I have been gushing about the quality look and feel of my new HTC One M8 for the last several days. It feels exactly like you’d expect a flagship phone to feel, with solid construction and beautiful cool metal exterior. A phone this nice needs quality protection, and our friends at Noreve have gorgeous leather offerings for the new One.
Michael reviewed the Verizon edition of the Galaxy Note 3, and he liked it. I bought one over the weekend instead of the HTC One (M8) that Carly bought, because of reviews like Michael’s and my experiences with using the Galaxy Note 2 for a month. I feel that this STILL is one of the best phones on Verizon.
Over the weekend I marched into my local Verizon store and snapped up the new HTC One M8. It’s been a few years since I used Android, but the look and feel of the One were calling my name. We’ll have a full review soon, but since this phone is so new, I wanted to share a few first impressions!
When we talk about a daily driver device, we’re referring to a smartphone that’s with us no matter where we go — our primary way of communicating with the world, our most favored device which, for now, just might come as close to the perfect device as possible.
HTC today unveiled the HTC One (M8) – an upgrade ( 5.0 inch screen vs prior 4.7 inch screen) front facing 5 mp camera – to their premium line of Android smartphones. Touting the continued use of metal housing and breakthrough antenna technology HTC introduces a phone with 90% metal (up from 70% in the prior version).
Apple added a big change to iOS 7.1 when it comes to app purchases. Previously, once you entered your password for an app purchase the system automatically didn’t ask for it again for 15 minutes. To prevent in-app purchases by accident, you can now set it to ask every time. But how else can in-app purchasing be fixed?
Judie spent some hands-on time with the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 HD+. The tablet offers a Full HD display, a quad core processor, an 8MP front camera, 2GB of storage and runs Android 4.3. I have the original Yoga tablet and love the design. Check out Judie’s pictures and see if this should be your next tablet.
The Google Now Launcher has been updated and is now available for all Nexus and Google Play Edition devices. From my perspective the advantage of this “stock” launcher is being able to swipe right to access Google Now cards that give you just the right information, at just the right time.
Sony knows not every consumer is on the bleeding edge of technology, but they still want a great smartphone experience. The Sony Xperia M2 is a mid-range Android product with big-time specs, from a 4.8″ screen to an 8 megapixel camera with various Sony apps to perfect every shot. Check out the hands-on video below for all the details!
Sony is showing off the accessories for their new Sony Xperia Z2 Smartphone and Tablet. Among them are a quality XY microphone, a noise canceling headset that uses the smartphone as the brains of the cancellation, a waterproof SmartBand fitness band, and a totally cool tablet remote that doubles as a handset for making calls via tablet. Check the video for pricing. Here’s a closer look at some of the key accessories.
Sony’s new flagship, the Xperia Z2, promises to be even better than its predecessor. It’s waterproof in freshwater for up to 5 feet and 30 minutes, has 4K video capability, and a gorgeous 5.2″ screen. I’ve had some hands-on time with one, and I love the glass body and build quality. Click through for more pics and a video walk-through.
When was the last time you enjoyed reading on your mobile? I read more on iPad because sites are poorly scaled for phones – too few words, font too small, whatever. A new company called Spritz is partnering with Samsung to develop technology for the Galaxy S5 and Gear devices that helps speed up reading and make it more enjoyable.
At Mobile World Conference, The Eye Tribe, a Danish motion tracking firm has announced the beta release of the world’s first affordable eye motion tracking software development kit. With this technology, you could potentially control your smartphone just by looking at it. Affordable eye tracking brings with it a load of future possibilities. For more, check out the video below.
Sony has continued to struggle in many ways, yet at the same time keeps producing some amazing gear – and at MWC the trend continues. Today at MWC Sony launches new Xperia devices including the Xperia Z2, the Tablet Z2 and the mid-range M2. Each of these bring competitive prices, high-end features, slick designs and the legendary Sony build quality.
At CES last year Yota introduced their first smartphone. It was met with tremendous interest due to the dual-screen technology – full Android color display on the front, read-only e-ink screen on the rear. At MWC 2014 they just revealed the 2nd generation Yota smartphone – and it is an upgrade in every possible way!
Monster, best known for their high quality headphones and cord products, has entered the budget tablet market with the M7 7″ Tablet. The M7 is currently available exclusively through Walmart. It’s MSRP is $149 but is on sale for $99.99. At just under $100, can Monster provide a worthy tablet in a flooded market?
Today we got confirmation that Google sold its money-losing Motorola handset business for about $3 billion to Lenovo. Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion a couple of years ago, then sold off the set-top box unit and now the handset division. With the sale Google retains many of the valuable Motorola patents it sought initially.
Back in October, word began to spread that Samsung was looking at integrating some type of authenticity recognition chip into all official accessories. Without this chip some advanced functions such as wireless charging, sleep/wake functions may not work on third-party accessories.
I recently purchased a new case with a bluetooth keyboard for my Nexus 7. After a while, I really started to like using the keyboard. There will be a full review of the case coming but I wondered: Could I use it to write posts here on Gear Diary? The answer is yes! However, it does have some quirks.
Technology Predictions for 2014 are here and it’s a predictable theme – new ways to offer the most popular tech. We put a lot of value in technology and media, so we don’t feel important unless we’re doing something with it…and quickly. Here are some predictions for tech trends in 2014.
Sony has answered the call for a small, high-end Android device with the Xperia Z1 Compact. Eschewing the “Mini” moniker, this new smartphone includes the speedy specifications and waterproofing of the full-size Z1.