Staff Writer - page 15

This post is brought to you by VMware AirWatch.

If you know what the word “containerization” means, you probably work in IT (or you’re tech-savvy and adventurous enough to run afoul of your IT department on a regular basis). Containerization is the method of securing a device for corporate use by putting a part of it behind some type of authentication — without managing the actual device.

It’s a common practice in the corporate world, especially for bring your own device (or BYOD) environments, because containerization is often viewed as more lightweight than mobile device management, aka MDM. Users also may assume that MDM is overly intrusive and that containerization is a good compromise.

However, many of these issues are already solved for iOS. By leveraging Apple’s built-in privacy protections, AirWatch allows IT departments to preserve the native device experience while protecting corporate data.

Liam, Apple’s robot that deconstructs iPhones to mine the valuable resources inside them, is certainly cool — but he’s still not the recycling machine we deserve (or need).

Just like any Apple product, Liam was designed to work well. But how much good does the robot, which took three years to develop and build, actually do?

Today is Earth Day. That’s good news for the environment — and great news for your wallet!

To celebrate, we’re offering an extra $10 for every product sold on our gadget buyback program through the end of the weekend. Just use the promo code “earthday” when you get your quote and you’ll grab the extra green.

This post is brought to you by Kraftwerk9, maker of 1Sync.

For all the fancy features on our phones, somehow keeping our many streams of contacts organized remains a tedious hassle. When you meet someone on Facebook, get a phone number, connect via Gmail, or get in touch through any of the other myriad forms of communication we use daily, you create a new contact in an isolated contact category.

There are plenty of reasons you might want to wipe your iPhone of its data. Whether you’re selling it through our Apple gear buyback program, recycling it or handing it down, wiping your iPhone is a simple and effective way to keep your information safe. 

This post is brought to you by Sony.

Competition among low-profile, high-definition cameras keeps getting tougher. For proof, look no further than the latest Sony Action Cam lineup.

Looking something like a futuristic Super 8 in pill form, these powerhouse cameras are as feature-rich as photo gear five times their size. Sony sets its new cameras apart by throwing in attractive goodies and improving upon the previous Action Cam iteration.

Sometimes if your iPhone is just in too good condition, it helps to break it in a little. The initial scratch or screen break relieves a lot of pressure. But maybe you ran out of good ideas about how to break it. We’re here to help.

This post is brought to you by SmartDraw Software.

Plenty of jobs nowadays involve creating visual aids for clients, bosses and co-workers, from project flowcharts and building schematics to medical diagrams, you name it. But getting a BA typically doesn’t teach digital draftsmanship, which is why apps that make it easy to create compelling, clear graphics and illustrations have become so popular.

SmartDraw is an intuitive, powerful and fun app that’s become a contender against the big legacy software brands. More than half of the Fortune 500 and over 250,000 public and private enterprises of all sizes use SmartDraw now. But until today, SmartDraw has been available only on Windows machines. That changes with the release of SmartDraw Cloud, which lets Mac users get in on the action.

If you’ve heard about or used the Cult of Mac buyback program, you might be wondering what we do with your old devices — especially if you sent in broken gear. Is your old-but-loved iPad or iPhone in good hands?

This post is brought to you by Avi, maker of Smart-Spools.

“Cable organizers” is one of those useful product categories that no one can quite seem to get right. The engineering problem seems simple enough: Give me a way to neatly wrap up and stow my peripherals, like earbuds and power cables, ideally in a form that’s compact and not overly complicated to use.

Many have tried, but too often — whether due to improper sizing or an emphasis on form over function — cable organizers end up being less convenient than simply wrapping your headphones around a few fingers and stuffing them in your pocket.

Smart-Spools finally got it right, though.

Honestly, you know things are grave when the U.S. government thinks we’re behind on something. According to the Government Accountability Office, the United States has dismally low recycling rates for used TVs, computers and other devices.

There’s no national infrastructure for a strong recycling program, so states are left to take on the problem themselves, leading to a patchwork of regulations and inconsistencies on how to deal with it. Luckily, Cult of Mac can help Mother Earth and you at the same time — check out our Apple devices buyback program to either sell or straight-up recycle your used or broken gear.

It’s almost that time of the year again when you get really stressed out because you totally forgot that it’s Valentine’s Day. Your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend/husband/whatever is expecting something really great this year, and there’s just one problem: You don’t have any cash to buy something nice.

You look around and all you see are old iPhones and a first-generation iPad. Problem solved!

This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of ReiBoot and iPhone Care Pro.

Too many of us know the sense of powerlessness that comes with staring at a red Apple logo on an iPhone screen for minutes on end, or seeing the device stuck in an endless restart loop. When the time comes to restore a corrupted or compromised iPhone, the simplicity of an iOS device can turn into an imposing, tangled mess as you use iTunes to wake it up from its digital coma.

This post is brought to you by Wondershare, maker of PDFelement.

If you work with a computer (which, since you’re here, is likely), you have to deal with PDFs. And while PDFs are a great and reliable way to send forms, presentations and contracts — basically anything that can be read or written on — they’re not exactly flexible. In order to edit, add to, remove from, or otherwise alter them, you might think your options are limited to pricey software from Adobe.

Old devices piling up? Ours too. If you’re not sure what to do with them, or if you’re just too lazy to get up, we have a solution. Use our device buyback program today to get a quote for your old, used or broken devices, all from the comfort of your home.

This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of iPhone Care Pro.

Oh, iTunes. We gave it a good run, but I finally realized I’ve just been using you to take care of my iPhone. And that I can do better.

After finding my iPhone never quite properly synced, waiting through lengthy backups and updates, and putting up with your strange behavior because “that’s just the way you were designed,” it’s time to move on.

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that technology is continually evolving. This is what we love about it. The excitement of the next Apple product, the newest TV or car. Innumerable websites keep up with rumors and changes, and companies show off their latest and greatest technology and electronics at countless conventions.

But there’s one big problem with this. What happens to our old stuff when we move on to the next thing?

Whether it’s your iPhone 4 from college or the iPad mini your grandma got you last Christmas that’s still sitting in its box (thanks for trying, Grandma), we all have devices collecting dust.

Here are the top 10 reasons you refuse to sell your old devices.

This post is brought to you by You Need A Budget.

Given today’s economy, there’s a good chance you’re a freelancer. The self-employed, as much as and maybe more so than the salaried, can only benefit from being strategic and disciplined in handling money.

Of course many of us don’t have the bandwidth to plan beyond next week, let alone the next six months. But with shifting sources of income and hard deadlines for bills, improvising with your finances is a sure way to lose cash you could be keeping.

This post is brought to you by Code Atlas, maker of Veer.

Sometimes great innovations are really just refinements of something few would have thought of trying to improve. If you think Apple’s already figured out the best way of reaching out to your contacts in iOS 9, Veer will make you reconsider. It’s a novel new iOS app and Notification Center widget that blends seamlessly into your iPhone’s normal operations, simplifying and streamlining how we use the device to reach people.

If you got new devices for Christmas, don’t just put the old ones in a drawer — use Cult of Mac’s buyback program to get paid for them today!

This post is brought to you by iMyfone Technology Co., maker of iMyfone Umate.

Sure our iPhones look sharp, but the sleek exterior hides an inner life that resembles the floor of a bachelor pad. Broken bits of uncompressed photos, unused files, app caches, cookies, backup logs and whatnot clog up the works (there’s probably a few empty pizza boxes in there, too).

Consumers have a nasty habit of throwing out their electronics as soon as newer, shinier models become available, and they rarely ever do so properly. Nearly 42 million tons of e-waste — everything from microwaves and electric shavers to washing machines, laptops, cellphones, TVs and computer monitors — entered the global garbage stream in 2014, according to a United Nations University report.

Like all trash, this stuff doesn’t just disappear. Instead, it stacks up in landfills. Unlike most trash, however, e-waste is often packed with valuable components — as well as toxic chemicals and materials that can cause real damage wherever they end up.

This post is brought to you by LG Electronics.

When it comes to TVs, more is the new black. As the visual fidelity of film and television gets ever more refined, the visual subtleties and dynamics can be lost by TVs that aren’t able to produce a true black tone. It’s a benchmark of a monitor’s quality along with contrast ratio, and no TV can produce a more complete black than LG’s latest generation of OLED monitors.