Bob has a Samsung Galaxy Exhibit entry level smartphone, and he's thinking about getting a Nexus 4 to replace it. He's wondering if he should he wait until the Key Lime Pie version comes out. Leo says no need to wait, Google will update it in due course. Leo likes the Nexus 4, and the only thing he doesn't like is the lack of removable battery.
Ken's Verizon contract is up and he's looking at what new phone he should get to replace his current Blackberry. Leo says that the Blackberry Q10 looks pretty good with it's new BB10 OS, touch screen, and real keyboard.
Scott loves the Google Nexus IV, but it's GSM only with T-Mobile. He's not much a T-Mobile fan, and would like to move it to another network. Leo says that since it's GSM, it only would be able to work with a carrier that uses GSM, which is AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint use a different technology called CDMA.
Google created the Nexus to be a developer phone, and as such, it may only be designed to work with T-Mobile. So he may just be out of luck there. It's a real shame too, because the Nexus phones are really popular. People really want vanilla Android.
Don just got an iPhone from Verizon and doesn't know if he needs the SIM chip. The chatroom says that the SIM chip is for the LTE data plan.
Verizon also sells phones that can be used all over the world and the SIM port is for that purpose.
Therese wants to get a Samsung Brightside flip phone. She doesn't want to pay for a data plan. Leo says that feature phones are a thing of the past and while they have great battery life, the cutting edge of technology is leading people to having an always-on connection to the net in their pocket. Unfortunately Leo can't give too many good recommendations for this, other than just to hold the phone and see if she likes how it feels. Aesthetics aside, they all are essentially the same.
Mike needs to buy an unlocked, GSM phone. Leo says that Amazon Wireless is a great option for getting GSM phones. The Google Nexus 4 is a pure Google experience with 4G, but it won't do LTE.
With over 3,000 people a year dying in automobile accidents caused by cellphone use, the NTSB is poised to make a series of voluntary recommendations which would be phased in over the next three years to give automakers time to incorporate them. The recommendations will alter how cellphones will be used in the car and will include:
Disabling Manual Text Entry
Disabling video calls or displays
Disabling text display
Leo got the HTC One and it has some very interesting features. First, the camera is only 4MP. The thinking is that the majority post to social media, so they decided to use less megapixels and just make the pixels larger so that they handle low light better.
James is traveling to New York and wants to know if he can buy a local sim and have a cell number and data plan. Leo says that getting a GoPhone is probably the best option and go directly to the carrier when he gets to the US. He can't set it up ahead of time. RedPocket and even Walmart are options as well.
Leo got the HTC One this week and he says it's pretty amazing. Fantastic camera, stunning LCD screen. A 1.7 GHz quad core processor with 4.7" and a resolution of 1920x1080. However, the battery life doesn't last the day, and there's no removable battery either. In fact, Leo had to plug it in at 2pm. Although to be fair, he was using it heavily.
