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AT&T Microcell Failures
The AT&T Microcell is a device that AT&T sells to consumers to boost cell phone signals in areas where their signal is weak (home, office, etc…). Basically, you give up some of your broadband so that AT&T’s mini cell tower can provide you better cell coverage over your Internet service. But, recently some customers have been finding out the hard way that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. There have been reports of failures to set-up the device and even get it running at all. Here is one person’s experience. Here is TechCrunch’s coverage of the issue.
Zeo Personal Sleep Coach
I just received an email from Zeo promoting the Sleep Coach as a gift for dad. It reminded me that I was supposed to write this review after I was to meet with their sleep coach for some tips on getting some better z’s. Tips, in addition to what they already provide on their website. That meeting hasn’t happened yet but it shouldn’t stop me from fulfilling my promise of writing this review.
Here is how it works:
* Unpack and set up the alarm clock. This is pretty straight forward.
* Perform your usual bedtime routine.
* Strap on the headband and adjust the fit. Not too tight that it wakes you up from the pressure, and not too loose that it falls off while you sleep.
Sleep!
* Wake up and place the headband on the alarm clock.
* Stare in awe at your horrible or great night’s sleep.
After a few night’s of sleep you can connect your Zeo SD card (that’s what saves your sleep data) to your computer and upload the data to their website (account required). After you upload your data you get a beautiful array of charts. I LOVE CHARTS!
Now, that’s easy enough but hardly enough to tell you how to get a better night’s rest. That is where the diary comes in. There are about four-five questions you answer and input into your profile along with each night’s score. Over time, you can run reports showing you a cross section of your answers and how they relate to how well you slept. Now, that is very helpful.
Did you have some caffeine before bed? Low score the next morning? Happened last week too? Notice a trend?
All in all it’s fun to check out your score each morning. Also it’s nice to see how many times you were awake, how much deep sleep, how much light sleep, how much REM (no, not the music group) you had each night.
“But what happens after I start getting better sleep? Do I need it anymore?”
I wonder if it becomes unnecessary to keep wearing the headband. Maybe you can share it with your spouse and let them use it for a while.
Honestly, if you are sleeping better because of the coaching and tips, then it’s worth the money. There are sleep centers that will analyze your sleep and I’m bet it’s pretty expensive. I think you need to be sent to them by your doctor as well. (Not sure on this one)
Anyway, it’s a good gift for someone who complains about having a bad night’s sleep on a regular basis. You will learn ways to get a better night’s sleep and find out what bed time routines are getting in the way of a restful night of zzzzzzz’s.
I’m really digging Safari 5’s new ScreenReader. It does a great job of removing the clutter around an article so you can focus on the article and send all the rest of the web page junk to the background. Watch the video to see what I’m talking about.
iPhone 4 Price and Launch Date
$199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB
My guess at a sale date is June 30th…
***Drum roll please***
June 24th (I was wrong)
Pre-order June 15th
AT&T is upgrading eligibility details: If your contract is up any time in 2010, you can upgrade to the iPhone 4 (If you renew your contract)
Video Calling comes to the iPhone! It’s called Face Time and will work over wifi. Front and rear camera support and works in landscape or portrait mode.
iBooks comes to iPhone. Same notes, bookmarks, and pdf documents across all your “i” devices. Automatically sync across each device. This has been available on the Kindle devices and apps for some time. Apple is just catching up on these features.
5 Megapixel Camera hits the iPhone
Backside illuminated sensor, allowing more light to get to the sensor, 5x digital zoom, built into the camera app, and LED flash
HD Video
720p at 30fps.
iPhone sports double the resolution and A4 Chip
7 hours of 3g talk, 6 hours of 3g browsing, 10 hrs of Wifi Browsing, 10 hrs of video, 300 hrs of standby
