Last week I sold my Moto X 2014 on Swappa in anticipation of receiving a Nexus 6 I from the Google Play store. The Nexus 6 has been in short supply and often is available only for a few hours at a time on Google’s site. Devices are often available each Wednesday but only recently have they stayed in stock more than a day.
If you’ve been looking for a fitness tracker, your budget is probably in the $50 to $150 range. That’s reasonable for a connected pedometer/fitness data collector, but Pivotal Living disagrees. They see the value of fitness tracking in the service, not the hardware, so they sell a subscription model instead. $12 gets you one year of service and one Pivotal Life 1 band!
I am starting to worry my phone is becoming sentient. See, on a typical day, the battery holds up just fine all day. But if it’s a busy day, that’s when my phone drains the battery like a hungry vampire. Luckily, Bracketron is working on their Snap2.0 chargers, an affordable way to snag fast charging with compatible phones!
I admit, as much as I love my 7 year old Prius, I get a little jealous hearing about the amazing ways smartphones are being integrated with newer cars. Satechi clearly feels my pain, and they’ve come up with a much more cost effective solution than a brand new car in their newly announced BT Button Series.
Lenovo has been on fire the last few years with some amazing consumer offerings. They’re expanding even further this year at CES, announcing 10 new devices, from YOGA tablets and laptops to ultraportables, smartphones, and even a smartwatch/fitness tracker. You can check out their full lineup at their CES 2015 site, but here are a few of my favorites!
Huawei has been going from strength to strength of late, and the Huawei Ascend P7 looks to keep pace with the company’s ambitions. The latest flagship devices from Huawei are anything but cheap feeling, using a combination of metal, glass and high-quality plastic to give their devices a solid, premium feel.
For the past month I’ve been reviewing the future. As it turns out, the future is cheap, reliable, and nearly indestructible. It’s not terribly flashy, but it gets the job done. The future is a Motorola E on Republic Wireless, a prepaid carrier using WiFi calling to lower the monthly cost.
My experience using my Sony Xperia Z2 on vacation as my in-pool ebook reader and underwater camera prompted me to pick up the Xperia Z3 when I got home. That meant I need a Sony Xperia Z3 case. That’s where Poetic came in. Their FlipBook is inexpensive protection simplicity. The poetic FlipBook for the Z2 surprised me. It was inexpensive but far nicer than its low price suggested. That’s why I immediately ordered the version for the Z3. At $16 it’s anything but pricey. And yet it looks and feels great. There is, as you will see in the video…
BiggiFi is a powerful Android device for your television, with a somewhat silly name. It’s a tiny Android-powered computer within an HDMI stick that’s hooked up directly to your television. You have access to the entire Google Play app library and can run most of its apps using your iPhone or Android phone for control. It retails for $89.
I ordered the Moto 360 with black metal band two weeks ago when it first went on sale. FedEx just dropped off the device, and at first I thought there was something wrong. The metal watch band of the Moto 360 was way (way) too small.
When the Amazon Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet was announced, I was intrigued by the “Everything Kids love. Everything Parents Want.” tagline, and I immediately preordered. These 6″ and 7″ HD Fire tablets come with a 2-Year Guarantee, a kid-proof protective case, and the setup seemed perfect for a child’s first tablet. After fiddling with one, I’m not convinced.
At 6mm, the new Dell Venue 8 7000 is being billed as the world’s thinnest Android tablet, but it’s size isn’t the only attractive feature; it also has an incredible 2560 x 1600 OLED display and “the first RealSense depth camera integrated into such a small form factor.” Have you even heard about it? Well, let me tell you…
One of the coolest new devices I saw while at IFA was undoubtedly the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. It had a beveled edge on the right side of the main screen which displayed received messages, email, calendar, and other notifications. The Note Edge takes the best qualities of the new Galaxy Note 4, but adds an extra wow feature! The beveled screen will display scrollable messages, “extending the screen with room to do and see more. The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge screen gives access to email, Internet, apps, notifications, news and more without interrupting the content on the main screen.” Users will be able to…
Apple Pay rolled out last week, and it’s already hitting some roadblocks as some retailers are blocking or not supporting it. This isn’t because they hate iPhones, it’s because they have a competing product — CurrentC — waiting. A few years ago, companies wouldn’t have dreamed of blocking a new Apple product, but competition has made it easier to say no.
Google today announced their widely anticipated Nexus 6 Android flagship smartphone. They unveiled two additional devices – one a Nexus 9 – a 8.9″ IPS screened tablet sporting 8MP rear camera, 1.6MP front camera. The other a Nexus Player featuring apps, games and more for your TV. Both the tablet and smartphone will run the latest version of Android 5.0 – now known as Lollipop.
We love our Roku and use it constantly. It’s about to get far better, though, with a new screen mirroring feature! Android phones running KitKat will be able to beam the screen onto the TV, which will be handy for slideshows and game nights! Look for a full write-up after our Roku gets the update. Via Android Central
By now anyone who follows technology – and many who don’t – has heard about #BendGate, the term coined after a video showed how easy it was to bend and distort the iPhone 6/6+. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised – they are incredibly thin and light with an elongated aspect ratio. But is #bendgate REAL? Consumer Reports took a scientific look!
A few weeks ago I bought a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 on a great deal, and wanted to see if it would be possible to use it to replace my iPhone AND iPad, much as I would try to do with an iPhone 6+. As usual I went ‘all in’ with my attempt – and failed. Here is why! Until getting the iPhone 5 in 2012 I had been an Android-only phone user, and had sampled pretty much every new 7″ Android tablet since the Samsung Galaxy Tab. I had a huge library of Android content between Google…
I had a chance to fondle the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 while at IFA a few weeks ago, and as far as Android devices go — it’s impressive! If you have been waiting to upgrade, then tomorrow is your day. Get ready to pre-order the most advanced and feature-rich Galaxy Note yet!
Motorola just announced pre-orders of their updated Moto X with 5.2″ 1080p display begin Tuesday September 16. Two versions will be available for pre-order; the first an AT&T model and second a “Pure Edition” which vanquishes carrier crapware and offers an unlockable bootloader. In addition, the Moto Hint (Bluetooth headset) and Motorola Turbo (fast charger) will be available for pre-order.
If you have an HTC One M8 on Verizon, here’s great news: the Android 4.4.3 “KitKat” update is out today, and it brings two excellent goodies with it! First, we’re finally getting Extreme Power Saving mode, designed to eke every drop out of a dying battery. Second, they’ve tweaked the lockscreen security app to prevent accidental resets!