Computer Club discusses smart phones
Dennis Korger
Smart Phone Answers is the topic for our meeting in the MountainView ballroom on Friday, March 29, at 1:00 p.m. This presentation is free to all SaddleBrooke residents and their guests. Alex Bruno will be answering the most frequently asked questions submitted in advance by computer club members and provide additional tips on using Android smart phones and iPhones. This is a return visit for Alex, manager of the Cellular Sales Verizon franchise at Grant and Swan, who was originally scheduled to speak in January. We’ve been receiving a stream of enquiries hoping for an update ever since his previous visit and hope you can attend.
Cybersecurity: How People Are Manipulated into Revealing Confidential Information is the topic for our presentation on Friday, April 19, at 1:00 p.m. in the MountainView Ballroom. Our speaker is Terry Stager, proprietor of Oracle Computer Solutions. Since Terry practiced as a clinical psychologist before switching careers, he provides a unique perspective on the problem.
As usual, visit the Users Group page on our website at saddlebrookecc.org for breaking news and last-minute changes. While our monthly free public presentation on a computer tech topic is traditionally held on the third Monday of the month in the MountainView Ballroom, this year has had multiple unanticipated changes.
New classes: One of the most frequent requests at our exhibit at the January Activities and Recreation Fair was to offer classes for new Windows 10 users, spurred on by the end of Windows 7 support as of January 14, 2020. “Beginning Windows 10” starts Tuesday, March 19 and “Ask Dennis Anything PC” starts Thursday, March 28.
Enrollment for our 2019 classes remains open as long as seats are available. New members pay $55/single or $80/couple to join the club and enroll in any class on a space available basis for the entire calendar year. Established members pay a $35 annual fee to enroll in subsequent years. See our website at saddlebrookecc.org for full class descriptions, our up to the minute schedule, answers to frequently asked questions, (FAQ), joining the SaddleBrooke Computer Club, registration for classes and participation in our eLearn classes (members only).
Computer tidbits
Cell phone companies from all over the world gathered for the Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona on February 25 to announce new products. The industry envisions the debut of foldable devices as a defining moment in history, akin to the launch of the original iPhone. Samsung’s first foldable phone is the Galaxy Fold, available through AT&T and T-Mobile on April 26 and priced at $1,980. Not to be outdone, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has followed Samsung’s lead by unveiling the Mate X, a super-luxury 5G phone with a folding screen and a price tag of $2,600.
Personal computer sales are flat in virtually all categories; the sole exception appears to be the convertible laptop at the category’s price extremes, Chromebook sales are dominating the price sensitive education market and expensive ultra-books dominate business sales.