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BlackBerry Q10 is a lot of innovation looking for longtime BB fans

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I have been enjoying the company of the BlackBerry Q10 for the past couple of weeks. Some might think this smartphone is too little and too late. I think it's a lot of innovation and I hope it's not too late. My soft spot for the BlackBerry platform goes all the way back to the trackball or roller ball, and the scroll-wheel days. These devices set the standards for security and email management and were considered the "must have" mobile phone during its heyday, especially for enterprise customers. Now fast forward a decade and the BlackBerry is fighting for survival among the iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, Motorola Droids and a host of other newcomers. But the latest BlackBerry, the Q10, with the QWERTY physical keyboard for us that remember the good old days, is quite a smartphone and I wouldn't count BlackBerry out just yet. The Q10 is running the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which is supposed to propel the BlackBerry devices into the future of smartphon...

Samsung ATIV S Neo is Sprint's 2nd Windows Phone 8 smartphone

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The Samsung ATIV S Neo is coming to Sprint on Friday. This will be Sprint's second Windows Phone 8 smartphone of the year, with the HTC 8XT being the first WP8 device earlier this summer. The ATIV S Neo will be sporting a 4.8-inch display with a 1.4 gigahertz dual-core processor under the hood, which falls short when compared with some of the other high-powered quad-core smartphones, such as the 1.9 GHz Samsung Galaxy S4 or the LG Optimus G Pro at 1.7 GHz of processing power. You can also add 1 gigabyte of RAM and 16 GB if internal storage to the balance sheet. The battery is a respectable 2,000 mAh lithium-ion, but there are other devices out there with larger capacity. The good news is that the ATIV S Neo features ATIV Beam for sharing photos, music and video with other WP8 devices using the NFC technology. For snapshots, Sprint's WP8 baby has a eight-megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1.9 MP camera for video chats and self-portraits. Despite a few shortcomings, th...

A lost or stolen iPhone is bad; a good data recovery plan is good

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If you ever lose your iPhone, it's really a bad feeling and more than likely, you'll replace with it another iPhone. Then your thoughts will quickly turn to recovering all your contacts, calendar, notes, photos, videos and even a log of text messages that were on the iPhone that is missing in action. If you're lucky, there will be a backup in iTunes if you have been syncing regularly, or there might be a backup in iCloud. If not, then your next best option might be some free iPhone data recovery software from EaseUS , a software development company located in the Sichuan Province of China that specializes in backup and security solutions. According to the company if you had been using their backup software, you'll just need to connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a PC and launch the free EaseUS MobiSaver software. The program will scan your iDevice and list recoverable files. Then it's simple matter of clicking the "Recover" button. The MobiS...

Apple rolls out the 'wow' factor with iOS 7 for iPhone, iPads, iTouch

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Well now, just when it seemed that Apple's innovation has slowed down, as the Android camp was full-steam ahead, the guys from Cupertino dealt what could be a winning hand at the start of the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Apple unveiled the mysterious and tightly-held-to-their-chest iOS 7 software update, stamped with the work of the possibly soon-to-be-famous Jony Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. Already, it is being called "the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone that took the stage in 2007. After watching the video, I believe them, or they did a good job of snookering me and probably a lot of other Apple fans. I can't keep this to myself any longer; this update that is due this fall is going to be one fine upgrade, as every nook and cranny of the current iPhone software has been redesigned. The appearance is clean, minimalist, simplistic and very appealing. The icons for apps look fresh and not overdone, with cr...

Vaporstream technology makes sent email messages disappear

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If you ever worry about the security of sensitive email message, a new technology called Vaporstream might be what you need. For those confidential conversations, company officials say Vaporstream communications cannot be copied, forwarded, printed, saved or intercepted. This James Bond senario is created with a Secure Recordless Messaging Service, or SRMS, which transmits messages without leaving behind any Electronic Stored Information, which is also known as the ESI factor. Once you hit send on a Visper message, it vaporizes to leave no trace in the inbox, server or archive. In addition to messages, recordless photos also disappear from the sending device, as well as the recipient's device. According to the company behind Vaporstream, this technology "is the messaging tool of choice for critical discussions about mergers & acquisitions, research & development, litigation, and other confidential matters." If you are a busy executive or professional with a ...

Samsung London event offers a hint to new Galaxy and ATIV devices

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Samsung chose Memorial Day, when our minds are not on hot tech news, to roll out a teaser for an event on Thursday, June 20, in London. The hints in their poster point to maybe new Galaxy and ATIV devices, which means Android and Windows 8 flavored announcements. Then we have images of some pretty thin devices that might could be a tablet, laptop and something that resembles a camera lens. Samsung announced Windows 8 devices just under a year ago at a conference in Berlin, Germany, which included a two notebooks and a smartphone, called the ATIV S. Since the launch of these devices, the ATIV S has suffered several delays and has not gained much traction among carriers in the United States. The Samsung ATIV smart PC is currently available from AT&T, while the Samsung ATIV Odyssey smartphone is available from Verizon Wireless. Maybe the London event will bring new features to these devices. So circle June 20 on your calendar for the latest tech news from the Samsung camp. Visi...

Samsung Galaxy S4: C Spire is offering 'the next big thing'

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The highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 is inching closer into the hands of Android fans, as C Spire Wireless becomes one of the U.S. carriers accepting pre-orders for Samsung's newest touchscreen smartphone. The Galaxy S4 is packing more power than its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, in several areas. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera, compared with a 8 megapixel camera on the S3, and a slightly better front camera at 2 megapixels. Additional camera features include "LED flash, autofocus and 1080p HD video recording in dual-shot mode ... which allows the use of both cameras simultaneously so users can include themselves in pictures and videos." The Galaxy S4 is lighter in weight and with a 1920 by 1080 Super AMOLED five-inch display, colors should really pop. The increase in display size from the S3's 4.8 display is significant, as smartphones trend toward larger displays. Another significant feature boost is the Galaxy S4's 1.9 gigahertz Quad Core processor, ...