Author: Joe Wilcox

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Google’s Sharing Spirit of the Season

Ho. Ho. Ho. Google gives early Christmas presents this holiday, by focusing on ways that families (or roomies) can better share that which is contextually precious: music, photos, online, payments, and videos. But Big G also trails Apple, which already offers its customers many of the same benefits.

Fresh today: Google Photos Shared Albums, which applies collaborative concepts that Apps users should find familiar. “People receiving the shared album can join to add their own photos and videos, and also get notifications when new pics are added”, according to the official announcement. “You can even save photos and videos from a shared album to your Google Photos library, so that you can hold onto them even if you weren’t the one holding the camera”. 

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Indochine My Morning

I can’t speak, nor do I comprehend, more than ten words of French. But I love this band’s music, nevertheless. At 10:45 PST this morning, Indochine streams live from Paris, and I am so down for it. Maybe I’ll Chromecast to the tellie from one device, while working on another (got lots of writing to do).

The live stream is one of the many benefits subscribing to Tidal, which now sells lossless albums, too. Oh la la. The $19.99 monthly service gets better and better. I hear the difference listening to tracks encoded with the 1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec versus AAC or MP3. 

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Pixel C ships in time for Christmas

The rumor is fact. Today, Google started selling its first homegrown tablet, Pixel C. You can buy one directly from the company—until they sell out! Google typically struggles stocking new devices, like Nexus smartphones and the Chromebook Pixel. On November 30th, I asked: “Where is Pixel C?“, which was promised to arrive before the holidays. Now we know.

I hope to have the 10.2-inch tablet in possession within a few days and will subsequently post first-impression and full reviews. If you can’t wait for that, and shouldn’t, larger tech news sites already have their takes online. Search for the name, and you will find them. Don’t wait on me, if you’re thinking about one for Christmas! 

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Flickr a Day 342: ‘Imagining’

On this day in 1980, former Beatles singer John Lennon was shot dead in New York. I lived in the city, coincidentally; I shared my remembrance on Dec. 8, 2005. (Man, I’ve been blogging for far too long.) The senseless murder created community mourning, which wave washed over me, despite not being a fervent Lennon fan. The Beatles appealed more. Uh-oh. My, daughter is the same age now as I was the day Lennon died. She appreciates the Fab Four more. Hehe, for Christmas 2014, i bought her a turntable and some Beatles vinyl.

Well, the context for today’s winner should be obvious now. I picked through hundreds of pics, including some taken during an all-day NYC Lennon songfest on this day two years ago, before deciding on self-titled “Imagining”, which is the ninth selfie in the series (see Days 15142160201, 261275310316). 

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HTC One A9 Review

So you bought iPhone 6. You love the understated styling of the aluminum enclosure and how the device feels in your hands. But iOS is a dog brain. It’s loyal and friendly, but you want more than a tail-wagger that needs to be let out to pee. HTC has your back, with the shockingly similar-looking One A9. The imitator gives you close-enough design benefits with the extra bang of the freshest Android (Marshmallow).

Over the Black-Friday-to-Cyber-Monday weekend, one in ten A9 buyers moved up from iPhone 6 or 6s series devices, according to HTC. The manufacturer has a holiday special ending Jan. 7, 2016 that allures some switchers. Trade-in one of the Apples for full discount off the A9’s purchase price (HTC mails a $499.99 check after receiving the old device). Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge traders get $200 and LG3 and LG4 owners $100.