Social is taking over the news

Remember when you used to turn on your favorite news channel to grab the latest local news? Or change the channel to CNN or MSNBC to get up to date on all the breaking events in the world? Even if you just wanted something at a glimpse, you could follow the breaking news ticker at the bottom of the screen. I do, but I have noticed my needs for getting the news has evolved over the last few years. How so, you might ask? The answer is social media.

I am not alone either. There is a growing number of the population that rely on social media services to deliver the news to them. The big three of Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ offer me most of the news I could ever consume. The unique thing, is that some of what I can get from social media, is immediate firsthand accounts of breaking news.

With the recent events in Boston, I never once turned on the television. I saw the entire thing unfold in my Twitter and Google+ feeds. The tragedy played out on social media piece by piece. From the initial attacks at the marathon, to the ensuing manhunt, Twitter kept me up to date on what was going down.

This phenomenon doesn't just apply to just the national level either. My wife used to watch the local news to see what was happening in our community, but now she simply checks Facebook. Ironically, she even calls it “reading the paper.” From local football games to charity events, she gets all the updates surrounding our town.

Speaking of football, are you a sports fan? By simply following a few influential people in your favorite sport, you can get most of your news fed to you via social as well. Follow your team and you can usually get game updates and management movements concerning your squad. Peeking in on league insiders will get you in the know on what player might soon be moving to a new town. Social media, once again, has me up to date.

So, if you're wondering why you haven't been using your TV remote, or your mailbox, to appease the news junkie inside...then look no further than the internet. Social has taken over your news.

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AT&T will give you $100 for your old phone

Yep, you read that right. AT&T has a limited offer of at least $100 towards a new smartphone from their lineup. The credit can be used towards any of the newest phones from the great carrier. This includes premier handsets, like the HTC One (32gb), BlackBerry Z10, and the Galaxy S4.

There are a few caveats to the new trade-in program. The phone being turned into dough must be less than 3 years old and be in good working, condition. If you were planning on upgrading anyways, you can apply the $100 credit towards accessories, or you cell phone bill.

For more details visit http://att.com/tradeinprogram and be sure to check out the full press release below.

Beginning May 1, consumers who trade in their current smartphone to AT&T* will be eligible to receive at least $100 off the purchase of a new smartphone, including the new Samsung Galaxy® S 4, BlackBerry® Z10 or 32 GB HTC One®. These devices are normally $199.99 with a qualifying two-year agreement** but, with this limited time promotion, they will be available for $99.99.
This promotion applies to any smartphone AT&T sells, and gives customers access to the latest devices at a fraction of the cost or, in the case of smartphones priced under $99.99**, for free. To take advantage of this offer, customers are encouraged to visit any AT&T company-owned retail store or participating authorized dealer with their previous smartphone that is no more than three years old and in good, working condition. In stores, upon trading in their old phone, customers will receive the $100 credit on-the-spot and can use it immediately. ***
Some trade-in phones may have a value higher than $100. In this case, customers will receive the credit at the higher value.
AT&T offers a broad variety of smartphones that run on the nation’s fastest 4G LTE**** network. AT&T 4G LTEcurrently covers nearly 200 million people; with plans to expand to cover 300 million people by the end of 2014. In a report***** by independent testing organization RootMetrics, AT&T's 4G LTE network was called “blazing fast." The report found AT&T’s 4G LTE network delivered the fastest pure LTE speeds in markets where AT&T provided 4G LTE.
“This offer is a great opportunity for AT&T customers to get their hands on the newest smartphones in our portfolio at an outstanding price,” said Eric Goldfeld, AVP- marketing management, AT&T. “With graduation and Mother’s Day coming up, people can take advantage of this promotion to surprise someone – or even treat themselves – to one of our hottest smartphones. The best part is that you’ll receive credit for your old phone instantly on-the-spot in AT&T stores.”
In AT&T company-owned retail stores, AT&T’s Trade-In Program lets customers turn in old wireless phones and receive an AT&T promotional card reflective of the device’s trade-in value and condition. Customers can use the card to offset the cost of some of the latest wireless devices or the purchase of other AT&T products and services.*** All devices, including tablets data cards and feature phones – regardless of manufacturer or date purchased – will be considered for trade-in.
Beyond seeing a little more green in their pocket, AT&T customers that use our trade in program are also doing their part to support the company’s sustainability initiatives. In 2012 AT&T customers recycled more that 3.1 million phones and broke the world record for cell phones recycled in a one-week period as certified by Guinness World Records.
Switching to a new smartphone has never been easier with AT&T Mobile Transfer, an app that syncs contacts, photos and videos from your old phone to your new phone. Just visit www.att.com/mobiletransfer to make sure both phones are compatible, download the app and follow the instructions to transfer.
Likewise, setting up your new smartphone is a snap with AT&T Ready2Go, a free service that helps you to easily set up and personalize your device in minutes from the comfort of your personal computer. With Ready2Go, it’s easy to set up your email accounts, import your contacts, connect to your social networks and more.
For more information on the AT&T Trade-In Program, visit http://att.com/tradeinprogram.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
** Requires new 2-yr agreement with minimum monthly voice and data or Mobile Share plan. Early termination and other fees and conditions apply.
***Trade-in credit will be issued instantly via AT&T Promotion Card in AT&Tcompany-owned retail stores, or via mail through att.com. Participating authorized dealers will provide instant in-store credit or their own promotion card. Credit from authorized dealers may be applied to the purchase of AT&T devices and accessories, but may not be applied to charges for AT&T services.
****Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Claim based on a comparison of U.S. national carriers’ average 4G LTE download speeds for Android™ and Windows smartphones and iPhone 5. 4G speeds not available everywhere.
***** Based on availability of AT&T 4G LTE in in 47 markets out of 77 total cities studied; ©RootMetrics®LTE Performance Report, March 2013).http://www.rootmetrics.com/special-reports/lte-performance-review/.

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New Nokia Lumia 920 commercial makes fun of iPhones and Android

I must say this commercial had me laughing like one of those Super Bowl commercials. This however is no prime time Super Bowl ad but rather just a normal everyday commercial that if nothing else gives you a chuckle.

The Nokia Lumia 920 ad points out the long time rivalry many Android and iPhone users normally have in the comment section on YouTube videos and articles as well as forums. Except this ad takes it over the top and the people at this wedding just start brawling all while two waiters record and take photos with their Lumia 920's. My favorite part has to be the part right before the fighting starts when the two Galaxy device users touch phones to transfer data. It was like the bell signaling the start of the brawl.

Could the Lumia 920 and more specifically, Windows Phone win the hearts of the Android and iPhone users out there and bring peace to comment threads and weddings everywhere? Check out the video and share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 on Sprint is getting an update already

If you are on Sprint and have the Samsung Galaxy S4, there is an OTA update heading your way.

The update is 24MB in size and there is no list as to what the update brings. The current software build for the S4 out of the box is L720VPUAMDC  and this update changes it to L720VPUMDL which PhoneArena.com pointed out could possibly be turning on the LTE radio. The thought came from the last letter being changed from a C (Cellular) to an L (LTE). This is not however confirmed at this time. You can manually check for the OTA update under Settings > More > System Update.

Let us know in the comments below if you have received the update yet.

Source: PhoneArena

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Tech News Roundup for Week of April 22, 2013

In this series we round up the technology-based articles from around the web that have caught our eye in the last week. Have something we should know about? Send us a note!

Living Social hacked
Amazon's daily deal site, Living Social, suffered a massive cyber attack targeting customer data on Friday, April 26, according to an email sent to employee's by CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy and obtained by AllThingsD.com. Over 50 million customers were impacted by the breach which included customer names, emails, birth dates and encrypted passwords.
Source: AllThingsD

Microsoft to unveil next Xbox at May 21st event
Microsoft has sent out press invites to an event at the Xbox Campus in Redmond, CA. in which they plan to unveil the next version of the Xbox media console with delivery by the holiday's. A livestream of the event will be broadcast on Xbox.com, Xbox Live, and broadcast on Spike TV in the US and Canada.
Source: TheNextWeb

Apple's WWDC 2013 announced for June 10-14
Apple World Wide Developers Conference is scheduled to run June 10 through 14th at the Moscone West in San Francisco. Apple SVP Phil Schiller promised developers they will be seeing new versions of iOS and OSX during the conference. Tickets went on sale on April 25 and sold out within minutes.
Source: The Verge

Pizza Hut launches Xbox 360 app

Gaming and pizza go well together, right? Well, now you can place an order for pizza right from your Xbox 360. Microsoft and Pizza Hut have teamed up to launch an app available on Xbox Live that will allow users to place orders from the chains menu through their Xbox console.
Source: Polygon

Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio for iPad

For those of you who are fans of the Touch Cover for the Microsoft Surface, Logitech has made available for pre-order the FabricSkin Keyboard for the iPad. The folio-style case has a keyboard pressed into the fabric similar to the Touch Cover, and has magnets to hold the iPad in place while you type. It's available for pre-order for $149.99 (ouch!) [LINK to Logitech]

Source: James Kendrick via ZDnet

Apple's Tim Cook hints at new product category in the fall
Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted at "the potential of exciting new product categories," at Apple's Q2 investor call on April 23rd with the announcement of new products to come in the fall. Cook declined to specify exactly what product categories are in the works, but rumors of  a smart watch continue to prevail.

Source: The Verge

Leaked 8-inch Acer tablet hints at Windows 8 in new sizes

French-based blog Minimachines.net got a hold of leaked images purportedly showing images of an 8-inch Acer tablet running Windows 8. The Acer Iconia W3-810 sports a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, and photos show various accessories that include a keyboard dock. As of this writing, Acer has asked Minimachines to remove the images, but you can see a few here.

Source: The Verge, Tabletguide.nl, Minimachines.net

TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for Android and iOS to go dark May 7
The folks behind TweetDeck announced they will be stopping development on their AIR, Android, and iOS based apps and removing them from their respective app stores on May 7. They'll be focusing their efforts on "doubling down on the TweetDeck web experience," as more users move to using TweetDeck on their computers and the official Twitter mobile app.
Source: CNet, TweetDeck

Roundup of Samsung Galaxy S4 reviews
The Samsung Galaxy S4 started to roll out to carriers last week. Here is a roundup of reviews of Samsung's newest flagship

Computer World (JR Raphael)

Wall Street Journal (Walt Mossberg)

The Verge (David Pierce):

"The One is refined, quiet, comfortable, beautiful, and above all simply pleasant. I love using that phone, in a way I haven't experienced with anything since the iPhone 5. That's why, when my contract is up in June, I'll probably be casting my lot with HTC instead of Samsung."

Engadget (Brad Molen):
"If you're considering a move from an older Samsung device, the GS4 is absolutely the handset you want. Your learning curve will be minimal thanks to TouchWiz's consistent UI, and besides, it's generally a great smartphone -- heck, the phone itself is the best Samsung handset we've used to date"

Androidcentral (Alex Dobie):

"... it’s hard to pin down exactly what it is about the Galaxy S4 that leaves us a little underwhelmed. Maybe the excessive pre-release hype left us expecting more than the incremental upgrade that we got."

Gigaom (Kevin Tofel):

"Would I recommend the Samsung Galaxy S 4? Yes, without hesitation. It’s speedy, runs all day on a single charge, and has a wonderful display."

Odds and Ends
Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? A photographer uses a quadrocopter to fly in an engagement ring for the soon to be groom who has led his bride to believe they are doing a photo shoot. See what happens next. And yes, it's ok to cry.

Source: CNet

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