Category: Gadgets

The Home of Tomorrow is Here…

Smart Home communities are beginning to pop up in the United States. Home builders are starting to recognize the potential in creating a fully functional smart home form the ground up. These homes of tomorrow come fully equipped with voice activation of every switch and appliance throughout the home.

What can these Smart Homes do?

One Smart Home Community, Brookfield Homes in Washington D.C. has partnered up with Amazon to have the home fully controlled by Alexa. From turning on the stove to drawing the shades. All can be done with a simple voice command through Alexa. The home also comes with a Smart Home app that let’s you control lighting, music, and appliances even when you’re not home. These homes have the ability to learn the owners work, sleep, and daily habits to better assist the owner. The home can make simple automation task such as turning the A/C down before you arrive home form work. These homes usually come with a higher price tag, but can save big on energy bills and efficiency.

So it has Alexa, what else?

These smart homes, also come with energy efficient roofs and solar panels to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum. Also these homes are starting to come equipped with Telsa Powerwalls, which is a solar charged lithium battery that can power your whole house. This battery can basically eliminate your monthly electric bill when utilized properly. From voice control lights to automated vacuum systems, these homes are truly designed to improve your life.

Summary

Smart Home Communities are a new endeavor in the housing market that are just now beginning to be explored. But with all the tech advances as of late, these smart homes are extremely convenient for a reasonable price tag. Years ago, an automated robot vacuum sounded made up and pricey but now you can get one online for $200.00. These new communities will continue to grow and advance. Their sole purpose is to facilitate our daily needs and make our homes functional and modern.

February 26, 2018
SmartPhone Spotlight: Essential’s Essential Phone
Essential was founded by Andy Rubin, one of the creators of Android. Essential Phone works on all major carriers incl. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile and features a beautiful edge-to-edge full display, titanium enclosure and a scratch-resistant ceramic back.

The Great
- No logo
- No pre installed bloatware
- Stunning design
- Decent specs
The Not
- Accessory port needs to prove itself
- Missing many features
- A total fingerprint magnet
- No headphone jack
- Battery life is merely OK
- No photo or video stabilization
The Conclusion

This is a decently powered Android with out all the stuff that makes us roll our eyes at Android. With no logos or identifying markings and a bevels less screen it looks unique. At half the price of most other premium Androids this is a steal at $499

Andy Rubin, co-founder of Android, made waves earlier this year when he released the $500 Essential Phone. According to Rubin, the purpose of creating the Essential Phone was to address some of the problems people have with smartphones such as getting rid of “planned obsolescence”, having an open ecosystem, and premium build quality without the premium price.

Its Hipster Cool Design

The titanium body and ceramic back, coupled with this unique all-display front design really do make for an attractive phone. I’m sure some of you still hate that front camera notch at the top, but it has never really bothered me. While there is a solid black block of bezel at the bottom of the phone, the way the display carries all of the way up to the top front curved corners offers a uniqueness that no other phone really does. This is one of those phones that just looks cooler than everyone else’s. With no logo, company or identifiable markings it is the ultimate hipster design and it works.

The Screen

Of course, the display is the star of the device. Despite the Essential Phone’s small size, the display is an impressive 5.71-inches in a 19:10 form factor. It has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,312, making it very sharp. It’s a beautiful panel, though it could use a little more brightness. You can’t see individual pixels whatsoever and the colors are vibrant and accurate.The only down note is it has an LCD instead of an OLED display, meaning you’re not getting the same black levels and bright colors as you’re getting with the iPhone X or Galaxy Note8.

What the Camera Mod

There is a camera addition you can buy. it lets you capture you world in complete surround with the world’s smallest 4K 360 degree Camera that is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 . There is also no need for any dongles or chargers. Connects to Essential phone’s magnetic connector. The modular camera is neat, and magnetically clicks to the phone perfectly, but you have to keep track of it and keep it on you at all times to use it. And chances are you won’t. Also, 360-degree cameras haven’t caught on yet. The biggest thing is that the camera isn’t quite as good as other high-end smartphones. Even if the specs dual 13MP system sounds exciting, it wasn’t that impressive and there was no setting that resembled a portrait mode, either.

The Quick Specs
- 5.71-inch 2,560 x 1,312 19:10 with rounded corners
- Snapdragon 835
- 4GB Ram
- Camera: Dual 13MP rear (RGB + monochrome), f/1.85 lens rear, 8MP front
- Battery: 3,040mAh, 27W fast charging
- Operating system: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
The Final Thought

The Essential Phone legitimately feels different from any other smartphone I’ve tested in 2017. It’s heavy, in a good way, and has a beautiful edge-to-edge display that’s bigger the iPhone 8 Plus’s. The phone is fast, built with the latest Snapdragon 835 processor, and runs like a top-tier smartphone. Its Android OS is bloatware-free, which, as a lover of the original Google Pixel, I found refreshing.
February 24, 2018
Bose SoundSport Free are Spot On
The Bose SoundSport Free are the the companies first exclusively wireless earbuds. They have a lightweight body with an IPX4 rating for water resistance, a seamless fit, and up to a rather impressive five hours of battery life. The bundled battery case provides an additional 10 hours of wireless tunes. Users can also connect the SoundSport Wireless to a mobile app and tweak their sonic experience.

The Great
- Noise canceling
- Wireless
- Water resistant
- Quality Bose Sound
- Charging carrying case
- 15 total hours use with case
The Not
- electronic interference
- left bud drops connectivity
The Conclusion

These headphones have an unmatched combination of comfort and stability. They sound great, stay in place in all activities. The volume-optimized EQ and Bose digital signal processing make music sound full and balanced at any volume. They are great Wireless headphone, if that is what you need.

The Bose SoundSport Free have a compact and comfortable design. They fit nice in the ear and Im not insecure they will fall out while exercising. The sound in fantastic, its Bose, you cant go wrong with Bose and they never disappoint with sound quality. Set up is easy and they have a very nice charging/carrying case that add to an overall pleasant usability. Lets take a look at some of the little things if you want to nit pick.

Battery

I gave it a full charge out of the box before pairing. It has since been a few weeks since I first started the test. while generally the batterlife is good, I found that occasionally even though you leave both not-fully-charged-earbuds in the case that supposedly charges your Bose earbuds, it actually does not. Even after sufficient time, the earbuds do not fully charged.

Noise Cancelling

As far as I am aware there are not any true noise cancelling bluetooth earbuds. To do proper noise cancelling you need a signal processing module that in the QC20’s is in the external controller and in the QC 25’s is in the ear cans. There are bluetooth noise cancelling cans but I haven’t found any that both have good noise cancelling and excellent music quality. For example, the Bose bluetooth QC35 music quality is inferior to the wired QC25’s and the Sennheiser Momentum’s have good music quality but inferior noise cancelling.

Connectivity

This is the most significant issue Ive come across. It occasionally drops the connectivity between the left and right earbuds without apparent reason. This is massively irritating. I have had quite a few instances where, for no apparent reason, the left has gotten disconnected from the right. At that point the only way to reconnect them is to put them both into the case, which essentially means that they have to go thru the bluetooth disconnected/connected.

The Final Thought

These are easily the most comfortable, best-sounding truly wireless earbuds to date. In the wireless earbud landscape the little things are non issues and the buds will do exactly what you need and do it well.
February 21, 2018
Top 5 Augmented Reality Apps for iOS

We have all been hit with an augmented reality buzz on all our apps. From Pokémon go to every shopping app, we are being given the ability to use our camera to bring a whole new layer to our lives. Here are the top five out of the box and interesting applications for augmented reality

1. Miratia City Treasure Hunts

Miratia is smartphone treasure hunt games played live outdoors.Miratia games are played live on the streets of your current city. Become your own Indiana Jones and set up a treasure hunt with historical places through out all your sight seeing visits. This is endless fun, and adds a whole new dimension of traveling and exploring new cities. Finally Paris is interesting, and Budapest will never be the same.

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February 20, 2018
Samsung Gear 3 is Still Just a Timepiece
Samsung’s Gear 3 is a boldly designed smartwatch that’s ready for anything and tailored to you. There are two versions with sleep tracking ,multi-day battery life all day calorie tracking , and Samsung Pay it has all the functions and Android smartphone one could hope for.

The Great
- Big Bold Design
- Always-on display
- Decent Activity Tracking
- Built-in LTE
- Samsung Pay
- OLED display is bright and crisp
The Not
- Poor Gps tracking
- Lacking compatible app
- Missing intuitive functions
The Conclusion

This is an average looking watch and a lack luster smartwatch. While Samsung tried to squeeze a lot into the new Gear S3 its really just not enough.

More Gear from Samsung

For the Gear S3, Samsung has decided to offer up two designs. There’s the more rugged Frontier for outdoor types, and the Classic, which aims to be the more luxurious option of the two. Both still run on Samsung’s own Tizen operating system and that rotating bezel makes a welcome return. It can be pair with all samsung and most android smartphones, even and iPhone with reduced functionality. With the LTE model of the Gear S3, you can leave your phone behind and still have complete functionality on the watch. Note: LTE is only avilable on the Frontier model. The call quality is surprisingly decent if you turn the volume up to the highest level. It’s still weird talking to someone on your watch, but it can be handy sometimes. You can also use it to listen to music, but get some Bluetooth headphones, its not enjoyable from the watch speaker

Not for the Weak Wristed

the Gear S3 is a big smartwatch, its a heavy watch, and its beastly. Its hulking 46mm frame makes it most certainly a more mans man’s watch. It’s also noticeably heavier and thicker as well, probably to house the additional sensors and a larger battery. The Frontier rocks a more rugged look, with a knurled, rotating bezel, a chunky stainless-steel body design and IP68 certified water resistant.

The Interface

The Gear S3 runs Tizen, it’s very easily laid out to make the most functionality of the spinning bezel. The highlight that makes the Gear smartwatches unique is the innovative rotating bezel. Crank it clockwise and you’ll get all of your notifications in one place. Spin it the opposite direction to breeze through the widgets you’ve added. The default set up includes thee current weather, favorite contacts, calories burned and what’s up on your calendar. Sadly that is all there is to the Gear S3’s interface.

The Apps or Lack of Apps

According to Samsung, there’s something like 10,000 apps in the Tizen Store, but just a fraction of those are tuned for the Gear’s small display. Whats worse it that most of them are not wort using to begin with. Its as if no developers consider creating apps with Tizen in mind.

The Final Thought

All in all the Gear doesn’t excite me as much as I’d have hoped. Though it has a very intuitive interface, complete with a rotating bezel for navigation, many parts of the experience still need more engineering attention, whether that’s the dreadfully useless selection of apps or the irritatingly malfunctions of S Voice digital assistant. In the p rophetic words of american Idols Randy Jackson, This is gonna be a hard no for me dawg.
February 19, 2018
Top 5 Androids You’ve Never Heard About

We are flooding with new android smartphones. Every month one of the big 5 companies are blowing our minds off with a new latest and greatest. Even though we get these releases constantly, they always seem to fall short and Im left wondering what else is out there in the Android cosmos. Let’s take a look at the top 5 Androids you probably don’t know about.

1. Vivo X20 Plus UD

The Vivo X20 Plus UD is the world’s first phone to feature an under-the-OLED fingerprint sensor. The X20 Plus UD has a 6.43″ 1080×2160 (376 PPI) Super AMOLEDdisplay, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, 128GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, microSD slot and a dual-lens 12 MP camera.

2. Elephone U Pro

Elephone’s U Pro smartphones are high-end smartphones that use a flexible 5.99″ 2160×1440 AMOLED display reportedly produced by BOE Display. The Elephone U is powered by a MediaTek chipset, while the U Pro uses a 2.2 Ghz snapdragon 660 and features dual 13MP camera, 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage.

3. Gionee S11S

Gionee’s S11S is a high-end smartphone that features a 6.01″ 1080×2160 (18:9, 402 PPI) AMOLED display, an Octa-Core Mediatek Helio P30 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a microSD slot, Dual SIM and a Dual 16+8 MP camera.

4. Oppo R11s Plus

Oppo’s R11s smartphone has a 6.43 1080×2160 (402 PPI) AMOLED display, an Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, micro-SD slot, a dual 20 MP camera and Dual-SIM

5. Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Huawei’s Mate 10 Pro is a flagship smartphone that features a 6″ 1080×2160 AMOLED display, an Octa-Core CPU, a Hisilicon Kirin 970 AI-dedicated chip, 4/6 GB of RAM, 64/128 GB of strage, a 20M camera and Dual-SIM. The Mate 10 Pro is IP67 certified (dust and water resistant)

February 18, 2018
Top 5 Moto Mods

So now you have purchased the most comprehensive and capable android smartphone, the Moto Droid z. Its got all those cool mods, but what are the mods you really need and want. Let look at the Top 5 Moto Droid Z mods.

1. Moto Insta-share Projector

This Mod Easily snaps on, projects up to 70 crystal clear inches. Project your photos, games, and videos, its the perfect addition and makes the mods all the value in the world.

2. Incipio’s Offgrid Power Pack

at 2220 additional mAh you get all the battery power you will need. This Motorola Incipio offGRID power pack is lightweight, and its slim, lightweight design lets you continue to use your phone as you normally would.

3. JBL SoundBoost 2

Snap the JBL SoundBoost2 Moto Mod on device for powerful, high–quality stereo sound. it can pump up the volume and get the party started. Great for picnics, the boat, beach, the golf cart and every back yard.

4. Motorola-Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa Moto Mod

This lets you crank up your favorite tunes with a powerful stereo speaker. Four microphones make it easier for Alexa to hear your questions, even when music’s playing or you’re sitting across the room.

5 .Motorola-Hasselblad True Zoom Camera Mod

This is an advanced imaging experience to your Moto Z Droid, Moto Z Force Droid or Moto Z Play Droid in a snap. The Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod enables you to capture shots normally impossible with a standard smartphone camera. 10 x optical zoom. Killer flash. Plus you get the Hasselblad photo editing software for further perfection

February 18, 2018
Smartphone Spotlight: Droid Z2 force
The moto z² force edition is Motorola’s most advanced phone ever. The screen is guaranteed not to crack or shatter* and boasts a sleek, yet durable aluminum unibody. Moto Z2 Droid places a world of previously unimagined possibilities right in your smartphone.

The Great
- Droid
- TurboPower battery
- The advanced 12MP dual camera
- Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 processor.
- The Mods
The Not
- Fingerprint magnet
- Can’t charge while listening to music
- No headphone jack
The Conclusion

Its cutting-edge Android phone, works in the new Google Daydream VR headset. The Mods are awesome. Its got the power. This is the Droid you are looking for.

Overview

The Moto Droid Z2 has the power, while its not the latest 845 Snapdragon processor the 835 still has the juice you need. All the tech specs are right in line the premium Androids. Good specs, world-class design and nice camera is the criteria when purchasing an android, until now. Motorola is disrupting the status quo with its modular Moto Z and Moto Z2 Force

The advantages the Droids have over all other androids is there is no corners cut in terms of build quality, design and performance. Add in the swappable Moto Mod accessories that connect through magnets, and its premium hardware, the Motorola Moto Z Droid is a powerful handset but its only available to US customers, On Verizon… or is it.

If you think its terrible that the fanciest and coolest of all the androids can only be for Verizon customers, hold up. If you remember all Verizon phones are factory unlocked. The Moto Z can be easily used on any carrier, just pop in your sim.

The Design

At 5.2mm thick, the Moto Z2 is the thinnest flagship phone I’ve ever used, and it’s just stunning. In fact, when it comes to design, the Moto Z2 couldn’t be any more different from the flagship Moto Xs that came before it — the friendly curves and sloping back are gone, leaving us with something more angular and elegant.

21MP Camera

the Moto Z Force’s camera does a stellar job of capturing fine detail, which really isn’t surprising, it’s a 21-megapixel sensor. there’s also a new Beauty Mode that irons out the wrinkles and blemishes that might mar one’s selfies. Sounds massively important, too bad it doesn’t really work. Motorola also added a Professional Mode that allows for more granular control over your photos. Once enabled, you’ll get full control over ISO, white balance, shutter speed and exposure — change any of those settings and you’ll get a live update on your display. careful, too much and it will crash the camera app. lame.

The Mods

This is the coolest feature of the Droid Z Force. The mods make the Droid z standout among the field. In a nutshell, they are extremely convenient, and make the Moto Z a blast to use, like a Bluetooth speaker or a separate HD projector. They are quite expensive, especially the projector and i wish they were stackable. Yes that sounds ridiculous, but add a projector, JBL speaker and a extended 12000 ml amp battery, you have a portable theater system.

The Final Thought

Its got all the power, features and functions you need. It looks beautiful and you can easily change the back glass to a load of beautiful options to make it stand out. Then you add the mods. Its a great android option, pick one up from the Verizon store and use your sim to work on any carrier.
February 18, 2018
Smartphone Spotlight:Moto G5
The new moto g⁵ plus smartphone is the latest from motorola’s android boasts a head-turning metal design, the most advanced camera in its class, and an all-day battery.

The Great
- TurboPower Charging; 6 hours of power in 15 minutes of charging
- 12MP Camera & Fingerprint Sensor Unlock
- 24-Hour Battery
- Precision-crafted metal design
- moto experiences
- affordable
The Not
- lacks Ram and processing power
- previous model g4 seems like an upgrade
- Bluetooth/audio features are unreliable
The Conclusion

With no real stunning upgrades over the g4, even some downgrades this is just a cheap android to get the job done for the average to basic user. It looks good though

the Moto G5 is a completely forgettable, attractive looking phone with some functions that give it a slight advantage over some of the competition . If you are already familiar with the Moto G family, there are some highlightable changes.

The screen has been reduced from the 5.5 inch Moto G4 to 5.2 inches, the is slightly wider though and significantly slimmer. This is the design change which I thought looked and felt great. It looks like a uni body metal design, how ever it is just a small cut of aluminum on a plastic frame.

Underneath the screen is a impressive fingerprint scanner. As standard it’s not used as a Home button, but pop into the Moto app and it will let you have it replace all the home keys. This allows you to swipe left for ‘back’, right for ‘recent apps’ and a tap for Home, this is nice.

The Final Thought

I pretty much just gave up on this phone, its pretty cookie cutter android. The fingerprint reader is really the only note worthy aspect to mention. Its completely average for an average price, it the android for those who just dont really care. If you are looking at this phone its fine, I mean its alright if you finally stop caring, but dont go telling some one who does and spend the extra $50 for the 4gb of ram.
February 18, 2018
Smartphone Spotlight: HTC U11
With a stunning 3D liquid glass surface, the purest audio you can find with active noise cancellation, all wrapped in a beautiful water resistant package, HTC U11 sets a new standard of what you can expect from a Android smartphone.

The Great
- Super LCD5 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
- HTC Sense UI
- upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
- Octo core Snapdragon 835
- 24 hour fast charging battery
- Solid build quality
- water resistant
The Not
- Edge Sense is half-baked
- Poor lighting on the screen
- Poor audio
- No headphone jack
- Smudges
The Conclusion

Its has everything you need, want and desire in an android and a cleaner os interface then all the others. Its pretty and powerful and packed with gimmicks. Its more then just its gimmicks at Only $649, its a premium smartphone at a slightly reduced price.

Shake it, Squeez it

The HTC U11 reinvents HTC’s design language with a bold new glass-backed chassis in a range of shimmering colors. It’s got a hugely impressive spec list, unique design, innovation in the form of squeezable sides and a great camera, and since launch it’s got that little bit better, thanks to the addition of Amazon Alexa. It’s the first smartphone to include Edge Sense, a new shortcut function that lets you squeeze the sides of the phone to jump quickly into the camera, take a photo, or launch your favorite personal assistant. It is the key design element and unique selling point is that the phone is squeezable. The firm calls this feature ‘Edge Sense’ and it’s achieved by pressure senors on either side of the phone.

The Meat and Potatoes

Aside from gimmicky new features, the U11 is a solid flagship phone with top-tier processor — Snapdragon 835 and one of the fanciest and finest cameras on an phone. The new Ultrapixel shooter features always-on “HDR Boost” post-processing, similar to the Google Pixel’s HDR+ trickery.

Smuggen

I have noticed The stunning glass rear is highly susceptible to fingerprinting and crumbgiming The pearlescent glass on the back. Don’t get me wrong the phone is gorgeous right out of the box in every color option (in red, black, blue, white and silver), but being a smudge magnet, which canceled out and allure.

The Final Thought

It’s a powerhouse and monster, it’s spine-tingling to look at, it’s water-resistant, it’s big-screen. The HTC U11 checks all the requirements that one should have on a top of the line android. With HTC’s clean, near-stock Sense UI, and you’ve got a viable android device. You won’t be picking this one up for its gimmick or sound but in comparing to the android field you’ll be chooseing the HTC U11 for the capable interface, power and beauty.
February 16, 2018