“Consumer Electronics” collection
Find comprehensive evaluations of a wide range of electronic devices designed to enhance your home, office, and personal life. From advanced display technology to environmental monitoring tools, these reviews focus on accessible, high-quality technology for everyday use.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →October 28, 2011
How To Fix Applications Crashing After Upgrading to Apple iOS5 on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
The upgrade to Apple's iOS 5 is a few weeks behind us now and most people are up and running on it. And, now the iPhone 4S is out in the market and more people are migrating over from older iPhones to the new iPhone 4S. I haven't heard of too many issues as part of the upgrade process, though…
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October 17, 2011
iOS 5 Tips: Cell Data for Purchases, Custom Vibrations and Hourly Weather
Last week I talked about a few new tidbits and tricks in Apple's new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5 (enable Emoji keyboard, get the camera button to appear in the lock screen and how to launch the new built-in dictionary). I have 3 more pretty cool little tips and tricks this time around, namely: cellular data for…
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October 14, 2011
iOS 5 Tip: How to Enable the “Smiley” Emoticon or Emoji Keyboard in iOS 5
Here is another great (and fun) feature that is buried deep within iOS 5 for the iPhone and iPad. And, when I showed this to my daughters, they were SO excited about it! We all love emoticons or "smileys" as many people call them. Well, now you can actually activate an "international" keyboard that contains literally a hundred different graphical…
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October 14, 2011
iOS 5 Tip: How to Launch the New Built-in Dictionary on the iPhone or iPad
I keep uncovering lots of little surprises in Apple's new iOS 5 software released this week for the iPhone & iPad. Yesterday, it was the activation of the camera button on the iPhone's lock screen. This one is just as useful and is extremely helpful. Included in the OS is now a full-fledged dictionary (that even looks like the dictionary…
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October 13, 2011
iOS 5 Tip: How To Activate the Camera Button on the Lock Screen on your iPhone
With iOS 5 for the iPhone launching yesterday, there are a flurry of new features that are coming to light. There has been plenty of coverage of these but I thought that I would pick a couple that are particularly cool or helpful and briefly discuss them. One of these is the camera button on the lock screen. Of all of…
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October 4, 2011
D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Wireless Router – Advanced Configurations & Stability at an Attractive Price
I love WiFi routers. I'm not sure why. But I have about 3 or 4 of them running in my house. Some are providing WiFi networks for all of the people in the family and the other connected devices as well, while others are set up as back-up or private, and only used occasionally. I probably have a lot of…
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September 26, 2011
Waging War on Pollen, Dust, Bacteria, Mold, Germs & More with the Honeywell Air Purifier HHT-145
Sneezing, coughing and runny noses as night. Itchy eyes with tears being squeezed out. My daughters have had allergies all spring and summer and it was particularly worse this year because of the longer rainy season and the larger amounts of pollen in the air. So I brought some big air defense weaponry in to battle these tiny, annoying irritants,…
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September 23, 2011
A Tablet for Babies? The VINCI Tablet Gives Toddlers a Jump Start on Touchscreens
A few weeks ago I received a pre-production version of a new tablet targeted toward children ages 2-4 or so called the "VINCI Tab". I had been dying to review an Android-based tablet, but the VINCI threw me for an unexpected curve. It really is not what you might expect. While it is technically a tablet, it is really a…
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September 19, 2011
The Schizophrenia that is Netflix…er…Qwikster…uh…Netster…QwikFlix?
I have been a Netflix user for many many years. My account says 2007 but I actually started my service before that time, stopped and then restarted it. My family finds Netflix to be indispensable and we use both services, streaming and physical DVDs regularly. Every TV in our house has access to Netflix, in fact, we did some "cord…
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September 12, 2011
Moshi’s USB to Ethernet Adapter Makes the MacBook Air Even More Perfect
As I write this post on my Apple MacBook Air, I really struggle to think of things that would make it better. It's pretty much a near-perfect laptop in my opinion. It's lightweight, fast and has a good battery-life. It's a bit pricey but it seems to be holding its own pretty well within this new "Ultrabook" space. Honestly, I…
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August 25, 2011
10 Things Steve Jobs Has Done for Parents
With Steve Jobs announcing that he will be stepping down as CEO of Apple, I took some time to reflect on how Steve and Apple have impacted my life as a parent, specifically, a "High Tech Dad." In my household, Apple products reign. Each of my children use Apple laptops or desktops, and each one has either an iPhone, iPod…
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August 22, 2011
How To Easily Remove, Replace & Install an Apple iPhone 4 Battery
I have done quite a few installs and hardware replacements in my time, but never have I found an easier project than to replace the battery of an iPhone 4. As with many of my previous iPhones, I tend to blow through the batteries pretty quickly. Some of the signs that you have an aging battery are: battery drains faster…
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