Category: Articles

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Lenovo Announces New Multi-Mode Thinkpad Mobile Workstations: P40 Yoga and P50

The Thinkpad name has a reputation for business grade computing solutions. Tough build quality and solid tech guts. Lenovo took the wraps off of their newest mobile solutions at the Autodesk University Conference in Vegas, announcing a new Yoga and the Thinkpad P50.

Thinkpad P40 Yoga

Lenovo ThinkPad P40 Yoga_8 Onscreen

There are a couple different lines of Yoga between tablets and consumer laptops, but the Thinkpad variant looks like it’ll be a flexible beast with Milspec build ruggedness for travelers and a locking keyboard for when the Yoga is in tablet mode. Continue reading “Lenovo Announces New Multi-Mode Thinkpad Mobile Workstations: P40 Yoga and P50”

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$100 Off Android Wear Huawei Watch for Black Friday

It’s a sexy little smartwatch watch, and you’ll be able to score one for a much lower price on Black Friday!

There’s going to be a 24 hour sale on the Huawei Watch where the most expensive variant, the black steel body with black steel bracelet, will be $100 off on most major retailers like Amazon, BestBuy, Target, Google Play, and Huawei’s site.

That’s more than 20% off. Not bad at all for a premium wearable made out of steel and sapphire which already costs less than a watch band from Apple (Apple Watch Not Included).

We recently reviewed the Huawei Watch, and you can check out this Android Wearable below!

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AT&T Holiday Shopping Specials: Speakers, Headphones, Smartwatches, and Cases

Carrier stores are becoming primary stops for picking up new tech accessories. It makes sense that when you buy your phone, you’d want to be able to outfit it properly before you walk out the door.

somegadgetguy juan carlos bagnell iphone 5s launch day att store west hollywood californiaLeading up to Black Friday, phones and tablets will be hot items for a lot of folks, and to help take some pressure off wallets and purses, AT&T is launching a series of specials and sales for some great accessories.

Headphones, cases, Bluetooth speakers, FitBit smartwatches and fitness trackers, even a sale on an emergency car jump start battery. The full list is below!

Continue reading “AT&T Holiday Shopping Specials: Speakers, Headphones, Smartwatches, and Cases”

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Google Reveals New Android Wear Wrist Control Actions

In my recent #SGGQA Podcast I bemoaned the amount of gestures on Wear watches which required me to swipe the screen. There’s a near permanent cross of fingerprint grease in the middle of any Wear watch face.

Google must have been listening to my show, as they’ve sneakily revealed new gesture and wrist action controls for the next Android Wear update.

The last update introduced a twisting action to help you scan through cards and notifications. This now extends to dropping the quick settings located at the top of the watch. The App menu can be accessed by “dropping” your wrist quickly while holding your arm in front of you.

The arm drop can also be used to slide through notification cards. A pivot up action can slide yo back out of a card, and a quick wrist shake takes you back to your home watch face, kinda like clearing out an etch-a-sketch.

These might sound like small improvements, but anything which prevents me from having to use both hands to control a device designed to simplify my interaction with notifications will be a welcome change.

(via Android Wear support page)

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Successful Kickstarter Project Lume Cube Now Available to Improve Your Photo & Video Lighting

lumecube wet 2Mobile photogs and cinematographers know the pain of setting up shots and trying to pull off great images when they lighting doesn’t cooperate. The flashes on our phones are often insufficient for “nice” lighting, and the fact that they’re so close to the camera sensor can create issues with reflections.

The folks at Lume Cube are looking to change up how we illuminate our images. Lume Cube is a small cube with a bright light built in, and it has a rechargeable battery for on the go use. It’s controlled remotely from your phone, and the Lume app can control multiple cubes for additional lighting. Instead of a traditional burst flash sync, it’s a steady LED light for both photos and videos.

lumecube goproThe company had a successful run on Kickstarter, and now the Cube is available for purchase through LumeCube.com or through WalMart and B&H. Alongside the Cube, they’ve also released mounting kits for connecting the cube to a DSLR hotshoe or adding a GoPro style mount to multiple Cube lights. Nice to see it’s already well accessorized.

I’ve been in situations trying to shoot on my phone where I’ve needed additional light, and have resorted to using another phone’s flash as an angled spot light. Lume Cube looks like it could be a potential solution to that issue, and is another accessory which should help legitimize mobile phone photo and video as we produce more professional content from consumer devices.

You can catch more info at https://www.lumecube.com/

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How Facebook Profits Off of Stolen Content

As a Youtube content producer, I depend on ads and affiliate links to continue producing content. A single camera review will often take three or four days to produce for example. I stick with Youtube because they share revenue from ad sales and have a decent system in place to stop people who steal me videos and re-distribute them.

Facebook is claiming incredible video view growth, but these numbers are rigged pretty bad. They count a view after three seconds, even when the video is muted, and viewer engagement past 20 seconds is pitiful. They do not offer a revenue share, and have very poor tools for protecting copyright.

Basically uploading a video to Facebook only improves Facebook and a creator’s standing on Facebook for more likes. I can’t pay rent or buy food with “internet points”.

A new trend in stealing popular Youtube videos is rearing its head, emboldened by the fact that Facebook is fantastically passive in replying to copyright issues.

Following the digital extortion Facebook engages in with page posts, blocking your content from a majority of the people who like your page until you pay Facebook, these types of shenanigans are vile.

Youtube producer In A NutShell has published a fantastic infographic animated video detailing Facebook’s failure to defend content producers. If you care about smaller producers continuing to distribute high quality content, this video makes for an interesting educational watch.

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Cricket Adds 5.5″ Acatel OneTouch Idol 3 for $149

Proving to be my Wife’s favorite phone of the year thanks to its low cost and front facing speakers, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is coming to Cricket!

When I reviewed it, I thought the Idol 3 was a budget champ at $250, but Cricket will be offering it for $149.99. Front facing stereo speakers, 5.5″ HD screen, MicroSD card expansion, and a nice mid-ranger camera. It’s a solid offering which covers the basics really well, and can be fun for rich multimedia playback.

Cricket will also be expanding their data plans, with LTE coverage for Canada and Mexico included at no additional cost.  You can read their full press release below.

Continue reading “Cricket Adds 5.5″ Acatel OneTouch Idol 3 for $149”

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AT&T Offers Data Perks for Taking Surveys

Screenshot_2015-10-26-07-57-49Customer data is valuable, tracking trends and brands. It’s largely how users “pay” for services like Facebook.

Lately though, a number of services have started sharing perks with customers who volunteer to share info with brands and services. AT&T recently announced a partnership with Aquto to monetize this data gathering and offer their customers additional data for their plans.

Taking surveys, watching ads, or participating with product trials will net AT&T subscribers additional data for their monthly cap. It’s similar to the Google Rewards app which awards Google Play credit for taking surveys.

Users engage through a free app, and participating can reward customers up to an additional gigabyte of data per month.

This could be a novel way for AT&T to offer up a little “profit sharing” as Big Blue has struggled in the past with other data initiatives . You can read the full press release below.

Continue reading “AT&T Offers Data Perks for Taking Surveys”

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