iTunes Match is quite possibly one of the best moves that Apple has made in the music realm. It is also one of the best uses of Apple’s new iCloud service.  If you are unfamiliar with iTunes Match, here is a quick summary of what it is:

iTunes Match is a feature of iTunes in the Cloud that allows you to access your entire personal music library from any computer with iTunes 10.5.1 or later installed or any iOS 5.0.1 or later device with an active Internet connection. iTunes Match requires an annual subscribtion of $24.99 a year. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of your subscription. Once you have subscribed to iTunes Match and matched or uploaded your eligible music, you will be able to access your music in iCloud directly from within your iTunes Music library, or the Music Player app on your iOS 5 device.

Also, if you are wondering about the specifics about iTunes Match, here ya’ go:

• iTunes Match is limited to 25,000 songs.
• iTunes Store purchases made with the same Apple ID being used for iTunes Match do not count towards the 25,000 song limit.
• Unmatched content will be uploaded as is; upload time varies depending on the amounts uploaded and local network speeds.
• Song files over 200 MB will not be uploaded to iCloud.
• Songs containing DRM (Digital Rights Management) will not be matched or uploaded to iCloud unless your computer is authorized for playback of that content.
• Songs purchased outside of the United States iTunes Store containing DRM (Digital Rights Management) will not be matched or uploaded to iCloud.
• Songs encoded in ALAC, WAV, or AIFF will be transcoded to a separate temporary AAC 256 kbps file locally, prior to uploading to iCloud. The original files will remain untouched.
• Songs encoded as AAC or MP3 with a bitrate lower than 96 kbps will not be matched or uploaded to iCloud.

To turn on iTunes Match

1. Simply download iTunes 10.5.1 or later
2. Choose Store > Turn On iTunes Match.
3. From the main screen, click “Subscribe for $24.99.”
   
4. Once you subscribe to the service, you will see the following screens:

Have you gotten iTunes Match yet?  If so, what do you think about it?  Comment below!

Recorded: October 28, 2011
It’s the all-Apple edition of “New Stuff”, where this month’s panel talks about the new iPhone 4S, the new iCloud strategy, and the life and death of Apple founder Steve Jobs.  The panel also speculates whether residing so close to the North Carolina Apple Data Center gives them any special “insight” into Mac rumors.

Show host Lee Yount (www.catawbacounty.gov) brings together a group of fellow “MESH-Heads” for this month’s episode, including MESH founders Mary-Margaret Baker and Alan Jackson (both from Jackson Group Interactive, www.jginteractive.com) and “Free Range Chicken Thinking” experts Houston Harris and Ryan Carroll (with Pixelspace,www.pixelspace.com).

Listen to the Show

Today will be another page in the history books for Apple Inc..  At 10:am PST Apple will hold an event where Tim Cook will announce the next version of the Apple iPhone 5 (or 4S depending on the rumors).  In honor of this event, I found this interactive infographic created by Thinglink that shows you where the history of the iPhone. Rollover the infographic below to see more information about each section. Enjoy!

This past Friday I had the opportunity to host the first episode of “New Stuff” on TheMESH.tv.

The MESH is a new media online network, designed to produce and deliver unique content to computers, mobile phones, iPods, iPads, and any other device connected to the Internet.  Just like a traditional television network, The MESH has a series of programs and “shows” on a variety of topics… the difference is you can watch or listen to what you want, when you want, and where you want.

On this episode of New Stuff Chad Austin of Chad Austin Marketing and Media Design (www.chadaustin.com), Terry Bledsoe, Chief Information Officer for Catawba County, North Carolina (www.catawbacountync.gov), and Alan Jackson with Jackson Group Interactive(www.jginteractive.com) joined me to talk about social media, technology, mobile devices and other gadgets!  The topics for this first episode include the current status of Google+, recent Facebook announcements, iPhone 5 rumors, and Google Wallet.+

Listen to the first episode here:

• iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-stuff/id467909880
• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/new-stuff
• The Mesh – New Stuff Page: http://themesh.tv/new-stuff/

96% of small to medium sized business are using some kind of mobile technology in their day to day operations, are you one of them?  Whether you are using an app like Square to make a sale or you are telling people about your new product/service on Facebook, businesses are using this technology to get a competitive edge on their competitors.

Below is an Infographic from Intuit and design shop Column Five that will show you how mobile devices are changing the way business do business, enjoy!

I live in in the foothills of North Carolina, Newton to be specific.  Recently, like much of the Southeastern United States have been struck with destructive severe weather in the form of high winds, hail, and tornadoes.  While many of you know that I monitor the weather and post watches/warnings as they come into Catawba County, I thought I would share some of my resources so that you can be better prepared as well, here they are:

Facebook - I post updates, links, etc. on my personal facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/leeyount

Twitter – I created a Twitter list named NCemergency (http://twitter.com/list/LeeYount/ncemergency) with several people, organizations, news, and government officials that tweet about emergency related items.

Hootsuite / Tweetdeck – I use both of these tools (depending on where I am and what device I am using) to follow different columns of Twitter and Facebook.  These are also great tools to use to search for hashtags.

Twitter Hashtags - Here are several (but not all) hashtags that I search when there is a severe weather event in North Carolina
(if you do not want to download or use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, you can always do searches directly on Twitter at http://search.twitter.com/ although it is not the most effective way to use Twitter search)

• #ncwx – north carolina weather
• #nctornado – north carolina tornado
• #tornado – tornado
• #damage – damage
• #tornadowarning – tornado warnings
• #smem – social media emergency management

You can also combine search terms in Twitter like this:

• #NCTornado OR #tornado OR #damage OR #tornadowarning OR #shelter OR #wind OR tornado
• twitpic OR yfrog OR plixi OR twitgoo OR picktor OR mobypicture OR twitxr OR posterous #tornado

If you find yourself in need of assistance here are a couple of good resources:

• 911 – Always call 911 if you have an emergency.
• Find a Red Cross Shelter – If you need to leave your home because of an evacuation or if your home is damaged, find Red Cross shelter openings here.
• Red Cross Safe and Well – After a distster, let your family and loved ones know that you are OK by registering on this site.  You can also search for family or loved ones here.

How to be prepared / receive National Weather Service emergency alerts:

• TV/Local Radio – As long as you have power, stay tuned to your local news outlets / radio stations for National Weather Service emergency information.
• Weather Radio – Weather radios are a great tool to have to wake you up in the middle of the night when there is the threat of severe weather of an emergency situation in your area.
• SMS/Text Message – The Weather Channel provides text message emergency alerts for your area.  You can also choose what you want to be alerted of.
• There’s an app for that – Weather Alert USA is the name of the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch app that will alert you of emergency alerts in your area.  Here is the iTunes link: http://ow.ly/4IAcs web link:http://ow.ly/4IAct
• Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Store – Find and purchase several products including, but not limited to Weather radios, first aid kits, preparedness guides, and more.
• National Weather Service Severe Awareness Page – This is a great page with a lot of useful information, especially the Preparedness Guide.

The bottom line is stay safe and use common sense.  When severe weather is eminent, take the proper precautions to protect yourself and your family / loved ones.  Stay safe out there!

A couple of my examples:

Submit Your #TechLife Digital Collage to CNN iReport and Mashable!

Image courtesy Flickr, N-Sai

In that spirit, we’re challenging you to get creative and make a collage about technology’s role in your life.

Build a composite image out of three to four photos; splice them together using a photo app like Diptic. If you don’t have access to such apps, other photo editing methods are OK.

Upload your collage through this assignment or e-mail directly to ireport@cnn.com by Friday, February 25. You must send us your photo in one of these ways to participate. Instagram users, we encourage you to post your images there, too, and tag them #techlife.

- CNN iReport

In a joint press conference [Live Blog], Verizon and Apple announced that the iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon network.  The long awaited Apple mobile device will available on February 10, 2011 with pre-orders beginning for existing Verizon Wireless customers only on February 3, 2011.

The Apple iPhone that will live on the Verizon Wireless network is basically the same one that lives on the AT&T network with a few slight, but somewhat significant differences.

1. CDMA technology – The technology that Verizon uses to connect to their network.  AT&T uses GSM
   
2. 

   Photo: Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com

   WiFi Hotspot – This allows you to turn your Verizon iPhone 4 into a wireless hotspot for up to 5 connections, using your Verizon connection.  So no more looking for a  hotspot for your laptop when traveling, your phone can accommodate this.

3. Data and Voice, but not at the same time – The technology that Verizon uses, CDMA, does not allow simultaneous use of data and voice.  For instance, if you are talking to someone on the phone and you want to use an app that needs to make a data connection, you are not going to be able to do that, where on AT&T, it is possible.
4. SIM card slot – There is no SIM card slot on the Verizon iPhone 4.  This means that you are not able to easily take out your SIM card.
5. Antenna Design – In comparisons of the AT&T and Verizon iPhone 4, you can see a noticeable difference in the antenna design on the outside of the phone.  During the press conference Tim Cook from Apple said “We had to make changes [to the antenna] to work on the CDMA network — it’s going to work great.“

The Verizon iPhone 4 is set to be in high demand since many have been waiting on this partnership for well over a year.  However, for me, I am going to hold off canceling my AT&T contract and jumping on the Verizon bandwagon…for now.

According to MacRumors’ Buying Guide which is usually pretty accurate, Apple will release the next version of iPhone sometime this Summer.

My predictions for the next version of the iPhone are that we will see a rock solid antenna, 4G capabilities, better camera on front and back, and faster processor.

Links:

• Apple/Verizon iPhone 4 Press Release: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/01/11iphone.html
• Apple Verizon iPhone Info: http://www.apple.com/iphone/notify-me/
• Verizon Wireless iPhone Info: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/iphone.jsp

Engaget Hands-On Video:

AT&T iPhone 4 (left) and Verizon iPhone 4 (right) have subtle differences. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

AT&T iPhone 4 (left) and Verizon iPhone 4 (right) have different antenna gaps on top. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:27 AT&T announced in an email to their customers in the following areas in North and South Carolina that they will be getting a faster network for their wireless devices.

North Carolina
Havelock, Wilmington, Asheville, Greater Concord, Hickory

South Carolina
Florence, Charleston, Greenville

To read the official announcement please visit: http://bit.ly/r0p5i

AT&T Logo is a registered trademark of AT&T