Let's Talk Tech
In the past, rugged phones have come with compromises. Features like the camera and speaker are often sacrificed to reach a certain price point. Now into their third iteration of rugged Galaxy, does Samsung fall into the same trap with the Galaxy S6 Active? Let’s take a look!
Galaxy S6 Active and Accessories on Amazon.
Galaxy S6 Active Speaker Test.
Galaxy S6 Camera Review.
Galaxy S6 FFC VLOG Test.
Samsung abandoned memory cards on the Galaxy S6, so while it has a fantastic camera, you can fill up that storage pretty quick with UHD video. Thankfully with USB host capabilities we have a couple options available to handle file management. Here are the two solutions I’m currently using on my GS6!
Leef MicroSD Card Reader Review.
Shop the Leef on Amazon.
Shop for USB OTG Host cables on Amazon.
Alcatel has packed some great specs into the Idol 3 for budget smartphone shoppers. Did they sacrifice camera quality to reach this price point? Let’s take a look!
Shop the Idol 3 on Amazon.
Gallery of still photos from the Idol 3.
Just because we use geek gear like smartwatches, doesn’t mean we can’t dress them up a bit. I’m a big fan of products that help our gadgets blend into our individual style and fashion. The folks at Popov Leather in Canada helped us out with some hand stitched Horween leather watch bands to dress up our wearable gizmos. Let’s take a look!
We’re all a little on edge about what our phones can do, how they store our information, and how other people might be able to access things like our location. It’s easy to get a little freaked out by technology you don’t understand.
Case in point, Nick Browne posted this video on Facebook, as he was concerned about something strange attached to the battery of his Samsung phone. (Language in video might be a bit NSFW)
Remember, every time you shoot video in portrait, God kills an orphan girl’s kitten…
That is a strange looking antenna to be found on a battery, but what Nick has torn off here is his NFC antenna. That’s the radio you can use for things like “tap and share” or “tap and pay”. It’s kind of odd that Samsung builds it into the battery, but it likely discourages folks from buying third party batteries that don’t include the antenna as it’ll disable the NFC function on their phones.
And let’s be honest here, while Nick seems to have some issues with race relations, if someone really wants to hack your phone, and steal your photos, they certainly don’t need to install an antenna on your battery to do it.
It does look a little strange, but we can learn from Nick here not to freak out and start tearing pieces off of our gadgets if they’re things we don’t understand. Thankfully for Nick, to restore NFC on his Samsung, all he needs to do is buy a new battery, and NOT tear off the label again…
zBoost sent over their ZB545 signal booster, which improves signal reception for CDMA and GSM 3G. For folks who can’t make calls or use data indoors, is this the right product to fix connection woes? Let’s test it out!
In a Tumblr post over the weekend, Taylor Swift voiced her disapproval of Apple’s streaming music promotion. It’s a great deal for consumers, as they will receive three free months of Apple Music, Cupertino’s competitor to services like Google Play All Access and Spotify. However, the tech giant initially refused to pay out royalties to artists on the streams played during that free promo.
Apple wanted to make their new service popular on the backs of musicians, with a service which will likely cut into album sales, and for the privilege of “Apple Music Exposure” and lower album sales, they weren’t going to pay musicians a dime.
In response to this policy Swift wrote:
This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.
Thankfully she’s high enough profile, that this blog post made a lot of noise. This morning Apple Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddie Cue posted this on Twitter:
#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
It was the right play on Apple’s part as they’re way late to the streaming music game, and we’ve seen how other newcomers like Tidal have fared when hit with bad press. As they’re currently sitting on a war chest of over a hundred billion dollars, there never should have been any debate as to whether they would pay artists the pittance they receive for streams. Happily they’re on the correct track now.
I can honestly say I never thought I would ever side with Taylor Swift on a technology debate, but I’m sure many artists today are happy for her involvement.
***Update!***
LG is extending this promotion! You’ll be able to land a spare battery and a MicroSD card until June 30th! Pretty great incentive to shopping their newest flagship phone. If you were on the fence, you can check out our mega collection of G4 videos, or you can jump straight to shopping the LG G4 online.
LG seems to be sticking it to Samsung in two areas where the Galaxy S6 can’t compete: swapping the battery and expanding the storage.
For a limited time, people who have purchased the G4, or folks who will be buying the G4, can receive a free spare battery, a battery cradle, and a 32GB Sandisk MicroSD card for free. The promotion runs through July 6, and most outlets should be carrying the G4 in early June.
Carrier pricing for the G4 hasn’t been revealed yet, though T-Mobile’s contest values it at $600, well under the price of the 32GB Galaxy S6. As the G4 already has better battery life, will doubling that run time and storage for free tempt you over Samsung’s 64GB Galaxy S6 at almost $800? Drop us a comment below!