Saturday, November 8, 2014

Zombie Catchers - New iOS Game



Zombie Catchers is my favorite new game!  I noticed it was very popular and had great reviews for graphics and it's uniqueness in the App Store.  Unfortunately for all you Android folks out there, it is iOS only at the moment.

It is a game created by a new company called Two Men and a Dog and the company is made up of some former members of the Rovio team, creators of Angry Birds.

I can confirm that the graphics look great on the iPhone 6 Plus and the game play is quick and super fun.

Here's what it says on their site for a quick description of the game:

"Get ready to meet Bud and A.J., two intergalactic serial entrepreneurs on a mission to rid the world from this dreadful infestation. Using an arsenal of the latest advancements in zombie-catching technology, they plan to round up the zombies, with a juicy scheme in mind... Who said the zombie apocalypse couldn't be a lucrative business opportunity?"

Check out the trailer...


Way cool, definitely a fun game, try it out!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Halloween Weekend Fun

Over the Halloween weekend, we went up to Atlanta to hang with the family, take in some of the fall leaves and cooler temps and watch the little ones trick or treat.

Unfortunately everyone either had been sick just before, was sick during or got sick after, but that didn't stop us from having fun.

Here are some highlight pics, good times!
Great smile on Hadley!
Max has some interesting faces!
Fun with pumpkins and kiddos
Max, Hadley and Colette ready to go trick or treating
Wifey and I at Tallulah Gorge State Park
Falls and colorful leaves at Tallulah George State Park
Horse dressed up like a Zebra for Halloween in Helen GA
Colette is a very smiley baby!
Big family photo of everyone that lives there or was there visiting!
Another interesting face from Max!
The kiddos were very cute together, at times.  ;)
Maddie snuggled up all the time
Max and Molly
Our roommate Bella
Colette just hanging out
We hit up George Pierce Park on the way out real quick, nice colors/reflection
Great fall colors!


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

New iPhone 6 Plus - First Impressions
















At long last, we finally have our new iPhone 6 Plus phones!  I have to say I really like the larger size and I definitely think we chose the best iPhone 6 Plus cases and screen protectors as well. More on those towards the bottom of this post.

New iPhone 6 Plus Phones Received (Finally)

My wife and I each ordered the 64GB iPhone 6 Plus in Silver (White) on the release date, from our local Verizon store and received them yesterday.  That was about a week and a half past our estimated arrival date.

A few people came in wanting to get new iPhones while we were there and Verizon still does not have any 6 or 6 Pluses in inventory, other than those arriving for customers that pre-ordered.   

Verizon had a trade-in deal at the time that we pre-ordered, giving us $200 for each of our iPhone 5 phones, but due to overwhelming demand, the company that was paying that much for the phones ran out of funds, so we have to do things slightly different.

Verizon is still honoring the $200 if you signed up during the special promo, but if you wanted, you could instead trade them in at the Verizon store for I think $120 or something through that original company.  No thanks.  So we will be sent a prepaid mailer and we just have to drop the phones in the mailer and in 2 weeks, Verizon provides a $200 Visa gift card for each phone. That'll work. 

Having had the new iPhones in our hands since last evening, I have to say I really do like the larger size!  It is crazy how small our old phones look next to them.

The iPhone 6 is a great size as well, I checked out the 6 that my mom/sister have over the weekend and they are definitely bigger than the 5, but for us, we figured if we were going to spend the $ on the upgrade, we wanted something completely different.

Favorite part so far, is a combo of the larger screen/type, making everything so much more clear and easier to see/read and the thumbprint for unlocking and doing other things like authorizing app downloads in the App Store.  I really like not having to type in my iTunes password every time I want to download a new app.

As far as one handed operations go, I am able to utilize the phone with one hand for surfing the web and using apps like Flipboard and other news related apps.  When it comes to typing emails, I definitely use two hands, but I did before as well.  It is certainly easier to utilize two hands in most cases, but this is not as much of an issue as I expected it to be, so I'm pleasantly surprised here.

Another thing I really like is watching YouTube videos that were recorded in HD, in landscape mode. The videos that take up the full screen really look so much larger and crisp, compared to the iPhone 5.  I'm definitely looking forward to exploring there a bit more, possibly trying out some streaming TV shows or some full HD movies. 

So far in the limited time we've had the phones, the only downside is the fact that since it is so new, I do find that I'm very conscious and careful with it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Best iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Cases and Screen Protectors

Along those same lines, before we ventured out into the real world with our phones, we both wanted to make sure our shiny new phones were protected.

We both ordered cases and I ordered screen protectors as well, prior to receiving the phones.  As such, we were hoping they would fit well and meet out expectations and I have to say they far exceeded our expectations and we're quite impressed!















The wifey keeps hers in her purse quite often and she is a bit more prone to banging it around, so she went with the i-Blason Armorbox iPhone 6 Plus case, in pink of course.  It is kinda like the Otterbox, with a much smaller and lighter form factor.  She had the Otterbox on her iPhone 5 and prefers the overall look and feel on the i-Blason much better.


















I went with the Spigen Crystal Clear iPhone 6 Plus case.  It is very minimalist and it really shows off the great looks of the phone, while still providing great protection.

What I really like is that it compliments and actually enhances the phone so well. The camera on both of the new iPhone 6 models protrudes from the back of the phone a bit.  This case adds just enough of a lip that the camera is now slightly sunken in so that if you set your phone on it's back, it will lie flat and the camera glass is no longer in danger of getting scratched.

The switch for the sound on/off, headphone jack, lightning cable and speaker are exposed, while the power button and the volume up/down buttons are concealed behind plastic.  It is designed really well though, because when you press the power button or the up/down volume buttons, they click slightly and it just feels nice.  You do not have to exert a lot of pressure at all.

One quick thing to note, with the Spigen case, the case comes with protective film on BOTH sides of the plastic case to protect the case from scratches during shipping.  You need to remove that film from both sides, after taking the case out of the package.

It is very difficult to see that the film is on there and it takes either a sharp fingernail or what I ended up doing was carefully using one of the blades from some tiny scissors to peel it off, being careful not to scratch the case. After removing the protective film, the case was crystal clear, without a scratch as you would expect to see.
 



















Both the i-Blason and the Spigen cases come in a large variety of color combinations as well.



















The wife's case comes with a built-in screen protector, so she didn't need a separate one, but I purchased the iSmooth iPhone 6 Plus HD - Ultra Clear Screen Protectors. I used the iSmooth screen protectors for our iPhone 5 devices over the last two years.  The company rocks, they provide a lifetime guarantee and when I scratched one a year or so ago, they sent me out a new pack right away!

They are great.  I am SUPER particular about not having ANY bubbles on my screen.  I want it to look 100% like there isn't even a screen protector on there and following their quick install video, I was able to accomplish that without ruining a single one.  Each pack comes with 3 screen protectors, just in case.  Here is the install video for the 6, it's the same process for the 6 Plus.



We were visiting family over the weekend and I had them order these screen protectors before we got there, so I could install them on their new iPhones as well.  They were shocked how great they looked and not a single bubble.

I always do what the company recommends in the video, which is to install the screen protectors in a bathroom with the shower running.  The reason for that is the moisture takes most of the dirt out of the air, so be sure to allow the water to run for a minute or two before installing the screen protector.  I like to run the water very warm, but not hot enough to cause condensation to form on the screen/protectors themselves.

Inside the packages there are dust removal stickers as well.  I had no idea what these were for, until watching the video last weekend.  It is a super simple way to get out any dust particles and that is what allowed me to get the screen protectors on 3 iPhone 6 devices and 2 iPhone 6 Plus devices without ruining a single one.

Prior to knowing what the dust removal stickers were for, I would always get a few dust bubbles or hairs in there and just toss it and use another.  Now, there is no need to do that!  I got high fives all around for how great they went on, without a single bubble on any of the devices.  I even got a text from my brother-in-law the next day, saying how impressed he was with the results.

So if you're put off by the idea of using a screen protector because you don't want any bubbles or anything to distract from the look of your screen, there is no need to worry.  You won't even know the screen protector is there, it doesn't modify the look of your home screen at all, it is 100% clear and you honestly won't even know it is there.

One thing to note is that the screen protector doesn't go all the way to the edge of the device, because as you get closer to the edge, the corners of the new phones are rounded.  But it does cover the full screen area on the face of the phone and goes as close to the edges as possible.

If you have any questions at all about the i-Blason Armorbox iPhone 6 Plus case, Spigen iPhone 6 Plus case, Spigen iPhone 6 case or the iSmooth iPhone 6 and 6 Plus screen protectors, let me know.  Between myself, my wife and immediate family, 6 of us have either the 6 or the 6 Plus phones and we all utilize those cases and screen protectors and as Tony the Tiger says...they'errrrrrr grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Conclusion

All in all, we have no regret at all getting the larger iPhone 6 Plus models so far and we're really looking forward to learning how to take full advantage of what the phones have to offer! 

An added bonus, this time around there is already a jailbreak available for iOS 8.1!  When we got the iPhone 5 it was more than 6 months before a jailbreak was available for iOS 6, so if you're into that sort of thing, definitely check out that link for full details.  The only downside is that it sounds like the next iOS update, 8.1.1, will plug holes that allow the jailbreak to work.  So if you want to jailbreak, stay on iOS 8.1.

Did you upgrade to the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus?  What are your favorite features?  Any tips/tricks to share?  Please drop a comment below and let us know!

 
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