{"id":255,"date":"2012-12-11T11:13:39","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T16:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=255"},"modified":"2012-12-11T11:13:39","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T16:13:39","slug":"being-entertained-and-going-social-the-ultimate-smartphone-guide-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2012\/12\/11\/being-entertained-and-going-social-the-ultimate-smartphone-guide-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Being entertained and going social: The Ultimate Smartphone Guide, part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Smartphones are just as commonplace as our wallet and keys these days\u2014we can’t leave the house without them and we certainly freak out if they go missing. Our phones are packed with powerful CPUs and GPUs; the Snapdragon SOC with its Adreno GPU is the most powerful combo the Android and Windows Phone 8 platforms have seen, and Apple’s extra-speedy A6 improves on the already-quick A5 it replaces. Whichever platform we’re on, we use that power to document our daily happenings, to check in to see how our friends are family are doing, to communicate verbally and textually, and even to read a book before bed. We use our phones to order food or make reservations, tag ourselves with others while out having a good time, and catch up on our favorite television shows on the long train ride home.
\nSo in our second installment of the Ultimate Smartphone Guide, we’ve rounded up some of the best apps for doing all of these things. This guide should save you from scrolling endlessly through all the different app stores, looking for the right app to do that one thing. One note going in: we’re focusing on picking out apps\u2014we’re not looking at the app stores themselves and what the app discovery and purchase process is like.
\nAlso, there’s one important category you won’t see below: apps for listening to or making music. Music is incredibly important\u2014so important, in fact, that we’re giving it its own separate feature next week. Don’t worry, music lovers, you won’t be left behind.
\nAs with our first feature in the series, we’re focusing on iPhones, Android phones, and Windows Phone 8 phones. BlackBerry fans will have to sit this series out\u2014RIM is poised to launch all new handsets and a new operating system early next year, and we’ll wait on them until then. But if you’re using an iPhone, Android device, or Windows Phone 8 handset, take a gander at our picks for the best entertainment apps and see if there’s something you’ve been missing out on.
\nFull Story: Being entertained and going social: The Ultimate Smartphone Guide, part II | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smartphones are just as commonplace as our wallet and keys these days\u2014we can’t leave the house without them and we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[65,549,559,745,986,1218],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-technology","tag-android","tag-ios","tag-iphone","tag-nexus","tag-smartphone","tag-windows-8"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-47","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8892,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/04\/18\/spotty-android-encryption-is-the-story-behind-the-story-of-apples-battle-with-the-fbi\/","url_meta":{"origin":255,"position":0},"title":"Spotty Android encryption is the story behind the story of Apple\u2019s battle with the FBI","author":"NCCT","date":"April 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jonathan Keane | PCWorld Savvy Android users know that Apple\u2019s face-to-face with the FBI is only the beginning of the phone-encryption furor. 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