This year will be filled with loads of new gadgets, some wonderful, some silly and some simply outrageous. The first week of January saw the 12th annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CES is an industry-only show where thousands of technology companies get together to show off their latest products and innovations. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting products shown this year.

The Belty
Wearable technology is all the rage these days with dozens of fitness trackers, smart watches, body cameras and smart glasses to choose from, but one of the more intriguing pieces at CES was the Belty – a smart belt that can tighten and loosen itself. It has a built-in fitness tracker so it can count your steps, measure how long you’ve not been moving and coach you to be more active. All this is something that nearly every other fitness tracker does but the belt is where it differs; once you set your tightness level the buckle keeps the belt at that level. So when you sit down the belt loosens automatically as your waist expands. When you stand back up, it snugs down again. Eat too much at lunch and the same thing happens.

USB 3.1 Type C
USB is used to connect millions of devices together, but how often have you been frustrated by the number of different ends? USB Type C moves to end that nightmare. USB-C uses the same connection on both ends, regardless of the type of device being connected. It also allows for much higher transfer speeds (up to 10Gbps, twice as fast as USB 3.0) and power throughput (20V, 5A), giving USB 3.1 enough flexibility to connect and power everything from monitors to cell phones and it could even replace laptop charging cables. The downside to all this progress is that while USB-C will be backwards compatible with older devices you will need an adapter to fit your older device.

LG Twin Wash Washing Machine
As part of the rapidly emerging “Internet of Things” many new home appliances are getting online so you can access them via the World Wide Web. LG’s Twin Wash washing machine also gets into the online game by letting you operate it remotely, but that’s not its most innovative feature. That would be the fact that it can wash two loads of clothes at once. Yes, now you can wash your jeans and shirts in the upper, larger wash bin while your more delicate items are washed in a smaller bin in the pedestal. In addition to twin bins for washing, the Twin Wash has a turbo setting for most of its wash cycles to get your dirty clothes cleaner faster. Unfortunately LG didn’t seem to have a “Twin Dryer” based on the same concept so what are you supposed to do when both loads of wash are done?

Microsoft’s New Browser, Codename: Spartan
Microsoft is developing a new web browser to compete more directly with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Expected to be released with Windows 10, Spartan is not meant to replace Internet Explorer directly but rather seems to be a program all its own. Although details are still sketchy, Spartan is said to support extensions (which IE doesn’t), include Cortana support (Microsoft’s version of Siri), the ability to use a stylus to annotate webpages and enhanced tab control. Spartan will also be installed like an app from the Microsoft Store and because it’s not built into the operating system, it should be updated more frequently.

Wireless Music and LED Lights
The big thing in music tech this year is multi-room streaming. Basically this technology allows you to stream music from your phone or other device as you move from room to room. Of course you’ll need some wireless speakers, but why not get a two-for-one upgrade and get an LED light bulb with it? The LED revolution and the Internet of Things have brought some cool innovations to “ye olde light bulb,” including integrated wireless speakers, multi-color support, wifi range extenders and even security cameras. So now you can get down on your own dance floor and upload it to YouTube from the comfort of your living room, all while saving energy.

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We live in an age of technology, but some of our readers can remember the days of typewriters and liquid white-out being their best friend in college, high school, or their first job. So what do you do if you find yourself struggling to cope with 21st-Century technology in a world where it’s changing every day?

First, relax and remember that for the most part you don’t have to use all those extra things if you don’t want to. You might be more in touch with certain people or news if you can hop online and visit Facebook, get texts on your smartphone, stream news videos, and exchange pictures with loved ones via Instagram, but is it really necessary? Well the fact that many people lived for hundreds of years without these things should tell you something. Last we checked, the post office still sends letters, you can still print photos, phone calls from regular landlines were still a feature in most homes, and the TV and radio options are still working. So it’s your choice. You can try some new things or just stick with the basics and enjoy the simplicity.  

Many of you, however, want to learn how to interface more with the technology world and just need a few tips to help get started. There are many areas we’ll need to discuss but we’ll start with a simple one:

How To Set Up and Use a Mobile Hotspot
A Hotspot is a mobile Internet connection, made through your smartphone, supplying Internet to other devices when you’re on the go.

Things you’ll need:

• A smartphone.
  
• A laptop, tablet or other wireless device.
  
• A data plan on your smartphone, preferably 10GBs or more.
  

If you don’t have a smartphone but want mobile Internet then you’ll need to purchase a personal hotspot such as Verizon’s JetPack device; however most smartphones include the capability to act as a hotspot. Please note that some carriers charge an extra fee to enable hotspot functionality on your phone. We’ll cover instructions for both the Apple iPhone and Android smartphones.

iPhone
Before you enable the hotspot option on your iPhone you’ll want to get the wireless SSID (the name of the network) so you know what to connect to. The SSID will be the same name as your device, to find that, tap on “Settings,” then “General,” then “About;” the first entry in the list is “Name.” Now go back to “Settings” and tap “Personal Hotspot.” Tap the slider and your hotspot is now enabled. If your wireless or Bluetooth is turned off you will be asked to enable one or both of them to share the connection. Below the on/off slider for the hotspot is the wifi password, you can change this if you’d like or you can leave the default password, in either case you will need that to connect your other device.
Now go to your other device and you should see your iPhone appear as a wireless network. Simply select it and press connect. Enter your password when asked and you should be all set. When a device is successfully connected you will see a blue ribbon at the top of your iPhone that shows how many devices are connected to the hotspot. The iPhone can host up to five connections at a time.

Android
From your home screen go to “Settings,” in the first section you should see the Hotspot option under WiFi and Bluetooth. Tap on “Mobile Hotspot Settings” to find and change the SSID, you can also view/change the password here. Once you have those settings tap “Activate.” You can now go to your other device and connect to your phone. You will see a notification on your phone’s screen showing that the hotspot is active and the number of connected devices.

Please note that when connecting devices this way you will probably use a lot of data so be careful not to go over your limit! The hotspot function will also drain your phone battery at a faster rate so keep a charger handy!

This topic was suggested by one of our customers because Hotspots are something she wanted to learn how to use. Do you have a technology related question you want answered? Email us and we may feature it here!

We wanted to take the opportunity at the beginning of this year to share what has happened over the course of the last year and where we’re heading as we start off 2015.

How We Got Here
I (Joe) began exploring computers when I was a teenager. My 6+ years of hands-on experience working for Scott’s Computing in Thorp laid a good foundation of technical understanding and expertise that I continue to build upon with further education and experience on the job today. After I married Tiffany in 2010, I was employed at a local business, but I continued to service computers for individuals and businesses in the community. My own personal part-time work grew each year from 2010 to 2014 as friends, family, and satisfied customers spread the word that I was still working on computers. Eventually, I found myself frequently putting in long days as I would come home from my day job to put in several more hours servicing computers. This is how we found ourselves when we began 2014.

A year of Change
This year has seen a lot of changes for our business. In January we realized that our “part-time” venture either needed to “go big or go home.” While we had previously discussed the potential that my “side” business of fixing computers might eventually turn into a full-time job, it never seemed to be the right timing. This time, however, my wife and I both felt we needed to head toward making our computer business a full-time venture. I notified my employer that I would be leaving in a couple months, and we made preparations to make our computing our sole focus.

This involved several new things, including a new name. We began our year as “DeepCore5 Consulting” -- the name we’ve operated under for a few years, but we realized that we needed something that better communicated who we are and what we do. So early in 2014, we registered with the state to do business as “Yellowstone Computing.” We were very excited about our new name, especially as we expanded the services and time that we could offer our customers.

We also launched this website and a Yellowstone Computing Facebook page, to give current and future customers the opportunity to see what services we offer, view what specials we are running, and read our weekly blog posts. Many of the blog posts are also featured weekly in the Owen Withee Sentinel and Rural News. We also joined the Thorp Area Chamber of Commerce.

We’ve seen the need to visibly expand our work space as well. First beginning work in a small office in our home, Joe has moved his workshop to larger room to accommodate growing needs. This allows him to better handle multiple computers, as well as have space for accessories, computer parts, etc. If you ever come by with your computer, feel free to ask for a tour!

Our customers provide our best advertising, since they give word-of-mouth recommendations. We have also also run local ads and personally shared our services with the businesses in the surrounding communities.

The Year Ahead
This year we anticipate expanding our computer services and growing to be well-known in the community as a reliable, knowledgeable and professional company that our local residents and businesses can trust with their computing needs.

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Do you have a question or topic you’d like us to address? Email and let us know!