Author: Juan Carlos Bagnell

Juan has been obsessed with consumer electronics since before computers had GUI’s. Out of college he worked on a JIT computing contract which supported DOE facilities in New Mexico. He’s been featured on numerous podcasts and radio shows lending his tech insights. You can also find him in LA directing voice over actors and producing spoken word recording.
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Youtube Rolling Out 60 FPS Playback on Android & iOS Apps

Smoother streaming video is coming to phones and tablets near you!

We’ve had 60 frame per second video on the desktop version of Youtube for some time now, and this improvement is finally making its way to mobile devices through the Youtube app. High frame rate video looks almost unnaturally smooth and fluid, and we’ve been producing most of our reviews on this channel in 60FPS for the last year. It’s a great way to show off gadgets.

We can expect that this move is also coming in advance of Youtube Gaming, where having a 60fps stream is very beneficial for showing off in game footage.

Now while watching on a mobile device, hit your menu, go to your quality settings, and you should see options for 720p60 and 1080p60. Hit one of those and feed your eyeballs some prettier video. If you’re not sure which video to check out first, might we recommend our new review of the Galaxy S6 Active?

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Youtube Teases Ten New Tools for Creators Coming Soon

youtube creator featuresYoutube is detailing some new features and optimizations coming to their video streaming service, focused on improving the experience for creators. Google has been aggressively experimenting with the platform adding 360 degree video, improving comment ranking, and recently announcing a game streaming app to compete with Twitch.

Even for folks who only watch Youtube videos, detailing these changes and improvements now will give people a glimpse on how they’ll be able to keep up with their favorite producers.

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Sprint Removes Video Streaming Limit on ALL IN Unlimited Plans

sprintlogo491_hero_lowThe times they are a changing.

We’ve gone years with “Unlimited” plans which have restrictions on data usage or speed throttling based. In light of recent concerns facing AT&T and T-Mobile unlimited plans, Sprint reacted quickly to customer complaints regarding their new All In plan, which offers unlimited talk, text, and web for $80 a month.

The issue? A video streaming throttle of 600Kbps. With more consumers streaming high quality video, watching Youtube and Netflix, or broadcasting with apps like Periscope, it makes sense why the nation’s fourth place carrier would want to put some limit on the bandwidth people might use. However, we’re all a bit more sensitive about what the word “unlimited” means. We’ll have to see how Sprint might manage potential network congestion issues moving forward…

You can read Sprint’s brief press release below.

Continue reading “Sprint Removes Video Streaming Limit on ALL IN Unlimited Plans”

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Galaxy S6 Active Review: The Full Scoop on Samsung’s Newest Rugged Phone

In the past, rugged phones have come with compromises. Features like the camera and speaker are often sacrificed to reach a certain price point. Now into their third iteration of rugged Galaxy, does Samsung fall into the same trap with the Galaxy S6 Active? Let’s take a look!

Galaxy S6 Active and Accessories on Amazon.
Galaxy S6 Active Speaker Test.
Galaxy S6 Camera Review.
Galaxy S6 FFC VLOG Test.

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How to Add Storage and Move Files on Your Samsung Galaxy S6

Samsung abandoned memory cards on the Galaxy S6, so while it has a fantastic camera, you can fill up that storage pretty quick with UHD video. Thankfully with USB host capabilities we have a couple options available to handle file management. Here are the two solutions I’m currently using on my GS6!

Leef MicroSD Card Reader Review.
Shop the Leef on Amazon.
Shop for USB OTG Host cables on Amazon.

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Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Mega Camera Review – Real World Samples

Alcatel has packed some great specs into the Idol 3 for budget smartphone shoppers. Did they sacrifice camera quality to reach this price point? Let’s take a look!

Shop the Idol 3 on Amazon.
Gallery of still photos from the Idol 3.

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Geek Chic: Dressing Up a Smartwatch – Horween Leather Bands from Popov Leather

Just because we use geek gear like smartwatches, doesn’t mean we can’t dress them up a bit. I’m a big fan of products that help our gadgets blend into our individual style and fashion. The folks at Popov Leather in Canada helped us out with some hand stitched Horween leather watch bands to dress up our wearable gizmos. Let’s take a look!

More info on Popov Leather products.

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Please Don’t Do This – Conspiracy Nut Tears Out NFC Antenna on Samsung Phone

nfc radio antenna samsung batteryWe’re all a little on edge about what our phones can do, how they store our information, and how other people might be able to access things like our location. It’s easy to get a little freaked out by technology you don’t understand.

Case in point, Nick Browne posted this video on Facebook, as he was concerned about something strange attached to the battery of his Samsung phone. (Language in video might be a bit NSFW)


Remember, every time you shoot video in portrait, God kills an orphan girl’s kitten…

That is a strange looking antenna to be found on a battery, but what Nick has torn off here is his NFC antenna. That’s the radio you can use for things like “tap and share” or “tap and pay”. It’s kind of odd that Samsung builds it into the battery, but it likely discourages folks from buying third party batteries that don’t include the antenna as it’ll disable the NFC function on their phones.

And let’s be honest here, while Nick seems to have some issues with race relations, if someone really wants to hack your phone, and steal your photos, they certainly don’t need to install an antenna on your battery to do it.

It does look a little strange, but we can learn from Nick here not to freak out and start tearing pieces off of our gadgets if they’re things we don’t understand. Thankfully for Nick, to restore NFC on his Samsung, all he needs to do is buy a new battery, and NOT tear off the label again…

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