Category: Reviews

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Weekend listening: Our Surface 2 Speaker Quality Test

WP_20131120_17_53_09_ProOur first Windows tablet to hit the SomeGadgetGuy Test Bench!

We never did get our hands on the first Surface, but Surface 2 is ready to go! We’ll playback some movie and music samples to see how it stacks up to phones and bluetooth speakers! The audio level for our tablet tests is normalized to compare directly with the HTC One, so listen back to that test and you’ll be able to hear how the Surface 2 stacks up!

Previous speaker tests:
HTC One
Lumia 920
JawBone JAMBOX
LG G2
Lumia 1020
HMDX Jam Classic
Galaxy S4 Active
Nokia Play 360
HTC One Mini
LG Optimus G Pro
iPhone 5S
Pantech Discover

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Review: Waze arrives on Windows Phone

waze windows phone app review somegadgetguy (2)In all the Instagram hub-bub there was another huge service which released a Windows Phone app. Navigation sweetheart Waze is now available for those of us using Live Tiles!

Using the service, it feels very much like Waze on Android, which is a good thing. Those making the switch wont have to re-learn much. The major changes involve incorporating tile-like options in the menu settings. Also, unlike Instagram, it doesn’t appear that there’s anything missing from the Waze port on WP8.

Waze is a user generated GPS service. Waze uses your location data to keep maps up to date, and people using Waze can report things like accidents, closures, and police activity. Those reports show up on your map. Because Waze is reading your GPS data, it also happens to be one of the most accurate services I’ve seen for estimating your time of arrival. It has moment to moment readings on how fast traffic is moving where ever Waze users are. In a large market like LA, it’s super accurate. Continue reading “Review: Waze arrives on Windows Phone”

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Friday Fun: Loot Crate Un-boxing! November 2013 CELEBRATE #LootCrate

LootCrate Whats in the boxOh how I loves me some loot!

Each month cool geeky gamer gear is lovingly delivered right to my doorstep. A small mysterious black box is dropped off, and it’s always a surprise seeing what’s inside!

Last month Loot Crate was rocking some zombie gear!  This month’s theme is CELEBRATE, and it’s time to see what we’ll be celebrating!

You can sign up to receive your very own Loot Crates! $13.37 + $6 shipping. Less than $20 for way more than $20 worth of gear! Oh, would you like to get it even cheaper? Save 10% on your Loot Crate by using promo code “SGLOOT” at checkout!

Sign up for Loot Crate: http://LootCrate.com/GadgetGuy

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App Review: Nokia Refocus for Windows Phone – Shoot first THEN make sure your subject is in focus!

nokia refocus logoLike something out of a bad CSI re-run:

“Zoom into that flower. Enhance. See if you can clean up that focus.”

It’s a trip that we can now do things kinda like that. Refocus turns your Lumia into a Lytro style camera. Hold your camera steady for a couple seconds as the camera scans a scene, and then you can choose what to focus on later. We’re now officially living in the future.

Let’s take a look!

Refocus on the Windows App Store.

Here’s an example of how Refocus works. The flower pic I showed in the video can be embedded, allowing you to play with the focus points in a web browser.

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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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Instagram BETA for Windows Phone vs 6Tag vs Instagram on Android! FIGHT!

instagram vs 6tag app comparison somegadgetguyIt’s finally here!

Always the ultimate tech irony, the best smartphone cameras in the world had no official native app to upload pics to the world’s most popular social photo service.

No longer. Instagram is finally officially on Windows Phone as an open BETA. Let’s see how it compares to the popular third party solution 6Tag, and what features the Android version might have that IG will have to catch up on!

Follow me on Instagram!

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Hands on: Dreamwork’s Dragons Adventure for the Nokia Lumia 2520 – ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ GPS Game

WP_20131120_12_10_56_ProThis is cool folks.

I think hardware is starting to plateau. Phones and tablets are now “powerful enough” for the services of today, and I think we’re going to see a pendulum swing back to software and services over the next year as developers start tapping into all the raw sensor data available in consumer gear.

I got to spend the day at Dreamworks Animation Studio today to get hands on with their new collaboration with Nokia. A game called ‘Dragons Adventure’ will be launching exclusively for Nokia phones and tablets starting with the Lumia 2520, and it’s featuring some really forward thinking tech… Continue reading “Hands on: Dreamwork’s Dragons Adventure for the Nokia Lumia 2520 – ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ GPS Game”

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Review: RAVPower Wireless Card and Flash Drive Reader – Use WiFi to share files between phones and tablets!

ravpower wireless card reader movie streamingI’m stoked to see more gadgets like this.

Getting files on and off our tablets and phones can be painful. As much as these devices claim autonomy, often we still need to resort to plugging them into proper computers. Wireless drives afford us more flexibility in handling our mobile data, allowing us to build portable clouds, and providing us easier solutions for sharing media with other people.

Let’s take a look at RAVPower’s entry into this gadget class with the RP-WD01.

More info on RAVPower devices.
The RAVPower Wireless Card reader on Amazon.

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