Nov 01

Who’s 3rd Quarter Was Shinier?

By AndroidMan Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News No Comments »

The results are in, some later than others and to some surprised gasps Apple is not number 1 this 3rd quarter. Although that shouldn’t be that big of a surprise since their Apple 4 was beginning to age compared to how quickly they released newer editions in the past, which will change this 4th quarter. Anyway, it seems two companies have sprung ahead of the fruit logo giant, HTC and Samsung. HTC, though late to the survey party, has beaten both Samsung and Apple pretty badly, shipping upwards of 5.7 Million smart phones this quarter. Which is pretty impressive when you take a look at the second placer, Samsung, with 4.9 million and Apple trailing in third at 4.6 million. Engadget has some more interesting information on this very subject.

Does this mean anything significant? Yes and no. Yes, because HTC phones are of great quality, especially their incredible line and samsung’s phones are well known for their clear and crisp screens on their Galaxy lines. The numbers speak for themselves in what the customer wants. No, because the iPhone 4s will change up that number right quick, and now that Nokia has some major Windows phones coming out, they may come running up to one the top spots. Not to mention the holiday season is obviously a busy time for any and all electronics.

We here at TheBlueDot actually have plenty of HTC, Samsung and iPhones for sale at www.thebluedot.net or you can trade in your old and used phones at www.thebluedot.net/tradein

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Oct 25

Tablets the New Netbooks?

By AndroidMan Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News No Comments »

When the first iPad came out I was already an anti-tablet fan. I found them over priced, under powered and just an over sized smart phone that doesn’t make calls. I suppose that is more true for the iPad as it’s design is almost identical to their phones… But it isn’t true anymore. I have been eyeing up the Kindle Fire, patiently awaiting its release so I can jailbreak it and have a very cheap, light android tablet. Engadget released an article today that actually surprised me. Not because it is so obvious, but because I completely forgot about netbooks. It seems more tablets have been shipped than netbooks, which means probably one thing, netbooks are on their way out.

Continue reading »

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Oct 05

iPhone 4S and that S Means a Lot

By AndroidMan Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

So the apple conference came and went. No word on the iPhone 5 yet, but apple did officially announce the iPhone 4S, an improved iPhone 4 that may just be worth the upgrade. So what are these major improvements to an already popular iPhone edition? Voice. It seems the next generation of smart phones are really pushing voice control and the iPhone 4S touts Siri, an advance voice recognition software. In the testing room many people got to try out this new software and one of the first things many people tried to do was slip it up. The folks over at Engadget.com asked it weird requests “We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests, including the history of Chester, Vermont (a lovely town) and the best Ramen places in San Francisco. Siri never faltered, never missed a beat.”

Google may have had the first step into the future of Near Frequency Technology, but Apple now has their foot out the door with advance voice controls. No matter what people threw at the new Siri software it seemed to keep up with them almost every time. Voice control may seem like a minor thing until you try it out, I get slight chills every time I am able to control movies on my Xbox 360 via the Kinect voice controls like characters did with their computer on Star Trek. But voice controls aren’t the only thing the new iPhone 4S is packing!

The iPhone 4S has quite the hardware, like the apple A5 dual-core processor, making menu navigation and app start ups appear much quicker. Not only does the iPhone have a new processor, it also has a new camera. The iPhone 4 had a 5MP camera with 720p video capture. The new iPhone 4S has a 8MP camera and 1080p video capture. When being tried out in the test rooms, it appeared the camera had better resolution, but it was difficult to tell if it was better at capturing images. The room was, apparently, inadequate for testing such a thing, so we will have to wait for hands on reviews of the camera to find out if it has improved in capturing as well. The battery has taken a bit of a downgrade, though that can be blamed on the new hardware. In standby, the iPhone 4S lasts about 200 hours, which is 100 less than the iPhone 4. Depending on what you do for a living, and how often you charge your phone, this may be an issue.

Already, people are beginning to trade in their iPhone 4′s for the upcoming iPhone 4S, even though the iPhone 5 may be just around the corner. The new iPhone 4S will retail from $199 for the 16GB model, to $399 for the 64GB model. If you’re looking to update to the iPhone 4S and want to get rid of your iPhone 4, you can trade in your old iPhone 4 with us at TheBlueDot.net

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Mar 01

Vodafone Now Making Jewelry From Recycled Cell Phones

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

vodafone-circuit-owlThis seems like an interesting idea that will probably catch on. Vodaphone is now making jewelry and key chains from the innards of recycled cell phones.

I’m not sure that using a motherboard as a key chain is actually recycling though. Yeah, you’re keeping it out of a landfill but for how long? You’re going to eventually throw it away right?

Apparently, these things are going to sell for six bucks. Meh… the owl looks cool, but I think I’d rather have a Big Mac.

Full article at engadget

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Nov 06

Motorola Android Review

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews 12 Comments »

DroidSince its recent release, the device that many are hailing as the newest “iPhone killer,” the Motorola Droid, has been getting some great reviews. If you haven’t already been moved to research the device from Motorola’s suspenseful ad-campaign for the Droid, the Droid is the newest smart phone from Motorola (on Verizion), and it is powered by Google’s Android 2.0 software. Apple’s iPhone has surely set the standard of what smart phones should do but if anyone can de-throne them, we’d put our money on Google.

The first thing that many hands on reviews of the device have reported is that it instantly feels very quick. Browsing menus and switching between applications is really fast, and it’s clear that the Android 2.0 platform is a big step up from its predecessors. In combination with its snappy processor, the Droid’s gigantic 3.7-inch display, containing over 400,000 pixels, makes web browsing easier than it has ever been. The impressive screen also displays impressive pictures from the Droids 5 mega-pixel camera, which has flash, zoom, and auto-focus. The Droid also records video of incredible quality as is shown in the review at engadget.Droid 2

Because the Droid runs Google’s Android software, it comes with Google Maps and Google’s navigation, built in and for free. The voice guided navigation looks really impressive and should definitely save you from having to buy a stand-alone navigation system. Motorola is offering a suction-cup window cradle for the Droid, which contains magnets allowing the Droid to automatically convert to Navigation Mode.

Another cool accessory for the Droid is the alarm clock cradle. When you insert the Droid into the cradle, the units combine to form a really nice looking alarm clock. If you’re like me, you use your phone as your alarm clock anyway, so this just makes it easier and more stylish.

Photo from engadget.com

Photo from engadget.com

The Droid also includes a 550MHz Texas Instruments OMAP3430 processor, separate PowerVR GPU, 256MB of RAM, CDMA Rev A., Wi-Fi, GPS, a digital magnetometer, accelerometer, proximity sensors, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, notification LED, four touch-sensitive navigation buttons, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5mm headset jack, and a microUSB port.

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