TLDR: The next thing I want in an e-Reader is a rear display

Posted on by Adam Doud

I was given this assignment at the beginning of the week by my colleague Michael Fisher. And I was excited about it.  I totally get it. That would be awesome! My mind instantly started thinking of the possibilities. I thought of the YotaPhone. I thought of low power consumption. I thought of Netflix. All in one device! This is a killer idea. One device to rule them all Imagine hefting your Kindle Fire and firing up Netflix. You watch another episode of House of Cards. Kevin Spacey is killing it. Suddenly you get a ...

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TLDR: Android needs better stock live wallpapers

Posted on by Taylor Martin

Android is often touted as the most flexible mobile platform available. The appearance of the UI is not only in the hands of the OEM that alters the source code, but also in the hands of the user, who can download launcher replacements, themes, widgets, and even flash custom builds of the software to their phone. Since November 2008, Android’s official birth, the overall appearance of the platform has changed. It’s been improved and unified in almost every way. Gone are the days of ...

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Microsoft and Google – grow up!

Posted on by Adam Doud

I have two kids. We’ll call them Adam Jr. and Adam III. They fight. They fight a lot. As a parent, it is my job to break up these fights and love them unconditionally, even as I put them in time out and count the grey hairs. As mobile technology enthusiasts, dear readers, you also have two children. Let’s call them Microsoft and Google. Microsoft and Google are going through a hard time right now. They’re step-children whose parents got married and are now Microsoft is forced to live in Google’s room. Neither of them like it. And they’re ...

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Samsung makes a case for the removable battery at Lollapalooza in Chicago

Posted on by Adam Doud

We try to keep things on the level here folks. Despite what many claim, tech writers in general try to keep bias off the keyboard when writing. Sure we all have our favorite devices, and some devices we’d just as soon feed to an angry squirrel than use as a daily driver. That’s because we’re passionate about technology. You can’t have passion without some amount of preference. But that preference is channeled into useful and constructive criticism and praise which makes us the phone ninjas you read every day. But every now and then, something comes across the feeds ...

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The new Nexus tablet has a rear facing camera. Damn It.

Posted on by Adam Doud

It was just over a year ago, that our fearless leader, Brandon Miniman kicked off what has become a grand tradition of short, gut-reaction editorials – TL;DR. Now, with the release of the new Nexus tablet, Mr. Miniman’s editorial has been thrown asunder, his hopes and dreams dashed against the unyielding stones of progress and consumerism. Ok, so it’s not that tragic, but still. A rear-facing ...

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Smartphone holsters were a blight on fashion – but I still miss them

Posted on by Michael Fisher

It ain’t easy being Captain2Phones. Especially in the summer, pocket space is minimal, and sacrificing two of them for mobile devices leads to a tough key-and-wallet-juggling act … and no small amount of discomfort if a phone decides to run hot. Even if you’re not dual-wielding mobiles like some modern-day gunslinger, you’re still probably devoting an entire pants pocket to your smartphone on account of its

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The Moto X will become a victim of its own hype

Posted on by Taylor Martin

While it may not be the most wildly rumored smartphone ever (I’m sure one of the iPhones owns that title), the mystery phone of Motorola’s big return has generated a substantial amount of hype. As per usual, when piecing together a few pieces of a rather large puzzle, some of the predictions and rumors have … missed the mark. Rumors of the X Phone (or XFON) began towards the end of 2012, followed by video of a mysterious Motorola-branded handset with no volume rocker. And ever since, it’s been a roller ...

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Stop &^!^^@& bleeping my &^!^^@& texts

Posted on by Adam Doud

The other day, I was using Windows Phone’s “Baby-Siri” to text a friend of mine after a frustrating experience. “Nevermind”, I said “Turns out the guy is a &^!^^@&”, only I didn’t say “&^!^^@&” I said…well, this is a family friendly site. But it sort of drove me nuts. I wasn’t just angry, I was ……&^!^^@&…..gar! Now, I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but listen up, phone. Stop &^!^^@& bleeping my &^!^^@& texts. If that &^!^^@& is coming out of of my &^!^^@& mouth, it ...

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Buttonless unlock on everything: it is time

Posted on by Michael Fisher

In the past six months, I’ve handled some of the world’s most advanced mobile technology, including BlackBerry’s new Z10 flagship, Nokia’s one-of-a-kind N9 smartphone, and Sony’s super-portable Xperia Tablet Z. And the thing I value most from these experiences isn’t the Z10′s unified messaging ...

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TLDR: Putting a thick case on a thin phone is tasteless. Stop it.

Posted on by admin

I saw something the other day that made me sad. Very sad. It was a slim, sleek, ultra light Samsung GSIII, with a freaking BMW strapped to it. Ok, so it wasn’t a BMW, but it was a case that looked like a snow tire wrapped around the phone. The back of the phone was literally 1 cm off the table top. Dang, it was ugly. And the sheer size of these monstrosities. Manufacturers put so much money into making their phones thin and light, and then we consumers take that design a chuck it right out the window for the cheapest piece of rubber we can pull off a shelf at a mall kiosk. It’s ...

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Why Did You Choose Your Carrier?

Posted on by admin

A lot of factors play in a decision that ends in you agreeing to keep a service in good standing for upwards of two years. Each and every time I go to upgrade one of my lines, it gives me pause. There’s just something daunting about signing a two-year agreement, something that makes you think, “My contract will end soon. Is it time to shop around again?” My first cell phone was a Motorola T720c (dumb phone) through Alltel. It was a hand-me-down that my mother had used for about a year. I was 14 and I was in a band, playing shows almost every weekend and spending a lot of ...

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Why Don’t I Have Weather Overlays In Turn-By-Turn Navigation?

Posted on by admin

I was driving from Canada to Boston several months back, about halfway back from the BlackBerry 10 unveiling in Toronto, when an unfriendly darkness crept up over the horizon ahead. Talking to my father on the phone, I mentioned that I was somewhere in eastern New York State, and he asked if I was driving into any weather; apparently he’d seen mention on TV of a storm in the region. My eyes flashed to my other phone, the BlackBerry Z10 review unit I’d just picked up, which was propped up ...

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4.3 Inches at 720p: The HTC First Packs A Rare Beauty of a Screen

Posted on by admin

It’s a little early for us to post our full impressions of the HTC First, but while we’re waiting to put the device through its paces, let’s briefly talk about what the new “Facebook phone” means in terms of screen size. Longtime readers will be familiar with the display-dimensions discussion, which we’ve had a

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Dear Nokia, Please Reboot Your Phone Designs

Posted on by admin

Oh no! Just how many variations on the same design can the market take? I guess the fair answer to that is different from person to person and there’s always the good old saying according to which you shouldn’t fix something that is not broken (or, in this case, that still sells). Apple’s iPhones look fairly the same; of course there are differences from one major iteration to the other (3, 4, 5) but the design principle is alike. Before Samsung launched its Galaxy S 4 I was praying for a new design because the current pebble-like aspect has been used and abused like a ...

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Don’t Advertise the Flashy Features – Advertise the Useful Ones

Posted on by admin

I was sitting on my couch the other day, and I had an epiphany. I was watching an epic crime-fighting show, and saw this come across my DVR. It was a video showing off Apple’s noise cancelling microphone and about how it makes this mini-orchestra so much quieter so you can talk, as seen below. Immediately, smart aleck that I am, I shot off this tweet - But then something occurred to me -

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