SlideShow: HTC One Google Play Edition

I had the chance to check out a HTC One Google Play Edition briefly as well as compare it to my daily driver HTC One. Aside from the obvious difference that the Google Play version runs an unskinned version of Android's Jelly Bean 4.2.2 OS with no HTC Sense overlay whatsoever, the two devices are physically identical. Battery life on the Google Play Edition isn't as good as the regular HTC One and you apparently need to hack around to enable 4G-LTE which the regular version has working out of the box. The HTC One Google Play Edition, which will receive Android OS updates before other devices, isn't yet available to Canadians and costs $599.

Review: BlackBerry Q5

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

While BlackBerry’s bread and butter has long been the enterprise and government market, there was a time when it catered to a large user base of consumers.

Previous BB models like the Pearl and Curve smartphone lines offered the functionality and ease of use of the more expensive and luxurious Torch and Bold series without higher cost. They were a step up from feature phones and were made from cheaper materials and offered simpler features than the higher-end models

In the age of BlackBerry 10 OS, however, there hasn’t been a serious replacement for the consumer focused BlackBerry smartphones of the past. Until now.

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Samsung seeking smartwatch trademarks in US and S. Korea

Samsung's setting its sights on the emerging smartwatch market. The maker of Galaxies, Notes and Tabs just applied for U.S. and South Korean trademarks for a watch that connects to the Internet. Samsung's reserved the Samsung Gear and Samsung Galaxy Gear trademarks in the US and South Korea while describing a wearable and connected computing device that comes in the form of a wristwatch, bracelet or bangle.  More than just an adjunct or accessory, it seems like Samsung just might put a phone with limited smartphone functions on a wristwatch. This all remains to be seen but it is interesting to see Samsung trying to get first-mover advantage in the wearable computing segment.

Source: Yahoo!

Review: MIO Alpha Heart Rate Monitor

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The MIO Alpha looks like a trendy sports watch and it is, but it also has the very special function of being the first heart rate monitor you can wear on your wrist that accurately tracks your heart rate while interacting with a host of mobile apps

Starting out as an idea to solve the uncomfortable nature of chest-strapped heart rate monitors, the Mio Alpha is an elegant and effective solution that also opens up a host of possibilities.

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