Opinion | The Tech Erra

Fun and FREE! #1: Hill Climb Racing

December 04, 2012 Will No comments

Fun and FREE! is by no means a review, but rather simply a headline that I may use occasionally to highlight some free games in the iTunes App Store that I have found to be of good quality.

For this first Fun and FREE!, I choose Hill Climb Racing by Fingersoft. The object of the game is to drive your car/SUV/buggy over an infinite number of hills that progressively get harder to surmount. There is no time limit, however the only limit that you have is your fuel which is appropriately used more as you tap (or tap and hold on the gas pedal) more.

A Budget Gaming Laptop, Does it Exist?

November 30, 2012 Will No comments

Go ahead, Google “best gaming laptop for $XXX,” and see what you come up with. Odds are that many of the results you find will be forums filled with people saying “go build a desktop” or “you’re joking, right?” I recently set out to find a budget laptop that would allow me to be up-to-date until I get a very nice one for college. My criteria included a fast processor, 8GB of RAM, and some sort of discrete graphics card.

Microsoft reveals Surface TV ad – Does it matter? [Video]

October 15, 2012 admin 2 Comments

Microsoft has just released a TV ad for their upcoming Surface tablets, which primarily shows off its flexibility of using an ultra-thin snap-on keyboard accessory. While I really want the Surface to succeed, as many others do, I just don’t see it being enough of a hit to be a top-seller. Instead, I see it being a pretty massive flop. Microsoft has a lot riding on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and their upcoming Surface tablets. The ad is a minute long, and demonstrates nothing else. You’ll find the video below.

24 hours with Android ICS & the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T – Already selling it

May 02, 2012 admin 20 Comments

Approximately 24 hours after I received my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T 32GB tablet (as well as its companion keyboard dock), it’s already packed up and ready to be sold to someone on eBay (as Newegg wants $82.20 for restocking purposes). While the tablet itself is basically fine, the software that runs on it is not (at all). The problems that have plagued Android, ever since it was first released, are still present in Android 4.0.3, Ice Cream Sandwich. In a nutshell, it’s all about the apps and the overall user experience of the operating system. There was nothing about Android that I actually enjoyed.

Google Announces Google Drive

April 25, 2012 admin No comments

After weeks of teases and leaks, Google pulled the curtain off their latest innovation in the cloud computing space. It’s called Google Drive and it allows users of the service to store, share, and collaborate on their files almost anywhere.

As many anticipated, Google Drive gives users 5 gigabytes (GB) of free storage space for all of your files, including documents, PDFs, photos, videos, and more. Those who are looking to put a bit more in Google’s cloud can choose to upgrade from a list of specific storage plans. For example, users can purchase 25GB of space for $2.49 a month, 100GB for $4.99 a month, or even 1 terabyte (TB) for $49.99 a month. With these pricing-for-storage options, Google is looking to give users access to simple, easy, and accessible cloud storage whilst encouraging users to use other Google services such as Gmail, Google Calendars, and the new Google+ for a streamlined experience. As Google states, “[Drive is] built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience.”

Instagram for Android: Better Than iOS?

April 03, 2012 admin No comments

Only a few short weeks after its welcomed announcement at SXSW, the massively popular photo sharing app, Instagram, is now available in the Google Play Store for most Android devices running Android 2.2 and higher.

As Instagram states on its website, “It’s photo sharing, reinvented,” and it couldn’t be more true. Perhaps one of the most innovative and creative social networking services, Instagram allows users to snap a picture using their smartphone, choose from an array of unique filters, and then post their photo to a variety of other social networks (including Facebook and Twitter) for friends, family, and colleagues to see. After using it for a few months myself, I can say its truly a breath of fresh air in the social media space. Sharing photos has never been more simple, and its certainly never been this fun.

[Review] 2011 LG Texting Championship

October 27, 2011 admin No comments

Today (yesterday by the time this post goes live) was the 2011 U.S. National Texting Championship that was sponsored by LG. 12 contestants, of which I was one of, were sent the LG Doubleplay, which was the phone that we had to use for the contest. While I was knocked out in the second round, I have some things to say about the handset as well as the “competition”.