Top 5 for the week starting Dec 1st, 2013 – LG G2 news, Batteries, and Cases!

ballistic hydra waterproof case iphone 5s test review somegadgetguyThese were the top read and most shared stories from SomeGadgetGuy last week! LG ruled the week, but we also got in a few accessories. Nice little round up as we wrap up 2013 and the holiday buying season!

Let’s jump in!

5 – Using a Ballistic Hydra Rugged case for iPhone 5 on an iPhone 5S

The nice thing about how Apple updates the iPhone with a tick-tock system, cases for the iPhone 5 largely work with the iPhone 5S. If you’ve been looking for a rugged case for the 5S, this waterproof case might do the trick!

4 – Review: Ravpower Lipstick Charger and Flashlight

003This week, Chris took a look at a handy little portable charger + flashlight combo. RAVPower has become a favorite here at SGG, offering up very good mobile charging solutions at great prices. Looking to extend your phone’s run time out in the field, maybe this gadget will help?

3 – Ask Juan: Why won’t my Moto X show up as a USB drive on my Mac?

An opportunity to play a little tech support? On a tech blog? Who’d have thunk it? Robin has a problem with his Moto X and his Mac playing nice together. Seems this is a pretty common problem seeing how popular this post was last week…

2 – Real World Battery Test: The LG G2 – 47 hours to “Critically Low”

LG G2 Camera reviewI don’t do a lot of battery bench marking. It’s very time consuming, and usage is very relative. What’s heavy to one person is light use for another.  That said, when a phone comes along with exceptional battery life, I at least need to point out how it handled real world activities.

1 – Camera Test: The LG G2 on AT&T – video samples from a 13MP Android with Optical Image Stabilization!

And the number one story from last week was a doozy! LG made some pretty bold claims surrounding the camera on the G2. It’s only the second Android with optical image stabilization, and it has three times the resolution as the HTC One. Did the G2 camera live up to the hype?

We’re nothing without you readers, and we certainly can’t compete against the big blogs by ourselves. We always greatly appreciate not only the likes, but the sharing on social sites like Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. The more we get to talk with other tech fans, the better we get, and soon we’ll be able to reward that participation with some fun contests coming up soon!

Thanks for reading, and if you feel we missed a big story this week, or you have a hot tip, please drop us a line on our Contact Page!

Set your Calendar! Experts Q&A Episode 2: Android Boogaloo!

experts round table androidThis will be a Hangout on Air event. Link will be provided here before the broadcast goes live.

Our first Experts Q&A was a hit, and now we’re ready to follow it up with our next topic! For this next round table, we’re going to chat all things Android! Phones, Tablets, Apps, Updates, Services. You bring the questions, we’ll bring the experts! Chat with us live while we’re on the air! It’ll be fun. I promise.

Mark your calendars! We’re a GO for Wednesday December 11 at 8pm Pacific. Hope to see you there!

Google Plus event page.

Experts Q&A 1: Live Tiles are the Future! – https://somegadgetguy.com/2013/11/26/watch-our-experts-qa-live-here-bwone-somegadgetguy-answer-your-microsoft-questions/

AT&T Overhauls Mobile Share Plans, Cuts Prices

att mobile share plansSimplifying is the name of the game over at Big Blue.

Customers bringing their own phone, or who have paid off their phone from a previous contract might save as much as $25 per line compared to the previous AT&T Mobile Share plans. Starting December 8th, the new rates go into effect. All plans include unlimited talk and text, and are tiered solely by how much data you want to pool.

Starting at $20 a month for 300MB and climbing up to 50GB for $375, the rates for individual devices has been simplified too. Smartphones off contract will cost $25 a month and smartphones on contract will cost $40 a month. So an individual who bought a phone outright on the lowest tier data plan will pay $45 a month.

Tablets can be added to share your data for $10 a month, and additional feature phones, home phones, and mobile hotspots can be added for $20. All in all a pretty decent combo for AT&T customers. Plans which are easier to understand, and you’re going to save a little cash at the same time.

Full PR after the jump

Continue reading “AT&T Overhauls Mobile Share Plans, Cuts Prices”

PSA: Last month to enjoy ad-free Pandora music streaming for free on Windows Phone!

c4e43008-640c-43e4-af1e-a963de3b3189Months ago, to celebrate the arrival of a proper app, Pandora offered up ad-free streaming for all Windows Phone users through the end of the year!

Well that means you only have a couple weeks left to enjoy commercial-free tunes if you’re rocking some Live Tiles. Fire up the app and start rocking out! Starting January 1 2014, you’ll either have to listen to commercials or pony up some cash.

Pandora on Windows Phone

AT&T EverThere: protecting Senior Citizens with advanced fall detection, Emergency care center calling

photo_01We’re a long way evolved from Life Call’s “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.

Utilizing a smartphone style data connection, AT&T’s EverThere is bringing some tech sophistication to the discussion of health and personal monitoring. Each year, one third of adults over the age of 65 experience falls, many of which can cause serious injuries. EverThere brings a combination of GPS and movement tracking to help aid in the first aid response.

Like a fitness tracker, EverThere can detect movement, so in the event of a fall, paramedics can be alerted automatically. Unlike more home-based monitoring, the unit includes GPS so if a Senior family member is hurt while out and about, they location can be easily found. Connected to AT&T’s network, EverThere users can get help anywhere there’s a cellphone connection. A small, lightweight puck-like device can be worn on a chain or clipped to a belt, and the unit is battery powered for up to 36 hours.

Lastly, EverThere is an IP67 ruggedly built gadget, making it drop resistant, freeze resistant, and waterproof. It’s all about piece of mind, and you don’t want to have to worry about your emergency communication gadget getting damaged while in the middle of an emergency.

Prices start at $99 on an 11 month contract and a monthly rate of $29.99 for the EverThere service.

Full PR after the jump.

Continue reading “AT&T EverThere: protecting Senior Citizens with advanced fall detection, Emergency care center calling”

Ask Juan: Now that I own an RT tablet, will Windows RT disappear?

lumia 2520 20Just got this question from a reader. Jim asks:

As a recent purchaser of a Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet I am starting to get a little concerned about Windows RT folding or at least developers not making apps. Is this real and if so what does that mean for my tabby?

Hey Jim! First of all congrats on the Lumia! It was my Windows Tablet pick of the year!

So here’s the deal.

Windows RT as we know it today probably wont stick around long, and as the owner of a 2520 this is a good thing for you…  Continue reading “Ask Juan: Now that I own an RT tablet, will Windows RT disappear?”

App Review: UTrailme – Live Video Streaming

014Today’s review is on the UTrailme app developed by Dream Team Mobile, which is a live streaming app for both Windows and IOS  phones. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter all allow you to share pictures at that moment. Vine let’s you record short video to share. What if you could share a live stream with all of your friends in real time? Utrailme is here to provide you with an app for live streaming of concerts, sporting events or you see something interesting happening that you want to share with your friends.

UTrailme has a pretty slick UI which is very easy to navigate. Setting up this app is quite easy so you can share your live streams directly and automatically post on Facebook, Twitter and VK.  You can select your video quality from the setting menu to stream your event in low, medium, high or auto-detect.  There are no light or dark themes, and you will not see any pop up ads. Let’s not forget the best part about this app is that it is free! Continue reading “App Review: UTrailme – Live Video Streaming”

Windows Phone Breaks 10% Market Share in Europe, Apple Slipping

ComTech-des13-dataHappy day for Nokia!

Kantar Worldpanel announced sales figures for the fiscal quarter ending October of 2013. Windows Phone has yet to break 5% here in the states, but we did almost double the number of Windows Phones sold here. The news in Europe is much more exciting for Microsoft fans. This same period last year, WP was floating around 4.8%, and moving into 2013 sales more than doubled with Microsoft cracking 10.2%.

Bolstered by some fantastic low end Nokia phones like the Lumia 520, Windows phone is rocking 11.9% in Great Britain, 12.5% in France, and 16% in Italy.

The news for Apple wasn’t quite as rosy. While sales are generally up fr the iPhone, they’re losing share in almost every major market. Down 6% in the USA, 3% in China, and 5% in Europe. The 5S is also unsurprisingly outselling the 5C more than three to one, it would seem that Apple is missing out on the hot smartphone growth sectors in the entry-level and mid-range.

Of course Android is continuing it’s domination in every major market tracked, but it’s nice seeing Microsoft step up as a potential competitor to the Android / iOS power struggle.

(via Kantar Worldpanel)