Android

APC Releases Rock and Paper Computers

The Raspberry Pi has been openly embraced by the hacker community for all sorts of projects. From roll your own set-top boxes to Amateur Radio uses, it’s become a fast favorite of the hacker community. Not to be outdone, APC has released two new computers that are sure to peak interest of the hacker community and anyone who wants a nice, simple computer without worry of viruses or other malware. The Rock computer is a board only device that runs a customized version of Android 4.0 that is designed to work with a keyboard and mouse. The Rock has a Via…

Events

Samsung GALAXY Camera Gets Pictured at CES 2013

At this point, it’s pretty much trite to say that the best camera is the one you have with you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. And as the cameras in phones have improved, the saying has become even truer. Here at CES 2013 Judie and I have large cameras; she is carrying a Cannon G11 and I have my Canon T3i, but we are also making good use of our iPhones for photos and pictures. Yes; the iPhone 5 is a phone that takes great pictures. Samsung had a different idea. Sure; they put great cameras in phones,…

Events, Game Diary, News & Features

unu – Tablet, Game Controller, Smart TV Dock in One, Unveiled at CES

Coming a long way from the public’s first glimpse at the device, the unu tablet has been debuted at CES. The device, called “snakebyte eins” during its production and development, has been given a new name and a warm welcome in sunny Las Vegas at CES this year. A pre-release version of the device is playable on the conference floor throughout CES. According to the company, Snakebyte, unu is completely different from all Android-based gaming platforms currently available to the public. And I would have to agree. unu comes with a docking station, gaming controller, and an air mouse, which…

Reviews

AT&T LG Optimus G Android Phone Review

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Android for some time; I’m not sure exactly when it started, but I think that it was around the time that I realized that just because an app was available, it didn’t mean I could necessarily install it on my phone. Lockdowns by carriers and various hardware limitations made Android apps non-universal across the platform, and that was a hard concept for me to accept. The very nature of Android being an open platform meant that the OS could be made to run on some rather unimpressive hardware, but it didn’t always run smoothly or offer a…

Gear Bits

Record Numbers of Devices Activated on Christmas, iPad and Amazon Tablets Big Winners

It is not terribly surprising that oodles of new devices were opened up and activated on Christmas morning – in fact, we had three new iPhone 5 activations in our house alone! The site Flurry.com tracks and estimates the daily activations of iOS and Android devices, and is reporting that more than 17 million activations took place on December 25th alone. As it is, 4 million combined smartphones and tablets is a HUGE number – and that is happening every day! Now think that on Christmas there were more than 4 TIMES that many activations … insane! But wait –…

Reviews

Save Money on Talk, Text, and Data in 2012 with Republic Wireless

From now until 2013, we’re going to take a look at some New Year’s Resolutions and a Gear Diary way to help you keep them. First up… New Year Resolution: Spend Less on Cellular in 2013 republic wireless offers one single handset. If you want more choices you need to go somewhere else. republic wireless offers a handset with just a 3.7″ screen. If you want something larger go somewhere else. republic wireless offers a handset running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If you want something newer go somewhere else. While it might seem that republic wireless is the worst cellular option…

News & Features

US Cellular Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean Update Now Available

When the Samsung Galaxy S3 arrived it had Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the operating system. Since the release, Android Jelly Bean 4.1 launched with the Nexus 7, and more recently 4.2 Jelly Bean also arrived. While Ice Cream Sandwich had loads of great features, Jelly Bean was a smaller update – but what it brought were refinements and loads of under-the-hood updates that once used become essential. Over the last month all of the US carriers have rolled out Jelly Bean 4.1 for the Galaxy S3 … and as of yesterday US Cellular has the update available as…

Editorials

Rapidly Advancing Smartphone Technology Makes It Hard to Go Back

Early this year I got the Motorola Droid 4 for Verizon (on release day no less), and I joined the 4G/LTE revolution. At first it was underwhelming since the 4G coverage in our area was ‘spotty’ at best, and non-existent for the most part. But within a couple of months, Verizon had added a new 4G zone to our area and expanded coverage in the existing zone. It was awesome! So for the next few months I enjoyed fast data speeds — and the zippy performance — of the Droid 4. It was apparent that the phone itself thrived on…

Reviews

Samsung Galaxy Note II from U.S. Cellular Review and Video Hands-On

This is the PDA you would have DIED for in 2002. Last year Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note, which was dubbed a ‘phablet’ – hybrid phone and tablet. To the surprise of many the Galaxy Note sold well, particularly in Asia where the larger screen and stylus allowed for drawing larger characters more easily. Now they are back with the Galaxy Note II, and the folks at US Cellular were kind enough to send me one to test out – let’s take a look! The Hype: With a large, high-definition screen, an intuitive and precise S Pen™, blazing-fast quad-core processor,…

Reviews

Battle of the 7″ Tablets – iPad Mini vs Kindle Fire HD vs Nexus 7

In our Gear Chat, I said to Dan that the iPad Mini was the ‘best small format tablet I have ever touched’. So what does that mean in context? Well, aside from the Mini, I have had a couple of Samsung 7″ tablets, one each from ASUS and Acer, HTC Flyer, original Kindle Fire, and most recently the Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. Those last two are currently very popular, so I wanted to take a hands-on look at all three and compare them across a number of criteria. Here are the comparison points I used: 1. Size…

News & Features

Verizon Snags the HTC DROID DNA

Just in case you had any illusions that phones weren’t headed solidly into phablet territory, here comes the latest fully loaded 5″ device to challenge your phone-carrying pockets. note the spiffy red racing strip on the DNA’s side Today the DROID DNA by HTC was announced, and it will be available before the end of the month. The DROID DNA by HTC features a vibrant 5-inch Full HD 1080p super LCD 3 screen that rivals traditional HDTV’s. At 440 PPI, the screen packs the highest pixel density available on a smartphone. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core 1.5GHz processor…

Gear Bits

Samsung Ships More Galaxy SIII Phones in Q3 Than Apple Sells of the iPhone 4S

Yes, I am going upfront to call out the distinction that Samsung and Apple use different terminologies that reflect their distinct focus – Samsung is a handset supplier as just part of their massive and diverse business, Apple has the iPhone and iOS ecosystem at the core of their entire operation. So when Samsung talks about ‘sales’ it is really ‘shipments’ – how many have left their factory; for Apple sold means sold. This week we heard about how Samsung shipped more Galaxy S3 units than Apple did iPhone 4S in Q3. Three things to get out of the way:…

Reviews

ViewSonic’s VSD220 21.5” Display Review

When I was at a Pepcom Holiday Event a few weeks ago, one particular item caught my eye — ViewSonic’s VSD220 21.5” display. You see, this isn’t any old display. No, this is a display and a huge Android tablet in one. That’s right, the VSD220 (sexy name right?) comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich baked into it. That means you get a 21″ monitor and “computer-free computing” in a single device, one that can either sit on a desk or hang on a wall. I was impressed, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the reality of actually using it…

Editorials

Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD Sales Surge, Bucking Trends and Challenging the iPad Mini

Image courtesy of Pinoytutorial There is one very clear reason (or rather – TWO) that Apple needed an iPad Mini this year: the success of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. I wrote about things I love about each device recently, and I also noted an analyst report that pegged Google-based sales of the device at ~1 million for the second quarter. Turns out that things (as always) aren’t so simple. First off, Amazon went immediately on the attack as Carly noted here, citing that their BEST Kindle Fire HD sales came after the iPad Mini announcement. Amazon said: “Wednesday…

Gear Bits

A Visual Guide to the Freakin’ Huge US Cellular Samsung Galaxy Note II

In my review of the US Cellular Samsung Galaxy SIII (SGS3) last month, I noted that “there is no doubt about it – the Galaxy S III is HUGE. As in ‘sticks out of my pocket like a pocket protector’ big”. I have had the SGS3 fall out of my shirt pocket several times leaning over to feed the dogs, and have learned to alternate between my shirt and pants pockets depending on what I was doing. I have mostly adapted, but the SGS3 is a very large device … well, unless you compare it with the Samsung Galaxy Note…

Editorials

5 Reasons (Each) Why I Love the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD

I have been highly critical of Android tablets (shock, I know) for a number of reasons, and 7″ tablets in specific. But as has been pointed out, I also tout enjoying the Google Nexus 7 quite a bit for a number of reasons. I was also the last one holding on to my launch-day Kindle Fire from last year, and pre-ordered and have happily kept the Kindle Fire HD. All of that screams ‘cognitive dissonance’ to me, so I thought it was worth explaining – and what better way than to list a bunch of things I love about each…

News & Features

Tab-X 9.7 Android Tablet Brings HD Big Screen Tablets To The Low End Market

In all the iPad Mini hoopla today, it was easy to miss that another (slightly less rumored) tablet was released. If $499 for an iPad is too rich for your blood, and you’re hankering for an HD tablet with a large screen, it looks like the non-mainstream brand Android tablet makers are catching up. Enter the Tab-X 9.7 from Arena Scientific. On paper, the specs sound pretty decent: Storage 16GB 32GB Display Retina-IPS display 9.7-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously…

Editorials

Whittling Down the ’50 Reasons Why the Galaxy S3 Is Better Than the iPhone 5′

This week I discovered a cool video over at PhoneBuff called ’50 Reasons Why The Galaxy S3 Is Better Than The iPhone 5′, which takes a look at a massive list of things they claim make the S3 better than the iPhone 5. Considering I have the Galaxy S3, it would seem I should agree … but I found the list lacking in many ways. Rather than making a separate list, I decided to go through their list an item at a time and give my perspective as a long-time Android user and current Galaxy S3 user. I will provide…

Editorials, News & Features

HTC and Motorola Remind Us that EVERY Android Sale is an ‘As Is’ Screw-Over

Apple is far from perfect, but if there is one thing they have demonstrated in the mobile space, it is how to ensure that nearly all users have the latest possible operating system revision as quickly as possible, and to keep updating those systems as long as the hardware is sustainable (obviously this is setting aside things like ‘Siri exclusivity’ and so on). Google and Android on the other hand seem to operate on a couple of different mantras – WYSIWYG and Caveat Emptor. In other words, do not ever expect anything except what you buy … and be careful…

Editorials, News & Features

Gear Diary Video Chat – Smartphone vs Smartphone Edition … and More!

For the last couple of Gear Chats, Dan and I have compared and contrasted things we both owned – the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD. But as I have been greatly enjoying the Samsung Galaxy S III the great folks at US Cellular have provided me for review, and Dan has had his iPhone 5 for a bit, it seemed like a great opportunity for us to discuss the things we thought about what are arguably the ‘twin flagships’ of the iOS and Android world. Of course, from there we veer off into discussions of other things…

Reviews

iEraser Screen Cleaner Review

Nearly every device most of us use today involve some type of touch screen. Phones, tablets, GPS units…you name it and we are smudging the screens. In fact, laptops and desktop monitors somehow seem to get greasy after just a couple of days use. There is not a day that passes that a smudged up screen is not annoying me. Anyone who is a parent of young children like myself know that anytime a kid gets near one of the screens it seems to get grungy. Our devices seem to be magnets for fingerprints and smudges. I recently had the…

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