Google is probably one of the biggest corporation of all time. That’s quite an accomplishment, right? The European Union doesn’t think so.
Now, the European Union accuses Google of breaking antitrust rules and creating a huge monopoly in search engine and online shopping dominance. After a five year investigation lead by the European Union, they may plan to sue Google for over 6.4 billion dollars. That’s a tenth of what Google makes in a year. It took no time for Google to respond to this potential threat. It called the EU accusations ‘very disappointing’. They used charts to show Amazon and eBay’s profits in France, Germany, and United Kingdom do even better than Google’s. ?The rebuttal talked of how the EU plans to investigate Android soon. They reminded the EU of their lowered prices, impeccable customer service, and the cool apps Android provides, not to mention the revenue and jobs they contribute. Google believes they have, “…a very strong case”.
Looking at the charts from Germany, France, and United Kingdom, they do have a strong case. Those charts put Google in the middle of the competition. This is even against local European competition. ?Ebay and Amazon do way better. Even smaller companies we’ve never heard of in the USA do better in some cases. So the case of the charts is valid. But this is only part of the story. How are ratings doing in Belgium, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, etc? But on the other hand, the three nations studied in the charts are the biggest economies in Europe right now. So is it safe to assume these charts could be accurate for the other European Union nations? And, if so, then that opens other questions. Are European search engine companies in cahoots with the European Union to lessen Google’ s influence so the local search engines can have all the spoils?
It’s a battle that many people in this country and globally are fighting: the battle of weight loss and weight control. Look at how much people spend a year on this issue. There’s a new app that claims to motivate you to shed and keep off the pounds. It’s called Visualize You.
The Visualize You app calculates what you would look like if you had lost a certain number of pounds. It’s available on all Apple and Android based products. And it’s a free app. Here’s how it works: First, you take or upload a picture of yourself. Then enter your current height and weight. Then enter your target weight. Using 3-D technology, this app presents a future picture of you when (or if, let’s be realistic) you reach that target weight. But from all the demonstrations I see, you can only see your face in this app. Health and fitness experts are praising the app, claiming it will help people reach their weight loss goal. Dr. Holly Wyatt, an Associate Professor at University of Colorado’s Health and Wellness Center, says, “The app offers individuals a clear-cut end goal for weight loss and provides [users] with an important tool to activate and achieve a successful program.”
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with Dr. Wyatt’s assessment. The only good thing about Visualize You is that it’s free. It only shows the person’s face. From the pictures I’ve seen, people’s faces look only slightly different before and after the weight loss. If they wanted to inspire people, why not just take a picture of the entire body, or at least waist up, and show the target picture. Now that would inspire more people toward their weight loss goal, especially in problem areas. I’ve never heard anyone say the face was a problem area. Even with that, not too many people would be inspired with a picture of themselves on the wall. If you want a successful weight loss app, just stick to the more traditional ones. Does the Visualize You app help you visualize?
Last week, Apple launched a pre-order campaign on their next big anticipated thing, the iWatch. Were the pre-orders successful?
Yes, they were successful. On Friday April 10th alone, Apple received approximately one million pre-orders. That’s so many that if you pre-ordered today, it would take you until May to get your watch. The majority of watches were for the aluminum Sports version. That’s the low cost version that will run you a minimum $350. A third of orders were for the stainless steel Apple Watch edition. That edition starts at $549. There were hardly any orders for the Gold Edition series. Maybe the $1,700-$10,000 price tag has something to do with that. The average ticket for order was $504. The most popular colors are space gray, then stainless steel, then silver aluminum, then space black steel. Black was the most popular cover of all the sports band colors, making up for 64% of sales. White sports band made up for 22% of sales, while pink, blue and green made up for a combined 14 percent of sales. Nearly three-fourths of pre-orders call for the larger 42mm size. And it seems like the iWatch appeals to Apple’s faithful and loyal. The vast majority of iWatch customers also purchased an Apple product in the last two years.
What do all these numbers mean? Some are concerned that Apple pre-orders did a little too well. Some are concerned there won’t be enough supply to meet demand come April 24, when iWatches come to physical stores in the United States and nine other western nations. Maybe the Gold Edition was a golden mistake. If the minimum of this gold standard cast $1,700, but the average ticket is around $500, what does that tell you? There may be a few that purchase the high end iWatch, but this economy is still struggling, and there’s?still not too many people in the mood to go all extravagant. They’re not in the mood for the crazy colors either, as in only 14% of bands were in pink, blue or green. Maybe they should just stick to the conservative colors. Do these statistics make you want to get an iWatch?
Are you a fan of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones? You may or may not want to know season five’s first episodes were leaked online. It’s Game of Thrones leaked!
This occurred the day before the much anticipated season premier. And this isn’t a small leak. The leaked episodes were downloaded over 100,000 times in three hours. ?The leak was found on a private tracker IPT. Then it spread to websites like Pirate Bay and RARBG like a wildfire on a hot dry day. It’s believed the leak started when review copies were sent to the media. This is a common practice, so that TV and movie critics can report reviews before the respective show airs. It’s just a rarity that it turns into a leak of this magnitude. As one can imagine, this is a major blow to the show and HBO. HBO has worked ceaselessly to combat piracy, and then this happens to one of their highest rated shows. And to make matters worse, that 100,000 download number is expected to turn into a million by the time this day is over. But while this is a major setback, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Game of Thrones is one of the most illegally downloaded shows on TV today.
I know how temping is to go to Pirate Bay or some other site and download these four episodes. But trust me: wait until the show comes out on HBO. To me, watching the episode before it’s supposed to debut is almost like cheating. That’s like spoiling the plot. And what if you do accidentally spoil the plot for everybody else? One of my biggest peeves is waiting for months for a TV season premier and some smart mouth gossips about it before the air date. ?So please, wait for the premier episode. Won’t it be worth the wait?
Quite some time ago, I talked about Jay Z and a handful of other celebrities co-owning a new music streaming company called Tidal, and how dedicated they were to helping artists regain their fair share. They’re not the only ones.
Apple is asking musicians like British indie band Florence and the Machine?to help them promote Beats Music. They’ve even approached Taylor Swift. They’re asking for some of their songs to be exclusive to Apple Beats. They believe if music is exclusive only to Apple Beats, it will force the customer to pay for what they can’t get for free. Today, you can get a lot of music for free because a lot of it’s backed by advertising. Apple Beats will be launched this summer. Like most of the others, a regular subscription will cost $9.99 a month. But a family plan is expected to cost $14.99. Let’s not forget: Apple bought Beats Electronics, a headphone and streaming company for $3 billion dollars. This deal made Beats Electronics CEO Dr. Dre the first billionaire in hip-hop history. But Jay Z is the lead owner of Tidal. Could we be looking at a potential hip-hop business rivalry here?
It’s hard who to give the edge to. Tidal has a lot of celebrity power backing it, like Beyonce, Madonna, and Alicia Keys. Sounds like Apple Beats has some major kissing up to do in Hollywood. But already Apple has a lower price for an extra pack; Tidal’s ‘family pack’ cost $19.99 a month. The name Apple alone is enough to wins customers over. It seems like most of what they’ve touched this century has turned to gold. But the real struggle for both Apple Beats and Tidal is not only each other, but how do they break music consumers’ addiction to free songs (I admit, I’m a such consumer)? It’s Apple Beats vs Tidal, and who will win?
It’s been a busy week in the technological world, and in the world in general. Earlier this week, we learned that even the police get hacked!
That’s what happened in the town of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, about 25 miles north northwest of Boston. Tewksbury PD’s computer systems were stopped cold and local law enforcement officials were forced to negotiate a ransom with cyber criminals. They even had to pay that ransom before things got back to normal. The attack was subtle and gradual, beginning on a weekeknd. Before too long, the hack dominated much of the system. ?It became incredibly difficult for dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and fire stations to communicate with each other. At first, they sought help from a FBI computer specialist, but not even the specialist could even break the code. Even a police department near a major metropolitan area was forced to cave in. The ransom paid was $500 using Bitcoin. Bitcoin is popular with hackers, ID thieves and other cyber criminals because it’s nearly impossible to follow the money with Bitcoin, or follow the dirty deeds. Thankfully, no information was compromised. But the hackers who caused this haven’t been found. I doubt they ever will be.
Some are already griping that their tax dollars went to pay off cyber criminals. But let’s give credit to Tewksbury, MA Police Dept. They did everything they possibly could to avoid even paying this ransom. But in the end, the hackers’ viruses proved so strong they were left with no other choice. And they were forced to do it on the hackers’ terms, through Bitcoin. That’s the scary part. I knew cyber criminals are getting smarter, stronger, and bolder than ever before. The fact they’re using a controversial, but legit company to help cover their tracks is even scarier. If cyber criminals can bully the police force into paying a ransom, what hope is there for the rest of us?
For ten years, social media site YouTube has given us countless of precious memories and entertainment. How would you like to pay for YouTube?
Don’t worry; it’s just optional. It is for most of us. This ad-free subscription is expected to debut in the next few months. You can store videos with your mobile device offline. The cost of the new ad-free YouTube will cost around $10 a month. Producers can create videos exclusively for the premium site. This premium site could include a lesser cost for a specific category, like music, or family based videos. Video producers will split subscription profits with YouTube, well, YouTube will get 45% and the producer will get 55%, based on the time viewers watch their channels and videos. This could prove an unfair advantage to channels with low or moderate viewership. But wait; there’s more: YouTube producers who put videos on the premium channel will be required to be premium customers themselves.
YouTube wants to compete with Hulu and Netflix in the paid subscription game. Their parent company Google already has Music Key. But they’d better keep this paid subscription service just that, optional. I’ve been a YouTube fan for years. I don’t know about you, but watching commercials is worth what I pay for YouTube now: nothing! But if people want to pay for the service, let them pay. For those who want to keep it free, let it be free. If YouTube continues with this plan, I think they should reduce the price for this. If Hulu and Netflix are only charging around $8.00 a month, shouldn’t YouTube make their service more competitive to that? ?And what about channel and video producers? How many of them will get tempted to join this premium network for an extra piece of the pie, thus making fans pay to even see their videos? And how many subscribers will they risk losing because of this?
I have breaking news to announce: Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on all 30 counts for his role in this terrorist attack.
These counts included use of weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, malicious destruction of property, and use of firearm during a violent crime. The defense tried to argue he was brainwashed by his older brother Tamerlin Tsarnaev. ?The jury of 12 rejected this. Now there’s one question left: weather Dzhokar will spend life in federal prison or will he get the death penalty. Tamerlin was killed in a shootout with police in nearby Watertown, MA a few days after the April 15, 2013 bombing on the Boston Marathon finish line. This heinous attack, in which pipe bombs were used, killed five people and injured 280. Some of the injured, their families, and emergency personnel testified in this trial. Most people were brought to tears by this testimony, and how this has impacted them physically and psychologically. The defendant showed no emotion, no remorse, no repentance, no anything for the lifetime of damage and destruction he and his older brother caused. This is the classic sign of a psychopath.
And this is why I hope Dzhokhar Tsarnaev gets the death penalty, and I’m usually against the death penalty. Some may say, “But isn’t that what he and other terrorists want?” But do you know it ?costs less money to send a kid to Harvard than it does to house, feed and care for a prisoner? And this psychopath isn’t worth all that. I know I’m supposed to be more objective in my blogs, but I can’t for this one. You see, I was only three blocks away at a nearby mall when the atrocity happened. I remember the screams of fear and terror. I remember children crying in agony. I remember what was supposed to be a day of triumph and happiness turned into a day of tragedy and mayhem. I remember what it was like when a whole major city was put on lockdown when these terrorists were on the run. Imagine traffic being non-existent, no public transportation facilities, no offices, no schools, no restaurants, and hardly any stores open on what should have been a typical busy spring Friday. Our city was gripped in fear and confusion. That’s what Dzhokhar and his other brother did to our city. Do you think Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should live or die?
New information about the Apple iWatch is buzzing around the world, from the Internet to morning talk shows. But is Apple’s newest product since the iPad even worth the hype?
For die hard iWatch junkies, you’ll be glad to know pre-sale orders begin Friday, April 10. It will be released in stores Friday, April 24. The smartwatch is one of the first wearable technological devices in history (let’s not spoil the blog by talking about that monstrosity called Google Glass!), and Apple is banking everything on the iWatch. It’s part watch, part iPod, part iPhone buddy, part GPS system, part health and fitness device. But this device isn’t cheap. The aluminum models are between $350-$400. It all goes uphill from there. A steel model iWatch will cost you $550-$1,100. Would you rather had the gold model? Are you willing to pay $10,000-$17,000 for it? From the information I’m getting, the iWatch will work with the iPhone when the iPhone is on and from a short distance, and it works with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Critics rave about the apps and easy connection to other Apple devices. Battery life is getting mixed reviews. From what I hear, it lasts for about 24 hours. That’s great for some and others wish it were more. It’s longer than my iPod Touch; I’ll tell you that. Some critics don’t like how slow the apps can be and the fact iWatch is only compatible with Apple products.
Should you be spending hundreds, even thousands, on this watch? You shouldn’t be spending thousands on any watch! This is especially true when the $400 watch is just as efficient. Apple is putting a lot on the line here, especially against competing smartwatches. Will this be a good risk for Apple? Many could use all these features in one device. They say one should only get the iWatch if you really need it. Do you really need the iWatch?
Whenever we lose a loved one, the first anniversary of their death can hit you kind of hard. So here at Geek Choice, not all of our Geeks are taking it so well that today is the 1 year anniversary of the Death of Windows XP. From 2001-2014 Windows XP was always there for us, and maybe it wasn’t without bugs, or viruses or even the Blue screen of death, but it got the job done. Especially when we were so disappointed in Windows Vista, lets be honest, NOBODY likes Windows Vista. But somehow Vista gets to live. And I know some of you out there are still holding on to your Windows XP computers, since 16.7% of all computers (including Mac) are still running Windows XP. Compare that to Windows Vista at a measly 1.97% or Windows 8 at 3.52%
Now that there is no Windows XP to purchase, and our old machines are dying off, we need to get a new computer, and again we are faced with a new Microsoft operating system that NOBODY wants to use, Windows 8. But I am here to tell you that it is time to move on, we know you can do it! Having Windows XP on your system is dangerous, and in a lot of business settings, like Law Offices, Medical Practices, and Dental Offices, you are out of compliance with your businesses standard practices and can be severely fined. Since there are no service packs or patches available, people have already found a way to hack the firmware of the last edition of Windows XP and can easily steal all of your personal, financial and customer information, and when that happens, your computer is toast.
Moving on from Windows XP
So how do you do it? How can you finally put this Operating System to rest, and move on? You’re NOT going to use that awful tile system that Windows 8 has, that’s for sure. Geek Choice still has a deal with many of our vendors that will allow us to purchase a new system for you, with Windows 7. Windows 7 holds a 58.04% market share for operating systems. Take it from someone who was dragged kicking and screaming away from Windows XP, I LOVE Windows 7. It is just a shinier, less buggy version of Windows XP, it’s an easy transition, I promise. It’s like your overweight wife dies, but her hot model friend wants to date you now, it may be a big step to move on, but you’ll be happier in the end.
Along with a new computer with Windows 7, we are happy to let you know that Microsoft has told everyone that their new Operating System, Windows 10, will be available FOR FREE to anyone with a Windows 7 or higher OS for the first year only. And trust me when I tell you that Windows 10 shall be light years ahead of Windows 8, bringing back the start bar, and your normal desktop! I have used this new operating system already, and it is great. Not to mention the coolest thing you’ve ever seen in your entire life, Microsoft Hololens! Check out the video below, IT IS AWESOME. If you look at any 1 thing on this blog today, check out this short video, as this product that seems amazing and unreal, will hit the shelves later THIS YEAR and is affordable between $400-$500
