50 Gigs of free space on Google Drive for Moto X!

Fyi, Moto X gets free storage space from Google! That's a pretty sweet bonus. Read the article for more details ;)

APPS: Android has all the same apps as iPhone, right?

Before I ever decided to make the switch to Android there were lots of things I was worried about dealing with, but apps was never one of them. I think a lot of iPhone users claim app exclusivity as the main reason why they don't want to switch. They already have their apps and are comfortable with knowing which app to use for all their needs. Having to find an alternative would suck!

My main homescreen, featuring my dog, Starbuck!

But I never worried about this. I knew that in 2013 Android has versions of all the same apps that iPhone has, right? Well, wrong. For the most part, yes, all the major apps are available on both iOS and Android. What do I use the most? Facebook, check (although, coming soon, a whole post on how much Facebook sucks compared to Facebook on iPhone...). I'm addicted and it still exists so that's good. Gmail. In case you forgot that stands for Google email, a Google product, so, yeah, there is Gmail on Android, and it's pretty fantastic. I'm impressed with how smoothly it works and how much better it is than on iPhone, and I didn't expect it to be so different. That was a pleasant surprise. Calendar. It's way different from the iPhone version, but it's there and it works- I'm still getting used to it. Pinterest: it's basically the old version on Android. iPhone has awesome updates that haven't come to Android yet, and I miss that, but at least it's still there!

So what doesn't Android have? Well, in no particular order:

• The Stanford Daily app. Not that I used it that often, but I was sad to suddenly lose it.
• Stanford Football app. Also didn't use it hardly ever, but now I feel like I could possibly be missing out on something exclusive. I hate missing out, especially when it comes to anything Stanford!
• THX Tuneup app. I had such lofty goals to use this app to tune my TV and sound system to have AWESOME sound. When I did the switch and was clearing out my iPhone I decided to finally try it out, only to learn that you need a special dongle to connect your iPhone to your TV before the app can do its thing. So whatever, didn't need that app, anyway!
• Plants vs. Zombies- FREE app. So this is probably nit picky, but the only reason I ever played this game was because for awhile it was free in the app store, and I only "buy" free apps. I'm cheap. Despite being a gamer and hearing so much hype when this game first came out, I never got it, but once it was free on my iPhone I really enjoyed it! Again, I didn't play it THAT often, but when I switched to Android and I couldn't get it again for free I was a little sad. Does the Play Store ever have apps that are free for a limited time thing also? 
• Happy Houred app. Well, I never really used this, but the concept was sound! Guess I'll never know if I liked it because there is no Android version.
• Beauty Box app. I only got this because I was in a hotel room with my mom who happened to be watching Good Morning America or the Today Show or something like that which I would never watch otherwise, and they had their "favorite apps to get" or something. From what I could tell this is a super basic air brushing app to make photos of yourself look better. There are SO many better photo apps I was fine with deleting this off my old iPhone. No wonder there is not an Android version. I should never listen to those silly shows when it comes to apps.
• Gorillacam app. I AM SUPER SAD ABOUT THIS. I loved this app because it had a timer on it and lots of different modes and it just WORKED. As soon as I discovered there was no Android version of this app I searched and searched for a replacement. I haven't had a chance to test it out but what I settled on, for now, is Self-Timer Cam...(I have a huge family and we takes lots of group pics so I need something that can quickly and easily capture us all together! I'll have to have a separate post on my issues with the Moto X camera, but this makes me think of something else- the phone is so thin I won't be able to stand it up on its own like I could with the iPhone, which will make said group pics with self timer that much harder...).
• Yelp app. Ok, yes, there is an Android version of Yelp, but in the last couple of months they FINALLY made it able to actually WRITE reviews on mobile now! This made using Yelp SO much more interesting on a regular level, as opposed to just using it while traveling and not knowing where to go eat. Just when I was getting in the habit of writing reviews, I find out that's only available on the iPhone version. Just like Pinterest, the Android version is the old, less good version. -sigh- I hate going backwards in tech.

Overall, not that many apps that are iPhone exclusive, and most of these I never really used to begin with, so I'm not really missing them. And here's hoping that software updates come soon so that Android can fully catch up to iOS, cause let's face it, even if most things are equal, it's still true that iOS comes first.

Mean Girls and the iPhone 5C

Sorry for the delay in posting, was in New York last weekend for the Stanford-Army game at West Point. Stanford won ;)

I'm hoping to get some more in depth reviews written on my latest experiences, especially on using Google Now while traveling! In the meantime, who doesn't love the movie Mean Girls? Please click here and enjoy these GIFs from Mashable of the Plastics with their new iPhone 5C! ;p A sneak preview:

4. On being available in five colors:

I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, but as soon as the official announcement came out for the iPhone 5c I realized why I was so turned off by this model. Yes, I was not interested in a cheaper quality product, and yes I did not like the specific color options. But, also, it is now so clear that these phones are totally designed for teenagers! Of course! As much as I like to think I still enjoy many of the pop culture things that today's teenagers enjoy (Gangam Style, Facebook), let's face it, a lot of their stuff is dumb (dub step, texting lingo). Lol. But back when I was in high school I'm sure I would have LOVED the iPhone 5C! If high schoolers had had phones back then. I am not old.

But I am too old for the iPhone 5c. ;p

First Impressions: Volume and Bluetooth

VOLUME
As soon as I opened the box and pulled out my new phone I immediately called the 800 number to activate it. At the end of the process they call you to make sure it worked and WOA, the Moto X is LOUD!!! We all jumped at the noise, and then we laughed because the default ringtone is hilarious. It's sort of catchy/danceable yet also sounds like some dude "singing" a voodoo incantation...very strange, but also hilarious. Needless to say I knew I'd have to figure out how to change my ringtone ASAP! Look for a post about ringtones soon ;)

NAVIGATION VOLUME AND BLUETOOTH
So I've also learned that the phone is super loud in my car while navigating. Normally you'd think that's a good thing, especially since in my car I always have the radio on, and I want to be able to hear the directions over the radio. With iPhone I became skilled at lowering the radio volume while the navigation spit out a line, then turned the radio back up. I like to listen to my music loud ;) But with the Moto X I kept having to turn the volume down! It was annoyingly loud, like, OK OK, I get it, TURN LEFT! EXIT NOW! Sheesh, calm down, already! I felt especially bad when I was giving a friend a ride and she was on a work call on her phone, and my phone wouldn't shut up. I ended up turning the volume down to 1/3 of the way, but it still seemed disturbing, so I tried to route it to my bluetooth earpiece. I remember when vocal navigation was new for Google Maps on my iPhone I was really excited to try it out but I was on a phone call using my bluetooth and it totally gave me directions through my bluetooth (so I didn't have to turn down the radio!) during my phone call, only the other person couldn't hear it so it didn't disrupt the call in any way. It was WONDERFUL. Sadly, my Moto X is not able to do the same. It paired with my earpiece no problem (and even paired with a bluetooth speaker I have that had trouble pairing with anything else I had tried), so I was able to make phone calls, and it even used "OK Google Now," but navigation just would not come through to the earpiece. My boyfriend looked it up and said it has something to do with the type of bluetooth it uses, "media bluetooth" or something? Is that a thing? Anyway, it comes down to the fact that I have to get a newer bluetooth earpiece that is compatible with that specific type of technology, which is ok because my earpiece is older than my first iPhone so I'd been wanting to get a new one anyway. Here's the problem: they no longer make them in pink! At least, not affordable, and not bright pink like I like- baby pink is for babies. Anyway I have to spend some time searching for the right earpiece, and in the meantime navigation will come out of the phone speakers, at 1/3 volume.

USING THE PHONE AS A PHONE
So I think it's pretty rare nowadays that we use our phones to actually speak aloud to other human beings. But I noticed in that first phone call when I activated my phone and they test called me that it was really hard to hear the guy on the other end. This was especially jarring since the ringtone right before it had been SO LOUD! I quickly realized that speaker at the top of the phone was positioned too high on my ear, so I lowered it and I was able to hear much better, but now the phone felt super awkward in my hand and at my ear. It's just a strange position. Luckily, like I said, I don't use the phone very often for actually talking, or I could just use my bluetooth. But there's a possibility that I'd be using it more in the future for work projects I want to do, which would also require longer calls than just a test call. Again, I could use the bluetooth, but I would prefer to have options, and that is kind of disappointing.

I should note that I have noticed this problem before when my boyfriend has lent me his phone a couple of times in the past for random reasons. I first noticed it when he had the Motorola Atrix, and more recently with his current phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Maybe this is a hardware design flaw related to phones running Android? I don't know.

PS- Apple announces their "new" iPhone(s) tomorrow. Let's see what the official announcement brings. So. Much. Hype...

Motorola says your phone is lazy, lol

Motorola has some new commercials that say your phone is lazy. Watch their videos or read my Intro to find out my own first impressions on Moto X's "always listening" capabilities.

Video review: Why I don't want the iPhone 5s

Today my boyfriend sent me the perfect video describing all the exact reasons why I didn't want to upgrade to the 5s, (or the 5c...heap)...check out the video and read my Intro if you want more details ;)

My New Phone! Designing my Moto X

My new pink Moto X! (It matches my nails!)

Before I Bought:
The Moto X officially came out on Friday Aug. 23rd. We immediately went to our local ATT store (turned out it was actually just an authorized retailer) so we could see what it looked like in person, but they only had one model in white, so that was a let down. They also knew NOTHING about the phone, so that was amusing. Lesson learned: call ahead to see if they have a display of what you want to see...(*Also, look for the post about my HORRIBLE experience at the Apple Store, coming soon...)

How I Designed and Bought:
They next day we went to the official ATT store in Palo Alto (on Pagemill and El Camino), knowing it was a bigger store. Sure enough they had a full display, and after talking to the guy there and seeing all of the colors of the Moto X for myself, in person (they really do have a GREAT display there!), I was convinced I wanted a Moto X. In pink. ;) Not wanting to impulse buy, my boyfriend convinced me to wait and think about it for a couple days, and so, on Tuesday Aug. 27 I designed my pink phone online at the Moto Maker website.

There are basically 3 choices you get to make in your "design:" the color of the back, which is the main and most exciting feature; the color of the front, either black or white; the "accent" color, which are the metallic pieces around the camera and also used for the buttons. I'll admit that part of me wavered for a moment on whether I would get a red back or a pink back, since football season is half of my year and I need to be able to rep my Stanford pride at all times. But ultimately the desire to have a pink phone again in my life won out, especially since there is that other half of the year, and also because I bought these Stanford stickers years ago so that I could always Stanfordize anything I want at a moment's notice ;)

Once I chose pink, or as they call it, "Raspberry," then I had to decide my front: although I was eager to get away from anything that looks trademark Apple (white), I really don't like black. I basically don't like black anything. I like COLOR, and if black is the absence of color then obviously white is the better choice ;) Plus, I just think white is more feminine and I really do want a girly phone! They also let you choose the color of your charging cable, and this is also why I chose white for my charger ;)

(As an aside, when Apple came out with the white iPhone I decided to get it for the same reasons, NOT because I wanted to be Apple-y. Plus, it was basically the ONLY "option" they offered, and as I said in my Intro, I like being unique and different, so this offered me the ONE way to do that in the world of iPhone. )

From there it was just a matter of seeing which "accent" color went best with my pink and white scheme. *BEWARE!* For some reason the colors displayed on the Moto Maker website do NOT match the real life colors, especially on the metallic accents- they are brighter onscreen than in real life:

LEFT: Screenshot from Moto Maker RIGHT: Unboxing photo taken with iPhone 4s

 Even the above picture doesn't quite show how different they are. Close, but different. This is why I wanted to see them in person at the ATT store before ordering. In the end, I chose a red accent because it not only looked pretty against the pink, but it would rep my Stanford colors with the white front. BAM, best of both of Marisa's worlds ;)

Shipping and Delivery:
They told me it was an estimated delivery of 8 days, so the following Tuesday, which kinda bummed me out because their big advertising is that they are made in the US, in Fort Worth, Texas (yay, Texas!), which means 3-4 days for shipping. But my boyfriend explained that since it just barely came out there was a huge demand which was delaying shipping, so I pouted but grudgingly accepted. I really do hate waiting for anything!

Then a day later I got an email saying they had started production on my design- HOW COOL! I loved that they were updating me on the step by step process! The day after that they emailed me that it was shipped and that it should be delivered by Sunday, Sept. 1: 2 whole days earlier than the anticipated delivery date, whooHOO! But THEN, to my WONDERFUL surprise, on Friday early afternoon, Aug. 30, FedEx rang my doorbell and delivered a packaged. I was SO confused since I wasn't expecting any packages that day, but when I opened it THERE WAS MY MOTO X!!!! I WAS SO EXCITED!!! It only took 3 days to ship after all! What an AWESOME company! My boyfriend captured the unboxing here (excuse my uncuteness but it really was SO unexpected I was not quite dressed for the day ;p):

Witness my delight at the pinkness below ;p

Up next: my first impressions on Android...

Introduction: A Little Background on iPhone and Me

Going from an iPhone 4s to the Moto X:

I have had an iPhone for the last 5 years of my life- as soon as a new model was announced I always switched (upgraded) to the newest one. I absolutely adored my iphone, but not because I am an Apple fangirl- actually, I HATE APPLE. I always have. But realistically, they made the best smartphone for the normal person (read: NOT an engineer), and they did it first. But I never felt like iPhone was better than Android, especially as Android began to pick up speed. By that point I was just lazy. What I was in love with was having a smartphone, and with 2 things being equal (iPhone and any other phone running Android), why bother to change phones? Upgrading to the newest iPhone allowed me to keep all of my hundreds of apps and easily (though not always quickly- it always baffled me how absurdly long those transfers take!) transfer them to a new phone, all while getting the latest updates in technology. Until now.

I am not excited for the iPhone 5s, and certainly not the 5c, which is actually a dumbed down version of the 4s- and it comes in ugly neon colors. I guess they want to stand out. Well, they do...

iPhone 5c colors

Anyway, I never bothered to upgrade to the 5 (I most recently had a 4s) because I had managed to collect a few chargers at this point (after all of the upgrades!) and I did not want to be stuck with just one charger- I was used to having them in different places around the house (or having one designated for travel without worrying that I'd lose it on the trip, or even forget to pack it before leaving!). Since the 5 required an entirely new charger this was a huge drawback for me. Also, I like that pretty much anywhere you go you are bound to run into someone who also has an iPhone whose charger you can borrow. I appreciate that sense of universality, that everyone can share chargers. On the other hand, I've always been very picky about not wanting the same thing as what everyone else has- I prefer to be unique, even if it sometimes seems weird. So even though I liked sharing chargers, I hated that I had the SAME phone as everyone else, and it even looked the same, regardless of the case. (I got around this by having cases that displayed my unique personality, often pink, and displaying Stanford (my alma mater) pride). And I always made sure I had a round sticker to cover up the apple logo on the back, because I HATE APPLE. You probably want to know why but that will have to wait for another post.

To sum up, the iPhone 5 was not for me. It didn't even have anything cool about it that was new technologically- it was bigger, which most people seem to like (especially my mom and other moms, who appreciate the ease on the eyes), but I DON'T LIKE BIG PHONES!

In fact, when I switched from my Nokia to my very first iPhone (3g) I was hugely turned off by how big it was.

The Galaxy Note. They've made an even bigger one than this...

iPhone 3G

I had a Nokia similar to this before iPhone was invented...

I worried it wouldn't fit in my pockets, especially girl pockets, which tend to be tight. I have actually noticed over the last few years how pockets everywhere, in purses and backpacks, too, have gotten bigger to accommodate this. I still think back fondly of my adorably cute little Nokia, no bigger than the palm of my hand and a bright pink with shiny pink keys- everyone knew it was MY phone because it was SO PINK! (If you haven't caught on, pink is my favorite color.) So even though I eventually got used to the size of my iPhone, a BIGGER iPhone was NOT something I was interested in (Don't even get me started on the Galaxy Note). I figured I would wait for the iPhone 6 to come out, since it would have more exciting tech to make up for the fact that I'd have to have a bigger phone and go back to only 1 charger (although by then I expected more people to have 5's by then that sharing chargers would be slightly more feasible).

Alas, the (unofficial) announcement for the 5s was super disappointing! The only cool thing it has is fingerprint scanning- which is cool, yes, but otherwise this phone feels like it will be the same as my 4s! And sure, "iOS 7 will change everything:" the sales guy at ATT in Palo Alto let me see the beta of ios 7 on his phone and it looks AWFUL. The *icons look like drawings for a little kid, total cartoons, making the entire phone feel like a toy.

An example of the cartoonish iOS 7 icons

This guy wrote a really good article about all of the drama over the new look of the icons, and at one point he says:

"Does anyone honestly think that a normal person is going to walk into a store and choose an Android phone because the icons of iOS don’t seem cohesive enough?"

Well, maybe not the "cohesiveness" but yes, that's exactly what I did! The iPhone no longer feels like a technological marvel, it has stalled. Apple, iPhone: you have lost your edge. Even the ATT guy told me he was considering the Moto X after experiencing the iOS 7 Beta.

(*To be fair, those awful icons are also larger, which my mom will probably love).

Enter the Moto X. My boyfriend has been telling me about this phone for MONTHS. Of course, he tells me about a LOT of phones, constantly, and he loves to read all the latest RUMORS in tech, and especially about phones, so I never know when to really pay close attention to what he says. He's a hardware engineer in mobile chips, so I can't really hold it against him ;) And he IS my phone expert, which I love having available to me!

Well, he tells me that the phone will be customizable and my heart skips a beat, my desperate desire to be unique pounding at the door. Then he tells me one of the colors you can design it in is...PINK! Now I was listening! Then we watch a lot of youtube video reviews of the phone showing off what it looks like and what it can do- the COOLEST thing is the touchless control with Google Now. The phone is "always listening" (which probably scares some people but I am not the paranoid type) so that if you want to ask it a question or open an app or tell it to do something, but your hands are wet or dirty or the phone is far away or you are lazy, you don't have to pick it up, YOU JUST TALK TO IT! The key phrase is "OK, Google Now." Then you say whatever you want it do, i.e. "Ok, Google Now, remind me to pay rent tomorrow." THIS is EXCITING STUFF! It's better than Siri, and let me tell you, it works way better than Siri (and I was always a fan of Siri).

Color options for the back of the Moto X!

In the end, everything seemed to come together for me at just the right time. Moto X came out right when my upgrade (on my contract) came available. I have ATT and the custom designed Moto X's are ATT exclusive right now (so, I could have something unique that few others have!). My iPhone wifi died due to heat exposure (a known issue, apparently), but when I went to the "genius" bar to get a replacement (because I had Apple Care, otherwise I would have been totally screwed!) I had THE WORST experience- again, another post for another time, but I'll just say that it died AGAIN and I had to go back AGAIN the next day. Awful. So then I had a brand new iPhone but it felt so out of date, and the new 5s held no promise for me. Meanwhile, the pink was calling to me. I made the switch.

While my boyfriend has been using Android for many years now, my only experience was using it on my 7" tablet, the Galaxy Tab 2.0. I basically use it as a Kindle that also plays Netflix ;p I honestly rarely use it, though I do love it. So I had the bare minimum basics of using Android, such as how to use the "back" arrow, the home key, and the tabs for apps key, the three main keys at the bottom of most Android devices. But I still don't really know what I'm doing.

So I decided to write a blog about my transition in going from an iPhone to using Android, specifically on my Moto X. This is not a tech blog. I will try to be thorough but I probably won't use specs or fancy terms or talk about all the features available. The point of my blog is to share the point of view of an average user, though I certainly don't consider myself average in general ;) And I'm not trying to convince you that Android is better, or that you should switch, too. I am just sharing how this transition has been going for me. Here are some demographics, you can decide if my experiences will be of any use to you:

1) I am female. This means I care a lot about the pinkness of my phone, even if it might make me look ditzy and you don't care and think it is a dumb thing to care about. I don't worry about it because

2) I graduated from Stanford University (class of '05) and am the BIGGEST Stanford fan. Seriously. Also, I have my Master's from the University of Texas in Austin (UT).

3) I have lived in the Bay Area for about ten years, and in San Antonio and Austin, Texas otherwise (there were a few other locations in the US, briefly). After all these years I can confidently say that being in the Bay Area means you are probably more tech savvy than people in other parts of the country- if nothing else, you are certainly more aware of tech than other people tend to be. So, when I make observations in this blog of how I couldn't figure out how to do something, it is not because I think I am too dumb or ignorant to figure it out, it is because it shouldn't have to be that difficult, which is a user interface problem, not a user (me) problem!

4) I am mostly writing this blog for my friends and family who I probably convinced to switch to iPhone when I fell in love with it. They will probably be shocked to learn that I now use Android and will be curious to know what the differences are. I will chronicle those experiences here.

Let me know what you think!

-Marisa

PS- My Tia Sheri is awesome =D