New Technology TV

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles or want to spend a fortune for a decent wireless printer, the Dell B1160’s basic footprint uses up very little desk space and the WiFi connectivity works very good for multiple users operating on a single network. On a negative note and just so you will know right up front, no unit is perfect and all can not be personalized to your individual needs. While the unit only holds 150 sheets of paper, forcing more frequent refilling and hard-wired networking isn’t possible, its best use may be for the home network and not a small business due to its compact and limited design.

For household, dorm room, or private office needs, the budget friendly B1160w wireless laser printer is a good performer with a good price offering a moderate amount of printing before refilling in a personal use environment where wireless networks exist. If you have a home office or family household, you will benefit from the unit without spending an arm and a leg or taking up the whole desk for a place to put it.

Its limited paper sheet capacity, lack of Ethernet connection capability, and the fact that it can’t print card stock and envelopes keep it from being a workable unit ideal for medium or large business environments. Dell builds in a wireless device that offers mobile printing Apps for Android smartphones. If you are looking for a wireless printer and don’t want to break your monthly budget to buy it, you’ll enjoy the purchase and use of a $120 printer from Dell around your house.

The Dell B116w offers an extremely easy set up as it provides a comprehensive software guide along with the compactness of the unit. It’s measurements boast a mere 13 inches wide, 8.5 inches deep and reaches only 7 inches high leaving users plenty of workspace around it for your computer and other activities or devices. Dell’s conservative sleek and black design follow the norm for many laser printers and features a curved paper path while it places the output tray on the top of the small printer so users don’t have to worry with all the paper flying onto the floor when printing.

According to the specs, the Dell B116w is compatible with many Windows versions both 32 and 64 bit as well as Mac OS and Linux. The handy on-screen guide will walk you through the easy set up even if you are a novice user. While the printers moderate price tag defers the benefit of connecting multiple users from an Ethernet network, it is still great for personal use as most households are wireless now anyway.

While the printer does not have a true control panel, housing only two buttons, it is sufficient for the simple features of a monolaser unit. Basically, the controls are so easy to navigate that even the most inexperienced users won’t have a problem operating it.

With the court battle over patents still hanging in the balance between Apple and Samsung, the news of the unveiling of a smaller iPad may not help the relationship, or lack thereof, for the two competitors. The October 23rd scheduled event is expected to be about Apple’s smaller iPad that is expected to take on the lower-cost devices sold by Amazon and Google.

Apple stock rose almost $2 Friday as the announcement of the iPad mini tablet unveiling was reported as the news was expected much earlier. Analysts feel the move is in competition with the sale of the Microsoft Surface tablet, since it will be held just three days before the MSFT goes on sale. Is it possible that the iPad news was meant to over shadow the MSFT? This move pushes the likely release date of the new iPad into early November instead of late October.

What’s new with the iPad? Will the new 7.85 inch display and ultra-thin aluminum body with an anodized finish, similar to the iPhone 5, be a hit? The big guys from Wall Street have anticipated a smaller and less costly version of the iPad to push out cheaper devices, but they also feel it could hurt the Apple bottom line more than it helps, although it would prevent rivals from an increasing market segment.

Consumers look to the Amazon e-commerce market to pick up the Kindle Fire HD tablet and the Google version Nexus 7, which both come with 7 inch screens for under $200. Kindle Fire picked up almost 20 percent of the US tablet market last year. The Nexus 7 was also a hit as it sold out shortly after it was rolled out. While the source remains confidential, the news that Apple is going to unveil a major product days before the Windows 8 and Surface tablet on October 26 is suspicious timing.

An unnamed Wall Street analyst claims to have seen the iPad mini while in Asia. The source reported that the unit is a perfect size to hold in your hands and fit his sports coat perfectly making it a more mobile unit than previous versions. The smaller iPad could turn out to be a risk for Apple in that the Kindle Fire nor the Nexus 7 have made Google and Amazon a bundle of bucks. While the Kindle barely breaks even, there are a lot of sales of content, music, and books to balance it out. Google has also admitted there is no profit margin on the Nexus 7. Experts say that Apple would have to price its unit between $299 and $349 to maintain current margins, while the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are sold at $199.

Engineers say the biggest cost to a tablet is in the display, but with a smaller screen, it will be a little cheaper for the mini. The late Steve Jobs was not in favor of a smaller screen, but other officials within the firm believed there was a market for it. Jobs later warmed up to the idea according to sources within the company.

Although a press release is scheduled for October 23, Apple has not yet said anything about a smaller tablet, but industry watchers have believed for a while now that a mini will be released before the holidays.

Shopping for a mobile phone is about as hectic as choosing nail polish from hundreds of colors or picking out a new tablet with all the choices on the market today. Technology and features abound and yet each carrier and provider all say they offer the best products and services. They’ve even teamed up with iPhone and Android manufacturers to offer their phones directly through their carrier service. So how do you know which one is best? Go figure!

When considering a carrier, let’s look at what you are facing. There’s Verizon Wireless, the largest carrier in the US offering a 4G network and a very influential smartphone lineup to choose from. Next and the second biggest wireless carrier in the US is AT&T which was the first carrier to offer the iPhone and is currently expending it 4G network. And then there is Sprint that offers the push to talk devices for Nextel, as well as they were the first carrier in the US to offer 4G. On to T-Mobile and though the smallest major carrier, they provide competitively priced plans and extensive international roaming. There are also lesser significant carriers like MetroPCS, US Cellular, and Virgin Mobile.

All of these bring something unique to the market, keeping them in competition with each other and offering users an option to choose their preference.

Next you may have to decide which type of phone you wish to have. Smartphones are the latest technological phenomenon using apps, and games and using an operating system like Android iOS or Windows 7 so you can check email, browse, and stream movies all on one device.

Android was developed by Google and while supported by almost all handset mfg’s and carriers in the US, still offers access to Google apps and user customization. Windows Phone 7 obviously uses Windows 7 OS and is vastly improved with interface capabilities and new apps. Blackberry is better used for messaging applications with real time corporate email delivery and personal customization tools. The iPhone may be the most popular at this time due to social media influence, runs only the iOS but is easy to use and offers a broad array of apps and interface compatibility with other Apple devices.

Choosing a carrier, phone, and next the features you would like according to your usage is vitally important. Since customers are generally locked into a plan and phone for one to two years, it is important to choose the correct one that will meet your needs. Some users want a phone with GPS capabilities. Others want one that supports wireless broadband and thus 4G is a main focus. Certain people want Bluetooth in order to use a wireless headset, transmit files, or speaker phones to make hand-free calls. There are even those who need GSM to use overseas or full keyboards for business purposes.

It’s not an easy task to choose your carrier, phone, and features, but a task that warrants much research and a choice for the one that meets your needs as a user.

The government approved the creation of high speed wireless networks for future smartphones, tablets, and like devices that have yet to be designed. The members that make up the Federal Communications Commission held a unanimous vote to allow the reclaim of public airwaves that are currently used for broadcast TV and put them up for auction. The sale off will be used for wireless broadband networks for the future with part of the proceeds from sales being paid back to the broadcast entities.

Wondering what would prompt the government, for the first time ever, to pay to buy back public airwaves for the purpose of selling them to satisfy the need and demand for wireless internet capacity, which is running low? The commission has estimated that internet traffic will increase more than 30 fold by the year 2015, declaring that without additional airwaves to accommodate that traffic, consumers will have to deal with more dropped calls, slower downloads and connection issues.

The FCC will issue a set of guidelines by which the auctions will be conducted, one of which will be that the upfront sales will be voluntary in exchange for a portion of the proceeds from the resale auctions. The program details will soon be released for the space race of the 21st century which will bring on innovation and technology for it. While the auctions won’t take place until 2014, estimates on the proceeds say it could generate 15 billion in proceeds with 7 billion of that being used to build a nationwide emergency communications network, a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission that has not been done.

Telecommunications experts as well as internet and wireless companies are praising the move, but some television broadcasters are not jumping for joy and many say they are not interested in giving up their airwaves. Several years ago a similar program took place where broadcasters gave up large amounts of airwaves without any compensation and officials say that many of those airwaves have yet to be used.

Concerns from broadcast leaders fear that the auction may have misconstrued the idea that broadcasting is a declining industry which is not the case. CBS has made it clear that they are not interested in giving up their broadcast spectrum. However, sources and the FCC believe that there are plenty of smaller broadcasters with single stations in urban areas that might just be willing to give up their low profit margin market share for compensation.

There’s a host of details to work out, but the FCC plans to review its mobile spectrum ownership policies and decide whether it needs to revise policies on how much any one wireless telecommunications company can hold in a single geographic area. That amount is currently set to one third of and area’s available airwaves, and the giant companies want that number to increase while smaller wireless companies have expressed their desires to keep them the way they are.

Producers and TV manufacturers believed 3D to be the next revolutionary phenomenon to hit the home entertainment market. However, that technology has moved so fast that unless you have bought a new TV lately and even if you have, it may not be 3D ready. The economy may very well be one factor holding back 3DTV
And purchasing a 3D-ready unit for limited viewing, may not be a priority for consumers at this time besides the fact that analysts, manufacturers, and networks can only guess how many viewers are watching since viewer ratings from Nielson are not available due to the small audiences that can’t be measured.

Sources say that some productions like The Masters offered a lot of Tweets during the show indicating a lot of people tuned in, yet other events are extremely quiet. Current numbers show that under 115,000 homes in the US are tuning into 3D channels which is no where near what was expected by consumers and far less than the 20 million homes watching the highest rated shows currently on TV.

While sporting events may well be the most watched of the 3D channels, it is only one of nine launched since 2009. Only about two percent of TV’s in the US are 3D ready, but analysts expect the Christmas season to up that number significantly to maybe 20 million since most manufacturers include that technology in their models. Even with this increase, it would only raise the 3D consumer amount to around six percent of US homes.

Networks that produce 3D content say they may have jumped the gun on the technology too soon. 3D is more expensive to produce so the content has remained low and has not grown as market leaders thought it would. Many producers are not wondering if is is even worth the cost of production.

Not only does it cost more to produce, it costs more to be able to watch it. In today’s market, consumers would pay about $200 more for a 3D-ready 42 inch model. The technology is more expensive as it usually is featured on larger screen units. According to critics, consumers are not asking for it and don’t see a value in the extra cost.

Other added costs can be additional sets of glasses that are required from your TV manufacturer. Most come with at least two sets, but additional sets can cost as much as $50 or more. The 3D TV contains a high tech chip that interfaces with the glasses with video feeds to the right and left eyes to create a 3D effect. Additionally, movies on a disc requires a 3D Blue Ray player…hitting the consumer with another cost of about $150.

While these costs are significant to the consumer and most don’t see the benefit in the cost, most networks do not charge for 3D content provided you already have a high end package with them. To be or not to be? The life of 3DTV home entertainment may be the first flop in a long time.