Android

News & Features August 15, 2013

My Workspace: 50 Year Old Desk Mixes Modern and Old School Tech

One of my favorite set of posts on Lifehacker is the “Featured Workspace” posts. Your workspace is important. It’s where things get done. Each and every workspace is different because we are all different. My workspace utilizes a 50 year-old desk and a mix of tech from old to new. Read on for more on how I have set this up. The desk is one I picked up many years ago on Freecycle. Freecycle is a Yahoo group in our area that people list stuff for free. This desk’s previous home was a local church here in the Columbus area,…

Google Nexus 7 Still Made for Watching Movies

Gear Bits, News & Features August 1, 2013

3 Reasons I Almost Bought a Nexus 7 2 … and 5 Reasons I Held Back

Over the last few years it has become somewhat of a mantra – a new 7″ Android tablet comes out, I buy it and quickly lose interest, sell it off for a minor loss, and repeat. I have gone from Samsung Galaxy Tab to HTC Flyer to Acer Iconia to Kindle Fire to Nexus 7 to Fire HD … but it all pretty much stopped with the iPad Mini. With the Mini I found the perfect intersection of a size I knew would work and the functionality I need. Still … I kept contemplating new Android tablets as I heard…

News & Features July 30, 2013

Protect Your 2013 Nexus 7 the Waterfield Way!

I broke down and ordered one of the second generation Nexus 7 tablets the other day. As much as I love my iPad, I really wanted to see what the latest generation of Google’s tablet has to offer. Knowing it is on the way, I wanted to make sure I had a good way to carry and protect it. Thankfully our friends at Waterfield have some great cases that will keep the new Nexus 7 pristine when on the go. Let’s take a quick look at just a few of the cases that are sized perfectly for the slightly smaller…

Game Diary, News & Features July 30, 2013

Nvidia Shield Lands in Stores Tomorrow!

Way back at CES 2013 in January Nvidia announced the Shield, a high-performance gaming and entertainment portable system based around the powerful Tegra 4 processor system. Well, the system hits stores on August 1st, and is already seeing some positive early buzz. Some of the features include: • The ultimate gaming and entertainment portable – powered by Tegra 4 • Ready for Android gaming – compatible with 100+ games on Google Play • Capable of streaming your PC games over Wi-Fi – to play anywhere in the house • Featuring a console-grade game controller, 5-inch retina-quality multi-touch display, custom-tuned bass reflex…

Editorials, News & Features July 29, 2013

Muzik Socially Integrated Headphones – Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

“Just because you can include some technological advance in your consumer product, it doesn’t mean you should.” That’s really the thought that came to mind when reading about a pair of new, upcoming headphones. Muzik (while I’m on a rant… I hate it when companies intentionally spell words incorrectly) just announced their first product – a pair of “smart headphones”. As the company release notes the company is, “pioneering a new space called social smartware”. The term describes their goal of connecting consumer electronic devices to content and social media platforms with the goal of making “music instantly discoverable and…

News & Features July 27, 2013

Traveling with the Nokia Lumia 928 – Good Enough to Be My Only Camera?

Before leaving on our recent trip to NYC, I was given the opportunity to try out a Nokia Lumia 928. I wasn’t expected to review the phone — Carly had already thoroughly done that. Rather, the idea was that I see how well the Lumia 928 could do as my primary camera while traveling, and to see whether I liked it better than some of the other phones I had also brought along on the trip. Ordinarily when traveling I’ll bring either my Canon G11 or 5D; on this trip I brought nothing but a bag-full of phones. Although I…

Gear Bits July 26, 2013

Vertu Ferrari Ti Limited Edition – Inspired by the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

I have owned four different Vertu phones over the past decade, and while I can’t quite bring myself to spring for another one (yet) — I’m not gonna lie — I miss owning one. There is something to their saying that “Nothing will ever feel the same”. Vertu phones are handmade of the finest metals, ceramics, and leathers, and they are basically works of art that also happen to be rock solid phones. The concierge feature is a big part of why they cost so much, but the odd thing is that even though I had access to the service…

News & Features July 21, 2013

Samsung GALAXY S4 Active Review – a Much More Rugged S4 with Few Tradeoffs

I’m going to surprise myself by writing this, but were I in the market for a new phone right now I think the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active would be at the top of my list of possibilities. It’s packed with power, it feels great in the hand, and it overcomes many of the issues I have with the Samsung Galaxy S4. Because the two phones are running the same operating system and have the same Samsung bells, whistles and capabilities such as Air View, Air Gesture and Smart Pause, I’m not going to run down those specifics. Instead, I will…

Editorials, News & Features July 19, 2013

What Is NFC and Why Do You Want It?

Today’s rumor mill has it that the next generation of the iPhone will include NFC (Near Field Communication). This will be yet another example of Apple playing “feature catch up” with other devices. After all, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.1, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active as well as the BlackBerry Z10, the HTC 8X and even the year-old HTC One X I have sitting here all feature NFC. Apple will be late to the game. But the question remains, should Apple even get into the game? What exactly IS NFC and do you want it in your next phone? Let’s…

News & Features July 19, 2013

HTC One mini Packs the One’s Power into a Smaller Package

It has been a long time since I saw Judie as enamored with a phone as she is with her HTC One. The phone is sleek, powerful, and it shows that one needs not compromise when looking for an Android handset these days. Now HTC has, as expected, pulled the curtain back on the HTC One’s smaller sibling, the HTC One mini. The HTC One mini, is a compact — but not small — version of the HTC One, and it brings everything that has made the HTC One stand out in an ever-more crowded marketplace. The HTC One mini…

Editorials July 15, 2013

Checking Out the Latest and Greatest Smartphones – GearFest GearChat 2013

During GearFest 2013 Carly, Mike, Judie, and I — the Editorial Staff of Gear Diary — sat down to take a look at the current lineup of super phones on each of the major platforms. We laid out a dozen or so different smartphones and talked about some of our likes and dislikes. Among the phones discussed are the iPhone 5, the Samsung GALAXY S4, the Samsung GALAXY S4 Active, the HTC One, the Nokia Lumia 928, the Nokia Lumia 920, the LG Optimus G, the HTC One X, the Google Play HTC One, and the Blackberry Z10. We then turned…

Gear Bits July 8, 2013

Five Reasons Why the Samsung Galaxy S4 Is a Great Android Phone

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the newest incarnation of the most popular Android phone series in the world; it comes jam-packed with state of the art tricks and tweaks, and it is definitely the phone to choose if you want to experience things that might one day be standard on all mobile phones without waiting for that day to actually arrive. Mitchell recently reviewed the S4, and I have been using the US Verizon version for a little over a month. I have become so well acquainted with the S4 that even though I recently purchased an HTC One, I have found…

Music Diary, News & Features June 18, 2013

Samsung Giving Away Jay-Z’s New Album, But Will It Buy Him #1 in Sales?

In the rap and hip-hop world, few artists loom as large as Jay-Z. Emerging in 1996 with a blockbuster debut that was as successful critically as it was commercially, he seemed to fade for a few years before emerging with the excellent ‘The Blueprint’. Then some more mediocre minor releases before what he claimed would be his last release, 2003’s ‘The Black Album’. Since then he has worked more as a producer and executive developing new artists than as an artist himself. That all changes on July 4th with the release of “Magna Carta Holy Grail”. But this one has…

Editorials June 12, 2013

WWDC iOS 7 Announcement from an Android User’s Point of View

Even though I am not a regular iOS user, I still watched the 2013 WWDC keynote as much of the Gear Diary team did. The blogosphere as a whole has had a lot to say about the similarities of some iOS features. It’s undeniable that Apple has drawn from Android, WebOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 here, but unlike some Android users, I am not mad at all. In fact, if I were Google, I would take it as a complement. Apple recognized that they didn’t have some of the features that Android did, and they figured out how to make…

News & Features June 10, 2013

The Sprint Vital Redefines the Budget Smartphone

Think budget smartphones need to be cheap? Think again. The Sprint Vital is sprint’s newest 4G LTE smartphone and it is available Friday, June 14. And while it is inexpensive-just $99 on contract plus a $50 mail-in rebate- the phone actually has some terrific high-end features. Among those features are Android 4.1.2, Jelly Bean, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and video capture, a 1-megapixel front-facing camera and Sprint 4G LTE for speed.

News & Features May 30, 2013

Nexus Experience Coming to the HTC One

HTC has heeded the calls of the Android community: a clean Nexus version of the HTC One is coming on June 26. Based off the unlocked 32GB silver model, the HTC One Nexus Experience will be available in the Google Play store for $599. This matches the off contract price for the normal HTC One. Dispensing with the Sense customisations, this “Nexus Experience” version of the HTC One will run pure Android 4.2.2, with updates being received directly from Google rather than HTC. The move follows Samsung’s announcement of a Galaxy S 4 that will also be available in the Google…

Editorials May 28, 2013

Market Share and Profit Dynamics – Is Android REALLY Winning?

If you listen to most pundits, Android is absolutely DESTROYING Apple. I mean, if you look at the global smartphone market, Android has more than 70% and Apple has less than 25%. Even in the US market, iPhone and Android pretty much split the market. In the larger mobile phone market, Apple has an even smaller chunk of the total product volume. But as noted here, and as I have mentioned before, Apple continues to take in the majority of mobile device profits, with more than 60% for all of 2012 and 57% for Q1 of 2013. The rest of…

Editorials May 24, 2013

Switching Smartphones and Carriers Is Getting Harder Than Ever

Reading over Carly’s post and the comments made something clear to me – plenty of people have at least a vague sense of dissatisfaction with pretty much ALL of the available smartphone choices. iOS is ‘stale’, Android remains klunky, Blackberry is dead-end, and Windows Phone is the also-ran that just can’t seem to win. Many polls suggest general dissatisfaction with all current smartphone brands. Yet when you read about smartphone loyalty, Apple leads the way and in general most people are likely to stick with the brand and operating system they currently use. Which leads to the obvious question ……

Reviews May 18, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Android Review

The never-ending battle for king of the smartphones has never been more interesting, with the Samsung Galaxy S 4 leading the charge. Looking much like its very successful predecessor, Samsung is banking on its new-found brand swagger to convince people its latest is indeed the greatest. The Galaxy S line has seen a level of success only felt on the smartphone scene by Apple with the iPhone, and the new Galaxy S 4 has done little to rock the boat. It has, however, packed the cargo hold full of stuff.

News & Features May 8, 2013

Waterfield SFBags Has Your Samsung GALAXY S4 Covered!

Whenever I get a new device I always jumped over to the Waterfield SF bag website to see what the company might have to protect it. Waterfield cases, pouches and bags are high-quality, well designed accessories that promise to protect your device for its life and beyond. I can honestly say that I have used/currently use a Waterfield product with every device I own. And while I don’t have a Samsung GALAXY S4 (yet…) I know many of you do and if you are looking for a stylish way to protect the new Samsung super phone you’ll want to check…

Gear Bits May 8, 2013

HTC First Was Last and It’s Now Almost Free

A few weeks ago we got exclusive information that the HTC First was in big trouble. As we first reported, sales number for the first phone designed specifically for Facebook Home were close to nonexistent. Our inside information told us that the pre-order and first weekend sales numbers of the HTC First were less than 500 total units on the East Coast. In other words, the HTC First was all but dead on arrival. My conclusion at the time was that: I cannot begin to imagine what stock AT&T is currently holding of the device, but I have a pretty…

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