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Tech with Sam & Luke

Posts Tagged free

Happy Holidays from Google — Get A Free Snail-Mail Postcard

Dec 2

Posted by Sam Lustgarten in Internet, Social | No Comments

If you haven’t done it already, head over to Gmail Holiday Card to get a free, yes free, postcard from Google. Google has been a proprietary company for years, but in a sort of ode to the old holidays and celebrations, Google is offering a free, snail-mail postcard for users.

card_pileSpread some holiday cheer, one card at a time.

Sure, email is great, but there’s something uniquely heartwarming about the kind of card that comes in the actual mail — especially for folks who don’t hear from us as often as they should, simply because they aren’t online.

So we’ve made it as easy to send snail-mail holiday cards as it is to send email. Simply fill out the form below and we’ll send one free holiday postcard on your behalf. Yes, through the mail and everything.

Source: http://twitter.com/google

Link: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/gmailholidaycard/

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Google Wave Review and Free Invites!

Nov 25

Posted by Luke Newby in Computers, Internet | 1 Comment

We received several Google Wave invites a few weeks back. After testing Wave for a few weeks, the two of us see the potential in Google Wave. Sam and I have started several waves, exploring the many options, tools, apps, and gadgets that can be utilized and tinkered with. There’s plenty being said about Wave, but clarity is hard to come by.

Google Wave is a self-proclaimed, “tool for real-time communication and collaboration.” Within a wave, people can see real-time typing and communication, while simultaneously collaborating on projects. You can add any countless numbers of maps, videos, documents, pictures, and tools that may be required. Unfortunately, for the time being, Google Wave is invite only and in the preview stages of development, so many features are still inaccessible.

When starting a wave, it feels similar to chatting or instant messaging.  When in a wave, communication is made in individual text boxes. From there any of the users can start implementing any of the tools. For example I could add a map that shows where I am in relationship to Sam, or I could ask him a multiple-choice question (where I choose the questions and the answers). And if he needed to work on a document we could see who was editing what, and when.  From there we could save the wave and replay it at our leisure.

All of this makes Google Wave sound pretty darn amazing. But it is slow, painfully slow. We can only hope that that’s because of its current development stage. It makes playing around with Wave a timely process. Additionally when trying to add several of the gadgets the links appeared to be broken or unresponsive. Thankfully there is already an online book to explain Wave.  The book is a Wiki-like 8 chapter, multiple appendix, book that explains the vast amount of functionality and potential.

We are truly excited to see where wave will take the online communication world. Will it truly replace email? Not for a while, but eventually it will be a competitor. With open source development, the possibilities are endless.

We would love to hear any of your comments about Google Wave. If you already have it, tell what you think, if you still want it, tell us what you want to know. Reply to this post in the comments and we’ll enter you to win one of two free Google Wave invite giveaway!

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Droid Does Tethering: How-To Guide (Free!)

Nov 23

Posted by Sam Lustgarten in Android, Apps, Cell Phones, Computers | 1 Comment

Missing my iPhone is a long lost phenomena. I shudder to think about how cut off I was before the Droid. The Motorola Droid with Verizon Wireless service has been incredible. Where AT&T’s service was consistently inconsistent, Verizon’s is always on. Recently, I went on a road trip from Colorado to California and was amazed at the consistency of service across the desolate landscape of Nevada and Utah. I decided to get creative and really test my device’s capabilities.

The Droid has been advertised as the king of devices and the multi-tasker of the powerful. I naturally said, “Let’s see what you’re made of.” I had long known about a little company called PDAnet. PDAnet is an app maker for devices like the iPhone or Android software. I had always been tempted to use it with my iPhone, but was unfortunately dissuaded by horror stories and awful reception. The iPhone would require a jailbrake and then the app download; not that big a deal, but much harder then I would soon find out on my Droid.

The Android market and software system is incredibly powerful, but it’s taken me a few weeks to understand all of its potential. The market is very open, with few apps being removed because of the open market – users vote to remove an application. The market is so open that PDAnet, maker of the tethering app for my Droid, has a nice little home. Just do a simple search and you’re off. Download the app and it’ll be on your phone within seconds.

As a previous iPhone owner, this is where I say, “That’s too easy, something is bound to fail or block me.” But then I install the software from PDAnet’s website, USB tether my Droid, and plug it into my new HP Mini 311 netbook (review coming soon!).

Connect.

Verify.

On.

That’s it. On the internet and surfing at rates up to 2.4 Mbps, but it’s more like 115 Kb/s average. Regardless, it feels like high-speed DSL, and I’m insanely happy. My netbook can have internet whenever and wherever I want!

I have been reading about tethering for a few weeks now, and have noticed a common theme in forum posts. “Does PDAnet work with the Droid?” Verizon associates have been telling consumers that the Droid “does not tether” and that it will be about “$15 more a month to enable tethering on the Droid [next year].” Verizon is not exactly lying, but it isn’t the whole truth. Verizon will most likely announce tethering software a la Verizon-brand to the market next year. After that, Verizon customers will be able to download the software and tether; albeit at a cost, $15 a month. Why suffer the extra cost burden and wait?

Tethering isn’t illegal; in fact, the Android system encourages this type of open development, which is geared towards internet for all. Go try it out today – let us know how it works or if you have any questions below.

Caution: Remember Verizon still has a cap on the “unlimited data” — it’s still just 5GB of data per month.

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Google Voice announces Free Calling to AK and HI

Oct 7

Posted by Sam Lustgarten in etc. | No Comments

Just announced–Google Voice now has free calling to Hawaii and Alaska. Also, calls can now be forwarded to those phones from your Voice number.

When we launched Google Voice, we offered free calling to the continental US. We’ve just expanded this to all 50 states by adding free calling to Alaska and Hawaii. (SOURCE)

http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-calling-now-to-hawaii-and-alaska.html

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Who Needs MobileMe? Google Can Sync Your Devices FREE!

Jul 28

Posted by Sam Lustgarten in etc. | 2 Comments

MobileMe is an inventive way to have all of your information synced. Calendars, contacts, mail, everything is synced. Have something to change on your iPhone? Change it. And your computer is immediately changed (upon the next refresh). But there is an alternative to spending the hefty $99/year fee for access. Google is here to help.

Google prides itself with creating top-notch, free products. The money streams in through the advertising stream. But the goal is to separate ads from the user experience. I wouldn’t use it under any other pretense.

One of the incredible deals is that Google is willing sync all of your information over the cloud. Your email, contacts, calendars can all be put onto Google’s online experience.

I thought, “How can we combine the features of MobileMe with Google’s great syncing power?”

Google’s got it. Follow these steps below to get your own, MobileMe-like syncing, for free, with your iPhone and Mac. No need to worry about $99/year fee!

  1. Ask yourself if you want to do this. By placing your information in the “cloud,” you may lose it. Information may be unavailable if Google goes down for any reason (let’s hope not). If you’re okay with the preceding terms, continue.
  2. Let’s start by syncing your email to your iPhone. Go to–>Settings–>Mail, Contacts, Calendars–>Add Account–>GMail. Fill in your personal account information for Google Gmail, and it should begin syncing.
  3. We’ve only just begun though. Make sure you have version 3.0 firmware before continuing. Go back to Mail, Contacts, Calendars–>Add Account–>Microsoft Exchange
  4. In the Email field, enter your full Google Account email address. If you use an @googlemail.com address, you may see an “Unable to verify certificate” warning when you proceed to the next step.
  5. Leave the Domain field blank.
  6. Enter your full Google Account email address as the Username.
  7. Enter your Google Account password as the Password.
  8. Tap Next at the top of your screen.
  9. Choose Accept if the Unable to Verfiy Certificate dialog appears.
  10. A new Server field will appear. Enter m.google.com.
  11. Press Next at the top of your screen again.
  12. Choose contacts and calendars (not mail–it’s not supported).

Google Sync is now setup. To sync multiple calendars go to: m.google.com/sync on your home computer to first configure your device. Then go to m.google.com/sync on your iPhone to configure the calendars you want to sync.

It’s that simple. You’re all done.

Well, maybe… Only if you don’t actually have data in iCal calendars. If you do, you’re going to need to add the calendars into Google Calendar. In iCal, go to–>File–>Export. Then choose the calendar you want to export. Afterwards, go into settings in Google Calendar. Import calendar–>Select each one.

You’re all set after this. If you have any questions, comment below!

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FREE Downloads at Amazon.com

Jul 27

Posted by Sam Lustgarten in etc. | No Comments

iTunes has been a popular spot for legal music downloads. The popularity has fostered a great revenue and advertising source for independent artists. In a desperate maneuver to get their name out, they offer up their song for free. And it’s commonplace to find the song of the week on the homepage, but all too often they’re sub-par.

That’s where I turn to Amazon.com (MP3 Special Deals). They’ve consistently chosen fantastic samples and compilations that they share for free to Amazon MP3 users. And they’re all DRM-free.

I highly recommend surfing on over to Amazon.com and check out this free download Animal while you’re at it!

Let me know what you think below!
Are the free Amazon.com downloads better than iTunes’?

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