We are ridiculously excited to announce that today we're launching the 3rd annual Smartphone Round Robin! If you've never heard of the Round Robin, buckle up: Each year the sites of the Smartphone Experts Network spend some time out of our comfort zone, examining the platforms of our sister sites and learning how other smartphone users live. This year, the event will span six weeks, eight sites, over a dozen phones, over five hours of video, hundreds of photos, several hours of podcasts, dozens of discussion threads, and of course dozens of comparison reviews. Seriously.
What's in it for you? Plenty, we hope. To start with, each site will be giving away one smartphone (or your choice!) representing its platform. We have a Twitter contest for accessory prizes every week too. You can find contest details here.
More than that, though, every year we hear from grateful readers who have said the Round Robin helped them decide on their next smartphone, made them happier about the one they have, or even compelled some to switch outright. Researching and learning six platforms and all the phones on each is a massive undertaking - so we're doing it for you and you can just follow along.
If you want to know more about how to play along with this crazy event, hit up SmartphoneRoundRobin.com, where we explain the contest, the schedule, the participants, and even have an archive of the last two events.
The event begins in earnest on Monday, but today we're releasing the first of several podcasts, all of which are hosted by our friends at The Cell Phone Junkie. We'll toss direct links to download and subscribe after the break, plus let you know who's playing along this year.
How to listen:
- The Cell Phone Junkie
- Subscribe with your favorite client
- Subscribe via iTunes
- Listen via phone with Podlinez: 510-495-6352
- Download the show directly
Participating sites
Smartphone Round Robin
Android Central, Casey Chan (@caseychan)
CrackBerry, Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin)
Nokia Experts, Matthew Miller (@palmsolo)
The iPhone Blog, Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie)
PreCentral.net, Dieter Bohn (@backlon)
WMExperts, Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson)
The Cell Phone Junkie, Mickey Papillon (@TCPJ_Mickey)
Here's why Microsoft just dropped nearly $20 billion on Nuance
Microsoft now owns Nuance Communications. Here's an analysis of the deal's big-picture implications, including what it means for Microsoft's cloud competition.
From success to success, Mojang Studios still feels like an indie studio
Mojang Studios is the developer behind one of the most popular and successful franchises in the world: Minecraft. Despite the undeniable power of Minecraft and their acquisition in 2014 by gaming powerhouse Microsoft, Mojang Studios sometimes still feels like an underfunded indie studio.
I became a Halo war journalist in ArmA 3
Halo is often characterized by its supersoldier-focused perspectives with characters like Master Chief and Spartan Locke. But what's it like to be a regular human on 26th-century battlefields? I signed myself up for a "war journalist" roleplay session in Halo-themed Arma 3 to find out.
These are the absolute best USB flash drives you can buy
USB drives remain the best way to physically migrate data to and from devices. Best of all, transfer speeds are generally very good and can even give external SSDs a run for their money. Here's a quick look at some of the best USB drives available.