Imagine this: you’re in a haunted house, having a frighteningly good time, when one of the performers bumps into you and knocks your phone out of your hands. It slowly tumbles to the ground, screen reflecting all sorts of monsters and ghouls, before WHACK! It lands perfectly face down. Scary, isn’t it?

Halloween is descending upon Florida! If you’re headed to any of the great, scary Halloween attractions in South or Central Florida with a broken phone, be sure to stop by iFixYouri to get it repaired in no time. Don’t be spooked; our technicians are experts at both fixing iPhones and busting ghosts. Our retail locations also carry all sorts of cases, perfect if you’re worried about dropping your phone while snapping some great costumes.

If you’re going to Moonfest in downtown West Palm Beach or Fright Nights at the South Florida Fairgrounds, iFixYouri on Okeechobee Blvd near I-95 is perfect; drop your phone off and our technicians will repair your screen or camera spooky fast! If you still need a costume, there are several halloween stores nearby. Your phone should be ready by the time you decide between the Harambe costume and the Donald Trump mask.

If you’re making the trip to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando, we have several stores in the Central Florida area ready to serve you! iFixYouri at the Mall at Millenia is minutes away from the Universal parks and resorts. Repairs done fast and in-house, just in time to get ready for the scariest event in Florida!

News, laptops

Apple Reveals New MacBook Pro with Pro Features (and a Very Pro Price)

October 28, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

Excited about the new MacBook Pro? Better start saving your shekels. Apple’s keynote speech had many rumors swirling around it that were conveniently leaked in the days prior, but there was still some buzz. That buzz was mostly unfounded, as the most surprising feature of the new MBP is the price: starts at $1500 and goes all the way to $2900! The “Pro” definitely needs to be emphasized, as that level of pricing only makes sense if you can write it off as a business expense. We’ll see what we’re dealing with in a moment, but let’s first cover the other events of the speech.

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The event opened with a video highlighting the accessibility features of Apple’s products. Check out their new site for more details. The video (available on the site) is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend watching it.

Tim Cook came out swinging with an Apple TV app: TV. No, that’s not an error. This app is sort of a meta-app, managing your numerous subscriptions to various video streaming services. It serves basically as a hub; if you have Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO, TV shows you where you left off or suggests the next episode on each show or movie within those services. So, if you were halfway through a Game of Thrones episode, selecting it in the TV app opens up the HBO GO app and resumes playing. We don’t envision it being used too often (except for streaming service power-users with 3+ subscriptions) but it is a neat concept. Siri on the Apple TV gets a boost but nothing mindblowing beyond learning the names of NFL teams. Speaking of NFL, watching games on Apple TV now allows you access to an on-screen curated Twitter feed about the game, showing blurbs and stats from major sports news outlets as well as humorous reactions from celebrities. Gimmicky? Yes. Cool? Also yes. If they bring that feature to NHL games, so I can see all sorts of derogatory memes against my beloved Maple Leafs, I’m on board.

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Now the main event: 13” and 15” MacBook Pro. Here’s a quick run-down of what’s new:

New trackpad that’s twice the size of the previous models, utilizing Force Touch (for hard-presses, similar to iPhone 3D Touch) and presumably some form of the Taptic Engine for feedback.
A new Retina display with 67% brighter and a 67% higher contrast ratio while consuming less power.
Four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, and any of them can be used for charging, docking, etc.
10 hours of battery life.

But the most important (to Apple) new feature is the Touch Bar, a multi-touch-sensitive Retina display across the top of the keyboard where the function keys normally are. The Touch Bar features context-sensitive buttons, providing handy shortcuts depending on what is currently happening on screen. You can do anything with the Touch Bar!, Apple is trying to say. To demonstrate this, they had a DJ perform a 30-second song using it with djay Pro, a photographer do some slick editing tricks in Photoshop, and a videographer assemble a short film on Final Cut. There are features in more commonly used apps, such as Safari: Touch Bar will show shortcuts and open tabs. Less impressive were an autocomplete feature, which is useless when all 10 fingers are typing at once, and an emoji list.

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On the far right of the Touch Bar is a Touch ID button, serving as both a power button and fingerprint verification. That’s right, Apple Pay comes to MacBook (new security specs to match). This also serves as a fast switch between users; just press your finger against it and, if you’re an authorized user, it quickly switches you over to your account.

Hardware-wise, it’s impressive but nothing mindblowing. No one buys MacBooks as high-end gaming computers so the specs should be sufficient.

The prices, however, are absolutely absurd. The 13” goes for $1799 and the 15” starts at $2399, with reports coming from Europe and Canada as costing up to twice as much there. It’s a massive price increase over the previous models without much to show for it. Apple is discontinuing the MacBook Air, for a good reason (the 13” model is lighter and thinner than the previous Air) but still impacting those who want a somewhat affordable MacBook without the high-end specs. The MacBook Pro is designed, and now definitely priced for, professionals, hence the Pro in the name. But there’s no new option for the casual user, save for Tim Cook’s half-mumbled consolation of a 13” model with only two Thunderbolt ports and no Touch Bar for the “bargain” price of $1499. You’ll be much better off repairing and/or upgrading your current MacBook and still saving a lot of money.

This last point seemed off. Apple is compromising? I feel as if the old Apple wouldn’t have offered a MacBook that did not include the centerpiece feature of the new line; sort of an “adapt or die” attitude that defined the company. I’m not one to start a whole “Steve Jobs Apple vs Tim Cook Apple” debate, but it seems very un-Apple to talk about innovation for an hour and then give the option of opting out of said innovation.

Employees, News, iFixYouri in Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Employee Spotlight: Steven

October 26, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

It’s Wednesday, so that means iFixYouri employee spotlight! Up this week is Steven, our warehouse computer repair specialist. After only three months with the company, he’s already responsible for the bulk of the laptops we get, including all the MacBooks that come in from our corporate clients. Steven caught the repairing bug at 13 when his PSP broke and, “too poor to get a new one,” he managed to fix it himself. Aside from cracking open MacBook Pros, Steven is a comic fan (he even draws them himself! [pictures below]) and a huge gym rat, emphasis on huge: he’s currently working on breaking the 1000lb barrier on his leg press. Stay awesome, Steven, you’re the shining soul of our HQ.

Employees, News

iFixYouri Gets Soldering at Maker Faire Orlando

October 25, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

Are you a maker? If so, we hope you didn’t miss out on the fantastic, fun, and educational exhibitions at Maker Faire Orlando this weekend! This year’s iteration of the popular international festival took place at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and featured over 300 “Makers,” defined as people from all walks of life who produce, design, and create all sorts of things.

Chris Johncke, iFixYouri founder and CEO, and Josh Dworning, general manager of our Winter Park location, enjoyed the creative festivities and even volunteered to teach the public how to solder electronics. The end result is a metal pin of the festival’s mascot, Makey the Robot, with flashing LEDs (featured image above). Here’s Josh in action.

“All differently experienced people (and kids) came by to learn,” according to Josh. “It was pretty rewarding with the kids because I could see their faces light up when the LEDs did, and they realized that they had built it.” See you next year, Orlando makers.

iFixYouri also provides their soldering services to the public via smartphone, tablet, and computer repair services at multiple Orlando locations.

More about Maker Faire Orlando

laptops

Ride into Valhalla, Shiny and Chrome(book)

October 21, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

If you’re looking for a quality, affordable laptop for you or a loved one, especially those in high school or college, it might be worth your time to consider a netbook. Acer and Samsung have two new options coming out in time for the holidays; the former designed to be affordable, and the other slightly less so. The caveat? They’re both Chromebooks, a further subcategory down the chain. So, what’s the difference between a laptop, a netbook, and a Chromebook?

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A netbook is a small, lightweight laptop, usually with unimpressive hardware and designed to be an inexpensive way to get online on-the-go. This accessibility has seen the category explode in popularity, competing steadily with full-size laptops. It doesn’t hurt that several of the top laptop producers are also selling a lot of netbooks themselves; all they have to do is scale down the tech. Netbooks aren’t without their downsides, however. One of the biggest issues is the Windows operating system. Windows is a full-feature software suite that takes a good while to load and boot up, especially in a device using lightweight, affordable parts. There was no alternative; Apple’s MacOS is proprietary and they had (and have) no plans to enter the netbook space. It was Windows or bust…for a while.

Google partnered with Samsung and Acer in 2011 to create a new category: the Chromebook, a netbook running an extremely light and fast operating system developed in-house by Google. A Chromebook has very little in the way of storage, only a few gigs or so, which isn’t an issue since its memory is integrated with a Google Drive cloud server. Although capable of only running so-called “Chrome apps,” which are really just websites, the Chromebook proved to be popular among students, with more Chromebooks being sold than Apple Macbooks in the first quarter of 2016. I used an early model myself while in college. While unable to use iTunes, Photoshop, or any other program that can’t be run in-browser, I had a $200 laptop with long battery life, a decent screen, and could fit in a backpack. Four years later, and I’m using it to type this article. One of the perks of a cloud-based computer is that the hard drive doesn’t get full and slow it down, so it’s just as fast as the day I bought it (my Chromebookversary!).

Now, Samsung and Acer are still in the game and releasing two great devices. Acer’s newest Chromebook 15 (bearing the catchy name of CB3-532-C47C) is a 15.6” beast, perfect for watching streaming video. And you better be comfortable with streaming, because there’s only 16GB of storage (plus 100GB on Google Drive and an SD card slot for expansion). The resolution, set at 1366 x 768 (about that of an 11” screen), combined with 2GB of RAM makes multitasking roughly at the same level of a laptop that size. Still, it’s good-looking (backlit LED keyboard!) and features a 12-hour battery, all for $199. For a student who just wants to study, browse the internet, and watch Netflix, that can’t be beat.

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If you’ve been extra good this year, or for a Google fanatic in your family, give the $499 Samsung Chromebook Pro a look. While running the same OS as the Acer, the Samsung has a hexacore 2GHz processor and 4GB of RAM under the hood for faster, more fluid browsing with greater multitasking. The screen is a little smaller (reported to be around 12.2”) but is much sharper. The screen has touch capability and folds all the way back, so the keyboard half can be used as a stand. A version of the S-Pen, popular on Samsung’s Note smartphones, is included. Also noteworthy: the gorgeous, slim, all-aluminum design and 32GB of internal storage, adding up to the higher price point.

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Both Chromebooks will be among the first in the line to be compatible with Android apps (making the Samsung’s stylus all the more important) which will bring their functionality closer to that of a regular laptop. The Acer is available now at Wal-Mart, and the Samsung is currently on pre-order but should be released soon. Might be a little bit early to think about holiday gifts, but a Chromebook makes a great one for students. And, of course, iFixYouri is here to do any repairs needed during its lifetime.

Employees

Employee Spotlight: Jacob

October 19, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

This week’s employee spotlight shines on Jacob, a tech at our Winter Park location! Jacob has been with iFixYouri for 2 years, starting at our warehouse location in Palm Beach Gardens.

Hailing from: Rockville, MD

Currently studying at Seminole State College. A year away from graduating with an IT degree, Jacob switched majors to study pediatric oncology. He wants to “make a difference.”

Hobbies: Gaming, art, creating trip hop beats and rapping over them.

Owns over a dozen assorted reptiles and adopts animals from local rescues.

winter park sunset — Sunset from iFixYouri Winter Park. Photo by Jacob.

Bearded Dragon — Jason’s trio of bearded dragon lizards

News

When Drones Attack: On the Field and in the Air

October 18, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

“It’s been a big week in drone safety,” a headline straight out of bad dystopian science fiction. But it’s true: welcome to 2016.

Cleveland Indians’ star pitcher Trevor Bauer had to miss game 2 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Toronto Blue Jays due to an unelaborated “finger injury.” He started game 3 yesterday with the injury still present and barely patched up. His pinkie started dripping like a leaky faucet within the first inning. Turns out that Bauer is a drone enthusiast, and while doing a repair on his device, the rotors turned on. OUCH! Indians’ management pulled him off the pitch, and although they went on to win, Bauer has been blasted on social media for potentially endangering his team’s chances. Maybe he should’ve found a company providing reliable drone repair instead. The wound doesn’t seem too bad, but the picture is pretty gory. Hope you’re not eating anything.

Drone Safety!

We’ll be conducting our own test with some dollar-store hot dogs. Keep an eye out for the results.

Speaking of tests…on the other side of the Atlantic, drones rules the skies. Commercial airline pilots are concerned over what might happen should one strike a drone in mid-air during takeoff or landing. British ministers in the Department of Transport have decided to answer the question the old-school way: by doing. In a landmark study employing 7th-grade-science-fair hypothesis-testing, the British government has contracted a company to fly a drone into the path of a moving commercial airliner.

Drone vs Airplane

Hopefully it’s not as bad as assumed. There have been several close calls over the past few years as lax regulation (compared to the US) has seen unmanned aerial vehicles being used in a wide variety of British industries, such as safety inspections for industrial chimneys & railways and aerial surveillance for wildlife control. Even then, it’ll take some time to match the number of collisions between aircraft and the original unmanned aerial vehicles: birds. Don’t worry, we don’t have a picture for that.

Accessories

Three Wireless Earbud Alternatives to Apple AirPods, plus One to Avoid

October 14, 2016 Staff Leave a comment

With the Apple AirPods dropping sometime this month (no firm release date yet), we can begin to anticipate a few things. The jokes that started at their first announcement will be reheated, yes. But Apple has rarely erred when it comes to audio devices, so we expect positive reviews and several jokesters to be won over by the truly wireless earbuds. Apple has been promising improved functionality thanks to what they call “proprietary technology” but has been shown to be a W1 chip, a form of low-power Bluetooth that allows for a strong, fast connection with long battery life. Just hold the buds near any compatible device (iOS 10, Watch OS 3, MacOS Sierra) and they automatically sync. Cool and all, but what other options are out there? We looked at other corded wireless earbuds and focused on sound and battery life, durability being secondary when the Apple alternative is at risk of falling out of your ear and down a storm drain.

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Beats Electronic’s new BeatsX headphones are arguably the best bet for iPhone 7 owners. Thanks to Apple’s $3 billion buyout of the company, the in-ear style buds feature the same mysterious W1 chip. Unlike the AirPods, however, the BeatsX feature a lightweight cord connecting each ear bud, preferred by many who worry about losing one or both. Sound quality is great; the company seems to have rid themselves of the overbearing bass levels of previous models and embraced the fact that people buy sports-style earbuds to listen to a wide range of music outside of hip-hop. 8 hours of battery life place these in the upper-mid range overall (the best are the bulky neckband-style family) and the integrated Lightning port allows for fast-charging: 2 hours of life in 5 minutes. At $150, BeatsX are $10 cheaper than the AirPods and, thanks to the cord, 50% harder to lose.

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For those who don’t need fancy proprietary technology, either due to not owning an iPhone 7 or simply never really having issues with regular Bluetooth connections, this year’s Bose SoundSport Wireless earbuds are a great option for the same price as BeatsX. Utilizing near-field connectivity (NFC), the SoundSport line connects just as quickly and easily to featured devices (most smartphones, including iPhones) as W1-enabled devices. Sound quality is excellent with clear bass even at higher volumes, and although the battery life of 6 hours isn’t great, it’s not terrible, either. A free app, Bose Connect, allows users to manage pairing lists, download future firmware updates, and fuss with settings (such as auto-off times). The cord features a small clip for attaching to the back of a t-shirt, great for runners. There was an issue at first release regarding sound quality suffering due to excessive moisture, but Bose handled it like champs, providing free replacements with the flaw fixed plus a wired set to use in the meantime. With the BeatsX and AirPods being released next month, these are easily the best wireless earbuds on the market right now.

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Well, best at that price range. For $100 more, you can pick up Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay H5 earbuds. The Danish company, beloved by audiophiles and designophiles alike, carries on its luxury vision with a sleek, shiny-on-black appearance for this range. The connecting cord is a high-quality soft textile braid. The tech underneath is a little underwhelming compared to the others; just Bluetooth 4.2 and some basic codecs, but the 6.2mm drivers sound surprisingly clear. The Beoplay app is simple and effective: drag a dot between four zones to get the right balance for what you’re jamming out to (an equalizer is only a tap away for more precise tuning). beoplay-app

Seven sets of ear tips, four silicone and three of a memory-foam material, allow users to find the exact fit. But for $250, you’d hope the Beoplay H5’s fit you perfectly. Really, for that price, everything needs to be perfect. The battery life is dismal, advertised at 5 hours but realistically closer to 4, and although the charger is gorgeous (a small box with recesses to fit each bud; the magnetic dots also act as contact points) there is no other way to charge the earbuds, requiring you to carry it with you. Having a small port for micro-USB would make owning these a lot more convenient.

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There are, of course, other companies marketing truly-wireless earbuds, but no one has seemed to take the time to perfect the tech. Samsung released the $190 Gear IconX this week and, honestly, we were excited. The buds have touch-sensitive controls on the outside, an optical heart-rate monitor, a carrying case that doubles as a battery pack, 1,000-song MP3 storage, and more. In execution, it’s awful. The battery life is absolutely dismal, averaging about an hour, and the charging case doesn’t exactly help much when you’re in the middle of a workout. Sound quality is terrible, the lack of an AptX Bluetooth codec resulting in a very compressed sound. It’s a little bit better with stored music, as is battery life, but it is 2016; we don’t download MP3s anymore. This iteration of the Gear IconX might be just a bit too ambitious for Samsung, but hopefully they fix these issues. For now: stay away.

iFixYouri Blog

I See Dead Phones – Happy Halloween