TechCOW - The Geek Within

In technology news, the telecommunications giant AT&T is now cutting off 12,000 jobs in their staff amidst the US Financial Crisis. The said lay offs will take place in December and throughout 2009 together with their plans to cut back on capital spending. AT&T is not the only corporation that did this but since they are the largest one in America, this is big news. Their stocks also are going down 4% trading at only 24 dollars. This would hurt most of their internal investors. If you didn't know, they already signified that they slashed 4,900 jobs also this April and lots of them are in the management positions. They are suffering from the advancements in technology since land line units are obsolete and down 11 percent this year alone.

They will now concentrate on businesses that offer cell phone service and broadband Internet access. AT&T is the sole U.S. wireless carrier for Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone.

I'm trying to look for a camera that would perfectly be MINE this Christmas. I plan to buy myself one because I know it's going to be a long shot if I wait for somebody else to take that chance to give me one that I'd appreciate. Professional DSLR cameras these days are expensive. I know because I've seen some of my friends invest in these ones and I don't want to hear a horror story of my own later on.

A couple of things I read over reviews talk about things to consider in buying a camera. A good place to start when thinking about buying a DSLR is obviously price. DSLRs price range to some quite affordable but lower end to extremely high prices at the professional end. I saw my friend once holding an 80,000 peso camera. I mean you can already buy a second hand car for that right?! O_O We need to set a budget to purchase early on but make sure that we need to consider other costs of owning one including "Lenses". Some offer ‘kit lenses’ but you should consider upgrading in the future because as far as I know there will come a time that we would need a better performing camera and lens. I'll probably end up envying other people's cameras if I take on this hobby seriously. Batteries which all models will come with one but if you are travelling you might need a spare, and you can't order that and bring Motolite with you right?! Memory Cards which some models come with one but most are inadequate in terms of size. My phone even has one at 1 Gig but that's even proving to be too small for large pixel shooting. Camera Bags which some sellers would throw one in but of course we can't expect a high quality ‘free’ bag by Louis Vuitton, they will probably give me one that also has their name on it to some extent that it's like a walking advertisement. DSLR cams are worth protecting - so I know we I need to invest in a good bag. Extended Warranty's would also be nice so if I find something wrong with my camera as a noob then I'd be able to get that back and let them fix it right?

Last would be the BRAND... I'm not brandish but of course there are only a few that professional photographers would trust if it came to crunch time choosing their cameras. I hope I get one before the end of the year.

Hey! Guess what! I just read off a threat to Apple's IPHONE domination of the market. The new BLACKBERRY STORM is now checking in on the optimized touch screen technology that IPHONES already have. What big news for Blackberry lovers!

They promise a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology. Research in Motion Limited is the company that makes the Blackberry. In this new endeavor that they plan to undertake, they will still be employing the well known trademark e-mail-oriented phones with large keypads. Rumors say though that they will eventually give this up and settle for a larger screen once released. Improvements over IPHONE designs also will be implemented like the Storm's whole screen being backed by springs, and when pressed it will give in like a hot knife on butter... lolz kidding!

This device will be released by Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and from Vodafone Group PLC overseas. Once they do, they will also incorporate roaming capability that did not suffice when they released the former ones since they have different systems. Only AT&T had this service available. Storm more closely is like the desktop more than the iPhone does with its browser. That's because the touchscreen technology applied to it can distinguish between light touches and firm presses. A light touch can move around a cursor, while a firm press activates a link, much like moving a mouse cursor has a different effect from clicking a mouse button. Now isn't that just nice?

I just can't wait until this hits the market and I'll get one!

The Supreme court withheld the ruling of lower courts over the $74 million judgment against Dish Network Corp. for the patent violation againts TiVo Inc. They did not even comment on Dish Network's Appeal. Dish btw is the former Echostar Corporation that had softwares on it's DVR that had its structure and functions done the same as with Tivo. Now the company is going to find ways it would pay TIVO back. This ruling though had reversed the ruling of hardware infringement and only considers the software part of it. I know some people who work for Dish Network and if this is the case then they might be the ones greatly affected by this case. Their current customers however was assured by Dish Network that they would not be affected since they now have their own software that does not violate the federal governments standards. I just wish the corporation I know does not lose this account. It's the patent that mattered in this case... so advise to everyone, don't try it at all if its not yours okay? ^_^

Well, its finally here! Globe has released the pricelist for the famous IPHONE in the 3G market and will be starting around 41K Philippine Pesos. This would probably not cater to the ordinary Filipino since it is waaaay expensive. It costs too much compared to the IPHONE from the US which is around $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16 GB. Its even locked for 2 years I think so you are going to be stuck with the expensiveness that long. It has like free 500 pesos worth of load for five months I think which is still way off the mark. Take a look at it yourself... Here's a brochure!

Good luck to whoever wants to purchase this one! Its a huge disappointment for prepaid subscribers which Globe initially planned to market this as press released. This is for the wealthy ya heard! ^_^ I won't buy this, I'll wait for a better one!

As part of my commitment to the geekier side of KUMAGCOW, I decided to separate these into a new blog called TechCOW... still has a cow on it huh?! hahah

Not to spoil anything, I'll be reviewing gadgets, gizmo's and whatnot on this blog to satisfy my hunger for knowledge and advancements...I'll tell you straight to the point on who's better and who's not... I don't want to sugarcoat anything of course! So here I go....

I'll try this company first called NETGEAR...

Netgear has been in the SOHO market for such a long time. Many have attested to its line of wired and wireless products that they may say "is the best" or "the best". I'll try out some of it here...This router has its sleek and shiny design that can be also held upright by stands which in most cases is not the best position because it can easily topple over tables and stands which mostly what people at home use. I saw different perspectives of the stand and it does not guarantee what its used for so it really is quite dangerous to do this... not to mention if you break it you'll continue to be agonizing over its price... check out ebay for cheaper ones...

Standards for a firewall router are the same as with competitors, I wonder what other things a fee based firmware would add to that list. I am not so sure about the email alerts because I've seen quite a number of forums that discusses this device's failure to perform this function... I'd rather have that tested first in the lab... The WGR614 looks impressive in paper but most users would not recommend this one... There are horror stories of course... I guess it will be an on and off thing like other routers... understandable because most SOHO routers have functionality problems... believe me I know one that has those things but I won't tell of course! ^_^

We can probably discuss its functions on my next blog entries since I have introduced this enough... we will be discussing netgear in the next few posts and take each of these apart so we'll know who the best one is... The functions of this one later... and yeah wait till we test out other brands as well... ^_^ I won't bash, I'll just say the truth on it! No nonsense reviews from me yah heard!