Smaller than an original iPod with the ability to hold 80 minutes of music on a standard MiniDisc, more than the standard cassette would allow (23 minutes per side), the MiniDisc player was compact enough to beat out the Discman portable CD player but had the cool factor that far outpaced the Walkman. It should have been the ultimate portable music device.

Quick trivia break: which was the first MiniDisc to be released in the US by a recording studio? Find the answer at the bottom.

So what happened? The big benefit the MiniDisc had over CDs was that it was re-recordable, like a cassette, but could be scanned like a CD. As CD-Rs became more affordable, and prices for MiniDisc players and media stayed high, technology buffs started to move over toward CDs even more heavily, leaving the MiniDisc as a legend in Japan, but few other places. At the same time, record companies weren’t producing albums on the MiniDisc at nearly the same rate they were for cassettes and CDs, because the customers just weren’t there. The combination of those factors led to the downfall of the MiniDisc.

Unbelievably, Sony continued to sell MiniDisc players until March 2013! You’d have to be incredibly devoted to MiniDiscs to be buying those players last year…probably the same people who still insist on buying cars with eight-track players.

So for this week’s Technology Throwback Thursday, let’s celebrate the coolest musical innovation that never took off. The MiniDisc player may well be the Betamax to CDs and MP3 players, but at least they got their moment in the sun. A very, very brief moment…mostly in Japan.

And Mariah Carey’s MTV Unplugged was the first MiniDisc to be released in the US by a recording studio on December 7, 1992.

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The Game Boy was released in 1989, and right away it came with Tetris, one of the all time classic games on any console. Who doesn’t remember the frustration of getting a million squares when all you want is a bar? Or how about those L-shaped pieces–they’re the wanna-be bar’s, getting you part of the way to redemption, but not quite home. That game–as well as the original Super Mario Land–deserves a Technology Throwback Thursday of its own!

We pillaged the Gazelle Device Library and found an original Game Boy from back in 1989 with a Tetris cartridge still in it. After popping in four AA batteries, we heard that classic Nintendo “ding” that lets you know that all is right in the world, you have enough juice left to get in some game time. But nothing showed up on the screen! That’s when we remembered the contrast toggle on the side of the Game Boy, used to adjust the classic dot matrix screen. All of a sudden, that definitive home screen showed up, and it was game on.

When the original Game Boy launched, it weighed just under a pound, was 5.8″ x 3.5″ x 1.25″, a 160×144 screen resolution, and displayed two colors: black and white (OK, it was really more of a pale green, but still). Compare that to an iPhone, which weighs .25 lbs, is 4.87″ x 2.31″ x 0.3″, has a 1136×640 screen resolution, and can display nearly 17 million colors. And that’s before even mentioning the fact that to play a game, you needed to pop in a new cartridge, versus just clicking on any downloadable app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Way better than carrying around 20 different little cartridges to fit your every entertainment need for a family road trip.

We may now have our Angry Birds, our Flappy Bird, and Fluffy Birds, but we all know that Tetris was the original take-anywhere game that could kill an hour on the subway or while waiting for your mom to pick you up from practice. Our national obsession with being able to play any game, anytime got kicked into high gear with the Game Boy, and we’ve never looked back.

What is interesting is that the same nostalgia driving people back to Game Boys is doing something similar in the movie world. Collectors are hunting down physical media from the same era with real intensity, and original VHS tapes and DVDs from the late 80s and early 90s are selling for prices that would genuinely surprise anyone who donated their collection years ago. If yo have a box of discs or tapes from that period sitting i storage, it might be worth figuring out what they are actually worth before assuming they are worthless. A free DVD value checker that pulls real sold pricing can tell you exactly what the market is doing in about thirty seconds.

Some things from that era turn out to be worth holding onto. The Game Boy included.

The post Technology Throwback Thursday: Game Boy Classic Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

Getting the newest generation iPhone or Galaxy can be expensive, and the cost only gets worse if you’re getting a replacement for a broken phone and don’t sign a new contract to get a subsidized device. Trade-in services like Gazelle help defray the cost, but the value of a phone drops significantly once it’s broken. So the question is: how much is a water damaged iPhone or Samsung Galaxy worth, and how much money do I lose out on by breaking it?

For the purpose of comparison, let’s look at two similar phones, the iPhone 4S and the Galaxy S III, both with 16GB of capacity and on AT&T’s network. They were released within about seven months of each other (October 2011 for the iPhone 4S, May 2012 for the Galaxy S III), so their ages are comparable, and the initial, subsidized price for both was about $200.

How much value would my iPhone lose?

Right now, according to gazelle.com, a locked iPhone 4S 16GB on AT&T in good condition is worth nearly half of its carrier-subsidized MSRP, compared to the same phone in broken condition, which is worth about 20% of its original $200 price tag. That means that the iPhone loses more than half of its remaining value once you break it, but at least you can still get some decent change for a phone, even if it’s waterlogged and nearly two-and-a-half years old!

What about my Samsung phone?

A similar used Samsung Galaxy S III phone (16GB, on AT&T’s network, in good condition) is also worth about half of its carrier-subsidized MSRP, with a bit of a bonus for the fact that the phone is seven months newer. However, the penalty is more severe for broken Samsung phones than it is for the iPhone: that same phone in broken condition, which could include being water damaged, having a cracked screen, or any of the other stupid things we do to our phones to make them stop working, is worth only about 15% of its MSRP. Dropping your Galaxy S III into the toilet cuts out about two-thirds of its remaining value.

The moral of the story is that breaking your phone is both annoying and bad for your wallet, but at least you can still get some money back for that useless, waterlogged rectangle. And either way–with an iPhone or a Galaxy–you’re going to lose about two-thirds of the value of the phone once it gets a drink. But the iPhone still retains its value a bit better when broken, so if you’re accident prone and want to be able to get money back for that broken phone, Apple may be the way to go for you. But there’s even simpler math: great technology + liquid substance = mental anguish + unpleasant costs. So do yourself a favor and keep that phone dry!

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The post What’s My Water Damaged iPhone or Samsung Worth? Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

While not the original cell phone, it may as well have been, as the brick-style cell phone popularized the idea and made its users seem cooler and more important than those technology Luddites stuck with cords. Think of Zack Morris and Gordon Gekko–they were ahead of their time! Though both were notorious rule breakers, isn’t that what the brick phone was? It broke the rule that you needed to be at home to be reached directly. Without that phone, Zack couldn’t have won radio call-in contests while in class, nor pretend to be his dad to make up excuses to set him free. Gekko wouldn’t have been the wheeling-and-dealing character he was if he had been tethered to his desk at all times, unable to move for fear of missing out on the next scheme. Their brick phones set them apart from their peers, giving them a magic skill that few others possessed.

Zack and Gordon Broke Rules and Cords (Courtesy of and zackmorriscellphone.com www.peakoilblues.org)

The phone pictured at the top of this article is the DynaTac 800x by Motorola, which was manufactured back in 1983 and sold for $3,995. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, “It offered 30 minutes of talk time and 8 hours of standby, and a LED display for dialing or recall of one of 30 phone numbers.” All of that power in something that weighed only 2.3 lbs. (by comparison, the iPhone 5S is a little less than 4 ounces!).

Liam Neeson may look badass taking down the bad guys while on his tiny, sleek Galaxy or iPhone, but that’s technology anyone can have–it isn’t that special anymore. Back when Zack and Gordon were rocking The Brick though, they took cool to a new level. They broke the rules when they cut their cord, making the DynaTac 800x the ultimate technology for Throwback Thursday.

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The post Technology Throwback Thursday: The Granddaddy of Cell Phones Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

The Simplest Answer

OK, this may sound like a no-brainer, but when you’re in a state of panic you may forget that your iPhone is in fact a phone, and it can make and receive calls. Try calling your phone and listening for it vibrating or ringing. If you’ve lost it somewhere, hopefully some nice person will answer, but this is a good first step once you’ve started to panic.

Find My iPhone

If you have a device with iOS 7 or later (iPhone 4, iPad 2, or newer), there’s an app for that! The “Find my iPhone” app is available for free in the iTunes store, and can locate your device, play a sound on the device–even if it’s in silent mode, lock your device so no one else can get into it, and display a message telling whoever finds your phone how to reach you. If the worst happens and you can’t get your phone back, you can also completely wipe it clean just to protect your data.

When you lose your iPhone or iPad, you can either go onto another device and log into the app to track your lost technology, or you can log in to the website at icloud.com/find.

I know from personal experience that this app works well, as it has saved one of my relative’s phones. In order to use it, you need to download the app on your iPhone or iPad immediately! You can’t use it if it isn’t downloaded on your device, so make sure you have that app before you lose your phone!

Paid Apps

There are a ton of options in the App Store that offer a wide range of functionality, from the ability to take pictures (both for free and at cost-per-picture) from the phone, so you can see where it is (or who has it) to step-by-step tracking, so you can see where it has been over the course of time as you try to track it down. With such a wide variety of options, it really comes down to what’s important to you.

Most everyone eventually is faced with the question of how to find a lost iPhone, but really the best answer is to be proactive while you still have your device. Download apps and make sure they work, because when you eventually do lose your phone, you want to know where you can turn to get it back!

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The post How to Find a Lost iPhone Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

The Wireless Options

Apple TV

The most expensive of the options, but it does provide a clean, easy, seamless connection between your iOS device and TV, assuming that you meet the basic criteria of being able to connect everything. Like the other wireless options, Apple TV provides some great apps for watching movies or playing music on your TV even without connecting another device, with Hulu, Netflix, HBO GO, YouTube, and iTunes all coming pre-installed.

The two biggest drawbacks of Apple TV are the pricetag ($99) and the limits Apple imposes, only allowing you to access certain applications. However, as long as your Apple TV is connected to a wireless network, anything you can watch on your iPhone or iPad you can also mirror on your TV.

Apple TV connects to any TV with a component or HDMI input, and utilizes your wireless or wired network to access its content. Though subscriptions are necessary for Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO, and a bunch of the other premium apps, you can stream videos, photos, or music to your Apple TV directly from your iPad or iPhone as long as they are on the same network.

While both of the other wireless options can fulfill a lot of the same capabilities, Apple TV was built to connect with other Apple devices, making it much easier to simply click a button on your iPad or iPhone screen and send your content to your TV. By owning the ecosystem, Apple has made it just about as easy as possible.

Chromecast

The least expensive choice outlined here, but still a great offering in a much smaller device than the Apple TV–which is already relatively minuscule. Your TV needs to have an available HDMI port and the device needs to connect to WiFi, but it looks like the Google entry to the competition is a strong potential replacement for the Apple TV. The Google Chromecast is only about as big as a thumbdrive and plugs right into your TV, making installation a breeze.

While the upside of having a $35 pricetag is huge, the streaming capabilities from your iOS device aren’t quite as streamless and easy as with the Apple TV. While Google claims that content can be sent “from your smartphone, tablet or laptop to your TV with the press of a button,” reviews so far are mixed on how well that capability actually works. It’s safe to say that while Google may try to emulate Apple’s functionality here, it will never quite be as easy to stream from your iPhone or iPad to the Chromecast.

Roku Streaming Stick

The jury is still out on the Roku Streaming Stick, as it is expected to be released in April 2014, but there are a few things we do know. First, the price is between Apple TV and Chromecast, with a MSRP of $50. It will be about the size of the Chromecast with the same general set-up in terms of plugging into your TV’s HDMI port, but it should offer an impressive suite of apps. Like each of the other options, you’re best off with a wireless connection, and you can control the device with your smartphone or tablet.

Here’s where things get tricky: like the Chromecast, the Roku Streaming Stick, claims that it will “send your videos, photos and music stored locally on your smartphone to your TV screen with the Roku app,” but–like the Chromecast–one should question whether streaming will be a smooth and seamless as it is with Apple TV.

The Bottom Line

While we wait for the Roku Streaming Stick to be released, there are a few areas to consider when comparing the Chromecast and Apple TV. An obvious one is price, with Apple TV ($99) nearly triple the cost of Chromecast ($35). However, it is much easier to quickly and easily stream content–be it music or movies–to your TV from an iPhone or iPad using Apple TV, since all of those products were developed to work in harmony. But if you want to pay less, get similar functionality, and not be restrained by the limits Apple puts on its apps, then Chromecast looks like a fine choice until the Roku Streaming Stick is released.

The Wired Option

If you don’t have a wireless network or would rather use a physical connection, then there are options available online to project your iPhone or iPad onto your TV using an HDMI cable and an adapter. It will likely cost you more than a Chromecast to purchase both the HDMI cable and the adapter, but there are always cheap (if unreliable) options out there. For example, you can find a digital AV adapter on Amazon that will attach to your Lightning port on your iPhone 5, 5S, or 5C, or your iPad Mini, Mini Retina, 4, or Air. You will also need an HDMI cable to attach that adapter to your TV, but those can be found online for a few dollars easily.

With the wired option, you can mirror your device onto your TV, but you will miss out on some of the other functionality the wireless options provide, like the applications that come pre-installed. Still, for the low-tech who want a simple solution, this fits the bill.

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The post Playing Music on Your TV Isn’t Hard Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

1. Conserve What You Have Left

There are a few great features that help your iPhone provide a ton of great value for you, but suck your battery dry at an accelerated rate. Here are a few features you can turn off or adjust to save what little battery life you have left:

• Turn Off Your Wi-Fi – Your Wi-Fi connection is great for downloading content at high speeds, but it’s one more way your phone drains your battery. To turn off your Wi-Fi, go into Settings, click on the Wi-Fi line, and then press the button next to Wi-Fi. The color behind the button should change from green to white.
• Turn Off Your Bluetooth – Bluetooth enables you to connect your phone to other technology, like speakers or your car, but at a time like this you’d probably rather have your phone running than playing tunes on your Jawbone. The option to turn off Bluetooth is also in the settings app–click on Bluetooth (just below Wi-Fi), then click the button on the Bluetooth line–which should turn from green to white. This does mean that your phone will not connect with your car or other devices while turned off, but it will save your iPhone battery.
• Dim Your Screen – That bright display may help you read this story more easily, but it’s sapping minutes out of your battery! You can still see your phone even on its dimmest setting, so try turning down the brightness. The easiest way to access your screen’s brightness–and a quick option to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off as well–is by swiping up from the bottom of the screen when on the home screen. In the second section down, there is a horizontal line with a dot on it, and a sun on either side of the line–one big, the other small. Move the dot all the way to the left, and you should see the screen get a bit dimmer. Just press the home button to dismiss this screen.
• Disable Location Services – One of the cool features of the iPhone is that it knows where you are at all times, making it much easier to plot directions from your current location or tag a Facebook post. But constantly updating your location places a burden on your battery too, so turning off that feature can help you keep you phone on longer. To turn off location services, go to Settings, then scroll down to Privacy. Click on the Location Services line, and then press the green button in the upper right-hand corner. This means that your phone will no longer know where you are, but you can turn it back on if you need that information for some reason.

2. Make Your Battery Bigger

OK, so we can’t actually make your battery bigger, but there are some phone cases out there that will essentially do just that. Mophie, for one, makes a few cases for each generation of iPhone that charge with your phone overnight and provide a few more hours of battery life when your phone is running low. The downside is that these cases make your phone a bit bulkier, depending on which version of the case you get, and they aren’t too hard to break. The case itself protects your phone reasonably well from damage, but the charging capabilities break relatively easily if dropped excessively.

For the iPhone 5 and 5S, the cases come in three models: Juice Pack Helium, Air, and Plus, providing 80%, 100%, and 120% of your battery charge, respectively. The case goes on just like any other case, but also plugs into the charging port on your phone. Instead of using your normal cord to charge at night, use the Mophie cord, which charges both the case and your phone. Then, if during the day your iPhone battery starts to creep too low, just flip the switch on the back and the case starts charging your phone!

3. Have a Spare Battery Handy

There are tons of products out there of varying sizes, styles, and costs that hold an extra charge for your battery just in case. The quality of these products differs, so it may make sense to do some research before purchasing, but it’s pretty easy to find relatively cheap external chargers that work well enough to get by. The biggest downsides to using these devices is remembering to keep them charged and having them around when you need them. It doesn’t do much good to have an extra battery if it doesn’t have any power or is at home when you’re on the go.

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The post Three Ways to Keep Your iPhone Battery Alive and Kicking Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

The Basic

If you use iTunes to synch your phone with your computer, you already have a great tool to restore iPhone from backup. When you sync your iPhone with your computer through iTunes, a backup of your phone is automatically made. To make sure you have a recent backup of your iPhone, open iTunes preferences, then click on the “Devices” tab. You should hopefully see your iPhone in the list, along with the date of the last backup. If you haven’t backed up your iPhone in awhile, you can click on the File drop-down, then click “Devices” and “Backup,” or simply sync your phone again while the phone is connected to the computer and iTunes is open.

Once you create a backup, it’s easy to restore your device–even if you get a new iPhone or accidentally completely wipe your own. Simply attach your phone to your computer and click “Restore from Back Up” under the File and “Devices” options at the top of the screen in iTunes. It may take a few minutes to get your phone back up to speed, but you’ll have your settings just the way you left them!

The Tech Savvy

Don’t feel like plugging your phone into your computer, or don’t have a computer? No need to worry, there’s another quick and easy option provided by Apple: iCloud. iCloud is basically a system by which your phone’s information can automatically be stored and accessed remotely, using Apple-owned storage devices. You get 5GB of storage free, but have to pay for more ($20 for 15GB per year, $40 for 25GB, and $100 for 50GB). 5GB of storage space likely won’t be enough to backup everything on your phone, but it should be good enough to save your settings and a few other key pieces.

To turn on iCloud backup, go into “Settings” on your iPhone, then click “iCloud.” From that screen, you can toggle whichever areas of your phone you would like to backup on the cloud, or can click on “Storage & Backup” at the bottom of the menu for a full backup. At the bottom of the “Storage & Backup” screen, there is an option to use iCloud Backup, for which you will need to be connected to Wi-Fi. If you do turn that option on, your phone will not longer automatically sync with iTunes when you plug it into your computer, but will regularly back itself up using the cloud when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi.

After creating a backup for your phone on iCloud, an iPhone reset to factory settings–or brand new–will give you the option to restore your phone using iCloud when you set it up for the first time. Simply use your login information, choose the backup to which you wish to revert, and you’re all set! If you have already set up your new device, click the “Settings” icon on the phone, then click “General,” “Reset,” and “Erase All Content and Settings” to restore your phone to factory settings and enable the option to restore from iCloud.

Whichever way you decide to backup your iPhone, its important that you do it regularly. You will only have your settings, apps, and content saved each time you backup your phone, so those are the only checkpoints to which it can revert when you restore. But if you take those steps, using either iTunes or iCloud, it is very easy to restore iPhone from backup and get that comfortable, customized feel back quickly and near-effortlessly!

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The post Two Ways to Restore iPhone from Backup Sources Joel Samen appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

As Apple says, no matter what you’re trying to accomplish on your device, “There’s an app for that!” –we’ll tell you how to find it.

1. Use the Top Lists in the iTunes App Store

If you’re interested in finding the best iPad apps that other people are downloading, iTunes keeps track of the most popular apps and game downloads in the “Best New Apps” and “Best New Games” categories.

To find them, open iTunes and go to the iTunes Store. Once there, click on the “App Store” at the top of the screen, then make sure you select “iPad” just underneath–otherwise you may be disappointed to find that the app you want for your iPad is only available for the iPhone.

In addition to categories for the best iPad apps and games, there is also a section at the bottom of the screen for the best free iPad games (you may have to scroll down), which is also listed in order of popularity. More of the best iPad apps–regardless of category–are listed on the right side of the screen in order or popularity. Try a few out, they may become your new favorites!

2. Use the iTunes App Store Categories

In the market for a specific type of app–say something to keep track of your finances or a new way to watch videos on your iPad? On the right side of the page, there is a option to view apps by category.

To start sorting by type of app, click on the drop-down menu just under the “iPad” headline, which is titled “All Categories”. In there, you will find options like “Books,” “Business,” and “Entertainment”. Each lists the best iPad apps the store has to offer, both by paid and free varieties.

3. Find Something New!

More of a trendsetter who likes to try new things and be in on the first wave adopting new technology? Looking for a particular functionality that you can’t find solely using iTunes? Then your favorite search engine may be your new best friend! Whether you’re trying to find the best way to take funny pictures using your iPad or a top-of-the-line spreadsheet app, try Googling it. Chances are you’ll find loads of options, along with reviews and tips on how to best use the applications. Once you find what you’re looking for, use the search bar in the upper right-hand corner inside the iTunes Store to seek and download exactly what you want. Rather than listening to what others say about the best apps, you can do the research and selections on your own!

Whether you know exactly what you want, feel like browsing through the most popular titles, or need some help figuring out which app best fits your needs, there are some great tools and games available in Apple’s iTunes App Store for you to use on your iPad. Titles are constantly being added, updates are released frequently, and some of the best and brightest are working to bring new functionality to your iPad every day. Have a look and see what you can find to make your iPad even more fun, productive, and powerful.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

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