TommyLog TECH – Spring Cleaning Your Android Device #VZWBuzz #ad

Hey kids it’s Tommy and for today’s TommyLog tech, I want to talk about spring cleaning your Android device. Is your device running low on storage space? Running slow compared to when it was brand new? Chances are you need to do some spring cleaning on it. I have a few easy steps to clearing out some space and hopefully speeding up that device.

Tip #1 – Remove old photos and space hogging videos. Before you do, make sure they are backed up – in more than one location – Google photos – Dropbox, One Drive, Verizon Cloud. And double check from another source before you delete – just to be extra sure it’s all there. Undeleting your precious photos and videos is difficult, so an extra double check could never hurt.

Tip #2 – Clear out old apps or move then to your SD card. I download a lot of apps and then forget all about them moments later. Take some time to look at your app listing and delete, delete delete! If there are some that you really need, and you have an internal SD card, chances are high you can move them to the SD card. If you go to Settings | Storage, there you will find a listing of all your apps and their respective file sizes. From there you can move the apps you want to your SD card freeing up storage if needs be.

Tip #3 – Remove junk preferences and cache files. Modern day operating systems make loads and loads of junk files. They are “supposed” to auto purge, but sometimes do not and over time, these files can take up a good deal of space and slow down you system. Take a moment to download one of these free apps to help you clean out the junk from your phone. You’ll be amazed as to how much storage space is taken up by these junk files.

Clean Master
CC Cleaner

Tip #4- Do a factory reset your phone. If you’d rather not bother with all the tips above, you can just do like I like to do, and do a factory restore of your phone. Its super easy and take only a few minutes. What takes time is re-downloading all your apps, photos and other data, but that is pretty automated. To do a factory restore – go to Settings | Backup & Reset |Factory Data Reset.

NOTE: Please verify you have a valid backup before doing a factory restore. I would hate to have someone lose all there data by not having a good backup before hand.

BONUS TIP – Get a new case. Seriously few things refresh your outlook on your cell phone like a nice new case. Cases are cheap these days even for flagship phones. Find a fun color or pattern that fits your personality and go wild!

For more information on how to get your very own LG G4, click here!

[DISCLAIMER — I’m one of the cool kids who has been asked to play with and test technology for Verizon. They asked me to test and share my thoughts. All my words are original and my own.]

TommyLog TECH – Apple Pay vs. Samsung Pay #vzwbuzz #AD

Hey Kids it’s Tommy and for today’s TommyLog TECH I want to take a look at and talk about Samsung Pay versus Apple Pay. One has a head-start on the other, and one has some pretty neat features that might surprise you.

As I put the two payment systems head to head,  I talk about what exactly is NFC? Which system is easier to use? What are the differences between Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. Which is the most secure?

Watch the head-to-head showdown to see who wins and which one is Tommy approved.

Want a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 of your very own? Step right up and click here! http://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-note-5/

UPDATE – 11-14-15 – In doing more research, I was wrong about Samsung Pay magnetic secure transmission (MST). It utilized digital tokens and is just as secure as NFC transactions.

DISCLAIMER — I’m one of the cool kids who has been asked to play with and test technology for Verizon. They asked me to test and share my thoughts. All my words are original and my own.]

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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Unboxing #VZWBuzz #AD

Hey Kids it’s Tommy and for today’s TommyLog TECH I want to show you the latest yummy-licous tech toy that my good friends at Verizon have sent me.

Lets see whats in the box.

Stay tuned for more TommyLog TECH videos where I explore all the new features of the Note 5 and see if it is indeed Tommy Approved!

THANK YOU to my good friends at Verizon. If you want your very own Samsung Galaxy Note 5, you can look right here. http://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-note-5/

 

 

[DISCLAIMER — I’m one of the cool kids who has been asked to play with and test technology for Verizon. They asked me to test and share my thoughts. All my words are original and my own.]

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LG G4 Unboxing and More! #vzwbuzz #AD

Hey kids, for today’s TommyLog Tech, I would like to introduce you to the new, awesome, yummy tech goodness that is the LG G4. My good friends at Verizon provided this smartphone. Big thanks go out to them!

This thing is just gorgeous. Unlike most other smartphones, there are no buttons on any of the sidewalls; the volume and power buttons are on the back. The screen looks huge compared to my iPhone 6. Not sure if you can tell by the lighting in the video, but the back is gently curved. Very slick.

What’s even more amazing is, not only did they send me a handset to test and play with, they also gave me one to GIVE-A-WAY on my blog. HOW COOL IS THAT???!!

Stay tuned to my next TommyLog TECH as I set up and play with the LG G4 and we will see if it’s Tommy Approved!

For more information on how to get your very own LG G4, Here’s a http://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/g4/
[DISCLAIMER — I’m one of the cool kids who has been asked to play with and test technology for Verizon. They asked me to test and share my thoughts. All my words are original and my own.]

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TommyLog TECH – Mac User in an Android World #VZWBuzz #AD

Android File TransferHi everyone, it’s Tommy and for today’s TommyLog Tech, I want to talk about using an Android Phone in a Macintosh world. Last month I started using the new HTC One M9, provided by my good friends at Verizon and I wanted a fast and easy way to transfer photos and videos to my Mac. It’s no newsflash that the integration between Macs and Android devices isn’t nearly as tight as that of the Mac and iPhone. To be fair, Android integration is getting a lot better but its still not as fluid. I stumbled upon a great free tool that helps Android users transfer photos and video to their Macs, called Android File Manager. Available here.

Simply download the .dmg and install the app into your applications folder. Once you connect your Android phone to your Mac via your USB cable, the application automatically launches and you are presented with a directory of files. You want to stick to the DCIM folder and the 100MEDIA folder where your photos and videos are stored.

CAUTION: You are looking under the hood of your Android phone. DO NOT DELETE files in other folders other than the 100MEDIA folder in the DCIM folder. Bad things could happen – You have been warned!

Access to your photos and videos could not be easier and transfers are super fast. There are other cloud-based tools like Dropbox, Micorosft’s One Drive and Google Drive that do similar things. But remember your files need to be uploaded to the cloud before they can be downloaded to your Mac. This takes time and bandwidth and if you are not on WIFI, it will use your cellular data. Got a few big video files to copy? This could eat up your monthly data upload allotment pretty quick.

Android File Manager is totally Tommy Approved! Transferring files between the HTC One M9 and my Mac could not be easier.

For more information on how to get your very own HTC One M9, Here’s a link http://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/htc-one-m9/

[DISCLAIMER — I’m one of the cool kids who has been asked to play with and test technology for Verizon. They asked me to test and share my thoughts. All my words are original and my own.]

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