Tag: Microsoft

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Top 5 for the week starting November 4 – Thor Red Carpet, and why you should shake up your tech habits…

thor dark world skype marvel somegadgetguy red carpetWhew! Another week and a bunch of exciting stories hit the web. Here are the most read and most shared stories from this here lil old blog.

5. On the Red Carpet for the Hollywood Premiere of Thor: The Dark World

A little shameless plugging here. Skype hooked me up with a pass to the red carpet premiere of Thor: The Dark World. I got to jump into the pit, and got a bunch of great pics of the film’s stars looking fabulous.

4. Why now is the perfect time to diversify your technology portfolio…

It’s becoming a weekly tradition, my cranky technology rant. I’m like the Andy Rooney of internet commentary, but I’ve figured out how to use the Start Button in Windows. Anywho, this week I turn my sights on fanboyism and why it might not be a bad idea right now to try something different than what you’re currently using.

Lenovo-Miix-2-Windows-8.1-8-inch-tablet3. Lenovo Announces most affordable Windows 8.1 tablet at $299

Tablets are going to be all the rage this holiday season (Our holiday tablet buying guide comes out tomorrow)! Lenovo is double dipping in both Android and Windows 8 slates. Funnily enough, this week more of you looked up info on their Windows offerings. The Miix 2 looks like it might be a decent way to jump into a mini-Windows portable with some decent computing power.

2. Review: The HMDX Jam Classic portable wireless Bluetooth speaker

A blast from the past, this post got shared around a lot! Our review of the HMDX Jam Classic showcased what this tiny little wunder-speaker was capable of. Utilizing our full audio test suite, and a hands on video, this review proved mighty popular.

0741. App Review: Top Task List for Windows Phone 8

Welcome to the list Chris! Mr. Trimble is a new contributor here on SGG, and he’s a fan of Windows Phone. His second app review for the site scored this week’s number one spot.

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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Microsoft Support: If your Surface wont turn on, Tap on Settings…

LB_8705This is just funny.

Occasionally things bork. Happens to all gadgets. It’s frustrating, but you find some support and you get the problem fixed. For those times when your shiny brand new Surface tablet wont turn on, Microsoft has some helpful advice.

From the MS Support page:

If your Surface RT or Surface 2 won’t turn on, here are several steps you can take to pin point the cause and fix the problem.

Before you begin
***Step 1: Unplug the Surface power cord from the electrical outlet, and if you have any of the following remove or disconnect them from Surface:

  • Power supply
  • Surface Cover
  • microSD card
  • USB devices such as printers, keyboards, or mice
  • Video or audio cables or adapters

***Step 2: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Settings.
***Step 3: Tap Power, and then tap Shutdown.
***Step 4: Next, make a few preliminary checks:

Is the electrical outlet you’re using to charge your Surface working properly?
Try plugging something else into the outlet and see if it works.
Are conditions right for recharging?
It’s best to charge your battery near room temperature. Surface is designed to work between 32° and 95°Fahrenheit (0° and 35° Celsius).
Are the magnetic charging connectors clean and free of damage?

Wait what… Rewind that…

It doesn’t look like Microsoft really thought out steps two and three there…

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App Review: Trivia Buff for Windows 8 and Android phones.

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Whether you are going to the DMV to register your new car or waiting patiently for your flight, you have a multitude of options to occupy your time on your cell phone while waiting. You could read some news, grind away at a game, or you could expand your knowledge of a subject through fun trivia bits. The Trivia Buff app from Dapper Panda may just be the cure for you!

The Trivia Buff app let’s you search for favorite topics. Just out of curiosity I searched for BMX as I used to race BMX bikes here on the east coast and I found out that Slash from GNR used to race BMX back in the day! How cool is that! With the Trivia Buff app you can start training your brain to collect all the info necessary to crush the next trivia night at your local pub.

The app pulls info from a variety of sources (though you will see a lot of wikis), so it’s only really limited by your own curiosity.

The Trivia Buff app is a no frills, straight forward app for your Windows 8 phone. There are no dark or light theme options. You can opt to buy the ad free version for a mere $0.99 to help support the fine folks over at Dapper Panda.  The options of the Trivia Buff app are few but very useful. You can change the font size, you can choose to show or not show the logo on the live tile and speaking of the live tile, you have 3 sizes, small, medium and large, and the last option is that you have a choice of browsers to use.

You really cannot go wrong with this app especially if you love to learn!
Trivia Buff is available for both Windows 8 phones and Android:

Trivia Buff Windows 8 phone

Trivia Buff for Android Continue reading “App Review: Trivia Buff for Windows 8 and Android phones.”

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Google escalates war with Microsoft, Shutting down 3rd Party Google Voice apps on Windows Phone

nokia lumia 1020 google voice metrotalkThe cold war between these two tech giants is heating up fast.

Google is taking an extremely aggressive stance towards Windows Phone. None of Google’s services are currently officially available for Microsoft’s mobile operating system, and Google has been very vocal about not developing for the platform. Recently Google forced Microsoft to remove a nice and functional Youtube app from their Phone Store and replace it with a lame browser based version. Now Google has set their sights on 3rd party Google Voice apps.

As their Hangouts app looks like it’ll become the single backbone service for all of Google’s text, audio, and video communication they’ve issued a notice that all GV apps must be shut down by May 1st of 2014. Google Plus Product Manager Nikhyl Singhal had this to say: Continue reading “Google escalates war with Microsoft, Shutting down 3rd Party Google Voice apps on Windows Phone”

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Ask Juan: Should I Upgrade my Desktop (non-touchscreen) to Windows 8.1?

Screenshot (1)From one of our readers using our contact page:

Hey,I have an older quad core AMD desktop running Windows 7 and was going to put in a SSD. While I was doing that I thought maybe I should upgrade to Windows 8. I don’t have a touchscreen though, so I was curious if you thought that would be a good idea? Thanks, Alex

First of all, I run an older quad core in my workstation, and installing a solid state drive (specifically a Kingston HyperX) made my system feel brand new. I think you’ll really dig it.

The upgrade to Windows 8.1 is a slightly trickier question. It’s pretty obvious that Microsoft is using this new interface as their first attack on tablets and touchscreens. Microsoft’s job moving forward isn’t to “save” the PC market, but redefine the what a PC is. If you’ve read much on this site, you would know that I’ve been fairly positive on their progress so far.

Stepping outside the tablet-y stuff however, I think Windows 8 can offer up some benefits to non-touchscreen users as well.

First of all, boot times are seriously improved. The combo of Windows 8.1 and an SSD will feel like an absolute screamer compared to Windows 7 and a spinning disc hard drive. My low power Windows 8.1 ultrabook with an SSD cache boots in about half the time as my desktop did with Windows 7 and a proper SSD. My Lenovo absolutely destroys my Nexus 7 in a cold boot race.

windows 8_1 file transfer dialog boxSecond, I think Microsoft has made some solid improvements to file management. It’s not the sexiest aspect of an OS upgrade, but you get substantially more info when moving files, better estimates for completion, and the entire file browsing experience has been more stable. I would run into issues on Windows 7 with folders that had tons of files. As my computer would scan through creating thumbnails it would occasionally just get stuck on a file and never finish the scan. What ever file it would lag on would just become completely inaccessible, and I’d have to jump through CMD prompt nonsense to fix it. I haven’t had any issues like that with Win8.1 so far (knocks on wood). Continue reading “Ask Juan: Should I Upgrade my Desktop (non-touchscreen) to Windows 8.1?”

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App Review: Phonly RSS Reader for Windows Phone

wp_ss_20131029_0010Phonly is a sweet Feedly RSS reader created by Geek Industries. I actually stumbled upon this app in the Microsoft App store, and I decided to download this highly rated app to see what all the buzz was about.

I’ve never really used a feed reader before but what better time than now to try it out! Soon as Phonly finished installing I opened the app up to give it a go. The first thing I did was create a Feedly account and start adding feeds.  Adding your favorite feeds is pretty straight forward as you can enter a URL, title or topic to find your favorite sites or find a new feed.  You can also create custom categories to keep all your feeds neatly organized.

Phonly has a ton of options on how you would like your feeds to be displayed.  To refresh your feeds, a simple swipe down on the screen and Phonly will automatically refresh all the sites you’re subscribed to! The free (ad-supported) Phonly has a fluid modern UI with a light theme. The dark theme can be purchased in app, which also removes ads. Both the Light and Dark themes are very easy on the eyes.

Some of the key features of Phonly: Continue reading “App Review: Phonly RSS Reader for Windows Phone”

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Real Person Review: Tony Talks About His Nokia Lumia 925

nokia lumia 925 review (1) fatboy wireless charging sled somegadgetguyTony is a pal of mine in Florida, and he owns a Lumia 925 on T-Mobile. Having previously owned an iPhone, I asked him a couple questions about making the switch to Windows Phone.

What phone/phones did you use before the Lumia 925? Which have you liked? Which have you disliked?

The only other smartphone I’ve had was the iPhone 4. I did have a Motorola Krzr long ago, but there isn’t enough room on the internet for me to fit all my praise for that phone. Despite having switched to an entirely different OS now, I didn’t have major complaints with the iPhone and it really was quite a good device. One thing I did find frustrating was the restrictiveness of iTunes and the difficulty in using my iPhone as a mobile music library shared between my computers at home and work.
Thoughts on build quality, design, and ergonomics?

nokia lumia 925 review (4) rear back plate sled somegadgetguyThe Lumia 925 is just a beautiful phone. The colorful plastic cases of other Lumia models are fun, but I really like the sleek aluminum frame on the 925. The curved edges make it very easy and comfortable to hold in a single hand. My one complaint may be nitpicky, but I noticed the non-removable plastic back of the phone isn’t firmly attached near the top and has small but noticeable give when pressed. I don’t think I would mind as much if the entire phone were plastic, but this minor defect undermines the feeling of solidness given by the glass front and aluminum frame and slightly cheapens the experience in my mind. Continue reading “Real Person Review: Tony Talks About His Nokia Lumia 925”

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Microsoft Posts Video Showing XBox One Dash and Multi-Tasking

xbox one home start screen dashboard live tiles kinectGetting really hyped up for the next console generation!

Microsoft is teasing us with this short video showing off the Xbox One’s Kinect integration and giving us a sneak peek of what the UI will look like. Kinda nice seeing some Live Tiles on a TV screen, and it’s certainly clear that Microsoft wants to be the front end interface for your entire living room, as we also get to see IE and Skype in action. Thankfully they remembered to include a little game play footage as well. Because, you know, it IS a game console and all…

Check it out below.

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