Abchicos Blog

Well unless you’ve spent the last year living under a rock then there is no doubt you’ve already heard the numerous and never ending rumors about Apple’s next generation phone, the iPhone 5. To start off I have to say that this blog, and for that matter all of the Mac/Apple/iPhone rumor blogs don’t really know what the name will be. We can speculate that the name will be iPhone 5 but there are rumors circulating that the next generation of the popular smart phone could go by a different name, known as the iPhone 4s.

For those of you who are familer with Apple’s iPhone launches you know about how they went from the iPhone 3g and instead of jumping straight into the iPhone 4 they went with the name iPhone 3GS. The reason they did this is because they didn’t really consider the new model of phone as something that deserved an entirely new number. There were some enhancements and of course the “s” stood for speed since the device was faster and more powerful.

Fast forward to today and many people seem to think that the next iPhone won’t be called the iPhone 5 but instead the iPhone 4S and that Apple may be planning to launch the real iPhone 5 next year in harmony with the iPad 3. The advantage of doing so is that they get to launch 2 new and popular products every year at the same time and beef up quarterly sales figures for their shareholders. But the problem that it also creates is that these devices aren’t exactly cheap.

Even when you’re sucked into a contract you can still expect to pay around $200 for the iPhone and the iPad’s are almost never discounted, especially if you buy the wifi only version and can start off in the $500 range. In this economy I don’t think Apple would be able to get a wide amount of support for launching 2 products which lets face it are very similar just different sizes with their current price points. Sure the Apple loyalists will grab up as many as they can but if Apple wants to remain #1 they have to reach out beyond their base market.

So back to the next generation of iPhone, which we will go ahead and call the iPhone 5 even though we aren’t really sure what the name will be. Right now there is really no solid evidence as to what type of specs or hardware the phone will be sporting but one thing that can be ruled out right now is that it will not be a 4g phone. Yes it’s sad but true but not entirely unexpected, Apple has always had a problem with Flash because it’s such a battery hog, but 4g connections hog up even more battery power than even Flash could imagine.

Another thing we do know for sure is that Apple is working to consolidate all of it’s models into a single handset, mean that instead of having a certain phone for AT&T and then a certain phone for Verizon you’ll be able to buy a single handset and then use it on either network and if the rumors are correct you’ll be able to use it on just about any carrier in the world since it’s being designed as a “world phone”.

I don’t want to get into the boring stuff about what a world phone is or why you would want one, but it will basically open up the iPhone to other markets and carriers that didn’t have the ability to carry it in the past and yes, that includes prepaid carriers. While Apple hasn’t made any official announcements, many people expect the iphone 5 to come ready to be used on not only Verizon and AT&T but also Sprint and T-Mobile.

This isn’t such good news for the cell phone carriers but it’s very good news for consumers like you and me. Now that we have many more choices regarding our carriers the phone companies will be forced to lower their prices which will end up saving us a lot of money.

The iPhone 5 is also expected to carry a dual core processor much like the iPad 3 instead of the single core processor of the iphone 4. At first you probably won’t notice the beneifts of this since most iPhone apps aren’t really CPU intensive or resource hogs but as more and more advanced features become available to the app developers, such as Apple’s iCloud, you could see this dual core as almost being a necessity.

Memory and storage space is also expected to increase in the next model but obviously you aren’t going to get those type of upgrades for free. As for the screen, due to the whole iPhone 4s vs iPhone 5 rumor mill we still don’t know what type of screen the iPhone 5 will be rocking but so far the leaked part photos indicate that the screen will be slightly bigger but not as big as many analysts were expecting it to be.

The iPhone 5 story is constantly evolving so don’t be afraid to check back here as more and more information about the phone and it’s release date becomes available. No matter what name the next generation iPhone takes you can be sure that its going to be amazing and in true Apple form be highly desired by many people across the world. If you have any news tips or suggestions, leaks, or insider information about the upcomming iPhone 5 don’t hesitate to email us and we’ll look into it and post it up on the blog.

Well it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who know me but I absolutely love newegg! I’ve been shopping with them for as long as I can remember and not only do they have some of the best prices on technology on the web they also have the best customer service and outstanding shipping times. Usually If I order a package by 1PM on a Monday, I’ll have it at my door by Wednesday even when only using the free shipping option.

But enough about my own personal experience, if you’re reading this then you’re probably looking for some promo codes that you can use for your order. There are many coupon sites out there but in my opinion there are only 2 that I would call reliable or accurate sources for newegg promo codes, those two are slickdeals and techbargains. Both of these sites are similar but they do have a few differences.

For those of you who don’t know, slickdeals is one of the biggest online deal sites on the internet. Its so large that it even has a digg type effect called the slickdeals affect, except that when sites get hit with a torrent of traffic from slickdeals they don’t just go down due too many people visiting the site but they also tend to sell out of items fast. Thats why if you’re going for newegg promo codes you need to check on a daily basis and not waste anytime in ordering because I’ve received the “out of stock” error while in the middle of going through the checkout process.

The other site is techbargains and while it’s not as big as slickdeals I do think that it has more organization, but one other upside is that you don’t just get special promo codes for newegg you also get informed about newegg’s daily deals as well as the special offers from many different tech retailers across the web. The upside is that a lot of times you can usually talk newegg and even amazon.com into price matching a competing website so you still get the great low price and savings as well as the awesome customer support and fast shipping of newegg.

Once you get your hands on a promo code for newegg using them is actually very easy, simply add the item to the cart and then before you begin the checkout process you’ll be shown a summary of your order which includes the total. In the bottom left corner you’ll see a little box where you can enter your promo code, simply paste the promo code there and you’ll be all set!

See the picture below if you need some help:

When it comes to home decor and accessories there are many different stores you can shop at but very few have the quantity, never mind the quality, of Bed Bath and Beyond. We don’t remodel or remake our home very often but whenever we do its the first place we go to for all the little things that a house needs. Having been there so many times both for my own home and to help out friends and family find the things they need has given me a keen sense of how to save money at this store. Using coupons with Bed Bath and Beyond is a somewhat unique approach over standard stores, but when you consider just how many things a home needs you’ll be glad you took the time to understand their coupons and store policies regarding their use.

The first thing you should know is that unlike many other retail stores, Bed Bath and Beyond is actually more than willing to take in expired coupons and honor them! When I first heard that I didn’t believe it but it is something that I’ve actually done a few times now, the only time I’ve ever had an issue in using expired coupons in the store was with a new employee but once another more experienced cashier overheard our conversation she told him how to override the system to accept the coupon so I’m guessing it’s a very standard procedure that is done nationwide at all their stores. That doesn’t mean you can walk in with a 5 year old coupon, but if you find a coupon online that is maybe 2 or 3 months old they will still honor it as if it was new. The only exceptions are of course for discontinued items or things that were put on special in order to be liquidated.

Another great way to save with Bed Bath and Beyond is to signup for their mailing list, they don’t advertise this fact but when you signup you actually get two 20% off coupons. One is a printable Bed Bath and Beyond coupon that is sent to your email and the other is mailed to your home whenever they release a new catalog which is usually once every 3 months to match up with the new seasonal inventory. I like these coupons for two reasons, first is that you get a few of them per year so you don’t have to go around to various sites and hunt them down, the next is that they don’t really have any strict terms and conditions regarding their use. When they say 20% off your purchase, they really mean 20% off your entire purchase.

You can also signup to the mailing lists of their other stores, for example buy buy baby, and receive special discount offers for Bed Bath and Beyond since they are under the same corporate umbrella. Some have also reported success in using related store coupons, for example using a coupon for 10% off buy buy baby inside a Bed Bath and Beyond retail store but I haven’t tried this approach myself so I can’t either confirm or deny it.

Minecraft may not have the worlds best graphics, in fact many game players that sometimes the poor and low resolution graphics get in the way of the actual game play but that doesn’t stop the world from loving it. The game was first introduced into the world sometime in 2009 via the user forum at tigsource where it rapidly gained popularity with the members and from there it spread like wildfire all over the internet thanks to social sharing sites like digg and reddit. At the moment there are two versions of the game, the free minecraft account version and then a beta paid version which isn’t free.

The paid version allows you to quickly advance through the game because you’re provided with everything you need but with the free minecraft account you need to pretty much earn everything through gameplay which can take a long time to advance through the various goals. Thats probably why minecraft for free accounts have become in such huge demand over the past few years. There is nothing wrong with the free gameplay but if you can get free minecraft gameplay then you’d be crazy to turn it down right?

Ok so you want a free minecraft account but you don’t know how to get one, don’t worry we’ll tell you exactly how you can score one. The first place you’ll want to look is on the minecraft website itself, yes its true they do occasionally hand out free paid accounts to people who are subscribed to their list or check their blog frequently. If you’re checking your email then take the time to check the site out real quick and see if they’re giving away any accounts. The best times to score some are during the weekends and big holidays like New Years day or whenever they release a new updated version or celebrate milestones.

Another good place to score some free minecraft accounts would be from a site called slickdeals.net, this is a huge deal website that showcases offers from around the web and I’ve personally seen websites giving away free mincraft accounts a few times but with this site you need to be sure to be quick. The website is very popular and the minecraft accounts can be gone within a matter of minutes especially if the offer is from a big, well known site or major retailer. And finally there is one more way to get minecraft for free, by earning them!

Some sites such as rewardsworld will offer you a free minecraft account if you’re willing to fill out and complete their various surveys and offers. The good thing about doing this is that it doesn’t take long to complete them and you can get your minecraft accounts within a matter of minutes and you don’t have to worry a bout the supply of free accounts running out like you do with sites like slickdeals or even the official minecraft website. You can also enter in to drawings at the various gaming forums such as xbnation which has been known to give away free accounts for people who post a certain interval. For example they may say that every 10th poster who makes a reply in a certain thread will win a free account and then that all odd numbered posters will be entered into a drawing where they will give a way 5 more accounts to those who didn’t win in the first round.

Well thats all the methods we have, we’re sure there a few other ways of getting free accounts for minecraft out there so if you come across any just let us know and we’ll put them up on the blog. If you have any questions or comments about getting free minecraft account we’d love to hear about it, just be sure to send us an email and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

Ok so I’m finally back from my vacation to Texas, and in particular, Dallas. I enjoyed my stay and had a great time. Everything about the city is great but I have to say it was a lot warmer than I was expecting but since I’m already from the south the heat wasn’t really a big deal for me. Anyways, back to my trip, I had a great time catching up with friends and family and if you’ve ever been to Texas then you know that no vacation there is complete without some of those famous BBQ ribs right!?

Me loving ribs, I had no hesitation of heading out to a local favorite and pigging out on the all you can eat ribs special. The food was great, there is no question about that, the only issue really came up after I had enjoyed my countless ribs and for those of you who have been reading the blog know I’ve had some tooth problems. Well I’m about to wrap up my meal and decide to snack on a few fried french fries, I wasn’t expecting them to be as hard as they were and as soon as I bite down I’m in pain and thinking to myself oh no what have I done!

The pain was pretty bad but in a city this big I didn’t think I’d have a problem finding a dentist in Dallas, but boy was I wrong. You see the problem is when you go to a dentist for so many years they already know everything about you and your teeth, but when you’re on the road and have to go to somebody new they don’t know much besides the basic facts.  My dentist was qualified but the way he poked around my mouth made me really uncomfortable, I’m sure he knew I was in pain but it seemed more like torture than an actual treatment. I’ll post more once I get home because my flight is about to take off and I don’t want to miss it, see ya!