James Pilcher and his son, Joshua, from Ohio share their feedback on the Samsung Galaxy S III. 

The Samsung Galaxy S III has received a lot of good publicity since it was released this summer. But, how does this phone perform in real life?

That was the challenge issued to me by the folks at Verizon – who did not want just another glorified list of features and functions in a review.

So who better to help test it out than my 11-year-old son, Josh, who has been DYING to have his own cell phone. He won’t get one for awhile yet, but at least he got to pretend for a bit. Here are his impressions (along with a few of my own). I mean, who better to test a cell phone than a pre-teen?

Dad: How did you use the phone the most? (more…)

This is a guest post by James Pilcher

In mobile data development – at least from a content provider’s perspective – one of the biggest questions has become: Should I create a smartphone app first or a mobile version of my website?

And while the answer is simple (make a mobile site before an app EVERY TIME), companies can be excused from asking the question.

After all, the apps are the cool kids on the corner, getting all the attention. There are now more than 630,000 apps available in the iTunes store, and more than 15 billion have been downloaded. The Android numbers are pretty staggering as well, with nearly 8.8 billion downloads and nearly 450,000 available. (more…)

This is a guest post by James Pilcher

For years, there have been gallons of ink spilled about the coming of mobile commerce – or enabling mobile device users to buy stuff.

Well, it’s not just on its way, folks – it’s here now.

Recent statistics from a survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association show how many people are using their cell phones or tablets to shop. The February survey showed that 35 percent of all online commercial transactions used a mobile device. Clothing and/or footwear, books and music were the categories most often shopped. About 32 percent of mobile shoppers purchased a CE product, the survey found.

Also, 37 percent of all mobile device owners were conducting some sort of commercial transactions.

Now, do the numbers. The total amount of e-commerce in the U.S. alone was $193 billion – meaning that mobile commerce equated into more than $5.5 billion.

And that’s not even counting the social aspect of mobile commerce, with more mobile device users connecting to social networks and sharing their activities using their phone/tablets.

(more…)

James Pilcher from Man of the House highlights a few of his favorite devices for the holiday season.

You may think you have the most advanced phone on the market, but give it a week and that “new” smartphone will be upstaged by something even smarter. The cellular market has been flooded with new gadgets this season, and it seems like every brand has revamped, renewed and overhauled their designs, introducing something new to consumers. While there are hundreds of new phones to talk about, I picked out a few of my favorites, just in time for the holidays.

HTC Rhyme

OK, fellas—you want to go tech but also be a hero to your lovely spouse? GET THIS PHONE!

It is a fully functional (and powerful) Android smartphone. But it is designed for women. And I don’t just mean pretty colors (although, amazingly, the test unit sent by Verizon Wireless matched my wife’s purse).

This one is functionally designed for women with one of the more ingenious things I’ve seen in a while. It’s called “charm”—which is basically a corded light that hangs outside a purse and lights up when a call or message comes in. It plugs into the headphone jack and hangs outside the purse.

Read the rest on the Man of the House site.

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