GeekSugar

13 New CES Smartphones You Should Know About

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:50:48 PST

There were a number of smartphones introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, ranging from large and powerful to sleek and sexy. Which will you choose? Get to know each of them a little better here.

Pick a Phone, Any Phone: AT&T Unleashes an Army of New Smartphones at CES

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:41:28 PST

There are many (many, many) smartphones being unveiled at CES this year, and AT&T has announced at least eight of them. Six Android and two Windows phones will be coming soon to the network, all of which will feature 4G LTE speeds. Get to know each of them a little better here. Which will you choose?

Polaroid Throws the SC1630 in the WiFi Camera Ring

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:15:01 PST

There's a trend in the air at CES - a WiFi-enabled camera trend, to be exact. Polaroid is among the companies offering a camera to get you online. The SC1630 Smart Camera harnesses the power of an Android-operating smartphone minus the monthly texting plan.

The 16MP, 3X optical zoom camera uses a 3.2-inch touch screen display to easily share pictures and videos across the World Wide Web of social networks, thanks to its included WiFi and Bluetooth connection. Photos are automatically organized within the camera by date, location, and those smiling people in the shot. Just like any other mobile device, the camera includes a geo-location feature so you don't forget where each memory was made.

The price of Polaroid's SC1630 Smart Camera is still up in the air; look for the camera to hit stores sometime in 2012.

Lenovo Gets on the Ice Cream Sandwich Train With a TV

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:41:38 PST

You've probably often thought "I could use an Android-running TV in my life." Well, Lenovo has totally read your mind and announced its K91 at CES. A 55-inch 3D HDTV running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the K91 offers full 1080p, holds a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB storage, and WiFi, along with Ethernet, HDMI, SD card, USB 2.0 ports. It even has a 5MP webcam to boot.

Interesting features include facial recognition, 100 pre-loaded apps, and video on-demand. The TV can even be controlled through speech or a compatible Android mobile device.

Expect pricing and availability details soon!

Instagram Coming to Android . . . Soon

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:20:28 PST

Good news, Android lovers: the überpopular (and one of the best iPhone photography apps of 2011), Instagram is coming to the Android platform! Speaking at the Paris LeWeb conference today, Instagram chief executive Kevin Systrom says that there is a team working on the app now, but has no word on when it will become available.

Instagram has risen to fame among mobile photographers and currently has 50 million users after launching just last year.

Best of 2011: Apps For Parents and Parents-to-Be

Kate Stahl — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:02:22 PST

Whether you're tracking the days until your lil one arrives, attempting to organize your hectic family life, or trying to capture those adorable smiling faces, there's an app for you. Check out the 20 must-have apps that made our lives easier - and more fun! - this year.

Why You Should Stick to Using a Passcode Instead of Facial Recognition on Android 4.0

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 06:09:06 PST

One of the more awesome features of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is facial recognition. This new feature allows you to unlock your cell phone just by sticking your face in front of the camera sensor. This sounds like something straight out of the future, but one Android developer found that it may be a quick way for your phone to be hacked. In the video below, this reviewer shows that your phone can actually be opened with just a picture of your face. Maybe it's best to stick with a good old-fashioned passcode from here on out?

How-To: Safely Clean Your Cell Phone

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:10:22 PST

Think about how many surfaces you touch throughout the day - door handles, hand rails, elevator buttons, ATM screens - and then consider how many times you touch your cell phone before washing your hands. Gross, right? So it should come as no surprise (or maybe it will) that a recent study shows 16 percent of cell phones have poop on them. Not only that, but our keyboards are home to 60 times more germs than a toilet seat, which is 150 times over the acceptable limit for bacteria. Dis-gus-ting.

If that doesn't make you want to immediately clean your entire workstation, I don't know what will. While using some disinfectant wipes on your keyboard and desk often will do the trick for keeping your space grime-free, the same cannot be said for cell phones. Get the lowdown on how to clean your sensitive smartphones here.

Martha Stewart's Magazines Heading to Android

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:27:34 PST

We've known for a while that Martha Stewart is a two tablet-toting tech geek, but we've often wondered which one she prefers. I think we've finally gotten our answer. In a new interview with Refinery 29, Martha waxes poetic about the screen resolution on her new Galaxy Tab (which she uses primarily to watch movies) and says that it "might be a little more comfortable to hold than the iPad."

Though she uses her iPad to flip through her digital magazines, the crafting love will soon spread to other platforms. Martha and her team are working on bringing the Martha Stewart Magazine app to the Android Marketplace soon. Once that happens, will Martha ever use the iPad again?

Amazing New Features Coming With Galaxy Nexus and Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:35:13 PDT

Google and Samsung announced the new Galaxy Nexus this evening in Hong Kong, which will be running the latest Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich. New features coming with the OS are extensive and pretty amazing: facial recognition lets you unlock the phone with your face, NFC technology that has been partnered up with an app called Android Beam, which lets you share information and content with other Android users, lots of Google + integration and upgrades, along with a Movie Studio app so you can edit and perfect your mobile vids on the go.

As far as the Galaxy Nexus goes, it's a beautiful monster coming with a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, a teardrop-shaped bod (that's only 8.9mm at its thinnest), and soft Home, Recent Apps, and Back buttons (instead of physical buttons on the casing). Swipe gestures are emphasized on Ice Cream Sandwich, allowing you to swipe away messages, recent apps, and even swipe up during an incoming phone call to send predrafted text messages if you don't want to be bothered. The on-board camera comes in at 5MP, which is surprisingly low compared to other top-notch camera phones on the market, with a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video calls.

Stay tuned for more, including pricing and release date info!