Fitbit vs. Apple Watch: According To An Everyday Mom

I have been an avid Fitbit user for almost 5 years. Ever since my significant other bought me one, I LOVED the idea that I could not only see how my daily activity translated into me getting healthy, but it was just the thing to motivate me to want to be more active. And I had been using my Fitbit well before I became a mom (this point will be important in the next train of thought).

Some of the key features of the Fitbit and how I used it include: 

Daily Steps - I wore the Fitbit for a week just to see how my regular movement translated to my daily step count. I worked at a desk job and before even starting any workout regiment I was averaging about 6k steps (I thought this was A BIG deal at the time…lol)

Calories Burned - this portion I didn't really pay attention to too much because I was never big on counting calories.

Miles - it was nice to see that me running up and down the steps to wash clothes on the weekends actually translated into me walking a certain mileage. 

Alarm - the alarm is GREAT for anyone who has a significant other or small children because it gives you a vibration that is strong enough to wake you out your sleep, but doesn't disturb anyone else around you like a traditional alarm.

Sleep Tracker - this post was the most enlightening. It allowed me to see that even though I was in the bed at a certain time and THOUGHT I was getting enough sleep, it showed me just how much SOUND asleep I was getting (which wasn't much). I would be in bed for about 7 hours, but because I would toss and turn out get up to use the bathroom, I was averaging about 4.5 hours. 

Fast forward about 4 years later. Here comes my bundle of joy. I am now a stay at home mom who spends majority of my time running after a small child and running many miscellaneous errands. My significant other and I have a conversation about my cell phone usage when I am in the car. He wants to make sure I am not only able to be reached at all times, but he wants to make sure I'm safe while in the car. I suggest it may be a good investment to try the Apple Watch. I liked the idea that I could still use all my pedometer functions like my Fitbit, plus I could use other functions (i.e. messaging, navigation, etc.) without having to touch my phone. 

To my surprise, after purchasing my Apple Watch, I actually prefer my Fitbit over the Apple Watch. Here are a few reasons why: 

- When using the Apple Watch as a pedometer, I find my daily step count is way off (I'm talking about by hundreds of steps). And this is with me wearing my Fitbit and Apple Watch simultaneously.

- When doing specific workouts, I find that if I am in an area that has less than stellar cellular coverage, the phone and watch don't relay information to each other and it doesn't always log all of my workout (which is a bummer).

- The user interface (how the device looks and functions) is a lot more simpler on the Fitbit. This is probably largely in part because of all the other things that the Apple Watch does. When I am doing a workout I only need to push one button on the Fitbit in order for it to track my exercise. Even with Siri, there are two steps to even get into the app on the Apple Watch.

                                    

- THE APPLE WATCH DOES NOT TRACK YOUR SLEEP PATTERNS. To some, this might not seem like a big deal, but when you become accustomed to a feature and seeing a result from it, to not have it almost feels like your being slighted. And for the money of the Apple Watch, it would be a nice feature to have.

- The Apple Health app compared to the Fitbit App is very remedial and you have to enter a lot of information in manually in the Apple Health App compared to the Fitbit app's auto tracking.


All in all, the Apple Watch is a neat device which has a lot of capabilities, but when it comes to pedometer functions, the Fitbit makes more sense.

Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas on how you use either device and how it works (or doesn't work) for you. Also feel free to share just what device does work for you even if it's not either of these.

iOS8 Battery Killer

I updated my iPhone 5 to iOS 8.0.2, and as you can tell, it is only 1:25pm and for the SECOND time my phone is at 16% and I am in need of charging. This version operating system is by FAR the worst on battery life I have seen since using an iPhone more than 3 years ago. I really hope Apple gets it together because I am NOT pleased. Especially as an Apple consumer with TONS of their products.

iPhone 5S/5C Rumors

Of course it's about that time of year when the rumor mill starts churning regarding new iPhones. The possible options are the iPhone 5S and/or iPhone 5C (not sure if these are one and the same as of yet). I'm interested to see how this plays out and if there will even be two phones. Seems like a lot of people are very excited about a possible Gold option for colors. Of course the most exciting difference will be iOS 7. We will see when Apple makes their "Big Announcement" sometime in September. 

Check out this link for some information on the possible options:

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=20010212&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

New iPhone to Possibly Support LTE

Just read an article from the Wall Street Journal that suggests that the new iPhone 5 could possibly support LTE networks. Can I just tell you that would be an AMAZING thing for Apple. Now if only we could get ALL U.S. carriers to support TRUE 4G coverage.

To check out the WSJ article, check this out:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443819404577637903902952754.html

Apple iOS 6 Preview

When I go onto my laptop into Safari, the Apple website is the first thing that normally pops up. Unfortunately I almost always never look at it when it first pops up because I am more than likely looking for something on the internet. This time, I stopped and looked at the website. The thing that caught my eye was the iOS 6 Preview. Now I have known for some weeks now that iOS 6 is going to be coming out sometime in the fall, but I never paid much attention to what specifically was changing or updating. As I am reading over everything, I started to get excited. Not at the fact that these were incredibly AMAZING updates, but because these updates seem like they will improve functionality tremendously!

One of the features that I'm anticipating is the updated Maps. I am SSSOOO glad that I will finally be able to get AUDIBLE turn-by-turn navigation to where I am going. For all the android users, I know they could care less because Google Maps Navigation has been doing that for some time now. And to be quite honest with you, I have been using Mapquest which provides audible navigation quite well. Another feature that I think will be used quite frequently will be the Facebook integration. iOS 5 allowed us to integrate our pictures, locations, and contacts through Twitter. Now that facebook has been added to the list, it will just make using our Apple products that more interesting and cool.

One feature I think I personally could care less about would be the updated Siri (sorry Siri). As much as  I would love to say that she has made my life more simple by having her in my life, that statement just  wouldn't be true. I have tried using Siri in my everyday life, and I find that she is really effective at only making calls and sending message at BEST! 

Overall, I think that if the iPhone 5 comes out sometime this year (fingers crossed), since I'm not eligible for an upgrade anytime soon, iOS 6 will allow me the time to just wait until my upgrade date.

For more info on the iOS 6 preview, check it out here:

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/

The Quest For a Mommy Friendly Smartphone

For the people who like my facebook page Nicki's Tech Talk, they know I have been looking for a smartphone for my mom. She currently has Verizon and has been using a Samsung Alias for about the last two years. She likes her phone, but she has really been driving home that she needs something that is a little more user friendly in terms of her e-mails being received. I suggested that she start looking into what she might like, but that was kind of a lost cause since she has NO IDEA what she likes. I decided to take her to the Verizon Wireless store so she could see what was out there and what she could actually use. She INSTANTLY walked up to the iPhone! I almost felt like pulling her away because she KNOWS she has no idea how to work an iPhone.

My plan was to start her off with a touch screen android phone with physical buttons since she has that with her Alias. I pointed her in the direction of the Motorola Droid 4. She used it for all of 5 minutes just to figure out how to setup the e-mail and quickly moved on. She then saw the Razr Maxx which I didn't mind because it would have the battery life she would appreciate, the screen was big enough, and it was thin enough where she wouldn't mind. She tried to call me and said it felt like holding a thin brick to her face. After I laughed HYSTERICALLY, she walked over to a little smartphone called the LG Lucid. I really didn't know too much about it, but I said, go for it. She liked the size of it, she liked how the phone sounded and felt when she made a call on it. She then stumbled onto the alarm on the phone. We started to set the alarm and it had a feature to change the snooze time duration. She INSTANTLY started glowing! That feature made her so happy that she was ready to get the phone right then and there.

Just for shits and giggles, I asked her to play with the iPhone 4S, and she definitely liked how the touchscreen performed. She was having a little trouble with the Android keyboard, but when I explained that she could download another keyboard from the android market, she kind of glazed over...lol!

All in all I think it is a toss up between the LG Lucid and the iPhone 4S. I think I may have to side on the Lucid just because I don't think he's quite ready for an iPhone. Plus she should start off small and then work her way up to the big boys. Let me know your thoughts and opinions by either leaving a comment on the blog or by liking my Facebook page and voting on my poll question for which phone she should get. Feel free to add your suggestions!

Upgrade Issue

Today was an interesting day for me as it pertains to my wireless experience. I attempted to go into a Verizon Wireless store to check out the HTC Thunderbolt and the Apple Iphone 4. I wanted to look at the iphone 4 first because I have been dealing with android devices for a while now. I go over to the Iphone 4, and I start to play around with it. I feel like a deer caught in headlights because I have NEVER used one before (don't judge me). I go to the Verizon store and ask some very specific questions because I know what I use my phone for. If you have read my previous blog entitled "This Samsung Fascinate!", you would know that I had a very serious issue with utilizing my call waiting and conference calling on that phone because of a software issue with the phone. Well naturally when I go to try to get a new phone, I am going to need the phone to complete those tasks appropriately.

I go in the store and have a nice young man eager to assist me because I would like to upgrade. I tell him what I use the phone for and what I am looking for and immediately he seems turned off like I am talking too much. I explain to him that I need to make sure these features work and when I explain it to him, his eyes glaze over like he has NO idea what I am talking about. After a solid 10 minutes, and me having to demonstrate the issue, he finally understands. He even goes and gets another gentleman to try to assist him with this. We try placing calls on the iPhone 4 so we can utilize the call waiting. That works fine. Then we try to utilize call conferencing after using the call waiting and it was unsuccessful. Then we try placing calls utilizing the call waiting, and disconnecting one of the calls (not all). That was unsuccessful. Next we try all of this on the Thunderbolt. These steps were also unsuccessful.

When the reps finally understand what I am trying to accomplish, and see how unsuccessful we were with trying to get this done, the rep originally helping me says "You may just have to give up on upgrading". I was shocked that he said that to me. Was he implying that I can never upgrade again if that feature is important to me? He asked me "does it work on your current phone [Droid X]"? I told him yes and showed him HOW it works. He said "well if you really care about placing those kinda calls, you may just have to use Motorola's from now on!" Again I was floored! You are telling me that even with all the money I pay each month, and with all the money that I am paying for the phone, I just have to be stuck with one kind of phone and just deal with it because I want to place calls? I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard in my life and when I asked if he was serious he completely said yes like there was nothing wrong with the whole scenario. I asked if he had ever heard of this and he said no. I asked if he understood why I felt the way I felt, and he said yes. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do. Needless to say I was very unsatisfied.

This just further proved that Verizon Wireless doesn't care about the satisfaction of their customers. They are willing to charge you all this money for products and services, but don't really care if the product or services really work!

My Newest Toy

I am so over the moon with my latest toy. My new Apple Macbook Pro. Now I know that this is not anything new to most people, but for me this is a BIG DEAL! Sure I have used MACs back in the day when I was in school, but have never owned one or cared to use one for my own personal use. It literally took for someone very close to me to convince me that MAC is where I need to be. For so long I have been using PC's, but I find that I do so much with them that even a PC notebook with the fastest processor was not cutting it. I really have no idea what I do that is causing my notebooks to go up, but I go thru notebooks very quickly. Now that I think about it, I get one once a year. I have had them literally "blow up" from me doing so much (I'm talking about smoke coming from the unit and everything...lol)! But I am hoping that even though the user interface is much different, I will be able to adjust. Especially knowing Apple's track record, I am sure this is going to be a very good investment. No more crashing, slow, notebooks w/ viruses for me. I have officially moved over to the MAC side! YYAAYY!