are. But there’s good news too! To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of said video calling, Skype has announced that they are bringing group video calling capabilities to mobile devices!! For free! WHAT.

Yump, coming soon to an iPhone near you – all your friends faces!! Who’s up for a group Skype to celebrate? Wherever you are, go to the fanciest place you know and let’s internet party! Long Distance Party Time! (LDPT for short, obviously).

We’ll have to pick a time and date in a little bit, because Skype is rolling out the feature over the next couple of weeks. If you want early access (you do) you can register here with your email address and Skype user name.

Watch the announcement below!

App Store Booming

The 2015 Holiday season was good for Apple in a few ways, one of them being that it was the biggest ever for the App Store. How big is big, you ask? Well, big happens to be $1.1 billion spent on Apps and in-app purchases over a 2 week period ending January 3rd.

That’s big.

On New Years day alone, customers spent over $144 million dollars.

From the Sauce,  Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller;

“The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone.

We’re grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can’t wait for what’s to come in 2016.”

Apple said it has now created over 1.4 million jobs attributable to app development and non-IT jobs supported by the app ecosystem.

Apps, huh. Who knew?