Samsung S4 = Schweet!

Samsung S4 = Schweet!
20 August 2013

I feel a bit like I’m cheating.  Or having an illicit affair. 

After many, many very happy years, I’ve traded in my much beloved BlackBerry for a Samsung S4.

And oh how I miss my BlackBerry – constant freezing, rebooting and all.  In fact, it feels a bit as if my arm’s been chopped off.  I swear I can still feel the ache of my phantom-no-longer-there missing limb.  I mean phone.

But the thing is this – much as I loved my BB, she was driving me batty.  Right around the bend!  Crashing and freezing and being all hormonal.  Needy of my attention and taking up my time.  Being unreliable, unpredictable, and un-bloody-fun.  Our relationship had broken down and our differences were irreconcilable.  There was no need for further mediation.  Or arbitration.  Counselling would not even have helped.  Basically things had gone pear-shaped.

I had to take drastic steps.  It was time for a change.  And in stepped my gadget guru.  My handsome husband, Grant.

And to give him his due, he was super convincing.  Though perhaps this was in part due to his personal love affair with all things technology.  Cell phones in particular.  In fact, he can get all animated and excited.  Quoting jargon I have no comprehension of.  Or inclination to ever understand.  And was I not a victim of cell phone widow-hood, as he was constantly fiddling and playing with his very own Samsung too?

And so the big day dawned, and the switch was made.  It was BBM no more.  No comfortably snug fitting phone in my hand.

The change has been huge.  And at times, I have felt a bit lost.  There are so many things, I still wish was the same.  Things that I long for.

But, OH.  MY.  WORD!!!  There have been many wonderful changes too.  No freezing.  No rebooting.  A massive huge big screen.  Numerous short cuts and added features that are simply fabulous!  I’m loving the 13 mega pixel camera with all of its funky settings and filters.  There are amazing apps to download and I have already downloaded many.  Some things are just so remarkably clever, and though I simply longed for my old BlackBerry back for the first week or two, we are now in week three and I can’t imagine going back.

Yes, some things I do still miss.  But the numerous advantages outweigh these by far.  The biggest downfall of the Samsung for me, has been the slow typing speed.  I was used to typing at record breaking speed on my QWERTY button keyboard.  But now it’s all touch screen and I find it takes ages to type.  On my BlackBerry I could type entire blogs, whilst waiting for the kids outside school, or standing in the queue at the shops.  I would quickly e-mail it to myself and it was done.  But with my Samsung, the touch screen typing has been a chore.  And a bore.  My accuracy is non-existent and I feel like I’m constantly all thumbs.  Until…..

I discovered SwiftKey.  Once again, OH.  MY.  WORD!!!  Life changing is all I can say.  No more tedious clicking with fat fingers and poor accuracy on a very tiny touch screen.  I simply make sweeping movements, and my words seem to magically appear.  There is no need to even lift my hand and I can type complete sentences in this manner.  In one fluid motion.  It grasps what I want to say and when I want to say it.  And it seems to have memorized my writing style and pre-empts many of my words for me.

I include a YouTube clip, just to illustrate my point.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=f9Ukb6Migl0

And no, SwiftKey is not asking me to endorse them or do a product review.  I should be so lucky.  And it’s not as if they need to promote themselves in any rate.  The product does its own talking.  And selling for that matter.  And it has completely changed my Samsung experience.  From one of frustration, to one of elation.

It seems as if more and more people are moving away from BB and that Samsung is about to take over the world.

And big up to them.  Their adoration is deserved.

In fact, it’s safe to say that I am indeed a Samsung convert too.  Never thought I’d see the day.

And much to my mirth, for once, I’m up on my Grantie, technologically speaking.  He’s actually rather green.  Because while he’s still stuck with his Samsung S3, it’s all S4 for me.  And he’s simply dying to get his evil clutches on my phone.

Schweet!

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SwiftKey quite literally looks like this - a purple stripey thingie that creates magic

 

Yay SwiftKey!!!

 

 

On a recent weekend away with friends, I found this really naff YMCA-style hat in a bead shop no less.  Just check the original pic taken on my phone, above.  And then the changes I made on the pic with my phone again, below.

 

 

A fabulous piccie of Cole on the beach

 

 

Voila filter and light changes - stunning!

 

Slightly gruesome and out of focus pic.  Though don't blame the phone.  It was taken by an eleven year old.

 

A bit of playing on the phone.

 

And this is Grant's work of art.  Me-thinks he's really jealous!