A contract finally came up in my Verizon family plan, and since my wife got my Motorola Droid X recently, it was my turn to get a new phone. My first thought was: “How could I not get a 4G phone this time around (since its there)?!?”
Verizon has two to choose from, the HTC Thunderbolt and the Samsung Charge and the LG Revolution. I chose the Thunderbolt (TB) because I thought it had the best:
- device specs (camera, screen res., etc)
- form factor (by far)
- reviews
I bought the phone from Amazon since it was about $60 cheaper on there and I will avoid dealing with Verizon as much as possible (while I’m at it… same goes for Time Warner)!
The device is amazing. It has a great screen, great cameras (both front and rear), 4G is SUPER fast. Really impressive stuff! A real Gamechanger.
The devise is horrible. The battery drains faster that my kitchen sink! This is something that the WHOLE industry is going to have to deal with in what I will call the SmartPhone 2.0 Era.
The problem is two fold on this device. First, 4G is a HUGE power hog. So much so that after the novelty of it wore off, I switched to 3G only (I figure if I need speed, I’ll just turn it back on). Second, more pervasive in smart phones as a whole, if I want to take photos (with the awesome camera) or use my phone as a fitbit type device (because its silly to carry around Y.A.D.), or check in everywhere on Foursquare with the help of the onboard GPS, the paltry 1400 mAh battery just doesn’t cut it, AT ALL!
I had to buy this Seido 3200 mAh battery yesterday so I can get through the day (fingers crossed).
The rest of the review:
- browser: real nice.
- video recording: video quality is great, audio sucks. htc needs a second mic!
- HTC sense 3.0: loaded a BaMF ROM w/ HTC Sense 3.0, and while i don’t love sense in general, sense 3.0 is pretty neat.
- Desktop mode: Lame that the battery charger is on the side the phone needs to rest on for the built in kickstand. This is the worst engineered part of the devise (besides the battery choice :)
I was super excited that when I got home yesterday my Chromebook was sitting on my doorstep fresh from the shelves of the closest Amazon fulfillment center (Google gave them to Google I/O attendees and used Amazon to get to everyone, smart!).
After opening the box, I was pleasantly surprised with the size and weight of the Chromebook! At first glance it seems like the perfect size and weight. Not as tiny and compact as a netbook, like an Eeepc (eeew), or too big like a Macbook.
The first Bootup was fast. Not instant, but fast! And after a pretty quick software update and Google login, I was in!
My first impressions: This is a pretty big paradigm shift.
All you have is a browser, which is really all you really need anymore. Whether people realize this or not is another story which will determine the success or failure of ChromeOS.
At home, all my wife and I do at this point is check email, read (blogs, news, twitterz), share pictures of our daughter with family, and some light blogging/word processing/spreadsheeting tasks.
For these tasks, so far, the Chromebook seems perfect! (especially at free.99)
Already I realize that I cant haz codez at home, but that is the only real limiting factor I have seen so far.
The Chromebook seems to be the best in between for a work computer and a tablet.
Radio Twitter
You’re a rabid user of Twitter but you do not have time to read all the messages that follow on the social network? Now you can have them read aloud! So does the U.S. site twejay.com. Simply type in your Twitter ID and voice synthesis will then be debited without interruption all posts by people you follow. It’s convenient. Especially for going crazy on Twitter since it never stops and mini-messages of 140 characters successive day and night. That said, why not imagine a radio broadcast that Twitter only news posted by his friends? And even a car Twitter? For now, unfortunately, the site is only English and therefore favors the French with an American accent is incomprehensible. Try it, anyway, out of curiosity, at: www.twejay.com.
When Twitter gives voice - Chronicles - Find all the chronicles of France Info - France Info
[translated from French using Google Translate]
One of Tarantino’s better inside jokes is to have the German-born Fassbender playing a Brit who impersonates a Nazi and jeopardizes the mission with his imperfect accent.
The Movie Review: ‘Inglourious Basterds’ | The New Republic
