Ten Best Smart Watches for 2014

With the holidays fast approaching here's a small but expensive gift for a special someone. A smart watch is designed to work with your phone using Bluetooth technology so that you never miss a call again. Your smart watch will notify you of a call and if set up for it, also who is calling. No need to drag you phone out of your pocket or the bottom of your purse. You can discretely check your watch.

Not all smart phones are created equal. Before you buy, here's some things to check:

• compatibility with your type of phone
• strength of battery and how often it needs charging
• what functions you want. Some include: notification from social media as well as calls, stop watch and calendar, voice alert and water-proof or shock-proof.
• design - do you want something sleek and modern or are you a geek who wants a big watch with every function possible?
• ease of use - Does it easily fit your wrist? Do you need something shock-proof? Can you read the dial easily? Remember that this machine should make your life easier, not more difficult.

Here are the ten best smart watches as reviewed by toptenreviews.com: MetaWatch Strata, MetaWatch Frame, Pebble, Cookoo, i'm Watch, Samsung Galaxy Gear, Martian G2G, Martian Passport, Martian Victory, and Sony LiveView. I'm going to pick three of these to review in detail. Please read the original article to explore the rest.

Ten Best Smart Watches for 2014

MetaWatch Strata - This is a very sturdy watch that can take some knocking around. The band is flexible plastic and easily washable. There is a scratch-resistant face and it is waterproof. The battery can run for a week on one charge. There are several sporty colors for the band- electric blue, pink, orange and lime green as well as the standard grey. There are many more functions and apps that can be added to this phone compatible with iPhones. At $145 this is one of the cheaper smart watches.

Samsung Galaxy Gear - Here is a sleek, steamline watch just made for a woman who likes jewelry. No Samsung S3 or S4 is complete without one of these smart watches. One unique feature involves security of your phone. When you move more than 5 feet away from your phone, the Gear secures and locks your phone, then releases it once you return. The display face is very clear and the battery here lasts for 2-3 days between charges. The voice feature lets you dictate messages, set reminders and even place calls. This one is $337 retail.

Sony LiveView - Here's one that suited to someone on a fixed budget as it weighs in at only $25.86. It can easily be attached to a purse strap but wrist straps are available. For something so small it is amazingly functional with Facebook and Twitter updates as well as the standard functions. You can play and upload music from your phone, and get gmail updates. However, there is not Bluetooth capacity in the watch itself. Once the reception is gone, it renders this phone unusable as it gets its signal from the phone. One really useful function is the "Find Phone" feature. If you cannot find your phone, the Sony LiveView will let you find it by calling it for you.

As you can see, these phones a quite different from each other and from other devices and accessories. Since these watches are so new, it's a good idea to try them out before you purchase. At least try them on and see if all the buttons work. As the author of "Smart Watch Review" in toptenreviews.com states, "If you consider all of the factors above, you will surely find a smartwatch that is a perfect fit for you. Then, you can stop missing important calls or messages while simultaneously checking your phone less frequently."

What will 2015 bring for new Smart Watch technology? Already smart watches have started appearing that do not need phones connections in order to work - essentially a cell phone watch. Move over, Dick Tracy.

The Asus Padfone - Beneficial Cell Phone or Not?

Here is a very amusing video that I assure you will love watching to see how the company Asus has combined a cell phone (well, actually a large Android smartphone) with a laptop and calls it a Padfone. Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, producer, Drew Evans and journalist and actress supreme, Joanna Stern for this addition to our understanding of the confusing array of mobile devices available today.
http://live.wsj.com/video/asus-padfone-review-when-phone-and-tablet-are-one/41E271E2-EB67-4CED-BA49-481850BCE63E.html

Are you even more confused today? Best just go down to your local electronic shop and try them all out. You can rest assured the sales team will be up on the latest devices and try to sell you several. Here's some questions you will want to ask. I personally like taking in a list of questions because the usual sales person will so overload you with information that you won't be able to remember these important points. Nor will the literature they give you necessarily include it.
1. What is the GB capacity or the phone (something like the memory)?
2. What is the mega pixel capacity of the camera? (better yet, get the sales to take a picture and show it to you).
3. What is the initial price and the length of the contract?
4. What software is included and what necessary software or apps must be added or downloaded?
5. Are there any attachments that are included in the cost (such as cell phone holders, covers, ear phones, etc.
6. What is the warranty period and what customer service is included?
7. Where is the phone manufactured or serviced?

Photo Darkroom on your Smartphone

Remember the old photo darkrooms? There's a whole younger generation of people who will answer "no" to that question. Of course we no longer need a dark room to develop our photos in a liquid bath now that everything is digital. Now you can go one step further and edit your photos, even store them using downloaded apps for your smartphone from Photobucket, Posterjack, TheDarkroom, or even Microsoft. The quality is quite good, certainly comparable to some of the best digital cameras on the market today. It's possible that even special visual effects will be available soon. In order to get people using these apps the companies are offering prizes for photo contests to be shared on the Instagram or Twitter sites of these companies. Here is the latest one from Photobucket sent by e-mail and posted on their Facebook site. They go on to promise 8GB of storage if you download their photo storage app.

You can do more with a smartphone than shoot a selfie! With the all-new Photobucket mobile apps its a snap to upload, edit and share. Show us how creative you can be with nothing more than your phone, some filters and our free mobile app! Our favorite mobile photos will win a free 16x20 canvas print. How to enter:

1. Download the free all-new Photobucket Mobile app

2. Turn your phone away from your face and shoot a stellar photo

3. Share it on Instagram, Twitter or Photobucket using the hashtag: #pbMobile

Let's look at another of the burgeoning number of online photo apps offered - www.blacks.ca, a Canadian company. Here is their tutorial.

Tutorial

  When you've captured that special moment, it has to be right. The Black's Photo Print App tutorial reviews all the features of the app so you'll know exactly how to access them when you need them. We'll even review special features like how to adjust image settings to help you create just the right mood.

• Navigate the app using the specific iPhone buttons and icons,
• Take photos directly from the Black's Photo Print app,
• Browse through photos you've already taken,
• Adjust image settings like exposure, contrast, saturation, colour, and sharpness,
• Rename an image,
• And more.

To read more click here. While some may bemoan the change to instant photos, I for one welcome the chance to have countless former specialized services at my fingertips, thanks to computers and digital software. However, it means a new learning curve, so there's going to be folks who will be happy to have someone else develop and even store their pictures. I suspect that there will be a new profession for people who specialize in "developing" photos using this new technology with smartphones.