Giving Feedback: When Good Ads Go Bad

Above you see two images of one of my favorite games – Football Flick Kick. FFK is one of those “freemium” Apps that has an ad banner installed on it, but you can pay anywhere from $.99 to a few bucks to have them removed. In this particular case, the developer didn’t get the ad banner quite setup right, in fact, it’s not even close to correct.
The first image shows a banner-less screen showing all the information. Your score, the multiplier and number of balls left to complete the kicks. The image on the right is with the latest update installed, where you can no longer see your score or the multiplier. Not exactly the end of the world, but if you look carefully at the ad itself, you can see that even the ad isn’t sized correctly.

Now, looking at the top of the first image again, you can see the designer left ample room for the ad banner to come across the screen above the goal post and out of the way of the score and multiplier areas. Unfortunately, this didn’t translate to the final version. That said, instead of posting a negative review, take the time to email the developers of these great games with glitches and let them know what you found. They will thank you for it.

The Unlocked HTC 8X Drops Under $200

The unlocked HTC 8X has fallen under the $200 mark for the first time. To make this deal even better, the product qualifies for free shipping from the 4GFastData.com webstore. The HTC 8X still features an amazing camera and wide angle front lens for taking great selfies of a group of friends. The screen is vibrant and the dual-core 1.5GHz processor still powers through Apps.

This is the AT&T version of the device, though it does come unlocked and ready for use on other networks. Keep in mind that this is a no contract phone so MVNO’s will welcome it with open arms.

Swing by and grab this deal before they are gone!

Features

• Windows 8 Phone
• Dual Core 1.5 Ghz S4 Processor
• Integration with XBox
• 8GB Internal Memory & 8 Megapixel Camera
• AT&T Retail Package - Unlocked for use with ALL GSM Networks

http://astore.amazon.com/myli0a6-20/detail/B00AUWS9VA

Deal Alert: Nokia Lumia 925 Refurbs For $349.99

If you are in the market for a new Windows Phone upgrade for AT&T, the 16GB Lumia 925 is available in refurbished mode for only $349.99. While this isn’t the best deal on the planet for a refurbished device, the Lumia 925 is quite a stellar handset and the sub $400 price point for a like new device is quite nice.

If you are more of the contract type, the refurb 925’s are free with 2 year agreement, though I recommend just purchasing it outright and paying the much lower monthly costs that are associated with either Red Pocket Mobile or the AT&T GoPhone plans. Net10 and Straight Talk are also great options for the Lumia 925 (AT&T version).

For those that don’t want to deal with charging cases or the smaller device, the Lumia 920 is still available at AT&T as new for only $299.99 without contract as well.

Visit the link below to see more about this great offer:

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/nokia/lumia-925-black-refurb.html#fbid=ZauJyGyiG24

As Expected: Meet The Lumia Icon

I knew it was coming, in fact, most of the universe knew it was coming. The Icon, the 5” monster Windows Phone that everyone on Verizon Wireless has been waiting for has arrived, well, will arrive next week to be exact. That’s right, the Nokia Lumia Icon can be had for $199.99 with two year agreement from Verizon or an unknown retail price should you choose to upgrade to one without extending your contract.

The Lumia Icon features a a 2.2GHz quad-core processor, a 5” full HD OLED display and a 2,420 mAh battery to power through the day. The f/2.4 equipped, 20MP camera features the amazing Carl Zeiss optics, lossless 2x digital zoom and 1080p HD video recording. You can store all of those images and videos on the included 32GB of internal storage and back them up instantly with a Microsoft SkyDrive/OneDrive (I’m not sure when the name change is going to be official) online account.

As a bonus, everyone that places their orders before March 16th at a Microsoft Store gets a FREE Nokia Wireless Charging accessory. The Icon includes the standard Qi charging system, like the older Nokia Lumia Models. This means all of your older Qi pads, FatBoy pillows and JBL PowerUPs will work just fine with your new Icon.

Visit the Microsoft Store online to learn more about the new Nokia Lumia Icon for Verizon Wireless: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Nokia-Lumia-Icon-for-Verizon/productID.295621200

Photo Op: 4Blend HDR vs. Nokia Cam Beta

With a flurry of snow last night, our back yard turned into a winter wonderland. Of course, it was time to go play in the snow, but what a great time to test out a few of the great camera Apps on my Lumia 925. So, after stopping for a few snowball fights, building a little snowman or two and sliding around on the icy ground, we reached the gorgeous property out behind our place.

The first image was taken with Nokia’s Camera Beta software. as you look at the image, there is a great range from “white to black” and very good definition. Zooming in a bit more, details are pretty clear and overall, the image turned out very good.

4Blend HDR surprised me on this one. The image wasn’t as “good” as what Nokia’s Camera Beta software recorded, but it was much more life-like. The grays of the sky, the whites of the trees and the overall details of the darker areas was much better. I also felt like the sharpness was much better on the 4Blend image.

I took a few more shots at cropping the image below so you can see a bit more of the detail in the image. Again, the Nokia software seemed to deliver a cleaner image, but the color accuracy and dynamic range of the 4Blend HDR image was much better.

Take a look at the sample crops below and see what you think.

Nokia Camera Beta

4Blend HDR

Nokia Camera Beta

 

4Blend HDR

AIO Wireless Brings The Lumia 520 With New Plans

AT&T MVNO Aio Wireless announced three new plans today and three new devices to match. Available soon, the Motorola Moto G ($149.99), the ZTE Sonata ($79.99) and the Nokia Lumia 520 ($99.99) will run on the new Aio service plans. These new plans include the new Basic Plan, Smart Plan and Pro Plans.

Basic Plan: $35 after Auto Pay credit ($40 without Auto Pay credit), unlimited voice/text/data, including 500MB of high speed data (same price as before but double the data);

Smart Plan: $40 after Auto Pay credit ($50 without Auto Pay credit), unlimited voice/text/data, including 2.5 GB of high speed data ($5 less/month plus an extra half GB of data); and

Pro Plan: $55 after Auto Pay credit ($60 without Auto Pay credit), unlimited voice/text/data, including 5 GB of high speed data ($10 less/month with 5 GB of data).

I’m going to assume that the Smart Plan is supposed to be $45 a month based on the mention of a $5 savings provided as an account credit at the end of each billing cycle that is on the page.

Now the good news on this deal is that Aio uses the AT&T LTE network. This means for $55 a month, you can land yourself 5GB of LTE data along with unlimited talk and text. You also get unlimited 2G data after breaching that 5GB limit. If you aren’t that data hungry, the $35 and $45 plans are also an exceptional deal and perfect for the more budget conscious person.

Visit the source link below to see more on Aio’s new offerings and check back at their site for actual availability of the new devices.

Source: http://www.aiowireless.com/content/aio/en/why-aio/news/2014/2/7/new_devices_newly_lo.html

Rumors Abound! What Are We Missing?

In Nokia’s latest teaser, they talk about what we’ve been missing. Specifically, seeing and hearing what we’ve been missing. My bet is that it is the new Nokia Lumia 929 or “Icon” for Verizon Wireless.

This 5” monstrous handset features 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It’s also powered by a Snapdragon 800 series chipset and features the same 20MP camera that the 1520 does. This device also launches with the Nokia Black update installed for added benefits over some of the existing Lumia devices.

Overall, it will be exciting to see what happens next in the land of Lumia, but for now, I’ll just assume it’s the 929 and move along.