Samsung Galaxy S4 Deal

Raul G. (St. Louis, MO): The S4 is a really nice piece of hardware. Aesthetically it is light-years ahead of my old Droid. My wife settled on a white S4 which is very clearly inspired by Apple's consumer electronics design philosophy. I settled on the 'black mist' phone and it's equally impressive though a bit more rugged looking. The screen is huge and incredibly clear. In comparing the S4 to the S2-Note the phones aren't that different in terms of dimensions. Though the phone is large it is very slim and fits easily and comfortably in my pants pocket.

Dustin Burkett: The search bar in Google has been refined and positioned to offer more than just a simple click-search function and is called "Google Now". Now your "wall" (whenever you tap on the Google search bar) is a full-fledged hub of activity. Google aggregates important data from your email, social media accounts, weather, GPS and more to populate your wall with instantly relevant and recognizable information. At the end of my workday for example my wall is already populated with my GPS-estimated time to get home, traffic data, and route-avoidance data. If I make a purchase online the tracking data is displayed on my Google wall. If it's a friends birthday it'll be displayed or important appointments and tasks. It's an incredible feature that is quickly becoming my favorite feature of my phone.

Grace D. : I have not owned an iPhone since the 3GS, however, have many friends who use the device and thus exposure to Apple's products and iOS. I won't argue the merits of either except to say that Android is a better fit for me and at this point I can't see myself ever going back to Apple's products. However, I recognize that to some folks Apple is the better solution. For certain I find that Apple's iOS is simpler, probably instantly more easy to use and familiar. Android comes in so many flavors because it is customized by so many different carriers and phone manufacturers. So one's experience with Android is heavily dependent on the phone and the manufacturer of the device unlike Apple who has control over the entire experience.