Hyundai, hard at work.

Now this is a company who is hard at work.  Look at the new models/updates all due before Fall 2012.
Click HERE.

Honda: Asleep at the Wheel

The Chicago Auto Show Media Preview began today.  As a result, we get a look at two new production Acura vehicles, the refreshed RDX and the all-new ILX.  Really?  Seriously Acura?  This is the BEST you can do?  I think Acura has strayed a long way from the beautifully designed Acura Legend, Integra, and NSX of the early 90's.  During a time when most car companies were still producing hideous vehicles, a result of a terrible design style of the late 80's, Acura was the exception.  Sure Acura produced the terrible SLX (a re-branded Isuzu) but they made up for it with beauties like the Legend coupe.  Fast-forward to 2012 and you have a brand new ILX that does nothing to engender love in a car buyer.  It has the now company standard "shiny beak", drab dark interior, and unconvincing lines.  From a sales perspective, this car makes little sense because it will most likely cannibalize Accord and TSX sales.  Does Acura really need a luxurious Honda Civic?  These new Acura vehicles aren't as boring as the new VW Jetta or Passat, but they are pretty terrible.  A discussion on the root of the problem is in due measure.

Honda, the parent company of Acura, is really to blame here.  I would say the only semi decent looking model that Honda has produced lately would be the brand new 2012 Honda CR-V.  This is primarily due to the fact that they basically copied the design of the Volvo XC60.  The CR-V is the exception; the rest of the lineup is the rule.  The 2012 Honda Civic is a design failure and a great example of how unimaginative the designers at Honda can be. The 2012 Honda Civic, to an untrained eye, looks almost the same as a 2006 Honda Civic.  The fact that the 2006 Honda Civic was probably designed sometime around 2004 means that Honda is continuing use of eight year old design styles.  The 2012 Honda Civic is so bad that the CEO of Honda has practically made a public apology.  I'm not the only one who feels this way either.  Consumer Reports failed to recommend the Honda Civic for the first time in history and The Wall Street Journal referred to the Civic as heavy on the "ick."

The problems don't stop with the Civic.  Cars.com just recently named the Crosstour to their "10 Ugliest Cars from the past 30 years List".  The CR-Z easily could have made the list as well.  Then you have the Honda Pilot, which very nearly resembles the Acura SLX that I mentioned earlier.  I actually don't think that the Honda Pilot is ugly, I just find it induces uncontrollable yawning.  For some reason many car companies still like to sell ugly hybrids.  The Insight is proof of this and tragically, the Insight is almost as ugly as the Prius.  The Honda Accord is decent but, in my opinion, far behind the new Toyota Camry or Hyundai Sonata.  We won't spend too much time on the Accord, since it continues to be one of the top selling vehicles in the country.  This, however, is most likely a result of it being a good car and not a beautiful car.  This brings me to my last vehicle in the lineup that I want to talk about: the Honda Ridgeline.  Released in 2005 as a 2006 model, this truck has gone through nothing more than minor tweeks in the last 7 model years.  That is a sad sentence since it was ugly the moment it hit Honda dealerships in early 2005.  Being born ugly and staying ugly until you die is a tragic life and most likely the path that the Ridgeline will follow.  The Ridgeline is also a sad excuse for a truck and is the laughing stock for every other truck on the market.  It is kind of like a woman wearing a sweat suit and never actually doing any physical exercise or a guy in a full ski suit who just hangs out in the lodge all day because he can't ski down the hill.

Honda needs to wake up.  The competition is increasing.  Hyundai is selling more Elantras than they can keep on their lots.  Kia is spending serious marketing money on the new Optima.  Nissan is about to release the redesigned Altima and  Toyota just debuted the newly designed Toyota Camry.  Honda, your move. Acura too needs a hot coffee to alert the company's senses.  If they haven't noticed, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus are all making extremely attractive, quality vehicles.  Acura has the quality but the looks, when compared to the competition, are embarrassing.  Since the ILX and RDX were just shown today it doesn't look like the design team will be making serious changes any time soon. And that is sad.  

iMac or MacBook Pro?

I had a request come from my friend Kelly over at Sportscavelive.com  to write a post on an iMac vs a MacBook Pro.  I've been so busy with wedding plans that I am just now getting around to it.  I won't be long winded on this one.  I just want to share a few thoughts.

iMac 21.5" and 27"

• Quad Core Processor available in every model.  In other words, great performance, even in the $1199 21.5" iMac.  
• Fantastic screen.  Some people don't love the glossy screen but I love the iMac screen, ESPECIALLY the 27". This can double for great netflix, hulu, or iTunes movie parties when 1)Someone else is using the TV 2)You forgot to DVR a show and it is only available online 3)You want to watch it in your bedroom where the iMac is rather than the family room. 
• Reliable.  I don't have any stats or evidence in the slightest to prove which Mac is the most reliable but I'd vote the iMac.  My parents has been running almost every single day for 4 years and hasn't flinched.  Oh, actually, it froze once.  That my friends is awesome reliability.  Proof of the "It just works" philosophy.
• Can get a 2 TB hard drive in this bad boy.  Load up all the movies and music you want, gonna take a while to fill it up.  Well, unless you are torrenting Blu-Ray quality movies on a regular basis, then you may need a few extra external hard drives.
• Moving this thing for One to One lessons or pretty much any other reason is a pain. Not as big of a pain as a Mac Pro, but don't think you are going to be portable with an iMac. 

MacBook Pro 13"

• It is the most "bang for your buck" laptop in the store.  Now rocks a speedy dual core i5 and has a 500GB hard drive come standard.  This is the choice of the vast majority of students.  It will do pretty much everything you want your Mac to do except gaming.  It will not do well in this area.  Nor will the MacBook Air.  For gaming, look to the 15" MacBook Pro or the iMac.  Or get an Xbox. 

MacBook Pro 15"

• This thing screams.  It is very so fast that the performance gap between the iMac and the MacBook Pro(the real pro models that is. I personally don't think the 13" should be labeled pro but for some reason Apple tried pro-less name idea for 6 months before slapping that "pro" label on there.)
• Great for gaming due to a much improved graphics card. 
• Heavy and tends to run pricey for people on a tighter budget.
• This thing runs hot!  If you don't want to have any more kids, this may be a great option.  Could also double as a space heater.  It also can run loud.
• The battery life is going to drain faster than the 13" MBP or the MacBook Airs. 

MacBook Air 11" and 13"

• If you've been around me enough, you know I love the MacBook Air line.  
• I love SSD.  Solid state is a fantastic technology that will replace hard drives.  Unfortunately, this is taking a long time and is still very expensive.  It feels so much snappier than a hard drive.
• The screen resolution on the 13" is equal to the resolution on the 15" MBP.  In other words, it makes the 13" MBP screen look terrible.  
• Thing is light as feather and the battery is going to last a long time(as long as you aren't running flash). 
• If you are a media junky(you love music, movies, photos, etc) then you are going to run out of space on this thing.  Living off an internal that is too small and an external is possible, but it is not very comfortable.  This is the main reason I switched from my MacBook Air to my iMac.  If I was ever in school again, I would go MacBook Air.   
• If all you do is email, facebook, listen to music, etc, the MacBook Air is the way to go.  Or an iPad....but that will have to wait for another post.

Hope you enjoy my brief take on the current line up.  If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section. 

Applecare+: Reason enough to buy an iPhone

Let me recount a sad tale.

Nikki dropped her Samsung Droid Charge in the toilet about 2 weeks ago.  This phone cost her $200 when she purchased it new.  This $200 was a subsidized price.  Verizon gave her a discount, according to their site HERE, of $300.  This is how the cell phone market works here in the U.S.  Cell phone carriers love to give you a subsidy in order to get you locked into that nice 2 year contract.  However, they don't love to give it to you any sooner than they have to, which for most carriers, is between 18-24 months.  Ok, so back to the story.  Nikki's $499(retail price) phone is now dead.  What are her options?  Well, when she goes in to Verizon, they will kindly tell her that she is eligible for an upgrade in roughly 15 months and can get a discounted phone then. In the meantime, she can pay full retail price to buy a new Droid Charge.  They will happily sell her this phone for $499.  She will leave the store with a new phone and will now have invested $700 into her phone when we factor in the price of the phone she purchased 5 months ago.  This is the Samsung, LG, HTC, Blackberry, Motorola way.  If I am mistaken, please correct me in the comments.  Now let me explain the Apple way.

If you buy a 16GB iPhone 4S on a 2 year contract, the price of the phone is $199.  The full retail price of this phone is $649.  You receive a discount of $450.  You also have the option to add Applecare+, a $99 coverage plan of a two year duration.  Let's now investigate two scenarios had Nikki's situation occurred with an iPhone with and without Applecare+.

Without Applecare+

Nikki drops her 5 month old iPhone 4S in the toilet.  The phone is completely dead.  She schedules a genius bar appointment at the Apple store.  The store will give her two options.  She can pay $199 and receive a new iPhone 4S.  Now APPLE is giving her the $450 discount.  This will replace her phone and her warranty will continue until the end of the 1 year mark from the original purchase of her iPhone 4S. She has now invested $400 total.  Or she can purchase Applecare+ for $99 and she must pay iPhone replacement cost of $199.  However, as a kind gesture, Apple will discount the replacement phone cost by $50.  So she would pay $149 + $99 and now you have a new phone and coverage for 2 years from the original purchase date. She has now invested $450.

With Applecare+

Nikki would have paid $299 for her phone at time of purchase, this being the $199 cost of the phone and the $99 Applecare+.  Nikki drops her 5 month old iPhone 4S in the toilet.  The phone is completely dead and so she schedules an appoint at the Apple store.  She walks in, pays $49, and leaves with a new iPhone 4S.  She has now paid $350 total and is still covered for the 2 years from her original purchase date.

Luckily Nikki's sweet mother let her use her upgrade and we purchased Nikki a new iPhone 4S at the subsidized price and added Applecare+.  So, were the same fate to strike twice, we would fall into the third scenario listed here.

Lesson to be learned?  Buy an iPhone. 

Note:  I really hate the Verizon employees.  I don't hate them on a personal level but I hate them for talking Nikki out of the iPhone when she went to purchase one back in June.  She isn't the only one either.  I have heard from other people that AT&T employees have done the same thing.  Why would this happen?  Why would Apple's partner carriers talk people out of the iPhone, which, as we learned today, has a 96% satisfaction rate?  I have no idea.

Is your Android Outdated....Forever?

I've discussed problems with Android before.  This post is used, not to advocate the iPhone or any other device, but to simply point out a problem that currently exists with the existing Android model. There is a good chance that the Android phone you are buying is not running the current operating system the day you buy it and it may either take months or years to get updated or it may never get updated at all.  This may not matter to the average consumer, but it sure makes a difference to the more technically disposed group.  So, without any further ado, click The Understatement, Marco Arment, and Ben Brooks Review.

Why T-Mobile Doesn't Sell the iPhone

T-Mobile customers have been clamoring for the iPhone for over 4 years now.  We understand why T-Mobile didn't have the iPhone for the first 3 1/2 years.  That was due to an exclusive contract made between AT&T and Apple prior to the launch of the first generation iPhone in 2007.  However, that exclusivity ran out sometime around the end of last year/first of this year.  Almost immediately following the end of the exclusivity, Verizon held an event announcing a February launch of the iPhone 4 for Verizon.  6 days ago the iPhone 4S launched and became available on Sprint.  Now that 3 of the 4 big US Mobile carriers offer the iPhone, T-Mobile users are left asking the question, "Why not us?"

A few weeks ago, T-Mobile's Cole Broadman, sent a letter out to customers.  He said, "We’ve heard from many customers who love their T-Mobile service, but are disappointed that we don’t carry the iPhone. To these customers, first, thank you for your business.  Please know that we think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we’d like to add it to our line-up. Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network." So if T-Mobile wants to sell the iPhone, why would Apple not want to have a partnership with T-Mobile?  I truly don't think that Apple doesn't want T-Mobile to have the iPhone, it must have simply come down to contract negotiations.  Prior to the iPhone 4S launch, rumors asserted that Sprint paid a lot of money to get the iPhone 4S.  This may or may not be true but it's possible that T-Mobile may not have been willing to meet Apple's pricing terms or it may be holding out with hopes that the merger with AT&T will still occur.  With the Justice Department doing all they can to stop the merger, the likelihood is looking more bleak, but time will tell.  

Whether the issue is technical or contractual, we don't know with certainty.  However, if you are on T-Mobile, out of contract, and still not getting an iPhone, it shows that you really don't care to have an iPhone (or at least one that isn't jailbroken and unlocked, running on Edge speeds).  T-Mobile's network, pricing, and customer service may all be positives but none of those outweigh the benefit of owning an iPhone on a supported network.  I switched from T-Mobile to AT&T in 2008 in order to get the iPhone 3G and haven't regretted the decision once.  In my opinion, the device is more important than the carrier.  What's better, with the 3 largest US carriers offering the iPhone, you can now have the best of both worlds: a terrific phone and a terrific carrier. 

Buy an iPhone 4S?: It May Save Your Life!

Are your chances of living higher if you purchase an iPhone 4S?  Are your chances of inflicting injury or death upon another lower? How about survival chances if everyone were to start using an iPhone 4S?  I believe the answer is YES.  Here's why.

We are law breakers.  We bend rules.  We believe that we are invincible and we have a "it won't happen to me" mentality.  Utah law prohibits texting while driving.  I'm going to guess this also includes tweeting, searching for a restaurant, or setting a reminder to do something.  The problem is, we do it anyway.  If you do not, I am proud of you and applaud your dedication to the safety of yourself and others on the road.  However, the problem may not lie with you.  You may not text and drive but your neighbor may and she may end up causing a wreck because she wasn't paying attention to the road.  This could result in serious injury, loss of property, or premature death.  Now, what if you had convinced your neighbor to get an iPhone 4S?  Everything could have been different.  Very different....with Siri.

Siri is the new personal assistant built into every iPhone 4S.  Siri is voice recognition software that goes above and beyond almost all voice technology we have ever used before, especially in a cell phone.  Let me lay out a few scenrios for you.  Scenario A will be without an iPhone 4S and Scenario B will be with an iPhone 4S and the personal assistant Siri.

Scenario A

You are driving and you receive the text, "I love you" from your wife.  You pick up your phone to read the text.  You feel so good inside that she loves you that you have to respond right then to tell her that you love her too. The car in front of you stops suddenly and since you had taken your eyes off the road to text back, you rear end the car. 

Scenario B

You are driving and you receive the text, "I love you" from your wife.  You ask Siri to read the text message to you. You feel so good inside that she loves you.  You then speak to Siri telling her to send a text to your wife telling her that you love her too.  The car in front of you stops suddenly but you are prepared and hit your brakes to avoid a collision.

Scenario A

Your Boss calls and informs you of a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 2 PM.  You know that if you don't put the appointment in your phone right away that you will forget.  So you start putting the appointment in your calendar and run a red light, slamming into another car in the intersection.  

Scenario B

Your Boss calls and informs you of a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 2 PM.  You know that if you don't put the appointment in your phone right away that you will forget.  So rather than manually inputting the appointment, you tell Siri to book the appointment for you.  Siri happily does this and you are able to stop safely at the red light.

Scenario A
You are driving and need to call your brother-in law to let him know you snagged some free tickets to the Creed concert.  You realize that he is at work and will only be reachable at his office phone.  Naturally you don't have this number memorized and will need to flip through your address book to find his work number.  This causes you to take your eyes off the road and you end up side swiping the median on the freeway.

Scenario B
You are driving and need to call your brother-in law to let him know you snagged some free tickets to the Creed concert.  You realize that he is at work and will only be reachable at his office phone.  Of course you don't have this number memorized and so you ask Siri to call your brother-in law at his work number.  Siri dials and you continue on safely within the limits of your lane.

The temptation to take our eyes off the road has never been greater.  We have more distractions around us than ever before.  Siri makes a strong case for widespread adoption because Siri may not only save you time, she may save your life!

Twitter: What is this Twit Show?

There I sat in Business Management, on the verge of dozing off when the professor posed a question that made my ears perk up.  "Who in this class is on Twitter?"  The class was about 60 students in size and two hands went up in response to this question.  Those hands belonged to me and my friend Rachel.  That was it.  Later in the semester he asked the question "Who here shops at J.C. Penny?"  The result was nearly identical and that my friends is a sad gig.  So what is Twitter and why should you be on it? 

Definition

Twitter describes itself as, "a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"  This is true and my friends and I do use it for arranging plans, celebrating birthdays and other noteworthy successes, #realtalk, and sometimes for outright #horseplay.  Wait a second? What are those number signs doing there and why are there no spaces between real and talk, horse and play?  They are actually referred to as hash tags and well...alright, let's just jump right into this.  

On twitter you follow people.  My twitter name is @juicelake.  Check it out: 
www.twitter.com/juicelake .  If you want to mention me in a tweet, you would add the @ symbol to the front of my username, @juicelake.  You can also use #.  The # symbol is used to denote a subject, like #apple, #SLC, #superbowl.  These are used to basically apply a tag or subject to a tweet.  The use of hashtags makes it easier to search for specific topics.

Twitter as a news source

This is the main reason I love twitter.  I have a few things I'm passionate about: the Utes, technology, and cars.  Twitter allows me to "follow" these different topics.  I do this by following the individuals who tweet about these subjects the most.  You will surely be able to find people out there who are interested in the same things as you.  They may point out things you never knew, cite helpful sources, link to You Tube videos, or may even link a twit pic of their own doing on the subject. This is the news source on the personal level.  How about actual media outlets? 

If an avid fan isn't tweeting about something that you have interest in then you can go straight to the source.   But why go to websites of ESPN, CNN, Fox News, SL Trib, and the Des News in Safari when I can follow all these news sources on Twitter and get the same news in a more concise fashion, all in a central location?  Use twitter to get your news.  

Common Misconception

"I have nothing to say to the world so why would I join twitter?"  I have heard this line from many.  Let me put an analogy for you.  When you turn on the TV to watch the news at 10(I know only old people and the Alllsops actually do this anymore but act like you do), do you talk to the TV?  Do you have conversations with the anchors?  No, you surely don't.  You listen.  Same with twitter.  You listen.  You listen(read) your twitter "timeline."  But the great thing is, unlike talking to the TV, which is never rational, you can talk to twitter at any time you like. 

Twitter isn't a life long commitment.  Feel free to try it out.  Try and pair with someone who actually utilizes twitter in helping you find people to follow and then give it a chance.  Refresh that twitter timeline on a regular basis.  Also, take a chance and share something with the world!  Maybe we DO want to hear what you have to say.


Note: iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch launched yesterday.  Twitter integration is now part of the operating system so tweeting pics, videos, and text is easier than ever!

Facebook iPad App

Facebook iPad App!

Finally!  The iPad has been out for just over 18 months now and Facebook has finally released it's iPad app.  I've spent about 5 minutes with it and so far it is a great improvement over the options that were previously available, myPad or the standard facebook.com through Safari.  The new app feels like the iPad and that is what makes it so great.  The iPad is made for touch and we've come to love the way developers utilize the extra screen real estate for menus.  Looking at your Friends list is a lot more fun now, it looks more like a yearbook now.  And with Facebook close to releasing the new Timeline to the public, this makes sense.  If you use Facebook, run, don't walk, to the update!  Additionally, I must say, like many other tasks now, I will probably prefer the iPad Facebook experience to the computer Facebook experience.

Update: Here's the LINK to Facebook's iPad page and subsequent link to download the app from the App Store.

iPhone: Which Model Should You Choose?

Trying to decide which iPhone to buy?  Hope my breakdown below will help.

iPhone 3GS  Cost: Free on Contract

    8GB  Who: I believe the only people who should still be buying an iPhone 3GS are 1)Children under the age of 10 on family plans or 2)People who really don't care about cell phones but need a new phone and don't want to pay for it.  Other than that, everyone else, I believe, should be buying either the iPhone 4 or one of the iPhone 4S models.  Simply put, the iPhone 3GS is over 2 years old and in cell phone years, that's ancient.  It is underwhelming in almost every technical specification.  Is it better than some other cell phone alternatives on the market?  Yes, absolutely.  But don't shortchange yourself unless you truly have no money or simply don't care to do anything more than text and call and have a decent music player in your pocket.

iPhone 4  Cost: $99 on Contract

    8GB  Who: The difference is $100.  So if you don't plan on using the camera very often, storing lots of music on your iPhone, playing games, or saving time by using Siri, then I would recommend the iPhone 4 to you.  If you are basically getting an iPhone in order to Facetime with your kids and grand kids, text, and make phone calls, this is the best choice.  You will never really miss the new features(since, if you are like my parents, you wouldn't have utilized them anyway) and you will have saved $100.

iPhone 4S  Cost: $199, $299, $399 on Contract

    16GB  Who: Most people.  Those who have moderation in all things: They don't have hundreds of apps, don't shoot thousands of photos and video on a vacation, don't put their whole iTunes library on their iPhone, and don't want to spend over $200 on their phone.  I can't fault anyone for choosing this model.  It is the same size I chose for my iPad and so far I have been very happy.  As a Specialist, I will recommend this model more than any other iPhone option in the store.  However, would I choose the 16GB iPhone 4S?  No I would not.  Why?  Read on.

    32GB  Who:  People like me.  I love having enough space to breathe.  I hate having to worry about space on a regular basis.  I can manage that with my iPad because whatever doesn't fit on there, I put on my iPhone.  This works well since I'm never without my iPhone.  32GB is going to come in handy for the camera and video camera on the new iPhone 4S.  If you like shooting lots of video, you need to realize that 1080p video is huge and can eat through GB's of storage in a hurry.  So if you are going on vacation for a week or two and don't plan on syncing your iPhone, you are going to want this model.  It will also give you room for plenty of apps, music, and a few movies.  This is a great choice for those who can afford it and want to do more with their phones.

    64GB  Who:  The over-the-top people.  This is for the people who don't use a service like Rdio, Napster(now Rhapsody), or Spotify to "stream" rather than "store" their music.  These same people have thousands and thousands of songs in their iTunes library that they can't bear to be without.  They are the same people who are blowing up Instagram and shooting pictures of everything.  They are also shooting loads of video.  They are also the type to play the games that are big in storage size, like those from EA.  These are the same people who travel a lot and want to store lots of movies on their device for watching on the go.  Or they tend to buy their TV shows from iTunes rather than streaming them from Netflix.  If you have the coin, don't hesitate, snag a 64GB iPhone 4S.  You'll be at the top and let's be honest, it never hurts to have free space.

White or Black?  All personal preference.  I personally love black but I may snag a white one just to mix it up a bit.  White is bolder than black and will call more attention to your phone.  I also believe that color is the least important decision in choosing your new iPhone(after carrier, plan, and iPhone model) so don't get too hung up on it.