Oaken Gearbox

Although the big tech companies like Google, Apple, & Microsoft spend a lot of time creating "ecosystems" that integrate all their products and services slickly together, I, like a lot people tend to pick and choose and end up with a conglomeration that doesn't always play nice together. When I got my Android phone a couple years ago, I discovered Google Calendar Sync, a light utility that can be installed on a Windows Computer and pull calendar events from Outlook and add them to Google Calendar (and therefore your Android), as well as the other way around. I've been told this also works for iPhone. I don't have one, but as long as you can use Google Calendar on an iPhone I don't see why it wouldn't. When I recently got a new work laptop and tried to reinstall this handy utility, I discovered this program is no longer available for download from Google. http://support.google.com/calendar/answer/94020?hl=en (c'mon, Google, remember, don...

The first question you may be asking is what exactly is an "unlocked" smartphone? The second is probably "Why should I care?" The answer to the second question is that you could save hundreds of dollars per year on your phone bill by using an unlocked phone on a smaller carrier. The first question is a bit more complicated. If you're like most Americans with a smartphone, you probably have an Apple or Android device that you got for free (or less than $200) when you signed a two year contract with one of the "Big Three" American network providers. These providers subsidize an expensive phone for you, and in return you are obligated to pay their (costly) monthly talk and data fees. An unlocked phone is one that is not tied to any carrier and thus can be activated for a much cheaper monthly fee , or pay-per-minute prices. Note that this is different from "jailbreaking" (iPhone) or "rooting" (Android). That process is used to...