Kibbles & Bytes Blog

This rain has given me a lot of time to work on my little Sprite project. Every time that I fix one thing, I find something else to fix. Sometimes I concentrate on just doing something little, like the windshield washers, just to make sure I have some successes. Then I decided to bleed the brakes and discovered that one of the axle oil seals was leaking which of course, turned a relatively simple project into a major adventure in British auto engineering. Nevertheless, the few times I have been able to dodge the rain it has been fun tooling around in this car.

I am still playing with the beta versions of Maverick and iOS 7 and I think you are going to love the new features and performance. I particularly like the new notifications that I get each morning on my iPhone. This morning it said “It is raining today; if you leave right now, it will take 26 minutes to get to work and the first thing on your calendar is the retail call, it looks like you have a busy day…” There are times that I wonder how I ever managed my life without my iPhone and Apple keeps making it more and more useful. I left my iPhone at work one day and had such bad withdrawal symptoms, I had to jump in the Sprite and drive back to the office to get it.

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes. All of us really appreciate the support and value your readership and friendship. We are nothing without the most important element of a successful business, loyal customers! Thank you!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Kali, Stephanie & Mike_

Apple released a new Time Capsule, which means we have last year’s 2TB Time Capsules still in the plastic wrap that we need to move.

To do that, we lowered the price way down to $239.99! That is a $60 savings when compared to buying a current generation 2TB Time Capsule — and to sweeten the pot, we are also offering FREE SHIPPING on the first week of the promotion.

Get yours now before while our supplies last!

We love to offer little gems like this bundle because we know that these are the best prices around. No where else can you find a slew of *brand new* Apple products like this:

* 13-inch MacBook Air (mid 2011)
* 2TB Time Capsule (2009)
* AppleCare Protection Plan
* Hammerhead Neoprene Case

For *less than the price of a current generation 13-inch MacBook Air,* this bundle won’t last long at $1028. Our stock is limited, so grab yours before they’re gone.

Just a couple of weeks until our 4th Annual eWaste Recycling Event goes down in Manchester, NH. We’ll be collecting all manner of electronic waste (well, maybe not __all,__ so “*see the list of accepted materials here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/recycle?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=KB-ewaste) on Saturday, July 27th at the Mall of New Hampshire from 9am – 2pm.

If you’re unsure of what ewaste is, then listen up. 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. 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.

Come out and join us!
* Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Manchester, NH *from 9AM to 2PM*

“*Click here to read more about our annual eWaste Recycling Events.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/green?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=KB-green
“*Click here for more information about our 2013 events.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/recycle?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=KB-ewaste

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about some tips and tricks of iOS 6 that I thought readers would find helpful. Turns out there are __tons__ of tips for iOS 6 out there, so here’s a Part II!

I’m not embarrassed to admit that I love using Emoticons in texts — those little smiley faces, people, various foods, etc. just really add a certain fun vibe to my messages. You too, could enjoy these on your iOS device. I had originally downloaded a third-party Emoji app but turns out they are actually just an international keyboard already built into your device.

To launch, simply go into *Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards.* Tap, *Add New Keyboard* and find *Emoji*. If you open Messages, or any other app where you can type, next to the space bar you’ll see a little globe icon. You can use that to switch between your regular keyboard and your new Emoji keyboard. Have fun!

You might not be using Siri to her full potential. Did you know Siri is an expert on movies? You might have already known that you can use her to see which movies are playing at a movie theater near you, but did you know you can also ask her about which actors have appeared in the same movies together? For example, you might ask, “What movies star both Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd” and Siri will reply with her answer. Test her knowledge!

If you’re finding the sweet Siri seems to be wrong or confused when you try and use her — correct her. Perhaps you asked her to call your friend “Aaron” but it thought you said “Erin.” Fix this mistake so she won’t make it again. After Siri tells you she doesn’t know what you’re talking about, scroll up and find the speech bubble that Siri displays. If you tap the bubble and it will allow you to edit what Siri heard and you can then resubmit the command. (__Ed. Note: This is awesome. And it works. -KH__)

I recently learned that there is a super easy way to share your photos on your device with your friends and family. You’re able to do this between iOS devices and Macs (running Mountain Lion). Simply open Photos on your device. Tap *Photo Stream* in the toolbar, click the plus (+) symbol and enter a name for your group of shared photos and select the contacts you’d like to view them. You can then add photos that already exist on your device. Friends and family can even comment on them and “like.”

I rarely ever have my phone out of vibration mode. A cool feature is the ability to create custom vibrations for texts and ringtones. If you’d like to know who’s calling you without even looking at your phone you can create a vibration for a specific contact. Open *Phone* or *Contact*, select contact, and tap the edit button. Scroll down to find the ringtone field and below that will be a vibration field. If you select that you’ll be able to choose from a selection of vibration patterns. Even further down, however, is the option to create your very own vibration. Tap *Create New Vibration* and start creating your own sweet rhythm.

Hopefully you’ve learned some sweet new tricks to play with over the weekend. Enjoy!

We like to carry products that jive with our own mission statement, and a company like Brenthaven is right up our alley. For those of you who haven’t heard of the company, Brenthaven has been around since the 1980s, and they started by developing outdoor packs. That history speaks directly to the quality of their products found in production today. If it’s tough enough to take hiking through mountains, then I trust my everyday products not to not fail on me.

Brenthaven has a triple bottom line like we do. First, they offer “Legendary Protection Systems.” Nothing is worse than dropping your portable devices and literally picking up the pieces afterward. Brenthaven offers bags and cases that help to protect your stuff from these types of incidents. Next, Brenthaven offers the “100% lifetime guarantee” on their products. With the rough and tumble day-to-day our lives can have, it’s nice having that peace of mind. The final piece, and the one I like the most, is their “Zero Impact” standard. They accomplish this in three ways: They make a product that will last a lifetime, they use environmentally friendly materials in their build process whenever possible, and when they can’t, they offset that with investments in green initiates.

You can find their bags and cases in any of our retail stores or on our website. Also, as a big thank you for all of our readers of Kibbles & Bytes, we are offering exclusive deals on select cases by Brenthaven. Check out our specials below, and if you are interested in learning more about Brenthaven, check out their website “*here.*”:http://www.brenthaven.com/why-brenthaven

Also, I just made this really cool video clip showcasing the quality of material Brenthaven uses in their iPhone cases. The foam on the left is the standard stuff used in your average case, and the foam on the right is Brenthaven’s; you can check out the clip “*here.*”:https://images.smalldog.com/productmov/brenthaven-drop-test.MOV This demo is in all of our retail stores so if you’re local, come on down and try it for yourself.