Gadgetory

welcome to the 359 I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox urban I wanted to kick things off with CNS review of the razor phone no not the old Motorola RAZR this Android phone is built by the laptop maker razor and features a bunch of high-end specs it's also big and built like a tank but the marquee feature is a display that refreshes a hundred twenty times a second or twice as fast as most phones which gives it this illusion that it's buttery smooth and faster than anything else out of the competition I mean you've looked at the review what do you think hey China Hollister does a good job of really saying the good and the bad about this phone apparently the camera is matte the battery is met but if you are going to use it for gaming right then maybe there they're gonna find their their interested customers which is I think why I'm a little skeptical about this this phone one I mean Razer is a known brand among video game makers it is not a mass consumer brand so I don't know how many people are really clamoring for a phone made by a video game laptop maker okay that's I mean you're you're right about that the only the other thing is okay what do you what do you think about the fact that it's bringing back the next bit Robin yeah so next bit was purchased by Razer I think earlier this year just for additional background next bit its claim to fame was it tapped Tom Tomas one of the original Android guys mai-chan also another Android guy as well Scott Croyle who was the HTC design engineer who created the HTC One so a lot there was a lot of hype behind that company it got bought by Razer and this is the sort of the first product that's come out of that cooperation hmm you know it's kind of cool I think I like the fact that next bit is kind of living on in this phone but at least this particular first actually like like you mentioned Sean sort of has some issues with this right the cameras not as great barely it's not as great right they make it interesting for gamers again so the the screen is supposed to be really good and it's also got Dolby powered speakers yeah front face is going back to just my general view on phones is that this is a different phone you know kind of like the moto phones or different phones that doesn't mean that like the Moto is for everybody it obviously isn't but at least we're getting to a point to a certain extent with phones where it's not all the same black slabs although this is a ok giant black slab with a few features that are different than the other giant but the fact that it's marketed as a gaming phone I don't even razor what would really push that too hard because truthfully how many out there yeah I really need all this all these high-end specs on that royal alright my Play constantly Korean so plays simpson's tap dad that does not be a special price I know I know oh man that takes me back yeah I mean I've got I've got an old PC version of the civilization game loaded up on my phone nice not PC but and it'll be amazing no razor phone works just fine on my iPhone and on an Android phone so ok oh it's it's $700 by the way so they're definitely pricing it as a flagship oh yeah alright next up we wanted to wish a happy birthday to the text message which turned 25 on Sunday yep yeah the first text message was set on December 3rd 1992 by a British engineer basically sent it via computer to a mobile device and you have to imagine how clunky that mobile device was back in 1992 what was the first text message you want me to say it's Merry Christmas which granted people still say today as opposed to a highboy which was the first thing that was said on a telephone from Alexander Graham Bell so memorable yes yeah so ahoy to everybody it's just that we've gotten to the point I know there are a lot of studies about how we rather text and call people now I thought actually I've used text messages less because I tend to use either iMessage or facebook Messenger line what's that there's so many more messaging app yeah but like and I would say the text message is you know the forefather of all of those things for sure those things like stand on the shoulders of the original text messages fact I like I'm one of those folks who's annoyed now when I have my iMessage blue bubble burst in the green when when one on person comes like oh you broke the chain you broke the chain unbelievable I don't really annoy alright for those stories and more chickens on a scene at a murder chain I'm Ben Fox driven thanks for listening all right welcome back everybody that's the end of the recording of the podcast I'm gonna go ahead and start filtering through the chat to see if we got any good questions or comments for the guys in the meantime let's start right off we got a comma here from Jorge he says razor was the first phablet okay I have to I am always impressed with our viewership wait that they might know they met his current razor phone there's a first phablet no no that razor made the first phablet I think that was you might have to check the archives for the actual historical records on that one right now we generally Samsung is the first to popularize the idea of a phablet with their Galaxy Note line I think Dell had a 5 inch phone that like nobody bought which I think for me at least my memory was the first jumbo phone that came out there it was actually he might not even marketed a phone I might add marketed as a tablet okay there's maybe the viewer is talking about the razor edge which is a Swiss Army gaming tablet back in 2013 yeah which which I think Samsung probably predates that yeah anyway but this is definitely a whacky looking tablet because it's got like controller handles on the side good lord is well at least yeah but like that's that's Razer for you is that if it's optimized for gaming you're gonna do it even if it physically looks weird or clunky and it goes back to their phone to their phone is like a big chunky heavy phone but if you want to use it for gaming or maybe for like a lot of other laptops and computers are like that too and I mean look at the Nintendo switch now I would just say that just for the record the original Samsung Galaxy Note came out October 29th 2011 mm-hmm all right okay I'm curious as to if anyone out there has actually tried the razor edge and what your experience with it and maybe how it stacks up to like uh Nintendo switch to nowadays right right yeah I I don't think I've ever seen a razor edge out in the wild which which I don't think that something you take in the public I feel like you're just asking about it but you're asking it mugs if you're playing that thing I don't know what that is but it's clearly liable and I'm gonna steal it now you don't little wet willy is no no edge no no the edge is gonna if I'm like I'm the mugger and I'm looking at someone with an edge I don't know what that thing is but it's clearly expensive and I'm gonna take it all right William jolly and the chat is actually looking forward to this razor phone as I'm sure a lot of people are if you are going to pursue it we'll have more on the review throughout the day if you do actually pick one up we'd love to hear your like direct feedback feedback feedback feedback feedback like for a horse we'd love to hear your direct feedback as hands-on as users because you know we have our stipulations that's what we have to follow for the reviews and Sean did a really fun review I actually found witches in say who's in San Francisco so no we didn't touch the phone we did not hear okay we're regurgitating his words to you yes and he's the one that spent all the time with it so yeah and he's also I mean he's a gamer so he appreciates the Razr like that's a thing like I'm not all phone reviewers I think are necessarily fans of the company ya know about Razer gaming laptop so he had a really good perspective on that yeah and I I think that you would probably have to be a pretty big Razer fan to go for this thing because it's a camera is a big reason why a lot of people get a phone and the fact that it's not that good in low light but it's still a $700 phone maybe if it was a little bit cheaper the expectations would be a little bit lower so I mean I think there's that kind of false assumption that if you've got a super strong brand with really loyal following they'll follow you to whatever product you make and that's another sort of the case right a lot of these folks are there already wedded to their iPhones or their Samsung Galaxy S or their pixel phones right like it's and it's hard to change that out right so you know just because you're you're a loyal razor laptop gamer doesn't necessarily gonna make that job right and there's also no headphone jack I'd like watch and then a phone this large doesn't have a headphone jack this is just like they hate they make a freaking cup of coffee have two headphone jacks a headphone jack they just don't care anymore there's just like the technology industry in general is so much check at this giant phone except a headphones yeah listen we live in a courageous world I know I just like it's very frustrating to me just put a headphone jack in your phones or the water resistance right water resistance it's not water resistant oh that's a problem yeah but that's also why it's not stupid expensive oh can I share something it's pretty but not stupid expensive that's all next tier measurements listen I'm going on official business jargon here about how we categorize right the phone prices so I so I got a Galaxy s8 like a week ago and that's supposed to be waterproof water resistant water resistant for 30 minutes and 1.5 meters of water right so I dunked it in water yesterday just to try it out yeah no it was fine it was amazing but then it wouldn't charge so I had to restart it so so do not mess with your phone's I mean it's really more of like you drop your phone I don't think you look in the toilet or something yes I purposely go dunk in your phone that's not what it's really intended for okay I'll remember that next time my phone is okay I scoop ice cream with mine do we know if it's going to be sold unlocked I'll check it out I'll see if I can find it to be sold unlock yeah most of them are any yeah I mean the next bit Robin was remember that in the meantime let's take it one from Scott Myatt all right no let's jump to sir enjoy first actually because we were talking about Sean's direct review and that's something that caught my attention as he said how how loud the stereo speakers are on that mm-hmm and he demonstrated yes with a little piece of paper bouncing on yeah that was really kind of nice as they're arguably better than most laptops speakers he experiences these days and serene joy says I don't mind bezels when there are packed with quality stereos totally yeah that private goes back to the HTC that scott coil worked on it was known for having he's boom there they brenda did boom sound speakers and they were basically the the top and front dozens were or chin were basically speakers yes it's nice to see that that's I should have brought that because yeah there's a utilitarian function to having a space I think a lot of people are I wanted to give it a pass yeah it's cool as that is and yes I'm kind of on board of that I'm not listening to the speakers on the phone yeah never for no reason I mean I might have interesting because I have when I was single and I was just by myself like I've got a kid the with the iPhone 7 they even did advertising around the speaker yeah you remember they had it like in a little bit of water because they added the water resistance and then they had two sets of speakers so I don't know like full-blown speakers like the ones you see here mm-hmm they just add a second set of a bad speaker bad but just just just sort of like average speakers yeah that's fine and I mean there's a time and a place for that whether you're out with somebody I hate real quick check this out check this out right I get that but there's no point in my life when I'm going to actually depend on or care that much about the fidelity of the speakers because I'm not using this primary entertainment device right so going back to the previous question the razor phone is available unlocked it appears on razor zone.com which is razors specific websites I don't believe it's being sold by any of the carriers right this is sold directly they're using me I don't think anyone's like come to ATT will saw your phone which is better than having an exclusive I would imagine yeah except sort of part of the problem is like there's a whole chicken a problem with that rather you don't have any carrier relationships that means you're basically shut out of a vast majority of Americans because most Americans buy their phones through their carriers mm-hm so they're really going after bet this is a niche audience phone right do you really have to go out of your way to like get this phone and then set it up to your point and I really hate to say you're right about things ya know the idea that like companies are doing things differently we saw a central order this year now we're seeing razor-like it's kind of nice to see these other companies come out with different phones even even if there are a lot of challenges and struggles and I don't think it'll sell that well like it's kind of cool to see other companies yeah and then with different devices and their best ideas will get implemented by you know the top dogs that right that's what and yeah I would love to see so these other companies adopt the 120 refresh rate I don't know what's the benefit of that we're just say that I kind of like 20 refresh rate 20 refresh I guess that's like a new feed-in speed that you can mention you know and you're getting through like the processor so it's 60 again it makes everything seem like it's moving faster because the screens refreshing so much faster - okay I don't I'm not that impressed but okay it's great for gaming speaking of gaming and niche audiences do you think people watching internet streaming broadcast will also get interested in the razor phone and not only gamers I think this is not exactly that it is a big pretty screen and the speakers itself comes into play as an entertainment device as a pseudo fact I would agree in general any sort of like multimedia video would probably be value useful for this phone that being said I don't think that any of the top phones available like the iPhone 10 or the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are really lacking you know in those areas you know like maybe the speaker because they did a really good job amping up the the Dolby speakers but otherwise you're you're gonna get a really good screen on those evens like what the screen size this small generally like handheld device is like as much as I was just talking up the 120 refresher like doesn't make that big of a difference on a small screen as opposed to like a giant it's not gonna be like a mind-blowing like a like on a huge team yeah for folks who are just looking at this as an entertainment device I don't think they'll even know about it because it's unless they go and seen it but you know they're not they don't know what Razer is they don't they don't know but its legacy is a gaming company and so I don't know if they'd want to take a chance on the $700 phone from a company they've never really so going back to a seneschal by the way do they have an exclusive with Sprint they do okay so that's that's the thing is though like I walked by one or two Sprint's doors and yeah if essential plastered all over the place so I guess to a certain extent razor could have benefitted from one of the four major carriers going out of their way be noted well maybe not sprint but you know what was it the Google pixel - yeah totally better solutions with Verizon and variety pitching that phone yeah I see those commercials everywhere yeah so yeah there's definitely a benefit to partnering most consumers hate exclusives because it shuts them out of options but handset makers like because they get that extra boost and if you get the right partner like Verizon is just basically blanketing the airwaves with commercials about pixel phones that's that gives you awareness that gives you a lot of a lot of interest yeah and you can still buy a pixel - if you want to unlock yes directly through Google alright we're just about out of time but imagine soggy says so true that no one will buy it it's really just for gamers and I think we are an era of niche phones like the upcoming red phone tell me about the red phone that's the one with the like super mega camera yeah it's from like red like the they make the high-end cameras for films they were like their major innovators for 4k and yep you see them in a lot of film processes that supposed to be like crazy like you talk about super expensive I mean camera with a phone on it nobody much yeah yeah yeah I I find it interesting that you know despite the the phone market being as mature as it is you know like cell phones have been around for a long time now there's still these niches that different smaller players are trying to find to get it I think that's because it is such a valuable industry it is if you can even get a small piece then it's it's a while yeah yeah that's true all these like purpose-built phones are reminding me of the Garmin Garmin actually made a phone one no yeah it was like through the like the the dying days yes yeah but like they've totally pivoted to siddhart yeah they've switched to their company completely doing wearable so yeah I mean like they did that success no that was back when like their you know the car GPS was a record business and they saw the right in the wall that like smartphones were gonna just destroy that business like they came out with the phone it was just like a terrible phone with GPS honey that wasn't novelty that was back before like Google Maps apparently it was a it was like a GPS like it was just a different form factor really it was yes yeah exactly like what other companies try to get into making phones it doesn't always come I did I I don't know like that definitely piqued my interest about the red phone I'm certainly curious to learn more about that one all right I've been sitting on this one as I think it's a perfect note to go out on specifically then this one's all up your alley Scott Maya now people are heavily investing in Amazon hardware tablets fire TV echo do you feel this is the right time for Amazon or smartphone we have discussed this a lot between there's been a lot of debate there's been a lot of debate as to whether they would do it is it too late I mean to a certain extent they don't have to anymore Alexa is the big product right for Amazon hardware and they've already started integrating Alexa into other phones yes so do they need to make their own phone at this point maybe maybe not there is a rumor from India from months ago about them developing the ice phone there was no like there was like bounds Fame it does sound fake and it came out and then there was absolutely no follow-through afterwards everybody picked up the story this is supposed to be like a cheap really really cheap phone yeah for the emerging market theoretically but I don't which I had been saying for a long time makes a lot of sense for Amazon like a super stiff they did if they did in the emerging market the problem is if they did something for like the US Canada Europe and did a big splashy phone again it might be too embarrassing or too much of a risk even for Amazon oh yeah I don't know if they'd even risk the headlines of like you know the rest of the fire phone I just want they don't want any mention like Q Phoenix Rising headlines unlike a bunch of other mad Pines I mean like if it was successful then it would be like a good Phoenix that also a bad Phoenix I don't know but either way that's a question that's a great question and it's very many hit on something that we've been talking about for a long time here yeah and I think he goes along the trend of like the phone is still the most important device in our hands like these companies want to have that presence and Wow Amazon's Brees been pretty successful at getting Alexa into other phones it's not like the core part of any of these phones and so they are kind of missing that like it they've got they got a lock on the home well this with the smart speaker market but they don't quite have that with the the phone market and they sort of see Google coming out there pushing Google assistance so hard that you know that I have to imagine some of them have to be worried a little bit about losing out on the phone market yeah and the problem one of the many problems with the fire phone was is that I think that it was a little too obvious that they were basically just trying to show you stuff yeah they were trying to create amazon.com as a phone right and there was just too much of that was was pushed and forwarded into the device and they did a much better job with Alexa of being like this is something here to help you and we're not just gonna try to keep selling you stuff with this I mean every feature on that phone was designed to make you buy mores right it was like pushing you into the amazon.com funnel so I would expect that they if they ever did come out with another phone that they wouldn't do so on a brief dovetail I think that Amazon's going to bring back the wall phone the actual corded phone in your house not the dot phone and it's gonna work like the buttons that you have for like Tide detergent and stuff where it's just kind of omnipresent in your home oh would you pick up the phone and like yeah like Jeff I need more paper towels yeah exactly I would I would buy the shoes for the retro video throw a wrench into things hold on can it be read can it be like an emergency red phone like I'm the president at phone no like I'm the president I have a magnet in touch with my general Batman's better than the president okay fine well but technically it was a phone for Commissioner Gordon it wasn't Batman's though Batman's phone is read also okay either way I went I an Amazon red phone I really hope they're watching this pick a red phone that you just call up Amazon customer service and they may leave stuff hopefully via drone all right last but not least Josh Boyd I had a really great question that we can't let go ignored do you think Amazon would ever develop a wearable mmm there's rumors of that already there would be an Alexa wearable pair of glasses oh yeah where it's like the same feel though like you just sort of look at products and like you want to buy that thing this is like the bone induction thing or whatever again agency's weak to buy well bone abductions that's just for like first really right but like you would say Alexa and it's like on your face and you could just ping it all the time I don't see a value to that product because it's a little too weird and to be fair they're rumors of pretty much every company developing a pair of smart glasses now right it's an Apple Apple one of the Google's already tried and then Amazon yeah yeah so dad that's one that came out a couple months ago so we'll see if that one happens okay I don't know if it will I don't know if people want to LexA on their face that would definitely be interesting what if it just got built into a pair of headphones oh yeah a little more sense yeah don't know why you want to automatically insert it into your eye but Alexa contact lenses saves me I made contact lenses are expensive it saves me money on contact lenses yeah yeah do it if you can fight us off of my contacts is embedded in there you have to talk to her all the time and apologies to everybody smart home that we're triggering right now her always yeah yeah alright we are out of time though yeah all right so our 3:59 podcast is available on itunes tune in 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