The iFixYouri store in Palm Beach Gardens is about to get a welcome new neighbor in the PGA Plaza in which it resides: Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s is one of the most coveted supermarket franchises in the country; so much so the city of West Palm Beach made a video last year asking city officials, business leaders and residents “What would you trade for Trader Joe’s?”. Ultimately Trader Joe’s decided on Palm Beach Gardens, and our little shopping shopping center, originally built in the 1970s on the corner of PGA Boulevard and Prosperity Farms Road, which had a Winn-Dixie in it for many years, and now features other big businesses like JP Morgan Chase Bank, SunTrust Bank, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Subway, and of course, iFixYouri.

The California-based grocer operates nearly 400 stores in 35 states. It opened its first three Florida stores — in Naples, Sarasota and Gainesville — last year. The first South Florida store is slated to open this year in Miami-Dade County’s Pinecrest neighborhood. Another Trader Joe’s is scheduled to open in Winter Park in Central Florida next year.

Trader Joe’s, in business since the 1950s, has such a large and loyal following that customers familiar with the brand have launched campaigns to lure stores into their neighborhoods.

Eric Jablin, Palm Beach Gardens’ vice mayor, said that during the past 15 years he’s written letters to Trader Joe’s asking them to come to the Sunshine State, and Palm Beach Gardens in particular.

We at iFixYouri are excited to have the type of company that Trader Joe’s is nearby, and not just for its produce or “Two-Buck Chuck.” It brings an aspect of forward thinking product to our area, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

So, to Trader Joe’s – welcome to Palm Beach Gardens! iFixYouri looks forward to your smoothies.

A few weeks ago, Apple released its newest product, the iPad Air, and as the name implies, it is the lightest iPad to date, weighing in at one pound, or less than a loaf of bread. It’s got new design features, a more compact frame, and better, faster hardware. We’re going to go over the salient points in more detail, to see if the iPad Air is worth the price tag (more on that in a bit).

The iPad Air has a smooth back design, thinner bezel and more attractive speakers at the bottom of the phone, and comes in two colors — Space Gray and Silver.  It also has machined buttons that don’t feel loose when shaking, bringing up the premium feel to the device.

As for the interior, it holds Apple’s A7 chip, just as the iPhones 5C and 5S carry, bringing with it 64-bit processing power, enabling it to work seamlessly with the new iOS 7, maximizing its power potential. It also allows for battery saving techniques to keep your tablet going even longer in day-to-day use. It’s also got a 9.7-inch retina display, which features over 3.1 million pixels — a million more than an HDTV, as the Apple site boasts.

As for that price tag . . . it’s really not bad at all. Consider that the WiFi-only models range from $499 to $799 ($499 for the 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB, and $799 for 128GB), while the WiFi + Cellular models range from $629 to $929 for the same memory. Factor in that there’s a lot of useful software added into the stock purchase, and you’re looking at a reasonable price for a sleek and functional machine.

A few things the Air doesn’t have — it doesn’t come with the TouchID that was so prominently touted during the release of the iPhone 5S. Why? I haven’t read of a sufficient reason, other than people speculating that Apple will release it with the next model, as it has sometimes done with new technology.

The Air doesn’t come with a keyboard either (like the rest of the iPads) but there are some cool accessories you can purchase that will add the keyboard to it, for those who prefer the laptop-style addition to tablets. Belkin were the first to release iPad Air extras – including covers and keyboards.

The Qode Ultimate Keyboard Case leads the brand’s parade of new accessories, and sports a black or silver aluminum body and an impressive 264 hours of active battery life for $130. Alternatively, there’s the Qode ThinType Keyboard Case for $100 with 79 hours of battery life.For $80 there is the Qode Slim Style keyboard case – in black, red, topaz, purple and sorbet. They are all available to pre-order today, but are not available yet.

Ultimately, is the iPad Air worth it? Yes. The 128 GB is a step above other Android tablets, and with the A7 chip, the retina display, and the cell phone capability, the iPad Air is still is in a class of its own.

It appears that Apple will be joining the Phablet trend with the release of its newest iPhone, the so-called iPhone 6. Sources from Bloomberg state that two new models are being designed with screens with dimensions of 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches respectively, closing in on the larger-sized 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 3 that Samsung debuted in September. The new iPhones will also come with curved glass and enhanced sensors that can detect different levels of pressure.There are rumors that Apple is attempting to minimize its competitors’ advantages by releasing these two new smartphones in 2014.

The accepted definition for a “phablet” is a smartphone with a screen size between 5 inches and 6.9 inches. The Galaxy Note phablet has proven that the customer base likes the larger screens, as its latest successor has sold over 5 million units sold in less than a month.  Apple’s new rumored designs fits in with the release of the iPad Air, which came out last Friday.

“Screen size is one of the things where Apple has to catch up to the Android camp,” said Dennis Chan, an analyst at Yuanta Financial Holding Co. in Taipei, said, referring to phones using Google Inc.’s operating software. “Innovation in components has been a key for Apple since the first iPhone came out.”

Another analyst, Peter Misek of Jeffries & Co., had this to say in a note published this morning:

“We estimate ~50% of smartphone shipments have >4″ screens and that iPhone 6 will catalyze a large upgrade cycle. The stock is attractive based on the attitude change, FY15 revs >+15%, and valuation.”

An increase in the display screen brings up interesting questions regarding the quality of the resolution. The iPhone has kept the same pixels-per-inch (PPI) density since the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010. If Apple offered an iPhone with a larger display, but maintained the same 1136 x 640 resolution, it would cause the PPI count to drop down from 326 to 272. That would be an improvement from the iPad 4′s pixel density, but the iPad is also a 9.7-inch device that is meant to be held further away than a smartphone. A drop in PPI doesn’t seem likely,  but it may keep things more simple for developers.

Check back soon – we will keep you posted as to the developments of the new iPhone 6 or Air or whatever they’ll call it this time.

A question we often get at our retail stores is: how do I put my iPhone or iPod Touch in Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) Mode? Some of you might be asking: “Why would I want to put my phone in DFU Mode?” DFU Mode has many different uses, but the most common is jailbreaking (we don’t recommend doing so). Another common use is implicit in the name – to upgrade (or downgrade) your fimware, which implements network and security protocols for wireless routers.

It’s a very easy procedure — all you need to do is follow the simple steps below.

1) Plug your iPhone or iPod Touch into your computer with a USB cable. Make sure that your iTunes is up and running.

2) Turn off your device: Press and hold the Power button until the Power slider pops up. Slide it to the right to turn the device off. Wait for your device to completely power down before proceeding.

3) Press and hold down the Power button for 3 seconds.

4) Press and hold down the Home button for at least 10 seconds, while continuing to hold the Power button down.

5) Release the Power button, after holding both the Power and Home buttons consecutively for at least 10 seconds. After a few seconds, a message will appear in iTunes letting you know that the device has been detected. The device’s screen will remain blank if done right.

And voila! You’re in DFU Mode. Also, if you get stuck in DFU mode and want to get out of it, just hold the power button and home button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. Simple as that.