Futurelawyer

Don't Touch That Screen!

One of the cool things about Mobile World Congress is the new tech that is announced or demonstrated. I have been playing around with the hovering stylus on my Note 2, but it only shows options or information when hovering. This new tech will allow complete control over the touch screen of any device, without ever touching the screen. Very cool. Check out the video:

MightyText - SMS On Your Computer And More

MightyText - SMS from Computer or Tablet | Android Sync. I have spent a week now living with the MightyText add on to Chrome, and I am hooked. I keep my phone docked at work, and it is a pain to pull the phone out of the dock every time I get a text. It is a great convenience to have texts pop up in the lower right corner of my computer screen. And, I can use my full sized keyboard to respond within my browser. But, MightyText does much more than that. Since it is synced to your smartphone, it pops up a notification when you get a cell phone call as well. Since all my office calls end up at my cell phone and Google Voice, I get a pop up message with a transcription for every call. It also handles multi-media messages, and I never have to pull the phone out of the dock. Left your phone in your briefcase, or at home? No worries, just power up MightyText on your computer. It even tells you the battery strength of the smartphone battery. Very easy, and very useful.

A Foldable Screen Smartphone You Might Actually Use

Dual screen smartphones have been around before; but, they have been too small, too heavy  and too thick. NEC has announced a really cool dual screen phone that folds into a thin flat phone, and folds out to a huge dual screen setup that really makes a difference. If you have used two screens at work, you will understand the large increase in productivity that comes from having two apps working side by side, or one app using two screens. My favorite is the email app, which puts the list of mail on the left screen, and the preview pane on the right screen. Very cool, but only available in Japan right now, and it won't be available for LTE. But, if you are an AT&T customer, you might see this in a few months in the U.S.

 

Law Office Management Assistance Service - Tune Up Your Law Office

LOMAS: Index. One of the best resources for members of the Florida Bar who are interested in a more efficient and productive law office is LOMAS, the Law Office Management Assistance Service. When I was a baby lawyer, and later when I became a member of the Board, I found the service an essential learning tool. Today, all of those resources are on line for the asking. Whatever your question about establishing a law practice, LOMAS has answers. Checklists, articles, forms, tools, and links to other resources; it is all there for the taking. If your State doesn't have something like Florida, many of the forms and advice are not limited to use in one State. Check it out. It's Free. Some of the topics covered are:

Disaster and Risk Management

Financial Management

Firm Organization and Structure

General Practice Management

Human Resources

Insurance

Inventory Attorney

Lawyers Retiring, Closing Office, Changing Firms

Marketing

Military Reserve Issues for Lawyers

Records Information Management

Sustainability and the Environment

Technology

Trust Accounting

Virtual Law Library

How To Conduct Free Legal Research Online

Resources | Standing Committee / Law Library of Congress. Most lawyers have many links in their browser pointing to legal research sites. Back in the day, there was no shortage of sites that collected links to legal research online. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress, has collected, at one page, every free legal resource online, with links, and it is quite useful. The law is the people's law. It should be accessible to all. I have nothing against for profit entities providing extra services at a cost. That is what free enterprise is all about. However, with the proliferation of Government resources available for free online, and the increasing power of the Internet, they face stiff competition. Check out the links at the Committee's website to see what I mean. You really don't need to go anywhere else.

ZTE Grand Memo - The Best SmartPhone You Never Heard Of

ZTE Grand Memo announced world%u2019s first Snapdragon 800 smartphone | Android and Me. ZTE is relatively unknown in the U.S., but is very popular in the Asian and European markets. The new Grand Memo, announced yesterday at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, may, however, make U.S. consumers sit up and take notice. The specs on this thin, beautiful phone are amazing. A 5.7 inch screen (.2 inches bigger than the Note2), and running the fastest processor available today, the 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 by Qualcomm. It has 2 Gigs of memory, 16 gigs of internal storage, a 13 megapixel rear camera, and is LTE capable. It is plastic, which makes it light as well as thin. If it ever comes to the U.S. it is worth a long look. 

Pssst! Hey, Buddy, Wanna Buy A Tablet Cheap?

Unboxing the D2 Pad Android 4.1 Tablet from Big Lots | GadgeTell. I like BigLots. They always have something I want or need, cheaper than anybody else. However, I have always avoided buying electronics there, as they are usually underpowered, two generations past their prime, or have poor build quality. While I haven't bought the $89.95 D2 Pad reviewed here, Jelly Bean on a WiFi tablet in the 7 inch form factor for the price of a meal at Applebee's has my interest. It is underpowered with a 1.2 Ghz chip, and only a gig of RAM and 4 Gigs of flash memory. But, for the student, or the bargain hunter, or really, anyone, at under a hundred bucks, it is an impulse item. If you are too cheap to get a Nexus 7 for $200, this may be the carry around tablet for you. 

Beam Me Up Scotty

How to Use Android Beam to Wirelessly Transfer Content Between Devices. One of the cooler features of modern Android phones is the ability to transfer files and photos and other stuff from one phone to another by merely touching them back to back. These phones all have NFC (Near Field Communications) chips that permit these wireless transfers. NFC support is exclusive to modern Android phones, and is becoming more popular. Think short distance Bluetooth, and you will be able to understand the process better. NFC, however, is automatic, and you will find more and more NFC stickers that contain information for shoppers, sightseeers, and many other applications. Museums, hiking trails, and other places are putting NFC stickers at various points to transfer information to Android phone users as they travel the route. My favorite application of this technology, however, is for transferring photos among family and friends. Facebook and Google+ are great ways to share photos; but, it is NFC that permits direct transfer just by touching the back of two phones. Sorry, iPhone users. Apple doesn't support NFC. Yet.

ASUS PadFone Infinity Updated

ASUS announces next-gen PadFone Infinity with Tablet Docking Station | AndroidTapp. One of the more inventive ASUS innovations is the smartphone that becomes a tablet when inserted in a tablet docking station. The PadFone has now been updated to 2013 specs, and the camera has been updated to a 13 megapixel version that will challenge any camera on the market. With 8 frames per second shutter speed, this phone will make a great replacement for a digital camera. As a tablet the phone has comparable features to any tablet out there. If you like convergence, this is the hybrid for you.

Processor Wars

Nvidia Tegra 4 Benchmarked, Crushes Competition | News & Opinion | PCMag.com. I suppose the audience is larger for Food Shows that have wars and battles between cooks; but, I would like to see a reality show that tests computer processors against benchmark tests in real world gadgets. I know there are a couple of fellow geeks who would watch. In any event, the mobile phone processor wars are heating up again, with NVidia showing off the Tegra 4 that will be powering mobile devices later this year, and into 2014. It seems like just yesterday that the screaming fast Tegra 2 was the newest and greatest thing. Actually, I am sure that most of us really don't care about this stuff, as long as the phone or tablet is as smooth as butter, and fast as Superman. But, it is interesting to compare benchmark tests, and have my phone is faster than yours discussions.