Mike Carrall

Mike Carrall is a tech executive by day in Silicon Valley who writes under a pseudonym. Mike's passions include extreme sports, testing audio gear, trying (not so successfully) to restore a vintage 70's McIntosh receiver and spending time with his seven year-old daughter.
2016 MacBook Pro - Is it worth the cost?

Apple Recall: Your 2015-2017 MacBook Pro may have an unsafe battery

UPDATE: Those who have recently sent in a MacBook Pro to replace a faulty butterfly keyboard probably already have the replacement battery per the below recall. Check your serial # (Apple Menu -> About This Mac) with link below to find out if it affected.  If you own a MacBook...
Palm takes preorders for tiny unlocked Android phone

Amazon Showcases Latest Prime Air Drone Design: 15 mile range, 5 pound payload, 30 minute deliveries

And you thought same day delivery was fast?! Amazon today took the wraps off its latest update to the much-hyped Prime Air. Designed to travel up to 15 miles with a payload not exceeding 5 pounds, Amazon says the drone can get products to customers in less than 30 minutes....
Introducing Echo Show 5 – Compact smart display with Alexa

Smart Home News: Amazon Echo Show 5 smart speaker takes on Google Nest Hub

Say hello to Amazon's new, compact smart display, the Echo Show 5. Given the success of smart home devices -- and especially smart speakers -- it's not much of a surprise that today we get yet another choice, yet another AI-enabled device. This time from the current leader in the...
All-New Fire 7 Tablet (7" display, 16 GB, with Special Offers) - Black

Amazon releases “new” Fire 7 Tablet, starts at $49.99 and ships this summer

Amazon has updated the Fire 7, its budget-friendly, entry level tablet. With 16GB and special offers (ads), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) will reportedly start shipping the Fire 7 on June 6, 2019 for only $49.99. As the name implies Fire 7 features a 7" display (IPS 1024x600 @ 171ppi). In addition you...
Google Pixel 3a reviews

Pixel 3a Reviews: Google does the budget phone right

Starting at only $399 Google's Pixel 3a smartphone line-up makes a strong case for the "less is more" crowd.
Spotify market share report Apple Music 2019 growth

Trendspotting: Apple Music hits 28M users, passes Spotify at 26M users

In the war for streaming music subscribers Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is apparently making major inroads. According to reports today, Apple Music had 28 million users (U.S.) in February. That compares to 26 million for Spotify (NYSE: SPOT). Growth rates per WSJ suggest Apple Music is growing at 2.6% to 3% versus...
Google Assistant: Now featuring the voice of John Legend
Apple News Plus subscription launched pricing Texture app

Apple News Plus is Here: 300 magazines, $9.99 per month subscription

First music. Then movies. Now Apple targets the newspaper and magazine industry for disruption.
T-Mobile now offers support for eSIM on iPhone XS, XR

T-Mobile now offers eSIM support for iPhone XS, XR

eSIMs are slowly catching on, and, thankfully, making activating phones easier. T-Mobile is the latest U.S. carrier to offer support for the technology on new iPhones, including the XS, XS Max and XR. Earlier this month Apple rolled out iOS 12.1.1, a minor update, but one that enabled iPhones to...