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In the movie Demolition Man, Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes) reprograms the lights (which are controlled by voice) to turn on with the hotword "illuminate" and turn off with "deluminate." When I saw that movie as a kid, I wanted this in my future. Not necessarily exactly like that, but that sort of automation in general. Now, we're finally edging slowly towards that kind of life.
If you're dedicated to The Now Network and plan on renewing the two-year grip it has on your wallet with the Galaxy Note 3, you're in for a bit of a shocker: the on-contract price is $350. New customers can use the $100 port-in credit to get it for just $250. Ouch.
Fuhu is a company that kind of appeared out of nowhere and blew me away with the nabi 2. Its two subsequent tablets – the nabi Jr. and nabi XD – cover age groups on either side of the nabi 2, so the whole family can get in on the fun. While I've already reviewed the 2 and Jr., I've been waiting to cover the XD for one reason: the Play Store.The first two nabi devices are missing the Play Store, which is one area where both take a hit. Of course, since they're really for school-age children, they get a pass (from me, at least), but it's something I had a much harder time forgiving on the 10-inch XD, which is designed for tweens. I feel like there's a lot more of a need for Play on a device for older kids, as they can just get more use out of it.Fast-forward to now, and the 32GB nabi XD is available for purchase – complete with Google Play. This is the first Fuhu device to feature access to Google Services, which is a pretty big deal.Before we get into the bulk of the review, however, I want to discuss the differences between the two versions of the nabi XD. As pointed out in the specs, there are 16GB and 32GB versions, and they vary slightly from each other. It isn't uncommon for Fuhu to change things up on the same device, just as it did with the 4GB and 16GB nabi Jrs.Thus, here's the short list of differences between the two, itemized for quick and easy parsing:
Back many moons ago, HTC and Microsoft we're buddy-buddy. HTC was producing Windows Mobile devices, Microsoft was happy to be one of the leaders in the smartphone business, and everything chugged along nicely. Then the iPhone and Android showed up, changed the smartphone game completely, and Microsoft was essentially left in the dust. The company has since been trying to get back in the ring with Windows Phone, but high licensing costs and lack of third-party support make this an unappealing option to many hardware vendors – why pay for the OS (Windows Phone), when you can get one for free (Android)? HTC has produced a few devices in the Windows Phone era, but the primary focus has still been on the company's Android handsets.
If you like your phone to be more like a tablet, then it's hard to overlook Sony's massive 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra. Admittedly, it takes a certain type of person to show interest in a phone this big, but one thing's for sure: those who love big phones really love big phones. If the Z Ultra is the big phone for you, Sony just announced an awesome accessory for it. Say hello to the Power Cover CP 12. Catchy.
We all know Android 4.4 is coming. There's a chance we could see it this month, perhaps with a new Nexus phone, but there's really nothing concrete to back that right now – it's just the rumor mill whirring as it so often does. Of course, as new versions of Android get closer to being finalized and released, the leaks become more common, and oftentimes larger in terms of the information provided. Take today's look at KitKat/KLP, for example.
If you picked up Fuhu's nabi XD tablet for tweens, then it's time to grab it and hit the update button. An OTA recently began rolling out that brings some intriguing new features to the device, including an all-new launcher.
Have you heard the news? Caesar is dead. And he's not coming back. Who's going to take over his empire? That's to be decided, and you can throw your name in the hat in Gameloft's new game Total Conquest. By "throw your name in the hat," I actually mean join together with like-minded vigilantes and slay all the naysayers. It's time to build an army and claim what's rightfully yours.
Back in early July, I reviewed what has since been my favorite portable Bluetooth speaker: the Ultimate Ears BOOM. It really lives up to its name, delivering top-notch sound quality that's nearly impossible to find in most speakers twice its size. Of course, that kind of quality comes at a price – a $200 price, to be exact. And if you wish to utilize the Double Up feature that lets you use two BOOMs at the same time, that price doubles. It's hard enough for many users to even justify one BOOM.Today, Ultimate Ears announced the MINI BOOM, the BOOM's little brother. At basically half the size of the original, the MINI BOOM is instantly portable, and comes in at half the cost ($99). But don't let its pint-sized exterior fool you – this little guy packs a wallop, and easily lives up to the BOOM name.
Last year's Note 10.1 was a first for Samsung. It was the first 10-inch tablet to carry the Note name, and the first consumer tablet that made good use of a stylus. It brought about many innovative, though not perfectly executed, features that changed the way Android worked. Multiple apps on the same screen, handwriting input and palm rejection, and the like were all relative newcomers to the tablet scene. And for the most part, they were all well received by those who bought the tablet.
If you've ever watched Ellen DeGeneres' show Ellen, then you may already be familiar with Heads Up!, a quirky and seemingly fun guessing game of sorts. If you haven't heard of it, this video tell you everything you need to know:
Samsung took the wraps off of three new Galaxy devices at IFA earlier this month – the Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear, and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. While most carriers have announced Note 3 and Gear availability, we've been waiting on the official word from Samsung as to when the Note 10.1 2014 would hit store shelves. This morning, it announced just that.
If you read this site, you probably love Android. And if you love Android, you might like to let the world know. There's really no shortage of ways to do that – you could just tell people, wear an Android t-shirt, flash your phone randomly so everyone knows you don't carry an iPhone, you know the normal stuff. Or, you could decorate your house (or maybe just your office) with the little Android characters from the mind of Andrew Bell. Fun fact: it's almost impossible for me to type "Andrew" without first typing Android. One of the downsides of the job, I guess.
It's update Wednesday, and Google is making good use of this one. Earlier today the company showed off the new version of Gmail with a card-based UI in the conversation list, and now it's Hangouts' turn to get a nice little feature bump.
Cards, cards everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Or something like that.
When it comes to testing your network speed, Ookla's Speedtest app is the unmatched champion. But it hasn't seen a substantial update in a very long time, and it doesn't even scale properly on some devices (*cough* Nexus 4 *cough*). Looks like the company has been working on a new version of the app for a while now, which it just teased on Twitter.
Back in late August, Samsung announced a new version of the Galaxy Tab 3 specifically for kids. Dubbed Galaxy Tab 3 Kids (bet you didn't see that name coming), it's a festive-looking little gizmo with a kid-friendly form factor and easy-to-understand UI. And now you can download the kernel source code.
CM stable users, it's time to update your ROM – the final build of 10.1.3 is rolling out to get.cm right now. We saw the last version bump to the stable channel back in July with 10.1.2, and this update brings about "numerous bug fixes, new devices, and privacy guard" according to Cyanogen Inc. community manager Abhisek "ciwrl" Devkota.
BLU Life Play Review: An Impressive Budget-Friendly Device With Cost-Cuttings Measures Made In All The Right Places
The display is beautiful. Colors are rich and vibrant, viewing angles are excellent, and it gets plenty bright for viewing outdoors.
One of the things that makes the Nexus series of phones so enticing is the extremely affordable pricing options. When the Nexus 4 first hit the scene, it was only $300 for an 8GB model and $350 for the 16GB, then Google slashed the prices by $100, making them even more affordable. In a world where most high-end mobile phones can't be purchased for less than $550-600 off-contract, Nexus pricing is a breath of fresh air. That's exactly what BLU hopes to accomplish with all of its phones: good handsets that won't break the bank (while forgoing the contract route).