The Fiery Source » wireless

iPhone 4 vs Top Android Phones: Total Cost of Ownership

Bob — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:54:11 +0000

The folks over at BillShrink have given the iPhone 4 and three other top contenders a side by side comparison of features and performance matched up against their long-term costs. Surprisingly this list did catch me off guard as to which one was the cheapest, and which had the most expensive offerings.

BillShrink has done this type of smartphone comparison before which was equally impressive. You might be surprised as well.

Here’s the full breakdown, which you can click for a larger view (at BillShrink’s own post):

Smartphones: The Latest Generation [BillShrink]

McDonald’s offers free Wi-Fi Internet Access

Bob — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:47:40 +0000

Never thought I would live to see the day McDonalds would offer free Wi-Fi Internet access. Apparently I was wrong, that day is here. The McDonald’s Corp. next month will drop the $2.95 charge to access the Internet at its U.S. stores. Hurray!

About five years ago McDonalds began offering the Internet Service in two-hour intervals with AT&T as the provider for a $2.95 charge. With a whopping 11,000 and growing locations, this is going to make the burger chain the largest restaurant network of free Wi-Fi Hot Spots in the United States. Most of their locations allow customers to pick up a strong signal from the parking lot outside as well as the dining areas.

According to The Chicago Sun-Times McDonald’s wants to create a coffee lounge atmosphere at its stores. I for one am happy to see free Internet access, Starbucks Coffee Co. which charges $3.99 for two hours of Internet access and has about 11,000 U.S. locations would do the same I would be a happy camper.

The Eye-Fi WiFi SD Card

Bob — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:53:41 +0000

Digital camera’s are simply amazing, I remember taking pictures on film cameras not to many years ago. Now with digital camera’s and the right memory card you can take hundreds if not thousands of pictures.

The one down side to digital cameras is eventually you have to empty that digital memory card, usually that means either removing the SD card and sticking it in your computer or getting those cables out and linking your camera and computer together to download the pictures.

With all the hassle getting those pictures on to your computer it’s no wonder we often find ourselves letting the pictures stack up, I have let them pile up to hundreds of pics.

We came across something that is amazing and tried it out. I must say it’s a ground breaking product.The product is called the Eye-Fi Card, it’s an SD card that works with all most every camera known and it has built in Wi-Fi, which is simply amazing. That’s right, What we’re talking about here is an SD card that you stow pictures on it like any other SD card but this one has an antenna built on to it, it has the ability to connect to your home or office network and share all the data that’s on the card.

All you have to do is insert the SD card to the USB reader, and simply plug the USB reader with your SDcard inside into your computers USB slot (you only have to do this once for set-up).

EYE-Fi USB reader with SD card

In the set-up menu you can have the device download your pics to a folder of your choice, we selected our pictures folder. What cool about this is you can also select web destinations as well which is really cool. Therefore, if you have a Flickr, YouTube or Facebook account ( there are dozens of social networks to choose from) you can set-up to have to not only upload your pictures or video to your computer, but have them also uploaded to your Facebook, YouTube or Flickr account as well.

This is a brilliant idea, you don’t have to worry about attaching your SD card or cables or doing anything. You literally come into the house, turn your camera on and they start transferring. Managing your pictures are so easy as there now automatic.

Eye-Fi boost about it’s Geotagging, which means it tags your pictures with the location they were taken. Eye-Fi uses an unconventional scheme to geocode images on the Eye-Fi Explore card (or with its geotagging service). It does this by using information from nearby wireless routers to plot the latitude and longitude of the camera’s location. We never got a chance to test this feature.

The Eye-FI comes in Seven versions: The Home, GEO, Share, Home Video, Share Video, Explore Video, PRO, we list each of them with features below.

Home model ($50/2GB), supports wireless photo transfer to your PC from your camera only and there is no geotagging.

Geo model ($59/2GB), includes the Home’s wireless camera downloads feature plus the Geotagging feature which uses Wi-Fi Positioning Service (WPS) technology to tag your photos with geolocation information. Desktop applications like iPhoto ’09 and sites like Flickr and Picasa also enable you to see and search for photos on a map. Where included, lifetime service is provided for the card. Other cards can be upgraded to the service for $14.99/year.

Share versions ($60/2GB), includes the Home’s wireless camera downloads feature, direct-to-web feature which allows you to uploads photos you take to your Flickr, Facebook or MobileMe account right from your camera. There’s 25 social networks that can be used for this feature and no geotagging offered on this model. Other cards can be upgraded to the direct-to-web feature for $9.99/year.

Home Video model ($70/4GB), includes the Home’s wireless camera downloads feature and supports wireless video uploads to YouTube, Flickr, SmugMug, Picasa Web and Photobucket.

Share Video model ($80/4GB), includes the Home’s wireless camera downloads feature, supports wireless video uploads to YouTube, Flickr, SmugMug, Picasa Web and Photobucket, direct-to-web feature that can uploads photos to 25 social networks.

Explore video model ($100/4GB), includes the Home’s wireless camera downloads feature, supports wireless video uploads to YouTube, Flickr, SmugMug, Picasa Web and Photobucket, direct-to-web feature that can uploads photos to 25 social networks, Geotagging, includes HotSpot Access which allows you to upload from open networks and over 10,000 Wayport Hotspots including McDonalds, hotels, restaurants and airports. Starbucks not included. Where included, 1st year is free, $14.99/year after that. Other cards can be upgraded for $14.99/year.

The PRO model ($150/4GB), features include the Home’s wireless camera downloads, wireless video uploads, direct-to-web photo upload feature, includes HotSpot Access, Supports Wireless uploads of RAW formats to your computer such as .CRW, .CR2, .NEF, .NRW, .DNG, .PTX, .PEF, .RAW, .RW2. They add the Ad Hoc feature which is a camera to computer connection that allows you to transfer photos and videos to your computer without the need for a wireless router. This ie a great feature for photographers or enthusiast on the go with time restraint.

With 2GB memory this version can store up to 1,000 photos, just like with your existing SD or SDHC card. The 4GB memory models can store up to 2,000 photos or 90mn of video, just like with any other existing SDHC card.

Now there is a iPhone app for that

There is also a FREE Eye-Fi app for your iPhone to extend the Eye-Fi card’s benefit to your iPhone. It provides unlimited photo uploads straight from your iPhone to your computer or to a social network such as Flickr. This is a great way to stay organized as photos automatically land in designated folders of your choice in your computer. No syncing, no tethering or any hassles.

Check out the video below, if you wish to purchase this wonderful product head over to there website here.

Belkin Home Base, easy home wireless printing and file sharing solution

Bob — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:01:01 +0000

Belkin is a trusted name when it comes to networking products, they just released a new solution dubbed the Belkin Home Base, that can take up to four USB 2.0 devices and make them wirelessly accessible from any computer on your home network.

Just plug an Ethernet cord into the Home Base and then plug any USB device such as a printer, hard drive, game consoles (xBox 360 and Play Station 3 ) into the ports on the back, it will automatically become wireless. You can access an external hard drive over the air or make a non-wireless printer wireless.

The device can automatically back up each connected computer’s files periodically to a connected external hard drive as a safegueard against sudden data loss, it’s great for sharing the one printer in the home with the other computers on the network or sharing music, pictures, and videos with your family.

The unit is compatible with Wi-Fi b/g/n devices, there’s also a 10/100Mb/s Ethernet port on the back for those wishing to hard wire in. No additional devices are needed to add NAS-like capabilities and wireless print sharing to your network.

* Connect and access up to 4 USB 2.0 devices over an existing wireless network
* Automatically back up files and share pictures on Flickr® and Picasa®
* Access media files stored on your gaming console
* Features push-button WPS security
* Compatible with 802.11b/g/n devices

You can pick up the Home Base today for $130. [Belkin]

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