Technology | The Angel Forever

Category Archives Technology

Capturing Natural Beauty on the Go

Posted on April 28, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The classic saying states that you need to stop and smell the roses. How many of us can genuinely say that we do this? My guess is not many because of the hustle and bustle that exists in society. These days, many of us are often guilty of having our faces stuck behind a cell phone or other device. I have to admit that I am often guilty of this. During the warmer months, I enjoy heading outside with the boys. I have my smartphone with me, but try not to be as connected. Of course, my phone is often the camera that I have with me. Right before JSL’s surgery, a surprise arrived for me. Thanks to being a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I was sent the new Samsung Galaxy S5. The timing was amazing as the spring flowers are starting to pop up all over the place.

It really is hard not to stop when walking around to take in the beauty of the flowers. After this past winter, many of us likely wondered if we would ever see the lawn under all of the snow and ice. Thank goodness, Mother Nature takes the time to remind us of the beauty that is possible. Sometimes, we have to be patient waiting for the colors to emerge.

While waiting, I often spend time looking at Papa’s beautiful indoor plants that are blooming. It is hard not to stop and take a photo. What I was not expecting was being able to capture the shimmer on the Orchids and the texture on the other beauties.

Each day I try to take some time to look around and appreciate the flowers, the blue sky, and the special moments with my family. What are your favorite items to stop and take a photo of during the spring time?

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5 to test out and share ways that I use it in my life (can not wait to explore this gorgeous phone). I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
flowers and plants me moments Technology

Music to Motivate #VZWBuzz

Posted on April 11, 2014 11:15 am by TheAngelForever

It’s hard to believe, but I have a really hard time with complete silence. As a child, I always did better with a radio or television on in the background while completing my homework. When I used to stay late in my classroom, I also had to have some background noise to help me concentrate on the task at hand. Now thanks to being a Verizon Lifestyle Blogger, my music listening habits have changed dramatically. While in NYC for a #VZWBuzz event we were gifted a BOSE SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker.

Sure I had dreamed of BOSE speakers and knew family members that had some, but now I have my own. Let me tell you it has had quite the work out in this short amount of time. Not only have I been using it all the time, but the boys ask me to play music for them to dance to. They want to hear a music mix while they do homework or play with toys inside. Now that the weather is shifting, I can see bringing this portable powerhouse outside while the kids ride bikes and play.

Listening to music while I work is not new to me, but I had stopped for a while. I used to listen to Pandora and Spotify on my computer during the day. The problem was that my little USB speakers for the laptop made a horrible noise, so I had given up on music listening. It was just too annoying. Now, thanks to the combination of my Nokia Icon phone, MixRadio, and the BOSE Sound Link Mini Speakers, I can listen to a variety of music with amazing sound. As I sit here typing, I made my own MixRadio using Train, Billy Joel, and Barenaked Ladies. For those days when I am feeling my Disney Side, MixRadio has a magical Disney mix under the kids genre. More about MixRadio coming soon.

I have also downloaded mixes to take with us. The boys and I plan on taking the BOSE SoundLink Mini and the Icon with us on roadtrips and more this summer. Thanks to the size and long battery life, It will help us to pass time in the car. Of course, there has also been a lot of the Frozen soundtrack playing because we are addicted.

No doubt the boys and I will have dance parties, sing ourselves silly, and get motivated to work thanks to the portable music powerhouse. What music is your favorite right now? Always looking to make new mixes to keep things interesting.

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices like the Icon and BOSE SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker to test out and share ways that I use it in my life. My trip to NYC was paid for by Verizon Wireless. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
Music Phone Apps Technology

Smartphone Video to the Rescue

Posted on March 24, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Confession: I am always forgetting to take our little video camera with us. While I usually have my point and shoot camera with me, the quality of the video is not the best if I need to zoom in from a distance. Thanks to being a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I have the new Nokia Lumia Icon smartphone. While in NYC on Friday, representatives from Nokia came to talk with us about the technology available from this powerhouse. They began by sharing this slide, which really was a powerful statement.

I sat there thinking about those words for a while as we learned more of the Nokia specific technology within this phone. When they were talking about the video camera, I knew that I had just tested it out at my son’s band concert. With over 100 children on the stage and countless families moving around in their seats, I wanted to see – at least for a short time – what the video on the Nokia Lumia Icon could do. I knew that it would record in full HD, but would the PureView imaging help me to get closer to the stage during the concert without reducing the quality of the recording? How would the four high-performance microphones and Nokia Rich Recording work together to capture the music rather than the background noise of people sitting in the seats around me?

While my video is not very long, I think it showcases several items in the low light auditorium. Here it is to see what you think.

As you can see, it was a low light venue with a lot of things going on in the background. The audio clearly picks up the instruments on the stage and not my wiggly six year old sitting next to me. In addition to this, the zoom feature works and does not take away from the quality of the video. I now want to test this out in better light to see if it helps a bit and add in my portable tri-pod to help. The Icon has image stabilization built in and it definitely helped with my shaking hand.

So time to fess up. How often have you had to use your smartphone to capture video on the go and did it live up to your expectations to capture those priceless memories?

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices like the Icon to test out and share ways that I use it in my life. My trip to NYC was paid for by Verizon Wireless. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
Technology video

NYC for #VZWBuzz Learning

Posted on March 21, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Hello from New York City. I arrived here Thursday to meet up with my fellow Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers.

Timon came along with me for my adventure. JSL asked me to take his picture along the way like I did in Atlanta. Who could say no?

More coming about my adventure here later because it was an interesting story. TechyDad joked that it would be a great blog post. I leave you with a photo of Timon at dinner.

Be sure to follow along #VZWBuzz on Twitter and Instagram to see what we are up to tomorrow.

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices to test out and share ways that I use it in my life (like mobile blogging right now). My trip to NYC was paid for by Verizon Wireless. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
Technology travel

Purim Carnival with the Nokia Lumia Icon #VZWBuzz

Posted on March 18, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Sunday was a big day in the Jewish community as we celebrated Purim. I have so many memories of this holiday as a child and now as a parent. This is the holiday when people dress up and celebrate, make noise with groggers at the mention of Haman, and eat delicious hamantaschen. It truly is a great time when you see kids of all ages parading around in their creative costumes (see the photo below). I thought that Purim would be the perfect time to test out the new camera on my Nokia Lumia Icon smartphone because while working at the carnival I would not have time to use a regular camera. I received this phone last week as part of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers program.

When we dropped the boys off at Hebrew School Sunday morning, TechyDad and I went to help with the setup of the Purim Carnival. Of course, the moment TechyDad walked in, fellow Whovians knew exactly who he was and started geeking out with him. By the time we arrived, most of the games were already set up.

The Prize Table where I was going to be working during the carnival had not been started, so we went over to sort things out and get it ready for all of the kids.

I took the photo of TechyDad just before the Purim Carnival started. I took one with the Icon and then decided to snap another one with a recent Android smartphone I have received from Verizon. The lighting in the room was tricky and in hindsight I should have asked TechyDad to move. This would have helped with the light that was odd over his head in the background and the entire wall of windows scattering light. Again these were quick on the fly photos like I would take with the kids while out and about. I do believe that one of the photos was more true to the colors in the room, much more crisp, and handled the lighting better. The answer will be below, so make sure to look at the original from above again.

I kept busy with another member of our synagogue at the prize table the entire time. I really never saw the boys unless I happened to catch Harry Potter, Hiccup, or Doctor Who in the distance. Thank goodness the boys came to get some prizes from time to time.

I had hoped to test out the video of the band playing during the festivities, but I never had a chance to get over. I think it really would have been a great test with all of the background noise from kids playing games. No doubt there will be another opportunity. Over all, I am beyond impressed with the camera on the Lumia Icon. Next, I hope to learn how to use the manual settings because I have never seen a smartphone with so many advanced options and I truly want to explore it more when I have time.

So did you take a guess at which photo from the original at the top of this post came from the icon? Well, here’s the answer now:

Did you guess the right one? More photos coming again soon along with others ways I am exploring with the new smartphone in my life.

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I received the Nokia Lumia Icon to test out and share ways that I use it in my life. There was no other compensation. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.