Someone Call Security!

I've long been an advocate of security on electronic devices. Whether it's your main computer, or your smartphone or tablet. Some sort of security software is always the first thing I install on a new device, and that is unlikely to ever change. And I'm not talking about anti-virus or malware (although those are important also)... I'm referring to software that can help you locate your device if it is lost, or worse, stolen.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned an app called Cerberus before, but in case I haven't, let me tell you a little story. Across the pond, in the United Kingdom, on a tech centered message board called Overclockers UK, a new thread was created called "This man knows who stole my phone, can anyone help". It continued:

"Well about 3 hours ago some lovely person let themselves into my friends house and stole amongst other things my mobile phone."

We Have A New Contender!

Yesterday, in a very Apple-like virtual keynote, the founder of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth, unveiled the plans to bring the popular operating system to the world of smartphones. It is certainly an uphill battle for them against the current crop of Apple and Android offerings... but it does look pretty good.

Microsoft's Surface Pro is certainly 'Pro' priced

If you were one of the 3 or 4 people considering buying a Surface tablet, but were hesitant because it didn't run legacy applications... then today might be a reason to celebrate. Microsoft has announced the Surface Pro will be available in January 2013 for a starting price of $899.

Apple should be nervous

This past Monday, Google lifted the veil on the new products in their Nexus line. First up is the official appearance of the Nexus 4, Google's updated flagship phone. While I thought the Galaxy Nexus was a decent iPhone competitor, the new Nexus 4 is sure to do even better.

Dear Apple,

On January 9, 2007, you turned to mobile phone world on its head when you introduced the iPhone. Sure, there had been touchscreen phones around for years prior, but you did it right. No stylus, full internet browsing capabilities, MP3 player, and a phone, all on a device that was one giant touchscreen. We were impressed.

Yesterday, you unveiled the iPhone 5. I have one word for you:

Meh.

"Good artists copy, great artists steal."

Thank you to Steve Jobs for that pearl of wisdom. One would think, with that mentality, stealing would be somewhat tolerated. Not so, apparently. Stealing is only tolerated if Apple is the thief.

We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

• Triumph of the Nerds (1996)

But don't you dare steal a stolen idea from Apple.

They look old because they are brand new. Wait... what?

My grandmother always had many different photographs on display at her house. She had at least one framed photo on every shelf, and almost every photo had a faded orange tint to it. This is what happens to pictures that were taken 40, 50, even 60 years ago. This is also what happens to a digital picture taken 30 seconds ago. At least, this is what happens when you use Instagram. Personally, I don't understand why someone wants to age their pictures. The great thing about digital photography is that there is always a crisp, clean version at your fingertips (that is, of course, if you have uploaded it to the internet). A version that will always be as vibrant as the moment it was taken, or at least, as far as your camera will let it.

Blackberry's Playbook. What about the smartphones?

So Blackberry just made a rather large announcement introducing their newest product, the Blackberry Playbook. I don't have any official specs on it, but it looks to be around 7x5 inches and 9.77mm thick, according to the video feed. It has a 1080p non-proprietary HDMI port, supports Flash 10.1 (which was a very clear shot at Apple's iPad) as well as front & rear cameras.

Is this where we are heading now? Handheld tablets instead of smartphones? Would you rather carry around a bigger screen that can do a bit more than your current smartphone? I'm not so sure I would. I like having a phone that can fit in my pocket. Don't get me wrong, I love technology, and I'm always excited to see it moving forward, but do we really need tablet PC's? I'm know that in the years to come I will end up eating my words, but I don't see the appeal for them. I'm sure, 10 years ago, someone said they didn't understand the why you would want to get your email on your phone because you already got it on your computer. At least back then, getting email on your phone was a huge technological leap forward since you are no longer tethered to a computer. What are the benefits of a tablet? Sure, you can pair up the Playbook with your Blackberry phone, but now you have to carry around two devices. Who wants to do that? Sure, it has an HDMI port, which is great, but there are many other devices out there that already work with HD video so why should you shell out more cash for Blackberry's tablet? Call me crazy, but I just don't get it.

For those of you that have trouble remembering all your passwords (or those that use the same password for all your sites... you know who you are) take a look at LastPass.com. It's a password memory bank, and it works on all major Operating Systems and browsers. I've been using it as a Chrome extension for a couple weeks and am really enjoying it so far. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

*UPDATE*
The kind folks over at Crackberry.com have posted their review, along with specs and a video. Follow this link to go read it.

It's been quite a busy week.

A number of things happened this week, and I will touch on a few of them in the order in which they pop into my brain. So here we go!