Home Blog Page 968

iClever BoostRun Bluetooth Headphones IC-BTH07 (review)

iClever’s BoostRun Sweat-proof Bluetooth headphones are designed to be light, comfortable and inexpensive. Thankfully iClever accomplished these three goals while sacrificing very little. At 0.67 oz these headphones were some of the lightest I’ve ever used and the most ergonomic set I’ve ever placed on my listening organs.

Headset Overview

Upon removing the headset from the box I noticed the unique angled design and flashy green accenting cord. The iClever IC-BTH07 headphones have an adjustable connecting cord that can be tightened or loosened to fit around any neck. This cord is designed to be tangle-free and unobtrusive. On the right earpiece there is a green power/pair button and along the bottom of the same earpiece you will find the volume adjustment buttons. All three buttons were extremely easy to find during use and provided nice, clicking feedback when pressed.

Designed to be sweat-proof and ergonomic for the most intense workouts

Surprisingly the charging port is located on the left earpiece. This port is covered by a typical rubber insert that protects the port, which I had a difficult time opening when I was ready to charge. With a firm, pinching grip I was eventually able to pry the port open and reveal the micro-USB port.

Speaking of charging–the iClever IC-BTH07 headphones charge quickly and last up to 7 hours from a single charge. This is fairly standard for this type of headphone and should provide enough time for most users to work up a good sweat and then cool down with a lengthy, relaxing playlist. I appreciated the fact that the charging port was a standard micro-USB port and not some uncommon, propriety connection.

When I first saw the overall weight of the device advertised, I was worried that the headset might feel cheap or flimsy. This was alleviated when I picked up the device for the first time and felt a sturdy, yet lightweight build on each side of the headphones. Plugging them into my ears I immediately noticed that the headphones fit snugly into my ear sockets with no discomfort. I applaud iClever for their ability to pull off such an intelligent design.

Sound Quality

Sound matters to everyone–more to some and less to others, but in the end it’s not worth listening to something if it doesn’t sound quite right. This is the biggest disappointment when it comes to the iClever BoostRun headphones. While listening to music, I immediately noticed the lack of range in the drivers. Rock music and rap music were lacking severely in bass and I quickly noticed some distortion while listening to audio on YouTube. Podcasts fared better, but still lacked depth in any audio that had a low-end or semblance of bass.

Thinking that the source may be to blame initially, I paired the headphones with a couple other devices to be 100% certain. However, I found no matter the device or audio source, the quality of the sound left a lot to be desired. I listened to uncompressed audio, streaming audio and downloaded MP3 files, but all lacked in range of overall sound. It may not be a deal-breaker for everyone, but anyone that’s listened to standard headphones (wired or not), will most likely notice a “tinny and flat” sound from the get-go.

Accessories and Connectivity

iclever connectivity options
iClever’s BTH-07’s allow you to connect to almost anything with bluetooth

So, what’s in the box? Along with the headset, you’ll also receive multiple earpiece covers of varying size, a user manual, a warranty card and a standard micro-USB charging cable. All included accessories are packaged nicely within a plain brown box that fits within the budget motif. Not included in the box: a wall charging pack or a carrying case–but at this price I wasn’t expecting either.

Included accessories are minimal–which is to be expected for a budget headset

iClever has successfully created a budget friendly package that many will have a hard time passing up. But the saying “you get what you pay for” has never rung truer when evaluating the IC-BTH07 headphones.

Wrap-up

iClever has definitely hit a great price-point with the IC-BTH07 headphones while sacrificing a bit in the audio department. Whether or not a consumer will be willing to give up on overall audio quality in order to save a few dollars remains to be seen, but for those that do pinch pennies and savor comfort over sound, the iClever BoostRun bluetooth headphones are a worthwhile option. I can recommend this headset to someone that wants sweat-proof bluetooth headphones on a budget, but for anyone else, you’d be better off spending a bit more on a higher quality headset.

The stunning Kecil icon pack is coming to Android soon

0

If you love playing around with your Android phone, adjusting wallpapers, widgets and changing themes as often as you can, then you’ll be happy to know that a very popular iOS icon pack will soon make its way to Android soon enough.

The Kecil icons were originally developed for jailbroken iOS devices, but become quite popular in the Android theming community. Thus seeing the great demand, the creators of Kecil are now actively working towards porting the pack to Android.

Kecil is an icon pack that focuses on minimalism – so it will deliver a simple and clean design in classic pastel colors. You can take a look at the gallery in order to get a glimpse of what you can expect in the near future.

 

The Kecil creators plan to develop and release the app in the Google Play Store as soon as possible, but couldn’t provide an ETA at the moment. The iOS Kecil pack contains more than 700 icons and hopefully the Android one will be as abundant.

Take into consideration that when released, the Android app won’t be free for download. The creators have announced the Kecil app will cost $1.99.

Until the launch, we invite you to take a sneak peek at the gallery. Would you pay to get this gorgeous look on your phone?

Verizon intros new 2GB for $40 prepaid plan

0

Verizon is expanding its low-cost prepaid plan range by introducing a new option meant to cater to those on the budget.

Big red just introduced a new 2GB plan for $40 which includes unlimited talk and text within the US. The bundle includes postpaid-specific features like Always-On Data which allows customers to continue using the Internet (at lower speeds) even after they have reached the data limit. On top of that, users also get unlimited texting from the USA to other 200 countries.

The new plan also features high-speed data carry forward, which means that if you pay on time, any high-speed data leftover from the previous month will be carried forward and will become available to use in the following month.

The 2GB plan is currently available alongside Verizon’s previous 5GB for $50 and 10GB for $70, which include the same features highlighted above. Big Red also offers a $30 basic phone plan with unlimited talk and text for those who are not in need of data.

To take advantage of any of the carrier’s pre-paid offerings, Verizon invites you to visit your local store or go online on its dedicated website.

For those who are in need of a lot of data, don’t forget that Verizon also announced a new Unlimited Plan not so long ago. To find out more about it, check out our comparison of AT&T’s, T-Mobile’s, Sprint’s and Verizon’s Unlimited Plans and see which suits you needs better.

WhatsApp’s new Status feature delivers video, photo updates

1

This week WhatsApp is turning 8, so as to celebrate the company has pushed out an update to improve the Status feature.

For the time being the feat will be available only for users located in France and the Netherlands, but a global roll-out is expected to happen in the near future.

Instagram introduced a Stories feature not so long ago and now WhatsApp is getting a similar feature in Status. Taking inspiration from Snapchat, the Facebook-owned company is now allowing users to see updates from friends and family when they open the Status tab. You can reply to updates and controls who sees what you’ve share. All updates expire after a 24 hour window.

Previously the Status feature only allowed users to set a quick text only status visible to the contacts within the app. But with the new update, users can set statuses in the form of text, video, .gif, drawings or text.

It remains to be seen whether the new update will prove as popular as Instagram Stories, but chances are it will, given WhatsApp’s growing active user base.

According to WhatsApp stats, 50 billion messages are sent each day through the platform – alongside 760 million video and 80 million gifs. So the new Status update is surely bound to boost that number.

While WhatsApp debuted as a simple messaging platform, now the app is slowly evolving towards a more social-media like feature. Which is the trend with a lot of apps – an example of that being Google Maps.

Say what? Samsung is reportedly planning to sell refurbished Galaxy Note7s

0

We all thought the Galaxy Note7 was a closed chapter for Samsung, but as it turns out this is not really the case. Now that the company knows what exactly caused the batteries inside the phablet to overheat, Samsung could get confident enough to start re-selling the Galaxy Note7.

According to a report coming out of Korean media, it appears Samsung has plans to start selling refurbished Note7 units come this June. However, not all customers will be able to purchase a Galaxy Note7 unit, as Samsung is targeting emerging markets such as India and Vietnam.

Guess who’s back, back again?

Apparently the refurbished units will feature smaller battery units of 3,000 mAh or 3,200 mAh capacity, as the original Note7 had a 3,500 mAh power house living under the hood. Furthermore, the phone should come featuring a brand new case, but most internals are expected to remain the same.

Last month Samsung revealed the official results into its internal investigation of why the Galaxy Note7 was prone to overheating. The company identified two battery issues, but also came to the conclusion that the Note7’s design, hardware and software had nothing to do with what happened.

So basically by swapping out the bad batteries and replacing them with functional ones, the Note7 should be good to go, once again. Or at least that’s how the theory goes.

Samsung is perhaps hoping selling refurbished Note7 units will help you patch up the financial void left by the massive phablet recall in 2016. On top of that, the report claims re-selling the phones might help Samsung solve the environmental issues raised by having to get rid of so many phablets in an Eco-friendly way.

Still, according to the report Samsung won’t be as bold as to try to re-introduce the phablet in mature markets like the US – although the device had many loyal fans in there.

But the question is – will customers be able put the Note7 debacle out of their minds and go for a refurbished Note7, especially if Samsung prices it right? It remains to be seen. We’re hoping Samsung knows what it’s doing here.

How-To: Log into Google Chrome

2

Google Chrome is my browser of choice, both on mobile and PC. If you haven’t given it a shot yet, you need to. Among other amazing features, which we will undoubtedly outline with a How-To at some point, you are able to share your bookmarks, history, passwords, and much more between all of your devices and sessions.

Prerequisites:

  1. You must have a Google account (not an issue for most android users)
  2. You must have Google Chrome installed on your device. If it is not installed by default, you can install it from the Play Store here.

Sync your Life:

Let’s jump in and begin making your life easier.

  1. Launch the Google Chrome app.
  2. Tap the menu button in the upper left-hand corner
  3. Tap the settings option in the menu
  4. At the top of the menu, tap “Sign into Chrome”
  5. Select the Google account you would like to associate with Chrome or add a new account.

You’ve done it. Successfully linked your google account to you mobile Chrome session. What is your favorite browser? Did you already have this set up? Drop us a comment below and share your thoughts.

Samsung’s reputation took a huge blow in the US in 2017

0

2016 was a difficult year for Samsung. The Galaxy Note7 debacle ended up costing the company billions, but Samsung is not giving up. With the Galaxy S8 the device maker is hoping to prove it’s still a reliable smartphone maker and that its products are worthy of consumers’ attention.

However, a new report reveals that Samsung might be up against a very though crowd in the US. According to the 2017 Reputation Quotient Ratings by Harris Poll, Samsung’s reputation plummeted considerably in the country.

Out of the 100 corporations that were listed by the poll, Samsung only managed to come in at number 49. In 2015, the Korean tech giant ranked proud at #3, trailing behind domestic companies like Apple and Google. For the past three years, Samsung didn’t leave the top 10, but 2016 sadly broke this pattern.

Remember me?

Around 2.3 million US consumers participated in the survey. The poll aims to evaluate the general public’s perception about corporations by asking people to pick between 20 attributes which are classified under 6 categories including financial performance, workplace environment, vision, leadership, social responsibility, emotional appeal, products&services.

The main reasons attributed to Samsung’s decrease in reputation in the United States were the Galaxy Note7 fiasco, but also the recent scandal around Samsung’s heir Lee Jae-yong who is at the center of a corruption scandal.

Sorry, Samsung

Back in December, we told you that a survey conducted by the Apteligent research firm found that more Note7 units were found to be in circulation at that time than LG V20s handsets.

As it turns out, users being loyal to the phablet doesn’t necessary translate into them continuing to be loyal to the brand. Quite understandably, a lot of people have lost their faith in Samsung – so the company has a lot to make up for with its future Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8 products. Do you think it will succeed?

Which unlimited plan is right for you? Here is everything you need to know

1

Last week was a bit of a crazy one in carrier news. T-Mobile has long been offering unlimited plans but Verizon shook up the world by beginning to offer unlimited data plans again after a years-long hiatus. Sprint and AT&T tried to make their own waves as well with tweaks to their unlimited plans in response to Verizon. If you’re in the market for an unlimited plan, now is a really good time to be a customer. But, which one is the best for you? Let’s take a look at the options.

T-Mobile

t mobile one

While T-Mobile has recently changed its strategy, it has been offering unlimited data for a while. Old plans, like mine, offered little to no tethering and may have left out perks like T-Mobile’s Mobile Without Borders which allow you to use LTE in Mexico and Canada. The newer T-Mobile One plan was a bit controversial when it first came out but the company has been pushing it hard.

Up until last week, T-Mobile One offered a flat fee (plus tax) for unlimited calls, text and LTE data. The caveat was that you still had to pay tax on top of the base price and your streaming video was limited to 480p (T-Mobile is quick to point out this is DVD quality). The big change for T-Mobile in the past week is that it’s now including taxes and fees into the base price of T-Mobile One and streaming video quality will now be upgraded to HD.

If you care about streaming in HD while using your data connection, this is a pretty great improvement. Everyone has 1080p or 2560p displays on their phones these days and the more pixels you can display, the better the video will look. If you don’t care as much about video streaming, you’ll still save on the taxes and fees that are now included in the base price of T-Mobile One.

At the time of writing T-Mobile is offering 2 unlimited lines for $100 a month all-in. This includes HD video and 10GB of tethering. If you only want one line you’re going to shell out $70 a month for the same service. Three lines will run you $140 a month and four lines are $160 a month. All of these offers require auto-pay and if you exceed 28GB of data per month T-Mobile reserves the right to slow down your data speed to 2G speed.

Verizon

Verizon’s unlimited plan, in contrast to T-Mobile’s, is brand new. Verizon had previously unveiled a new 5GB for $55 plan stating that most users don’t need any more than 5GB of data a month. They might be right but Verizon is missing out on the hardcore users out there that refuse to have limits on their data.

Under the new unlimited plan Verizon is now offering customers one line of unlimited data with HD (1080p) streaming, mobile hotspot, texting and calling to Canada and Mexico, and 500mb of data roaming a day in Mexico and Canada for $80 a month. If you happen to be part of a family plan, you can grab this same unlimited deal for $45 per line per month which comes out to $180 for four unlimited lines. Both of these options require that you use auto-pay.

Verizon is more expensive but Big Red expects that the extra $20 per month is worth it due to its superior network.

AT&T

AT&T has also been offering an unlimited plan for some time now but its only been offered to those customers who also have U-Verse or DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T. That is now changing as AT&T tries to keep up with Verizon and T-Mobile.

AT&T’s plan is a little confusing. The first line is $100 a month for unlimited everything. After that, you can add additional lines for $40 a month which equals out to $220 a month, but that’s only for the first two months. Starting in your third month your fourth line becomes free and drops your overall bill to $180 a month, which equals Verizon.

With its new unlimited plan, AT&T will allow you to call Canada and Mexico for free and send text messages to over 120 countries at no charge. After 22GB AT&T reserves the right to throttle down your data speeds, which sits at 6GB less than T-Mobile’s data cap.

We’re glad to see AT&T unlock the DirecTV and U-Verse restrictions on this plan, but it doesn’t seem to be as competitive as Verizon or T-Mobile’s. If you’re a loyal AT&T customer and you don’t want to switch to get unlimited data, this could be the right fit for you, but I don’t see many customers being swayed to leave their current carrier for this deal.

Sprint

Sprint’s new plan, like its network, is a bit of a mess. There are a couple of fairly large catches that come with the nation’s fourth-placed carrier’s plan including the requirement to port at least one line to Sprint. Here’s how it works.

When you sign up right now, your first unlimited line is $50 a month, which is significantly cheaper than the other three carriers. When you add a second line your bill jumps to $90 a month, $10 less than T-Mobile One’s two-line option. Lines three and four are both FREE which means you can get four lines of unlimited talk, text, and data for only $90. This includes HD-quality video streaming and 10GB of tethering.

But, here’s the catch. This price only lasts until March of 2018. At that point your price jumps to $60 a month for the first line, $40 for your second line, and $30 for lines three and four putting your bill at $160 for four lines. On top of that bill jump, this plan is only available to new customers who are required to sign up for Sprint’s auto-pay service.

The price jump may not sound like a huge deal but if you’re still paying off a phone you financed through Sprint or are locked into a leasing agreement you’ll have no choice but to pay the increase in line fees or pay off your phone and find a different carrier. It’s a gigantic pain.

Sprint’s plan will certainly save you some money in the short term, but you’re going to have to put up with a network that is subpar, no matter what its advertising says.

Who is the best?

So, who has the best plan? Well, that answer will change for everyone really. If you need the best network and you’re not worried about the absolute cheapest price it looks like Verizon might be your Huckleberry. If you want the absolute cheapest option, Sprint is where you should head. T-Mobile offers a better price than Verizon and a significantly better network than Sprint while AT&T has a strong network and is no more expensive than Verizon.

Are any of these plans good enough to get you to switch your current carrier? Will you be sticking with your carrier and changing to an unlimited plan? Let us know down in the comments!

PlayStation Communities is a handy tool for hardcore PS4 users (Review)

0

Overview:

PlayStation Communities is another app from the PlayStation mobile app team, that aims to make using your PS4 and mobile device together easier than ever. This app is designed to allow you to manage your PS4 communities and find friends and other players who share your interests and play together.

Developer: PlayStation Mobile, Inc.

Cost: Free

Impressions:

PlayStation Communities is another app from the PlayStation mobile app team, that aims to make using your PS4 and mobile device together easier than ever. This app is designed to allow you to manage your PS4 communities and find friends and other players who share your interests and play together.

PlayStation Communities is an app from Sony that is designed to let you find friends and players with shared interests by joining “Communities” based on region, game, or whatever you’d like. There are hundreds to choose from, but a lot of them do suffer from low population issues. The app is serviceable and allows you to search, join, and message in communities without having to turn on your PS4, which is handy, but in all honestly the app isn’t something a casual PS4 user would really need. This app seems aimed squarely at the hardcore players in Sony’s camp, those who have a lot of friends and use the PlayStation as their primary gaming platform.

The Communities app has no glaring issues, you are able to search for communities by game name, or location and language and join them easily. Once joined, your communities are listed on the main screen and you are able to see player population and active players, as well as messages and updates from them at a glance. The app will also push notifications to you when a community updates if you prefer. There isn’t much more going on here, to be honest, the app does as advertised and nothing more. The user interface is inoffensive enough but could stand to be a bit cleaner, maybe delegate the different tabs to a hamburger menu button on the side, and let the community pages be larger and more readable.

PlayStation Communities is another in a string of PS4-centric apps from Sony that allows you to manage your PS4 remotely. The others are the PlayStation app, which allows you to manage friends lists, browse the shop, and use your phone as a remote or second screen. Alongside that, there is the PlayStation messages app which is solely for messaging on the PlayStation Network. This fragmented app library highlights the biggest issue with Sony’s PlayStation mobile device experience. Compare this triple app mess to the Xbox app for Android, which performs all of the functions of all of these apps in one making for a much easier and smoother experience for second screen gaming. PlayStation needs to unify all these apps into one, larger app that performs all of the same functions. It would reduce bloat on phones and tablets, as well as reduce confusion in the PlayStation community over apps and their functions. It’s 2017 guys, can we get our acts together?

Conclusion:

Overall, the PlayStation Communities app is a solid, functional app that has a very limited purpose and shouldn’t be a standalone app. That, however, has no significant bearing on its score here today. PlayStation Communities is a good companion to your PS4, and if you find yourself in need of a few players for a Destiny raid or to fill out your multiplayer lobby in Call of Duty then this app is a solid source of players and a recommended download.

Download PlayStation Communities from the Google Play Store

NBA VR app launches as an exclusive to Google’s Daydream platform

0

Google’s Daydream VR ecosystem just got a new addition. In a partnership with Google, the NBA recently announced its first virtual reality app.

With the NBA VR app installed users will be able to watch highlight videos from recent NBA games on a virtual big TV screen and view team statistics from games.

But wait that’s not all, the new NBA VR app also arrives with an original weekly interview series called House of Legends. The first episode of the series welcomes fans into a virtual sports lounge where ex-NBA player Robert Horry will be discussing a wide range of topics, all for your enjoyment. Future episodes will include players like Chauncey Billups, Baron Davis, Bruce Bowen or James Worthy.

The app is a Daydream exclusive, so if you’re the owner of a Samsung Gear VR headset you won’t be able to use it. NBA VR is currently available for users in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany.

The app is free to download and more 360-degree video content plus new episodes from the House of Legends will be added in the upcoming months.

Google’s Daydream platform is starting to get more and more populated. Back in December a few dozen compatible titles were introduced including HBO, Netflix, LEGO, EA, NextVR, Underworld Overlord and Layers of Fear: Solitude – to name a few.

Speaking of which NextVR can offer access to a live NBA game every week, but you will have to pay a pretty consistent fee of $199.