Electronics

Blackberry Z10
by Michele Elyzabeth
According to the Blackberry site: The new touchscreen BlackBerry® Keyboard provides an effortless typing experience. It learns your writing style and suggests words to help you type faster, more accurately and with the least amount of effort. And if you tend to mistype certain letters, the keyboard will remember and subtly adjust to make sure you hit the right key.
Even though the description is correct, it is not so simple. I did find it very difficult to hit the proper keys. I’ve had my Blackberry for three months and still have yet to master it. So, I wouldn’t say that you can type faster. As a Blackberry fan, I will say without a doubt that my old Bold phone was much easier to navigate.
As far as “swiping” the screen goes, it is not the easiest. Though, three months later I am starting to get used to the swiping motions and where they take me. It is definitely a phone for computer and touch screen savvy people.
If you choose to go with the Z10, you need to know the following: 1) You will need a different battery than the one you had with your previous phone. 2) You will need to allocate a couple of hours to spend at your phone provider store in order to get set up. 3) Learning the phone requires patience and a little help from your tech friends. I do wish they would offer some of the apps such as mobile banking.
Some of my favorite features are the large screen, which is great for reading messages, maps, photos, etc., and the camera which has great quality and takes crisp resolution images.
After overcoming some of the Z10’s obstalces, you will just love it. I use my Blackberry smartphone for business and I plan on sticking with it.
http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-z10.html

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Tablet
by Otis Stokes
This is my first experience with a tablet and I’m probably spoiled for any other tablets on the market. With what I’ve seen getting to know the Kindle Fire HDX, I can’t image how any of the competitors could be much better. The first thing I noticed was the impressively sharp picture of the 7″ screen. The picture also has an exceptional pixel density (323 ppi), perfect 100% sRGB color accuracy, reduced glare, dynamic image contrast, and improved brightness for better viewing in any lighting conditions.
It has a really powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.2 GHz processor, which makes moving from app to app and internet surfing effortless. It contains 2 GB of RAM and a 16 Gig storage, which, by the way, doesn’t allow for much downloading of movies. This is the third generation of the Kindle Fire brand and is affordable, powerful, comfortable, and it boasts enough new and refined features to certainly justify its $199 price. And it is quite competitive with other premium and more expensive tablets like the iPad and the Galaxy Note.
The Kindle Fire HDX boasts features and services like X-Ray for Music, Prime Instant Video downloads and the revolutionary new “Mayday” button, which connects you for free to an Amazon expert who can guide you through any feature (24/7, 365 days a year) and most Mayday calls are answered within 15 seconds. The Mayday technicians can instruct you through whatever your issues are, or take control of your device remotely and set it up. That in itself is worth the price of admission! The Kindle Fire HDX is powered by the latest version of Fire OS 3.0. One of the most amazing things about the Kindle Fire HDX, is the sound coming from the integrated dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio and 5.1 multi-channel surround sound when you watch a video or movie. It sounds a lot bigger than it is. The battery life is also quite impressive, you get up to 11 hours of mixed use and hours longer for reading. I have used it for hours, checking emails, watching movies and surfing without having to recharge the battery.
The new Origami covers are simple and easy to use, and you can situate the Fire HDX in both portrait and landscape positions. The cover also provides protection for the Fire HDX if accidentally dropped. The 8-megapixel rear camera works just as well indoors and outside, with excellent picture quality displaying great detail. It has a flash and other camera features like HDR, Panorama, and HD video capture. The front camera is impressively sharp too, perfect for snapping ‘selfies’, and for chatting online. The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX certainly has the right name, because in a word it’s “Hot.”
http://www.amazon.com

Sony’s BDP-S6200 Blu-ray Disc™ Player
Sony had so many exciting announcements at CES 2014, including an unveiling of their latest and smartest Blu-ray Disc players. These are a dream come true for streamers of online movies, TV shows and music using Netflix®, YouTube®, Pandora®, Hulu Plus™. New features have enhanced the viewing experience: The Quick Start/Quick Load and Miracast™, which allow viewers to display photos and video from a compatible Android smartphone or tablet on compatible TV screens by wirelessly connecting through their Blu-ray Disc player. The S6200 is considered the top of the line with IP Content Noise Reduction Pro and 4K Ultra HD resolution. This player is action packed with a Dual Core processor for faster performance, full HD1080p Blu-ray Disc playback with 2D to 3D conversion for 3D compatible TVs, Wi-Fi for streaming over 200 pre-loaded online services. Available February for $179.99
www.sony.com

HP’s Slate 21 Pro All-In-One
HP’s latest all-in-one computer is geared towards businesses, equipped with an Android 4.3 operating system, a 21.5″ diagonal full HD IPS touchscreen, and access to over one million apps on Google Play. That’s just the beginning. Perfect for offices and sharing files, etc., the Slate’s Kingsoft Office Suite, Google Drive, and 50 GB of free cloud storage Is just what an all-in-one needs. You can switch easily from your Android mobile and the Slate. Other features include video conferencing with an HD 720p Webcam, microphone and speakers with DTS Sound & Audio. You can easily connect wirelessly to printers with direct connection and properly secure your computer with security enhancements. Starting at $399.
www.hp.com

Toshiba 13 Inch Chromebook Laptop
With a similar look to the Macbook air (at least in color), Toshiba’s Chromebook is the first available in 13.3″ dimension. Powered by Intel’s “Haswell” platform, this laptop is supposed to have a faster start up and last up to nine hours with battery life. Its HD TruBrite display has a 1366 x 768 screen resolution, offering more room for web browsing, document creation, video chatting, and apps. Carrying a laptop around can get tiring. The Chromebook is just 3.3 pounds featuring a slim 0.8-inch profile. The Haswell based Intel Celeron processor includes 2GB of RAMP and a 16GB solid state drive. Don’t forget about that 100GB Google Drive for storage. Other pluses: USB 3.0 ports, a full-size HDMI port, security slot and a memory card reader. Starting at $279.
www.toshiba.com