2000 - 2010, 10 years of Technology Holiday Gifts

Still thinking about what to give, here's 10 years of Technology must have gifts that were given between 2000 - 2010 Holiday Season

2000 - Pdas,(personal digital assistants - RIm 850).   Rio mp3 players, Computer Speakers, USB Thumb drives, iMac G3 Computer.

 2001 - SMS (short messaging services) was introduced. Headsets and ear buds for mobile phones, Handspring Treo smart phone (pds and phone combined into one).  Flat panel computer Monitors, Flat Screen LCD TV's (20 inch.).  iPod - "1,000 songs in your pocket" portable minidisk cd players.  Microsoft XBox. Bell ExpressVu 5100 PVR (Personal Video Recorder).

2002 - Bell Mobility launched, flip, swivel or sliding keyboard Mobile Phone with camera and internet connection were now available to customers.  Hot buy -  BlackBerry 5810 with thumb controls,  Sanyo cell phones.  Surround sound speakers and wireless computer routers, Windows compatible iPod, Nintendo Game Cube. Kodak Easy Share Digital Camera.

2003 - Bell TV Dual Tuner Digital Receiver.  Portable DVD players. Handheld video  cameras, BlackBerry 7230 smartphone. Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner

2004 -  Bell TV 6100 High Definition TV receiver.  Digital Sony Viao S260 Notebook.  Wide Screen TVs. Motorola Razr, iPod Mini, Samsung, Sanyo. LG and Nokia cell phones. USB Flash Drives. 

2005 - iPod Shuffle, BlackBerry mobile phone.  With a 100 song limit - Motororola Rokr incorporating iTunes, Sony VAIO Fj Notebook, wide screen laptops.  Sirius Satellite Radio. X Box 360 .
Handheld games Playstation  Portable and Nintento DS console.
Home Theaters - projectors and surround sound. 

2006 - Mini Camcorders, BlackBerry Pearl, Cell phones including email capabilities with built in camera and audio/video player.  Nintendo Wii.
In car DVD players. 

2007 - High Definition Plasma or LCD TVs, Sony Playstation3, Wii Fit, iPhone, iPod Touch, Canon EOS 400D aka the Canon Digital Rebel  XT Camera. Bell 9200 HD PVR Plus (Dual Tuner) Satellite Receiver.

2008 - Digitial Cameras, 8 GB iPod Nano in black, BlackBerry Curve/ Bold 9000. Bluetooth headsets, iPhone 3G.  Mac Book Air.

2009 -  Canon and Nikon Digital Cameras, iPads, Kindle, Palm Pre smartphone (exclusive to Bell) iPhone 3GS, video calling via the Samsung Galaxy S.

2010 - Netflix subscriptions, media centre, blu-ray players, Bell Mobile TV.  3D TV sets, 3D Movies (Chanel 1933  3D Vuon Bell TV) iPhone 4

Photographer credit -
Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

IPod Shuffle - image Credit :  Courtesy of Apple

Google becomes a teenager Happy 13th Birtthday

Today Google becomes a teenager, happy birthday 13 today.

Google filed for incorporation in Califormia on September 4th 1998.  The name Google was chosen by company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and is a play the words googol (The number 1 followed by 100 zeros).  By December of the same year Google were cited as being "a great search engine" by PC Magazine Online .  Eric Schmidt became CEO of  Google in 2001,  Larry became president of Products and Sergey president of Technology.

Commemorative Doodles around the Google Logo were introduced in 1998 and over the last 13 years there have been over 1000 doodles (700 international and 300 US designs)  The first Google doodle was a stick figure representing the Burning Man festival in Nevada.  See All Google Logo Doodles.   One of the most nostalgic doodles was an animated Pac-Man Google Logo  on the 22 May 2010.

Each year Google accept submissions to their Doodle 4 Google competition.

April 1st 2000 saw the first of Google's April Fools Day Pranks.  What elevates Google from just being a search engine is the sense of humour and personality displayed by the pranks, Easter Eggs that can be found within their services, the dressing up of the Pegman in Google Maps Street View and specialized Search Engine Options like Swedish Chef,  Images, Chuck Norris,  Klingon, and Gravity.

Since their humble beginning Google services have expanded to include Docs, Labs, AdWords, Directory, Blogs, AdSense, Translate, Analytics,  Nexus Android Phone, Gmail and much much more.

IBM 5150 Personal Computer (aka the PC)

IBM (International Business Machines) PC Model 5150 launched 30 years ago on 12 Aug 1981.  The computer featured an Intel 8088 4.77 MHz CPU, 40K Internal ROM Memory, standard user memory 16Kb, keyboard, built in speakers, cassette player jack. 


A TV set could be used as the display, alternatively a monitor could be connected to one of the 5 memory/display slots. The PC came loaded with Microsoft BASIC Interpreter, Disk Operating System (DOS) 1.0and these sotware programs  VisiCalc™, General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Easy Writer™, Microsoft Adventure Role Playing Game and communications software.

The basic model retailed at $1,565 (Approximately $4,000 today). The computer was sold through ComputerLand and Sears, Roebuck & Co stores.

Add ons: 
Monitor, bi directional dot matrix printer, additional 5 1/4" disk drive, joystick, light pen, game and software modules, extra user memory (up to a maximum of 256kb). 


IBM Archives: Product Fact Sheet

The IBM 5150 PC established itself as the industry standard with software, programs and hardware being created to be IBM compatible. IBM software and computers become an integral part the Space Shuttles first orbital flight.  


The PC found it's way into more and more homes, so much so, that today we also want computing capabilities on our mobile phones which isn't bad for a futuristic gadget that many people could not see being useful outside the office.

The Paper Phone on display at the CHI Conference 2011

At the Computer Human Interaction Conference this year ran from the 7th to the 12th May 2011 in Vancouver, BC. The Paper Phone creators: - Dr Roel Vertegaal, the Human Media Lab at Queen's University, Canada and Arizona State University's Motivational Environments Research group demonstrated their new product.

On the 10th May 2011 the prototype of the Paper Phone was placed on display.  The flexible mobile device uses e-ink techonology which will greatly extend battery life.   At present the Paper Phone recognizes 10  actions which are used when reading paper products - ie Thumbing corner forward or back to get to the page you want, bending gestures and by writing on it.

Credit: You Tube Video 

Human Media Lab

Apps to help find your Stolen or Lost smart phone

That moment when you realize that your mobile phone is either lost or stolen is not a pleasant one, these tacking apps are worth installing :

1.  BlackBerry:
     Available at the BlackBerry App World - The Phone Locator
     Does what it say will show you the location of your phone.


2.  iPhone:
    Available via iTunes - Find My Phone  
    Locate your phone, phone locking and the
    capability to remotely wipe data from your
    iphone or iPad.

3.  Android Models:
     Available from iTag - iTag
     Locate and lock your phone.
     Back up and wipe your personal data.

4.  Windows Phone7:
     Available as part of
     a Windows Phone 7 Account
     Log in to locate your mobile phone.


TIP -  When purchasing a mobile phone take out a Care Plan,  for Bell Smart Phones, too


Photo Credit : Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What to do with your used mobile phone

When your mobile phone is replaced with a newer model,
what do you do with your old one.

The answer - Recycle your mobile phone at the Bell store






Image Credit:
Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yuri Gagarin the first man in space

Fifty years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first cosmonaut in space on the 12th April 1961.  Shortly after his 27th birthday, he boarded the Russian Vostok 1 spacecraft and completed a 108 minute orbital flight.  He was born on the 9th March 1934 and died March 27th 1968. His ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin, Red Square.

Without the space program being pursued by Russian and the USA, satellite tv, mobile phones and GPS (global positioning systems) might never have been invented. 

Samsung R330

Specifications for the  Samsung R330
	Specifications Compatible with the EVDO network 1.3 megapixel camera Text and picture messaging Mobile Browser Bluetooth® 2.0 Speakerphone Internal memory: 30 MB Battery times: Standby: 525 hr; Talk: 8.8 hr Dual-band : 850 / 1900 MHz Tools: memos, alarm clock, calculator, calendar Available Colours: Black

Futuristic Cell Phones

Want to know what the future holds for cell and mobile phone designs.  Showcased here - Toxel.com - are their top ten choice of Futuristic Cell Phones.

Mobile Script Cell Phone Concept

Concepts for cell phones include :

1. Weather 
2. Mobile Script 
3. Projector 
4. Alarm Clock 
5. Pen 
6. Edge 
7. Grass 
8. Mechanical
9. Flexible
10. Ear

Beautiful, clean lines and wow.

 Creative Commons Attribution
With thanks to Aleksander Mukomelov
as featured on Industrial Design

Ring Tones for your Mobile Phone

Tired of the ring tones supplied with your mobile phone.

Zedge.net  have many alternative ones for download.  Funny, serious or musical ring tones for your mobile phone. 

Mobility Phone Cases and Accessories

After you have made an investment in a mobile phone it makes sense to protect the phone with a case.

Cases can be leather, gel, plastic.  Also it is worthwhile purchasing clear screen covers to help prevent the display from being scratched and additional charges.

Mobile Phone Accessories 

Text Messaging a Bell Mobility Cell Phone

Every wondered how to send text message to a Bell Mobility cell phone user. The answers easy
Bell Mobility Online Text Message Sender.  Just fill in the fields, enter the validation code and click send.

Texting Dictionary

Texting  using SMS  (Short Message Service) via your mobile phone or online can be confusing for new users.  Because users may be paying for text time, have limited screen visibility or find typing on the small keyborad and touch screens difficult,  it is important to keep messages short. Text messages contain many abbreviations.

The SMS Dictionary has the most frequently used ones listed. Text message can even be translated into other languages using this SMS Translator

Recycle your cell phone

Recycle your cell phone

 Want to dispose of your old mobile phone responsibly. Head to your nearest Bell store, hand your old cell phone in to their Bell Blue Box program and they will send it for recycling.

Net proceeds from the program are donated the the World Wildlife Fund of Canada.

Classic Bell Mobility Ad from 2003

Many people will be receiving mobile phones over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Current smartphones had humble beginnings. The sentiments in this commercial from 2003 hold as true today as they did then. 

Smartphone

A Smartphone is a mobile phone that has computing features.  Smartphones have internet capabilities plus integrated business applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel.  Calendar and address book entries can be synched with laptop or desk computers.

BlackBerry® Bold™
9000

Smartphones run on operating systems, which one depends on the make and model.  Currently the most popular operating systems are - Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS and Windows Mobile. 


For business professionals Smartphones are a necessity. 


See our Mobile Phone Models