TECH GIFTS: Stress Relievers Moms will Love for Mother's Day

Keys Missing? Don't Remember where You Parked the Car? These Tech Items can Help....

Mother's Day is coming up fast. And for those Moms who are technology lovers, here are two tech items that you can buy Mom to help take the stress out of finding her missing keys or remembering where she parked the car at the crowded mall.

ZUS
ZUS is a vehicle finder and smart car charger all in 1 small unit.   It can not only charge two devices two times faster than a normal car charger, but it also pairs with an Android or iPhone smartphone app to help you find where you parked your car.

We have all gone to the mall or to a concert and in our excitement, totally forgotten where we parked the car. I have forgotten where I parked my car recently at a stadium.  So when I was sent a complimentary ZUS unit to test out, I put it right to work when I took my son to a recent event.

I plugged the ZUS into my car port to charge my half dead smartphone and when I parked my car and turned off the ignition, I received a message on my smartphone from the ZUS app that it had registered my car's location.

When I needed to find my car,I just open the app and follow the arrows. It is that simple. Because the ZUS app utilizes your phone's GPS to help you find your car, ZUS is best suited for cars parked where GPS signal is strong such as open lots.

Another feature of ZUS is a timer function that is great for when your car is parked is a timed space so that you know when the time is up to save yourself from getting a parking ticket.

ZUS SALE ALERT!!!
ZUS retails for $59.99 but is currently on sale for $29.99

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ZUS CAR FINDER AND SMART CAR CHARGER

TrackR
Track R is a coin sized disk that you attach to items that you want to keep track of, like you keys or your wallet.

If you lose track of the item, you can use the app to make the TrackR disk attached to the item ring, allowing you to find the item or be notified before leaving the item behind.

TrackR's Crowd GPS Network even update you of your item’s latest location on a map!

Watch the video above to learn more!

TrackR is available in 4 fashionable colors: White, Blue, Black, and Pink.

MOTHER'S DAY SALE!!!
TrackR retials for $29.99 per device.   The company is currently running a Mother's Day sale where you can get 4 TrackR devices for $59.99 with FREE US shipping

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TRACKR MOTHER'S DAY SALE

Part of the 2016 Mother's Day Gift Guide

Enjoy!


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TECH REVIEW: 7 Things I love about the Droid Turbo Smartphone powered by Verizon Wireless

Special thanks to Verizon Wireless for loaning me the Droid Turbo for review.  It's an awesome phone that I hated to give back...

From the great battery life to the beautiful screen, the Droid Turbo powered by Verizon Wireless is a lot of smartphone to love...

Are you in the market for a new smartphone?  Well this is the time of the year where a lot of new smartphones have been released that are all advertised to make your life easier with smart features that will make your smartphone your top used gadget, even more than your PC.

And the Droid Turbo powered by Verizon Wireless is the newest smartphone released by Motorola that has features that will definitely make your life easier and make your smartphone the smartest device that you own. I have been reviewing the Droid Turbo for the past 2 weeks and have found so many things that I love about the phone that it is hard to list just a few for this blog post.

So here are the top 7 things that I loved about using the Droid Turbo smartphone -

1. Lots of Storage for Apps, Games, Music and Movies on the Device

I remember when 16GB was a massive amount of storage on a smartphone, but not anymore. My 16GB smartphone is totally filled with photos, videos, and hundreds of apps - and that is after I cleaned up the storage and moved most of my videos and photos to Dropbox!

So I love that the Droid Turbo comes standard with 32GB of storage for the same price that 16GB Droid models were going for last year. As we use our smartphones more, we definitely need more storage and the Droid Turbo can meet that need with its 32GB and 64GB models.

2. Shake-to-Awake Camera - Never Miss an Important Shot again...

We have all been there. A perfect camera shot is coming up and you know you are going to miss it if you have to open your smartphone and then navigate to the camera. But you don't have to worry about missing a shot with the Droid Turbo. Just shake the smartphone twice and the camera wakes up - even if your phone is locked. How cool is that?

And the Droid Turbo has a 21-megapixel rear-facing camera that can record and play back video in 4K so your home videos will look more professional than ever before.

24 hours later and the Droid Turbo still has 32% of the battery remaining...

3. Great Battery Life!

I think most of us charge our smartphones every night since the battery is probably near dead or completely dead by the time we go to sleep. My smartphone has a 2100mAh battery and it just does not last since I am using my smartphone constantly. So I always keep a portable charger in my purse and a charging brick at work to make sure that my smartphone battery makes it through the day.

Well with the Droid Turbo, all that battery drama is a thing of the past.

The Droid Turbo packs a 3900mAh battery that will easily get you through the entire day with some power to spare for the next day.  I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to use this smartphone and know that I did not have to worry costantly about charging the battery.

Photos cannot show how beautiful this display is to view...

4. A Big Beautiful Screen makes everything look wonderful!

I wish I could take a photo to show how beautiful the Droid Turbo screen is, but I cannot capture in photos how awesome this display looks.  I put the Droid Turbo next to my smartphone and I could easily see how the colors were deeper and more saturated.  And when you pair the Droid Turbo's Quad HD display with the 5.2" size, you get a great user experience that makes everything that is displayed on the screen easy to see and great to view.

Every smartphone should have a Turbo Charger like the Droid Turbo!

5. Turbo Charger to the Rescue!

I think everyone has at least once forgot to charge their smartphone before the have to go to an event. So what do you do if your smartphone is on 5% and you have to leave the house in 15 minutes? Well if you have a Droid Turbo, you just charge the phone using the Turbo Charger and you will add about 6 hours of additional power to your smartphone - Can we make this standard issue on all smartphones?

Active Display puts all your notifications on the lock screen for easy access!

6. Active Display and Touchless Control are like having your own butler!

I was first introduced to active display and touch less control features when I reviewed the Motorola Moto X and the Motorola Droid Ultra smartphones - and I totally love these features.

Active Display allow you to to preview alerts on the lock screen with just a touch of the screen so that you know in seconds if a message is important or just something that you can take care of later. I am sure that all of us waste a ton of time checking our phones every time it beeps - after all the message or email or text could be important. With the Droid Turbo, you can stop being a slave to alerts since the lock screen shows you a preview the most recent messages. Now you can do a quick eye scan and go back to what you are doing knowing you are not missing anything important. This should be a feature on all smartphones!

Touch-less control allow you to just speak to the smartphone and it uses Google Now to answer your questions and talk back to you. Lets say you are driving down the road and need information, but you cannot safely use your smartphone, Just say "OK Google Now" (or set your own phrase) and the Droid Turbo will wake up and ask you for a command.

And speaking of driving, the Droid Turbo includes some software called "Moto Assist" that works with the touch-less control feature to sense when you are driving and will ask you if you want to take incoming calls (via speaker phone) and also read incoming text messages to you.

The Droid Turbo is built with a special processor that is dedicated to the touch-less control features that work with Google Now. The touch-less control feature is always awake and waiting for your command, but will not drain your battery due to the dedicated processor. The touch-less control feature learns your voice through a series of commands so the feature will only work for you and no one else - HOW COOL!


7. Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Service is awesome!

Verizon Wireless has some of the best phone service in the country. There are certain buildings where I work in Dearborn, MI where cell phone service is a problem due the how the building is constructed. But I never had a issue getting a cell signal with the Droid Turbo. Using the feature packed Droid Turbo on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network was truly the icing on the cake.

Overall, I give the Droid Turbo two thumbs up!

I would sum up my review of the Droid Turbo smartphone powered by Verizon Wireless as follows -

Pros

- Beautiful, huge screen that makes everything easy to see and a pleasure to view.

- Awesome battery life.

- Touch-less controls, active display, shake-to-awake camera and the turbo charger are excellent, useful features that should come as standard on all smartphones!

- Tons of storage with the 32gb standard model.

Cons

- The volume rocker on the side of the smartphone does not protrude out far enough which makes using it difficult. I always had to look to adjust the sound volume instead of being able to do it by touch.

- Even though the camera is 21 megapixels, I really could not tell the difference between photos taken with the Droid Turbo and those taken with my 10 megapixel smartphone camera.

The Droid Turbo powered by Verizon Wireless retails for $199.99 with a two year contract or $599.99 full price

If you are looking for an Android smartphone packed full of useful features with a beautiful screen and long lasting battery life, then check out the Droid Turbo powered by Verizon Wireless.  It is truly a great smartphone.

WIN Your own Droid Turbo!

WIN YOUR OWN DROID TURBO POWERED BY VERIZON WIRELESS WITH THE #FREE48CONTEST

Want to WIN a Droid Turbo?  Go to the FREEISMYLIFE Instagram Account to find out the details on how Verizon Wireless is giving away a Droid Turbo as part of their #FREE48CONTEST which runs through December 30, 2014.


Enjoy!


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TECH: Kingston MobileLite G2 Wireless Media Streamer makes the Perfect Holiday Gift

Kingston, best known for their super fast SD cards, has introduced the 2nd generation MobileLite media streamer and battery backup device

Wirelessly share content with Android, Apple, and Kindle Smartphones and Tablets for $50!

I have had a love affair with my iPad for many years now.  Even though I think Android has the best smartphones, I think the Apple iPad is the best tablet and I find myself using it everyday for consuming lots of content like YouTube videos, movies, and eBooks.

I love taking my iPad with me on vacation as a mini entertainment center. But there is one thing that really bothers me about the iPad - the fact that it does not have a USB port nor an SD card slot so I can watch videos that I have on my USB drives and SD cards.  Now I know I could download the videos on my USB drives and SD cards to iTunes and then use iTunes to upload the movies to my iPad, but who wants to go through all that trouble (it would take hours of work) just to get a few movies on a tablet?  I hate not having a USB port so much that I thought about getting rid of my iPad and buying a Microsoft Surface tablet instead since the Surface has a full size USB slot.

But I have finally figured out a cost effective way to watch videos and view content (files, photos) on my iPad that I have stored on USB drives and SD cards.  And that solution is made by Kingston and is called the MobileLite G2 Wireless Media Streamer.

The MobileLite G2 is the second generation of a device manufactured by Kingston (best known for their super fast Kingston SD cards), that allows users to wireless share content plugged into the MobileLite device for up to 13 hours with Android, Apple, and Kindle smartphones and tablets.  I have been looking for a solution like this for years so I was very happy when Kingston sent me a complementary MobileLite G2 unit for review.

Download the MobileLite app to your Apple, Android, or Kindle device

The MobileLite G2 works is as follows -

1. Download the MobileLite app to your Android, Apple, or Kindle device (one time action)

2. Turn on the MobileLite and wait for all the indicators to light up

3. Go to your device's Wifi settings and connect the device to the MobileLite

4. Use the MobileLite app to setup a new unique MobileLite network name and password (one time action)

5. Plug in your USB drive and/or SD card into the slots of the MobileLite G2

6. Once your device is connected to your MobileLite network, just open the MobileLite app and you can now see all of the files on the UBS drive and/or SD card that are plugged into the MobileLite device. Just click on the file that you want to access.

Stream HD movies to up to 5 devices at the same time...

Sharing can save you money!

The MobileLite G2 creates its own Wi-Fi signal allowing connection of up to 8 devices for photos and data, as well as stream HD movies on up to 5 devices.

Imagine being able to stream the same movie to all your kids devices while traveling in the car or on a plane. Or sharing family photos on your USB drive at the reunion with up to 8 relatives on their smartphones and tablets. Or for business meeting being able to share a business presentation with a few of your coworkers.

And you can wirelessly move the files from the USB drive and SD card to your mobile devices.

When you want to revoke access to your MobileLite G2, just change the password on the network.

Battery Backup and More....

In addition to sharing content, the MobileLite G2 can also be used to power your smartphones and tablets. The MobileLite G2 has a 4640 mAh 3.8v battery that I used during the recent power outage in Detroit to keep my smartphone alive until the power came back on. 4640 mAh is enough power to charge most smartphones 2-3 times!!!

And the MobileLite G2 can also be used in hotel rooms or homes that only have an Ethernet port to create a secure wireless Internet connection so you can connect multiple devices.  I did not test this feature, but the instructions say to just plug the Ethernet cord into the side of the MobileLite to make the connection.

I would sum up my review of the Kingston MobileLite G2 Wireless Media Streamer as follows:

Pros -
- Stream HD Video to up to 5 devices
- Stream files and photos to up to 8 devices
- Both USB drives and SD cards can be used with the device
- Super lightweight
- Long battery life of 6 - 13 hours
- 46400 mAh battery can be used as a back up battery to power other devices
- Can be used with an Ethernet plug to setup a wireless network

Cons -
- Although super lightweight, the device a little on the large size at 3x5 inches

Right Device at the Right Price...

With all the great functions that the Kingston MobileLite G2 does, I expected the price to be in the hundreds.  So I was very surprised when I found the Kingston MobileLite G2 retails for only $70 and that the Kingston MobilLite G2 can be purchased on Amazon for as low as $50!!

The Kingston MobileLite G2 is the right device with the right useful functions at the right price. And who could ask for any more than that?

This is an awesome device for the price which is why I have included the Kingston MobileLite G2 in the FREEISMYLIFE 2014 Holiday Gift Guide.

Part of the 2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Enjoy!


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TECH REVIEW: 7 Reasons to L-O-V-E the HTC One M8 smartphone powered by Verizon Wireless

Special thanks to Verizon Wireless for loaning me the HTC One M8 for review. All opinions are my own...

The HTC One M8 is one high-end smartphone that is perfect for the graduate, audio lover, and beyond...

Quality. Monied. Refined. Those are the words that came to mind when I took the Verizon Wireless HTC One M8 smartphone out of the packaging and first held it in my hand.

As a lover of quality things, I found the HTC One M8 to be a smartphone that checks all the boxes when you think of a high-end tech device.

The body of the HTC One M8 is made from a beautiful brushed aluminum metal that gives the phone a very refined look. The phone has stereo speakers that can out gun any boom box.

And the phone's overall features are outstanding and include an IR blaster to control your TV, a beautiful 1080 display for watching HD movies, a superior camera with interesting special affects, BlinkFeed for aggregating your news feeds right onto a screen on the phone, and a SD card slot for extra storage of music, photos and more.

There are so many great features on this phone, that I decided to just focus on telling you about my 7 top favorites that I feel make the HTC One M8 an awesome smartphone -

1. Superior Build Quality
The body of the HTC One M8 is made from 90% brushed aluminum metal.  Now this really did not hit me as much of a great feature at first. After all, most smartphones (both high-end and not) are made from plastic and they are perfectly fine to use.

But after carrying the HTC One M8 around with me for a few weeks, I found myself running my hands over the brushed metal finish and just enjoying the high-end quality feel of the phone. I also found myself laying the phone down with the back facing up because the phone is just so darn beautiful to look at.

One con of using a phone that is all aluminum is that it can get slippery. But if you love for your possessions to be high-end and beautiful to the touch and eye, the HTC One M8 is definitely worth checking out.

2. Awesome sounding Stereo Speakers
The HTC One M8 is the only smartphone that I haver ever reviewed that has stereo speakers. And it is a feature that I hope other smartphone manufactures will copy.

I had no idea how bad the mono speaker of my smartphone sounded until I started playing music on the HTC One M8.  Everything I played sounded not only louder, but also richer in bass and overall quality. These speakers are really amazing.

3. Big Beautiful 1080p HD Display
If you are into watching movies on your smartphone while on the go, then you will love the 5" HD display on the HTC One M8. The colors are beautiful and the screen can also be used to turn the phone on and off.

Just tap twice anywhere on the screen, and phone turns off and on without using the physical on/off button - LOVE IT!!!

4. HTC Advantage Guarantee for OS Updates, FREE Screen Replacement and more...
Years ago, I cracked the screen on my smartphone and had to live with it in that horrid state for 7 months.  One of the great things about the HTC One M8 is that comes with the HTC Advance Guarantee which gets you -

• Free one-time, cracked-screen replacement for the first 6 months
• A commitment to getting the latest Android OS updates
• Free additional Google Drive online storage for two years

This is the first time that I have ever heard of a smartphone manufacturer including free cracked-screen replacement.   Way to go HTC!

I am also glad to see HTC committing to updating their smartphones to the latest Android OS since in the past HTC has been very bad at updating their devices.  Having the latest Android OS means you are guaranteed to have a smartphone with all the latest Android features and one that will not become obsolete within a year of purchase.

5. Great Battery Life
The HTC One M8 that I was sent from Verizon Wireless for review included a hotspot feature that allowed me to share the smartphone's data connection with my laptop and other wireless devices.  Now anyone that has ever used the hotspot on your smartphone knows that this feature will drain your battery faster than any other feature on the phone.

I kept the hotspot live all day from morning to night on the HTC One M8 and the battery level never dropped lower than 30%.  That is just amazing since I have to keep my own personal smartphone pulled in to a power outlet when I use the hotspot to keep the battery from completely draining to zero.

6. IR Blaster to control your TV
I am a big fan of IR blasters on smartphones and tablets.  The newest Samsung smartphones and tablets all have IR blasters and so does the HTC One M8.  Setup is super easy and in less than 3 minutes, I was sitting in my comfy chair using the HTC One M8 to see what's on TV and control the functions of my TV and cable box.  I love features like this that enable a smartphone to be truly smart for the consumer.

7. Great Verizon Wireless Data Quality
Lastly, I love any smartphone powered by Verizon Wireless because of the superior Internet data quality.  While I was reviewing the HTC One M8, I had some horrid issues with my home cable service and had to use the hotspot on my HTC One M8 to temporarily power the wireless devices in my home to prove to my cable provider that the issues were with the cable modem and not with my home. Thanks Verizon Wireless for coming to the rescue.

With all the great features on the HTC One M8, this is a smartphone that is not only easy on the eye, but also easy to use everyday.  And this phone would be great as a graduation gift!

The HTC One M8 powered by Verizon Wireless is available for $99 with a 2 year contact.

Check out the HTC One M8 along with accessories like the Dot View Case on the Verizon Wireless website

Part of the 2014 Graduation Gift Guide

Enjoy!


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MOTHER'S DAY GIFT GUIDE: The Verizon Ellipsis 7 Tablet with 4G LTE for On-The-Go Moms

A small tablet with Verizon 4G LTE built in for use while on-the-go...

Special thanks to Verizon Wireless for loaning me the Verizon Ellipsis 7 Tablet for review... 

Recently, I gave my very non-technical sister a new tablet for her birthday.  When I say that my sister is non-technical, I mean she only uses technology when she is forced.  She is technical writer, which means she uses a computer every day as part of her job. But left up to her, she would still be using a manual typewriter if she could get away with it.

So when my son and I gifted her a new tablet for her birthday, I really did not know how she was going to react. This is a woman who still owns a flip phone - and is proud of it. So my son and I set up the tablet on her wifi and loaded on Gmail, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Kindle, Nook, Comcast To Go, the Bible and a Solitaire game and left her to her own devices.  Well, I am happy to report that my very non-technical sister actually loves her gift and uses it all the time.  Her only complaint? That her tablet does not have a built-in Internet connection so that she can use all the apps while on-the-go when there is no wi-fi available.

So I thought about my sister's desire to have a built-in Internet connection with her tablet when I was sent for review the Verizon Ellipsis 7 tablet with built-in Verizon 4G LTE.

While the Ellipsis 7 is not a high-end tablet with lots of bells and whistles and does not have super high-end specs, it is a decent tablet that will get the job done for someone looking to check email, watch a movie, read an eBook, Skype call a friend or relative, or just play a game.

The Verizon Ellipsis 7 specs are as follows:

- 1289 x 800 HD Display
- measures 7.72" (H) x 4.94" (W) x 0.4" (D)
- weighs 12.7 oz.
- runs Android™ 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
- has 8GB internal  memory with 1GB RAM
- supports up to 32GB microSD card (sold separately)
- has 1.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
- has a 4,000 mAh battery that can give you up to 12.28 hours of usage time or 6 days of standby time
- 3.2 Megapixel Rear–Facing Camera
- VGA Front–Facing Camera

One of the best thing about the Ellipsis 7 tablet is that it has the antennas built in for a Verizon 4G LTE Internet connection so that you have the super fast Verizon network with you wherever you go. And the unit that I was sent could also be used as a super fast hotspot so that I could share the Verizon 4G LTE Internet connection with my laptop or other devices.

I would sum up my review of the Verizon Ellipsis 7 Tablet as follows -

Pros -

- Good battery life with excellent standby time.  I left the tablet in my purse untouched for 3 days and it still had plenty juice left in the battery.  I wish my smartphone battery was that good.

- Loud dual front speakers that did a great job while watching youTube video.

- Built in microSD card slot is perfect for keeping lots of music and videos on the unit without using up all the 8GB of internal storage.

- Perfect size for carrying in my purse.

Cons -

- Feels a little heavy at 12.7 oz for a 7" tablet

The Verizon Ellipsis 7 Tablet would make a great Mother's Day gift for someone looking to own their first tablet or for someone that wants a simple tablet to use while on-the-go. It can be purchased from Verizon Wireless off-contract for $249.99 or with a 2-year contact for $49.99.

Find out more about the Verizon Ellipsis 7 Tablet on the Verizon Wireless Website

Part of the 2014 Mother's Day Gift Guide

Enjoy!


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TECH: What's Up Moto? It's all good with the Verizon Moto X and Moto G Smartphones

Verizon Moto X

Verizon Moto G

The Moto X and Moto G by Motorola are the new standard for smartphones...

Special thanks to Verizon Wireless for loaning me the Moto G and Moto X smartphones for review. All opinions are my own...

I have reviewed so many technology products over the years, that at times, they all seem to blend together where one product does not seem that much different from another. But every now and then, a product really captures my attention not just because of how it looks, but because of how useful it is. And the Moto G and Moto X smartphones had me at Hello, but for very different reasons.

So let me break down why I love both of these Motorola smartphones that are powered by Verizon Wireless...

Last year, I was part of the Verizon Voices Savers program and I received for review the Motorola Droid Ultra smartphone. The Droid Ultra is part of a series of 3 "Droid by Motorola" branded Android smartphones that are available exclusively to Verizon - the Droid Mini, the Droid Ultra, and the Droid Maxx. The features on all three phones are the same, but the phones differ in their design, size, and battery life.

Touchless controls on the Moto X are amazing...

What's Up Moto?.. a lot with the Moto X
The features on the Motorola Droid Ultra are also some of the same as those offered on the Moto X.  The Moto X has cutting edge features that I truly love, which include:

-Touch-less controls where you just say "OK Google Now" to the smartphone and it answers your questions by talking back to you. Just say "What's Up?" to the phone and it will read all your current notifications to you - how cool is that? This is great if you are in the car and need to keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel.

- Speaking of driving, the Moto X includes some software called "Moto Assist" that senses when you are driving and will ask you if you want to take incoming calls (via speaker phone) and also read incoming text messages to you - how brillant!!!

- A "shake-to-awake" 10-megapixel camera that is up and usable in seconds, even with your phone locked, so that you never miss an important shot. I use this feature all the time and love it.

- The ability to preview alerts on the lock screen with just a touch of the screen so that you know in seconds if a message is important or just something that you can take care of later.

- A beautiful design that makes the phone a pleasure to use and hold. While I loved all the useful features on the Droid Ultra, I did not like the way the phone was designed. I found the Droid Ultra to be a fingerprint magnet that was hard to keep clean, easy to drop due to its slick back cover, and overall was just not an attractive phone.

But the Moto X marries all the cool features on the Droid Ultra with a stylish phone design that is cool to look at and a pleasure to hold in the hand. The back of the Moto X is curved so it lays in your hand perfectly. Also the phone's back cover has a texture to it that hides fingerprints and makes the phone easy to hold on to.

- Moto Maker allows you to customize the phone's back cover to suit your tastes. If an all black phone is not your taste, you can totally customize the Moto X on the Verizon Wireless website using Moto Maker.

With Moto Maker you can customize the Moto X's back and front cover, volume keys, camera ring and more with over 2,000 color combinations. You can also order color matched headphones. You can even get a wooden bamboo back cover and a leather back cover is also rumored to be offered soon. And when you're done using Moto Maker to make your custom Moto X, Motorola assembles the Moto X right here in the USA and ships it to you free in about four business days.

I love buggy night!

- Buggy Night is a joy! One of the odd things about the Moto X is that Motorola has included a little "bug" in the software, but this bug is a good thing. While using the phone, a bug sometimes will appear and run around the perimeter of the phone's screen. Just tap on the bug and a delightful interactive animation will appear called "Buggy Night" which is totally addictive and fun to play.

- A great price of only 1 penny with a 2-year Verizon Wireless contract. As of the writing on this post, you can buy the Moto X from Verizon Wireless for only 1 cent with a 2-year contract. That is a pretty nice price for a cool designed smartphone with a ton of great features.

The Moto X is one of the best smartphones that I have ever used. Motorola did not rehash the features on existing smartphones. Instead they really thought about how people use their phones and produced something new and innovative. In my opinion, Motorola has produced one of the most useful and attractive smartphones ever manufactured with the Moto X, hands down.

Moto G, the budget friendly smartphone that cost only $99 off contract...

While the Moto X is the standard for premium feature smartphones, the Moto G is the king of the bargain smartphones.

The Verizon Motorola Moto G is basically a striped down revision of a Moto X. The two phones are about the same size and both have a curved back that makes the phone a pleasure to hold, but the Moto G is heavier and a little thicker around the middle. The Moto X has a 4.7" screen while the Moto G has a 4.5" screen. Also the Moto X is a 4GLTE smartphone while the Moto G is a 3G smartphone, which will affect the speed of the data connection.

I have tried a ton of cheap smartphones over the years and none of them have been as impressive as the $99 Moto G. My favorite features on the Verizon Moto G include -

- The newest Android operating system - Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat. This version of the Android operating system is not yet available on most expensive smartphones, but here it is on one of the cheapest - very impressive!

Kit Kat enables fast, smooth navigation from screen to screen and faster opening of apps. Because the Moto G is made my Motorola (which up until recently was owned by Google), this phone will get the newest Android OS updates in a timely fashion.

- Ability for you to speak tons of Google commands to the phone and have the phone speak back. While the Moto G does not have touch-less controls like the Moto X, you can still hit the microphone icon and speak commands to Google search and depending on the command, the phone will speak the answer back.

- The ability to change out the black standard back cover with colorful separately purchased covers to give the phone more style. Just go over to the Motorola website, Amazon (affiliate link), or even eBay, and will find tons of back covers available to customize your Moto G.

- A built in FM radio that does not require you to use your data plan so you can listen to all your favorite stations while on the go and save money - love it!

- An unbelievable $99.99 price tag for an off-contract phone.

- No-contract $60/$70 a month Verizon 3G service (with unlimited voice, unlimited text and either 2GB or 4GB of data) that, although it is not 4G LTE, is still plenty fast enough to stream music and some video and cheap enough not to break the bank.

Since I had the pleasure of using the Moto G for a while, I want to answer a question that I have been seeing a lot around the Internet. Some people wanted to know if they could buy the Verizon Moto G and use it without activating the phone (using as a wifi only device). The answer is no, at least not for the first month.

The first thing that you have to do after turning on the Moto G is go through the Verizon service activation process (there is no way around it). Verizon prepaid cards can be purchased at retail stores like Target and Best Buy. You can also activate the phone by using your credit card to pay for the first month of service. When the month's service is about to end, you will start getting reminders on the phone that you need to purchase another month of service. After the first month, you are under no obligation to continue using the service and the phone can then be used as a wifi only device. You can also start the service back up at any time.

I had a fun reviewing the Moto G (left) and Moto X (right)

It's all good with Moto...
The Verizon Motorola Moto X retails for only 1 penny with a 2 year Verizon service contract.

And the Verizon Motorola Moto G can be purchased for only $99.99 with NO CONTRACT on the Verizon Wireless website and in retail stores like Best Buy and Walmart.

Whether you pick the feature rich Moto X or the wallet friendly Moto G, Motorola and Verizon have you covered with devices that are a pleasure to use.


Enjoy!


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