The Chic Gadget

Olivia Palermo Tech Style

Kayla — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:47:29 +0000

Whether iPhone or BlackBerry, Olivia Palermo‘s bare phone always goes so well with her outfits. She also has some really great tech tips and products on her blog, OliviaPalermo.com.

iPad Mini 2 Specs & Release Date

Kayla — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:49:47 +0000

It’s always a sign that when major retailers reduce prices on a product, it is about to become obsolete. That’s what happened last week with the iPad Mini, whose success was not necessarily anticipated by Apple. That being said, they will be updating this budget tablet. As smaller tablets grow increasingly popular, Apple will continue to improve the iPad mini and make up for the non-retina disappointment of the original. Here is what we “know” so far on specs, look, and pricing, and release date:

Specs

The iPad Mini 2 will most likely have retina display, a sharp 2,048 x 1,536 pixels on the same size screen as the original iPad Mini (7.9 inches)…which is TWICE the amount of the original iPad mini. It may also get the same Apple A6X processor used in the iPad 4, but rumors of replacement A7X processor are also surfacing.

Look

This image was leaked in February 2013 from China–a cool possibilty for the iPad mini 2. The sky blue logo would coincide with Apple’s new addition of color with the new iPods and Nanos. Excitment over a new look aside, this leaked photo looks a little thicker than the original mini, but still very similar. It is believed by many speculators that the devices will look almost the same.

Release Date

Many sources point to October 2013 as an expected release date, but knowing Apple, it will come sometime in the winter before the holiday season.

Price

Prices are expected to stay around the $300 range if no manufacturing difficulties occur.

Online Store Is Open, Buy A Phone Case Now!

Kayla — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:30:30 +0000

Apple iGlass: The Glasses of The Future

Kayla — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:59:50 +0000

Apple was recently awarded US patent number 8212859, a patent for eyeglasses that will work like an iPad attached to the front of your face…….apps, video, images, information about what you’re looking at. Soon everyone will be walking around looking like they’re straight out of Star Trek. Help.

The patent, granted this year but going back to 2006, states “Peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays”, for “projecting a source image in a head-mounted display apparatus for a user” to deliver “an enhanced viewing experience” for the wearer. These glasses are said to be unlike Google’s Project Glass because the projectors would be located on the side of the glasses–not in the front–going into the glass and not the user’s eyes. Gizmodo reports, “Apple’s patent describes a method in which the image travels through a special glass to land directly into the user’s pupils. This, in theory, will provide with an illusion of total immersion.”

This is a technology that Apple may be working on and thinking about, but no prototype exists. Although there is a patent, it is unknown when or if Apple will go through with it and release this product.

If Apple iGlasses are executed, I have no doubt that they will be beautiful and of high quality, but they may just be a fun toy for us nerds at most. The hardest part about releasing a product like this is that consumers would have to change their behaviors in order to adopt the technology. We are in a period where smartphones are seperating us from our life experiences. We are glued to email, social networking, and apps. A great amount of resistance would come from American consumers who will not like the idea of looking through a screen all day instead of just looking at one.

The main barrier to adoption is that they don’t really provide any major benefit that smartphones can’t. Cool, yes, but necessary, absolutely not.

At this point in time, Apple just has the patent and Google has some test hardware available. We may not have to worry about adoption for a while. What do you think? Would you buy a pair of Apple iGlasses or Google’s Project Glass?

Celebrities With An iPhone 5

Kayla — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:53:07 +0000

Fashion tech street style inspiration from Kenall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Petra Ecclestone, Ashley Tisdale, Eva Longoria, Bella Thorne, and Lucy Hale

Demi Lovato’s Phone

Kayla — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:31:23 +0000

Just wanted to get some style & gadget inspiration from Demi Lovato on the site for all the Lovatics out there! I love Demi’s style…and her hair always looks so great. She has both a BlackBerry Bold and an iPhone, but they both go so well with her outfits.

BlackBerry 10 Is Here

Kayla — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:56:04 +0000

This morning, RIM renamed their company and introduced two new phones. The Z10 (left) and Q10 (right) are the company’s comeback devices that prove to be desirable. The big question now is whether this will save BlackBerry with their loyal customer base and corporate backing.

Here are the details on the two new devices–both will run BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Z10:

All touchscreen
Release date sometime in March
BlackBerry 10 Operating System
4.2 in display & 1280 x 768 resolution (better than iPhone 5)
16GB of storage, MicroSD slot for extra storage
2GB RAM & 1.5GHz processor
NFC (for mobile wallet, bump-sharing, etc)
8 megapixel camera in rear, 2 megapixel camera on front
4G LTE
Rumored to be priced around $199 with 2-yr contract

Q10:

Full QWERTY Keyboard & Small touchscreen
Release date sometime in April
16GB with MircoSD slot for extra storage
2GB RAM, 1.5 GHz dual-core processor
Touchscreen is 3.1 in (above the keyboard)

Take a look at these videos from Blackberry on the Q10 and Z10 (worth it!):

Vine: Twitter’s New Video App

Kayla — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:54:59 +0000

You’ve probably heard something about Vine in the past few days but have no clue what it is or why it exists. Well we’re here to help. This is an iPhone-only app that allows you to take six-second video clips and share them on your profile. You need a Twitter account to sign in, and then you can record video clips in bits by holding your finger down on the screen only when you want to record–which makes it pretty interesting to use. You can also explore hashtags or categories and start following people from your email, Twitter, or Facebook accounts.

Screenshots can’t do it justice because the uploads are video clips, but this is an interesting take on social media and has never been done before. Not sure for how long it will be around, but it is definitely worth checking out in the iTunes App Store (Vine Labs, Inc.).

The app had a bit of a struggle over the weekend, which is where a lot of the buzz is coming from. Explicit content was being uploaded on the app and later appeared on the Editor’s Choice page. In a statement released by Twitter, human error got the video there, and it was removed from the highlights. The videos are still up, but now have an explicit content warning before they can start.

Either way, the app is alive and well at this point–and catching on very quickly. It will be interesting to see how Facebook reacts…maybe they will make a video sharing app of their own…

Christian Louboutin Pairs Tech Accessories with Shoes

Kayla — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:03:41 +0000

Can’t touch this iPad case!…No but seriously. These spiked tablet cases (priced $695-$895) might be your next practical purchase. Made for the Spring 2013 collection, they are inspired by the bold and iconic spiked shoe design. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham are pictured above wearing the spiked shoes, while Elle Macpherson and Rita Ora are holding the iPad case as a clutch.

Although devices like tablets can become outdated rather quickly these days, cases and sleeves for them are still important–even though they can be more expensive than the gadget they are housing. As we use our devices more frequently during the day and night, it is becoming more justifiable to have designer accessories to bring tablets out to galas, dinners, and events.

How to Get Your iTunes Onto Your Samsung Galaxy

Kayla — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:33:20 +0000

If you have a Mac computer and recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Samsung Galaxy Note 2, you will know full well that you own one of the best phones available. You will also know, however, that there is no easy way to get the USB connection to work to get your whole iTunes library onto your phone or microSD card. I had the hardest time trying to drag and drop music files right onto my microSD card, but that wasn’t working, and neither was the USB connection to my Note 2. Apps like Kies Air were only letting me transfer one song at a time…so that wasn’t going to work. The solution I ended up finding not only works on the first try, it makes your music syncing even easier than if you were connecting an iPhone to your Mac. If the USB connection from your phone to computer does work, then this solution is free; if not, you will only have to pay $4.99 once for the app–but it’s totally worth it.

Basically, AirSync by DoubleTwist syncs your iTunes automatically over a Wi-Fi connection and keeps all of your iTunes music and playlists up to date on your Android device. The app also lets you stream photos and videos to your Apple TV or XBox. It works very well, has never crashed on me, and my Album Artwork transferred over just fine.

Here’s what to do:

1. On your Mac, visit www.doubletwist.com/desktop/ to download the desktop software called DoubleTwist.

2. If your USB connection works: from your mobile device, visit the Google Play Store and download DoubleTwist, select which music you want from your iTunes to transfer, plug your phone in, and you’re done.

If your USB connection doesn’t work: go to the Google Play Store and download AirSync (or click here), $4.99. It will have you download DoubleTwist as well.

3. Pair your phone and computer by typing in the passcode given to you on your phone into your desktop software (pictured to the right.)

4. Configure which songs you want AirSync to take from your iTunes (pictured below–I selected whole library.)

5. If you have a microSD card in your phone, before you can add any music, you must first format it by inserting it, going to Settings, Storage, & Format SD card (pictured below). Also be sure to change the setting in the AirSync app on your phone (AirSync, Settings Tab, Storage..pictured below) to go to your Memory Card instead of your phone’s memory.

I hope this helped! Please leave a comment or email Kayla@TheChicGadget.com with any additional questions not covered here.