I think there is a lot of inherent dislike towards Microsoft, they have just done too many wrong things over the years and Apple has done an excellent job of painting them as idiots with their Mac vs. PC ads over the past decade. Also it doesn’t help that Microsoft made Microsoft ME which is probably the worst iteration of Microsoft out there, Vista was pretty bad too off the start, but got progressively better.

Microsoft does try and in this case they launched the Microsoft stores, after all this time they know that Apple is successful with their stores and every Apple store employee is supposed to know everything about every product that Apple has and they inherently love Apple. So people love the Apple stores.

Recently I had a chance to spend some time in an Apple store and this one had people in it. I have recently gotten into the Windows Phone 8 and so I decided to venture into the store and mess around with the machines. I played around with the Microsoft Surface Pro and it is a very interesting machine, very solid and smooth, I liked how it felt. they had a selection of hardware from Acer, Asus, HP, and Sony, not including the Windows Phone section and the XBox Section. People get a hands on feel for Windows 8 across different hardware and the Windows Phone 8 platform as well.

Microsoft is really trying to make you feel that you are in one environment, that everything is connected and they are trying to connect things but they aren’t there yet. Apple doesn’t release a feature unless it knows it works 100%, except for Apple maps, that was a blunder that Apple has never seen, but Microsoft would rather release a broke feature then no feature, that is their problem from my aspect.

The store was a fun experience and honestly they have a good range of products, and the staff who are there are good but they are lacking a bit in information, sometimes I know that I knew more about a product then they did which shouldn’t be the case.

Just before traveling I bought a MicroSim Cutter since now all my phones are Micro Sims, got it from one of the phone shops on Khalid bin Waleed Street in the city. Simple process, it was on my to do list so a few hours before my flight I cut my US, UK, and then I decided to cancel my BB service at last and I cut that chip too and switched phones around.

Did that really quickly.. too quickly.

I wanted to put the chip in the phones and it looked a little too small. Turns out the guy sold me the iPhone 5 Nano-Sim cutter! I was pissed, now I have to get new Sims and some of them I can’t get except when I land, thats ridiculous. I’m an idiot for not checking, and that guy must have switched them, and then I blame Apple for changing the Sim Card sizes every time they change a number on their damn iPhone! Very annoyed!

PLAYBAR’s nine-speaker design floods any room with HIGH FIDELITY audio for games and movies, huge waves of live concert sound, and wireless streams of all the music on earth. And it all comes from one easy-to-use player that brings HiFi sound to your high-definition TV.

I want this, I don’t know how I’m going to use it yet, but damn I love Sonos and the thought of it integrated into my hometheater seamless is just plain ridiculous. The best thing about Sonos is that they are genuinely sound people, and the audio system is built extremely smoothly and integrated into almost every music service available and I can’t get enough of it, playing throughout the house as I walk about. And this takes it over the top, excellent piece of hardware, if you love music and you don’t have a Sonos you have no idea what your missing out on.

You can play the TV Media sound from the PlayBar or switch to your Sonos System for perfect music playback, you can link it to the Sonos Sub, and then join it together with the 2 Sonos S3 to get 5.1 Surround Music. For $699 its rather cheap for a sound bar, some of them go for an extremely higher price, but I know one thing Sonos always comes through with the sound quality. Well worth it.

Link: Sonos

Recently one of my main storage devices got to about 78% capacity of the available 10.92 TB. Its mostly filled with my TV Shows & Personal Files. I have another Synology Device as well which has about 21.84 TB capacity which is a back up for everything I have, but the main one is the DS1511+. So I wanted to expand it and purchase the DX510 which is an expansion unit, and I bought 5 Hard Drives to fill it right away, the capacity being 3TB (2.73 TB Actual) per drive so it doubles the capacity of the DS1511+.

One thing to keep in mind is the connection is an eSata with screws so it doesn’t come out at all, if it does then you lose the Volume on your Synology Device so its very important to keep it screwed it. Once you plug in all the hardware and connect it to the DS1511+, the DX510 will power up with the DS1511+ and all controls will be made through the DSM software, I think it stands for the Desktop Synology Manager.

Configuring is simple, you have two choices, Expansion of the Volume or Creating a new Volume. Also there is a limit to a Volume, it will max out at 16 TB, so I decided to create another Volume with Synology Hybrid Raid I got a Volume space of 10.92 TB so a total of 21.84 TB on the Synology Device. It took 20 minutes to setup the device physically, then to create the volume and do a fully check on the hard drives it took 24 hours, so it can check every sector of every drive on the new expansion unit. Well worth the wait to make sure everything is working smoothly first time around. You can move your Shares to different volumes so give yourself space but when you access it through explorer it looks like as its just one big space. Synology does make everything easier and in reality it is an excellent product.

If you are looking for a high end storage device that does it all and it is simple to setup yet you have a lot of options for customization I would go with the DS1812+ but if you are looking for something simple for the home the DS1512+ is perfect.

Check out Cameoo in Kuwait they are even cheaper then Amazon which is extremely surprising and refreshing. Forget their website, just call them and ask the Synology unit you are looking for, its bound to be cheaper.

The one thing that I envy about the iPhone is the ridiculous amount of accessories made for it and one of those Accessories is the Mophie Juice Pack Case, doubles the battery and a very sleek design. And now with the new release of the iPhone 5 case, those are going to fly off the shelves this coming month and to my surprise to find that they designed one for the Galaxy SIII. A very clean design that more then doubles the phone’s battery. If you have an SIII then this case is a must, doubling the battery as well as a well designed protective case is just perfect. Honestly I wish there was one for the Nexus 4, but I don’t think they will make one since they only design for mass market, but at least they have it for the Galaxy SIII.

Specifications:

• Rechargeable 2300mAh battery extender and protective case in one
• More than doubles the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Up to 270 hours of standby time. Up to an additional 6 hours of Talk Time. Up to 36 hours of additional audio playback. Up to an additional 9 hours of video playback.
• Soft touch finish – Sleek design includes a new, soft touch, rubberized finish that mirrors the look of the Samsung Galaxy SIII
• Quick recharging speed. Completely recharge phone in 1 1/2 hours.
• 4 LED Light Status Indicator – Tells you how much “juice” you have left in the case for charging.

Price: $90

Link: Amazon

Liquids are one of the things that I keep far away from my desk, but every once in a while I have a bottle of water there, and even that I am very conscious of it. There have been a few incidents but luckily nothing has been damaged. Until the other day I was working late into the night on emails and posts, and I had a bottle of water next to my Nexus 4 and Keyboard. I turned around and I knocked the bottle over, I could even see it in slow motion, I was saying “Nooooooo”. I tried to grab it but my mind was operating on fumes so that didn’t work. I quickly lifted the bottle removed all electronics from the vicinity.

I got some water on the screen of the Nexus 4 and the keyboard, everything else was fine. I soaked up the keyboard quickly and the Nexus 4, the keyboard didn’t have any issues. When I used the Nexus 4 it was fine but the speaker by the ear pieces sounded like a radio from the 1950s. I tried drying it with a kleenex and forcing it in but didn’t work, still sound crappy 15 mins later. There was only one solution that I knew off, I got a small glass flower pout and filled it with rice and stuck the phone in it all night long. Next day I used the phone crossing my fingers, and it was perfectly fine, no issues. I don’t know why but I always remember that rice can soak up water and humidity from electronics, they tell you to take the battery out but in my case I left it in there and charge it over night too, worked perfect the next morning.

Its been about a month since I got the Nexus 4 and I have put it through it’s paces, I took a week to put all my Apps on it and configure to the way I want. So I have been using it for about three weeks as my main phone and abusing it in every possible way. First off it is a much better phone then the Galaxy Nexus, I am honestly happy with this experiment that Google did with LG, if it was Motorolla I would have been really worried. Google gives an opportunity to each manufacturer to show their coolest features and LG won them over this time, Samsung has been known for the SII & SII, as well as the large Note line, not for the Nexus line even though it was a solid phone. Samsung would always save the best for it’s S line like the SII & SIII, but I didn’t like layer they install over the basic or vanilla Android OS, so the Nexus line was always second class to the Samsung S line, the case was the same with the Nexus S & Galaxy Nexus. For the first time a Nexus phone feels like it is the best that Google has to offer on a hardware point of view, and their OS always feels clean and light.

Specifications:

• Screen 4.7″ diagonal – WXGA IPS
• 1280 x 768 pixel resolution (320 ppi)
• Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2
• Dimensions 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm
• 139g
• Camera 8 MP (main)
• Camera 1.3 MP (front)
• NFC (Android Beam)
• Wireless charging
• 16GB Memory
• 2 GB RAM
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU
• Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

What I Like:

• The New 8 MP Camera is fantastic, especially with HDR feature and extra tools while in use with the camera
• The Processor is powerful, you never feel that this phone is sluggish
• Its smooth and light, doesn’t feel bulky for a nice screen
• The Screen is Beautiful, crisp and very clean
• The Wifi signal is strong, it grabs on to the weakest signal without an issue
• The rear speaker is decently loud to my surprise
• LED flash on the camera is great a flashlight too
• Gorilla Glass on the front, it shows smudges but doesn’t scratch easily
• You can really tell they put a lot of effort into the design of it
• Jellybean 4.2.1 is perfect on this Machine, it is what makes it great
• I haven’t had a chance to try Wireless charging yet but I’m looking forward to it
• My 3G connection on this phone is better then my Galaxy Nexus, streaming isn’t an issue and almost never looses a signal
• This one almost never drop’s calls, even in locations that are known to drop calls it seems to hang on for its life which is a nice surprise, and the call quality is excellent
• The Battery life is pretty decent under normal use, lasts me from day until night, but defining normal is difficult

What I don’t Like:

• This is Gorilla glass and glossy on the other side, I love that it is but its insanely slippery so it may fall at anytime and you won’t even realize that it’s moving depending on the surface your place it on
• No LTE, honestly doesn’t make too much of a difference to me but it would have been nice to have it and working, but for now the normal 3G speeds is more then enough for me
• Under high abuse use the battery takes a pounding and barely lasts 10 hours, and that is extreme use such as steaming audio, while surfing and nonstop use of WhatsApp
• No removal battery, sometimes I want to remove or change the battery but it seems they went for a cleaner design rather then a functional one
• No SD card, sometimes we want to expand the memory, 16GB is not enough but I’m making due with it

I honestly love this phone and that it has such a well done operating system, smooth and powerful, and has never hung on me. The screen is beautiful, love scrolling through Instagram on it, and reading my Google Reader feeds, very clear, and easy to look at. Google gambled with LG and it’s paying off, they built an amazing machine with this phone and I hope that they make an even better one. I honestly don’t think I want any other feature on the phone then what I already have, its really good, you always want better but this was really worth the wait.

Check out The Verge Review for an extremely detailed breakdown

This has been an interesting year with a lot of new hardware being introduced from everyone, from TVs, Cameras, Laptops, Tablets, Phones and a whole lot more. My list for electronics was freaking long, I had about 20 items on her and it was hard bringing them down to this, so many good pieces of hardware but I wanted to just list the gear that I really use. Basically what was abused, even if it was in a short period of time like the Nexus 4, but I have been waiting for that phone for so long and I’m happy that I’m using it. A few items didn’t make it to the list like the GoPro Hero 3 because its a bit too soon to judge, it has its crappy moments and its great moments. Still too many pieces of hardware to review but I will get to them.

• Nexus 4 – Best Google Phone Yet
• Nexus 7 – Still The Perfect Size Tablet
• Canon G15 – Awesome Camera, Reviewing it Later
• Nike Fuel – Loved it when I used it, and now don’t want to see my crappy numbers
• Canon G1X – Great Camera, except for the Macro shots
• Apple iPod Touch Gen 5 – Loving it! And so small
• Asus Zenbook – Best Windows Laptop Ever!

I have been using the Nexus 4 for about a week now and it hasn’t disappointed at all, its fast smooth, no glitches, they even had two updates since I had it and I didn’t even bother checking why. I have wanted to write a full in depth review about everything this phone can do and just whats different about it being from LG. I will get into that later since I do want to give it justice, just know that if you are getting it then you are going to be very happy. I’m going to make the switch from the Galaxy Nexus to the Nexus 4 by this coming Sunday but my only hang up is one thing, I don’t want to cut my chip or replace it, but it seems that I can’t really use it anymore, I want to keep the old school MTC Vodafone colors, my only two options is either to cut the chip or replace, in this case I think I may just replace it and keep the chip since its for sentimental reasons. The hardware on this phone is top notch and it works that way, I have abused it and the battery is impressive, the build quality is perfect, feels good in your hand. I will follow up with an indepth write up on the phone. Also I blame Apple for my predicament, why the hell do they keep having to change the damn SIM Cards, I don’t think anyone had a problem with that, I also think we can lose them more easily these days.

I have always been a fan of LED lights, but sometimes they are just too bright or not bright enough. Surprisingly the high quality LED desk lamps are a bit more on the expensive side, there are those that are cheaper but not that good quality. The Piccolo peaked my interest so I pledged for it, not just because it produces a warm light which is not meant to over power the ceiling lights, instead its meant to compliment it and the right type of light when you don’t want the lights above switched on. Also one other cool factor for me is that it is power by USB which I think it is a genius feature.

Link: Kickstarter

I use my iPad to watch a lot of shows and anime, the one thing about it that is annoying is the speakers, most of the time I’m using headphones which work fine but the iPad speakers are good enough for music and not watching media when you want it a bit louder then what its capable of. It looks like I wasn’t the only one thinking that, and that is the idea behind the ORA iPad Sound System. These people are passionate about sound and this Kickstarter project is an ambitious one, they are really aiming high with it. A perfectly fit case to make a great watching experience on your iPad.

Designed by a team that has created products for the likes of TDK, Intel, Vizio, and Nike, the aluminum case/stand packs eight front-spacing speakers (tuned by the former engineer lead of Bose) into the space surrounding the screen, giving you a far more immersive sound experience than you’re used to from your tablet.

Links: KickStarter