Tag: review

TommyLog TECH – An IOS User’s Take on the Moto 360 Gen2 #VZWBuzz #AD

Hey Kids it’s Tommy, and as many of you all know, I’m pretty engrained in the Macintosh / IOS ecosystem with a MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad. You also know the TommyLog studios was infiltrated by an Android powered Moto 360 smart watch provided to me by my great friends at Verizon. So for today’s Tommylog TECH, I want to give you an IOS user’s take on the Moto 360 smart watch. If you are an Android die hard looking for a review with that slant, I’m sorry you will need to look elsewhere. I know there are different features and capabilities that Android users enjoy over the IOS experience dealing with the Moto 360 –but I’m not touching with that here. This is purely my thoughts as an IOS user in a Moto 360 world running the IOS version of the Android Wear App.

LOVES!
–    Round face
–    Interchangeable bracelet
–    Fit and finish / build quality
–    Wireless QI charging
–    Ability to easily change and customize watch faces
–    Ability to turn off notification individually
–    Excellent battery life
–    Heart rate monitor and step counter works well

BEEFS!
–    Speed watch turns on – too slow
–    Notifications – Notifications – Notifications!

THANK YOU to my good friends at Verizon. If you want your very Moto 360, you can look right http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/moto-360-2nd-gen-for-men-46mm-silver-with-cognac-leather/

Follow me on twitter @tommytrc

[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 – HTC Dot View Case – HTC One M8 #VZWBuzz #AD

In my last installment of TommyLog TECH, I introduced you to the beautiful HTC One (M8) with its all aluminum curved body and awesome 5” screen.  For today’s TommyLog TECH I want to show you how to protect that investment with this great case. It’s called the HTC Dot View™ case. It’s a match made in heaven and just rocks!

HTC Dot View™ I put cases into to very distinct categories.  Cases that are light duty to help protect from scratches and dings and ones that protect against major drops and abuse. The Dot View™ case fits the first. It’s made of lightweight plastic and protects not only the back, but the front facing glass of the smart phone as well. The front cover door is perforated with small round dots all over it. This allows the image on the screen to show through, similar to a coerce screen of sorts. The effect is pretty slick and really works well.

But this is much more than just a pretty face. The HTC Dot View™ case is beautifully integrated into the functionality of HTC One as well. When you open the case, the HTC One turns on, close the cover and it turns off. Pretty neat. Double tap on the front cover when closed and the HTC One lights up and displays the time and any notifications you may have missed. While it’s closed and sitting in view on your table or desk, the screen will light up for any notifications, messages, calls or emails. HTC has a cool app that can be downloaded from Google Play to set preferences for the HTC Dot View™ case. There you select different background themes. Don’t like what they offer, take your own picture and make it a background if you like.

HTC Dot View™ case totally 100% Tommy Approved! GET ONE NOW!
Want your own HTC Dot View™ case http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/dot-view-for-the-all-new-htc-one-m8/
For more information on how to get your very own HTC One M8 from Verizon, Here’s a link http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/device/smartphone/htc-one?&zipRdr=y

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

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TommyLog TECH – Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 #vzwbuzz #ad

Hello kids, for today’s TommyLog Tech I want to show you a small solution for one of biggest problems facing those who are bitten by the mobile tech lifestyle, the Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000.

The Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 is a super small, portable battery pack that recharges all your mobile tech gear. As the name suggests the Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 offers up to 4000 mAh of power. Well what’s the really mean to me? For you iPhones users, that means you can recharge your iPhone’s up to 3 times. Samsung galaxy Note 3 users can get more than a full charge and iPad mini, almost 75% recharge. That’s a lot of charging power packed into such a small size. This device is about the same physical size and weight as my iPhone 5S.

The Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 has a power button that and a set of 4 LED status lights that tells you how much charge is left in the battery. The power pack also has a industry standard micro USB as well as standard USB plug for all your charging needs. iPhone users just plug in your lightning cable to the USB port and away you go. The Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 can even charge 2 devices at the same time. That’s pretty awesome.

The Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 has built in computer circuitry to charge your device as fast as the device can take current, and is even smart enough to shut itself off when not in use. The computer brains allow the Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 to be plugged into the wall outlet at all times without over charging –so it’s ready to go when you are.

The Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 is totally Tommy Approved and is part of my mobile lifestyle!

For more information on how to get your very own Motorola Power Pack Slim 4000 from Verizon, Here’s a link http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/motorola-power-pack-slim-4000/

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

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TommyLog TECH – First impressions – HTC One (M8) #vzwbuzz #AD

For today’s TommyLog Tech I welcome the new HTC One (M8) to the fold and wanted to give my initial reactions to this new device.

I have to say it and say it loud, this thing is just gorgeous. Do not pass go, do not collect $200– drop dead gorgeous! The 5-inch screen is crystal clear in all its amazing glory. I’m darn near speechless at the fit and finish of this handset. HTC has knocked it out of the park on this and if Steve Jobs were to have made an Android handset, this would be it!

The all aluminum case is just so smooth and curved to fit in your hand perfectly. The phone is noticeably bigger than my daily driver iPhone 5S, but not as huge as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 I also use. You’ll notice that there’s no removable battery on the One (M8). Many manufacturers poked fun at the iPhones lack of removable battery –mums the word from HTC on that issue. ☺ After you get past the stunning screen and case, you’ll notice the dual front facing speakers.  I can’t comment on sound quality yet as I have not fully tested it but my initial reaction was good.

On software side of things, both the HTC One (M8) and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 run similar versions of Android 4.4.3 vs. 4.4.2 respectively. But to be fair, you wouldn’t know they were so similar when you use the different devices. HTC’s Sense vs. Samsung TouchWiz have many differences. Little things like moving the back button from the right to the left side, swiping down to get settings to HTC’s own BlinkFeed. The user experience device to device is very different and will take some getting used to.

One thing I like about the HTC One (M8) is the “Kid Mode.” Similar to the multi-user mode on the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, put the phone into “Kid Mode” and then hand it to your kids. In this mode they can take photos and videos and play just the games you want. No more dinking with your settings, deleting your contacts or worrying about them resetting the phone.

Stay tuned as will be spending much more time with the HTC One (M8) and give my full review on how it fits into my busy tech lifestyle.

At first glance, the HTC One (M8) is totally Tommy Approved!

For more information on how to get your very own HTC One M8 from Verizon, Here’s a link http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/device/smartphone/htc-one?&zipRdr=y

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

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TommyLog TECH – Emma’s Take – Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 edition #VZWbuzz #AD

Today for TommyLog TECH I’ve teamed up with my little 7-year-old daughter Emma to play with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 — 2014 edition from Verizon.

The first feature that I set up for Emma was the user account feature. You can set up accounts and restrict access to certain apps, so just the apps Emma wants are on her home screens. NOTE: Not all apps run property with user accounts set up. Apps like Gmail and Google syncing only work on the main “admin” account and not sub user accounts.

One of the built-in apps on the Galaxy Note 10.1 that Emma was just drawn to is the camera app. She takes pictures of everything around the inside and outside for the house including a huge load of selfies. The camera app of the Note 10.1, with built in photo editor abilities to add filters, effects, and draw on the screen with the S Pen, is a huge bonus for Emma and her creative skills

The last aspect of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Emma loves is the YouTube app. Emma is a HUGE lover of YouTube and searching for new content. One thing that Emma noticed immediately about the YouTube app on the Note 10.1 that differentiated it from the YouTube app on her iPad mini was the search capabilities. When you search, it starts giving you suggestions with each character that you type. This makes finding what she wants- as a new speller- easier and quicker!

Emma says that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 — 2014 edition from Verizon is totally Tommy Approved!

For more information on how to get your very own Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 — 2014 edition from Verizon, Here’s a link http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/device/tablet/samsung-galaxy-note-10-2014-edition?&zipRdr=y

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

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