Smartphones & Accessories

Not a fan of the iPhone 6 or iOS 8? Find Windows on a mobile device is a little “meh” and have no use for BlackBerry’s physical QWERTY keyboard on your smartphone? You’re not alone. Google’s Android operating system powers somewhere in the neighbourhood of 85% of all smartphones and it’s closing in on 70% of all tablets. Android fans have a lot to look forward to in 2015. Lollipop is rolling out to more devices, Android 5.1 just made an appearance, Android Wear smartwatches are gaining steam and some pretty amazing looking new Android smartphones made their debut a few weeks ago at Mobile World Congress.

For the first time, Samsung has split its flagship Galaxy S line into two distinct models. There is the regular flat version following in the footsteps of its predecessors, and the Edge, which curves on both sides for unique functionality. Under the hood, there is little that sets these two apart, so your choice is going to be mostly about which look you prefer.

Asus comes back again with a trio of new smartphones, with the Zenfone 4 leading the charge as the most compelling of the bunch.

Following the trend of most smartphone makers that have phones in 2 sizes, ASUS ZenFone 5Z and 5Q offers a standard sized and a larger supersized model.

If you’re not familiar with Google Assistant, you may want to be now that it has been made available to all Android smartphones and tablets running version 6.0 Marshmallow to 7.0 Nougat.

Getting better photos from your iPhone may be a little easier when attaching a better lens onto the device, which is what Sandmarc aims to deliver.

Sometimes a return to basics gives you enough features that you can forgo the more expensive models out there. I will first give an overall review of the Moto G, then delve a bit deeper into its unique apps including Motorola Migrate, Assist, Alert  as well as the privacy settings, speakers, camera and video features. 

Samsung has released its Gear S app on the iOS App Store to enable users with the Gear S2 and Gear S3 (Frontier and Classic) smartwatches, plus the Gear Fit app for the Fit2 band, to work with the iPhone and iPad. Both are available to download now, if you want to get started.

Battery life is one of those bugaboos that’s always a concern with smartphones, and the iPhone 6 is no exception. Protecting a phone from a nasty fall is another thing altogether, so when a case comes along that can take care of both, it may be worth a look. LifeProof’s pedigree has usually been in making quality waterproof cases, and the Fre Power takes that and adds a large battery to keep the iPhone going double the time.

Let your tween share all her fun moments with the SELPHY CP910 printer from Canon. This compact and portable printer is designed to print out all those selfies, instagram and smartphone photos using a wireless connection.   Get all those cherished photos out of the phone and into your photo albums or scrapbook . It’s the perfect gift for the tween girl in your life. Hand this over and you’ll be the cool adult in her life.