Category: Android

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Beautiful Design and Out of This World Camera Features Make the Galaxy S7 a Winner

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It is no secret that I’m a fan of Samsung products. I reviewed almost all of the Samsung Galaxy S models, falling in love with each one more deeply than the last. So what’s new with the Samsung Galaxy S7 by Verizon? Plenty! There are so many new features and so many new things to cover.

Beautiful Design

Let’s start with the looks. Just wow. It’s by far one of the most beautiful phones on the market. I was given the gold, model which really is more like a platinum color, to test and it’s just a gorgeous phone. Of course, most people put their phones in case and that covers up much of the beauty of the phone. But I found a workaround. The day I sent the phone back to FedEx, I purchased the same phone. I put the gold S7 in a clear case by Speck, which is “Military-Grade protection that meets or exceeds MIL-STD-810G drop Tested standards.” I also applied a Zagg Invisibleshield Glass screen protector. Love the lifetime guarantee on this product. If you scratch or chip the glass, they will send you a new one!  

In just 24 hours, at least 10 people commented on how beautiful my phone is.

Camera: Dual-pixel technology

The camera is by far my favorite most useful feature on this phone.

Most smartphones take beautiful photos. It’s just a given. So what makes this one unique? Dual-pixel technology.  What is that? Well, previously you only found this in DSLR cameras. This is the first instance of dual-pixel technology in a smartphone. What does that mean for you? You can leave the DSLR and your iPhone at home.

But seriously.  For you, it means rapid auto-focus, which gives you faster shooting capabilities while producing premium image quality, even in low light situations. At the private Samsung party held at the Evansville Verizon Wireless store, the Samsung rep did a great job demonstrating this. She challenged one of the guests with an iPhone to a shoot out. The true-to-color difference was incredible. The zoom was way better and there just was no comparison in the low light test.

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Samsung cameras are way better than my iPhone. #VZEvansville http://ift.tt/1WqdLUk

The Galaxy S7 is the first smartphone with dual-pixel technology, so it captures better photos in low-light environments and focuses faster than the blink of an eye.

The golden sun made it look more yellow. White magnolia.

See this Instagram photo by @danamnelson * 7 likes

I love to take photos of flowers. I also like getting really close. In the past I have found this to be challenging. If the flower moves at all in the wind, the shot is blurry. I usually back out farther than I want and zoom in. It helps getting clearer, more in-focus photos. With this camera, I was snapping pics all over the place in high winds and really close up. The dual-pixel technology was able to grab the image and take clear, close-range shots that were moving!

The wind was blowing. No time to focus, yet the result is stunning. #nofilter @SamsungMobileUS #S7

See this Instagram photo by @danamnelson * 7 likes

Camera: Add ons There are some amazing camera add ons that you can download from the Samsung store. They are free, but you do need a Samsung account, which is also free. I want to cover two of them for you. Animated GIF camera and the Surround Shot. There are some others that are well worth the time to investigate – these were just my favorite. Camera: Animated GIF20160417_153046 Ok – I have to admit something. When GIFs started making a comeback I was a tad worried. I remember a time when GIF on your website was all the rage… Wait! What? Some are still around? Ok, so this is what I was afraid of: http://www.dpgraph.com/ I also confess that even as a tech person, I find making your own GIFs time consuming and annoying. There are more and more programs out there that will let you make them, but uploading them is often a challenge.  The Animated GIF app is a free download that is so super-simple to use. You just hold down the shutter button and the phone automatically stitches them together. Go to the gallery and share on your favorite social network, or email it to a friend. Camera: Surround Shot At the Verizon store, they showed us a virtual tour of a local area using the Gear VR and the Samsung Galaxy S7.  The sales rep told us about Surround Shot. Again, it’s a free app that you download. Capturing a Surround Shot is easy, but takes some patience. It shows you a grid with a circle and a dot. When you pan the camera over to get the dot right in the center of the circle, the camera captures an image. Then the grid has blue arrows showing you which way to go to get the next dot in the circle. You go all the way around in a circle. Once an initial 360 degree shot is taken, you start over moving up or down on the grid until you have captured the entire view. This can be viewed on the phone or used in the Gear VR.   Surround Shot: An issue I first noticed that when you try to text or email a Surround Shot, it sends it as a really flat squishy .jpg. I looked online and didn’t find much. This blog by Alex Dobie was the best I found. He suggests that you share it to Google +, which converts it and maintains the image. 

Dana M. Nelson – Google+

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Camera: Double Tap to Take a Shot

Ever needed to take a photos really quickly, you grab your phone and unlock, only it doesn’t? So you do it again and this time you opened another app because you were stil swiping and it had already opened. Then you finally get the camera open and your shot is gone. Sound familiar? The Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S7, and the Galaxy S7 edge all have the double tap to take a shot feature. You simply hit the home button 2 times and your camera is open and ready.

S6 Issues Resolved

Remember my S6 review? It was a deal breaker for me for a phone not have an SD card. The S7 has a SD card slot! And with this camera, you are going to need it! I also only noticed a few times, and only with continuous use, did it get hot. Well done Samsung!

As you noticed, I had to buy it. I was so impressed with the photos, ease of use, and the beauty of this phone, I just had to own it. If you are looking to upgrade to a really powerful phone, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is my top pick! Click here to view the current deals for Verizon that make buying this phone a little easier.

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Long Long Ago… I got my hands on a Galaxy S6

It’s another sad day with a FedEx box reluctantly leaving my hands.  This time I’m mourning the Samsung Galaxy S6 from Verizon Wireless. As a Samsung product, I already knew I was going to love it. They just haven’t made much I didn’t like lately. So much so, I’m almost a complete convert. (I still need a TV and some Galaxy Gear.)

First Impressions: It’s a totally new look.

Remember when iphones were still new? They were the icon of smart phones. You could spot one across the room and you just knew it was an iphone. Androids don’t typically have that recognizability “Oh that’s a….” reaction. But that’s the first thing I noticed: Other people noticing my phone and commenting: “Oh nice, the S6?” or “Oh the S6! Don’t you just love it?” Or “That’s the S6, how do you like it?”

The look and feel is so different than the previous plastic bodies we are used to from Samsung.

Design Features:

  • .1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display

  • Slim and sophisticated, lightweight design

  • Metal bezel

  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 on the front and back of the phone

It’s like THE dress: Is it Blue or Black?

That Gorilla® Glass over the black body creates an interesting optical effect. It looks blue in some light. I always encase my personal phones from the time they come out of the box. This is a necessity as I am just tough on phones. But the Gorilla® Glass makes this phone as tough as it is beautiful. It’d be a shame to cover it up.

Can it keep up?

I’ve read a few places that people were disappointed with the battery life. I ran this phone on a full days use, it got gamed on hard anytime a tester kid was near and I never noticed it being an issue. This ‘how long can I use the battery’ test was repeated several times with the same result.  I was able to drain it if I used the hotspot for more than a brief time, but that is expected.  It clearly warns that it should be plugged in while using the hotspot feature.

I was however disappointed that this newest in the Galaxy line has eliminated the removable battery. My phones usually outlive the lifetime of the first battery.

(Photo : AndroidGameE | YouTube)

Lightning speed

Operating on the Android 5.0 Lollipop and having a 64-bit, octa-core Exynos 7420 and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM This phone is fast. How fast? Faster than your iphone. No, really, TechTimes did a side by side test, you be the judge.

Storage

This phone, like all smart phones these days, comes in varying sizes. 32GB, 64GB, 128GB.

The kicker here is no SD slot to bump it up.  I live on my phone.  I’m not sure how easy it would be for me to adapt to this setback. It forces the user to utilize more cloud based storage. Even though I do use many cloud based apps like evernote, dropbox, and Google apps, I still store much on my phone.

Camera

With the main camera boasting 16 MP, 2988 x 5312 pixels, optical image stabilization, autofocus and LED flash, it is definitely a powerful image capturing tool. By far my favorite things about this phone are some of the small changes in the camera features like the wide angle selfie. The rear facing camera is not only a higher resolution (Iphone’s main camera is 8 megapixel and the rear facing camera is a whopping 1.2 megapixel.) better overall camera, it took the panoramic feature and put it on the rear facing camera so you can take large group selfies and get everyone in on the fun. It also has a beauty mode, HRD, voice capture and more.

 

 

Sample of photos taken with the Samsung S6

 

Overall

I’m torn. I really thought this would be my next phone. I have 3 things to consider. Battery – Am I willing to risk my phone dying when the battery life is up? Storage – Can I change my digital behaviors and have a phone with a hard limit on storage? Will I like the S6 Edge better? (That’s coming next month for me to test drive so I will update this blog when I get an answer to that question.)

Disclosure: I don’t get paid to review these phones. I don’t get to keep any other the cool stuff I review for Verizon. They don’t even give me a discount on my bill or my phones. 🙁 I did get some cool swag from Samsung once, but if they ever wanted to share some cool tech, I wouldn’t turn it down! I don’t receive any payments or discounts from Samsung to be such an avid fan.  I just love them and their products. 

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The Turbo Experience

 

It’s no secret – I have become a Samsung convert. I used to be easily enamored with most any new phone. But since becoming a Samasung convert, not many phones have really grabbed my attention. There have been many that have passed the test and would be good for an average user. But for my personal use device, I have never even considered anything but a Samsung –  until now.

Meet the Motorola Droid Turbo from Verizon.

Top 5 reasons to buy one:

#1: It’s Sexy and sleek, but tough

The 5.2-inch Super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and is made from Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3. If this chemically strengthened display becomes damaged during the first two years, Motorola will replace it one time for free.

The body is reinforced with DuPont™ Kevlar® fiber. While its function is to add durability, it also adds an element of sleek beauty. I have received several questions asking about what it’s made of.

I am not easy on phones. My personal phones don’t come out of the store without a case. I’m not any easier on test phones. This one looks as if it’s never been touched, even though I’ve had it for over a month!

#2 Speed

I have to have speed. I multitask, move from app to app, and back again. I leave apps open, have apps continuously running in the background, and not once did this phone waver or pause. With 3GB of RAM and a 2.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, you can work or play to the max and be confident your phone will keep up.

#3 Battery and Turbo Charge

I used and used this phone, and on average charged my other phone twice for each charge on the Turbo.  It boasted “48 hours” of mixed use. I was able to drain it in about 18 hours with hard core continuous use and hotspot running, but that’s a long time to go nonstop.

When it did hit the low battery point, charging for a mere 15 minutes gave me another full day. 15 minutes!

Say yes to Turbo Charge!

 

#4 Say Cheese

Boasting a 21MP camera with 4x digital zoom and the ability to capture video in 4K, the camera is easily a top reason to buy. The camera on my current Samsung 4S is a 13MP. Combine the strong camera with the beautiful screen resolution, and  you are sure to wow your friends and family.

 

#5 Price

This phone is only $199.99 with a two year contract ($599.99 without).

This workhorse phone will not disappoint. If you are constantly saying,“wait a minute…. it’s loading,” it might just be time to kick your phone to the curb and make the jump to the Motorola Turbo.

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Verizon / Samsung Preview Party

That’s So Cool

People tell me all the time how cool it is that I get to review new tech for Verizon. I tell them it’s cool and fun, but remind them that I have to return it all, and I’m left wanting the newest item. That part isn’t so fun.  I recently experienced another perk of being a tech reviewer for Verizon: The Private Preview party.

I was given a date and was allowed to invite a few tech savvy friends for this event. I wasn’t sure what to expect, just that it was going to be a rep from Samsung Mobile USA, the Verizon Wireless store employees and us.

The Event

VWZ Party1

We arrived and were greeted by the store personnel, who locked the doors behind us, preventing party crashers. There were donuts, water, and orange Juice provided, and after introductions, we were allowed to wander and explore the store. We asked questions – tough questions. Tried on, played with and drooled over the latest products on the market. Andrew Epperson and I, along with the Samsung rep, theorized about new products expected to launch.  I made a wish list of all the gadgets I wanted.

 

More Than Phones

VWZ Party5

There were more than just phones. We played extensively with the Galaxy Gear (WANT SO BAD) and the Galaxy Note 10.1. We inquired about the staff picks on bluetooth sound systems and headsets. We were given an education on the hotspots, home wireless and the Samsung AllShare Cast.<– If you haven’t seen that, you should go check it out.

 

 

 

Swag

VWZ Party4

As we left, we were given some cool Samsung mobile swag.  The best part is, I get to do it again! Not sure when, but near or just after another big product launch, I will see what I can do to secure another date.

 

It Could Be You

My party guests this time included: Missy Bentley, Andrew Epperson, Cathy Finch, and David Sobotka. Would you want to be included in the next one? Comment below: Leave your name, current carrier, current phone model and product line you would be interested in previewing (Samsung, Motorola, LG….) VWZ Party3

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Rebooting My Thoughts on Windows Phones

I’m not sure why I’ve never reviewed a Windows phone before. Maybe because in my mind I already had an opinion that I really didn’t care for them. But I was surprisingly excited to have the opportunity to test drive the Verizon Samsung ATIV Odyssey – a Windows phone.

It’s Different

I think the biggest thing for me is that it’s a completely different layout, look,and  feel. After being an Android and iPhone user for so long, nothing was in the right place.

The screen on this phone is quite a bit smaller than the last few phones I have had my hands on.).with 4.0 inches, but the overall feel of the phone is very natural. Samsung boasts about it’s Super AMOLED™ touchscreen, and it is very clear and easy to see.  It fits nicely in your hand and up to your face. If you’re converting to a Windows phone from either an iPhone or an Android the biggest things will notice are the differences of the buttons at the bottom of the phone. On most Android devices the right-hand button is used as a back or a previous. This tripped me up a bit because I would often mean to go back, but on a Windows phone the right-hand button is a Bing search.

Serious lack of apps

After you get used to the initial differences it’s a familiar interface – mail icon opens your mail, the messenger button opens your text, and many of the same gesturing tasks work on the Windows phone as they do on other smartphones. I was a little frustrated looking for some of the standard apps I utilize on a daily basis. There are a lot of apps on Windows market – 100,000 to be exact, but not being able to use some of the apps I use everyday made it very challenging. After talking to several other windows device users, they all had similar frustrations.  PC World covered this recently.  It’s nice that the major Office programs are built in and user friendly, but if you’re a Google products user, you’re out of luck.

X-Box

If you are a serious gamer into X-Box, then “only Windows phone OS has Xbox LIVE built in. Track your achievements, view your gamer score, chat with friends or just change your avatar.”  I’m not, and we don’t own that gaming system, but it’s also a built in game hub that lets you walk around with an arcade in your pocket.

Camera

The rear-facing camera is  5.0 Megapixel, and it’s not nearly as big as the iphone 5s with it’s 8 Megapixel camera, but it’s still better than many point and shoot cameras. The camera has a button on the side that allows for quick access. The ‘touch anywhere on the phone screen’ to take a picture threw me at first. I was touching to focus as I do on my other phones. After getting use to it, I really like this feature. It’s quick, it’s easy, and granny can take you picture! (Admit it. When you randomly ask that stranger to take your group or couples photo, you now look at people and ask yourself if they look smartphone savvy enough.)

Hotspot

Like most phones, this one can be turned into a mobile hotspot, only on Windows OS they call it Internet sharing. It turns on with a simple slider switch and supports up to 8 devices. I didn’t run 8 devices, but I did test this with 4 devices all pulling from it, without too many issues.

 

Reboot it- It’s Windows

Several times while trying to utilize the device and various apps, the phone will just sort of freeze. After voicing some frustrations to a friend who is in the IT field, he commented “It’s a Windows Device just reboot it. Rebooting anything Windows fixes everything.”  He was, as usual right, but it was very frustrating to have to reboot the device to make apps work.

 

Overall, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey provided a great introduction to the Windows phone experience. Sleek, slim, mostly functional with a few reboots, I wouldn’t have a problem recommending this phone to someone wanting to jump the Android or iPhone ship.  (And currently, It’s free from Verizon!)

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A Sweet Note

Everyone thinks it’s so cool that I get to test devices. The uncool part is giving them back. It’s also hard to have your hands on the newest, latest phones, and then go back to the phone you’re locked into until your contract is up.

So what’s this latest tease that I’ve been temped with? The Samsung Galaxy Note II.  I have to admit, I was really starting to look again for a new phone to replace my daily carry. I glanced at this phone, but really had my heart set on another Samsung phone – The S4. The problem is that it’s not out yet, and my phone was dying a slow death.  I spoke to my friends at Wireless Zone, and they offered me an S3 got get me by until the S4 comes out. When I went to the store to pick up my phone, owner Chris Jourdan was there.  Chris, who converted me to #TeamAndroid years ago, always carried 2 phones – an Android and an iphone.  You can do that when you’re in the business.  I was very surprised to find that Mr. 2 phones himself was now completely team Android where his phone was concerned.  What was this amazing phone that converted him? The Samsung Galaxy Note II – I just had to try it myself.

It’s so big: 

Here the Samsung Galaxy Note II dwarfs the iphone.

Thanks to the great people at Verizon, I was sent one of these to test drive. First thoughts out of the box, and first thing out of everyone’s mouth when they see it. “Wow that is a huge phone!”  With its 5.5 inch screen, it’s huge. It’s clear, crisp screen makes photo and video viewing easy, and it makes reading e-mails and books really handy.  It’s not so handy to get in your pockets, however.

The body:

The body of this phone is slick. I’m not sure if it’s just the sleekness, but maybe the shape of this phone made it very prone to falling off the desk or counter. I caught it most of the time, the rest of the time it was on carpet, but I very often thought that if this phone is a keeper, it’s gotta go in an Otterbox for sure. (Thinking back, Chris didn’t have his in a case and I really wondered how he coped with this problem. Then I remembered he has the Phone Surgeons at his disposal. He can just replace the screen if it breaks.) So, if you get one, be sure to case it up.

Functionality:

This phone comes with and “Easy Mode” but for the average standard smart phone user, its normal operations were very functional. I learned it as I went along, and very rarely did I find the need to look at the user’s guide. (This is in the form of an app that was very easy to navigate and understand.) As I only had it for a few weeks, I was still finding new things that made me seriously consider this as my next phone.  With so many neat features to discover and utilize, I could see myself being very comfortable and happy with this as my next phone.

Bringing Sexy Back:

Oh, I mean stylus back.  Yeah, I wasn’t so quick with the stylus. I wasn’t sure about how I would like it. I found it difficult to get out of its sleek holster. As a woman with nails, I would have thought it easier. But if it was easier, maybe it would be falling out? I found that over time, I got use to it. By default (which is customizable) if the pen is out, and you go to a place that requires text input, it defaults to the write to text mode. (this is also customizable.) This is where you hand write the letters and it converts them to text. As my continued reliance on digital input has grown, so has my penmanship suffered. This made it difficult for me to use this feature. It is a great idea for those who are more accustomed to putting pen to paper, and a way to get them to transition to digital. I have many clients that would benefit from this feature to get them out of their paper notes habit.  It’s not just a stylus, it has sensors and integrates with many applications using hovering and the ‘S Pen Button’ (reminds me of a mouse button.)

 

S Notes:

This is where the Samsung Galaxy Note II and its stylus shine. For the traditional note taker, this is a dream. It has standard text features, but the write to text feature is really nice for note taking in meetings. I especially liked the shape match feature. This allows you to roughly draw a shape, like a circle. It then converts it to a nice neat shape.  The S note program was full of amazing features that offer beautiful or just downright fun notes.

 

Dual Screen Operation:

This is one of my favorite things about this phone! You can “work and play at the same time, or just work faster.” This is the feature that really has me wanting this phone and I suspect one of the key features that moved Chris from two phones to one. (Now that I no longer have a phone with this feature, I have really noticed how often I think, “Oh, wish I had that other phone!”)
Camera:

Just wow. The clarity and image quality are stunning. And the camera is packed full of features. This video does a great job of explaining the additional features. Even if you choose not to get his phone and you’re taking a group photo, let the person with the Note II take the photos.

 

http://youtu.be/77M5GhUdzyQ

 

This phone is so jam packed with features, I felt like I barely got to know it.  If you are considering a new phone, don’t let the complexity and amount of features scare you. Samsung has a very easy manual that comes as an app, you can access right from your device. It also has some great videos to follow along and really see what they mean when they’re explaining things.

http://youtu.be/77M5GhUdzyQ

 

Bottom line – I would be totally happy to have this as my daily phone.

(And I’m not easy to please.)

 

 

 

 

 

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Putting it to the test

For me, testing a device on the road is critical. Seeing how it reacts in various mobile networks and testing coverage in a larger geographical space are key.  But testing on the road also forces me to test it when I’m least forgiving.

So I was off to a weeklong business travel excursion hitting over 5 cities in 7 days, balancing work and fun events. I went taking 4 devices to test: The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, The Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11 hotspot, the Droid Bionic and its Lapdock.

As a seasoned traveler who is addicted to technology, I was happy to have such great tools at my disposal.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

I love that when interacting with facebook and twitter from this tablet I never get “Unable to view” message. It just works. When I reviewed the Xoom, another android tablet, I was smitten with the android tablet’s ability to work no matter the website I was trying to view. This tablet is much slimmer than the Xoom and has a sleek, stylish look and feel. The textured gray backing is just begging to be held. Camera specs, 4G, and ease of access to Google products made this a hit for me.

To be fair, I was also packing an iPad. For a head to head comparison, they each had their own qualities that made me want them for professional use.

 

Bionic

No comparison! People who know me know that have been completely smitten with the Thunderbolt. I am always keeping it in hand while testing the other phones that have been sent my way.  This phone was tested to the fullest, while my Thunderbolt took a vacation.  The Droid Bionic is sleek and has a very pleasing feel when using it as a phone. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but when you’re not zipping through the social scene, or keeping up to date with your work on the go, and actually using it as a phone, it matters. The sound quality, both outgoing and incoming, are superb.

Favorite things:

  • Sound quality
  • 4G and processing speed
  • Screen clarity and touch screen reaction
  • Camera quality

Cons:

  • Camera speed: This was the most disappointing feature. Click and wait. This seems to be one of the hottest topics on the droid forums regarding this phone with no resolution as of this post.

 

Lapdock:

I was so excited to get my hands on this little slice of geek pie! The ability to interact with your phone, with the ease of a full keyboard, mouse, and screen, seemed very appealing.

Day one with any new phone always starts the same. I hop onto the Android store, and send all my apps to the new phone. Then I usually spend the better part of a day logging into the various accounts that I have: facebook, twitter, lightbox, dropbox, evernote. For even the seasoned touch screen typist, this is a tedious process. With the lapdock, this was a breeze!

The honeymoon was over quickly. After a few trails of texting and answering e-mail with the same ease of a laptop, I drifted to web browsing and trying out some of the featured web apps.

Error: Low Memory

This device runs on the processors of the phone, but at the end of the day, it is a phone. It is not strong enough to run complex websites and apps.

Glorified Charging Station

For me, at the end of the day, all this accessory was good for was a glorified charging statin.  But, it did that really well! Yo’ve been there. You’re at a conference or an all-day meeting. You’re tweeting, taking notes, and answering urgent e-mails. Then, your battery is dead before lunch. You have to move to sit near an outlet or do without while it charges. Not me, not this trip. I slapped the phone on the dock and kept on notetaking. After a short while, the phone is charged and the battery on lapdock is still close to full.

A more practical application

While this is not my next purchase, it has potential for a large number of people. For the aging population, for the non texting generation with texting teens, and people with impaired eyesight, this tool is worth the money. Being able to use the full keyboard to keep up with the lighting speed of the texting teen, and utilizing the full screen size will be a big help to many.

 

Hotspot:  Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11

Staying connected while traveling is really important to me. Many airports and hotels have WiFi, but at a not-so-convenient price.  Enter the hotspot. I had my laptop, iPad, and phone, as well as a second laptop connected to this one device and still had normal web surfing speed. I connected to the hotel’s paid wireless and found the speed of the hotspot to be almost double. This is definitely something that needs to be in  my stocking this Christmas. Well worth the money.

If you have a can’t live with out tech device you travel with, please share it in the comments!

 

These devices were sent to me to demo free of charge by Verizon. I was not paid, nor did get to keep any of the items, so feel free to add a few of them to your Christmas list for me. ;0

 

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Just a Girl Looking for a Phone

I shared with many of you my decision to leave AT&T as a cell phone customer. This was not an easy decision, as I have been an AT&T customer for a very long time. Once I made the decision to go to Verizon, many people assumed I would jump right to the iPhone 4, which is now also available through Verizon. But as my friend Andrew would say, I’ve decided to make the jump to the “dark side.”

As with many major life changes — like getting fat or going bald — we don’t really actually notice them when they’re happening. I was falling in love with Androids.


How did this Happen?

Out of the blue one afternoon I was contacted by a representative from Verizon seeking my honest opinion. She offered me the opportunity to play with and provide feedback on some Verizon devices. This feedback would be published on my blog and / or the Evansville Business Journal.

Play with tech toys? Naturally I said yes.

For two weeks, I tried out several devices, including two phones, two WIFI hot spots and the Motorola Xoom, using them in a variety of settings that included an out of town conference. Like a coffee lover getting a first taste of Starbucks, I was hooked.


Lightning struck

The device that really took my heart was the HTC Thunderbolt. I really love the way the Thunderbolt phone interacted with me (yes, I did just refer to a phone as though it has human characteristics) and the way it looked and felt while I used it.

Thing is, I’m a heavy tech user. While there are many key features of the Thunderbolt that I like, I had some real issues I could not ignore: Heat and battery life. I heard myself saying several times that if you offered me a Thunderbolt today, I would gladly give up my iPhone . But the heat and battery life issues it turns out are deal-breakers for me.


The Search is on
So now here I am, willing to give up my phone, but not sure what to replace it with. So far Verizon has sent me a Droid Pro and the HTC Thunderbolt to take out for a spin. My local Wireless Zone has been kind enough to let me demo an LG Revolution and a Samsung Charge. All have had good features and some not so perfect for me features.


Yeah, I get all the data on the latest phones as they come out, often even before they come out. I know the technical specs, and what they can do — on paper. But a phone is so much more personal; everyone uses it differently. I need a phone that will go the distance with me, one that will bring up data and run multiple apps, remind me when I have meetings, get me there with good directions AND not run out of juice after just 4 to 6 hours.

I am on a quest to find the perfect phone for me. This girl geek, lover of technology, user of all things new and social is looking for lightning to strike twice.

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Xoom Test Drive

(This article originally appeared in the Evansville Business Journal )

With less than a month on the market, I was given the opportunity to test drive a Motorola Xoom. This tablet has a lot of veryinteresting features that make it more desirable in some ways than an ipad2. Ifyou’re an Apple fan, and are used to Mac products, you might be more comfortablewith an ipad.

This tablet is comparable in price, processor and screensize. The resolution on the Xoom is slightly higher, and it has a 32 GB microSD, expandable memory that you can’t get with the ipad2.

The cameras arenotable better.  While the addition of a backcamera with the release of the ipad2 was a big selling point, it was also a biglet down in the quality of camera.  Thefront camera on the Xoom is a two MP and the back camera has a full five MP. Ifthe camera is important to you, the Xoom will win your heart.

Another big benefit ofthe Xoom is its ability to support flash within the web browser. If you do alot of browsing on your tablet, this might be a very important feature for you.Another feature that sets Xoom apart from the ipad2 is the extra ports.

The Xoomhas a micro USB 2.0 and an HDMI out, so if you’re into playing angry birds, youcan connect your Xoom to your 32 inch flat screen, and play some big angrybirds.

While Evansville is not on a 4G network at this time, the Xoomwill be capable of data transfer on this faster network when it does arrive. Ifyou travel, chances are many places you currently go are already equipped withthis faster network.
While we’re talking about the network, you can buy an ipad2 currentlywith no additional contract for a data plan. If you decide you need one you canpurchase it for the month or months you’ll need it. The Xoom isn’t currentlyoffered with a WiFi-only option.

After using this tablet for a few weeks, Ihave to say I really appreciate being on a data plan, as opposed to only havinga device that accesses the information I need when I’m near WiFi. If thenetwork was detected, and I had previously joined to that network, thetransition from 3G  to WiFi was seamless.

There are a variety of ways in which I could use this tabletas an e-reader. It came with an application called “Books.” This was verysimilar to the “Kindle” app, which was also available for this tablet.

The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library has a system online that allows you to checkout e-books. You have to use their application called “Overdrive.” You simplygo to the EVPL website and enter your library card number. You open the bookwith this application, which is very similar most other readers. If you have atablet, whether it’s an ipad or a Xoom, I strongly encourage you to try thise-book borrowing system.

When the iPad was first released, many of the applicationsin the Apple market would work on their tablet. It took some time for thedevelopers to catch up and create a variety of applications that werespecifically for the larger screen, but it eventually did happen. The same istrue in the Android market. There are currently only a handful of apps that arespecifically designed for a tablet on the Honeycomb system, but just as theApple market caught up, I fully anticipate that developers will have the Androidmarket caught up in no time.

Watching TV episodes, like Fringe for example, directly fromtheir website, was done with ease. The sound and video were incredible, and theoverall use of the Xoom as multimedia player left me very impressed. I wasdisappointed to learn that Netflix, at this time, will not play on Android devices.  They’re working to remedy this issue. You can as of June, watch Netflix on the Xoom!  There are still issues with viewing content from Hulu.

My overall experience with the Xoom tablet left me veryimpressed with this device. If you’re that Mac user who’s more comfortable withApple products, and are hesitant to transfer because of the loss of music, besure to check out Double Twist, the itunes for Android, that will seamlesslyimport all your itunes.