iPhone - Tag Archive

A series reviewing the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

11 Replies Christopher Roberts

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini was launched on the 1st of July 2013. Six days later (on Sunday the 7th of July) I bought the phone on a 24 month contract.

A Series

Having owned an S4 Mini for a few weeks now I have decided to write a series reviewing the phone.

In this series I will be looking at the phone as a whole, as well as comparing it to its brothers and cousins from Samsung’s Galaxy series. I will also be giving my verdict on various accessories and cases that I have tested.

The series will post every Tuesday.

Introduction over; lets get started!

Why S4 Mini?

Anyone who has chosen a smartphone will know that it isn’t an easy decision. Most people have a personal favourite brand, however there is a lot of choice which makes it difficult to decide which device is right for you.

I have to admit, I had been bitten by the Apple bug. Apple are very good at marketing, and my experience of their products had made me think they were the best.

However when visiting phone shops, I asked staff whether they would buy the Galaxy S4 or the iPhone 5, and every single one said the S4; most also agreed that the iPhone is overpriced for an inferior gadget.

Apple’s magical effect started to ware off and after asking my friends which phone they would have, I decided that I would be going for a Samsung device. I also considered Blackberry, HTC, Nokia and Google devices, but non really wowed me.

The thing I don’t like about the S4 is its size. I think a big screen is great, but the phone is huge! The S4 Mini is almost the same in terms of technical specifications, however is slightly less powerful and much smaller. The S4 Mini is pretty much exactly the same size as the iPhone 5.

Samsung's S4 Mini, S4 and S3 Mini

I feel that Samsung’s slogan for the S4 Mini perfectly describes the phone ‘Minimalism Maximised‘. It is a super powerful, high spec phone, packed into a pretty small case. The S4 Mini has the spec of the S3, but the functionality of the S4.

Android

In the past Android had a reputation for being an over complicated operating system for the technically minded, however major advancements in the last few years mean that now it couldn’t be easier to use.

Something I love about Android is the home screen. Apple’s iOS only lets you store app shortcuts on your home screen, which is a huge limitation when you consider the features Android offers. On my home screen I have the weather, a handful of apps, and a search box. Scroll to the left and I have the news and to the right my calendar. No need to open anything, it’s just there; one of the reasons why I love Android.

The fact that it is open source really shines through, as everything is built with users in mind. For example, with iOS, you have to stop every app individually, however with Android you can close all your apps at once. Weather, news, your diary, alarms, music, messages and loads more are right their on Android, without you having to load anything. Data usage, battery status, free memory, you name it, Android will tell you. I think you get the picture: I love Android!

Next Time

Next week I will be looking at a FlexiShield Case for the S4 Mini.

Coach Guitar App Review

5 Replies Steve August

Coach Guitar enables users to learn guitar without any music theory or tablature. The animated black fret-board represents a guitar and the fingers are marked with different colors to specify the positions efficiently for both hands use. The colored dots signify the different chords of an acoustic guitar to be strummed. These instructions are available in Help menu on the start screen.

When you open this app, the page shows options such as My Lessons, Library, Help and finally Settings. After going through the Help option, you need to start with My Lessons where there are few popular songs pre-loaded. Then, you have to choose one among them and proceed for the coaching sequences. Just like a true professional, this app provides a step by step teaching facility which helps the users to play each verse of the song with perfection.

Coach Guitar Navigation

This version also contains two amazing songs for free- Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin and secondly, Wake me up when September ends by Green Day. Another interesting aspect of this app is the availability of video lessons in HD. You can watch and learn in no time. In the Library, you can buy and store your favorite tracks available which you want to learn. The Library is updated quite frequently for the convenience of users. Also, the developers have provided the settings option to configure this app as per your wish.

The appearance of Library is quite similar to that of a normal playlist in your phone only with a single modification of the price tag on the extreme right of the songs. This can be considered one of the flaws of this virtual guitar teaching concept. You have to pay a certain amount for adding up your favorite tracks further. The customers have complained about this attribute and rightfully so.

Looking at all the pros and cons of this guitar teaching app, I am pretty much satisfied by its functioning. This app skillfully acknowledges its name and acquires relevant features to teach users how to play a guitar. Coach Guitar version 1.7.3 requires only 13.2 MB of phone memory. With the presence of a large display screen in iPhone and iPads, the working of Coach Guitar becomes easier.

Zappix iPhone App Review

9 Replies Steve August

There are apps that do just about anything these days, including starting your car for you. And while you are waiting for your car to start up, why not make that annoying phone call to the cable company about your monthly bill? If you answered, “Because I don’t want to wait on hold forever,” Zappix could be your one app for your customer service needs. This app provides the user with a simple way to maneuvering through irritating automated customer service wait times.

The simplicity of this free app arises in the very beginning when the user signs into the app. After entering the straightforward information one can access a large number of major companies, non profits, and government agencies, with new ones to come all the time. So whether or not it is the cable company or the court house the user needs to call, Zappix has you covered. If the company the user is trying to get a hold of and is backed by Zappix then the appropriate menu appears for the user to significantly cut back on the wait time.

Companies list in Zappix

Zappix uses a visual means that even the not so savvy smart phone user would understand. You can connect it with all the popular social media such as Twitter and Facebook, which in the end connects you to the companies Twitter and Facebook pages; making it that much easier for you to get a hold of someone. A user can also find the customer support email, and write to the company if the issue calls for more than a minimum number of characters.

Everyone has those days where it seems that everything is happening at once. Bills need to be paid, kids need to be picked up, soccer practice and ballet lesions after dinner all come with one thing consumers want more of – time. With the direct links to mobile websites and information pages Zappix takes out the need to Google the information and jot down the phone numbers which the user then needs to find time call. And to make it that much quicker the app uses stores the “Recent” contacts and “favorites” the contacts that the user specifies.

Since there is nothing perfect in life, though this app may seem to the user like the closest thing, Zappix also has its downside. Because the app is so new the number of companies does have an ending point. Though more and more companies are being added to the list daily, some users find that not every company specific to their needs can be found by searching the company name.