Let's Talk Tech
Taking flagship smartphones out into rugged conditions can be a dicey proposition. The Lumia Icon is built solidly for day to day bumps and bruises, but it’s not really designed to be thrown around in rough situations. Thankfully OtterBox has a solution to improve that…
Shop the Lumia Icon Defender Case on Amazon.
More info on OtterBox products: http://www.otterbox.com/
iPhone 6 Defender Case Review
How the *#&^% Do You Remove an OtterBox Case?!?!?
I’ve been a long time fan of OtterBox cases, and since the weather has been so nice lately, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to get out of my office to review the new Defender case for the iPhone 6!
Shop the Defender case on Amazon.
More info on OtterBox Products.
How the hell do you remove a defender case???
Kyocera went BEAST MODE in building the Brigadier, and they’re only the second company to use Sapphire Crystal for their display. After using the Brigadier for a couple months, let’s chat about the experience of using this rugged little brick…
I was a really big fan of Kodak’s Pixpro SP1 Action Camera, and JK Imaging is adding to the line up with a new action camera capable of shooting panoramic video! Let’s take a look at a little adventure cam which captures a full 360 degree view of your exploits!
UPDATED! Youtube 360 Degree VR Playback!
See more samples from the Kodak Pixpro SP360!
More info on the Kodak Pixpro SP360.
[Tony is a retired firefighter, and was kind enough to share his early impressions of his first Android phone, a Kyocera Brigadier on Verizon Wireless.]
How Do You Like the Build Quality?
It’s big and clunky. It reminds me of old school BlackBerry phones. I had a BB 8700 that could take a hit. My more recent Torch, not as much. The Brigadier feels more noticeably more durable. For someone like me who occasionally tests the ballistic quality of hardware, this is the perfect device for me.
From a regular perspective. The sound is good, the picture is good. I’ve watched video on the (720p) screen. I don’t play games, so I don’t know if it’ll be good for that.
Call quality is good. I had no idea what the term “tissue conduction” meant, but the ear piece is really loud and it’s easy to hear callers.
[The Brigadier screen is actually a large bone conduction surface allowing users to hear calls in loud environments and with ear plugs.]
I’m still unsure about battery life. It’s a little too early to tell if it’ll compare to my BB. My only complaint there is that it does have a built-in internal battery. I liked being able to replace the battery on my Torch. I would carry extras when I knew I was going to be away from a power source. I did buy a portable external battery for the Kyocera, so we’ll see if that is equally practical.
And the Sapphire Screen?
There is a video of a person trying to scratch the screen with a penknife to no avail. I don’t intend to do that on purpose.
In switching to the Brigadier, you also swapped carriers, how has that transition been?
I switched from ATT to Verizon. Verizon has great coverage but I lack 4G LTE coverage inside our condo. It literally works 10’ outside my door. Go figure. What I like about Verizon other than its coverage is that I can turn off that annoying message that tells people to wait for the tone. Like anyone whose been alive during the last 40 years wouldn’t know that. I hate wasting my time and others and all that message did was chew up air time.
Are there Android replacements for your favorite BB features?
One thing I miss from my BB is the autotext feature. I liked the ability to type in an acronym and have it expand to the whole word. I didn’t know that on Android those features aren’t in the “OS” but in the keyboard app. I didn’t realize I had more than one keyboard until yesterday. I just started playing with Google Keyboard which can do something similar for shortcut text, but it’s not the same as the BB.
My wife also replaced her BB with a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. It feels like it would snap in a strong wind, but it’s a bit more portable by comparison. We are now officially a BB free household. Too bad, they’ve had some good products over the years but seem to have missed the boat on the smartphone market.
After test driving a Nokia, I knew I was going to get an Android. I use a lot of Google services for contacts, mail, and calendar. I already use Google Drive. I bought extra capacity. It works great, and it’s saved us a lot of grief for syncing info.
Thank you Tony for taking the time to share your experiences!
We want protection. We want style.
Ballistic is taking a crack at satisfying both of those desires with their new Tungsten Slim case for the iPhone 5 and 5S. Let’s take a look!
More info on Ballistic Cases.
Shop the Tungsten Slim at Best Buy.
Back in November of last year I reviewed the Ravpower Lipstick charger and I am here to give you my longterm update on this awesome yet inexpensive portable charger!
I use this everyday for all of my gadgets and the Ravpower is always in my backpack or messenger bag ready to charge my device. On one occasion, while riding my bike super-fast like Evil Knievel, I pulled the Ravpower out of my pocket to use the flashlight, as the headlight on my bike had run out of juice, and I dropped the Ravpower! NOOOOOO! It went skidding across the street kind of like that flat stone you skipped across the lake in the summer. It missed certain destruction from a car by about a foot or so. I thought to myself “Self, I have a feeling it’s done…” Continue reading “Longterm Review: RAVPOWER Lipstick Charger and Flashlight”
Here it is folks!
This is the Samsung I’ve been most excited to play with! Let’s take a first look at the Galaxy S5 Active and take it out into the field to see how it holds up!
Continue reading “First Impressions! The Samsung Galaxy S5 Active on AT&T – Rugged and Waterproof!”