Tag: smartphones

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The Post Where (so help me) I Defend the iPhone 5C…

iPhone5c_34L_AllColors_PRINTDamn it tech press! See what you’re making me do here…

It should be pretty clear by now that I’m not pre-disposed to liking Apple products. That’s not to say I don’t think they’re quality tech solutions. They’re just not my cup of tea, and lately I’ve been worried that Apple is missing critical opportunities with recent product releases. No NFC Passbook? Really? But I digress…

While spending some time with the iPhone 5S, I’m actually coming around on the iPhone 5C. I was initially one of those “know it alls” that panned it when it came out. An iPhone 5 in plastic? Meh…

What’s getting frustrating however is the media’s expectations of success. Every new phone or tablet which is released is now expected to be a “hit” instantly out of the gate. No one can really explain what sales metrics a device needs to hit to be considered a “hit”, but apparently no phone recently released is capable of meeting those expectations. After a point, one has to wonder if maybe these new phones aren’t the problem, and that maybe we’re giving too much consideration to analysts who are fantastically terrible at predicting the future.

Apple is launching a new product line.

Sometimes that works for them like the iPad Mini. Sometimes it’s a slow burn like Apple TV. Apple isn’t immune to this kind of market pressure. Customers know the iPhone. They know that a new number comes out, then an “S” model arrives the following year. They get it. They’ve been trained. They don’t know this “C” model. Just like any new company walking into the mobile space now, it should be expected that Apple will have to build credibility for this new line over time. Customers wont part with cash until they see it’s going to stick around for a while and get support and accessories. Anyone expecting the 5C to be a hot seller has no business calling themselves a tech pundit or analyst.

At best we can judge relative success by comparing 5C sales to 4S sales last year, but even then we’d be comparing a very well established phone (the iPhone 4 and 4S sharing a number of accessories) to a completely brand new phone. It doesn’t matter that the internals are similar to phones we’ve seen in the past, Apple customers are a fairly conservative demographic. Tech consumers in general tend to shy away from anything actually “new”.

So there it is. I get what Apple is doing with the 5C. I think they need to diversify the iPhone line up like they did with the iPad. I don’t know if the 5C is the right answer, but they needed to do something. However this fake shock, and the tech backlash towards cool sales is getting terrifically frustrating. From users and consumers, I completely understand the cynicism and skepticism, but so-called “journalists” need to cool it with the constant barrage of fanboi hate.

I mean DAMN IT! You just made me defend the iPhone 5C…

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T-Mobile takes “UnCarrier” Smartphone Data worldwide for free

t-mobile worldwide dataI love watching companies actually compete.

T-Mobile is our little-engine-that-could fourth place carrier, and over the last year they almost got bought by AT&T. When that fell through we’ve seen a plucky little organization work to really shake up how we buy smartphones and service plans. It’s been fun, and their attempts at market disruption have actually forced the bigger players to adapt.

Now T-Mobile is unleashing an incredible upgrade to their data plans: free data in over 100 countries.

If you travel a lot, this has probably affected you. I’ve had several friends return from trips abroad with either huge cellphone bills or recounting frustrating stories of trying to use local carriers short term. T-Mo’s new offerings aim to end-run around that problem.

Without doing anything, without signing a new agreement or getting a new fee tacked on to your bill, T-Mo customers on a Simple Choice plan now have free unlimited data around the world. There’s a list of participating countries on the T-Mo site, so I’m not going to write it out here. If you were planning on backpacking across Europe though, chances are pretty good you’ll be covered.

Now what KIND of data you can expect is still somewhat up for grabs. I’d be surprised if T-Mo has worked out licensing agreements in each of these countries to provide super-fast 3G and 4G unlimited connections. In many areas you’ll probably be rocking EDGE, but that’s still plenty of bandwidth to get your email, look up map info, and check your socials.

Along side free data, free texting is included, and calls are 20 cents a minute, which isn’t too shabby. All in all, it’s a pretty nice value add.

Check out their bold announcement video below:

(via T-Mobile)

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Android 4.3 FINALLY rolling out to AT&T HTC One’s

WP_20130503_003Better late than never? It would seem HTC wasn’t able to move through the verification process to meet their September deadline on updating all of their One phones to Google’s current version of Android Jellybean, but those of you on AT&T will finally start seeing update notifications soon!

Among the various improvements, users will see improved camera performance (hopefully a fix for some of the low light problems some users face) and new focus options for video. We’ll also see improved quick access to controls in the notification tray, so no more going to your settings menu to turn WiFi on and off.

The update should roll out auto-magically, but if you’re really impatient, you can start spamming the software update setting throughout the day. Maybe it’ll work for you?

Now HTC… When can we start talking about KitKat updates?

I kid… I kid… But no really when? [Said while doing ‘grabby hands’]

(via AT&T Blog)

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Samsung Galaxy Round – First smartphone with a curved display

Pulling up the press release and seeing the picture I was a bit surprised. Previous experiments with curving screens on phones like the Galaxy Nexus usually involved curving the display from top to bottom, contouring the phone for the side of your head. The Galaxy Round takes a different approach…

The Round’s 5.7″ screen is curved from side to side, and Samsung claims this side to side curving makes the phone easier to hold and use. It could also mean that this phone will feel narrower than traditional phablets.

I think it’s an interesting experiment in design, and I’ll be curious to see how consumers respond. One nice advantage, the phone’s screen is harder to scratch if the phone is ever placed face down on a table. That curve provides a little clearance.

Samsung Tomorrow spent a little time with the handset and shot this video of one of the new gestures:

Hardware on board seems to be current high-end, similar to what you might find in the Note 3. It’ll launch tomorrow in South Korea for a little more than $1000, but there’s no official word on pricing and availability elsewhere.

(via Samsung Tomorrow)

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Verizon employee leaks image of HTC One Max

android central htc one maxA friend of a Verizon employee posted this pic of the up coming HTC One Max in the Android Central forums. According to Jeremy, his mysterious pal has confirmed the One Max will have a finger print scanner and a removable back plate. Looks to be some decent competition for the Galaxy Note 3, especially with BoomSound in tow.

What I’m really happy to see, is this doesn’t appear to be a Droid. The last larger screened phone HTC released was a carrier exclusive to VZW in the USA, dubbed the Droid DNA. This image shows us a phone which very much follows the design language of the One and One Mini, meaning HTC is moving towards the same kind of device branding that Samsung and Apple have already figured out. Consumers will no longer be confused by seeing One’s on one carrier and Evos/Droids on another.

Of course, Verizon did still have to slap their weird checkmark logo right on the face of this otherwise beautiful phone. Right where the HTC logo would’ve been too. Kind of a slap in the face. Here’s to change?

(via Android Central)

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AT&T drops price of Lumia 920 to 99 cents on two year contract

nokia lumia 920 on sale 99 cents att somegadgetguyOk. Here’s the scoop. The Nokia Lumia 925 might be newer, slimmer, and sexier. The 925 also has more current software as we’re still waiting out AT&T to offer an update for the 920. Even with all those points against it, I still happen to prefer the chunkier 920 over the svelte 925. The rounded the contours, I like a little meat on her bones you know? Plus that girth comes with twice the on board storage of the 925 and the ability to charge wirelessly without an additional sled accessory. It’s all built in.

With the release of the Lumia 1020 and the 1520 right around the corner, the 9xx series phones are now certainly mid-range devices, but pricing is starting to fall into entry-level territory. Picking up a Lumia 920 on a two year contract will now only cost you 99 cents up front. That’s not bad at all for my second favorite camera ever built into a smartphone.  If you’re shopping an entry level phone, the experience on Windows Phone often crushes similarly priced Android fare, and the cameras on Nokia phones are always second to none.

(via AT&T)

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Contests! Kingston Memory Winners and Samsung vs Apple Rugged Case Show Down!

kingston technology giveaway contest usb flash ssd solidstatedrive 240gb hyperx somegadgetguySo first of all we have to announce the winners of the Kingston Fall Memory giveaway. Many thanks to Kingston Technology for an incredible prize pack which included Memory Cards, USB2 and USB3 flash drives, MobileLite Wireless Drives, and a 240GB HyperX SSD!

Also in this vid, we’re going to play a little game for our next giveaway, pitting Samsung owners against Apple owners. Enjoy!

New contest details after the jump!

Continue reading “Contests! Kingston Memory Winners and Samsung vs Apple Rugged Case Show Down!”

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