The Well Connected Mom » Gadgets

The Last Smartphone Holdout – Why I Finally Broke Down and Got a Smartphone

jwiersma — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:27:32 +0000

By Jamie Wiersma

I admit it, I am one of the hold outs. I have a pay-as-you-go phone that really can’t do much more than make phone calls and text. And texting is NOT fun when you have to use the number keys!

I Resisted Getting a Smartphone for So Long for a Few Reasons:

First of all, I liked the cost of the pay-as-you go which for me, is very minimal because I don’t care to talk on the phone much.
I also don’t like being with people who are consumed by their phones to the point that they are being rude to the people that they are with. I didn’t want to become one of those people.

But, when I got the opportunity to try out HTC’s One S Smartphone for a month, I decided to give it a try. I was warned that I probably wouldn’t want to go back to my old phone and they were right – I’m hooked!

The HTC One S is a fantastic phone! Our family recently invested in a tablet and after getting accustomed to using it consistently during the day for little things like email, Facebook, Pinterest, and my Bible and book reading, my husband decided that he wanted to take it to work with him. I felt lost! We joked that we would need to get another tablet for the family. But, when I started using the HTC One S, I realized that it could do all the things that my tablet could do AND, I could easily take it with me and use it on the go.

Features that are Worth Talking About:

1. The Camera – This camera is wonderful! It is 8MP and takes great pictures. I used to carry a small camera in my purse to
capture everyday life with my kids. Now, I am able to have one less thing in my purse. This camera has fun features like a panoramic option and the ability to take pictures with fun effects. Another great feature is that the camera can also take HD video. Once you have the video, you can select specific spots of the video and turn it into a still picture which is great for things like sports so that you don’t miss that important shot! In addition, while you are shooting video, you can also take pictures at the same time! It is also super easy to upload pictures to Facebook, Dropbox, email them, etc.

Check out the vivid colors! The camera takes better

pictures than my point and shoot 8MP camera. The top picture

is the original. The others are adjustments that I made

on the camera. There are also other fun options that you can do

as you are taking pictures like Negative, Solarize and Distortion.

2. The Screen – The screen is big enough that I can read my Bible and books with ease. Sure you have to turn pages or scroll down more often than a tablet but it doesn’t hinder your reading. The screen is a 4.3″ qHD super AMOLEd Touch screen with a home screen that you can easily customize. I’ve sat outside several times and even in bright sun, the screen is very easy to see.

3. If you are using it as your MP3 player, you can’t beat the sound quality with Beats Audio technology. Even when you are just using the speaker, the sound is great!

Additional Pros:

1. Touch screen really responds well.

2. Loaded with a ton of useful apps like Flashlight, Navigation, Google Play, and Weather.

3. Very user friendly.

4. Great design – it is more durable than stainless steel and super thin.

Cons:

1. I’m not sold on the set up of the actual phone app. It is very sensitive and it is very easy to accidentally touch on a contact and call them. I worry about little fingers that might hit on the phone and call people without me knowing it.

2. Be careful when you first set up your phone that you know what you are syncing. I accidentally told the phone to sync all my Facebook friends to my phone book and now have all my friends who have their phone number posted on Facebook in my contacts whether or not I want it in there. So far, I have not figured out how to remove the ones that I don’t want there.

3. The battery life – I guess that’s just something to get used to! I hear that most smartphones have a short battery life.

From a Mom’s Perspective:

As a new smartphone user, I caught myself almost venturing into the world of rudeness and literally had to turn myself away from my phone and not get caught up in playing games while hanging out with my family. I’ve heard of some families who insist that everyone leave their phones at the door when they all get together and I’m thinking this might be a great thing to implement in my family. Learn more about mobile etiquette and teens and cellphone manners in our previous posts.

That being said, there have been a ton of times this month when it’s been fantastic to have the capabilities of a smartphone while out and about. From sitting in a busy parking lot and being able to call the restaurant and find out what the wait is, to recording a TV show via my phone, and pulling up coupons that I had forgotten to print (and now don’t have to print), having a smartphone definitely has its advantages. As far as the cost of plans, I’ve found that you need to shop around. There are plans out there that are affordable if you do your research. There are plenty of plans out there for any kind of user.

If you are looking for a phone that can serve multiple purposes, the HTC One S is the perfect phone for you! I am using it as an e-Reader, tablet, camera, GPS, MP3 player and my computer away from home. It is priced at $199 (suggested retail $599) with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile. Check out the features on the T-Mobile website for all the details of the phone. There are too many to write about. This phone is full of bells and whistles! Looking at the reviews, most people agree that this is a phone worth the investment.

* I was loaned the HTC One S smartphone in exchange for my honest opinions and review.

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The New Sony Android Tablet S

Lori Cunningham — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:20:44 +0000

by Lori Cunningham

While at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Techlicious invited me to a great mom blogger event where they showcased the new Sony Tablet S and two companies whose app/online program greatly aid moms and their families (AboutOne and A Day at Dollar General: Learn While Shopping). AboutOne has just become available and offers one place to keep all of our valuable info. on your family like records on health, home, vehicle, education, family contacts, and more. A Day at Dollar General is a great online program to teach your kids about saving your money and shopping wisely in a fun educational way, I highly recommend it, my kids have enjoyed it…and it’s free.

The Sony Tablet S

Back to the Sony Tablet S. All of the bloggers present were thrilled to try out the new Tablet S. It’s unique design was very intriguing and we were interested in discovering how such an entertainment mogul as Sony would customize their own tablet with entertainment possibilities. Sony gave each of us a Tablet S* to try out for ourselves. Once everyone received their Tablet S, the room grew silent as all the mom techs fervently swiped through windows and opened apps. The Tablet S has a number of impressive features:

Features:

Ergonomic – thicker on the top, slender at the bottom – designed to fit comfortably in your hand. Is also useful for typing when set on a table.
Built-in IR controls allow you to control your TV, DVR, Receiver, and more!
Built-in Universal IR Remote Control your devices – has a great remote control app that gives you the ability to control your TV, Blue-Ray player, receiver, and more
1 GB RAM memory – you can open many apps at once without loss of processing power
1 GHz Dual core processor
16 or 32 GB memory storage
Full size SD card expansion for additional memory – slick!
WiFi – b/g/n connection
Android 3.1 – Honeycomb
Dual cameras – front and 5 mp rear cameras
9.4″ (1280×800) touch panel
Mini USB port
Supports Flash
PS3 certified and preloaded with PS3 games
DLNA compliant – flick your pics and video to your DLNA compliant TV (pretty cool!)

Pros:

Love the menu button within each app on the Android – iPad doesn’t have this
Love the back button available in each app – iPad doesn’t have this
The only Android Honeycomb tablet with built-in IR Universal Remote Control feature is great – easy to set up and use. Temporarily misplaced your TV remote? No longer an issue, use your Tablet S… or play dueling remotes with your husband!
Playing the included PS3 titles are fun – great graphics (Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes)
Easy to hold – the Tablet S is slightly triangular in form so that it is easier to hold in your hand for longer time periods
This is the iMediaShare app on Tablet S that I used to "flick" pictures, videos, and other online programming up to my TV.
The full-size SD card slot is great – you can expand memory without having to buy a larger GB Tablet S
Great graphics with nice blacks for contrast

Cons:

The Power button is on the side – I have to search for it every time to turn on the tablet
Not a lot of availability yet for cases
The AC Adapter is not a standard one, so you must have the Sony Tablet S adapter to charge your Tablet S – it is not compatible with your current chargers
The WiFi capability is not strong and often drops. My other devices do a much better job at keeping the signal in the same room. This is a major concern.

Pricing

The Sony Tablet S comes in two memory sizes and priced proportionality:

16 GB $399.99
32 GB $499.99

With the new iPad priced at $499 for GB, Sony does provide a better value, more entertainment options, and a similar resolution camera.

Flick Your Pictures to Your TV?

You may have heard this term, “flicking your pictures to your TV” thrown around, but what exactly does it mean? The term “flick” means you can send the pictures, music, or video to your TV or other DNLA compliant device. OK, but what does DNLA mean and how do you know if your device is DLNA compliant? DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. According to Wikipedia,

The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a non-profit collaborative trade organization established by Sony in June 2003, that is responsible for defining interoperability guidelines to enable sharing of digital media between consumer devices such as computers, printers, cameras, cell phones, and other multimedia devices. These guidelines are built upon existing public standards, but the guidelines themselves are private (available for a fee). These guidelines specify a set of restricted ways of using the standards in order to achieve interoperability.^[3]

DLNA allows for devices with the DLNA protocol built-in to talk to discover, manage media, and control one another. Using software programs or apps, you can pick a video, song, or picture…look at your list of DLNA compliant devices, and “flick” the media to the device. All DLNA devices need to be connected to your network to work together.

Any device I buy I make sure they are DLNA compliant. All of our TV’s have DLNA, along with our new receiver, Ditto Media Storage drive, etc. This way I can show pictures or play music from my computer or phone on any of our TV’s. Sony preloaded an app called iMediaShare. I “flicked” up some great “pretty” pictures on our TV in our family room during a party – a scene of a castle, a sunset, etc. It was easy to do and really added to our atmosphere. This weekend, we had some friends over and we played the Kinect Black-eyed Peas Experience (what a fun game!). I shot photos and videos of everyone dancing and flicked them up to the TV, they loved it! I’ve never been able to display pictures so fast on a TV before. Love it.

PS3 Games…on a Tablet?

During the Techlicious Blogger event, I got the chance to play the Pinball Heroes game on the tablet with a PS3 controller. That was really fun. To connect your PS3 controller to your S tablet, you first need to buy a Tablet S USB dongle and follow these online instructions. It really added to the excitement of playing Pinball Heroes and Crash Bandicoot using a PS3 controller – it took my gameplay to another level. I don’t have the USB dongle at home, but I just ordered one so I can use our PS3 controller with the Tablet S at home with my six-year old son, I know he’ll love it, as he’s a fan of Crash Bandicoot.

Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited

Sony has recently introduced two new entertainment options across all their platforms called Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited. One login gets you into both. In Video Unlimited you can rent or buy SD and HD videos. I purchased the Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix*, as my nine-year old has made us all Harry Potter fans. The movie was 1700 mb, so I have plenty of room on my 16GB Tablet S to house the movie.

I browsed through Music Unlimited and enjoyed 15 second clips of music from the songs I chose. I was trying to determine which Taylor Swift album my daughter would enjoy the most. But then I realized that unlike Video Unlimited, Music Unlimited requires a monthly subscription, so I didn’t purchase it. Sony does offer the first month free but then you will be billed automatically to your credit card afterwards. The monthly cost is $9.99. However, you then have any album or song at your fingertips ready to play at a moment’s notice. You can listen to the music on any of your Sony devices…smartphone, tablet, TV, receivers, network speakers, etc. You can even create playlists.

More and more data is moving to the cloud which makes it handier and more accessible to us. No longer do you need to buy mp3′s, now you have access to them all anywhere with a monthly subscription. As I am a PS3 Ambassador, I can’t wait to further explore the synergies between the PS3 and the PS Vita with regards to gaming, pictures, music, and more. It’s so exciting what the future of technology and access of data will bring. Sony with its media powerhouse of music, movies, and games will continue to drive innovation and synergies.

* I was given a Sony S tablet and a code for use in the Music/Video Unlimited app in exchange for my honest feedback. All expressed opinions are my own.

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Stop Worrying about Video Games

Lori Cunningham — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:04:54 +0000

By Jennifer Comet Wagner

Editor’s Note: Jennifer Comet Wagner is a fellow mom techie and good friend of mine. She blogs about connecting

with your teens through pop culture and technology at ConnectwithYourTeens.net. She recently authored the ebook,

The Gamer Generation: Reaping the Benefits of Video Games. She can also be found on

her website http://www.jennifercometwagner.com.

Parents have many things to worry about. It comes with the job. However, one of the things that many

parents worry about needlessly is playing video games. As you will see, gaming conveys many benefits

to the player, with very little downside.

Why don’t you know about these benefits? The newspapers love to write stories about violence in video
games because it sells. However there have been hundreds of studies during the last decade on video
games benefits and some that also show that violent video games do not create violent kids. The fact
that parents were only hearing one side of the story was the reason that I decided to write The Gamer
Generation: Reaping The Benefits of Video Games.

Here is a list of the various benefits discussed the in the ebook:
In my book, The Gamer Generation, I share many resources – articles, books, websites, videos, etc.

1. Socialization – For most teens, gaming is a social activity and a major component of their overall
social experience.
2. Physical and Health Benefits – With all the new motion controllers, kids don’t sit still while
playing anymore. Video games are being created to help with a number of medical conditions.
3. Violence in Video Games: The Studies You Don’t See – “Video games are bad for you? That’s
what they said about Rock ‘n Roll.” There are a number of studies that disprove the theory that
violent video games make gamers violent.
4. Cognitive and Creative Benefits – Today’s video games are so complex that gamers become
experts at multitasking with improved cognitive processing.
5. Video Games in Education – Kids enjoy learning when they are having fun. And games are
perfect for education with the game design of clear goals, leveling up, ability to risk take and
rewards.
6. Educational Value of Video Game Creation – “It is paradoxical that many educators and parents
still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital
connection between them.”

Author Jennifer Comet Wagner with a character from Pop Cap's Plants Vs. Zombies.

7. Business and Careers – In Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, players develop the
ability to multitask, think creatively, work in teams, and become leaders.
8. Serious Games – “Serious games are games with purpose beyond just providing entertainment.”
Serious games are being created in many areas that are impacting the world with charitable and
other endeavors.
9. Family Connections – Video games can bring families together. There are so many family
friendly games that families can spend hours having fun together.

A recent article that I’d like to recommend is Are Video Games Good for Girls? This is another excellent
article that brings out many of the benefits of video games.

As long as your kids play age-appropriate games, and don’t play every waking moment, gaming is not

something to worry about at all. It can actually be a very good thing. Give it a try so that you too might
reap the benefits of video games.

To find out more, you can find Jennifer Comet Wagner’s ebook, The Gamer Generation: Reaping the Benefits of Video Games at Amazon.com.

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