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Samsung Propel The Samsung Propel comes to us by way of GI Contributing Editor Brandon Beatty, who owns the phone. In our time with it, we found it's not a bad handset to have. Call reception is clear and the display is quite nice, but the slide-out QWERTY keyboard is troublesome even for those of us who have small fingers. Also, the phone offers a robust set of features and is fairly reliable. It's not a smartphone but it is smartly priced for users on a budget. Price: Varies Where to buy: Samsung.com, eBay.com |
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technology |
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MP3 Rocket In need of a way to listen to Internet radio, GI stumbled upon MP3 Rocket. It's a little bit of everything all in one: Radio, TV and music player and YouTube downloader. Finding our way around the program wasn't difficult though the initial loading may be a bit much for those in a hurry. The Internet radio portion has a myriad of stations so whatever genre you're in the mood for shouldn't be a problem to find. The YouTube downloader portion is extremely easy to use and works without a hitch. Price: Free for basic; fee for pro version Where to download: www.download.com; www.mp3rocket.com |
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tech bits |
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Meg Whitman, former president and CEO of eBay, has taken over at computer maker Hewlett-Packard. Whitman, who unsuccessfully ran for governor of California in 2010, takes over for Leo Apotheker. The company also recently announced that it would not spin off its PC unit, a move that led to Apotheker's firing. Samsung has overtaken Apple as the world's top smartphone maker. The company, which produces the Galaxy and Galaxy S Android smartphones, jumped into the business last year and has seen a reported 44 percent jump in shipments for the July-to-September 2011 period. Samsung also has recently sold its hard disk division to Seagate Technology. Sony has completed a buyout of mobile partner Ericsson. The deal for Sony to reacquire full control of the mobile venture is reportedly worth $1.5 billion. Sony Ericsson was formed in 2001 and employs 7,500. Sony will reportedly join its mobile devices, household devices and mobile phones together under the same division. |
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Scribefire ScribeFire is an excellent choice for remote blogging through FireFox addons. It's been continuously updated since at least 2008 and is fairly stable. In our tests with it, we've updated our personal blogs as well as Gaming Insurrection's blogs quickly and efficiently. The main and most impressive feature of ScribeFire is the fact that it enables blogging without having to login directly to a platform. The add-on doesn't use a ton of space in memory and can be conveniently hidden away as a small icon within FireFox's display. Settings wise, you can save your login information for quick posting, and it works extremely well with most blogging platforms such as Wordpress, LiveJournal and Blogger. |
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Saying goodbye to a legend I barely knew |
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By Lyndsey Mosley / Gaming Insurrection By now, everyone knows that Steve Jobs, the mercurial leader of Apple, has died. It's been three months since the man, who brought Apple back from the brink of destruction in late '90s, died. I'm going to say a few words about Jobs not because I knew him; I didn't. I don't even use his products, really. But, he was important enough that he touched my life in other ways besides iPods, iPads and other sundry things. He was a visionary who knew when to lead, follow and get out of the way. No, I didn't personally know Jobs. He wouldn't know me from Jane on the street. As a matter of fact, I don't own anything Apple anymore. I used to have an iPod that belonged to my husband and I had iTunes installed on my old battered desktop from the ancient times of 2001. I even had iTunes on my laptop, but with the advent of Amazon's MP3 service, I said goodbye for good to Mr. Jobs. iTunes was, quite frankly, a pain in the ass. It was too big, bloated and its proprietary nature didn't really sit well with my MP3 player, which wasn't — gasp — a iPod. So, really, Jobs wasn't doing anything for me. But I had to respect the man. If there ever was a hype man that earned his living by making the masses sway with anticipation and bated breath because of “one more thing,” it was Jobs. Suddenly, I saw the light and I thought, well, maybe it's time to convert over to the Mac platform and join the rest of humanity that moonlights as graphic and page designers. But then I looked at the cost. 'Lord Jesus on high,' I thought, 'there is no way my poverty-stricken self is ever going to be able to afford the best of the best of the best. I can't afford Adobe products and I actually need those so how will I ever set foot in a mythic Apple store and buy a MacBook?' Not happening, I concluded. But I still respected the man. When the death of Mr. Jobs was announced on Oct. 5, I did my duty and I posted my condolences on Facebook. Jobs was someone to strive to be. He was smart, and he may have known it, but he was smart and right … a lot of the time. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps, took his intelligence and ran all the way to the bank with it. Even as a primarily Windows user, I have to admire the strength and ingenuity of a genius. So, here's to Steve Jobs. A man, a myth and most importantly, a visionary. Lyndsey Mosley is editor in chief of Gaming Insurrection. She one day dreams of affording a MacBook Air at editor@gaminginsurrection.com |
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Photo courtesy of Steve Jobs holds an iPad during a MacWorld demonstration in 2010. Jobs died Oct. 5, 2011. |