TheBolt

Sometimes I get a lot of grief from my friends for wearing fingerless gloves during the wintertime.  “You look like a hobo.  How do your fingers keep warm?” says my one friend, wagging their mitten covered hand at me.  I know fingerless gloves don’t exactly keep you as warm as you would like, but for me, it’s their functionality that warms me over.  Simply put, I like wearing them because I can operate my phone easier.  I have a touch phone and there’s nothing more obnoxious than needing to write a text in a pinch when you have to shuffle off gloves, tuck them under your armpit or pocket and start typing away.  It’s just easier for me.

If you still aren’t convinced and would rather keep your gloves, texting with your iPhone or touchscreen phone got a lot easier during the wintertime.  The company, Quirky, created some removable mini conductive pins that attach to the fingertips of your gloves and operate just like your bare fingertips.  So keep your fingers warm and type away.

Abt is pleased to announce the opening of the new Bose® room in our audio/video department. Like many of the trusted brands featured in our store, Abt has worked closely together with Bose for many years to create a tremendous shopping experience. This new Bose® area in our store does just that!

The new room features 20 Bose home theater and personal audio products on display, including the newest Lifestyle® home entertainment systems, the simpler 2.1 CineMate® home theater speaker systems, the SoundDock® family of products for iPods® and iPhones®, the Companion® line of computer speakers, and the brand new Bose IE2 and AE2 audio headphones.

Automated displays throughout the space allow Abt customers to explore independently, listen to music and movie demonstrations, and discover more about the product benefits – all with the simple push of a button. The room also allows for more personalized demonstrations with an Abt sales consultant in warm, home-like settings that combine the latest HDTVs, Bose systems, a variety of HD sources, and comfy leather seating.

A great product on display that I had the pleasure of trying out is Bose®’s new Lifestyle® V35 home entertainment system.  Continuing the tradition of Bose®’s popular Lifestyle® systems, the V35 connects up to 6 HD components and upscales any non-HD video to 1080p! I was very impressed with its Unify™ technology system that easily guides any user while installing the unit to existing components.  Even a novice would be able to set this up!

For more information, stop by Abt and take a tour of our newest remodel.  Don’t forget to also check our full line of Bose® products .

-Nick E.

It’s 7 am. The month of December.  22 degrees outside. You have to be at work in an hour, but you just woke up.  You need to shower, change, eat breakfast, make a lunch and give yourself about 10-15 minutes to warm up your car properly.  Sure, you could throw on the coat, gloves, scarf and run out to your car, turn it on and run back inside. But as technology progresses, it’s supposed to make life easier; which is why Viper has made protecting your car easy and even went the extra mile.

Viper, manufacturer of automatic car starters, has developed a new car starter that is able to link to your iPhone, Android phone or BlackBerry.  The starter requires you to install the Viper SmartStart and pay a yearly service fee of $29.99.  Downloading the free application for your smartphone allows you to unlock doors, open the trunk, turn the heat or air conditioner on and even notify you when your alarm goes off, all via your cellular phone.

Viper SmartStart works over the 3G cellular network or Wi-Fi, allowing you to  have an unlimited range in the U.S.  As long as your car is in within the appropriate distance of a GSM/GPRS cellular signal and your smartphone has a 3G or Wi-Fi signal, SmartStart will work. Anywhere. Anytime.

Check out Viper’s site for additional products and services.  And remember, if you live in the Chicagoland area, Abt’s Mobile Installation techs can professionally install this for you .  Call us at 847-967-8830 for details.

-Nick E

An application I recently discovered, called Type N Walk, which is available for the iPhone 4, has raised both interest as well as ethical questions.  The program, which can be downloaded for $.99 on the iPhone market, allows users to text while walking.  It uses the iPhone’s built in camera to stream video of what is in front of the walker, all the while allowing you to see both your keyboard and the words you are typing.

The application’s website states, “This [transparent viewport] combined with your peripheral vision is just enough visual information to help you avoid obstacles — like walking face-first into a tree!”  Personally, I can’t think of anything that is so important to text, that you can’t stop what you are doing for a moment, and safely send the message.

Abt’s customer service representative Theresa O, downloaded the program on her iPhone to experiment.  “I don’t like it.  The concept is good, but the way the camera is, it’s basically looking at the floor”, she stated.  “I still had to look up while walking to be completely safe.  It wasn’t very helpful.”

The application’s main website has a video simulating what it is like to use, when walking.

This definitely raises some questions on whether or not a program like this only makes it, what may seem like, easier for people to walk or drive and text.  Naturally Abt Electronics doesn’t condone texting while driving or walking, but if any of you have the application, we would like to hear your stories.  Even if you do not, we would like to hear your opinions on whether this is a helpful, or harmful application.

-Nick E

Hi, today I want to talk about the newest version of the Apple TV.

I have an old 40GB version and it has been very enjoyable over the years. The biggest news with the new one is that it has no storage and is streaming only. No worries about the hard drive crashing. The other plus is the Netflix capability.  If you are a Netflix subscriber, you will now be able to stream from the Apple TV to your TV, with just a simple HDMI connection.  The new product still gives you the ability to stream music and movies from your iTunes library, as well as photos, if you use iPhoto. You can also control Apple TV with an iPhone or iPod Touch and the Remote app which turns your Touch into a powerful, and reasonably priced, way to do multi-room audio.  Apple will also be coming out with an update that will allow you to stream whatever is on your phone or Ipod touch to the Apple TV.

We are now taking pre-orders for this product. I, for one, am on that list.

-Blake B.

Abt’s Mobile Installation team delivered a rolling symphony of sound to the Abt sales floor this past weekend.  A 2010 Mercedes C300 has been outfitted with Focal speakers, amplifiers, and subwoofers.  The most impressive part of the installation is zero modification to the factory interior of the vehicle.  While keeping all of the factory controls in the dashboard and cutting no holes in the panels, the audio has gone from plain and typical to vibrant and lifelike.

Alpine provides a solution for uncompromised sound without changing the radio in the dashboard of the vehicle, while Focal provides our sales and installation teams almost limitless options in breathing excitement back into driving your car. Quality sound and practicality meet in the trunk of this vehicle leaving room for golf bags, groceries, luggage, or your most recent purchase from Abt. (wink wink)

Visions of subwoofers that fill the trunk vanish as the sleek interior of the vehicle is complimented in the trunk.

Also hidden in this installation is a custom radar detector to help avoid those pesky red light camera tickets and/or speeding ticket. Don’t forget a remote start, which we have available for almost all makes, models, and years, including Mercedes Benz. The remote start used in this installation is unique in the way it is controlled: your smartphone. If you own a Droid, iPhone, or Blackberry, you can start your car from virtually anywhere with cellular service.

If you have questions about improving the sound in your vehicle or keeping your car interior warm this winter, contact our Mobile Installation Department and don’t forget  to come on in and see the car.

-Dustin M.

There is big controversy bubbling about the new iPhone 4 and the antenna problems so many users are experiencing…
There has been talk of a class action suit, downloadable updates, and fake letters to customers from Steve Jobs.

What the whole antenna issue boils down to is this… Many customers are experiencing an erroneous antenna signal. You may see five bars of antenna and really, your signal is only about two or three bars worth. To top it off, the controversial antenna band, when covered by a finger, decreases the antenna bars. That makes customers think they are losing antenna strength when they, in fact, are only seeing the actual antenna strength they had to begin with.

There is a promised software update for the iPhone 4, that will fix the incorrect signal display. At this point there isn’t too much information about the software patch fixing the dead spot on the antenna surrounding the phone—more specifically the bottom left hand corner…

Right now, we will all have to be patient and wait and see what happens. Do you have an iPhone 4? Are you experiencing any trouble? Let me know!

-Kelly Brummett

The Sonos S5 Zone player has arrived, until now, it was only available in white…Today, it’s back in black. The S5 Zone player is an innovative wireless speaker system that works with iPhone and iPod Touch technologies.

The S5 gives you complete freedom to listen to music in any room of your home. With one S5 you can listen to music in one room, with multiple players, you can connect them wirelessly and have the same music play in each room—if you would like different music in each room, the Zone player can do that too.

The features on the S5 are endless. Aside from its one touch set up, control it with the technology you already have in your pocket. Use an iPhone or iPod Touch as your remote after downloading a free app. If you don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, get the touch-screen Sonos Controller 200. Sonos’ S5 will play your entire iTunes library, internet radio stations, even music from a CD player in your home. After you register the S5 it will automatically alert you to software updates, with the touch of one button, your system updated and better than new.

For more information on Sonos or Zone players, contact an Abt sales specialist today!

-Kelly B.

I’ve had my iPhone for about a month now, and I really love it. I am pretty convinced that it can do anything I want it to do. I have actually found that I’ve used my laptop less because the iPhone is so handy.

Just about everyone at this point—iPhone user or not—has heard the slogan, “There’s an App for That.” It’s so true. There is an app for everything.

I found a really cool website at http://freeappaday.com/. The website is giving away a free iPhone app each day for a month. You may like them all or may only like a few… Either way, check it out and see if any of the free apps are appealing to you. There is a selector that will alert you if there is an app of the day that will interest you.

Let me know what you think!

For any iPhone accessories, stop in or check out www.Abt.com.

-Kelly B.

Yesterday, Google announced the long awaited Nexus One. This phone could be the first to give the iPhone a run for its money.

Nexus One operates on an updated version of the Android operating system. It has a 3.7-inch touch-screen, a 5-megapixel camera for video and photos, GPS, stereo Bluetooth connection for headphones, LED flash, Wi-Fi, and a noise cancelling mic for clearer conversations. The wow-factor? The Nexus One has speech dictation, eliminating the need to type. Users can speak and compose e-mail without touching the keyboard.

The Nexus One will retail at $179 with a two-year contract with T-Mobile or $529 with no contract. In the Spring of 2010, Verizon and Vodafone (a European wireless carrier) service will be also be available.

-Kelly B.