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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Motorola Intros Phonebloks-Style Modular Phone – Project Ara – UPDATED with new Phonebloks Video!

ara2blogpostI WANT THIS!

I posted a little while back about Phonebloks, a Lego-like phone concept allowing smartphone users to customize exactly the kind of phone hardware they want. I thought it was exciting as it would allow people to upgrade over time, while hopefully preventing a significant amount of e-waste. When one piece of your phone becomes obsolete or breaks, just swap it out for an upgrade. You don’t have to throw the whole phone out.

I got A LOT of cynicism on social media from a BUNCH of people who said it could never work, further reinforcing the notion that people online don’t really want actual NEW things.

Well wouldn’t you know it, today Motorola announces that they’ve been working on this very idea for over a year now! It doesn’t get much more legitimate as a concept device than that. Dubbed Project Ara, Moto is trying to push an open hardware standard which would compliment software like Android. In an age where increasingly our magic glowing rectangles are often glued shut, this would be a refreshing change of pace, especially for someone like me who still prefers building his own workstations.

Best of all Moto knows that they aren’t first in pushing this concept out to the masses, and they’ve reach out to Phonebloks to do some community building and partnerships, while moving forward during the development process. Really classy move.

ara1blogpost

Get the full scoop at Moto’s blog!

***UPDATE***

Now there’s a video showing Phonebloks and Moto working together!

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Video: ‘Light Goes On’ – Over 700 individual Light-Painted Frames set to Music

light goes on youtubeArtist/Photographer Darren Pearson spent over a year painting with light to produce this video which includes over 700 individually light-painted frames, and I’m just sitting here blogging…

What’s insanely impressive is the detail painted into each shot. Darren takes us on a tour of the city, but he doesn’t just paint a person walking through, nope. He paints a skeleton riding a skate board and breakdancing. Each shot is accomplished by setting a camera up for a long exposure, then drawing with a flashlight in the air with little to no reference for where you are in each photo. You just have to keep that straight in your brain.

Not enough people have seen this video. It’s incredible work.

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The iPhone 5S in Action! Testing the Speakers and Camera of Apple’s Newest Phone!

apple iphone 5s gold camera lens sensor dual LED flash review somegadgetguyI’m almost wrapped up with my full long term review of the 5S, but I thought I’d tease some of the videos we’ll be using to showcase the performance of Apple’s newest handset.

Starting off with the most comprehensive camera test you’ll find on this phone online, shooting in a variety of scenarios including bright outdoor scenes, low light, indoor, night time, tracking movement, and we played with slow motion video. If you’ve been curious to see how this new image sensor stacks up against Nokias and Androids, we have a ton of samples to show off!

apple iphone 5s gold speakers headphone jack audio quality review somegadgetguyAlso, no discussion of a multimedia phone would be complete without some speaker tests. The iPhone is a svelte slab of phone. I was really curious to see if Apple could cram in a speaker which would be able to compete against recent outings from Nokia and HTC. I was very surprised by the results of our speaker test, and you can hear the iPhone playback movie clips and music in our video below.

Be on the lookout for our full long-term review in the coming days!

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Real Person Review: Tony Talks About His Nokia Lumia 925

nokia lumia 925 review (1) fatboy wireless charging sled somegadgetguyTony is a pal of mine in Florida, and he owns a Lumia 925 on T-Mobile. Having previously owned an iPhone, I asked him a couple questions about making the switch to Windows Phone.

What phone/phones did you use before the Lumia 925? Which have you liked? Which have you disliked?

The only other smartphone I’ve had was the iPhone 4. I did have a Motorola Krzr long ago, but there isn’t enough room on the internet for me to fit all my praise for that phone. Despite having switched to an entirely different OS now, I didn’t have major complaints with the iPhone and it really was quite a good device. One thing I did find frustrating was the restrictiveness of iTunes and the difficulty in using my iPhone as a mobile music library shared between my computers at home and work.
Thoughts on build quality, design, and ergonomics?

nokia lumia 925 review (4) rear back plate sled somegadgetguyThe Lumia 925 is just a beautiful phone. The colorful plastic cases of other Lumia models are fun, but I really like the sleek aluminum frame on the 925. The curved edges make it very easy and comfortable to hold in a single hand. My one complaint may be nitpicky, but I noticed the non-removable plastic back of the phone isn’t firmly attached near the top and has small but noticeable give when pressed. I don’t think I would mind as much if the entire phone were plastic, but this minor defect undermines the feeling of solidness given by the glass front and aluminum frame and slightly cheapens the experience in my mind. Continue reading “Real Person Review: Tony Talks About His Nokia Lumia 925”

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NVIDIA Announces GTX780 Ti Graphics Card – Updates SHIELD Handheld Console

NVIDIA GTX780TiSome pretty fun news out of Big Green today.

NVIDIA is taking the wraps off the GTX780 Ti graphics card, which will be available starting November 7th retailing for $699. This is exciting, as early leaked benchmarks are showcasing performance which should rival their GTX TITAN, a card which retails for $1000+. Releasing the Ti variant of the 780 means we’ll see price drops on the OG 780 and the 770, now starting at $499 and $329 respectively.

NVIDIA is also running a game promo starting today. If you purchase a GTX 780 Ti/780/770 between now and November 26th you’ll also get free copies of Batman: Arkham Origins, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus you’ll get $100 off a SHIELD purchase if you’ve been eyeing their mobile Android gaming console (normally retailing for $300). People looking to grab a GTX 760 or 660 will get Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus $50 off a SHIELD purchase.

Speaking of SHIELD, a huge update is rolling out for NVIDIA’s mighty little handheld. Alongside updating the OS to Android 4.3, SHIELD will also receive a new Console Mode. Plugging the unit into a TV, you can pair up a bluetooth controller and kick back on the couch to play your games. Not a bad feature considering you can use SHIELD as an access point to stream games from your PC to your TV.

NVIDIA released this new video showing SHIELD in action.

More info on NVIDIA’s GTX 780 Ti and the new gaming bundles.

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Microsoft Posts Video Showing XBox One Dash and Multi-Tasking

xbox one home start screen dashboard live tiles kinectGetting really hyped up for the next console generation!

Microsoft is teasing us with this short video showing off the Xbox One’s Kinect integration and giving us a sneak peek of what the UI will look like. Kinda nice seeing some Live Tiles on a TV screen, and it’s certainly clear that Microsoft wants to be the front end interface for your entire living room, as we also get to see IE and Skype in action. Thankfully they remembered to include a little game play footage as well. Because, you know, it IS a game console and all…

Check it out below.

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Hands on with Nokia’s Lumia 2520 Tablet, 1520 & 1320 Phablets

WP_20131024_19_19_31_ProNokia is looking really hot right now. I think we’re hitting a Windows Phone tipping point where Live Tiles are starting to be taken seriously as a third place alternative to iOS and Android. This has been built pretty much solely on Nokia’s back as they’ve been making the most compelling hardware for the ecosystem.

Taking that up a notch, we’ve got some footage to share of the up coming Lumia 2520 tablet, and two large screened phones, the Lumia 1520 and 1320. Enjoy!

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October #LootCrate: ZOMBIES! – I’m giving away a copy of ‘The Zombie Survival Guide’!

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (2)I’m a little late to this party, but damn I’m glad I finally arrived.

If you’re not hip to the Loot Crate, it’s a monthly subscription geek box of loot. Each month they pack a whole bunch of cool stuff into a box and ship it to your door. Each month has a theme, but the box contents are always a surprise. Could be cool comics, movies, games, shirts, pretty much anything is fair game.

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (3)For October and Halloween, it’s not surprising that Zombie gear is shambling out of this month’s crate. Featuring a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide and a funny parody “EWOKING DEAD” t-shirt, there are also some fun buttons, a zombie hunter license, a zombie greeting card, and Loot Crate’s monthly magazine which includes an interview with Max Brooks.

You can buy individual Crates for $13.37 + $6 S&H, or subscribe for monthly drops. A three month pass drops the price a dollar per box, and a six month pass drops each box to $11.67 + S&H. Even individually, under $20 a month for fun gear is well worth the price of admission. Getting this first box got me hooked on the idea.

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (1)But you know folks, being the zombie aficionado that I am. I already have TWO copies of ‘The Zombie Survival Guide’, so out of this crate, I’m giving away this new copy. Leave a comment on this post before midnight tonight, and I’ll pick someone at random tomorrow. This is an invaluable guide for helping you survive then next great zombie outbreak, so get commenting.

For more info on LootCrate hit up: https://www.lootcrate.com/
Plus you can see this month’s mini-movie from LootCrate announcing the zombie theme. SURVIVE!

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