Following tech with the consumer in mind » Tech Reviews

Custom High Performance Computers

techconsumer — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:50:50 +0000

If you’ve ever wanted to own a computer that is a real workhorse when it comes to processing power, check out this sponsored post for Cryo Performance Computing. This company offers high end computers to be used by the most demanding of applications, including video gaming, mathematical and graphics modelling, photography, multimedia and audio. The types of computers offered by Cryo Computing are built to outperform the typical computer from mainstream manufacturers by 30-50%. Their systems can be tailored to individual requirements, for instance by adding specialized high end cooling and overclocking technologies.

Cryo Computing has been in business for over 20 years and they pride themselves on building high performance systems that are also reliable and scalable. In order to provide the optimal products, the company is utilizing the services of professionals with a combined knowledge in such fields as: semiconductors and electronics, thermodynamics, GRID and MESH computing, software engineering, and others. The computers contain the most advanced hardware and software in order to make them as future-proof as possible, while allowing for upgrades when the need arises. Additionally, the prices per system are kept relatively low, considering the amount of technology and know-how that is involved.

If you are interested in your very own super computer, do take a look at the Cryo Computing website http://www.cryopc.co.uk/

Looking Into VoIP

techconsumer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:17:28 +0000

A lot of my friends and the people I know have switched to, or at least tried out one of the various VoIP (Voice Over IP) phone services over the last few years. It’s a technology that has certainly made an impact in the phone market, and can result in significantly lower phone bills (especially for long distance). As someone who makes a large number of long distance phone calls, I am starting to seriously consider moving over to a VoIP provider.

As when choosing any service, its important to review the different companies available, the features they offer and their pricing plans. One that I am considering is the VoIP service from a company called Lingo. I found an absolute boatload of information on Lingo Voip as well as many other Voip providers on a website called www.voipinreview.com. The website offers information on the pros, cons, expenses, consumer opinions and more on a variety of Voip providers. I certainly recommend that you check them out when doing your search for a phone provider.

As far as Lingo Phone specifically, I found some interesting information regarding the services they provide. For example, they offer a money-back guarantee (which I always appreciate), as well as some exceptionally affordable plans. The Lingo service also comes with all the features most users will ever need, such as caller ID, voice mail, and call waiting. From everything I have researched on them, they do seem like a good service to try out — especially with that money-back promise!

Have You Tapped Into Mobile Marketing?

techconsumer — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:17:42 +0000

I’ve been researching mobile marketing for a little while now, and wanted to share with you all a company called Cellit, which provides a variety of innovative solutions in this sector. With the growing popularity of mobile web use, due largely to devices such as the Blackberry and iPhone, its becoming increasingly important to be able to market to the growing mobile internet user-base.

Cellit is a good choice for small and large companies alike, or even independent business owners. Their website has an abundance of information regarding the mobile marketing services they offer, and makes it easy to understand how to use their tools, as well as what kind of results to expect. Small companies are able to use their affiliated websites to oversee campaigns in detail, for hands on information.

However if you are employed by, or involved in the management large corporation, Cellit has products that will appeal to your company as well. In fact, they have experience in working with very large and respected corporations, such as HSBC. This speaks to how professional, advanced and well-implemented their services are.

Now, Cellit offers a variety of products, so I thought I’d mention a few of them that I found particularly innovative and potentially useful for those of you reading, because they really do offer some neat products.

The first of which is Cellit Studio, which is an assortment of easy-to-use mobile marketing tools that are surprisingly affordable. For a small monthly fee, a business could simply use Cellit Studio and painlessly tap into the expanding mobile internet marketplace. Importantly, users are able to track their efforts in order to see first-hand the results of mobile advertising.

The second tool I would mention is called House4Cell, which is one I found particular clever, and can see becoming a must-have tool for those involved in the buying and selling of real estate. What it does is allow real estate agents to send property information in relation to their listings, to a customer’s mobile phone. This information can include everything from pricing, photos, and important home details, which can be updated accordingly.

Also, make sure you take a look at CouponZap which is a solution allowing businesses to create mobile coupons for their customers to use, as well as SMS solutions in the way of text messaging alerts, which can create buzz and additional business patronage.

Overall, Cellit Mobile Marketing is offering creative solutions that I just haven’t seen elsewhere, and in a world where more and more people are utilizing smartphones and PDAs for their information gathering needs, business owners need to be targeting the mobile market.

Shopping for Computer Products

techconsumer — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:13:32 +0000

It is common these days for online consumers to look for good deals when shopping for technology products. The website everythingoutlet.com offers a wide array of high tech products at discounted prices. The prices are discounted at 40-75% off of retail rates.

The site is divided into 5 sections: Software, Hardware, Downloads, DVD, and Video Games.

The software section lists many applications, such as best antivirus software as well as graphics, educational, business and Mac software.

The hardware section lists such products as laptop batteries, Firewire cables, iPod accessories and more.

The downloads section lists such applications as Spyware Doctor, ScanSoft PDF Converter, DVD Ripper Copy Pro and more.

The next tab lists both DVD movies and TV shows.

The last tab lists various video game titles for Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo.

The website also offers bargain sections for $1 and $5 deals. Additionally, there is a resource page which lists many relevant links to other software, hardware as well as hobby sites.

Also, shipping starts at a low price of $4.00 and is free for orders above $100, there are coupons you can receive for additional savings, and there is a 30-day money back guarantee with every product.

Notably, the site’s customer support is solid and even offers a live chat service.

Shopping for Hardware Tools Online

techconsumer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:49:36 +0000

This post is for anyone interested in buying hardware tools. As with any endeavor, having the right tools is crucial to fix a problem. Conversely, it is very difficult if not impossible to achieve a goal involving technical work with wrong or mediocre tools.

Prior to the invention of the Internet in the early 1990′s, it would have required a visit to one and possibly more hardware stores. The Internet has ushered in a new way for buyers to find out which products are best suited for a given task and where to shop for the best prices, offline or at an online store.

As an example, SJDiscountTools.com offers a one stop shop for all types of hardware equipment. The website offers products from some of the most renowned tool manufacturers, such as: Hanson, SK Hand Tools, Robinair, KD Tools and others.

Some of the many hardware tools available for online purchase include: nail guns, drills, Spring Compressor tools for car repair, generators, polishers and many others.

The site also offers a blog that displays various auto repair videos, acting as a visual resource for people to refer to. Such useful information was not available prior to the introduction of the Internet.

Technology To Keep Safe

techconsumer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:05:53 +0000

When most people think of technology they think of the latest gadgets and toys, but its important to remember the value of other kinds of tech as well. You know, the stuff that really matters, such as the kind of tech that helps to protect our homes as well as our loved ones. Having a proper home security system installed can bring peace of mind, in knowing that you have done all you can to protect your household.

That’s why when I came across a great e-commerce website that offers a variety of home security products, I wanted to share it here with you all. In fact, the word variety doesn’t even cover it – the website I’m talking about offers over 100,000 items – wow! The name is ProSecuritys, and its an easy to navigate shopping portal which sells a full range of security equipment from security systems to brackets and mounts.

One item I liked in particular was a security camera offered (and there’s a huge selection of those, too, so you can find one that’s right for your needs) which has a 360 degree span, is able to provide video transmission, and is capable of 64 programmable presets. I really didn’t know that security camera technology such as this was readily available, and I’ll definitely be beefing up the system I have here.

Interesting Cat Technology

techconsumer — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:26:08 +0000

Many owners of cats have at some point or another noticed that either stray cats or other unwanted invaders enter through the cat door. For example, the nuisance and the damage from stray cats that enter could be substantial, such as stealing food, spraying furniture and walls, and terrorizing their own cats.

The pet porte microchip cat flap solves this problem and accomplishes this without the use of a cumbersome or expensive collar.

While other cat flaps are available and use collar ID tags, they are ineffective since either cats can get inside wearing the same collar type or your cat can lose the collar and get stuck outside.

The PetPorte microchip cat flap is a good alternative since it uses the cat’s existing RFID implant to open the cat door instantly. PetPorte scans the environment at 20 times a second for quick response to the cat’s movements. There are even no batteries needed.

There are additional features such as a special door which prevents the cat’s paws from being trapped if it changes its mind about coming in or going out. It is also possible to change the light setting for the door to be unlocked in the morning and a timer for setting the number of seconds allowing the cat to get inside after a successful scanning.

A Time for Online Coupons

techconsumer — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:08:04 +0000

Online shopping has grown significantly since the early days of the Internet. The Internet offers many advantages for shoppers, such as saving time and avoiding having to find a parking space or battle mall shoppers. Nowadays, virtually any company has a website that offers its products online. Due to the high competition between e-commerce sites in addition to a looming recession, online businesses offer many deals, discounts and other incentives to attract customers.

Searching for online coupon codes prior to making a purchase is worth doing. The benefits of using coupons include:

* getting a certain percentage off the final price
* getting free shipping for the products
* receiving free items with the paid purchase

A good place to find such bargains is couponcodesmall.com. The site is user friendly in helping visitors find coupon codes for a given product. You can either use the ‘Top Stores’ links on the right side of the site, or the ‘stores’ tab, or simply type some keywords in the search field. The site also offers product and store reviews, as well as online shopping tips.

The companies listed on the site are reputable and include: Amazon, Best Buy, eBags, and many more. Amazon, for example, is a forutne 500 company that ever since its debut in 1995 has steadily grown to offer many consumer products such as books, electronics, clothes, etc’. Notably, Amazon Coupon Codes could save you a substantial amount of money.

The site’s visitors can also subscribe to the the RSS feed in order to stay informed whenever new offers become available.

Russia Stops Google’s Expansion

techconsumer — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:39:52 +0000

Although Sergey Brin is the Russian entrepreneur who helped start Google, he’s having a tough time convincing his former country men to approve a business deal with Google. The deal, valued at $140 million, was rejected by The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

Google was attempting to buy the Russian Internet advertising gian Zao Begun, currently partially owned by Rambler Media. Zao currently serves 143,000 Russian language sites. The proposed acquisition would enable Google to expand its advertising reach into Europe’s fastest growing Internet market.

Rambler is Google’s primary competitor in Russia’s Internet market. Rambler wants to incorporate Google’s AdSense ads in its own services, to take advantage of Russia’s 27% annual growth rate of the online community. Additionally, Rambler was actually planning to entirely buy out the entire company from Finama Bannatyne and only then sell it to Google.

ComScore, a web statistics service, is estimating that only 14% of the 142 million Russians are online. As a result, rejection by FAS is a big hurdle for Google’s attempts at an eastern expansion.

Don’t Be Down – Up Time Monitoring Software

techconsumer — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:23:15 +0000

As a webmaster, there are few things more frustrating than logging on to do some work, only to notice that one of my sites is down. Or, being involved in another project, only to be interrupted by customer emails telling me that they’re unable to access a website. Down time can mean a loss of readership, customers, and confidence in a business’ viability. It’s the online equivalent of a “closed” sign.

A lot of webmasters may not even be aware of how much downtime their website experiences, having a false sense of security by host company’s promises of up-time. We simply can’t all be at our computers twenty four seven (nor would we want to be), or afford to hire a team of people in order to enjoy around the clock coverage.

In that regard, I would recommend signing up for a free account with Internet Uptime Monitoring Server Software, as they will actively monitor your website at regular intervals and provide notification if the website is unavailable. The service is able to notify the user via text message, to ensure you’re alerted no matter where you are.

Besides the obvious advantage of knowing when your website is down, a benefit to using this software, is that you can get a better idea of how reliable your web host is, and if necessary, make the switch to a hosting company that will better deliver on their promises. Personally, I have several websites, both blogs and static sites, and need to know if they are off-line, so I use the service as a necessity.