Techy gadgets: practicality for Alaska's business leaders.

• Author: Colby, Kent L.
• Position: TECHNOLOGY

Technology can change your life. The evidence of that is far reaching. While the intent of this article is not life changing--it is highlighting practicality in the technology available to Alaska's business and general consumer communities, with the added advantage of simultaneous broad, and useful, applications.

There are obvious technology advancements business users and general consumers simply cannot live without--or at least, cannot ignore. Those include milestone advancements, such as the iPhone, iPad, Androids and the thousands of "pad" computers and supersmart phones evident at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this past January in Las Vegas. At last count, there were more than 300,000 applications, or apps, for the iPhone and iPad --more than 100,000 for the Android. Whether you are traveling on a plane in cramped space, relaxing at home, or reading a business report after hours in bed, published material is fast becoming mostly electronic.

Nowadays, you can read whatever you like--whenever you like--without the social stigma that goes with the hot artwork on the cover of your favorite paperback--thanks largely to the Nook, Kindle, Sony or multitude of compatible apps for your phones and pads.

Nevertheless, there are already volumes of published material devoted to these best selling must-haves. Most likely, the majority of readers already have one or more of these devices; and most likely a two-year or more contractual commitment to a favorite carrier to go along with it. With that in mind, this article points you in the direction of something new--techy toys that offer practical application.

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EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH MORE SIGNAL ON IT

Even the smartest phone is limited when wireless coverage is limited. If your home or office is on the edge of wireless coverage, you have most likely uttered an expletive or two about dropped calls. Enter Wilson Electronics Inc. This small, techy company offers in-building and in-car sophisticated signal boosters to improve wireless coverage. Alaska's rough terrain creates considerable dead or seemingly dead zones, and/ or spotty coverage, for all our carriers--some more than others. But this compact (antennas sold separately) SIGNALBOOST[TM] raises the floor and smoothes the dips in signal.

The big advantage is these devices require no physical contact with your phone. They do have direct-connect models. But the wireless bi-directional booster, while a bit more...