Category: Smart Devices

Smartphone Spotlight: Samsung Galaxy S8
Samsung Galaxy S8 has the cutting-edge features you need to do the things you love faster, easier and better. An eye catching, 5.8″ inch curved display goes all the way to the edge, so you can see more. The 12MP camera and advanced processor takes sharp, clear photos faster. The Galaxy S8 comes in 64GB. Available in Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver or Midnight Black

The Great
- LTE Advanced
- MSM8998 Octa-Core, 2.35 GHz (Quad) + 1.9GHz (Quad
- Experience HD Voice
- Flash: 64GB RAM: 4GB
- 12MP rear, 8pm front camera
The Not
- Lacks dual cameras for optical zoom
- Questionable sound quality
- Odd Fingerprint reader placement
The Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a fantastic phone because of its captivating infinity display, very strong performance, long battery life and great cameras. Absolutely in love with this phone. It took longer than I’d like for the fast charge. and I miss an actual home button, but not too much

We all know Samsung’s new flagship phones forge a beautiful new path for smartphone design by stripping away unsightly bezels with their respective 5.8-inch infinity displays, and this is the first handsets to boast Qualcomm’s monstrous Snapdragon 835 for speedy performance. All the spec and power are here. The quality is top notch. This phone is beautiful and sleek handles 4k @ 60 FPS extreamly well. Throwing the expandable memory feature back in is great.

Introducing Bixby

So for the Galaxy S8, Samsung made an effort to do something different. It combined everything it did in the past few generations of its phones and added some new ideas to produce something different from everything else on the shelf of the average phone store today.What we got was Bixby. Samsung’s Bixby is a personal assistant answer to Alexa and Siri. You have a few different options to open Bixby. On the left side of any of the compatible phones, just below the volume buttons, is a dedicated Bixby button. A quick press of the button will launch Bixby, a long-press opens Bixby Home. The third method to access Bixby is through the camera app.

With a swipe to the right from the home screen, a stream of information ranging from smart reminders for tasks you commonly carry out on your phone, to news and weather are displayed. Third-party apps such as Facebook or Uber can also display cards in Bixby Home. It also as expected has voice commands. When using your voice to interact with Bixby, it will accept commands such as, “Set screen brightness to 37 percent” or, “Show photos I took in Savannah.”You can also summon Bixby using your voice, with the wake word of “Hey Bixby,” obviously. The Coolest part of Bixby is being able to identify and search for thing by looking at them using the camera app.

Thanks for nothing Bixby

Trying to use Bixby Voice to do things on your phone is not any faster or easier than just tapping the screen the usual way. It takes a second or two to launcg Bixby Voice. I’ve tried both the press and hold the Bixby button to activate listening mode and the “Hey Bixby”. Now by the time it hears what I’m saying that I could have performed the task three times by the time it has processed what I said and performed my action. If and its a big IF it gets it right. In short if i want something done right ill just have to do it my self. Thanks for nothing Bixby

The Final Thought

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a fantastic phone because of its memorizing infinity display, powerful performance, endless battery life and astonishing cameras. While Im not a fan of the fingerprint sensor’s location the rest of the phone is on point and the standard for which all other androids are measured and found wanting.
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
Smartphone SpotLight: LG V30
LG’s finest industrial design, power packed Android smartphone. The V30 is distinctive, modern, and stacked with desirable features, a phone seemingly destined for inevitable stardom.

The Great
- 16MP camera
- Snapdragon 835 processor,
- Massive OLED screen,
- Excellent battery life,
- Waterproof
- Wireless charging,
- MicroSD storage
- A headphone jack on a phone.
The Not
- Awkward to hold
- Slow camera autofocus
- Nothing Special
The Conclusion

The LG V30 is a terrific alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy S8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL with no advantages over either.

Jack of All Trades

want a sleek, durable handset that’s practically all screen. A device with gobs of performance, super long battery life, an amazing camera and a headphone jack. How about water resistance, wireless charging, microSD expandable storage and support for any cellular carrier, too? This is it

That Screen

The only thing that sets LG’s phones apart is there screen. They have the best looking and highest quality OLED screen on the smartphone line up. It gets as bright or clear as Samsung’s screen outdoors but with a crisper more attractive color segment. OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diodes,” and it’s very different from the popular LCD screen technology seen in most phones recent years. This screen is robust and beautiful and can display true, actual blacks.

The Design, Don’t let it Slip

The LG V30 has almost nothing in common with the V Series phones that have come before it. The only thing remaining from the Second Screen is a floating widget.The metal back and giant chins have been replaced with glass and slim bezels. Everything that was sharp and industrial is now more premium and svelte. It’s a gorgeous design that is absolutely stunning, Its sleek and by sleek I mean slippery. It will slip through your fingers like star systems slipping through Grand Moff Tarkens fingers.

The Final Thought

Instead of straying from the pack, the LG V30 blends in with this year’s fleet of flagships. LG finally decided to stop playing around with gimmicks and made the best phone they possibly could. Its has everything you wants but lacks the thing you didn’t know about, and that is where it fails.
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
Smartphone Spotlight: Samsung Note 8
The Samsung Note 8 is the largest and most power full smartphone in the Android field. Boasting a 6.3 screen with laptop power specks. Plus you get a cool pen

The Great
- 6.3″ Quad HD Super AMOLED
- Qualcomm Octa-Core 2.35 GHz (Quad) + 1.9 GHz (Quad)
- 3,300 mAH, Non-removable
- 12MP dual pixel OIS main camera
- 6gb RAM
- Note8 S Pen – Black
- 33 hour fast charging battery
The Not
- Previous models have exploded
- Two handed Device
- No Upgrade to Oreo yet
The Conclusion

This phone is everything a smartphone should be and so much more. The speakers are insane, the screen is beautiful, power galore, Its everything an Android can be. As long as it doesn’t randomly explode and competition is always just a month away.

On Another Note

Due to the Note 7 randomly exploding in many peoples hands, on airplanes, in pockets the best Note you could buy was the Note 5. You could try any number of the other “phalblet” androids on the market but they were just large low quality screens on a weak phone. The Note 8 rewrites the script, it is no longer the niche phone only supplied on demand it is the go to android for those that care. Lets Look at some of the highlights on this mambojambo.

Power +

Samsung popped 6gb of ram in, that is the most we have seen in a smartphone by far. The iphone x is only packing 3gb for comparison. Power users will absolutely benefit from the 6GB of RAM. The Note 8 also has loads and loads of processing power with the Snapdragon 835. This is one very fast chip however The Exynos chip is faster. In the Uk Models you can get the Samsung Exynos chip. This may be the move for all you Tim the ToolMan Taylors of the Android world.

Return of the S pen

there is a cool attachable stylus, with the Note 8’s larger 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display’ you need it. The Note 8 acts like a big bevel-less glass poster-board for all you handwritten notes and masterpiece sketches. The S pen makes it very easy to craft documents, sign PDF’s and draw on your screenshots. Add in superb Note-taking and it expands with convenient off-screen memos. Mastering and using the S Pen will ensure Note 8 users get their moneys worth.

Display and Camera

Both the display and camera is of the finest quality avilable in todays market. This is the first android to support a dual camera. With Two 12MP cameras with optical image stabilization it captures crisp, beautiful photos, with a terrific new bokeh (background blur) effect. Having two rear cameras makes a world of difference for bokeh-rich ‘Live Focus’ photos. The Note 8 has a fully comprehensive, robust and capable camera and photo interface, you are going to love it. Comprise that with its 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display’ the Note 8 intimately modifies its look and feel. Despite the added .8 inches to the screen its only .9 mm taller then the previous models. More big in a smaller package.

The Final Thought

It has the power. It has the camera, Its got a cool pen. Its battery is safe and everlasting. Its got the perfect screen. Its everything I would put in to the smartphone I imagined. Its still and android even though It makes quite an appearance. Let’s just hope it sticks around this time.
February 16, 2018
Apple’s New Speaker Making an Unwelcome Mark

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple’s new internet-connected speaker is proving to be more appealing to the ears than to the eyes, depending on where the device is placed.

Some people who bought the just-released $349 speaker, dubbed the HomePod, are reporting that it leaves a white ring on the surfaces of wooden furniture.

In an explanation posted Wednesday, Apple said the problem occurs with speakers that, like the HomePod, are equipped with a silicon base to minimize vibration. The company said the marks will often “go away” after a few days if you move the speaker somewhere else.

If they don’t, it recommends wiping wood tarnished by the HomePod with a soft or damp cloth, or cleaning the surface “with the furniture manufacturer’s recommended cleaning process.”

The marks left by the HomePod threaten to stain Apple’s reputation for designing iPhones, iPads and Mac computers that are frequently prized as much for how they look as for how they work. Though it’s still too early to tell whether the HomePod’s blemishes on wood will dampen the device’s sales. If so, that could hamper Apple’s efforts to catch up to less expensive internet-connected speakers from Amazon and Google that had a head start in the still nascent market.

Both Amazon and Google designed their speakers primarily to serve as digital hubs that manage peoples’ homes and lives via voice-activated assistants. Apple, by contrast, is marketing the HomePod as a high-fidelity speaker programmed to learn listeners’ tastes and automatically select songs from the company’s music-streaming library.

In the process, Apple hopes to build upon its 36 million Apple Music subscribers and to establish a toehold in people’s homes that will give it more opportunities to peddle its services. The HomePod also features Apple’s assistant Siri, which is still catching up to Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s eponymous Assistant in responsiveness and versatility.

February 15, 2018
Caavo’s Universal Consolidation Remote Control
Caavo’s powerful control system for virtually every streaming, cable, and satellite box makes for the most in depth smart remote available. Caavo is the first smart home entertainment system to unify all your devices, apps and content into a single experience.

The Great
- unique universal remote control
- supports voice commands
- Consolidates all devices
- Revolutionary onscreen overlay
The Not
- No support for HDR
- remote is not back-lit
- poor customization
- Advanced functions are an issue for some devices
The Conclusion

The Caavo does a great job simplifying the complexity of home theater, I think this is more of the first step then the solution for the masses, this pricey system is doomed for wide adaptation with out HDR support.

One box to rule them all

Caavo, the exciting machine vision-powered universal TV control system is being released February 14th. It’s a powerful control system for virtually every streaming, cable, and satellite box out there. It’s not just a simple remote, though: you plug everything into the large Caavo unit, and it uses machine vision, nay Caavo Vision, to intelligently navigate the interface for all of those boxes behind the scenes.

Unlike all the other remotes that have ever existed that use infrared macros without being able to verify that anything actually happened. The Caavo watches the interfaces displayed on-screen, allowing it to do things like create a single search index and watchlist across multiple services and many devices and intelligently navigate on your behalf. Caavo CTO says“We’re solving the universal remote problem, but we want to go beyond that to search,”

The Setup

Don’t get me wrong the setup will continuously through a multitude of issues and frustration at you. Think you remember all those passwords, think again. Just remember Caavo is still a very new, beta product that looks more elegant than it works. I also learned the hard way that with only one HDMI extender, you are not going to get a Roku, Chromecast and Firestick all in.. Why would one need all three? Please, just stop and shut up.

So Many Wires

You just simply Plug everything . All of your cable or satellite, streaming boxes or sticks, gaming consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players into the eight HDMI inputs and connect one HDMI to your TV. From there, Caavo does the rest. It automatically knows which device to use, searches all your apps, finds what you want, and plays it. It will essentially allow you to use Alexa to control your apple TV… mind blown. You just choose what you want to watch, and you leave it to Caavo to figure out where it may be hiding.

The Final Thought

Being the tech guy that I am, my entertainment system now consists of 10 or so devices with 6 or 7 services and a multiple array of speakers, not to mention the extravagant array of remotes and game controllers. Trying to find that one movie where Jonathan Silver says ” come in Tokyo” while twisting fake radio dials has become a real chore. I just want to watch whatever I want as it pops in my head, optimize the sound and enjoy it right now, too much to ask? not any more. As for the astronomical price, looking at my entertainment wall… I’ve already come this far whats another $400.
February 14, 2018