Lifesperience

With manufacturers working overtime to pump out wearable electronics, do you feel that they are worth your time and money? For the last 2+ years, I have used my trusty ipod nano with various wristbands depending on what I'm doing.  I also have a Bluetooth adapter which works great with my wireless headphones or the car.  With 8GB of storage, long battery life, and it's diminutive size (even with the Bluetooth adapter) I find that the Nano still suits my needs. Samsung Gear Fit Samsung Gear 2 That said, this year, the Samsung Gear Fit has piqued my interest.  While pricing has yet to be determined, it finally looks like Samsung may be on the right track for wearable electronics.  The original Gear watch was clunky, expensive, and way too expensive for its limited functionality.  The Gear 2 has made some progress to make the watch itself more useful, but without a price announcement, it will probably be too expensive for its functionality and end up a niche p

After rumors and the occasional leaks this morning, Samsung has finally unveiled the Galaxy S5.  The redesign (which Samsung is calling modern glam look) includes new colors, a new style of back cover, an improved camera, and better battery life.  Read on for the basic run down on today's announcement. Galaxy S 5 The current colors shown are black, white, copper gold-ish, and blue. The front still has a home button with a fingerprint scanner and the capacitive buttons.  The back is a perforated material that is reminiscent of the original Nexus 7.  Overall, it looks like the Galaxy S4 melded with the Nexus 7 (2012) back. Other things of note: The first phone equipped with a heart rate sensor.  Included is connectivity with the Gear 2,and  Gear 2 Neo which are smart watches as well as the Gear fit which is a fitness band.   The GUI has been redesigned to have a less cluttered look. 5.1 inch Full HD Super Amoled Screen.   (1080p) 2.5ghz Snapdragon 801 (Krait) wi

Recently, Apple Inc. co-founder  Steve Wozniak made ripples in the news due to his opinion that Apple should look into making an Android device .  While many agreed with him, many also derided him for stating his opinion.   Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle on this.  In my opinion, all Apple needs to do is create a "Boot Camp" app for iOS and let third parties (such as  Cyanogen Inc.) handle the rest. Before some of you pick up your pitchforks and torches, Apples current success is the result of loosening their grip on many of their restrictive policies over the years.  I'll give some examples: Apple releases iPod and iTunes to Windows (eventually switches to USB instead of just firewire):    Massive success for Apple. Apple drops mandatory DRM on AAC files: Massive success for Apple. Apple switches from PPC to Intel chips:   Massive success for Apple. Apple adds Boot Camp for Dual Booting with Windows on Apple Hardware:    Massive success for A

As the last console produced by Sega, the Dreamcast is fondly remembered by gamer's everywhere.  Released in 9.9.99 in the USA, the Dreamcast initially sold well and had a killer library for its time. Unfortunately, the absence of a DVD drive and rampant piracy (at least according to rumors) meant the early demise of this system.  The PS2 had arguably better graphics and a built in DVD drive which at the time meant that the system performed double duty for many gamers since stand alone DVD players were still expensive at the time.  Sadly, in 2001 Sega threw in the towel and discontinued the Dreamcast.  A few games were released afterwards (technically until 2007) but the system was effectively dead. "It's thinking.." Many of Dreamcast's classics have been ported over to other consoles as straight ports and/or sequels.  For example, the title shot of this article, Namco's Soul Calibur has been recently released on Android, as well as being available

"R" rating? I'd buy that for a dollar... When it was originally released in 1987, RoboCop was a film that was way ahead of its time.  While the special effects look laughable by today's standards, the storyline, direction, soundtrack, ultra-violence, and satire raised this "R" rated film to a level that none of its sequels have been able to live up to. The 2014 version of RoboCop (Rated: PG-13 ) does not break that trend.  However, it's not a terrible film either.  It just feels like it's missing that polish that could have made it a great film.  With the current state of the city of Detroit, drone strikes being real, and the current global economy run by multi-national companies, you don't really need to suspend your belief all that much.  The Robo-basics are here.  OmniCorp wants to mass produce robots to patrol city streets, but there are complications.  Alex Murphy still dies, becomes a cyborg, still has to deal with corrupt sen

Over the last week, there has been a lot of coverage on the "Flappy bird" app which was mysteriously pulled  (with advance warning) from both the iOS and Android's app stores a few days ago. It turns out that  you can still install it on your devices as long as you're signed into your account if  you have previously installed the app from the Play store or App store .   This is a normal behavior for iOS users even when Apple removes an app.  With the Play store (in my experience) that is not always the case.  Once an app is removed, it may really be removed forever with no way to get it back other than installing an apk file from outside the Play Store. For Flappy Birds addicts, luckily this is not the case.  As long as you're logged into your Google account, you will see the app appear under the "My Apps" section of the Play Store.  On your Android device, go to the "ALL" tab to see it.  On a web browser, no extra step is required. Wh

Customization is one of Android's biggest strengths over its major mobile competitors.  Unlike iOS, Windows Phone, BB10, and Web OS, if you do not like the stock interface on your device, you can completely change it.  It's a great option for those who like to tinker with their device while those who do not can simply enjoy their stock launcher set up. The option to set a "live" wallpaper has been a stock option since the early days of android.  It used to suck up battery like some technological vampire as well as run slow on some devices, but that is rarely much of a problem these days.  Advances in technology have made the OS more battery friendly and efficient, and hardware has also come a long way in power saving.  Many devices also come with higher capacity batteries to cope with our always on and connected world. Enter the recently released  Muzei  live wallpaper by  Dashclock  developer  Roman Nuri .  This  free  wallpaper (with no ads!) will spruce up y

As a fan of the "Ace Attorney" series since first hearing about "that lawyer game" on the original Nintendo DS, I am saddened that this game has been released as a digital only title.  That is the reason that this is such a late review of the product from me.  I refuse to buy from Nintendo's eshop due to their anti-consumer policies.  Especially when it comes to full price titles like this.  At $30, this is definitely not in the forgettable "Angry Birds" 99cent territory or even in the Square-Enix $7-$15 territory.  Granted, this is an entirely new game.  It's not a completely fair comparison BUT, Android and iOS don't tie your games to a single hardware device.  There are two 3DS machines in my home, a standard 3DS and an XL model.  This game was downloaded on the 3DS but I would have loved to play on the XL.  Sadly, because it has a different family members account on it, that was not possible without difficulty.  With a physical release,