Category Archives: Gadgets

I Love These Fun and Unique HTC One X and One X+ Cases I Found on Etsy!

Etsy, Gadgets, Smartphones, , , ,

I searched online for cases for my HTC OneX this morning and not being thrilled with the standard, run of the mill cases, I turned to sites like Etsy to find unique, fun phone cases.   Now I am struggling to choose just one case for my phone! I pinned a lot of HTC One X+ cases to a board on Pinterest.  Take a look here.

Some of the cases in the image below are not the specific case for the HTC OneX as the artists doesn’t have an image but in all cases the artist states that they make the same case for the HTC OneX+ as what you see below. That can change at anytime.

Here are a few of my favorites.  (Pin the image below to share with your Pinterest friends!)

HTC OneX phone cases

 

1 – Tortoise and Hare – $19.50

2 – Vincent Van Gogh Almond Blossoms – $15

3 – Leather case and wallet – $69

4 – Smartphone Wristlet – Pretty Penney Clutch – Posies on Turquoise – $30

5 – Cover sleeve handmade with magnetic closure, colorful fish – $15

6 – Andre – a giraffe – $19.50

Where can you find more cool cases like these?

Take a look at my HTC OneX Cases board on Pinterest to see a lot more fun cases for this phone!

 

Which case if your favorite?

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, HTC.

I received an HTC OneX+ as part of being a member of the TroopOneX review team.  All opinions in this post are 100% my own.

A Peek into my Life through my Playlists. What’s in your Playlist?

Gadgets, New posts, Smartphones,

I never sang out loud to a song in front of other people, in a car for example, until I met my husband.  Our first ‘date’ was us driving his sister home from an Alanis Morisette concert.  We were listening to a Madonna CD and my husband and his sister started singing.. out loud.   I didn’t know what to think because I never really heard anyone sing out loud except in church or at a performance.

Fast forward to almost 15 years years later.

Now I sing in the shower, in the car, while I’m on the treadmill, and when I’m working.  I have music on 80% of my waking hours.  Whether the music is played from the stereo or through my phone, I am one who finds it easier to concentrate if I have music on in the background.  When I travel I usually fall asleep listening to music on my phone.

HTC OneX+ Music hubLately I’ve been listening to music on my HTC OneX+ smartphone that comes with Beats Audio.  Beats Audio delivers studio-quality sound, the way the artist intended for listeners to hear their music, with or without headphones.  The music just sounds authentic.  It’s really quite amazing. You have to hear it to believe it.

Through my HTC Music hub as pictured to the right, I have access to my music as well as Internet Radio options including Pandora and TuneIn Radio.   If your car has an auxiliary port, you can plug-in the HTC Stereo Clip and launch the HTC Car App to listen to music at the tap of a button.  TuneIn Radio will find stations that are currently playing your favorite song, local radio stations, or you can browse trending stations.

So.. what’s on my playlist you ask?

Well between music I’ve downloaded/synced to my HTC OneX+ and Pandora, I have several playlists.  Here’s a peek at what you’ll find in my playlists.

HTC OneX Music Playlist

 

Cooking & Cleaning Playlists

I have a cooking playlist which includes music from The Killers, Taylor Swift (the kids help me cook), and some old Prince (I know you sing along to Little Red Corvette every time it comes on the radio – it’s ok).  Here’s one more.. if you are around my age you know this song; Here I Go Again by Whitesnake.  You CAN NOT listen to this song without singing.  Perfect cooking music or when you want to embarrass your kids while in the car with the windows down.

Driving Playlists

On to my driving playlist.  My driving playlist includes lots of KidzBop and Disney songs.  You know what’s funny? I didn’t know half the songs on KidzBop 17 were real songs until I heard one of them on the radio.  It just didn’t sound the same when an adult man was signing it.   For those rare times when the kids are not in the car with me I listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees, Coldplay, The Cure, and Tori Amos.

Exercise & Wake-up Music

My exercise playlist which I plan on using very soon is made up of Chemical Brothers, Linkin Park (warning – not child friendly), and 80’s and 90’s music.

Sleep & Relaxation Playlists

My bedtime and relaxing playlist is made up of Cocteau Twins, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, This Mortal Coil, and Enya.

While I’m Working

I listen to a variety of music while blogging and working in general.  If it’s a relaxing work day then I listen to lyrical music.   On stressful, fast paced days I listen to more soothing artists like Enya and Cocteau Twins.

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, HTC.

Learn more about the HTC OneX+ and the Beats Audio feature.

What’s on your playlists on your phone?
Tell us in the comments below. 

I received an HTC OneX+ as part of being a member of the TroopOneX review team.  All opinions in this post are 100% my own.

A 2-Minute Sneak Peek Video of my Life

Gadgets, New posts, Smartphones, , ,

It’s been about 3 weeks since I started using the HTC OneX+ I’ve been talking to so much about.  Well, I decided to share a 2 minute documentary of our lives here at the Hagan house featuring photos taken on the HTC OneX+.

This video by no means shows you what our every day life is like. That includes messes, chaos, food, and more boring stuff. The shots in the video below are some of my favorite shots I’ve taken on my HTC OneX+ over the last week.

I created the video using the Movie Editor app on the phone and nothing else.. except adding it to YouTube. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it.

Be sure to change the setting of the video to 720p HD for best quality. Click on the gear icon in the bottom right to adjust the setting.

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, HTC.

Want to learn more about the HTC OneX+?

What are you waiting for?  Read these posts I’ve written about it!

Note to my readers: I received a complimentary HTC OneX+ for purposes of this review and giveaway. As always, all opinions presented in my posts are 100% honest.

Life Happens. Protect your Smartphone and Tablet with the OtterBox Defender Series!

Electronics, Gadgets, , , ,

It’s getting harder and harder to go anywhere without a smart phone or tablet these days.  On our recent trip to Florida, I brought my iPhone, iPad, and Kindle, and my kids each brought their iPhones.  We were toting a total of 5 devices and the worry of them dropping their device of spilling milk or water on it was almost constant.

Owners of smartphones will quickly learn two facts. First, smartphones are pretty fragile, and second, they are expensive to replace. This is even more true if you have young kids in the house.  Spilled juice or a drop onto concrete can easily cost you hundreds of dollars, making a protective case a must. For the iPhone, they don’t get much better than the OtterBox Defender.

OtterBox Defender Series Review

OtterBox Defender Series

The Defender Series cases are high quality cases with an outer layer of silicone and an inner layer of hard plastic to protect your phone from drops onto any surface. Even better, Defenders have a plastic screen protector while many other iPhone cases leave your screen open to the elements. This protects your screen from dirt, abrasion, and most importantly, sticky fingers. Your ports aren’t forgotten either, as these cases have silicone plugs that keep out dirt and debris. Each case also comes with a belt clip that doubles as a stand for video watching, but it can be removed for a sleeker look.  The Defender Series is available in several colors and shoppers can even build their own Defender Series OtterBox case.  My favorite is the Paisley & Floral Defender Series case from the Studio Collection.

Other OtterBox Cases

There are several other lines of cases available for your phone or iPad for those who don’t need quite so much protection. The Commuter Series has two layer construction like the Defender, but the silicone is on the inside instead of the outside. The Reflex sacrifices the silicone and had internal air pockets to dampen shock instead. On the other hand, the Impact Series is a robust silicone case lacking any hard plastic layer. Finally, the Prefix combines both layers into one, giving you the best of both worlds. Every case is available for a range of devices in a wide variety of colors and patterns.

I rely on my OtterBox.  So far I have dropped my phone out a two story window.  It was an accident, really!  One of my first iPhone’s slipped from a stack of books I was carrying and shattered.  My husband drove off with his iPhone on the hood of his car.   My son washed his iPhone. It’s not like all of these mishaps happened within a short period of time.  We aren’t clumsy.  It’s just life.  Things happen!

If you need a robust, functional case then OtterBox is where you should look. Their variety of HTC cases, iPhone cases, and tablet cases are excellently constructed and built to last. In fact, you’ll replace your phone with a new model before you replace your case. One thing to be aware of is that these cases can be a bit more expensive than other brands, but you really do get what you pay for. The protection they offer is top notch and few other cases can compete with it. Don’t spend ages sifting through different brands and models of smartphone or iPad cases; the Defender has you covered.

Now that I’m using an HTC OneX+, I hope to get an OtterBox case for it soon too!

Learn more about OtterBox:

I received an OtterBox Defender Series for review purposes.  As always, all opinions in this post are 100% my own. I only write about products that I would buy for my family.

Getting Great Photos with the HTC OneX+

Gadgets, Smartphones, , , ,

I’ve been using the HTC OneX+ for two weeks.  Transitioning from an iPhone 4s to an Android phone has been much easier than I expected mostly due to the fact that I can customize the OneX+ to my delight, via phone settings, apps, widgets, and the many camera settings.

The HTC OneX+ is currently one of the top selling Android phones on the market. Continuing where the original OneX left off, the OneX+ is even faster by 67 percent and includes a powerful 1.7GHz quad-core processor, twice as much battery power and a whopping 64GB of internal storage. The latter is particularly excellent for individuals who enjoy using their phone as their camera and consider themselves suave photographers.  I am always taking photos and videos of my two kids.  They grow up so fast, right?  I have to catch all of their most precious moments on film.  To that end, the HTC OneX+ is one of the best phones for shooting quality photos and video moments that you never want to forget. If you are considering a new phone based on its camera specifications, it is worth noting all the features found in the OneX+.

HTC OneX+ Android for AT&T
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, HTC.

The HTC OneX+ allows you to capture a group shot via group portrait view. This is the perfect feature if you are a parent and want to snap lots of photos of your kids. If your child’s eyes happen to be closed in a shot you are attempting to take you can rely on five shots taken by the phone at once. This allows you to select the best photo of each person in the shot, which means you can get the perfect shot while taking photos of the family. One of the typical great features of HTC’s One line of smartphones is that you can snap photos while shooting video. This is an excellent way to get terrific pictures time and time again.  If you are shooting a movie of your child’s birthday party, you can kill two birds with one stone simply by tapping the camera button while recording. Select your favorite photos to save them or record stills while you are capturing your movie.  Watch a short movie explaining how to use Group Shot here.

Capturing actions shots with the OneX+’s camera is also extremely easy.   You know those times when you are at your daughter’s ballet recital or your son’s soccer game and you know it’s going to take a lot of shots to get the ‘perfect’ photo?  Well, the OneX+ takes care of that with continuous shooting.  Continuous Shooting is a feature that allows you to get the shot you truly want. Hold down the shutter button to take multiple photos during an action moment. You can select your favorite shots through viewing your saved gallery. This allows you to find those perfect action shots.

The HTC OneX+ camera includes a feature that lets you get great photos in varying backlight conditions. HDR can help you to snap the perfect pictures in bright sunlight so that the subject of your photo is visible and crystal clear. The feature works by taking three shots and bringing together the best light conditions from each to give you the perfect photo.

The 8 megapixel camera includes Flash (with 5 settings), autofocus and HTC’s own ImageSense, which provides the variety of great features for shooting the perfect photos. You can snap up to 99 pictures with a single press. Great for those times that you absolutely can’t miss the perfect shot.  Smart Flash provides five levels of flash, which are automatically set depending on the distance to your subject. Sightseeing mode is available as well, making your phone’s camera always ready for snapping a great shot at any moment.

Photo taken with HTC OneX+

Some of the photographs featured in this post were taken with my HTC OneX+ provided by HTC.  Learn more about the HTC OneX+ here.

Read more posts, on my sites, about the HTC OneX+:

Note to my readers: I received a complimentary HTC OneX+ for purposes of this review..  As always, all opinions presented in my posts are 100% honest.