Lenovo has been pushing into the phone market and here is another entrant that we might be able to expect in the future...

While smartphones with built-in projectors haven't gone anywhere yet, maybe Lenovo's twist on providing a destop interface display with their phone will begin to attract some users. Not only designed with the ability to project the phone's screen with the pico projector, with a twist of the projector cap and setting up the phone's kickstand, you can now project an image onto the desktop for interacting via a keyboard or other image being displayed. There isn't any release date on this at this tiime but it will be interesting to see one when it comes out. In the meantime, take a look at the video below.

Should Smart Watches like the Apple Watch be considered a handheld device?

Yesterday I posted an article about Smart Watches being distracting to drivers and today I found an article at Appleinsider.com that reports that an Apple Watch owner was just fined in Quebec for operating his new Apple Watch while in the driver’s seat (report from CTV Montreal). The driver stated that he was using the watch’s built in music app to control his iPhone that was connected to his car’s stereo.

The ticket cited Section 439.1 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code, which reads, "No person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function." Use of Bluetooth accessories, like headsets and hands-free equipment, is allowed. A literal interpretation could find Macesin not technically in violation of the statute, as the "handheld device" in this equation — Macesin's iPhone — was stowed in a bag and therefore unreachable.

My belief is that it is as much of a handheld device as a phone, being in this case an screen extension of the phone control. Just glancing at the watch to see what time it is, is one thing, but actually going through the menus and choosing options is another. What do you think?

Amazon Prime

Have you considered joining Amazon Prime? For the annual fee of $99.00 you certain have a lot of things that you gain. I will list them below and maybe this will help you decide whether it is a good option for you.

Free Two-Day Shipping. Whenever you see the prime symbol on an item that you are purchasing this item is eligible for free two day shipping to the delivery location that you assigned to the  in order. So, if you are ordering quite a bit from Amazon and you may find this one feature worth the entire annual fee.

Prime Instant Video. This feature provides unlimited instant streaming of over 40,000 movies and TV episodes.So if you're busy trying to catch up on some old TV shows that you have missed this is a great way to do so.

Prime Music. If you like Pandora and some of the other online music providers then you will love this feature that is again free. You can setup unlimited, ad free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists. So choose you favorite artist and dance away.

Prime Photos. anew feature that provides unlimited storage of your photographs.  This includes Raw files from Canon, Nikon and Sony. The limit is on the total storage of your video files (5 gb) before you will have to start paying for the increase storage requirements. This is again a simple and reasonable option for storing your digital photos safely in the cloud.

Prime Early Access. Amazon runs online specials and just because you are a Prime Member you get a 30-minute jump on the rest of the world that hasn’t ponied up the admission price. This also give you access to new events showing up on myHabit.com.

Kindle Books. Choose one featured early release book for FREE every month. You can also borrow one Kindle Book per month from over 500,000 titles for free on any Kindle device with no due dates. Two great options if you are a reader and use your Kindle for digital books.

You take a look at always options I am sure that you will find one or two at least that you would use. It doesn't take long to see the savings that pile up if you are in active user of these Amazon Prime benefits. There are so many other little things that add up as well that I find myself not being able to leave behind the Prime Membership system. I think you'll find this true for yourself as well.

Here’s a thought, will smartwatches be more distracting to drivers than smartphones?

Tweaktown.com author Michael Hatamoto posted a blog entry discussing this very thing. When you consider how bad it is with drivers grabbing their phone now and how many accidents that seem to derive from texting it is scary to think about people that have added another device that is so easy to glance at that they may do so way to often. While this toy is still on the expensive side the number of orders for the Apple Watch are outstanding. We keep adding more and more devices to provide and interface to our digital world and we are spending less and less time with direct communication and personal contemplation about our lives, goals and desires.

So, you may want to rethink about getting the new fangled gadget and just get home and enjoy your family and friends.

Adobe Photoshop Touch slated for replacement

This is Adobe’s advanced photo editor for iPad and Android tablets. Touch will still continue to work as long as it’s downloaded and installed, but no more updates will be produced and it is no longer for sale.

New prototype apps that Adobe is showing appear to be able to provide editing functions approaching workstation speeds.Adobe has provided a video that also shows off options like selective object removal, color swapping, and image warping.

CNet reported that unlike the $10 Touch, upcoming software should be free, but demand a Creative Cloud subscription to sync files with Photoshop CC on the desktop, or the rest of the CC suite.

It is nice to see that programs is this area are progressing. I will be interested to see how well they work on older iPad equipment and Android devices.