Instagram(s)

I have worked in social media marketing for years. I have managed several different accounts, and utilized multiple platforms in able to help brands develop their presence and make sales. Applications like Twitter and Facebook allow you to toggle between identities. This may not sound like a big deal, but when you are creating and physically posting for different clients on a daily basis, multiple times a day having to log in and log out and then log into a different account and do the entire dance all over again- it is exhausting and moreover, annoying as hell.

The only application that still makes you undergo this sign in struggle is perhaps one of the most popular and effective apps of all. Instagram does not allow users to have multiple identities or accounts logged in at one time. After many complaints (probably from people more important than myself) Instagram’s Android beta testers are toying with a new feature on the application that will allow users to log into another account without having to log out of another.

TechCrunch reports that screenshots have been provided by the “Android Police” showing how the toggle would look. Instagram declined to comment on the testing.

Sources: TechCrunch and Gazette Standard

Black FriYAY

Not going to lie, I have for years spent the evening after giving thanks for all that I have sitting in my best-friend’s car and waiting for Target to open their doors. Being that I have never had the kind of income or allowance that would afford me to participate in this annual ritual in a full extent, I never really bought anything. I think that once I bought a $10 computer fan which now sits in my desk drawer. It was a really good idea in theory, and it felt much like the first time I went to a bar with my ID after turning 21, like hey I am allowed to be here. Still, I have never made a real bottom-lip biting purchase. Aside from my lack of income, I have yet to see a mark-down that was truly worth it.

I scrolled through the news today just in case a new deal caught my eye, something that perhaps I didn’t even know I needed. Low and behold, the best deal of all was not one that I needed to leave my couch or put on pants to cash in on. Amazon is offering unlimited cloud storage for a year for only $5… after you spend $50 on Amazon.  So while this is more money than I thought I read, the unlimited storage itself is still less than my computer fan.  This means that users have access to unlimited photo storage which once accessed will allow photos to be restored to their full resolution. Not a bad deal to tack on to your online Black Friday purchase.

This is a steep discount considering the normal price of $59.99, which admittedly, users who cash in on this discount will have to return to paying after their one year trial. Still, even at the un-discounted price, Amazon offers unlimited storage much cheaper than Microsoft or Apple and much more conveniently than anyone like me who has tried to store items using the  iPhoto sharing feature. Now to find out if you can opt out before they tack on the next year fee….

Sources: Mashable , Pulse Headlines, and ZDNet

The IPEN: Did They “Blow It”?

Apple’s newest creation is a less than a Frankenstein. There isn’t exactly a pressing need to bring back a stylus, much less one with an Apple style price tag. Originally, the lack of stylus is what set the iPhone apart from the blackberry craze. Unlike competitors, the goal was to keep the iPhone true to the core concept of hand-held devices: to be hand-held. Steve Jobs held unto an organic concept, wanting Apple to be used with our God-given appendages. Steve Jobs actually said that if they were to launch a stylus then, “they blew it”. So is the creation of an Apple stylus a direct insult Job’s vision?

Well, to be totally fair- this isn’t just a simple stylus. The Apple Pencil does a lot that our hands can’t. While this admittance is an obvious point, the Apple Pen creates even more of a wedge between the smartphone and the human experience. Without vision or the finger-responsive themes which Apple so strongly tied their image to, Apple is looking more and more like just another provider. So maybe that sounds a little dramatic. We can’t simply say that one new product changes the course of an empire, however, this isn’t exactly the first time that people have noticed some serious similarities between the Apple iPhone and many newer developed Android phones. It could be argued that the Apple Pen is simply Apple keeping up with the competition. I guess maybe the better question is: since when is Apple not the competition.

The Apple Watch didn’t exactly get the sales that everyone hoped. The design of the Apple iPhone 6 is beautiful, but quite similar to the Microsoft models. Will the Apple Pen be another strike-out? Or is this exactly the type of revisionist creation that they need for another big win?

Sources: Daily Mail and Mashable 

The iMessage Glitch Temporary Fix

If you haven’t already heard, last week the news broke that iPhones were at risk of crashing due to the reception of a single text message. Reddit users discovered that sending a specific combination of symbols and Arabic characters to a person’s iPhone would cause the phone to crash, quickly reboot, and then disable the iMessaging feature on the recipient’s phone. The bug is not simply limited to messaging, reports suggest that the coded message can also affect third-party messengers such as Snapchat. The glitch was caused by the way in which the iOS system deals with “unicode characters” according to Apple, who acknowledged the bug on Wednesday. Apple released a statement saying that they are working to create a software update which would serve as a permanent fix. While awaiting that solution, Apple advised users to adjust their notification settings. The easiest way to avoid having to encounter the malfunction personally is to turn off all message notifications until Apple releases a fix. Until then, Apple has come out with a “workaround” plan:

1- Ask Siri to “read messages.”

2- Use Siri to reply to the coded message. Once the message has been replied to, you can safely open the text.

3-Once you are able to access the thread, either delete it entirely or press hold on the coded message and delete that single message.

This temporary workaround is helpful for the immediate future, however, it will not help in instances where the message has been delivered via third-party messenger.

Sources: Techcrunch, MacRumors, and Mashable

The Smart Phone: Better, Faster, Stronger

In the past 21.8 seconds, one thousand smartphones were shipped globally. This number reflects the growing power and popularity of the smart phone, which was first born in January of 2007. It has become one of the fastest growing gadgets in history. The trend brings along a long list of concerns, mainly related to privacy. Smart phones enable vendors, along with the rest of the world to learn a great deal of personal information about users.

Although privacy, or lack thereof is a large concern for users, the same tool that gives up much of their own personal power, also gives it back to them two fold. The smart phone connects people. It enables them to reach billions of people in an instant. It allows differing opinions to be heard. The personal data being collected, also gives us a better idea of what society is doing in real-time. Digital census takers even believe that the technology will allow government to improve traffic flows and even flight epidemics. Perhaps the most important benefit of the smart phone craze is its economic benefits.

Studies have found that in developing countries every ten extra phones per 100 people increase GDP per person by more than a single percentage point. They draw people into the banking system, and stimulate the economy. Currently, about half of the adult population owns a smart phone. It is predicted that by 2020 80% will.

Source: The Economist