Author: Emily Dolloff

  • Stay away from windex!

    All iPhones pick up fingerprints, and it’s all too easy to get your iPhone dirty with ink, lotion, makeup, dirt, food, and oil. If you’re faced with an iPhone that needs cleaning, resist the urge to spray it with window cleaner, rubbing alcohol, or ammonia, or, even worse, to scrub it with baking soda or Borax. That’s because all iPhones have oleophobic—oil repellent—coatings on their glass surfaces that make it easy to wipe off fingerprints. You don’t want to remove that coating any faster than it will wear off normally, and cleaning products will strip it quickly. Instead, Apple recommends a soft, lint-free cloth such as you would use for glasses or camera lenses. By the way, even though the iPhone 7 and later have some level of dust and water resistance, it’s important to avoid getting moisture in the openings—most of the time, a lens cloth should be all you need.

  • Time is running out, but our deals are not!

    December 16th through December 24th

    Are you starting to feel the time crunch? We don’t want you to be stressed so we are keeping our doors open later and releasing a new batch of deals and savings. We have a huge selection of stocking stuffers under $25 plus 20% off iPhone and iPad cases. If you have a computer still on your list we are offering a free case for 13in models and a free back up drive for the larger 15in Touch Bar and iMacs.



















    Do you want to make something old new again? We have some amazing deals available through this e-mail only on cases for iPhone 6/6s from Otterbox and Incipio.

  • iMac Pro

    The iMac Pro is finally here! Apple introduced us to this amazing machine several months ago, there was chatter we’d see it in December. Yesterday Apple officially released the 27-inch 5K iMac Pro. This computer is available in several configurations, up to a 18-core processor, 128gb of memory and up to 4TB of storage. Let’s take a quick look at the specs in some more detail.

    The standard configuration comes with the 3.2GHz 8-core processor, it features 32gb of ram, the Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics card and a 1TB SSD drive. However, you have almost endless upgrade options for the iMac Pro. You can choose from 4 different processors, 8-core, 10-core,14-core or 18-core processors. With each processor choice, you can choose from 32gb, 64gb, or 128gb of memory. Each configuration also comes with options to upgrade your storage capacity from 1TB to 4TB and you can choose from either the Radio Pro Vega 56 graphics card with 8gb of memory or the Vega 64 with 16gb of memory. The flexibility in configurations means you can truly can customize it to fit your performance needs.

    There is more to this mac than just incredible configuration options. The iMac Pro features the T2 chip. What is this you ask? The T2 chip allows for even higher levels of data security than your standard computer. Data stored on your SSD is encrypted using dedicated hardware encryption that is unique to each iMac Pro. This feature provides full disk encryption performed by a dedicated AES crypto engine. The FileVault on the iMac Pro extends encryption to your personal user key and keeps your credentials secure.

    The iMac Pro continues to deliver impressive features with its ability to offer real-time 3D performance that is up to 3 times faster than the standard iMac with a Radeon Pro 580 graphics card. Adobe Photoshop might not be a program that you would think is a one for power users, but it is. For photographers working on very large files and projects, the iMac Pro is impressive. Multithreaded filters can run up to 3x’s faster than a Mac Pro, now that is something!

    Ok, so I have listed some pretty cool statistics and configurations, but how many folks will need to take advantage fo this mega machine? After all, it’s base model pricing is $4999. First, consider what the machine is. Not only is it an incredibly powerful computer, it’s also an impressive 5K display so it’s multiple products in one. Users who are needing a computer for high-end digital work, those involved in 3D graphics or anyone getting into VR content will benefit from this computer. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, it’s incredibly customizable. You can build a machine to truly fit your computing needs. This machine is probably more than the average computer user needs, but for someone working on very large digital projects and those working on tight deadlines, the iMac Pro is an excellent choice.

  • Show Me The Cash!

    My granddaughter Khadija is away at college at Boston University and from time to time she will hit her gramps up for some…

  • The Magic Of The Trackpad

    No doubt at some point in your digital past, you’ve been prompted to provide an ‘e-signature’ on a document. Something these prompts may…

  • Setting Up Your New iPhone

    Despite pre-ordering my iPhone X at the exact moment they started taking orders, I’ve only had my new phone for about two weeks. It seemed those who ordered directly with Apple, rather than direct with the carrier, got them significantly faster. None the less, it’s finally in my hands. This new phone upgrade is the first time I have ever moved my data wirelessly, which is pretty remarkable considering this is my seventh iPhone! I have always done the traditional back up via iTunes and then my photo back up to Photos. This process took hours and hours and I’d inevitably lose an entire evening to syncing, updating, backing up and troubleshooting. Have I mentioned enough how much I love using iCloud?

    In addition to the benefits of iCloud back up ( when it all works as it should! ) Did you know that iOS 11 now also has a hidden trick to make your phone upgrades even more seamless?

    If your old iPhone is running iOS 11, you can use Quick Start, a new iOS 11 feature that makes the transfer easy. Just turn on the new iPhone, set it next to the old one, and tap Continue when asked whether you want to use your Apple ID to set up your new iPhone. An animation appears on the new iPhone for you to scan with the old iPhone—once you’ve done that, follow the rest of the instructions to enable Touch ID or Face ID and then restore your data and settings from your most recent iCloud backup (you can update the backup first if necessary). Leave the two iPhones next to each other while data is being transferred, and if possible, keep the new one plugged in and on Wi-Fi after setup so it can download your apps, photos, and music. Once you have done this you will be ready to start using your new phone in just a few minutes! Less than 30 minutes after I had gotten my new phone, I’d transferred information over and started the download from my iCloud back up. I was able to use the new phone immediately but had to hit the road before all my apps and photos downloaded. During the day I was not on wifi so I will say some apps didn’t work just yet. However, unlike upgrades of the past, I was not tethered to a computer and endless updates. When I returned home at the end of the day to wifi again it took less than 30 minutes everything updated and downloaded. This was by far, the easiest phone upgrade.

  • Siri Tip!

    It has taken several years, but it has happened! I am a HUGE fan of Siri. Why now you ask? In short, it’s the progress in how this technology works and increased cellular, wifi coverage and software updates. When Apple first introduced Siri way back in 2011 with iPhone 4s the results were mixed, I honestly adjusted and accepted that it just didn’t work the way I wanted it to. Fast forward to iPhone 7 (and now on my iPhone X) and I useI’ Siri all the time. The voice recognition, the search features, the ability to correctly recognize words has come a long way. The other day I asked Siri to locate a pizza shop near me and without ever taking my hands off the steering wheel or eyes off the road I had ordered pizza for the family.

    Here is a little something I’ve learned since I started to use Siri once again. If you ask Siri to search the Web, you often get multiple results back from Google (not Bing anymore!). Tap one and it opens in Safari. But what if that page doesn’t contain the information you want? How do you get back to Siri’s results? The easy way is to tap the little Siri button that appears in the top-left of the screen. Or activate Siri again, but instead of speaking, swipe down on the screen until “What can I help you with?” disappears and your recent Siri queries appear with your last search results in view.

  • Dear Friends,

    All of us here at Small Dog Electronics send our heartfelt wishes from our family to yours this Holiday season!

    It is always easy for me to think of things to be thankful for and the list usually starts with family, dogs and friends. I spent a few days in Vermont freezing but it was so good to see the crew at Small Dog and to spend some time with Hapy and Autumn and my Vermont friends. I did miss Jezebel a lot and she was so happy to see me. Dogs sure are one amazing love mirror!

    I got my iPhone X on Wednesday and am just learning about it. I will talk more about it next week in Kibbles & Bytes but the facial recognition is way cool and it will take some time to get used to the lack of a home button.

    Well, I hope you all got to eat way too much food yesterday and gave thanks for what brings happiness to your life. I know I am thankful for this weekly opportunity to talk directly to Small Dog’s most valuable asset, our loyal customers. Thank you so much!

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is our normally “retail-only” Black Friday specials which, this year, we are opening up to Kibbles & Bytes readers.

    Thank you so much for reading Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team and the Small Dog crew!

  • Black Friday is just days away and Small Dog Electronics has the deals that you do not want to miss. We might be a small company, but we are offering some incredible deals and savings to kick off the holiday season.

    These deals are in store only and some will only be available on Friday, November 24th. Visit us in Waitsfield or South Burlington. Don’t miss out!

  • Share iCloud Storage

    Apple gives iCloud users 5 GB of free storage, but that fills up fast with iCloud Photo Library, iOS backups, iBooks, and more. For some, the majority of iOS users, the free 5GBs of storage does not get them very far, if your someone who also uses iCloud storage for files on your computer additional storage is an absolute necessity. I have shared more than once that iCloud storage makes my job a lot easier.

    Until iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra, each person in a family had to buy extra iCloud space separately. Happily, Apple has now made it so everyone in a Family Sharing group can share a single 200 GB ($2.99 per month) or 2 TB ($9.99 per month) plan. The family organizer can start sharing storage in High Sierra or iOS 11 as follows: on the Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud > Manage Family > My Apps & Services > iCloud Storage; in iOS, go to Settings > Your Name > Family Sharing > iCloud Storage. Any other family member can then cancel their paid plan and join the Family Sharing plan using their iCloud Storage screen. Keeping your family organized and storage needs managed is made easier with this new update. Until my kids are old enough to have their own devices and files I’m still happy with my 50gb of individual storage, but it’s good to know and have this option available should the time come that I need additional cloud backup storage.