Let’s say that you go to a foreign country, and you’ll need data. What do you do? You could find a cell provider and buy a local SIM, but that takes time and requires registering with your passport. At best, you’ll get a local SIM with a hard data cap, or you could arrive prepared with a Skyroam Global WiFi Hotspot.
While Dan and I were at CES, we attended the Huawei press conference; at the end, they gave each attendee the choice of their new flagship, the Mate 8, or their Nexus 6P. Based on my positive experience with the Huawei Mate S Dan and I lined up for the Mate 8. Did we choose wisely?
I am a bit of a size snob when it comes to portable batteries; if there is an option to get it, I want the largest mAh available. Nothing gives me more comfort when I’ve got a 20-hour international journey than knowing I have enough battery power to keep all of my portable devices charged during the trip.
Today Simpiz has unveiled their battery, which they say is “the fastest recharging portable battery in the world.” This 9,000mAh power bank is supposed to recharge in 18 minutes “via a custom-designed DUBI 1.0 chip that allows four channels of electricity flow for unparalleled recharging speeds.”
If you’re an Android user and are a fan of Photoshop, but you’ve just been waiting for features that iOS received first (like the ability to shoot RAW images to reach your device), you’re in luck because the update now includes Lightroom, and is available for all Android devices! For the photographer in us all, if you care about your photos enough to capture, organize, edit, and share them directly from your smartphone or tablet, you’re in luck because Lightroom is currently the FIRST and only way to get yourself an end-to-end mobile photography experience that before could only be taken advantage…
There’s more than just Samsung and LG giving out news here at Mobile World Congress as Japan-Based Freetel has introduced their REI smartphone! The smartphone itself sports an aluminum back cover that will not only sport a diamond cut aluminum edge, but will be available in four color choices. Using the Android 6.0 operating system, the REI (which means beautiful, elegant, and wise), is the latest edition of smartphones from the brand. And with features like dual 13 megapixel PDAF rear cameras and an 8 megapixel front camera, the 5.2”-inch smartphone comes complete with a 1080 X 1920 Full HD…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past 24 hours, you might have heard that Samsung unveiled their newest Galaxy phones here at Mobile World Congress 2016. We at Gear Diary had an opportunity to check out both of the unique smartphones hands on! Both devices, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge both feature an enhanced design, with a higher quality camera on top of refined software functionality. But they didn’t stop there, as they also introduced the Gear 360, their 360-degree camera that allows the user to feel fully immersed in spherical video and images….
I logged over a third of 2015 in travel, and 2016 is shaping up to be more of the same. International flights are the worst, as I have a terrible time trying to sleep between the engine noise and cabin chatter. The obvious solution is a pair of noise-canceling headphones, and that’s why I love giving new ones a try.
Are you always trying to figure out what that random number is that’s calling you? Well if you have any aspirations of getting yourself a Galaxy S7, you’ll be happy to know that Samsung has partnered with Whitepages to help you out with that caller ID problem!
With Mobile World Congress 2016 gearing up this week, ALCATEL is announcing their IDOL 4 series today. Attempting to capitalize on the success of the IDOL 3, the IDOL 4, and IDOL 4s smartphones, they are introducing new features such as the new Boom Key and a unique augmented multimedia experience. “The IDOL 4 series marks another milestone in ALCATEL innovation,” said Dan Dery, Chief Marketing Officer at ALCATEL. “The Boom Key boom-ifies everything, from the sound to photos to gaming. Something we’re really excited about, and something I’m eager to show my friends is that we’ve augmented IDOL 4’s multimedia…
A personal favorite company of mine, Native Union announced today their minimalistic charging line, with a host of new colors! Native Union finally announced that their popular DOCK SERIES for the Apple Watch as well as for the iPhone and iPad will now be available in a midnight blue with gold brushed metal, or a stone color with rose gold brushed metals. These new colors will completely round out the finishes to your Apple Watch or smart device when it needs to be docked to charge. Fabien Nauroy, Head of Design at Native Union comments: “Customers love our charging docks…
In the last year or so, I’ve noticed smartphone/tablet adjacent accessories have become big giveaway items. Instead of a crappy free pen, you get a crappy free pen with a rubber capacitive stylus tip on one end. Yay? At least pens are useful…the sticky card holder I received today is just weird, ugly, and useless.
IK Multimedia released a product recently that will prove to bring out your inner composer. Miroslav Philharmonik 2 brings a concert hall full of musicians and allows them to be directed and composed on your computer. The virtual orchestra utilizes over 2700 instruments sampled in high-definition audio. Read on to get more information and check back soon for the review!
Huawei announced the GX8 Android smartphone at CES 2016, and tomorrow you’ll be able to buy your own at GetHuawei.com, BestBuy.com, Amazon.com, select Best Buy stores, and Newegg.com.
It’s easy to find a tablet case with a built in stand, but most phone cases with kickstands tend to be pretty bulky. Tiltcard offers a better solution than choosing between a bulky case and propping your phone up against an assortment of objects by offering a collapsible stand that fits in your wallet.
We will be doing a full review of the Honor 5X soon; it’s a phone with the build quality of a flagship at budget pricing. But the Honor EMUI skin has gotten a lot of criticism, and it may not be as bad as first reaction seems. It’s easy to judge the EMUI apps and enhancements negatively if you’re a fan of plain, stock Android. But this is a phone aimed at people who aren’t looking for a flagship; Honor is a subsidiary of Huawei, and if you want a flagship, they make the Nexus 6P or the Huawei Mate…
Just when I thought that I’d seen almost everything with regard to high-end headphones, along come the Torque t402v Premium Customizable On-Ear and Over-Ear Headphones to show me that I know nothing, Jon Snow.
Sleep and I have a sometimes erratic relationship. Some nights I deal with insomnia, and I might sleep 4 or 5 hours at best; other nights I’ll need to catch up on sleep so badly that I’ll pass out for 12 or more hours. Ideally, I should get 8 hours sleep per night. Obviously, what I’ve been doing isn’t ideal.
T-Mobile is now offering the Android-based BlackBerry Priv for $719 or $30/month for 24 months. Hailed as the (possible) savior of BlackBerry, this qwerty keyboard device has drawn mixed reviews. The keyboard has been welcomed by fat-thumbers. An excess of heat from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and creaking body panels has been mentioned as negatives by a few purchasers. The Priv is available in the U.S. at AT&T and T-Mobile.
The original Scosche boomBOTTLE impressed me. A Bluetooth speaker built for use indoors and out, it pumped out excellent sound in every direction. And it had the added benefit of fitting into a bike’s water bottle cage! Now Scosche has released the Scosche boomBOTTLE+. It keeps a similar design and is a worthy update to an already-impressive Bluetooth speakers.
We’ve reviewed several waterproof portable speakers in the past year, and I have to admit that this is a product category that excites me. I no longer need to think twice about whether it’s safe to bring my Bluetooth speaker to the beach, pool, or anywhere, really.