Articles – Page 11

Julie’s gadget diary – The Pixel 3 XL is nice phone, but I sent it back

ARTICLE – After Google’s Pixel 3 XL unveiling a couple of weeks ago, I immediately ordered one because I’m a sucker for newphoneia, that feeling you get when you order a new phone and the anticipation that it will make your life easier, better, and more fun. At least I think that was what was going on in my head when I pressed the BUY button on Google’s online store.

The Pixel 2 XL has been my daily driver for the past year and except for a couple issues with Bluetooth and now with WiFi, it’s been a great phone. I’ll even say that it’s my all-time favorite phone to date. So the Pixel 3 XL should be a great upgrade to the Pixel 2 XL right? That’s what I figured and that’s why I ordered the 128GB version for a wallet shuddering $999.

A few days later FedEx delivered my new phone and my immediate impression was one of deja vu.

One phone above is the Pixel 2 XL and one is the new Pixel 3 XL. Can you tell which one is which? Upon first glance, they look almost identical if you have a black background image as I do. The new phone is the one on the right. The top speaker is narrower and the front-facing camera and ambient light sensor are on either side of the speaker which is in the greatly hyped and greatly despised notch.

I personally don’t care one way or another about the notch or notches in general. The one on the Pixel 3 XL doesn’t bother me and I don’t think it looks ugly. I’d rather NOT have a notch, but the fact that it’s there doesn’t make my life worse or harms the performance of the phone.

The front of the Pixel 3 XL looks relatively unchanged and so does the back of the phone. But the Pixel 3 XL does feel different. The bottom matte area doesn’t have as much texture as the Pixel 2 XL, it’s smoother and a little more slippery. That’s because the back of the phone is glass to allow for wireless charging.

I used to be a huge advocate for Qi charging and sorely missed it when I moved on from my hacked Samsung Galaxy S3 ages ago and haven’t had that feature since. Not having wireless charging hasn’t been a hardship now that we have fast USB charging. But congrats to Google for finally adding that feature now that I really don’t care about it any longer.

Right away I was bummed that the Pixel 3 XL was so much like the 2 XL. I even took the Pitaka Aramid case off my Pixel 2 XL and it fit the 3 XL perfectly.

It only took me a few hours of using the 3 XL until I headed back to the Google store and …

Started the return procedure. Did I give up on this shiny new phone too soon? I really don’t think so. For everyday use, the 3 XL felt exactly the same as using my 2 XL. It didn’t feel significantly snappier, and when I took side by side pics with both phones, I couldn’t tell a major difference between them. Here are some quick examples.

Also a lot of the updates wit the Pixel 3 are software updates which will come to the Pixel 2 line soon. So that was enough to make me change my mind very quickly about keeping this new phone.

I was annoyed that Google is charging a restocking fee. Have the always done that? I don’t remember that in the past.

When it comes down to it, the Google Pixel 3 XL is a nice phone and if I didn’t already have the Pixel 2 XL, I’d have no problems buying one. But in my opinion, it is not a worthy upgrade from my Pixel 2 XL and in all honesty this phone should have been named the Pixel 2 XLs instead of the Pixel 3 XL… Maybe next year Google…

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Tagged: gadget diary

Julie’s gadget diary – The Pixel 3 XL is nice phone, but I sent it back originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 29, 2018 at 12:00 pm.

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There’s a new Bluetooth product from Chicago – for Shure!

ARTICLE – It’s always fun to be invited to a press introduction of a new product, especially when it is as useful as this: The Shure High-Resolution Bluetooth 5 Earphone Communication Cable—or the Shure RMCE-BT2 cable. Shure wanted a way to allow owners of their detachable SE Sound Isolating Earphones to go wireless without having to shell out for all-new earphones. The RMCE-BT2 is that solution. Since the cables from all of Shure’s earphones are removable, the RMCE-BT2 simply snaps in place making the earphones wireless.

“Portable listening technology continues to evolve and improve, both from a hardware and software standpoint,” said Sean Sullivan, Senior Manager of Global Product Management at Shure. “The circuitry in the new high-resolution Bluetooth communication cable features premium Bluetooth codec support for higher resolution wireless transfer and a high performance headphone amplifier to accurately and efficiently drive any of our Sound Isolating earphones. Our goal is to provide users with the best possible listening experience, and this product will help achieve that goal.”

Gadgeteer Team EDC 2018 updates – Andy Jacobs

ARTICLE – Fact: We’re Gadgeteers, so we carry EDC. Some carry more, some less, but we all carry Everyday Carry items. Since I last gave an update on my EDC gear back in March 2017, several of my EDC items have changed, but I was actually a bit surprised to discover that many had stayed the same. Have a look!

1 – EVERGOODS CPL24 backpack – I’ve only had this backpack for a few weeks as of this writing, but the more I use it, the more I like it. Very thoughtfully designed (in terms of organization features, ergonomics and other aspects), understated yet very attractive styling, high-quality materials and built sturdy.

2 – Guinness Pint Luggage Tag – My wonderfully thoughtful in-laws bought me this when they visited Dublin, Ireland and took the Guinness Storehouse tour several years ago. As a huge fan of Guinness Stout, I love this thing and it’s been on every EDC/travel bag I’ve used for years.

3 – Laptop AC adapter – Goes with item 4 below.

4 – Lenovo Thinkpad X230 laptop (work issued) – The same work laptop I’ve had for several years now. It just won’t die. Actually, I really like its small size and ruggedness.

5 – Coleman Hooded Emergency Poncho – In case of unexpected heavy rain.

6 – Collapsible grocery bag in pouch

7 – REI Mini Multitowel – This little dude has come in handy on several occasions.

8 – Moleskine Cahier Journal – Black

9 – Lumintop Tool AAA flashlight attached to an old lanyard – Still my favorite EDC flashlight. Small, durable, water-resistant, and with a clicky on-off button.

10 – Small first-aid kit – My brother gave me this years ago, it has the logo of his old shop where he sold survival gear. It only has some adhesive bandages, some gauze and some antiseptic ointment, but it’s there just in case.

11 – Renogy 10,000 mAh Solar Panel Water Resistant Power Bank – Although I wasn’t impressed with the solar charging capabilities of this device, it is ruggedly built, water-resistant and fairly compact, so I still use it.

12 – Lightning + Micro USB cable

13 – Earbuds + microfiber drawstring pouch

A – See below

B – See below

C – See below

A1 – Twin Tip Sharpie – black – It’s like having two Sharpie pens in one: fine point and ultra-fine point. Comes in handy often.

A2 – Parker Jotter ballpoint pen – black ink – One of the best “cheap” pens on the market: durable, smooth writing and feels good in the hand.

A3 – Yellow Birch Outfitters PocKit EDC Pocket Organizer – coyote tan – I reviewed this not long ago and it is still one of my favorite EDC pocket items. Although I usually toss it into the outside pocket of my CPL24 backpack, it fit fairly comfortably in my pants pocket, as long as it is not overloaded.

A4 – Bastion Braza Bro EDC folding mini knife – Great little knife, I carry it on me often. Small, compact, sharp and it has a pocket clip.

A5 – PlusUs LifeCard Powerbank – I reviewed this device quite a while ago and I still carry it for emergencies.

A6 – Moleskine Volant Journal – black

A7 – 550 paracord zipper pull – Salvaged from Bomber Barrell Duffel Bag after it basically fell apart. Nuff said.

A8 – Leatherman Squirt PS4 keychain multitool – I’ve been carrying this little dude for years and I think it is actually my single most useful EDC item. Super small and compact, it has both a small scissors and a small pliers in addition to many other tools—all of which I’ve used at one time or another.

B1 – County Comm Handy Zipper Pouch by Maratac – size small – Maratac makes some great stuff, and this little pouch is durable and compact.

B2 – Plastic ruler I rescued from the garbage bin at work

B3 – Vargo Titanium Eagle Spork – I probably use this once a week when I forget to pack a spoon or fork in my lunch. Lightweight and versatile.

B4 – Cheap mechanical pencil I got from a hotel

B5 – Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball pen, Extra Fine Tip, Black

B6 – Cheap ballpoint pen I got from a hotel

B7 – Gel Pen, red

B8 – Green highlighter

B9 – Mini modular screwdriver – I picked this up at a recruiting fair; it was “swag” from one of the other company’s tables.

C1 – Lip balm and breath strips

C2 – Single-decade Rosary – As a practicing Catholic, I try to pray the Rosary often; it’s an ancient form of prayer that is a meditation or contemplation on key events in the life of Jesus.

C3 – Microfiber cloth – I mainly use this to clean my iPhone’s screen

C4 – Foam earplugs – These have come in handy when staying in hotel rooms with noisy neighbors.

C5 – Contact lens case and eye drops

C6 – USB memory card on small lanyard

C7 – Tylenol packet

C8 – Mini stapler

C9 – TYLT SYNCABLE-DUO Charge and Sync Cable – This cable is extra useful because it can switch between both Apple Lightning and micro USB tips.

C10 – GorillaDrive USB Flash Drive and flexible USB to Apple Lightning Adapter – The GorillaDrive is SUPER durable, with high crush- and water-resistance. The flexible Lightning Adapter is nice for plugging my iPhone into my laptop when I don’t want a bunch of cord tangling me up.

C11 – SanDisk USB flash drive and Tylenol travel size tube with a short length of Gorilla Tape wrapped around it – The Gorilla Tape around the tube is a trick I learned on an EDC site and it has come in handy once or twice to have some tape, especially since Gorilla Tape is super strong.

C12 – 2x Splenda sweetener packets – Emergency coffee sweetener.

C13 – Mimobot Boba Fett (RoTJ) USB Flash Drive – Fun, but not super practical, because it isn’t very compact.

C14 – Headphone adapter cable for LifeProof case

C15 – GORUCK Mini Wire Dopp (NOTE: The Mini version has not been sold for some time, but the regular, full-sized version is available) – I love this thing because it has the GORUCK uber-durability and it is also a smart way to organize your small items and still be able to see them all when you lay the Wire Dopp open flat.

C16 – Extra charging base for Garmin fenix 3 HR GPS watch – I like my fenix 3 HR, but like all high-end smartwatches, it required charging every few days, so I bring this in case I need to top off my watch’s battery at work.

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Gadgeteer Team EDC 2018 updates – Andy Jacobs originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 19, 2018 at 1:00 pm.

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Gadgeteer Team EDC 2018 updates – Joe Porletto

ARTICLE – As you may be able to tell from my gear pics, I take my EDC kit very seriously (and I prefer the color black). Navigating the streets and subways of NYC for the last twenty or so years has helped me hone my kit down to the absolute bare necessities for daily urban survival. Now that I live in the Pacific Northwest though, I’ve started to modify my EDC a bit, but overall it’s stayed pretty consistent. Here’s my EDC update for 2018.

The success of an EDC kit is completely dependent on the bag that holds it all, and there is no bag tougher than the GORUCK GR1. Before I owned my GORUCK, I’d buy a new backpack or messenger bag at least once a year. I was always on the lookout for the perfect bag. Since acquiring my beloved GR1 though, I haven’t given another bag a second look. The fit, construction, material, and aesthetic are all the absolute best I’ve ever encountered. The GORUCK costs more compared to other backpacks, but it’s 100% worth it.

Now, let’s break down everything that fits inside my GR1 on a daily basis.

Items (Clockwise L to R):

Bag:

GORUCK GR1 26L

Internal items:

Rothco Molle Compatible Accessory Pouches (x2)
HP Elitebook 840 G1 (company issued)

Items (Clockwise L to R):

Not pictured:

Google Pixel (128 GB, Black) running on Google Project Fi
Amazon Kindle (8th Generation)

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Tagged: EDC, gadgeteer

Gadgeteer Team EDC 2018 updates – Joe Porletto originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 18, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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New York Comic Con 2018: Get your geek on!

ARTICLE – I recently attended the 2018 New York Comic Con, literally my most favorite place in the world. NYCC showcases everything I love; Comic books, Fantasy art, Superheroes, Pop culture, Science fiction shows, and so much more.

Held since 2006 at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the New York Comic Con packs in fans of all types for four days of pop culture fun. Attendance for the last few years has been well over 150,000, but this year approximately 250,000 tickets were sold, which puts the NYCC firmly ahead of the mother-of-all comic conventions, the San Diego Comic-con. One way the NYCC was able to increase ticket sales was to host Comic-Con events at venues all around the city.

In this article, I’ll cover some of the greatest highlights of NYCC 2018 and at the end, I’ve included my video updates and interviews from the floor as well as a photo gallery of outstanding cosplayers.

Toys, action figures, and collectibles are a huge part of NYCC and many companies showcase their upcoming lines at the convention. This year there were a lot of alternate imaginings of characters, like a Shogun-era Bane from the Batman universe. But, as usual, the classic fan favorites like Superman and Marvel’s Deadpool are still big sellers.

Collectibles from popular fantasy and science fiction movies are also popular if you can afford their sometimes exorbitant prices and have the room to display them properly.

These statuettes of David Bowie and Jeff Goldblum from Chronicle Collectibles challenged each other for sexiest reclining pose from a movie.

The level of detail on some of these statuettes is astounding and many of them, like this Iron Man Hulkbuster, have working lights that add to their realism.

Some vendors even sell gear that let you become your favorite video game character. This Mega Man helmet matches perfectly to the one worn by the action figurine.

One of the many joys of Comic Con is getting to see fictional characters you love represented in real life. Often booths have life-sized or larger-than-life recreations of characters from movies, comics, and toy lines.

Sure, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters should be as tall as a building, but it was still a treat to see this guy hanging out at the Playmobil booth.

Funko’s Pop line of bobbleheads always draw crowds and this year they were welcomed by an oversized Gladiator Hulk figure from Thor: Ragnorak.

Netflix used this massive statue of She-Ra to create some buzz for the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power original series.

Even more impressive than She-Ra was this full-scale replica of the power armor from Fallout 4. The super realistic rifle was particularly cool.

I finally got the chance to tell a life-sized Han Solo how I really felt about him while he was frozen in carbonite. He said he knew.

DC always uses this area of NYCC to showcase the costumes from upcoming movies. This year, the armor and costumes from Aquaman were on display.

No NYCC would be complete without some proper Dragon Ball Z representation.

If you get inspired by all of the cool figures and toys and decide during Comic Con that you want to join in the fun, there are plenty of vendors selling costumes that range from silly to practically movie-quality replicas.

Or you can just grab a T-shirt from one of the many clothing vendors, officially sanctioned and otherwise.

If you’ve checked out any of my NYCC video updates, which are included towards the end of this article, you know that there are plenty of gadgets and cool devices that are debuted or demoed at NYCC. I was lucky enough to get hands-on with a few.

Red’s Hydrogen One holographic phone has been making news for a few years now and as the release day of November 2 draws closer, Red is making the phone more available for public demos.

The Hydrogen One is unique in many ways, the biggest feature though is its ability to show 3D like images and video without the use of 3D glasses. The feature is impossible to show or explain unless you experience it for yourself.

The Red representative was pretty hesitant to let me photograph the phone during the demo, but as you can see, I was too quick for him. The holographic screen is indeed very impressive; it successfully recreates the depth of 3D video and the effect is pretty mind-blowing.

The phone itself is incredibly sturdy, quite heavy actually, and has some serious textured grips. Since Red is known for making high-end cameras, it’s no surprise that the Hydrogen One has the heft and feel of an expensive digital camera. There are contacts on the back of the phone for future modules that will enable the Hydrogen One to shoot unparalleled photos and video.

The Red Hydrogen One will be available on November 2 for $1295 through AT&T and Verizon. The add-on modules will be available in 2019.

The varying, random type of items for sale at NYCC always surprises me. There are vendors that will help you proudly represent your love for a movie, comic, or even a favorite 80s cartoon. I didn’t know I needed Star Wars inspired sneakers and an Alec Guinness pint glass until I came across this booth.

And where else could I find expensive, fine Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons themed jewelry?

Citizen watches was on hand to showcase their very expensive and classy line of Marvel branded custom watches.

Fans of Rick and Morty are legion, so at Comic Con you can find just about any item you like branded with Rick and Morty characters. This Rick and Morty Pickle Rick board game was one of the odder finds.

Want to take your Star Wars obsession into the kitchen or on a picnic? Luckily, with these Imperial cheeseboards and picnic coolers, you’re in luck! The Dark Side never tasted so good.

While big brands like Disney, Marvel, and DC have a major presence at NYCC, there is still space for smaller vendors with more unique wares. For instance, you can pick up a handmade custom dragon puppet from Khaleesi herself.

Or if you need that perfect accessory to complete your cosplay costume you can browse through all kinds of franchise specific mock weaponry.

One particularly creative vendor had a booth that sold pop culture, music, and political figures immortalized as saints in posters and candles.

Anime toys and art are big sellers at NYCC and you can spend a whole day picking through some of the booths specializing in the genre.

A number of video game producers debut the newest games at NYCC and if you have the time to wait in line you can get a chance to play the most popular games before they’re released.

If there’s a celebrity or artist even remotely connected to Science Fiction, Horror, or Fantasy entertainment, chances are you’ll be able meet them at NYCC. There’s a whole section of NYCC devoted to getting autographs and photos with popular stars if you have the money for it.

Some stars charge hundreds of dollars for the chances to take a photo with them and that’s after you line up with tons of other fans for the opportunity.

Lines, in general, are a big part of NYCC and since there are panels for just about every show and comic, if want to attend one you’ll have to wait on some pretty serious lines. In general, the more popular the stars or property, the longer the lines, but, a true fan will persevere.

I usually reserve half a day for checking out Artist Alley. This is the section of NYCC reserved for comic artists and illustrator to sell their art, take commissions, and meet their fans. All of the biggest names in comics are here and sometimes the lines are just as long as the ones for the major panels.

Commissions are your chance to have the artists create a one-of-a-kind piece of art just for you. My favorite this year was Cloverkin who specializes in making custom art of your pet in fantasy armor. She’ll even help you determine what type of role-playing character your pet’s personality reflects.

I spent a lot of time at NYCC this year making some great videos, seeing from very cool products and meeting some fun people, but it’s never enough; I always leave NYCC feeling like there was something I missed. I take comfort in the fact that I know I’ll be back for 2019!

Be sure to check out my video updates from NYCC as well as a gallery of some of the best cosplayers of NYCC below.

Video Snippets

Enjoy video coverage of my three days at NYCC 2018 as I interview cool vendors, find excellent cosplayers, and explore some favorite mainstays of New York Comic Con.

Cosplay Gallery

Check out some of the more interesting Cosplayers I came across at NYCC 2018. Be sure to hit your browser ‘Back’ button to return to the gallery.

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Tagged: Comics

New York Comic Con 2018: Get your geek on! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 15, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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