Smartphones & Gear

Next Generation Yota Smartphone Revealed at MWC

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!


What’s New With Windows Phone? An MWC 2014 Update!

During her first day at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona Judie met with Gregg Sullivan, Marketing Director for Windows Phone at Microsoft. According to Gregg, Microsoft is looking to expand the Windows Phone family on multiple levels. In addition to new partners there will be new enterprise initiatives and much more. Here’s our video from the show floor.


Bear Motion Premium Folio Case with Bluetooth Keyboard Review

When I got my 2013 edition of the Nexus 7, the thing I needed most was a keyboard. I loved using the keyboard on my EeePad Transformer. When I came across the Bear Motion Folio case that includes a Bluetooth keyboard, I picked it up and it has made a world of difference in what I can actually do with my Nexus 7.



Keep Your Pebble Extra Pebbly with SlickWraps

When Pebble announced the new Pebble App Store I was intrigued. I was an original backer of the Pebble but sold mine when it came. I went out and picked up a new one and realized I needed to find a way to keep it from scratching. That’s where SlickWraps Pebble Watch Color Series Matte Black protection came in.



BlackBerry Aspires to Be the Porsche of Smartphones

Interesting quote of the day from BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who is quoted as implying that apps don’t matter, that BlackBerry could be the Porsche of smartphones. Does history teach people anything? Perhaps I’ve been dozing the past two years as BlackBerry market share has completely nose-dived – largely due to a lack of applications.


BBM 2.0 Rolling Out to iOS and Android

If you’re a BlackBerry Messenger (aka BBM) user on iOS or Android, then the newest update – version 2.0 – is going to bring some welcome enhancements. Beginning today you can participate in BBM voice calling, BBM Channels, location sharing (powered by Glympse), pictures, voice notes, attachments and even DropBox. BBM groups can now be up to 50 people in total size. More info – BBM


First Impressions of the Lumia Black/GDR3 Update for the Nokia Lumia 928

I’ve overall been quite pleased with my Lumia 928 Windows Phone. In fact, almost all of my complaints are hardware and not software related (the screen is far too fragile, and the phone has some earpiece issues). What I like about the software is that it’s constantly improving, and the new Nokia Black/Microsoft GDR3 update brings some excellent new features!


Apple’s Missed Opportunity — the Family Tablet

A coworker came to me recently for advice about buying a tablet for his family, one that he and his wife could use and share with his toddler. Specifically, he wanted a way to create timed parental controls, and he wanted to make sure he was right in believing the Kindle Fire was a better fit than the iPad.




Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $2.91 Billion, Your Thoughts?

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.



When the Weather is Bad, Do you have to go to Work?

With much of the country in the grip of some of the coldest weather we have experienced in years I thought of one thing: Do you have to go in to work? With current technologies allowing you to work almost anywhere with no issues are snow days a thing of the past? For myself and many like me that is the case.


Is It Time to Stick a Fork in Windows Phone 8?

It seems everyone who reviews Windows Phone 8 loves it, they just “aren’t in love with it”. And Nokia Q4 2013 sales figures show a product category limping so badly it couldn’t eek out a sales gain during the recent holiday quarter.  No doubt Microsoft will keep pushing Windows Phone, but is that enough? 



Are You Experiencing Nokia Lumia 928 Earpiece Volume Problems?

I really like my Nokia Lumia 928, but it has a hardware bug that’s giving me more than a bit of a wandering eye. There’s an issue with the earpiece affecting at least some users where the sound cuts out during calls. Speakerphone, Bluetooth, and the headphones all work fine — just the earpiece fails. Worst of all, it comes and goes!


Shake Up Your Sound With the earjax Echo by BodyGuardz

We’re not sure if the earjax Echo by BodyGuardz intentionally look like large salt and pepper shakers, but they do indeed look like something you might see at a diner. Rather than add flavor to your food however, these shakers are all about music taste. $79.99 each, the earwax Echo pack some interesting features into a small footprint.


Take Your Tablet on the Go with the Skooba Design iPad/Tablet Courier V.3

  Look at the Skooba Design website, and you’ll see an assortment of high-quality east-west bags — meaning they are wider than they are high, and they hold laptops in landscape orientation. The north-south Skooba Design iPad/Tablet Courier V.3 is a departure from tradition, and it’s an impressive addition to the Skooba lineup; we’ve been using one and we’re impressed.