Author: Mike Moffit

It’s tomorrow! — Small Dog Electronics is hosting our 2nd Annual eWaste Recycling Event in Rutland, VT. This event is *free and open to the public, and businesses are welcome* (see below for details).

* **When: Saturday, September 21st, 2013 from 9AM to 2PM**
* **Where: The lot across from our store** “*(117 West Street, Rutland, VT)*”:https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=117+West+Street,+Rutland,+VT&aq=1&oq=117+West+Street&sll=43.871754,-72.451472&sspn=3.464921,6.394043&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=117+West+St,+Rutland,+Vermont+05701&ll=43.608908,-72.979624&spn=0.004273,0.015922&z=16&iwloc=A

This year, we’re working with “*Metech Recycling*”:http://www.metechrecycling.com to ensure all collected ewaste is recycled responsibly. For over forty years, Metech has provided secure and environmentally-responsible electronics recycling and asset recovery services.

* For more information, visit “*Smalldog.com/recycle.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/recycle
* *To schedule large load/business drop-offs during the event,* “*please register via Eventbrite.*”:https://smalldogrecycles.eventbrite.com

__Unsure of what qualifies as ‘ewaste’?__
As you may know, we use a lot of electronics in our daily lives, and unfortunately, many of them contain hazardous materials such as mercury or lead. When these electronics are at the end of their lifecycle, it leads to what’s known as electronic waste.

In the last few years, Apple has manufactured devices and machines free of toxic materials, but chances are, you may have older electronic waste around the house that you need to get rid of responsibly.

We have held free ewaste collection events since 2007, and we collect ewaste at no cost to the public at each of our stores throughout the year. Read more about our events, recycling policies and our commitment to sustainable planet practices at “**Smalldog.com/green.**”:http://www.smalldog.com/green

Itching for a new iPhone 5c or 5s, but can’t quite justify the upgrade? Or, are you ready to trade up and want to make sure your old phone gets put to good use? Well, you’re in luck, because Small Dog Electronics now offers a trade-in program for your old phone!

Whether it’s an iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 or __any other brand of cell phone,__ it qualifies for our iPhone Trade-In program. So, how does it work?

# Come into any of our store locations
# Bring your old phone (working or not!)
# Trade it in for instant store credit

That’s right — you’ll receive instant store credit for use toward a brand new iPhone! You don’t even need the original box or accessories. And of course, we will ensure that your data is securely erased using DOD (Department of Defense) standards.

Visit “*Smalldog.com/tradein*”:http://www.smalldog.com/tradein for more details.

__Note: See store for details about your phone’s value — trade-in prices will vary based upon condition and kind of phone. Trade-in pricing is for store credit at any Small Dog store or online at Smalldog.com. Currently, iPhone sales and Trade-In program are available in-store only.__

“*Barry Reynolds*”:http://www.smalldog.com/barry/barry-reynolds-bio ??is a Sales Associate in our Manchester, NH location. Check out his review of iOS 7!??

I have had iOS 7 since it was first announced and delivered through developers a couple of months ago. I had a developer license so I proceeded to put it on my iPhone 5 and go through the many stages of the developing process with Apple. It was rough at times but it was great to see how much iOS 7 changed over time and how much I grew to love it.

At times I remember the battery life got horrible in beta 1 and 2, in which I saw many people I knew with the beta go back to iOS 6 but I stayed put and carried a cord with me. I wrote my problems and concerns through the developer kit as I went through the betas and was glad to see that Apple fixed or improved most, if not all my concerns, as well as other developers. With iOS 7 out now I can firmly say that my battery life has greatly improved and has been for a month or so now.

There are so many features that are welcome to me as a iOS user but there are some that particularly stand out to me. Control center is of course a welcome addition as well as being able to swipe down for search anywhere on the home screen. Swiping to close windows and apps is another outstanding feature and it is seamless and fast on my iPhone 5.

iOS has always been kind of weird about telling you when a message was sent or received. It would tell you sometimes when they came in or were sent, but only if it’s the first one that has come through in a while in a given thread. If you sent a bunch of messages around 12:45, for example, you’d normally only get that first 12:45 timestamp.

With iOS 7, you can reveal the timestamp for each and every message. Just grab one of the speech bubbles in a thread and swipe to the left. Now you can win any argument about who said what, when. With auto-update all of your apps also update in the back ground even if your not currently on the phone, today I woke up to the new Facebook app, for instance, and it looked really pretty.

Overall, I enjoy the new iOS 7 as much as I enjoyed the development cycle that Apple provided. You might have people tell you it just took what other devices already had, in which somewhat it does but in my mind it makes them better and simpler. Its nice to see the phone that got the smartphone revolution started has a great iOS to be proud of.

“*Chris Barosky*”:http://www.smalldog.com/christopherb/christopher-barosky ??is a Service Technician in our Waitsfield, VT location. Check out his review of iOS 7!??

When iOS 7 Beta was released for developers, I immediately got my hands on it. I took the plunge and boldly (or foolishly) put it on my iPhone, a device completely essential to my life as it is with most people in the modern age. People versed in technology know that beta releases are buggy, unstable, and can render a device unusable in the wrong hands. I’m personally not a developer and my skills with code are limited, but it seemed like a good training opportunity. After some issues getting the OS on my phone, my experience with it in subsequent months was that of pleasant surprises.

For one, the interface is for lack of a better word “awesome.” My favorite feature of iOS 7 is the “*parallax effect*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax_scrolling, a method that has been around for decades actually to emulate 3D movement. It makes the app icons (foreground) move faster than the wallpaper (background), so as you move your iOS 7 laden in front of you it gives the impression of 3D movement. This adds a new personality to iOS that is more futuristic and interactive.

I’m sure my colleagues will go on and on about other beautiful parts of the interface design (my personal favorite Apple app revamp is the compass, it looks straight out of a modern sci fi movie) but I wanted to comment on something completely unexpected and completely welcome. Like most consumers, I wasn’t in love with my phone’s battery life: charge it all night, half way through the day it was beyond 50% depleted, and completely depleted in the evening when I’d still want to do things with it. After having iOS 7 beta on my phone for a mere couple of days, I noticed a dramatic increase in battery life. This has to do with the software making smarter use of device architecture, particularly as pertains to network communication. Now I can go literally the whole day checking news, Facebook, email, and various other apps with plenty of battery to spare in the evening.

Lots of people download utility apps like calculators, calendars, measuring tools, and “flashlights.” The latter for me is very useful at night when I take my dogs out. I’d relied on less-than-nice 3rd party apps that gave ads, just to access the LED on the back of the phone. Apple decided to build in a shortcut to the flashlight into a new part of the OS called “Control Center,” where you can also quickly turn on or off WiFi, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode, and screen orientation flipping. Android using critics of iOS can now be silenced in this regard and, for those of us who haven’t had such convenience at our fingertips, you will be delighted at how easy it is to perform simple tasks in iOS 7.

You’ll see lots of articles that hate on the new OS, lots of articles that laud it, and lots of in between. As with any major OS change, I encourage you to give it a shot and take the time to learn all of its intricacies before passing judgement. Sometimes we get so comfortable with what we’re used to that change is unwelcome. In my opinion, the change iOS 7 brings is very welcome.

No one can deny that the transition to iOS 7 feels like a seismic shift. It’s taking some getting used to over here, though the general consensus is that iOS 7 is well worth the update. Perhaps it’s received well because, as tech lovers, we’re conditioned to appreciate change, but I’d challenge that it’s also in large part due to how functional iOS 7 actually is once you get used to it.

Today’s iOS Treat aims to ease the transition from iOS 6 and shed some light on the unfamiliar. So whether you’ve already updated and want to learn some new tips, feel a bit lost, or are waiting to update altogether since, let’s face it, ain’t nobody got time to completely relearn how to find your iPhone’s flashlight, read on.

*Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes*

* *Access Music from the Lock Screen* – iOS 6: Double tap the Home button > iOS 7: Swipe upward (Music options are there and then some).
* *Calendar List View* – iOS 6: Select the ‘List’ section > iOS 7: Click the Search option (magnifying glass); a list of your events will show.
* *Spotlight Search* – iOS 6: Swipe left for a dedicated screen > iOS 7: Swipe downward on __any__ screen.
* *Folders* – iOS 6: All icons show on the same page > iOS 7: App icons are now in groups of 9, though you can have more than 16 total; access them with a swipe sideways.
* *Remote wipe* – iOS 6: You could remotely find, lock or wipe a phone if lost or stolen > iOS 7: A new Activation Lock feature syncs with the user’s iCloud account; it can’t be disabled without a user’s Apple ID and password.

There are obviously plenty of new features that we’ll cover in future articles about iOS 7; these are just some of the basic changes users will immediately notice upon upgrading. Additionally, these only span the native iOS; multiple apps have been updated as well to include new features and layout changes that take advantage of iOS 7. (Note: The ‘greater than’ symbol above is used to indicate the transition and not imply that iOS 6 is better than iOS 7 — we’ll leave that assessment to you!)