Giants Super Bowl Parade 2012

February 7th, 2012

Today was a big today in the NYC area, as the world championship New York Giants returned home for the much anticipated parade. We know this is a little off topic from the tech world, but hey, who didn’t see all the smartphones sweeping up all the action during the trophy presentation after the game. Plus, some of the commercials were good so it’s all relevant. We’re from New York and we just wanted to take the time out to salute our football team. Highlights below:

Mayor Bloomberg quipped during the ceremony that the city should be called the “Big Blue Apple”. Keys to the city were handed out and blue and white confetti was dropped everywhere.

Go Giants!

Giants Parade in NYC!

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RIM: Out With The Old, In With The New

January 23rd, 2012

Blackberry Research In Motion announced today that co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will step down as CEOs and the new CEO will be Thorsten Heins, a former Siemen’s executive who has been with the company since 2007.

It’s no secret that Blackberry has been losing market share since the introduction of iOS and Android across mobile platforms. Blackberry has been slow to adapt to the changing consumer mobile market and their devices have reflected that over the years. RIM consistently offered devices without WiFi or GPS, was one of the last companies to place cameras in their handsets and they were never able to deliver a fully functioning, pleasurable browsing experience to their end user.

While appointing a new CEO might signal new blood at RIM, do you think one person will be able to turn around a company that isnt delivering what consumers want? Where do you see RIM going in the next year? Will they sell off part of their business or the entire company? Will they license out their email platforms and combine with an OS like Windows or Android?

Time will tell, but the changing of the guard at RIM definitely signals something brewing. Stay tuned for more!

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Another Big Day For Apple

January 19th, 2012

Today was another big day for Apple, as they held an education announcement at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City to announce Textbooks for iPad. Apple will not completely turn the industry upside down (not yet anyway), but they will provide students with a modern, interactive approach to learning through digital textbooks.

Students will be able to highlight text, takes notes, create note cards and use multitouch gestures to interact with their textbooks. McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin and Pearson have all signed up to offer textbooks at $14.99 or less for high-school level editions with more to follow.

Apple has also introduced iBooks Author, which allows users to easily build and publish digital books for Apple’s iBooks store, much like Apple’s iWorks apps. No official word if they will be called iTextbooks just yet – anyone wishing they could go back to school and learn on these new textbooks?..

To go along with their textbook announcement, Apple also unveiled a new version of its iTunes U product, which brings an iBooks interface to iTunes U. So far, iTunes U has primarily been used for lectures, but it can be used to manage curriculums, give assignments and stream live content. iTunes U is available for download in the App Store today.

Apple also filed a patent with the USPTO which could reveal next generation battery designs which are composed of a set of electrode sheets, enabling much thinner batteries due to a variety of design possibilities.

Finally, the iPad 3 rumors are heating up, as images found in the latest iBooks  app show a high-def iPad display sporting a quad-core Apple A6 processor, 4G LTE support and twice the battery life of an iPad 2.

Time will tell, but looks like quite a busy year for Cupertino in 2012. Oh yeah, have we mentioned we haven’t even gotten to the iPhone yet?

The New Age Textbooks Are Here

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Google Protesting SOPA and PIPA

January 17th, 2012

Google is going to display a very prominent message on their homepage tomorrow protesting SOPA and PIPA. For those of you who dont know what SOPA and PIPA are, they are the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) respectively. Earlier this week, Wikipedia, Reddit and numerous other companies have announced blackouts scheduled for Wednesday (tomorrow) in protest of both SOPA and PIPA. While Google wont post a blackout, they will make their opposition clear.

Google will post a link on their homepage which will lead to more information and will certainly draw attention from users all over, as Google is the most visited web page in the world.

Craig’s List recently added a nice blurb on their website describing the acts more specifically, which you can read here: http://www.craigslist.org/about/SOPA

Supporters of PIPA and SOPA: RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)

Opponents of PIPA and SOPA: Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)

Google Will Protest SOPA & PIPA Tomorrow

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CES 2012

January 9th, 2012

For those of you who didnt know, CES begins this week in Las Vegas. The International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. It features close to 3,000 exhibitors, including companies who manufacture products or provide a service for audio, digital imaging, home theater, wireless, content and gaming markets. Translation? It is the Who’s Who among consumer technology shows.

There’s lots of great announcements and all the year’s best tech is on display for the coming months so what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas this time around, but either way it should be a blast. BuyBackWorld will be reporting live of course, so stay tuned for all the up to the minute tradeshow updates from Sin City!

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NetFlix Gets Its HBO On

January 4th, 2012

2012 looks to be a new year and a fresh start for Netflix. As they continue to try and increase revenues (which web company isn’t?) and attract more subscribers they are going a completely different route from their original game plan of online DVD rentals. Last year they entered the streaming media market allowing users to watch content directly on the device of their choice and it seems like this year they are going to start to produce their own series.

Following HBO’s foray into production, Netflix will start off with a mafia inspired series entitled, Lilyhammer. Interestingly enough, the series will star Sopranos co-star Steven Van Zandt as a mafia boss who moves to Norway as part of a witness protection program. Netflix will also begin to air a series titled House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey later this year.

Look forward to the series airing on February 6th- we know we’re excited and will be watching the episodes here at the office. Check out the trailer below and let us know if you’ll be tuning in.

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iPhone 5 (6?) Rumors Get Real Official

December 27th, 2011

Today the news hit (courtesy of BGR) that Apple’s next generation iPhone will launch in the Fall of 2012, marking the usual one year product cycle for Apple’s flagship products. All the rumors that we heard last year are coming back to life – the aluminum back, enlarged screen and more. The report also said that the new iPhone will have a rubber or plastic bezel which will connect the glass screen to the aluminum back. This casing will also serve as the iPhone’s new antenna system, improving signal strength and allowing for one seamless piece of iPhone heaven.

We know that there will be more rumors to follow, so let’s grab the popcorn and get ready.

Will This Be The New iPhone in 2012?

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SuperBowl Going CyberBowl?

December 21st, 2011

This year Superbowl XLVI will be streamed live over the Internet for the first time ever. The caveat of course, is that there is exclusivity involved. Verizon Wireless will be the only carrier to offer the streaming live to their users and subscribers can watch the game live provided they have phone support for NFL Mobile.

Alternatively, users can also stream the the Probowl and Wild Card Saturday games directly from NBC’s or the NFL’s websites. Online users will be able to see live stats, highlights and additional angles of the game. Looks like February 5th in Indianapolis will truly be viewed around the world.

Will You Watch The Superbowl On Your TV or Phone?

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New Wall For The New Year

December 19th, 2011

It looks like Santa came early this year and judging by his gift, we’re guessing we were good this year!

Our break room got a whole new wall painted in the classic NYC graffiti style. If you’re from New York (or ever visited) you’re definitely familiar with the word art that’s been sprawled all over subways and parks since the 80′s. While most of this was initially done without the consent of the city, over the years it has come to be appreciated as a part of the urban, edgy, world renowned culture that is New York.

Being the first, and only, official electronic BuyBack company representing New York (beware of counterfeits because they’re out there), we thought it was only fitting to pay tribute to how we remember our youth. It also serves as a nice, unique way to brighten up our room. We’re also working on a “cellphone museum” for you guys out there, showcasing all the weirdest and most abstract pieces of tech we’ve picked up over the years as a fun way to pay homage to our industry. Til then..

Pics below, what do you think?!

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Apple Could Be ‘ReInventing’ The iPod

December 19th, 2011

Apple introduced the classical iPod to us in 2001 and forever changed the way we attained and listened to music. Then they changed the form factor over and over again, allowing us to take the”1,000 songs in our pocket” and bring them to the gym with us on our iPod Mini or Nano’s or to use touch without the phone capabilities via the iPod Touch.

According to the NY Times, Apple is now working on developing “wearable technology” which is described as a “curved-glass iPod that would wrap around the wrist.” The device would be operated using Siri commands. The NY Times also stated that the center of Apple’s information hub might shift to the iPhone itself, making the iPod a mere display for all the information you needed. The Times said,

Researchers note that the smartphone is almost never more than three feet away from its user. It is often just inches from the bed during the night as well, and has replaced the alarm clock for many people.

Would You Wear Your iPod On Your Sleeve?

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