Smartphones & Gear

SETA Smartphone Stand Review

When I first set eyes on the SETA Smartphone Stand, I was initially underwhelmed.  Not knowing anything about the product before receiving the review sample, I saw the simple stand thought, “What’s the big deal?”  Then, I did my research and realized that this stand is more than just something to lean your smartphone against.  Once I peeled off the plastic protective cover and placed my phone on the pad, I was instantly impressed.  The SETA Smartphone Stand may be one of the best smartphone stands on the market.


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…


Spigen SGP Crumena View Pouch for Samsung GALAXY S4 Allows You to See Clearly

One of the features that impressed me when I first say the Samsung GALAXY S4 at the Samsung Press conference announcing it was the smart screen functionality when combined with Samsung’s S Covers. The pairing of the special cover and the screen functionality allows S4 users to see key information without even opening the smartphone’s screen. It is a nice touch that adds a level of functionality and convenience that, while not necessary, sure is nice. Spigen SGP Crumena View Pouch also takes advantage of this functionality. As the name suggests it is a pouch and, thanks to THIS pairing…


Spigen SGP Ultra Thin Air Transparency Case for Samsung GALAXY S4 Review

If you are looking for simple protection for you Samsung GALAXY S4 smartphone that won’t add much bulk or weight to the device you will want to check out Spigen SGP’s Ultra Thin Air. The Ultra Thin Air is exactly what the name would suggest — a simple, super-thin, super-light snap on case that protects the back, sides and corners of the Samsung GALAXY S4. Here’s a video look… As you can see in the video, this is the Crystal Clear Transparency version of the Spigen SGP Ultra Thin Air Transparency for Samsung GALAXY S4. The case itself is made from…


2Day Tasks App for Windows Phone Review

When I made the switch to Windows Phone, I had to start replacing my various “go-to” apps. Chief among them was a decent lightweight to-do manager. Something more robust than, say, “Reminders” on the iPhone, but it didn’t need to be a full-blown Getting Things Done organization system. I poked around Windowsphone.com, and noticed 2Day had a number of positive reviews. This has quickly become my favorite new productivity app; it is simple to use, with tons of customizable task options. Read on to learn more! 2Day follows the Windows Phone “Metro” interface, meaning you can swipe back and forth…


HP Releases App Catalog Fix to Keep WebOS Devices Afloat

I own an HP Touchpad, and I have to admit, it’s still one of the most enjoyable tablet OSes I’ve used to date. I’ve tweaked some of the software and hardware with Preware, set up dual-booting with CyanogenMod 9, and its been fun doing all this. However, it was revealed that one of the key certificates governing HP WebOS cloud services, particularly those items relating to HP App Catalog and cloud backups, was set to expire on July 23, 2013. Were that to occur, access to WebOS catalog apps, app purchase history and device cloud backup would almost certainly fail,…


Nokia Lumia 928 Windows Phone Music Controls – Little Features Make a Big Difference

I am really loving my new Lumia 928. Now that I am past the initial phase of learning Windows Phone and adjusting to a larger phone, I am starting to notice little ways that Windows Phone 8 makes life easier. The biggest standout for me, above and beyond any other, is how it handles music controls. Every morning and evening I stream Pandora on my way home from work. On the iPhone, it was easy to flip to a different song by just double clicking the home button and pulling up the music controls while the iPhone was locked. I…


Battery for Windows Phone Review

I am having fun setting up my new Lumia 928, and part of that is getting to know new apps and settings. On my iPhone I had my battery percentage listed in the status bar, but that’s not an options in Windows Phone. Luckily, I stumbled across a great utility app, aptly called “Battery”, that provides a Live Tile of my percentage battery life left, plus a whole slew of other useful data settings and shortcuts!



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…


ZAGG invisibleSHIELD for HTC One Review

The HTC One’s slick aluminium design looks great, but it doesn’t take much time in the real world to pick up scuffs and scratches if you go caseless. Enter the ZAGG invisibleSHIELD, a product designed to keep the slim profile, but not leave you completely unprotected. The ZAGG invisibleSHIELD Full Body for the HTC One is made up of two pieces of adhesive rubberised film, one each for the front and back. Included in the “kit” is a small spray bottle of distilled water, a squeegee and a microfibre cloth for getting your device clean. Straight up I decided not…


Nokia Lumia 928 First Impressions

Last week I expressed my boredom with my iPhone, and took a leap of faith by ordering a Nokia Lumia 928. It arrived last night (darn holiday weekend got in the way of FedEx delivering my phone faster!);  now that I’ve had 24 hours to get the basics of the phone down, I thought I’d share some initial thoughts.


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 ……


G5 Entertainment Casual Games Land on the Windows 8 Store

G5 Entertainment is one of the premier casual game companies for iOS, and has made quite a splash on Android, Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook. Now they have launched two of their popular games – Supermarket Mania® 2 and Stand O’Food® 3 – on the Windows Store. This is just the start for G5, as they hope to expand their reach to what looks to be the ‘third mobile OS’ going forward. You can download the games from the Windows Store for free, and use an in-app purchase to unlock the full games for Stand O’Food® 3…


iStabilizer tabMount Holds Your Tablet Right

I’m a huge fan of the various products from iStabilizer. From their Flex smartphone holder to their Glass, to their Monopod, iStabilizer is one of those small companies whose products don’t grab a lot of attention, but they still stand out because they not only do their job, they do their job well. A few months ago iStabilizer went on Kickstarter to raise funds for their next offering — the iStabilizer tabMount. The iStabilizer tabMount was intended to be exactly what the name implies — a mount for your tablet.


The iPhone Doldrums – I Think I’m Ready for Something Different

A bit less than two years ago, I excitedly drove to my nearby Verizon store to give up my Motorola Droid and jump ship over to an iPhone 4s. I was sure this would be a great match, and my days of smartphone-hopping were over. And they were, for quite a while. But over time I’ve grown frustrated, and the iPhone has begun to feel a bit stale. My main frustration has been with the battery life. My 4S started behaving atrociously about three months ago; I would routinely get under 8 hours of standby and maybe 5 hours of…


BlackBerry Z10 Review – Too Little Too Late? Or the Long Overdue Update of the Original Business Smartphone?

For some time it seemed that if you wanted to be taken seriously as a business person, you had to have a BlackBerry device. Research In Motion — or RIM as the company was commonly called — built smartphones that were solid, had excellent QWERTY keyboards, they were secure, and they were the first devices to have PUSH email. Side note: PUSH email may be something many of us take for granted now, but there was a time when if you wanted it, you had to own a BlackBerry. Those of us on Pocket PC phones, Treos, or other phones…


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…


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…


Will Samsung Suffer Due to the ‘Lackluster’ S4?

Samsung recently started delivering their new flagship, the Galaxy S4. The GS4 is the follow-up to the Galaxy S3, which is the best-selling Android phone ever made, and one of big reasons Samsung is now the largest smartphone maker in the world. The GS3 was itself the sequel to the earlier best-selling Galaxy phones – but with the GS3 Samsung went from being a ‘leader’ to becoming the de facto Android flagship and market leader. Early critical and user reviews for the new S4 have been generally solid but not exactly glowing – and with more and more issues cropping…


Magnet Stick-On Periscope Lense for iPhone and Camera Phones Surfaces

    The good folks at USBFever work very hard to bring plenty of the most unusual peripherals and accessories for iPhones and other smartphones to the market. From the most simple and functional to the rather esoteric offbeat tech, USBFever has got you covered! Take camera lens add-ons for cell phones. Some of you might think, “What else is there, more zoom to the telescopic lenses?” No, you’d be wrong there. The latest to swim into view is in fact the curious Magnet Stick-On Periscope Lens for the iPhone and Camera Phones. Maybe you are tired of having to…