I hope you are out there taking your vacations, staycations and enjoying life. Before you know it summer will be winding down and school will be starting back up. If you are looking to keep those summer memories, you may want to consider the Google Clips. The Google Clips is the latest technology of capturing your friends and loved ones in motion.
With our partnership with Verizon Wireless, Bubbling With Elegance And Grace used the Google Clips for 30 days to write this review.
The tiny camera measures only 1.9 inches by 1.9 inches by .8 inches. It is designed to capture the best memories of your busy lifestyle with minimal effort. The device can be held in your hand, placed amongst the crowd at a party or on your body while out and about on the hiking trails.
After downloading the app to your smartphone, you set up the device and you are ready to start capturing those memories. From your smartphone, you can live-preview what is in the camera’s 130 degree field of view. You can then view the captured clips from your smartphone and decide which ones you want to save or discard. It features 16GB internal storage; but offers unlimited storage if you use the Google Pixel smartphone.
With Google Machine learning built in, Clips is able to recognize and automatically save moments with facial expressions. And over time, it will learn to recognize the people you spend time with and automatically capture clips of your moments together.
The resolution technology is so clear for something so small. You can be hands-free, when the kids and pets are running around and you are trying to get the right focus. You can hold it clip it, or set it down if you like. And Google clips sends the motion pictures right to your phone.
The Clips is new to the market and I suspect Google will be continue to improve the camera’s capabilities as time goes on. The initial set-up took a little time because the instructions given on the app were not clear. But once I got it set-up and determine how to use the device, it worked well and was easier the more I used it. The movement and facial-recognition feature works well made it easy to get in-the-moment clips. The device’s battery does not stay charged for a long period of time. In less than 30 minutes, the battery was already at 50 percent. So keep this in mind when you want to be sure to capture the memories from the birthday party or day at the beach. It will need to be charged regularly. The Clips retails for $249, which for some may be too much to spend on new technology. In our opinion, the price needs to come down and the technology upgraded to invest our own money on it.
For more information on the Google Clips, please visit Verizon Wireless.
FTC Disclaimer: Bubbling With Elegance And Gracehad an opportunity to try the Google Clip for 30 days, courtesy of Verizon Wireless. The purpose of this demo was to share our experiences and write this review. At the end of the 30 days, the phone was returned back to Verizon. We did not receive any monetary compensation. All opinions are our own.
Are you in the market to upgrade your current phone?
Maybe your current smart phone is a couple of years old and is beginning to show signs of slowing down. Maybe you have a child leaving for college in a few weeks and it is time for their first ‘big kid’ phone. Maybe you have decided to forgo your home’s landline and need a phone that can do it all.
With a crowded market fighting for your next purchase, it is hard to know which smart phone is the right one for you. You may want to consider the newest from Samsung, who continues to be an industry leader and pushes its technology to the edge with the Galaxy S9.
Samsung Galaxy S9
For myself, I have been using a Samsung Galaxy S6 smart phone for just over three years. I didn’t expect there would be much difference the S6 and the S9. However, Samsung implemented multiple upgrades, including the screen, the camera and the battery. Samsung has taken the smart phone experience to the edge with the S9.
To the Edge The first and most obvious change that I noticed was the larger screen of the S9. The overall size of the S9 is about the same as the S6. However, the S9 has a greater viewable and useable portion of the screen, literally taking it to the edge of the phone itself. Instead of having space wasted on the phone dedicated to a button that you do not always use, Samsung has decided that it is better to swipe up from the bottom, or down from the top. This allows for quicker access to the apps and getting to information stored on your phone. With just a touch of the phone’s edge, a pre-selected group of apps is at your fingertips. Another swipe of the edge will pull up people from your contact list. This edge feature is handy and provides more flexible and ease-of-use. One word of caution, if you have not used this feature before, it will take a little bit of practice to get familiar with it. In the beginning, I often had to repeat the process to get it right. But after a few days, it was a familiar process and it worked very well for me.
Photo and Video Quality
My wife and I recently traveled to Michigan and Canada to celebrate her birthday. Since we were staying on the shores of the Great Lakes, we wanted to capture those memories and produce a few videos for our YouTube channels. The Samsung S9 proved to be highly capable of capturing those moments when our DSLR camera failed. When in the video mode, our DSLR camera could not adjust the focus well enough to get a quality image. Instead of the sharp quality that I was used to, be were left with a video that was too bright to be of any good use. However, we we used the Galaxy S9, the camera was able to make the adjustments and provide us with good quality. You can view the video here:
Battery Life
For me, one of the most important feature of any smart phone is the battery. The whole point of a having a wireless phone is to be wireless and not be locked into a charing cord or station. The battery in my Galaxy S6 quickly drains and will not last the entire day without being recharged. Samsung has made some improvements to the S9 battery. While it is a noticeable upgrade, it still not in the same league as other smart phones that I have used. But Samsung is definitely moving in the right direction.
FTC Disclaimer: Bubbling With Elegance And Gracehad an opportunity to try the Samsung Galaxy S9 for 30 days, courtesy of Verizon Wireless. The purpose of this demo was to share our experiences and write this review. At the end of the 30 days, the phone was returned back to Verizon.
If you are like me, the digital age has left my handbag full of wireless gadgets. From smart phones and tablets, to headphones and MP3 players; it seems that there is another device out there that becomes the newest necessity. When taking these items on-the-go with us, it is important that we keep them charged up so that they can be fully functional when we need them. More than ever, the most important necessity is a portable charger, like the MOPHIE POWERSTATION PLUS, for those emergency situations. Thanks to our partnership with Verizon Wireless, we were able to demo the Mophie for thirty days.
The Mophie portable charger is capable of charing smart phones, tablets, or any other mobile device. Depending on the device and how much the battery is depleted, the Mophie 1200 mAh can charge your smart phone up to four times on a single charge. The Mophie Powerstationis designed to charge two devices, whether they are Apple and micro-USB devices, at one time because of the charger’s built–in, switch–tip cable — as seen in the photo below.
The Mophie Powerstation Plus 12000 with Switch-Tip Cable
The Mophie Powerstation Plus portable charger is one of those items that I would recommend for every member of your family. Nowadays, everyone is carrying some sort of wireless device and the need to stay connected is vitally important. Maybe it is for your teenager who has his / her first smart phone and he / she is away at summer camp. Maybe it is for your spouse who takes public transportation to get to work. You never know when you will need to have to have that emergency boost. What would you do if you were out late at night and you have a dead battery – in your vehicle and on your phone. You need to call for a tow truck to help. You want that peace of mind knowing that you can to make that call to a family member or to stay in touch with the technician as he makes his way to help you.
The Mophie needs to be in everyone’s handbag, backpack or vehicle console. No one in your family should leave home without one.
FTC Disclosure:
Verizon Wireless provided us with the Mophie Powerstation Plus in order to write this review. After thirty days, the Mophie was returned back to Verizon. Bubbling With Elegance and Grace received no monetary compensation to write this review. All opinions are our own.
Have you ever noticed that people are taking countless photographs every day. Whether they are for selfies for Facebook or styled poses for a blog post; photos are everywhere. But most of them, if not all of them, are trapped on a smartphone, memory cards and computer hard drives. When having a conversation with friend, and they want to show you a photo, he /she will pull out a smart phone and start swiping through the photo gallery looking for the photo. And then five minutes later, they find it for you.
Gone are the days of the printed photos in traditional photo album. You know the ones that have the photos attached to a sticky-glue cardboard and covered with a protective plastic sleeve. Have printed photos gone out of style so much that people no longer think to do it. Maybe it is just not convenient to have the photos printed at the pharmacy or to have them mailed to you. For me, a printed photograph is a bit of nostalgia; but I believe that they have their place in the 21st Century Digital Age.
LifePrint
Thanks to Verizon Wireless, we had the opportunity to try the LIFEPRINT photo and video printer that is compatible with Android and iOS smart phones. The printer is set up to produce 2×3 printed photos that you have saved on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. After trying the printer for 30 days, we recommend (with some reservations) purchasing it and adding it to your technology devices.
The printer measures only 5.75 inches by 3.8 inches. The small size makes the printer very portable and can easily be taken with you on the go. Maybe you are having a birthday party for your spouse and you want to provide guests with keepsake photos. Having a Lifeprint at the party, you can give them photos as they get ready to leave. Using the Lifeprint app on your smart phone, you can select which photos to print. You can crop the photos, add text and use filters to enhance the photo you want. The printer produces the photos in just moments and there is no dry time, like other photo printers from the past that you had to avoid touching. The printer is an ink-free printer and uses heat technology to produce top-quality images. The paper on the back of the photo can be peeled away and you place the photo on a wall, to your computer or where ever you want.
The printer is great if you want to print photos to send to people who have not stepped into the 21st Century Digital Age. Maybe they do not have a computer or smart phone; or have access to an email address. Yes, these people are out there and some of them are my family members. For my aunt who has neither a computer, a smart phone or an email address, we printed out a few photos and sent them to her in a card. This was a great way to stay in contact with her and let her see some new photos of us, the Godson, and the doggies.
A card for Aunt Dorothy with Lifeprint photos
Since the printer is linked to your social media accounts, you can directly print the photos that you have saved there. Using the app to sign into your accounts, your photos that you have saved on the accounts are suppose to appear in the app. The photos can be enhanced to meet the needs you have. After using this for a some time, I found it a little difficult to find my photos and to go between the different accounts. Not all of the photos that were saved on the accounts appeared on the Lifepirnt app; and moving between the accounts proved to be counter-intuitive. Maybe if working with a little while longer, it would have been easier. But, in the time I used the app and the printer, I found it to be challenging and at times frustrating.
If you are considering a printer for your digital photos that are collected on your smart phone, memory card or your computer, I suggest that you try the one from LIFEPRINT. The print quality is top-notch and are printed in only a few moments. The paper is easy to load into the device. The app is a little cumbersome at times. I suspect that it will get better in time as the app improves. The LIFEPRINT printer retails of Verizon.com for $129.99
FTC Disclosure: Verizon Wireless provided Bubbling With Elegance And Grace with the LIFEPRINT printer to demo for 30 days. After the 30 days, the printer was returned to Verizon and this review was written. All opinions are our own; and we did not receive any monetary compensation to write it.
I hope your week is off to a fantastic start. Spring is in the air and the weather has been a little cooler than normal. The heat and humidity of summer will be here soon enough, so I am enjoying the cooler temps.
There has been a lot of talk recently about the new iPhone 8 that has hit the market. Being a loyal iPhone 6 Plus user, I was not sure if I wanted to upgrade to the newer version or stay with my trusted phone that I have been using for the last two years. Buying a new phone is a considerable purchase, so I did not want to make the purchase if there was not much difference between the two models. Thanks to my partnership with Verizon Wireless, my hubby and I were able to try the iPhone 8 for 30 days to test out and to determine if an upgrade is needed or if I should stick with my 6 Plus. After using it for the 30 days, there are three primary factors that I found that would a current iPhone user should consider when deciding if an upgrade is needed.
The iPhone 8
PHONE SETUP Once you purchase the iPhone 8, you will need to set it up. Apple uses iCloud to make it easier than ever to accomplish this task. At the initial start-up screen, you will be asked if you will want to sync the new phone with an old phone. If you are, the old phone has to come in contact with the new one. Basically, all you need to do is hold the new phone on top of the old phone and they start sending signals between the phones. From there, all of the purchased apps, telephone numbers, text messages and the like will appear on your new phone in the same location as the old phone. Thanks to the power of iCloud, the new iPhone will now look and act like your old phone in only a couple of minutes. You do not have to be concerned that you will lose your contacts or will have to reinstall all of the apps that you have already been using.
SOUND AND VIDEO
With each new iPhone that is introduced, the sound and the video quality improves. Making the leap from the 6Plus to the 8, I could tell a huge difference when listening to iTunes or watching a movie clip. The sound is clearer and the video was sharper. And it was not just a small difference, but big enough to be noticed the very first time I tried it. The iPhone is always known to have great quality sound and video, it just keeps getting better with each new model that is released. But keep in mind, that the iPhone 8 does not have a jack for you to plug in your headphones. If you are looking to use headphones or earbuds, they have be used wirelessly. That took a little to get used to because I like to plug up my headphones and listen to iTunes sometimes at work. I quickly adapted to the change and it was not a big deal by the end of the 30 days.
BATTERY POWER
One thing that I have grown accustomed to with my 6Plus is that the battery would typically last me all day without having to be recharged. I could take it off the charger as I left for work, and by the end of the day with regular use of the phone, the battery would still be at 60 to 70 percent fully charged. However, with the new IPhone 8, I found that the battery did not have the same staying power. With similar use as my 6Plus, I found the 8 would have closer to 30 to 40 percent battery remaining by the end of the day. While this is still a better battery experience than I had with most of the other phones that are in the market, it was much less than what I was expecting from an Apple phone. It would be a good idea to keep a charger with you; or at your desk at work; so that you can charge it if needed.
After trying the iPhone 8 for 30 days, I realized that Apple continues to make superb smart phones. This version of the iPhone is definitely an upgrade to the 6Plus that I am currently using. Will I go out and buy it for myself? Yes, at the right time. As for now, the 6Plus is still an excellent phone and works well for me. When the time comes and the 6Plus is no longer an adequate phone, I will definitely upgrade the 8, or even the X, or beyond.
FTC Disclosure: Verizon Wireless provided Bubbling With Elegance And Grace with the iPhone 8 to demo for 30 days. After the 30 days, the phone was returned to Verizon and this review was written. All opinions are our own; and we did not receive any monetary compensation to write it.
PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST is coming to a theater near you on Friday, March 23rd. Just in time for the Easter Season. The movie examines the life of Paul, portrayed by James Faulkner, who in his latter years holds on to what he believes despite being tortured from all sides. And how Luke, a physician and Paul’s friend, played by Jim Caviezel, wants to recount in his writings how a person can truly be changed and then convey that message to the early church. This is a dangerous time for the new followers of Christ. Paul wonders if the word is getting out and if it is still important what he has to say.
Take a look a the film trailer below:
As Christians, we are noted for being quick to judge and condemning if a person is not on high of a pedestal as we think they should be. We have to realize that no one is beyond God’s mercy. “For we all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” Romans 3:23 Paul, early in his life, hated Christians. Paul became a dramatically changed man, who is a key figure in fighting for Christianity and ended up writing a majority of the New Testament. Before we cast the first stone, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror. “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” Luke 6:41 (ESV)
Paul, portrayed by James Faulkner
This is such an important film to see in these days and times. Even while in prison, Paul sang God’s praises and some of his most loving writings came to be during this time.
Behind the Story
I am looking forward to seeing this movie with my husband. It is on our must-see list and I believe that it should be on yours as well. And you and a loved one might be able to see the movie for free. Bubbling With Elegance And Grace is collaborating with LEV3L Digital to give one person two free tickets to see the movie.
To enter the giveaway, you only need to do two simple tasks.
1) Leave a comment below about the movie
2) Share this article on your favorite social media outlet to get the word out about the film.
The giveaway begins now and will run until midnight (Central Time) on Monday, March 19th. the winner will be announcement on Tuesday, March 20th.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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