Why I joined the Moto X club

Well, I finally traded my trusty Nexus 4 for a shiny new Moto X. I was vacillating between it and the Nexus 5 for a quite a while. I liked that the Nexus 5 was the purest form of Android and would receive updates directly from Google. I also liked its high resolution 1080p screen. Ultimately, I opted for the Moto X for one main reason: I believe that, despite it not being a "pure" Android experience, the Moto X represents the truest vision of Android's future.
This device feels just a little smarter than the average smartphone. It was designed to be aware of its user and what that person is doing at that moment. It knows when I'm driving and will read text messages aloud. It knows when I'm in meetings and will set itself to vibrate. It knows when I'm sleeping and mutes itself. It knows when it's in my pocket or upside down and keeps the screen off until I look at it. I can control it by using my voice without touching the screen at all. Its hardware was specially designed to listen for me to say "Ok Google Now" followed by a command. Its Active Display feature is the smartest notification system that I've seen on any device. Active Display is a great combination of battery conservation and information display.
There is also a lot to like from the hardware side. I really enjoy the 720p AMOLED display. While it may not be as crisp as some of the 1080p displays out there, I think the colors look better. Battery life is better than most smartphones that I have used. Most of all, I love the shape of this device and the way it feels in my hand. I have been reluctant to get a case for the phone because I'm worried it would ruin the spectacular feel of the Moto X. The only real disappointment is the camera. Fortunately, everything else more than makes up for this slight deficiency.
There is so much to love about the Moto X. This is the first Android phone that I've used since the beloved Nexus One that seems to have been designed with a real purpose. I can appreciate how much thought and planning went into its design. I'm amazed at how well the Moto X's hardware and its special software like Active Display, Moto Assist, and Touchless Control have been so well integrated into an otherwise "stock" Android experience without cheapening the device the way other OEM skins and "features" seem to do. I believe that the Moto X will serve as an inspiration to future phones to demonstrate how smart a smartphone can be.

Planning My Fallback Career

I had an opportunity to participate in the #RogersSI iOS 7 Learning Session Hangout. I thought that there was some great information, tips, and tricks for people who are new to iOS 7. I had a lot of fun and was in charge of the sound effects. Good to know that I have an option as sound effects guy in the event that my current career fall through ;-)
Google+ hangouts are pretty cool especially when you get the behind the scenes perspective.

Brace Yourself. Winter Is Coming...

Public Service Announcement

When it gets cold, Siri and Google Now are your friends.

If you live in a colder climate like I do, you've undoubtedly seen this: Somebody bundled up in a Super-warm jacket, heavy boots, wool hat, and one glove. The other glove is tucked under the arm or stuffed into a pocket so that this person can operate his smartphone. Happens all winter long. There are those special touchscreen-friendly capacitive gloves but they never work very well. So people go about freezing their fingers off all winter long.

Good news! If you have an iPhone or Moto X, you need not fear smartphone-related-frostbite. Both Siri and Google Now allow you to do almost anything on your phone with your voice. You can speak to your phone to open webpages, search for information, turn features on/off, post to social media, compose emails and messages. When it's cold, you don't have to remove your glove to invoke Siri from your iPhone. Just hold down the iPhone's home button with your warm glove-clad finger. Or, if you are fortunate enough to own a Moto X with it's always-listening feature, you can just say "Ok Google...". Technically you can do something similar with Samsung and S-Voice but I don't find S-Voice to be as robust as Google Now or Siri.

This winter, keep your hands warm and use your voice. Or move to Florida...

Life with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

I am fortunate enough to have received a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (LTE). There are plenty of reviews of this device online so I will spare you from reading another specification-based review and instead will focus on my overall impressions, likes, and dislikes.
First, the obligatory unboxing pics. Please pardon my photography skills.

Overall, this is a very good device. There is a lot to like about it. It has a nice solid (if somewhat plasticy) feel. It's size is very comfortable for holding, carrying around, and viewing. It's screen is also large enough to make good use of the S Pen. The S Pen is what really differentiates Samsung's Galaxy Note line and I really like it.
I have used a number of tablets and the one area where they all consistently fail is at creating diagrams. At work, I often have to create visualizations, flowcharts, network diagrams, report outlines, etc. In the past, I've used a generic stylus but the lack of integration and pressure sensitivity always led to a subpar experience. Not so with the S Pen. Being able to capture a my thoughts visually is such a productivity boost. Aside from being able to quickly scribble my ideas, another S Pen feature that I find myself using quite often is its ability to select parts of images and objects. This works similarly to the lasso tool in most image editing applications. Just hold down the button on the S Pen and draw around the area that you want to capture. So very convenient. For those parents reading this, a big plus is that the S Pen is great with kids. Need a quick pre-dinner distraction at the restaurant? Doodle away!
There are also a number of S Pen apps available but, to be honest, I was satisfied with the default ones that came with the Note. They do a great job and Samsung has made it very easy to invoke them directly from the home screen and with the S Pen.
I really love the S Pen's capabilities and kudos to Samsung for doing a great job of implementation and integration into the device. I was even pleasantly surprised by the handwriting recognition. Originally, I thought that the S Pen was merely included as a gimmick but, having used it, I realize that it is an exceedingly valuable differentiator.
The second thing that I really like about the Note is its LTE capability. Having LTE on a tablet really improves the overall experience. In my case, I'm using Canada's Rogers LTE network and it's has been a terrific experience. In the Greater Toronto Area I consistently get excellent signal quality and fast speeds. In my opinion, it is absolutely worth spending a little extra per month for this feature if you can. True, it's relatively easy to find a WiFi hotspot but those are often slow and not entirely secure. Alternatively, many of us can tether to our phones but that can quickly drain your phone's battery. The convenience of having fast, secure, always available connectivity is especially welcome on Android where almost every aspect of the device utilizes Google's web-based services.
I wouldn't say that I have any major complaints about this device. As I said, it is very good. There are a few less-than-amazing aspects to it. First, in a world with the 1080p Nexus 7, the Retina iPad Air Mini, and other high resolution display tablets, the 1280x800 display does seem a little dated. Also, the Note's battery life could be better. The S Pen, for all its brilliance, is a little too small to be really comfortable. Lastly, I am not a big fan of Samsung's visual interface. It seems silly and childish to me. Fortunately, on Android, that is something that is easy to remedy.
As a pure tablet, there are better alternatives. I would recommend the iPad Air, Mini, or 2013 Nexus 7. However, the S Pen makes this a wonderfully unique device. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 finds just the right size between the larger less portable stylus-enabled devices like Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 or Microsoft's Surface Pro and smaller devices with less screen real estate for the S Pen like Samsung's Note 3. I find that the Note 8.0 strikes a great balance between work and play, and big and small.