A couple of weeks ago, I got the opportunity to test drive the Kia Cadenza..but this wasn't your typical test drive...... Kia launched a new program called the Kia Concierge Program, aimed to change the test driving experience by bringing the vehicle to you! So no going around from dealership to dealership, and there's no sales guy and his supervisor asking "What can we do to get you into a vehicle today?" I scheduled a time and day that worked for me, and was met by the Kia representative, with the 2017 Kia Cadenza easy right? The Kia Cadenza is the brand's luxury model, with enough features and sleek body styling to compete with some pricier brands that we won't name, but with a price tag of around $44,000, it won't make your wallet cringe. Now I'm not saying that's something to sneeze at but for all the features packed it here it's a good deal. The interior is Nappa Leather, it has push button start, and a 290 horsepower engine. But we all know what I'm a sucker for..the tech..show me the buttons! It's has 7" touch screen display and is compatible with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It even supports wireless smartphone charging (throw confetti Samsung Galaxy 8 users...still waiting for Apple to get this feature..seriously c'mon!) The concierge said I should switch to an Android..I'll wait...I'm kind of invested at this point and I like my Apple stuff. Frontview of 2017 Kia Cadenza Interior 2017 Kia Cadenza A few other cool features is the Smart Welcome, so when you walk up with the smart key, the mirrors unfold and the lights cut on in the interior and exterior, almost as to say hello I've been waiting. If you're walking to your car at night this is definitely welcome. This car also has smart power trunk...if you've seen my other write ups, you know I love the power trunk, but this one is even better. Walk up to the trunk with the key (doesn't have to be out just on you) and the trunk opens automatically. Look if I've got an arm full of groceries or maybe the laundry bags this helps! I remember when Kia was considered the lower end when it came to buying a new car but clearly times are changing. If you want to take your own test drive you can check it out here. *I was compensated for my review but opinions are my own* ~ChicDivaGeek

iOS 11 on iPhone and iPad (Photo: Apple) So this week the first iteration of iOS 11 Public Beta was released. Now if you're not really sure of what that means, the public beta will allow you to install the beta version of Apple's latest mobile OS on your device. Access to the beta versions of Apple's software (including macOS an tvOS) used to only be available to those with a developer account which costs $99/year and the average person isn't a developer. Now keep in mind that a beta version of anything means that it still has bugs and things to work out, so while you will be getting all the latest features, you're probably going to run into a few problems as they work on it leading to the upcoming official release in the fall. So let's get to the steps! 1. Back up...Back up!!! I can't stress enough how important a good backup is, and as much as many of us hate to use iTunes, I'm sure we'd hate to lose important things on our device by not having a good backup to revert to just in case. So to back up your iPad or iPhone do the following: Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer with the same cable you use to charge it. It may take a minute to detect your device If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps. (this most likely won't happen but) Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod when it appears in iTunes. If you want to save Health and Activity data from your iOS device or Apple Watch, you'll want to encrypt your backup: Select the box called Encrypt device backup and create a memorable password. You can also back up to iCloud if you've got enough space...you can get 50GB of storage for $0.99/month. You just need to make sure your phone is charging, on wifi, and the screen is locked, then initiate the backup from settings-->tap on your Apple ID (it's right at the top)-->iCloud--> the iCloud Backup. Now this may take a little bit of time depending on how much data you have stored on your phone. 2. Enroll your device in the Apple Beta Program You go to the Apple Beta Program site and you sign in with your Apple ID. You're almost there...once you're signed it, there's a reminder to make sure you have a backup of your device....if you did it on the computer, make sure it's archived to ensure it's done. Then on your iPad or iPhone go to beta.apple.com/profile and download the configuration profile. Once this is installed you will be able to update to the iOS 11 beta OTA (over the air) the same way you would an official release. If you want to see what some of the features are without risking your smartphone's well being (I kid lol..I did it last time and it wasn't bad at all), then you can check out the iOS 11 preview here. Still on the fence if I'm going to this time...maybe I'll test it on the iPad. Happy trial runs! ~ChicDivaGeek

Super Nintendo Classic (Photo: BusinessWire) *Squeals in childhood delight* FINALLY! I've been waiting for this announcement from Nintendo since they released the Nintendo Classic last year. It's not that the original Nintendo wasn't good but the Super Nintendo was my very first system that I had that was my own and I played it ALL the time. Especially being an only child on my mom's side. But enough about my childhood and delight let me share what is already known about this sweet piece of nostalgia! The SNES Classic will come preloaded with 21 games, and while it looks just like the original it is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand! So you can slide that ride beside the cable box or just about anywhere if you're tight on space. This probably makes it way easier to pack up with the kids if you're going to a relatives house that doesn't have anything for them to do. But anyway, it will also come with an HDMI cable to connect and get this...it will come with 2 controllers while the NES Classic only came with one. The controllers are wires and are 4 ft long..so you will be sitting kind of close to the television..but who cares?!?! Super NES Classic Box (Photo: BusinessWire) Now on to the 21 games it comes pre-loaded with: Contra III: The Alien Wars™ Donkey Kong Country™ EarthBound™ Final Fantasy III F-ZERO™ Kirby™ Super Star Kirby’s Dream Course™ The Legend of Zelda™: A Link to the Past™ Mega Man® X Secret of Mana Star Fox™ Star Fox™ 2 Street Fighter® II Turbo: Hyper Fighting Super Castlevania IV™ Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts® Super Mario Kart™ Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars™ Super Mario World™ Super Metroid™ Super Punch-Out!! ™ Yoshi’s Island™ SNES Classic games (Photo: Nintendo) SNES Classic games (Photo: Nintendo)The SNES Classic will be released on September 29th and will cost $79.99. There are no preorders available yet stateside, but you can sign up for the alert when it's available on Amazon, BestBuy or Walmart. This is on my must have list this year (I'm a big kid sometimes don't judge me) I have a feeling this will go faster than the Nintendo Classic released last year. ~ChicDivaGeek

Monday isn't usually anyone's favorite day of the week, but today wasn't so bad in the realm of tech because Apple held it's annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC if you're good with Acronyms and if you plan to search anything on social media) today! There were quite a few announcements from the tech giant today so let's get to it! Apple's CEO Tim Cook as always kicks off the conference and gives you a outline of what they'll cover. He touched on how Apple's app developers range from someone as young as 10 years old who has published 5 apps on the App Store to a lady who at the age of 82 has published her first app to the App Store. tvOS There are updates to tvOS with the addition of Amazon to Apple TV devices and the Apple TV App. That was actually all that was announced about it, so let's move on to WatchOS. Now you all know I'm not a smartwatch person, I just don't get it but it is selling. Apple announced new Apple Watch faces, Siri Face, Kaleidoscope, and additional Disney characters (Woody, Buzz, and Cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story to be specific) all designed to give you a more fun and interactive face on your Apple Watch. They've also added celebrations to the activity part of the WatchOS, so when you hit goals the watch is celebrating your success with you, kind of neat, like your own little cheering section on your wrist. Buzz from Toy Story, on Apple Watch (Photo: Apple) There will also improvements that allow your watch to pair with your favorite (or not so favorite machine lol) in the gym. Connecting what you've been doing on the elliptical or treadmill. But let me get to why most of you are here....iOS 11! iOS 11 So of course we all knew there was a new iOS coming, and iOS 11 has some cool new features. Right out the gate Apple introduced, new features in Messenger, and decided to hop on the person to person payment wagon and now allows you to send money to people via Apple Pay. Yes you can send your BFF money right from within Messages, no need to install another app. Siri will also be able to translate for you in iOS 11, it will start with Spanish, Chinese, French, German, and Italian with more languages to be added. iOS 11 will improve the photos as well (not to the level of Portrait Mode on the 7 Plus) but improved low light picture taking. We all know how that goes..have a great picture but the lighting is bad and then you've got to play with all the settings. Now don't get me wrong, if I was iPhone photo editing master I'd make it work but I am the average picture taker and this helps! They've also added a Loop and Bounce features for Live Photos, so you can be more playful with your images...this sounds oddly familiar right? New Loops feature in iOS 11 (Photo: Apple) Maps if you use it at all, will be getting indoor maps added to it, so you can get the layouts of malls and airports. Control Center also got a facelift with it now being a full page and easier to navigate. But probably one of the most helpful features is the new Do Not Disturb Driving Mode. So iPhone will be able to detect when your in a vehicle and will disable notifications so you're not tempted answer messages while you're driving. Now if you're in a vehicle and you're not driving you will be able to disable it. Do Not Disturb While Driving Mode (Photo: Apple) The developer beta for iOS 11 was released yesterday and the public beta will be released later this month. You can sign up here https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/ just keep in mind it's beta and it could have glitches, and ALWAYS back up your device. The official iOS 11 will be released this fall. But wait there's more.... The jaw dropper of the presentation was the iMac Pro. It's definitely something to marvel at not just because of it's Space Grey finish...but it's packed and I do mean packed with top of the line specs! It's can support up to 4TB of SSD, up to 128GB of ECC memory, Intel Xeon processors that can go up to 18 cores, and a Radeon Pro Vega GPU that give you up to 22 Teraflops of graphic performance. Graphics so powerful the word to describe it sounds made up right? It comes in a beautiful 27" display but also comes with a pretty hefty price tag... $4,999...and that's the starting price. Don't know how many of those we'll see on desktops this winter but it will be released in December of this year. iMac Pro (Photo: Apple) HomePod I almost forgot...Apple also announced that they are releasing a in home speaker (you know like the Echo or Google Home) called the HomePod. It's new wireless speaker will also work with HomeKit accessories and of course it has Siri incorporated so you can talk to it too. It's small but packs an audio punch with upward facing woofer and sensing technology so it can adjust the volume based off where it's placed. It will also be released in December and retail for $349. HomePod (Photo: Apple) We know Apple has some tricks up it's sleeve as they always do an announcement in September. But if you didn't get a chance to watch the full keynote, you can check it out here. ~ChicDivaGeek

Hi There!!! So on April 15th 2017 in partnership with the Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation, the Flash Technology Summit happened! The Flash Technology Summit was a day of small workshops that all centered around technology. There were three different workshops, the iYouth MultiMedia workshop lead by Community Connextionz and focused on the audio visual concepts, the STEAM America workshop which taught kids how to create web pages. The workshop personally lead by myself (Adrian McClanahan) was hands on with building printers and coding them. The printer kits and the curriculum was generously provided by Pree Walia of (Preemadonna.com). The housings for the printers were 3-D printed so the kids had to assemble every part of the printer. The kids worked in teams so we were able to add a teamwork component to the workshop as well. Each group successfully assembled the printers (and some disassembled them following the previous class) and they were done correctly. We had a slight issue with the code and what I found so amazing was that I had one student skip the other two workshops to work on the code problem with me. We had over 50 kids registered for the event! We provided lunch to the kids which was sponsored by Chick-Fil-A in District Heights..who can concentrate on an empty stomach after all. And Parks and Recreation provided 3 $100 gift cards, one for each workshop, to give to the student that the instructor felt did the most outstanding job that day. All the parents raved about how much fun and learning the kids did and that was the ultimate goal! I want to personally thank my manager at South Tech Recreation Center Shante Stokes for allowing me to put this event together. Tara and Krystal of Community Connextionz for facilitating the AV workshop for the kids and to STEAM America for facilitating the web design workshop! Huge thank you to my assistant in my workshop Mo Jackson, and my friend Sharnikya for stopping by to assist with registration! I look forward to putting this together next year and it growing! ~ChicDivaGeek

Okay so the ideal situation for raising a child is married couple then a child, or the parents being together. Even if the parents get married, divorces happen and custody battles alot of times are difficult. So while I was scrolling the web, I saw this app come up, AppClose, The Essential Toolkit for co-parenting. *insert the thinking (perplexed) emoji here* I definitely don't think this app is the answer to successful co-parenting by any means the most vital are communication and follow through. But what this app appears to do is to make those things a little easier. Syncs schedules for visits or time that's to be spent with the other parent, allows for reimbursements for expenses (with a feature to upload receipts too) and a messaging tool for you and the other parent to communicate and also to communicate with your attorney. All of this information is stored on the system's servers even if it's removed from your phone. I'm almost positive an attorney came up with this, because there is a companion app for attorneys. Through their side they can track their billable hours, accept payments and send invoices. Technology literally is permeating every aspect of our lives. The app is free (this include any fees from your attorney) and is available for iOS and Android. ~ChicDivaGeek

Hey There your favorite geek here! I always see those little memes little images floating around that make a nerd joke or humor and I find them funny. But there is a difference between a geek and a nerd...neither of which offends me at this point in my life (someone build a time machine to go tell high school Adrian this). I am proud to be a geek and don't blink an eye if I'm referred to as a nerd (it's actually in my Instagram bio and obviously in my blog title). Geek is defined as a knowledgable and obsessive enthusiast. I wear this one proudly, I am enthusiastic about everything technology! I want to know how it works, what's the next big thing, and how to build it or work with it if I can. That's what essentially drew me to technology in the first place. As a kid though it was the person that was made fun of, the socially awkward person in school. Even in cartoons and sitcoms. Nerd is defined as a single minded person in a particular technical field. It's also defined as a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious. I guess I have nerd traits, and I'm ok with that too. Nothing wrong with being studious or an expert in technical field portion, I'll take that. I don't think anyone should feel insulted by either term, especially in the age we live in. Look at who runs alot of the very things that you use on a daily basis..your smartphone, social media..started by nerds, ran by geeks people doing what they love! ~Signed, A proud Geek ChicDivaGeek

Everyone's connected nowadays so adding things to connect to your home to make it smarter is slowly becoming the norm, honestly I've seen people more excited about some of this stuff than the next iPhone or Samsung release. But what's the difference between a Google Home and Amazon Echo? You can essentially talk to both, but let's look a little deeper than the different parent companies. Amazon Echo Amazon Echo is a wireless voice controlled speaker, the obvious difference being that it's made by Amazon, and who doesn't like Amazon (besides brick and mortar stores of course). Echo has Alexa built in to help it help you. You talk to Alexa and can pretty much ask it to things from as simple as playing music to setting your thermostat. So yes it connects to your home, via devices such as Nest, Hue and Wink. It has ESP....No it can't read your mind, ESP with Echo stands for Echo Spatial Perception. Which means it can distinguish between which Echo device, if you have more than in your home, you're trying to communicate with. There is also an Alexa app which connects to these devices. There are a couple of variations of Echo, there's the Echo Dot (which is like a compact version of the Echo) and just released is the Echo Look (which is a hands free camera and style assistant. ) I am pretty sure this Echo Look is going to be a huge hit with beauty/style bloggers. You can take full length photos of outfits, and with the built-in LED lighting, you're going to get great photos! The camera is also depth sensing so you can focus in on well..the outfit of course! There's even a style check feature that let's you submit two outfits and get opinions from stylists to figure out which one looks best on you. With these three different versions there's an Echo for everyone. Now the Echo Dot is the cheapest of the three retailing for $49.99, the Amazon Echo retails for $179.99, and the newly released Echo Look $199.99 (its currently only available on an invite only basis), but they are all Alexa enabled so you can speak to and connect all of them to your home or however else you want to use them. Amazon Echo Look (Photo: Amazon) Amazon Echo Dot (Photo: Amazon) Google Home Google is everywhere so why not your home too right? Google Home is also a voice activated speaker, but unlike Amazon's Echo it's powered by Google Assistant. It also can connect to your music streaming services to play your music and can turn up the AC (I mean summer is coming after all). It connects to Nest and Hue, but it also connects to Chromecast, now this feature is almost a no-brainer considering that they are both Google products. The one thing that seems to be one of it's standout features (and recently added) is it supports multiple users. So it can tell if the kids are talking or if it's you. It's also added 5 million recipes to it, no they didn't cram a digital cookbook in there, but through connecting to sites like Food Network, All Recipes, and other sites. It an read the recipes to you step by step. I personally think this is good as whenever I'm trying new recipes, I find myself going back over to my phone and needed to wake it up to see what the next step is...touch screens were not made for this and that's not why they made screen protectors either lol. Now in order for this to work you need to have the Google Assistant app and then tell it to send to Google Home. From there you can start and ask it to repeat or proceed in the recipe steps. Google Home (Photo: Google Store) The name is fitting because along with all the capabilities it has, Google makes different bases so that it blends in with the home, you can make it match the feng shui in the room. Google Home retails for $129. Which one do you already own or do you have your eye on? ~ChicDivaGeek

The seasons are changing, and if you haven't already ( I haven't as the weather keeps flip flopping here in the DC area) you've started swapping out your wardrobes, and started shopping for lighter colors and maxi dresses. That ties in with that annual tradition of spring cleaning..perhaps rearranging the furniture, changing the heavy comforters for something lighter, or doing some other updates around the house. I've found a couple of apps that can help you with your spring cleaning..I mean your phone is probably going to be in your hand or nearby anyway, right? Brightnest This little app is like a HGTV in your pocket! The Brightnest filled with lots of "how-to's" and let's you set reminders for things your house needs regularly. Not sure how to get that stain out the carpet or remove that stuck on stuff in the bottom of the over? You more than likely can find a video that'll help you figure it out. If you're looking for ways to add more cushion to that nest egg, you can even look under their savvy options to see ways to be more cost effective with things in your home! The app in itself is savyy because get this...it's FREE! It'll even let you schedule things that you have to do often (or the ones that aren't as often and you may forget about). The app is available for iOS and Android. Brightnest Screen Brightnest Screen Task Rabbit Have Bob Villa dreams for your living space but your skills are at the level of that "nailed it" commercial for State Farm with Chris Paul? Well then you may need to download Task Rabbit. This handy (no pun intended) app, lets you find providers to do everything from mounting that new flat screen to assembling that entertainment center that has one page of directions and an allen wrench. You simply download the FREE app, describe the task you need done, input the dates and times you're available to have it done, and then it matches you to a list of "taskers". Then you can sort through and pick a provider based on price. You connect with them right through the app, and the payment is handled through the app as well. Task Rabbit also backs their Taskers, they do extensive background checks and each service is backed by $1 million in property damage. The app is available on iOS and Android. Task Rabbit Screen Task Rabbit Screen Happy Home Improvements and Spring Cleaning! ~ChicDivaGeek

Whether you’re a full time entrepreneur or a person who has a side hustle while working a full time job, you should check out these apps to help make balancing those things a little easier. Since the tax filing deadline is around the corner, let's start off with an app that helps take the some of the pain out of tracking business expenses. Expensify Expensify App Screen (Photo: App Store) If you have things you want to write off a business expenses such as lunch/dinner meetings, mileage on your car, travel for work. You need to have Expensify…a lot of times we don’t want to keep receipts ( I do and end up with clutter and then I just trash it all because my purse has turned into the black hole and I can’t stand it) this way you can upload your receipts with the smartscan feature and then get rid of them. It also makes it easy to do on the go so you don’t worry about forgetting later. Expensify is available for Android and iOS. Since we are talking mobility....and we're still in the financial parts of entrepreneurship, let's move on to payment solutions. In this day and age there is no way you should be a small business and not be able to accept credit cards or digital payment in some form. Square Cash This isn't the most polished solution it's probably the simplest though. It allows you to simply request money from anyone, the app itself is free and all you have to do is link your account to it. There's a business option and one that works just between friends and family. Now of course with business there is a fee (it's 2.75% to receive but free for your customers). The Square Cash app is free and is available for both iOS and Android. Square Cash is founded by the same company that provides other solutions such as the Square Reader so you can accept credit cards on site just by using your phone. They also offer an invoicing platform as well. Square Cash App Screen (Photo: App store) PayPalIf you've been an online shopper for a while, then chances are you're familiar with PayPal. Did you know you can send invoices through PayPal? Or even at the very simplest it give people another means to send you money or for you to request it. They also have an app so that you can handle all of this on the move..and from your phone. The app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phones (I honestly don't know too many Windows phones users, but you never know). Also a good idea, on the off chance you haven't come across this already..having a digital signature. Alot of times people will send contracts or documents over that require your signature or they'll ask for a digital signature..so in the flow of this post, there is an app for that! DocuSign DocuSign allows you to digitally sign apps on the go. You can get that deal closed while you're on your lunch break. You get the contract in your inbox (or open if from DropBox or even Google Drive), import it into DocuSign app, place your digital signature that you've created, and return to sender! This is a legally binding signature so not to worry. This app is available for iOS, Android, Amazon tablets (didn't see that coming did you?) and Windows Phones. DocuSign Screen (Photo: App Store) DocuSign Screen (Photo: App Store) What other apps are you using to make managing your business on the go easier? ~ChicDivaGeek

You've got Apple has Siri, Microsoft has Cortana, Amazon has Alexa, and now Samsung has unveiled their virtual assistant...Bixby. Sounds like a fancy butler name right? But what will make this different from the other ones that already exist? Besides the fact that it's from Samsung? According to Samsung's Press Release "Instead of humans learning how the machine interacts with the world (a reflection of the abilities of designers), it is the machine that needs to learn and adapt to us." Well honestly the whole purpose behind technology is to improve the quality of life for the population it serves, but to an extent there is a learning curve that has to be taken into account. But anyway...Bixby plans to be able to execute every task that a certain app is capable of doing. That's the Completeness component of Bixby. To promote the Intelligence part of Bixby, it will have the ability to be make sense of an incomplete command, so you don't have to worry about saying the command in the right order or exact syntax to get the desired response. Look for Bixby to be on the new Galaxy S8 which will be unboxed live next week online. I know a number of users that are already excited about the new Galaxy phone, I wonder if that excitement will spill over to this new assistant? ~ChicDivaGeek

(Photo: Winkbeds) This bed is too hard, this bed is too soft...or this bed is too hot or it's too cold, depending on the season. Most of us don't have the luxury of doing what Goldie Locks did to keep moving from bed to bed until we find the right one. There are lots of nights where you've flipped from side to side, folded pillows, thrown a leg out of the cover to get the air to warmth ratio just right, and still you're not quite comfortable. WinkBeds hopes that it's new CoolControl technology in it's mattresses will help with that. WinkBeds is a D2C (Direct to Consumer) supplier and all of their products are made right here in the United States. Now here's is where the tech comes in, because I know you're like what does this have to do with any kind of technology? CoolControl is a mattress set that has a dual-control temperature system. Gives a new meaning to the phrase some like it hot, right? It is designed with thermoelectric heating and cooling technology. The CoolControl base works exclusively with the WinkBeds mattress. WinkBeds CoolControl App (Photo: WinkBeds) It allows for you and your partner to control your respective sides of the bed via the WinkBeds CoolControl App. The app is available for iOS. Don't worry Android and Windows phone users, it also has a remote that comes with the set to control the temperature settings as well. This is like the seat warmers in your car (if you have leather interior)! There is nothing worse than getting all ready for bed and then it's freezing cold, especially if you're already cold. Then on those nights during the summer where all the humidity seems to be suffocating you in your room (I speak because it happens) you may want to slide into a cool bed and not sweat. It's also energy efficient and it'll automatically shut down after 9 hours, so no worries about forgetting to turn off the bed when you rush out for work in the morning. ~ChicDivaGeek