Ask and you shall receive, my friends! I am an InstaFreak when it comes to Instagram and they have given me what I've always wanted- access to my page online. In the next week, Instagram will be rolling out what they call Web Profiles- a new way to view and share your Instagram profile online. If you have your profile set to private, only those with current access will be allowed to view your page. You are unable to upload pictures online, however. Instagram says they are “focused on the production of photos from mobile devices so users are not currently able to upload from the web.” So what CAN you do as a user? You can share and edit your profile and you can also follow, comment and like other users’ photos. Looking at the web layout, it is very sleek and you can definitely see how their relationship with Facebook has influenced the user interface. Somewhat of an interactive cover gallery, the photos fade in and out and when you click on a photo, it reveals a lightbox that allows you to comment and like the photo, similar to that on Facebook. The photos are also broken down by month so you can quickly stream photos, giving you a peak into your life during that time. To see your web profile or to view a friend’s profile, simply head to instagram.com/username. For example, check out our Instagram page at instagram.com/geekswithoutglasses online. If you can’t view your profile at this time, no worries. Since this is launch week, Instagram will be rolling them all out, including yours, all week. So share your love of photos and filters with your friends and family and tell us- what do you think of the new web interface? And if you haven’t done so as yet, be sure to follow us on instagram!
 Today, Tech company, Apple is slated to make their highly anticipated iPhone 5 announcement which is rumored to bring hardware and software redesign. Later this month, iOS 6 will be release to the older and compatible iOS devices. One feature that I am hoping will help revolutionize the way we shop is called Passbook. Think digital storage for coupons, movie and concert tickets and your airline tickets. Yes, I am a part of the group of people who forgets their wallet but would cling to my iPhone. Crazy, I know. But wouldn't you love to see the day when you can talk, text, surf the 'net, and pay for that lunch salad, using one device? That time is now. Currently, using the Starbucks iPhone app, I can pay for my tall nonfat caramel macchiato, 2 sugars, 1 pump caramel, 1 pump vanilla, extra espresso shot, hold the whip (breathe) without digging into my wallet. Passbook will be able to do that and with potential, much more. Back in June at the WWDC, Apple gave us a sneak peak into what we can expect with Passbook. Apple's Description of Passbook:
"Your boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more are now all in one place. With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon. You can also see when your coupons expire, where your concert seats are, and the balance left on that all-important coffee bar card. Wake your iPhone or iPod touch, and passes appear on your Lock screen at the appropriate time and place — like when you reach the airport or walk into the store to redeem your gift card or coupon. And if your gate changes after you’ve checked in for your flight, Passbook will even alert you to make sure you’re not relaxing in the wrong terminal.”
For years, credit card companies have been trying to make something like this mainstream, but businesses have been reluctant to make the jump because has not been widely accepted, yet. Hopefully, with Apple delving into this new way of mobile transactions, bringing the millions of iPhone and iPod owners along with them, businesses will take notice and eagerly follow suit.
Word on the street is that Apple's newest iPhone has a release date. Apple is set to hold an Apple event to announce the release of the iPhone 5 on September 12 with products hitting the shelves on the 21st. The timing sound about right- last year the 4s was released on October 4th. Rumors as to what the new device will look like has been abundant. The new device will be the first to boast the new 19-pin power and control connector on its base, getting rid of that 30 pin that we have become so used to. That means all accessories, including docking stations, will become obsolete. We also hear that it plans to boast a larger screen, 4inches to be exact along with a bigger battery.
In addition to the iPhone, the controversial iPad mini is also reported to make it's debut on that day as well. It seems as though Apple plans to toss a device in the ring to the compete with the fellas in the 7inch category, making it affordable and packing the same punch as it's 9.5 counterpart.
I'm looking forward to seeing what goodies Apple has in store. Are you?
Tick Tock Tick Tock. Time is winding down as tax day gets closer. This, by the way, is April 17th this year. Are you still trying to steal a passing moment to file your forms? Well, grab your 1040EZ, your smartphone and a coffee break and let me help you. I have some apps that are safe, secure and simple enough to use to help you file in time and avoid the wrath of your favorite Uncle, Sam.
 H&R Block at HomeFree is a word we all love to hear. And this app put the ‘free’ in freedom with a quick easy step by step process. Free to download, free to prepare, free to print, and free to e-file from your phone. Take a picture of your W-2 and upload it into your return. Its that easy and you are guaranteed 100% accurate calculation. You can also keep track of your return with status alerts making you free of worry. You can download this app for your iPhone or Android devices.
 Turbo TaxThis app is optimized for the on-the-go kind of person. With a quick snap of your W-2, Turbo Tax does the rest by pulling all of your info and automatically entering in the data for you. After a few simple questions, the app will then file your taxes for you. If you have a more complex filing, TurboTax for iPad will be the better choice, as it offer more features including the ability to transfer last year’s returns and income data. Both iPhone and iPad versions also offer personalized advice from the experts. While the app on both Apple and Android devices are free to download, you do have to pay to file your forms.
So in the last two weeks, Instagram has been making serious moves. First, they opened their arms to the throngs of Android users, forcing iPhone users to (gulp)….share. And now yesterday, it was announced that Instagram and Facebook got hitched. Many aren’t taking the double whammies too well and are looking for the nearest exit.
Now, personally, I like Instagram and don’t care who they are married to. I am still getting use to the ‘new kids on the block’ befriending me, but I will deal. However, I know that not everyone wants to deal with a crowded relationship. (If three is a crowd, I wonder what four is.) So here is some advice on some other alternatives.
Hipstamatic
 Considered the OG in the vintage filter world, Hipstamatic has been around this long for a reason. It works. It gives you that real-time vintage feel and allows you to swap lenses, flashes and films for hundreds of different effects. Like most, you can share with other social networking sites, including your soon to be ex. You get what you pay for and for $2, you are getting quite a lot with this app. Retro Camera Plus
 So you like you what Hipstamatic has to offer, but not quite feeling the price? Try Retro Camera Plus. It boasts five cameras, 5 sets of vintage vignetting and a host of other options. Best of all it is free. PicPlz
 PicPlz is a popular alternative because it mimics the social photo sharing style that many love with Instagram. You can follow friends from Twitter and Facebook, "like" and leave comments on their photos. You also have other neat features like drawing, flipping your pics, repairing redeye and adding memes. One thing that I really do like about this app is that it allows friends to like your photo and leave comments if they click your photo’s link from a pc. You can't do that with Instagram. Oh and another great thing about this app – its free! Camera+
 There are casual photographers and then there are hardcore photographers. For you hardcore photogs, this app is for you. Boasting tons of filters and editing tools, you can really get the best images out of your iPhone with this app. It cost $1 and if you put this app to the test, you will see that it is worth the price. Do you know of any more Instagram alternatives? Let us know in the comments.
What can you buy with $1 billion dollars? And island? Private jets? How about a very popular up and coming social networking app? Yup, for a cool $1 billion dollars in cash and stock, Facebook has bought out Instagram. Mark Zuckerburg minutes ago on his Facebook page made an announcement regarding the acquisition: I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.
For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.
We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.
We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.
These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.
We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together.
Many have long ago said that Instagram was a threat to Facebook..and this was when it was an iPhone-only application. Now that it has opened up their doors to Android users, that only sweetens the deal.
 Just like you, I love to scour the internet in search of interesting articles to read about tech and other stuff. When I do find something I think is interesting and worth reading, I want to share that with you. Like this article for example… So, you ever wondered why laptops aren’t as TSA friendly as tablets. Which device falls get in which category and for what reason? Matt Richtel ( @mrichtel) a journalist at the NY Times attempts to answer this very question. And we even see what TSA has to say or not say on the matter.
You almost get the feeling that Android users has been milling around the Instagram doors for years hoping to get into the iPhone only club. Since October 2010 Instagram has made iPhone users VIP only and has now finally extended their services to the Android crowd. Instagram has even offered the ever so patient new users a new feature- Advanced Camera. This feature automatically resizes your photo, so you don’t have to, unlike the iPhone version that makes you do it manually. But before iPhone users get too upset, we still have the tilt shift feature where you can focus on the area of interest while blurring the rest of the picture. Also, the Android version doesn’t have the ability to view a live preview of a filter..not a major issue but some people actually like viewing a live version before taking the shot. So yea, we finally let Android users get in on the fun…since you begged for it. And it is free. Are there any Android users that are already using Instagram for Android? Is it everything you longed for? Let us know below.
This past weekend, I engaged in a healthy debate about what the future of technology will look like. Who will be the leaders and who will be a forgotten thought that will only make cameo appearances in those nostalgic 'Do you remember' conversations. The one company that garnered excitement was that of Microsoft. With the consumer preview release of Windows 8, we are really rooting for Microsoft to come out the gate swinging with the highly anticipated operating system. Over the past couple years, Microsoft has struggled a bit to maintain relevance on the tech playground where Google and Apple are the cool kids.
 Though in Beta form, I can see potential in Windows 8. With a quick install this past Saturday, I was able to play around with it for a bit. You can obviously tell it is still in the beta stage and you couldn’t really take it on the open road and really step on the gas. But that is understandable...for it is still in Preview Mode. I say it like that because I have been reading some of the unnecessary complaints about it being limited in functionality. But for what I see so far...it played into that need and I can't wait to get it on the highway. I like Metro, love the seamless design and I somehow never actually missed a start button. I feel like I am getting that tablet experience…on a desktop. Not a bad feeling because I am a sucker for sleek interfaces that makes me feel like I am in a command station in one of those futuristic movies. But not everyone will share that same feeling and go for the re-imagined system. While I am happy to live life without a start button, others need one (security blanket, perhaps?). Similar to the new OS’s integration of the touch screen fans and the keyboard and mouse loyals of the world, I feel like Microsoft shouldn’t swim too far out to sea doing something so different that you lose sight of those who love the Microsoft of old. Many companies fail by trying to beat Google and Apple by trying to BE Google or Apple. Just as in other areas of life, being the best YOU is the goal Microsoft should strive towards. You gain followers and keep those who have always been in your corner. Have you guys given 8 a test run? What are your thoughts? From where I sit, I think Microsoft is positioning itself to be a good competitor for the “others”.
Today Apple held it’s event where it release the new iPad. It will be available on March 16th . Interesting thing is- Preorders start TODAY. This goes for US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
Here are some of the big features that Tim Cook presented today:
* Retina display – 264ppi, it is 2048 x 1536, making it “the most ever in a mobile device” 40% better color saturation;
* A5X processor, the A5X is twice as fast as the Tegra 3;
* New Camera- iSight Camera is 5 megapixel backside illuminated sensor on the back, 5 element lens, IR filter, and ISP built into the A5X chip….same as the iPhone 4S;
*1080p Video recording- (not quite sure if I will be holding up my iPad to film a clip of video at a concert but great to have, I guess);
* Voice dictation- just like the 4S, you will be see the microphone key on the bottom of the keypad. Supports US English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese;
* 4G LTE. Currently the iPad 2 has 3.1 Mbps on EV-Do, 7.2 on HSPA. With LTE the new iPad will have 21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps with LTE taking the cake at 73Mbps;
* iPad as a personal hotspot….if your carrier supports it;
* Battery life is still 10 hours using 4G;
* Physical home button still remains.
So there you have it guys, the new iPad. What do you think about it? More or less than what you expected? And most importantly, are you planning on getting one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section!
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