Category: Editorials

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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!

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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?”

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Windows 8 Phone Tip and Trick: Custom lock screen photo

Each of us have our own unique sense of style. We customize our phones to match our style with ringtones, cases and wallpapers. Today I am going to show you how to make your own wallpaper for your Windows 8 phone. If you are handy with photoshop this will be a breeze along with newbies.044

As much as I love cupcakes, this lock screen image just isn’t going to do it for me. I need something else like the background picture for www.somegadgetguy.com banner! Take a sip of coffee and let’s get started!

Step 1: You will need a pc or mac with photoshop or a photo editing software. Today I will be using photoshop. Continue reading “Windows 8 Phone Tip and Trick: Custom lock screen photo”

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

surface connected to lg g2 file management transfer somegadgetguyFrom our Facebook page, Robin asks:

Here’s a question relating to Android… When I plug my Moto X into my Windows PC using the supplied USB cable, it shows up as a storage device and I can copy stuff to/from it with no problems. But when I plug it into a USB port on my wife’s MacBook Pro, it’s not even recognized as a device. How can I access my Moto X from Mac OSX?

Hey Robin,

It’s because Apple can be frustrating about supporting standards like MTP. Apple refuses to natively support the USB Media Transfer Protocol. It’s how you can plug your phone into a PC and see files on your phone and computer at the same time.

There are two different ways to share files between a phone and computer, MTP and Mass Storage. If you use Mass Storage, the storage on your phone becomes a standalone drive for your computer, and your phone will no longer be able to see any of those files. That was fine during the Windows Mobile and early Android days. You’d plug in your phone, and it would essentially become a dead lump of a USB drive. Now though, we don’t want to lose access to our precious communication tools, even for a brief file transfer. That’s why Android and Windows Phone now utilize MTP. It comes with some drawbacks like slower file transfers, and you can only move one file at a time, but your phone wont be separated from its storage while connected to a computer. Given the trade off, I’d rather be able to connect my phone to my computer, and still being able to use it as a normal phone with all of my files and apps intact.

The iPhone just doesn’t work that way, so Apple doesn’t feel any great pressure to support other mobile device file management protocols. As far as they’re concerned you should be using iOS and iTunes.

Google did release an Android file manager program for Mac users which might work for you – http://www.android.com/filetransfer/

If that doesn’t work you might need to look at cloud solutions. The nice thing about Android, it’s silly easy to move files on and off via services like Google Drive, Box, and DropBox.

You could also do a local network sync via an app like AirSync –http://www.doubletwist.com/airsync/ or Air Droid – http://www.airdroid.com/ which will use your home WiFi network. It wont be as fast as a cable connection, but it’ll be faster than Bluetooth. 

But yeah. Short story long, this is basically Apple’s fault.

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Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?

htc one mini camera test video samples somegadgetguyBlah blah blah abstraction layer… Herp derp blerp API’s…

Long story short, Google is trying to improve the software / hardware relationship our smartphone cameras rely on. This should expand the tool set developers have at their disposal when making photo and video services. Google specifically is discussing better multi-shot tech which should improve sport and burst modes and deliver more flexible HDR settings. An HDR photo depends on a series of pics taken quickly at different exposures. Other smart modes could be improved too, like the ability to take a series of shots to remove distracting elements from your photos.

All well and good from a consumer app-y position, but the idea of delivering RAW files could be really interesting for people who really want to control their photo output, even from their phones.

Continue reading “Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?”

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SomeGadgetGuy’s 2013 Smartphone Awards! The Best of the Best!

SGG Smartphone awards 2013 smallIt’s that time!

Wrapping up the year, we’re going to take a look back at the year in smartphones. Unlike our Tablet Buying Guide, there are many aspects to shopping a phone. Instead of declaring a one-size-fits-all winner, we’re going to run down a list of individual features. We’ll hand out awards to the best of the best in categories like Camera, Speakers, and Battery Life.

If you’re shopping a phone this Holiday Season, we hope this will help you make a buying decision on those features which are most important to you!

Let’s get to it!

Continue reading “SomeGadgetGuy’s 2013 Smartphone Awards! The Best of the Best!”

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Top 5 for the week starting November 18 – Instagram, Expensive Phones, and Dopey Tech Support

WP_20131120_17_53_09_ProThese were the top read and shared stories from SomeGadgetGuy last week! Kind of an eclectic round up. I love it!

Let’s jump in!

5 – Microsoft Support: If your Surface wont turn on, just tap on “”Settings”…

So much fun finding these little gems. Bad tech support advice direct from a major tech company. Microsoft is usually pretty good about this too, but this one slipped through. It seems like reasonable advice. Until you use your brain and think about it…

LootCrate Whats in the box4 – Friday Fun – November Loot Crate Un-Boxing! CELEBRATE!

My second Loot Crate! I had to share what was inside! Each month a box of cool geeky gear is dropped off at your door. If you’d like to shop a Crate, you can save 10% by using promo code “SGLOOT” at check out!

3 – The argument for buying the most expensive phone you can…

The conventional logic would assume that if you’re not very tech savvy, then maybe you don’t need all the “bells and whistles” of more expensive gear. Here however, we take a look at what benefits there might be for shopping premier phones, with a few tips for saving cash while doing buying high end.

WP_20131120_12_10_56_Pro2 – Hands on Dreamwork’s ‘Dragons Adventure’ for the Lumia 2520

We’re entering another services and software era. Our phones and tablets are crazy powerful and come chock full of movement and location sensors collecting data. Now we’ll see more apps taking advantage of that raw power. We take a look at Dreamworks newest family game which uses geolocation tracking on a tablet and ties into a parents phone for participation.

1 – Instragram BETA for Windows Phone vs 6Tag and Instagram on Android

instagram vs 6tag app comparison somegadgetguyNothing like a good old fashioned showdown, and this was the most shared story of the week! Instagram is finally on Windows Phone, so let’s see how the BETA app compares to the established 3rd party app 6Tag!

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!

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A Brief Comparison – The Nokia Lumia 2520 vs the Microsoft Surface 2

WP_20131120_12_11_21_ProThe Lumia 2520 tablet launches today!

And while I’ve already named it the Windows Tablet of the year, and we’ve put it on video, I thought I’d do a brief rundown comparison between it and Microsoft’s own solution for Windows RT the Surface 2. What follows are my personal experiences handling both tablets, and if you disagree with me, it’s most likely because you’re wrong.

Build Quality and Construction

I have to give a subtle edge to the Lumia here with the matte finish Lumias. I don’t like glossy gadgets, and the matte black 2520 has an excellent feel in the hand. There’s a grippiness to the back plate which feels great in the hand without feeling like cheap rubber or tacky plastic. You could almost describe it as satiny or velvety. The red Lumia is striking, we don’t see tablets in colors, but I don’t like fingerprint smudges.  Continue reading “A Brief Comparison – The Nokia Lumia 2520 vs the Microsoft Surface 2”

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