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

It’s Funny Because It’s Sad, Sad Because It’s True – “I Forgot My Phone” on Youtube

i lost my phoneOver 30 million views on Youtube. CharstarleneTV has certainly tapped into a fear many of us tech-heads have contemplated.

We’re already living in a dystopian future.

At once tongue in cheek and instantly maudlin, because it’s completely recognizable.

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”

PSA: Buy A Nokia Lumia 2520 before January 31st and get a FREE Power Keyboard (normally $150)!

Nokia-Power-Keyboard-with-Nokia-Lumia-2520It’s the season of giving, and Nokia is hooking it up for you tablet shoppers!

I recently named the Lumia 2520 the Windows RT tablet of the year, and I think it’s already a great bargain when you compare it to an iPad hardware-wise. Nokia is sweetening the pot though by throwing in a free Power Keyboard Cover! This baby sports a QWERTY keyboard and built in battery to add hours more run time to your Windows slate. Normally a $150 add on.

Just fill out this form, and you’re all set! Enjoy!

Related:
Dreamworks’ Dragons Adventure on the Lumia 2520
Lumia 2520 vs Surface 2
Lumia 2520 hands-on video

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

Friday fun: Will.i.am tries to explain his iPhone case…

It’s not like he built his career on trying to be a wordsmith or anything…

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.

RIP: Winamp to shut down December 20th 2013 – no longer available to download

RIP WinampI have such fond memories of Winamp. It was a mandatory download for MP3 playing back in the Windows XP days. No program like it had the wealth of streaming radio and customization options. Hours were spent selecting exactly the right skin and visualization plugins. It was the best.

Winamp even seemed primed for a potential comeback during the early days of Android, offering up a fantastic mobile app which synced to the desktop player, and served users WiFi music sync. Before the app market became Google Play, we didn’t have an iTunes-like media management system, and Winamp was pretty handy for quickly swapping and updating our playlists.

Unfortunately, in a world of cloud services like Pandora, Spotify, and Google Play Music, our poor little Winamp just wasn’t able to continue competing against streaming radio and cloud solutions.

The entire Winamp ecosystem is shutting down December 20th of this year.

No more downloading the desktop player. No more Winamp.com. All the other associated features will be turned off. Say goodnight Gracie.

Those who still have Winamp software installed, I’m sure it’ll still function locally, but I think it’s time to move on. Start finding other solutions. I haven’t used it in years, but I’m going to miss Winamp.

It no longer whips the llama’s ass…

(via Winamp)