Shelly Palmer Digital Living - Daily Radio Report

Stop! Close that Instagram app, put your phone down and step away from your dinner! We’ve become obsessed with photographing every meal, but a new study says that food photos on Instagram ruin the enjoyment of food for everyone at the table. Two researchers at Brigham Young University had 232 people look at and rate pictures of food. Half of them looked at desserts, while the other half looked at salty snacks like potato chips and pretzels. After they finished rating the pictures, both groups were given salty foods to eat and asked to rate how good they tasted. The group that had just looked at pictures of salty foods enjoyed their snack far less than the other group. Why did this happen? One of the researchers said that those people became tired of the taste without even eating the food, calling it ‘sensory boredom.’ Next time you post a picture of what you’re about to eat, remember that you’re ruining that food for all of your friends. Put down the phone, and just dig in instead!

In another step to distance itself from the competition, T-Mobile recently announced that its Simple Choice customers will now get unlimited international data and texting at no additional cost. Starting the end of this month, anyone signed up for T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan, which starts at $50 for unlimited texting, voice and 500 MB of data, will get new international benefits in more than 100 countries, including Germany, Spain, China and Japan. The change doesn’t include free international calling, but the company did drop the price of those calls to 20 cents a minute. This move is unprecedented in the mobile world. As I’ve written about before, I’ve been gouged by Verizon with fees while using my phone overseas, which – for comparison’s sake – charges $25 per 100 MB when you’re out of the country. T-Mobile has recently set itself apart from its mobile competitors with moves like this. Now it’s up to the rest of the market to catch up.

If you want to remain private on Google … well, relatively private, anyway … listen up. Google recently changed its Terms of Service and will soon use your name and picture in searches for products you’ve posted about. Starting November 1, anything you’ve posted on a Google-owned site, like YouTube or Zagat, is fair game for the search engine giant to use in its advertisements. You may not have a problem with this – your comment was posted publicly in the first place – but if you want to keep your affairs relatively private, there’s a quick fix. Head to the Settings page of your Google account and navigate to the Google+ tab. One of the first toggles is for “Shared Endorsements.” If you want out, this needs to be set to “Off.” If it’s marked “On,” click Edit, uncheck the box on the next page, then click save. That’s it – your online life is as private as it ever was … which is to say: not very private at all.

Do you hate brushing your teeth? A new company called Blizzident has begun creating custom 3D-printed toothbrushes that cut your brushing time from 2 minutes all the way down to 6 seconds. So how’s it work? After popping the very strange-looking toothbrush into your mouth, you bite down and make chewing motions. The toothbrush’s bristles are angled to clean your gums and get between your teeth for a quick, complete clean. Every Blizzident toothbrush is custom-made and begins with an impression or 3D-scan of your teeth. The scan is uploaded to Blizzident, which makes the toothbrush using 3D printing. There’s a steep cost to saving those two minutes a day, though. Your first Blizzident toothbrush will cost $299, and replacements cost $159. That’s on top of the $75 to $200 it costs to get the 3D scan done. While the Blizzident toothbrush is, for now, a luxury item, the ever-decreasing cost of 3D printing could help products like this find their way into everyone’s homes in the very near future.

If you’re still having trouble finding the iPhone 5s you want, Apple made your life a little easier. Last week, Apple introduced the option to purchase an iPhone 5s online with in-store pickup. Since the initial run of iPhone 5s models sold out online, Apple’s website has listed shipping dates for all iPhone 5s models for some point later this month. But if you checked Apple’s site when the company launched the in-store pickup feature, you could find which locations in your area had the model you wanted. There’s also a new, unofficial site called iPhone-Check that makes it simple to search multiple stores at once. Plug in your zip code and pick which color and carrier you want. The site will then show you what phones are available at Apple stores near you. Now that we’re a few weeks away from launch, supply should start catching up with demand. But if you’re still missing out on that iPhone you’ve just got to have, these sites should make your life a little bit easier.

Microsoft is serious about gaining mobile market share. The company has reportedly been talking to HTC about adding its Windows operating system to HTC’s Android-based smartphones at little or no added cost. It makes sense for Microsoft to talk to HTC, as it is the first company to make both Windows and Android phones. But HTC hasn’t unveiled a new Windows-based handset since June and reportedly has no plans for any in the future. Microsoft owns 3.7 percent of the market, and is serious about its mobile division. The company bought Nokia’s phone business last month for $7.2 billion, and has really stepped up its attempts to gain market share. If the company can ever truly gain traction in the mobile world, this is a good time, as BlackBerry has crumbled and the market’s third spot is up for the taking. This move is still in the earliest of stages, but could give users a new, unique choice and make smartphones exciting again.

The time has finally come; Instagram users will soon start to see advertisements in their feeds. The company recently announced that users in the United States will start to see video and image ads over the next couple of months from brands they don’t follow. Instagram knows people aren’t going to be happy about this, and has assured us that this process will will ‘start slow’ and deliver only a small number of ‘beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands.’ When it comes to displaying ads, Instagram is taking a page out of Hulu’s book. You’ll be able to hide ads you don’t like and give feedback about why you did that, which Instagram will use to customize your experience. We’ll have to wait and see what Instagram’s long-term ad plan looks like, but it sounds like in the short term, the ads won’t be too invasive or disruptive. You may not like seeing ads fill up your Instagram feed, but at least you’ll have time to adjust.

I love my Galaxy S4, but when Verizon sent me a Droid Maxx to review, I liked the phone so much that I bought one at full retail price. I’m returning it tomorrow, though – everything is not always what you think it is. The headphone jack is not a two-way data port, Jawbone UP, PayPal and Square dongles won’t work… even some volume and mute controls on some headsets with microphones won’t work. Then there's the camera. There is no on screen button to snap with, so no one knows how to take a picture with your phone. There are some things to love about the device, though. I’m getting a solid 24 hours of battery life, which is great. Saying "OK Google Now" will get you an up close and personal view of how Google Glass works. If you think Siri is cool, wait until you try this. The Droid Maxx isn’t a bad phone, but it’s not for me. I’ll be returning to my trusty Galaxy S4… until the Note III comes to Verizon.

If you want to get rid of your iPhone for another smartphone, Microsoft has a deal for you. The company recently launched a buyback program that offers up to $350 back when you trade up from an old device and buy a new Windows Phone or Surface tablet. The program lets you trade in iPads, iPhones, Samsung devices, BlackBerry phones and more. The trade-in is done through a third party, Clover Wireless, which mails you a prepaid Visa gift card after you send Clover your old device. With the iPhone 5s and 5c having just launched, the value of your old iDevice is going to continue to go down the longer you wait. While Microsoft’s trade-in program may be convenient if you plan on upgrading to a Windows 8 device, the trade-in value of an iPhone 5 is nearly $100 less than you’d get at an Apple or Best Buy store. Before you trade in your device anywhere, figure out where you’ll get the best value.

iOS 7 brought more than just a fancy new look to your iPhone – it also brought a bunch of new features. If you haven’t checked yet, there are many new ringtone and alert tones available in the Sounds menu of your iDevice’s Settings app. If you were using an Apple sound before, it’s still there – but all those sounds are now tucked away under the “Classic” header of the menu. You may have heard that you can enable the App Store to automatically update your apps, but did you know there’s another similar feature that saves you even more time? It’s called “Background App Refresh” and it can be found in the General menu of the Settings app. If you want to save a few seconds every time you open an app, you can toggle this feature to automatically refresh your apps, including Dropbox, Google, Snapchat and more. If you notice certain apps are downloading TOO much data and killing your battery, you can toggle them on or off individually.

Your Facebook “likes” carry more weight than you may think. A federal appeals court in Virginia recently ruled that “liking” something on Facebook is a form of speech and is protected by the First Amendment. The case was brought to trial after a former deputy sheriff in the state was fired for “liking” the Facebook page of a man running against his boss for city sheriff. The court ruled that “liking” the page was the equivalent of displaying a political sign on your front yard, which the Supreme Court has ruled is “substantive speech.” The Virginia court ultimately overturned a previous decision to throw the case out based on the idea that clicking “Like” on a certain page broadcasts to your Facebook friends that you support the page. As our personal lives continue to become more digitized and as we move into a Connected World, it’s a very important step to see the law recognizing and understanding our online actions, and defending them under the Constitution.

After several months in beta, iOS 7 is finally here. If you want to make the most out of Apple’s newest mobile OS, here are some tips and tricks. With iOS 7, Siri is smarter than ever before. It’s so smart, in fact, that you can correct it if Siri says someone’s name wrong. By saying, “That’s not how you pronounce that,” you set Siri up for a short exercise that will correct the pronunciation. You can also ask Siri to find images, find out what’s happening in the news and search for tweets by name or topic, all by using conversational language. And, if you’re a Twitter junkie like me, you’ll have to check out the newest feature in Safari’s bookmark menu. Click the @ symbol inside Bookmarks to find a list of links from your Twitter feed. If you follow a bunch of accounts that tweet great links and you keep losing track, this is a smart way to keep everything sorted out.

If you take great pictures and are looking for a little extra cash, listen up. Social photo app Foap has finally made its way to Android. Launched last year on iOS, Foap gives you the ability to sell any photos you take with your mobile device. The whole process is very simple. Take a bunch of cool pictures and upload them to Foap. Any pictures given an approval rating of 2.5 out of 5 or higher can be purchased for $10, which is split 50/50 between you and Foap. If you’re looking to buy photos or just want to check out potential competition, the app lets you browse the latest images sold, the highest rated shots and also lets you search all images. Foap also has something called “Foap Missions,” where brands can create a photo challenge – like taking a picture of a product in a certain place – and offer rewards for the best images. If you think you’ve got a keen eye and want to make some money, download Foap today.

iOS 7 added a ton of great new features to your iDevice; here are a few you might not yet have discovered. Custom folders on your home screen are now better than ever, because Apple removed the limit on the number of apps you can keep in each folder. Got more than 16 productivity apps you want to keep in one place? No problem! Also, did you know that if head into your device’s Compass app and swipe to the second page, you’ll find a bubble level interface? Your iPhone can now tell you if a surface is level or not, which means you no longer have need a dedicated spirit level app. Speaking of clearing out apps, you no longer need a flashlight app either, as swiping up from the bottom of your screen opens Command Center, giving you one-touch access to many handy features, including a flashlight. It’s a very smart addition and, frankly, one that should have been included years ago.

YouTube will soon let you watch your favorite videos and channels whenever you want, even if you’re not connected to the internet. Available in the YouTube mobile app starting this November, you can designate certain videos or playlists that you want to store on your phone by tapping “add to device” next to what you want to keep. Tapping this button saves the video to your phone for 48 hours; staying offline any longer than that means you’ll need to reconnect to view the offline content. Everything you save will be stored in an “On Device” section of the app, giving you one-stop shopping for all your favorite cat and cute kid videos. Content creators will be pleased to know that the offline videos will run with ads, and any offline views will be added to the video’s total count when the user comes back online. If you’re a YouTube addict and want access to your favorite videos at all times, keep your eyes peeled when the update lands this November.