Categories
News

Spark: The Social News Network

photoSpark is working to make strides to revolutionize the consumption of news. The new app allows users to share and read articles posted by friends from sources such as The New York Times and Medium.com. Spark’s aesthetically pleasing interface takes a minimalist approach allowing the user to focus on the content and easily navigate through the application.

This application divides articles into timelines (home, spark, fire) promoting articles within the network of users followed as well as trending articles. Users are encouraged to post intriguing articles, the more likes and comments brings the possibility of an article to catch “Fire” on the Fire timeline.  Overall, Spark offers an intuitive user interface and personalized news. Download Spark on the App Store today!

For more on Spark visit thesparkapp.com

Categories
Reviews

Review: Bowers and Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones

While Beats by Dr. Dre are becoming very popular with the younger generation, adults are wondering, “What kind of headphones should I get?” Most adults don’t want to be wearing big flashy headphones. They want something classier, and that is exactly what the C5s have — a lot of class.

 

Look:

The Bowers & Wilkins C5 do not disappoint with the very classy and elegant look that B&W is so famous for. The earbud itself is bullet shaped and comes with some very nice ear tips. The one down fall in the earbuds look is the micro porous filter, that when hit by lights looks like a bunch of mini diamonds, making it look flashy instead of classy. Another downfall of the C5s is the wire that feels rather weak and flimsy.

 

 

Features:

There are also very many special features of the C5s. For example, the micro porous filter (on the back of the earbuds) are made up of hundreds of mini steel balls and makes your music sound like you’re at a live concert.  The MFI Cable that the C5s use is Apple approved and has a remote control/microphone.

Bowers and Wilkins claims that their C5s have a perfect fit and so far they are right as they stay put in your ears and do not fall out allowing you to move around. Many people who have looked at the C5’s ear loops may be wondering how they fit in and if they are comfortable. The C5s fit in your ear similar to the Sennheiser ear fin design. With the Sennheiser, the fin rests inside the ear’s inner groove. However, the C5s ear loop goes from the middle of the inner ear groove to the bottom providing a more snug fit. If you would like to have a less snug fit, you can adjust the secure loop. The C5s’ snug fit does take a while to get used to.

 

Sound Quality:

The sound quality is astounding! The bass of the C5s are powerful without sacrificing the clarity of the vocals and background music. The C5s are also great for listening to classical music making you feel like you are in a room listening to the orchestra. The only downfall I could find is a little distortion of vocals while turning the music up to full volume.

The C5s has fairly good noise isolation, especially because the ear tips seal the inside of your ear. However, it’s not perfect and I was still able to hear loud outside noises. B&W wants to make sure you can hear outside noise so that you can be aware of your surroundings, especially if you are out and about.

 

The Breakdown:

-Brand: Bowers and Wilkins

-Name: Bowers and Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones

-Price:  $180 USD

– Frequency Range: 10Hz to 20kHz

-Color: Black/ Silver

-Intended for: iDevices with 3.5mm Stereo Mini Jack

-Cable Length: 1.2m

-Weight: 20g

-Special Features: Micro Porous Filter, Noise Isolation, and Secure Loop

-Comes With: a Semi-Hard Shell Case (Similar Design to the P5’s Case), and Four Total Pairs of Silicon Earbuds

Point-Scaled Grading:

For reviews of all products by The Real Mac Genius.com, a point-scale grading system is used to cover each individual aspect of the product. Said grades on varying scales are then weighed to determine a final score, which is then translated to an overall grade, as follows:

Style: 1-25 Given: 24
Price: 1-15 Given: 10
Quality materials: 1-15 Given: 13
Sound Quality: 1-10 Given: 10
Modern technologies: 1-15 Given: 15
Compatibility: 1-15 Given: 15
Comfort: 1-5 Given: 4

OVERALL: 91/100 A-
For further explanation, continue reading.

 

Continued Evaluation:

All in all, the Bowers and Wilkins C5 are a great buy for anyone looking for a pair of quality earbuds that sound great, look great, and feel great. But with everything great, there are some downfalls like the $180 price tag, the shine of the porous filters, and the need to get used to the snug fit of the earbuds.

 

What do you think about the Bowers and Wilkins C5? Let us know, give us your feedback.

Stay connected at my new twitter handle to stay updated 24/7 @TRMGaveragejoes and @realmacgenius What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.

 

 

 

Categories
News Reviews

How to use OS X Mavericks 101

 

 

OS X Mavericks Intro

 

The latest version of OS X has brought even more comfort to Mac Users. The powerful OS X Mavericks has so many new features that you may miss some of them if you’re not careful. So to help you become a Mavericks expert, we’ve decided to provide you a few tips and tricks for more efficient use of the new operating system.

Finder

By pressing Command + T, now you can open tabs in your finder, a lot like browser tabs in Safari. Furthermore, the previous Mac OS X Lion Finder could label folders and files with various colors. Now with Mavericks, these color labels could be assigned specific meanings under Finder Preferences.

Notifications

Few years ago, Apple enabled notifications from websites on Safari. Now, these notifications can be delivered even without having to be on the website that is sending the notification. These notifications can be managed under Safari preferences. Mavericks also allows a Do Not Disturb Mode which can be set under System preferences. This allows you to be free from notifications disturbing you for a certain period of time. In addition, Update notifications can be delayed through clicking the Later button on the Update notification.

Performance

App Nap  is a new feature that aims to extend battery life while enhancing overall performance. The App senses windows behind others and slows them down until they are switched back in to main focus. For example a video will stop playing once it is not visible in the window, to save power. In addition, the new OS X automatically frees up memory space when needed and compresses memory of other applications when inactive.

OS X Mavericks App Nap

Want to learn more about the OS X Mavericks?

Check out: http://www.apple.com/osx/advanced-technologies/

 

 

Categories
Average Joe's Tips

‘Geeking’ out with GeekTool

There are many different things that you can do with a Mac OS X desktop. For example, you could use your screensaver to run in the background, a picture of your pet, or something pretty amazing for us geeks called GeekTool.

Categories
Opinion

What’s in it for Apple? A financial outlook:

Let me preface this article by saying that I am by no means an expert in finance, risk calculation, or the current state of the stock market. That said, I think there has been a lot of jumbled advice being thrown around about Apple (AAPL) in the past few weeks, and I mean to throw in my two cents about the company with a little bit more resolve. Take it how you please.

Apple Stock 2009 to 2013

As most investors know, for the last 4 years Apple has been an incredibly profitable company to invest in, provided you invested correctly.  The stock was at a 52-week low in 2009 at about $90, shooting up to a high of $705 in 2012. However, since 2012, the stock price has plummeted to what seems an improbable low of around $450 for what once was the most valuable company in the world. Provided you bought apple in 2009 and sold in 2012, you would have made 780% of your initial investment. But what caused Apple to shed over 35% of its value over the last few months? That is the most important step to figuring out what to do with the stock.

I’d like you to picture Apple in 10 years. Go ahead; close your eyes and picture where you see the white knight in the year 2023.

For some, Apple is dead. Crushed under the weight of behemoth companies such as Samsung in a rivalry for market share, without its captain of creativity, Steve Jobs, at the vanguard – unable to compete in an increasingly competitive market. For others, whom I like to call the ‘dreamers,’ Apple has regained its near monopoly in the gadget market, despite no longer being the clear leader for high tech niche products.

I am currently sided with the former opinion in the long-run, as much as I’d like to be a dreamer. However, in the short- to-medium run (the next few months), I’m actually quite optimistic about Apple. Provided Apple doesn’t throw a curveball at investors, I see Apple rising moderately through these unstable times. From March 13th to March 22nd, Apple consistently beat out companies such as Google (GOOG) and Dell (DELL) and made gains on bearish days where almost every tech company fell in value. Popular opinion has Apple at a ‘tentative buy,’ and other sources advocate a vehement avoidance of the company. Why am I buying Apple?

Well, we should look to two reasons: trends and context.

Trend-wise, Apple looks good. The company has fallen from it’s previous high but looks to be on track for some serious gains. Context-wise, Apple has been facing serious rivalry from Samsung, but I believe the current overwhelming popularity of the iPhone in countries such as China is not adequately reflected in its stock price. Therefore, I believe the company is undervalued, and is a “buy.”

However, I’d like to remind you that I’m talking short-run to medium-run here, meaning over the next month or two, I expect Apple’s stock to reach  500 to 550 dollars a share, which is when I will sell, ceteris paribus.

After that, I likely won’t be touching the company with a 50-foot pole, depending on the exact circumstances of the company’s outlook.

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of Therealmacgenius.com. However, we encourage you to take caution with your investments and therefore we hold no liability in losses. Material taken from this article is to be cited as from Therealmacgenius.com. Stock graph extracted from Yahoo! Finance 2013.