Best smartphones and smartphone accessories
Best smartphones and smartphone accessories
51:18

Best smartphones and smartphone accessories

Culture
Speaker: Hello everyone. Welcome to the holiday help desk. I am Molly Wood, across the table from Brian Tong, the incomparable, Brian Tong, for the next 45 minutes or so we're gonna be taking your calls and answering your questions. Your holiday shopping related questions. We're looking for the perfect tech gift for somebody. You're getting close to the end of reasonable shopping time. So let's... let's get these questions answered for you guys. So you can spend some money here. Speaker: Yeah I was at the mall this weekend and it was insane and we're here to give you advice to kind of avoid the mall. Speaker: Stay at home. Speaker: Stay at home. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Use your computer, use your mobile devices. Don't... don't try and go there. Now we also wanted to tell you guys we bring a ton of guest on our show each week to help you guys out. We're gonna have our resident cheapskate, the cheapest dude we know, Rick Broida. He'll be talking about all of his sweet deals that he has lined up for us each week. There's Rick in the bunker. Speaker: Sweet deals. Speaker: Also, we have senior associate editor Jessica Dolcourt. Smart phone empresario, smart phone smartie. You like that don't you? I know it. I like to play with... I like to play with words. Speaker: Empresario. Yeah. Speaker: That's kinda what I do. Also we're gonna have Ebay shopping specialist, Claudia. She'll be here in the house. I don't... I'm sorry I forgot her last name for the moment. Speaker: Lombana. Speaker: Lombana. Claudia Lombana. I know. I should have... Speaker: That has such flow. Speaker: I want that job by the way. My number one question to Claudia is like how do I become an Ebay shopping specialist because... Speaker: You apply for the job... Speaker: Yes please. Speaker: And see if they like you. Speaker: I know. I'm not gonna bump her off or anything, I'm just saying... Speaker: No, no, no. Speaker: ...We're gonna have a talk. Speaker: So this is show number 4 of 5. We will have one more next week. It'll be our last holiday help desk but come and hang out with us. You know the phone lines are always gonna be open for you guys. Speaker: Yes and please give us a call 888-900-2638 is our phone number. That spells CNET. Please call us up. Phone lines are open and we're here to answer your questions live. Of course you can e-mail us holidayhelpdesk@cnet.com if you wanna get your questions in in time for next week's show and you can join the whole other conversation that's happening in our chat room if you're watching us at cnet.com/live. All right. It is time to find out what the hot deals of the day are. This is like another big shopping day from what I hear. Speaker: Were down the street Speaker: They're calling it Green Monday. So let's see what... Let's head on over to Rick Broida and find out what deals are on top today. Hello. Speaker: Hey guys how you doing? Speaker: Good. Speaker: Good. Good. Good. What's up? Speaker: How are you? Speaker: I'm doing well. All right so today's deal is... maybe not the sexiest you've ever seen but it's a great gift item... From a company called Skinnit which makes... really cool vinyl decals for just about every device you can imagine. Your iPhone, your tablet, your laptop... even your router. (Curious?) stuff like that and... today only... Speaker: I wanna do... I actually wanna do that. Speaker: You wanna class up your router. I know you do. Speaker: I do. That's awesome. Speaker: That's crazy. I didn't know they made router stickers. Speaker: I think we lost the video. Speaker: Oh we still see you. Speaker: We still hear you. We still hear you okay Rick. Speaker: All right I'm gonna keep going and I hope that you guys are still there. Speaker: Yup keep going. Speaker: So the... Skinnit... Speaker: Okay. All right we'll get him back. Speaker: Yeah we'll get him back in a second. Speaker: But go check it out. The cool thing about Skinnit is that similar to... Speaker: GelaSkins. Speaker: GelaSkins. You can actually upload your own image and print out your own image. So they have like... So Skinnit has a pretty cool collection of images on its site like packers, covers and you know... Speaker: The best thing to do is just to personalize, add a little style. Honestly these are like conversation pieces and everyone wants to make... everyone kinda is over the hole, my device looks exactly your device thing. Speaker: Yeah definitely. Speaker: So this is the way to do it. So we'll have... we'll have Rick back shortly. Speaker: Oh he's back. Speaker: Oh he's back, back... Speaker: Are you back? Speaker: I'm back. I think I'm back. Speaker: That was so quick. Speaker: Awesome. We were just vamping about what custom... what images Brian Tong would upload for his photo, for his custom (Skinnit?). Speaker: Right on the back of your iPhone. Right here. Right there. Speaker: All right, so what's the actual deal coming for this... 'cause now I have to admit now we're sold. Now we're like, Oh I totally want... I want one for... Speaker: Okay. So the deal is just a simple one, it's buy one get one free. Speaker: Nice. Speaker: So anything you buy, you can get another one of equal or lesser value for free and these are nice stocking stuffers. Speaker: Totally. Speaker: They're nice little gift items for yourself and for your favorite skin loving loved one. Speaker: I like it. You could get his and hers ones. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Or his and his or hers and hers. All right, once I've... You know what I have to say Rick. I'm super addicted to the bonus deals. Like addicted. Speaker: We got 3 bonus deals going today. Although one of them is sort of semi expired. The first is from eBay which has rapidly becoming kinda one of my favorite destinations to get cash back when you buy something online and like they did on Cyber Monday, eBay is doing a double cash back offer today where you get like double the percentage points back from about 500 different stores. So if you're looking to buy something, today is the day to do it because you'll get extra money back. Speaker: So with, Rick, I've never used a site with eBay, is it you click on the link through Ebate to get these discounts. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Yeah, that's exactly right. You just go to Ebate and assuming you're all signed up and good to go, you just click a link for any given store, it'll take you to the store, you shop like you normally do, you make your purchase like you normally do. Even if you have a coupon or there's something on sale and Ebate just tracks the whole thing and gives you your rebate in like... Speaker: Dang. Speaker: It's actually... Speaker: That's awesome. Speaker: After we talked about it in the last show I went there and bought a bunch of soap via Ebate but then sure enough immediately got an e-mail that was like we have a $12 check for you or whatever. In fact I'm seeing too that if you sign up maybe they always have this it looks like when you join, if you join today you get... immediately get a gift card bonus from Barnes & Noble or Target or Home Depot, magazines... I love... I love with Ebates. Speaker: Wow, that's killer stuff. Speaker: All right. Any other... any other bonus deals that we should know about today? Speaker: Well unfortunately bonus deal number 2 which was for a free copy of System Mechanic Standard is now over but you can still get the free version, that's available anytime and then over at Amazon if you have an Android device, they're giving away the (Corona Indie?) bundle which is just a collection of 5 actually pretty nice games... free of charge. So that's a little fun game play for the Android crowd. Speaker: So this is (Corona?)... a (Corona?) game but not (Corona's?). Speaker: Nothing to do with beer. Speaker: Just wanna make that clear. Speaker: Sorry bud. Sorry. Speaker: You can drink it while you're playing. That's okay. Speaker: That's true. That's true. Speaker: I like it. Speaker: This is killer. Awesome. Good stuff Rick. Speaker: Any other hot or recent deals that we should know about that might still be kicking on the site. Speaker: You just gonna have to tune in tomorrow. Speaker: I know. Curses. Speaker: He's such a little tease. So... Speaker: They were good. Speaker: So Rick Broida's... Speaker: They were really good ones over the weekend. They're pretty exciting ones. Speaker: Yeah Rick Broida's blog... you guys... Speaker: Like a $400 iPad... Speaker: You guys can check it out... you know, we won't be here tomorrow but if you go to CNET.com/cheapskate that's where you'll find Rick Broida's blog everyday. He keeps on pumping it up. All these hot new deals. So that's where you guys wanna go. Speaker: Absolutely and we will talk to you next week to find out what's... what's going on. Next... see you next Monday. Speaker: Thanks guys. Speaker: All right thanks a lot Rick. Speaker: All right. Bye Rick and bookmark that. CNET.com/cheapskate. Speaker: Cheapskate. Speaker: You definitely wanna check it out. Now, we have Jessica Dolcourt here in the studio to give us a bunch of smart phone advice. What to do, what to do... Speaker: Oh my gosh. Speaker: Before though, before we get to Jessica we are going to show you her top pick for smart phones for the holidays. It's a shocker. Speaker: It may not be the famed iPhone 5 we all thought we were getting but it's a pretty darn good phone in its own right and definitely worth the buzz. I'm Jessica Dolcourt for CNET and I'm talking about the iPhone 4S. Unless you've got an eagle eye on the antenna. There's almost no visual difference in design between the iPhone 4 and the 4S. Still there are differences between the 2, starting with the carriers. Now we've got 3 carrier options. We've got AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. In addition, Apple has introduced a 64 gigabyte model to go along with that 16 and 32 gigabyte options. The price ranges from about $200 to $400. I should also mention that Apple is offering all of these in black and white. Fortunately there's a lot on the inside that also makes the iPhone 4S a tough phone to beat. It's got an 8 megapixel camera that does really great in low light situations. Thanks to a new back side illuminated sensor. The camera claims to let in 73% more light than the iPhone 4 camera. Let me tell you there's a noticeable difference. Of course there's a front facing camera 2 which is good for Apple's face time video chat and also good for 3rd party video chat apps. The camera takes 10/80 HD video clips at 30 frames per second which results in some very smooth looking video but of course as these things go, one of my favorite camera features is also the simplest and that's being able to get to the camera from the lock screen without having to first unlock the phone. Win. Speaker: You satisfaction is all the thanks I need. Speaker: I don't know about you but the word I've heard on everyone's lips since the iPhone 4S came out is Siri. This is the voice assistant with the sassy sarcastic personality that you can only find on the iPhone 4S and the thing that make Siri stand out is that you can be conversational. Asking questions like, hey how do I get to the movie theater or remind me to pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow at 6. Speaker: Here's your reminder for tomorrow at 6 p.m. Speaker: As fun as Siri is, it's only useful if you don't mind being that guy. The one who's talking into their. iMessage, it's basically free IM for anyone with the iOS 5 software upgrade. iMessage just sends the message automatically. The iOS 5 update also brings the iPhone 4S a new notification system that finally catches it up to Android, mostly, and the same goes for Twitter integration as well. So if anyone was holding off on the iPhone because of these things, those reasons have just evaporated. There are couple of other things that help make the iPhone 4S an all together really great phone and one those is the A5 processor and that makes it good for gaming. I'll be the 1st to admit, this phone is definitely less than perfect but even despite the lack of 4G the iPhone 4S still absolutely deserves the spotlight. I'm Jessica Dolcourt. This is CNET.com and I've had my spotlight on the iPhone 4S for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Speaker: All right guys. Welcome back to our holiday help desk. Molly Wood in the house here. We also have our senior associate here Jessica Dolcourt who you just saw. That was kind of a shocker. I've... I've actually never seen that phone before. Speaker: It's new. I was amazed. Speaker: Yeah I just... Speaker: I mean... Speaker: ...got it. Actually nobody else in the world did. I got it and I... Speaker: Threw me off. Speaker: I wanted to surprise the whole world. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Threw me off. Speaker: I mean, who would have done, great iPhone. Speaker: Popular. Speaker: Okay, but I do wanna say that even though that was the spotlight, it's not the only worthy buy and I'm not saying that it is the best phone on the market and nothing else can top it. Speaker: Yes, so... talk about it. We have our hold a gift guide and you guys kinda broke it out in a couple of sections. You have some top 4G smart phones and top 3G cellphones and there's still plenty of those out there... You brought a few of but... Speaker: Including the iPhone. Speaker: Yeah, what are some of the other the cream of the crop that you guys are really pointing people towards this holiday season. Speaker: Well we have the LG Nitro HD which recently came out. Speaker: Yeah that's right. Speaker: This is a top Android phone for AT&T. It's got 4G LTE which did pop up in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. It looks like Softwatch. So if you're concerned about speed and low battery... but if you're concerned about speed then this phone is definitely gonna get that along with the... Sky Rocket which is a Samsung Galaxy S2 phone and the HTC Vivid. So all of those are gor AT&T. Verizon has a ton of great phones right now. Speaker: Oh yeah. Speaker: So the top 3 we've been looking at are the Motorola Droid RAZR. The HTC Rezound which I have now and that also has the... Beats in ear headphones that come with that and then the Unicorn device... sort of. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus... Speaker: Which my have. Speaker: In my hands, this is the unlocked version. Speaker: Right. Speaker: So this is available right now in Europe. It is definitely coming to Verizon. There is no official launch date but some people have unofficially gotten their phones. Speaker: Yeah right. Speaker: No, yeah this morning there was news about that. Speaker: It's very bizarre. Speaker: So yeah the Galaxy Nexus I think is the one where the clock is ticking, right? People are like ready to buy this thing on holidays. Speaker: And it was out in Europe on November 17th. So we're waiting, waiting, waiting to hear official dates. There were unofficial dates, there were leaks. Nothing official. So I called that a delay. Speaker: I think we all kind of... Speaker: I think... Speaker: ...call that a delay. Speaker: Although there was nothing official. So you could argue it wasn't a delay because they didn't promise anything but I'm pretty sure that behind the scenes there was a major delay on this. Speaker: They're gonna have to have a pretty major launch I think. Although some reports are that... I am going to... I'm gonna predict, Nostra Molly... Speaker: Nostra (Mollus?). Speaker: Nosrta (Mollus?). Speaker: Nostra (Mollus?). Speaker: Nostra (Mollus?). Speaker: Nosrta (Mollus?). Mollusk. Speaker: It just sounds so... Speaker: Mollusk. Speaker: Mollusk? Speaker: Clam. Speaker: No, you're like a sea creature if you're a mollusk. Speaker: That's cool. Speaker: I know, right. Speaker: Or a slug. Speaker: I love the sea... Speaker: So it's just plain old Nostra (Mollus?) says that Galaxy Nexus will appear officially this week. It seems like that is fairly obvious given the fact that a couple of BestBuy and Verizon outlets accidentally sold people this phone this week. Speaker: So they've received some and then they sold them over the counter. Speaker: Yeah. Apparently some source already have them in stock, although someone did e-mailed me over the weekend and said that he called Verizon, he got all fed up called them and said what's going on and that he was told, you know, the person confided which we're always a little skeptical of but that person confided that December 15th was gonna be the date. Speaker: Okay we'll see. I don't wanna believe a date until I see it on the shelves. Speaker: So I hear that from a (dudu?) called a guy at a place. Speaker: Yeah so just... Speaker: Wow, that guy is so fired. Speaker: That guy is so fired. Speaker: If he's right. He's so fired. Speaker: I know. Speaker: Maybe... Speaker: So Jessica... Speaker: Maybe he's fired anyway. Speaker: I have a question about, you know, one of the things is right. iPhone Android. There's tons of Android phones and every phone is different from each version but if you had to pick from your team like 2... let's say 2 top android phones, what would you tell people to get right now. Speaker: Right now? Can it be like top 5? Speaker: No. No I'm asking for 2. Speaker: It's just so hard. Speaker: I didn't asked for 1 because... Speaker: I know. On the spot. Speaker: ...I gave you 2 because you can never ask for one. So I'm just saying. Speaker: Okay well I'm kinda loving Verizon right now. So I'm gonna go with the Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound. Speaker: Once the Nexus comes out. Speaker: Right. Speaker: And is the Rezound... Speaker: But I've already got it. Speaker: Rezound is like known for... yeah it's, you know, it's a nice tuna sandwich phone. Speaker: Right... and here's the thing, the Galaxy Nexus of course is the first to have ice cream sandwich on it. So that's a major draw and then the Rezound... back to you... Speaker: Oh no... so with the Rezound, right? They talk about the audio quality, the monster Beats by Dre integration. Does it really sound that much better? Speaker: There's a difference... I think that if you're not an audiphile, if you don't listen to music on your phone. If you don't wanna listen to music on your phone, if you don't wanna watch movies on your phone or play games and have that enhanced sound. If you don't care, that's not a reason enough to buy the phone but if you do care, then it is definitely an interesting, you know, perk or if you happen to be on the look out for a set of in-ear ear buds, anyway, then you can consider it sort of a bundle deal for... maybe like a mid range not super, super top of the line. The brand is top of the line but the actual ear buds themselves have been analyzed by Donald Bell who knows these things. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: And he has basically pronounced it good but not like the $180 Beats by Dr. Dre ear buds that you could get on your own. Speaker: Okay interesting. Speaker: Al thought... so they're good. It's a bump. Speaker: Yeah and the Rezound seems like a nice phone also. The RAZR I think is a lovely phone although I personally done with Motorola hardware forever but... Speaker: Yeah I... Speaker: That's just me. Speaker: It is. It's nice. It's... Speaker: I have to agree with you there. I mean it's really personal right? A lot of people love the RAZR and there are many good reasons to love the RAZR. I personally don't like the way it feels in my hand. It's like a little too short but it's got, you know, corners and edges... Speaker: Because it's a razor? Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Who wants to hold a razor? Speaker: That's sharp. Speaker: Who wants to... Yes, really tough though. Very tough one... Speaker: So... Speaker: Yes a (Kevlar?). Speaker: Jessica we have... we have e-mails and we have callers and guys if you wanna call in and talk to us, you guys can call our lines. It's 888-900-CNET becayse really we like talking to each other but we actually like talking to you guys better. Speaker: We do. Speaker: We love you. Speaker: So phone lines are open. Give us a call but while we do this, we also get e-mails sent to us at holidayhelpdesk@cnet.com and this one... hopefully won't be putting you too much on the spot Jessica but we have an e-mail from Vicki Barrett and she writes I have a Blackberry smart phone that's in need if a replacement. I use it for phone calls, calendar and e-mails... Some e-mails have PDF files on them. Her... one of her important issues is she wants a phone that must last a long, long time, right? Everyone cares about battery and she wants one with a larger screen that's easier to navigate. So from what you guys have seen, what are some of the phone that might stick out that at least have a better battery life. We know 4G phones typically use the battery a lot more. Drain it faster. Speaker: And the larger the screen the faster it's gonna drain your battery because it's pulling up more resources to light up a larger display. So unfortunately the 2 really don't go hand in hand... but I would say so far, I was pretty impressed with the battery life on the Samsung Focus S. This is a Windows phone for AT&T. It has 4G, HSPA plus speed. So it's not going to be as fast as AT&T's LTE and it will never have 4G LTE... but it is sort of like a stop up. Speaker: She... so Vicki would like to stay on Verizon. Speaker: Oh, stay on Verizon. Speaker: Is there any comparable alternative that... is there a Galaxy S2? Speaker: Oh the Galaxy S2 is basically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Speaker: Oh right, that's right. It's the Galaxy Nexus. Sorry. Speaker: Right they were only... Why I... didn't get that. Honestly I mean I think you're pretty much looking at a day for any of the phones in that 4.5 inch screen range. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: I thought that the Galaxy Nexus actually had pretty good battery life at first but lately I've noticed a little bit more drain and that could be the way I'm using it and I mean I don't use it the way a normal person uses their phone because of the kinds of testing that we do in-house. Speaker: Yeah... my sense is if you want that nice big screen, you're gonna have to sort of just resign yourself to a day charger. Speaker: Exactly bad. Speaker: I think you should also invest in one of those emergency charges that you can kinda carry around like an external battery pack that you carry around and if you need a little extra juice, you don't have it in your car, you're walking on your own, you can get one that's not too heavy, plug it in and get some emergency charge going. Speaker: Yeah my guess would be get the phone you want like wait for the Galaxy Nexus or look at the Rezound 'cause Rezound is a pretty good sized screen or even the RAZR... and then on your holiday list add one of those little emergency juice packs or a desk charger because the android phone in particular, I love the range of those desk charger accessories that are available. I'm a big fan of those 'cause they're a great gift and they let you use your phone as sort of almost like a little weather station or a little photo... Speaker: Yeah like... Speaker: They look nice. Speaker: Galaxy Nexus actually... I don't know if you can see but it's got 3 prongs for a desk dock. Very fancy. Speaker: Desk dock. I hope that helps. I did get... I just got a tip on Twitter actually about a pretty good possible deal that Radio Shack might be offering significant discounts on the iPhone 4S this week. Steeply discounted iPhone 4 or 4S maybe even free. Speaker: Radio Shack is offering some really good deals. There's also an (Atrix 2?) deal I know about where I think it's like free. Speaker: Really? Speaker: Where it's just pretty awesome. Speaker: Nice. Speaker: That is nice. Speaker: Because the (Atrix 2?) is a great phone. Speaker: They are offering a $30 instant discount on the iPhone 4 and 4S and promising to pay between 100 and $200 if you bring in your old iPhone 3GS or 4S... or sorry, 4 as a trade in. So... Speaker: How are they making money? Speaker: I don't know. Speaker: They're actually probably... Speaker: Maybe 'cause once you're in there then you buy a bunch of little robots. Speaker: And they're also probably reselling that iPhone 4 for 350 to $400 on eBay. Speaker: There you go. Speaker: That's how they make it up. Speaker: All right, let's take 1 call before we go to break. Sounds good. Speaker: Okay excellent. Let's take this call. We have David here. David, is calling us from Houston. David can you hear us okay? Speaker: Yes. Speaker: All right excellent and David if you have a chance to turn down the volume on your computer that would help. You'll be able to hear us... at the same time together but David, tell us what you called in for and how we can help you out. Speaker: I called in for cameras. Speaker: All right. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: What are you looking for? Speaker: I'm looking for a DSLR for my dad. That's like the cheapest possible but... really good quality. Speaker: All right. Cheapest as possible. Speaker: That's what I want too. Speaker: I know, don't we all? I know, that's a pretty... that's a pretty good ask... Let's see. I know that the Sony Alpha line is pretty good in terms of DSLRs and let's pull up our... our top digital camera camcorder. One thing I would recommend is that if your dad is not picky about the most recent model, that the... you know our topic right now is the Canon Rebel T3i. I personally... Speaker: Yeah I've been recommending that one to him but he hasn't seen it yet. Speaker: Yeah that one's... Speaker: I keep on telling him get that one, get that one but he kinda doesn't understand it really. Speaker: You gotta explain it in small words. Speaker: Well does he... does he definitely want a DSLR or does... is he maybe... Speaker: He's been looking for one for 10 years. So he's probably really... Speaker: Oh yeah he wants it. Speaker: Well you know, because I was gonna say if you wanna keep the price down, you could look at the T2i which is the model right before and they're virtually identical in terms of specs. The primary difference is the video shooting with the T3i, the video shooting is improved and it has that... expanded... the LCD folds out so that you can... So it's more like a camcorder but if he's not as interested in the video features, that T2i is gonna be quite a bit cheaper now because it's sort of last year's model but it's a wonderful camera. That's the one I have. Speaker: Also David... do you have kind of a price point that you're thinking of. I know you're saying, oh what's the cheapest DSLR that I can get. Do you know a price point there? Speaker: I kinda have a price point from like 599 all the way to probably 2,000. Speaker: Oh you can totally get that T3i. Speaker: Yeah you're gonna be okay with that price point. Speaker: You're done and done. Speaker: Because you know, we have a... we have a list if you go to our holiday gift guide on CNET.com, we actually have a list of top cameras for the family which are typically a little more budget conscious that start around $400... We have like the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ150 but if you're looking for... and your price point already starts at 500 you're gonna be able to get a pretty sweet camera. Speaker: Yeah I think you're gonna do just fine. Speaker: So... Speaker: Yeah I would definitely... in that case just as long as you're at it, take a look at Nikon D7000 but I'm betting that if he's never had one before and he really wants to just sort of jump in with something straight forward, that Canon is definitely the way to go. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Okay, and I also have another thing that I could ask... Speaker: You can't do that David. Speaker: Fire away David. Be careful. Speaker: I got a Motorola Zoom recently and when I go to the CNET website it just constantly crashes. Speaker: Who's fault is that? Speaker: So I don't know what the heck is going with it. Speaker: Oh I did that. Speaker: Who's responsible for that. Speaker: I know, I coded that one. No I'm kidding. We'll... we'll tell someone. Thank you for the heads up. Speaker: We'll file a bug on that. Speaker: Yeah we'll take a look. We'll take a look... Speaker: Yeah sorry about that bud. Speaker: Well, yeah sorry David but while he's talking about going to CNET, we do have a new CNET iPad app which works pretty dang well. Speaker: That's true. Speaker: Which I'm trapped inside of. Speaker: And I'm not telling you to buy an iPad for the CNET app. Speaker: For the record. Speaker: I'm just telling you that. It's pretty good. Speaker: Well I already have an iPad. Speaker: Oh well hey... Speaker: Oh well then go get out app and you're good. You're in. Speaker: All right sweetie. Thank you very much. Thanks for calling. I hope that helps and it sounds like we are in time to... We need to take a break. Speaker: No let's take a little breather. I need to breathe. Speaker: I know, I need to breathe. When we come back though we'll be talking to Claudia Lombana with the job I want at eBay. Welcome back to the 2011 holiday help desk everyone. Episode 4 of 5. We're taking your questions live. The phone lines are open. 888-900-CNET 2638. Call us to tell us about our crashing apps or ask questions whatever you wanna do. Maybe more of the questions. Speaker: If he have a budget of like 500 to $2,000 you can get whatever you want. Speaker: Exactly. We could... we have a lot of options for you then. All right we are excited though because right now joining us is Claudia Lombana who is eBay's shopping specialist and my first question I want... this was my first question for you, what is that job and how do I get that because that sounds outstanding. Speaker: Exactly. It is outstanding. So the main role of the shopping specialist for eBay is to inform consumers of how to get great deals on anything from travel to holiday shopping... A big component of it is also safety and that's where PayPal comes in. Of course PayPal is owned by eBay or part of the eBay family. Anyway consumers shop with PayPal they're information is kept secure and safe. So they don't have to get that out... private information out. Speaker: So do you actually talk directly with the customers about... Speaker: We do have events where I interacted directly with consumers. Most of the times I'm doing television or radios stuff like this where it's bringing awareness to the consumers. Speaker: Like about what awesome things are happening at eBay during the holiday season. Speaker: Absolutely and this year it's all about mobile shopping and the convenience in the fact that people are using their smart phones and their tablets to really make those holiday purchases. Speaker: Yes so... Speaker: Are they? I've heard that, yeah. Speaker: Take about the little baby 'cause I guess you guys have seen the traffic. Has it really taken off this year specifically compared the past years? How is the mobile traffic doing for people shopping now? Speaker: Absolutely. The mobile numbers have increased exponentially. So at eBay right now when it comes to purchases being made via model, we're seeing purchases of $158 per second being spent. People are spending... Speaker: On eBay? Dang. Wow. Speaker: $158 per second on purchases on eBay, that's right. Speaker: Wow. Wow. Speaker: On phones. Speaker: On tablets, on smart phones yeah that's... that's mobile traffic only. So at eBay we're expecting to see 5 billion dollars this year. A big portion of that revenue comes from PayPal transactions 3.5 billion of that 5 billion dollars. Speaker: That's a lot. Speaker: That's pretty impressive. Speaker: I've heard that mobile shopping overall was up. What do you think it is that's contributing to that. Is it just devices or is it easier... Speaker: It's smart phones and tablets... tablets have been a big contributor... Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And the big part of that is really the adoption of the technology. Consumers are really comfortably using the tablets because they already uses the same functionality on their smart phones. So it seems to be translating really easily to tablets and that's really one of the hottest tech items for the holiday season. Everybody is jouncing for a tablet. They really want to get... get in on the tablet. So just the convenience that it offers... We're seeing amount of flexibility and when you have something combined like eBay and PayPal you can have the ability to shop anytime, anywhere, anyway. Speaker: So what are the examples of the demand of tablets. Is that... was it yesterday that you had kind of the HP touchpad, the (Referbs?) that were put on eBay's store and pretty much because there's such demand for that it pretty much took down... took down that part of the store for a little while right? Speaker: Yes I tried. I tried so hard. Speaker: Yeah we're... we're... some of the mobile customers have some intermittent issues. Of course that's all resolved. Now we apologize for that inconvenience but as you said Brian it points to the direction that the demand for tablets is so great and people want these tablets at a smarter price point. This was a $99 price point as opposed to you know, 400, $500 for some of the other tablets but there's such a large variety. I mean of course the iPad 2 is the leader when it comes to tablets but we have so many other tablets. Even kids are getting in on the tablet action with LeapPad from LeapFrog. That's $99... Speaker: That thing, I was very impressed by that. Speaker: Highly educational, great for kids. Speaker: I ended up with something else but it was very close. It was very close with the LeapPad. I'm putting on my son's list for someone else to buy. Are you also seeing big online sales 'cause we had heard that... really there was record online shopping already and then I think today Green Monday has maybe suppose to be another big shopping day. Speaker: You know Green Monday... Speaker: Is that a thing... Speaker: ...we didn't really see materialized last year. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: What the big thing this year for us as far as we're concerned is what we call Couch Commerce and that's again pointing back to mobile where you're shopping from your couch. Exactly, the convenience is unparalleled. The flexibility again that anytime, anywhere, anyway... ability to make your purchases and whether it on your couch or, you know, when you're walking down the street and you remembered that you forgot to purchase something you can stop right there and purchase it on your smart phone or on your tablet or even in stores. Some people really they feel the need to go on the store. They have to touch it. They have to see it. Whatever that may be. Use Red Laser. It's our bar code scanning app at eBay. You can use Red Laser and potentially... Speaker: Red Laser is awesome... Speaker: Red Laser is very... Speaker: Potentially find that item for less somewhere else. You never know. So even if you have to go on the store there are other things that you can use. Speaker: So Claudia do you... have you... have you purchased anything on eBay? I mean you're their shopping specialist but do you use the product? Speaker: And do you get a discount? Speaker: On eBay... Speaker: And do you... Speaker: Yeah do you get discounts? Speaker: I wish I get a discount. Speaker: Can you discounts for you friends? Speaker: I do not, but as a shopping specialist I'm really, really good at finding deals and promotions. So my friends are always coming to me, my family is always coming to me, can you find this for me... for less and 9 times out of 10 I can. Travels the one my brother continually, he's like, I need to go to Washington DC tomorrow. Can you get me a cheap flight? I'm like, I'm not (embedded?) with airlines. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: But let me see what I can do. Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Speaker: And it's really just about research right? It's about finding the right prices. Finding the best prices. Knowing how to do your research. Knowing you know, whatever it is you're looking for and just how to shop smartly. Speaker: I didn't even know eBay had travel. I'm so out of the loop. Speaker: You can use PayPal to purchase your travel and there's travel on eBay as well. Speaker: Okay I got it. Yeah. Speaker: I would like to auction for some flights. Speaker: So there are... there are cheap... there are like travel packages on eBay? Speaker: Not travel packages but you can make your purchase. For example PayPal has several airline merchants. US Airways. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: American, United. Speaker: You're saying using PayPal as the gateway... okay. Speaker: To make your payment. Speaker: Okay. Okay. Speaker: Got it, got it, got it. Speaker: Exactly plus on holidays but you can buy your own plane on eBay. In fact somebody this year did. Speaker: No. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: And you said in fact so you... you know who did right? Speaker: Our most expensive purchase this year as about a month ago... Speaker: This is awesome. Speaker: Was for... for 2010 rather. Sorry. For last year, the most expensive purchase. It was $265,000 and it was for a (Piper Malibu?) jet. So somebody actually went on eBay, purchased a jet and I have to tell you that that was a mobile purchase. So... that was on a mobile device. Speaker: Nice, because you're walking down the street and you're like oh shoot I just remembered I need to buy a plane today. Speaker: Do you know what I need right now? I just cannot get a cheap ticket right now... Speaker: And cars. Speaker: Right. Speaker: I'm just gonna buy my own private pilot. Speaker: Car is as huge. Speaker: Car is as huge I mean (the series hold?) $139,000 for a Lamborghini Gallardo this year on mobile again. Speaker: Sick. Speaker: Mobile. Speaker: On Mobile. Speaker: And on the eBay motors app we're selling 2,800 cars a week on mobile devices. So people are not too afraid... Speaker: (Note to self, and I love that. Speaker: (To live date?) ticket items Speaker: I hate rich people. Speaker: On mobile devices. Speaker: That is fascinating. Speaker: Top of my wishlist. Speaker: Are there other... are there other big sellers this year things that outside of tech, even... trends that you're really seeing people interested in? Speaker: At eBay we continually see the biggest trends being jewelry, clothing, apparel that always is at the top after... after tech and those items and that continues definitely to be a trend and then in tech you said, you said tablets definitely are you saying people mostly looking for that or phone or TVs or... the number one search on Cyber Monday on eBay was for the iPad 2 and then the following 3 of the top 5, the top 4 were all Apple related products. Speaker: Apple products. Speaker: I mean iPhone sell like hotcakes on eBay. Speaker: So iPhone, touches, iPads, yeah those are definitely still the hot sellers in electronics. Speaker: Absolutely. Anything you thought would do really well that is not taking up? Speaker: Some of the toys, you know, I don't wanna bash any of them. Speaker: Don't bash. You can just... you keep it real. Speaker: A couple of the toys. Speaker: No one will know. Speaker: It's not bashing when it's real. Speaker: There are these things... Speaker: It's just us talking. Speaker: Like what's not doing so hot. Speaker: There are these really cool floating. It's supposed to make your home look like an aquarium and they are really visually cool. They're called (Air Swimmers?). Visually they're amazing. Speaker: Wait, wait, wait. What... hold on. What... Speaker: Air Swimmers. Speaker: Air Swimmers, okay. I'm gonna look them up. Speaker: And they're remote controlled. Speaker: Oh yeah. Speaker: There's a shark... Speaker: I totally know about these. Speaker: and there's a clownfish. Speaker: Yeah, they float around like around 5 feet in the air. Speaker: These have the fans. These have the fans. If you take a screenshot... Speaker: They're super cool but they're kind of a pain to set up and... Speaker: They fly in the air. Speaker: And they're really, really fragile. Really fragile. So like I've set up like 4 of these things and I've... everyone has broken... Hopefully Air Swimmers... I keep on saying on that. Speaker: Not at all. Speaker: But they are really... I mean they're really cool... They look really amazing and if you can, you know, manage to not crash it into stuff and get it caught on stuff... Speaker: What do you do... Speaker: It's really, really fun... Speaker: I know. Speaker: What do you do with anything? It's just for fun. Speaker: It just swims through the air. Speaker: It's like a floatie. Speaker: It's, you know... Speaker: It's like a little blimp. Speaker: Big giant floating toy. Speaker: Okay I'm gonna come in next week and Brian's gonna have like 3 of these... Speaker: I know, I was just gonna say... I know and I... Speaker: We can (??) with this. Speaker: You know how I roll. Speaker: Let's start... let's start a jar. A Brian Tong gift jar right now... Speaker: For the Air Swimmer. Speaker: 'Cause he needs an Air Swimmer. Speaker: I will... Speaker: He's gonna be humming the jaws theme song. Speaker: You know what, if you get an Air Swimmer for me, there's like a shark and like a Nemo fish, I will dress in Aquaman spandex... Speaker: And you were gonna come about... Speaker: And roam the office. Speaker: Perfect. Speaker: Perfect. All right. Speaker: You heard it hear... Speaker: That's exciting. Speaker: We'll (??) to the Air Swimmer. Speaker: Personally I... I just discovered actually a bunch of vacation packages on eBay. So I'm starting my jar for that. Speaker: Nice. Yeah. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: There's almost nothing you can't get on eBay. I mean it's the world's largest market place. So... with there for the consumer and now with mobile we're putting that power in the hand of the consumer and then a couple just... Speaker: PayPal of course protect your information. Speaker: All right, is there any... Speaker: Shop securely. Speaker: Is there any other things or tips that maybe for our listeners that you could give them just about using eBay in general or just kinda some nuggets like little... Speaker: Absolutely. Speaker: Little tricks. Speaker: I mean shop smartly. Do your homework. So if you're making your purchases online or on mobile, whether you're doing it with e-mail or PayPal or not, know who you're buying from. Check your ratings on eBay. Know who the seller is. If you're purchasing from a retailer separately, be familiar with that retailer. It's the time of the year to be cautious for consumers and to be smart. Speaker: So yeah, you're saying that Louis Vuitton bag from Hong Kong may not be real. Speaker: Stop it. Speaker: It's always. Lots of them Speaker: Well just checking. Speaker: I mean I'm doing... Speaker: You might, of course check for certificates of authenticity and to make sure that you're getting the real thing whether you're shopping wherever you're shopping. Speaker: Definitely. Speaker: Absolutely. Claudia thank you so much. Speaker: You're so welcome. Speaker: Thank you. Speaker: To some very... information. Speaker: Thank you. Speaker: Happy shopping. Speaker: And I'm fired up about my Bora Bora vacation. Speaker: All right guys. Now before we'd get more calls, keep on calling us. Our phone lines are open 888-900-CNET and we will be taking calls when we get back but before that we're gonna go check out one of our CNET Editor's top picks for ear phones. It's the ultimate ears 700 noise isolating headphones. Speaker: Hi. I'm (Justin Hugh?). Headphones editor for CNET.com. This is your first look at the ultimate ears 700 noise isolating headphones. So the first version of the 700 are in such reverence on the audiophile community that Logitech decided to keep the guts intact. So there's 2 drivers in each ear bud to accent high and mid level frequencies and those also deliver a very natural base sound that should complement your music no matter what the genre. The first thing you'll notice about these headphones though is how incredibly lightweight they are. There's no heavy remote on the wire to weigh them down and the small housing module while you wear them at work for long period of time without any discomfort. In fact I wore them for about 7 hours a day straight for a week and never really noticed any kind of ear fatigue. So the small size of the housing is also a boon for noise isolation because that means you can jam them way down into your ear. Don't go crazy but the tight seal is important for blocking out as much ambient noise as possible and ultimate ears gives you 5 sizes of silicon ear tips and 2 sizes of foam tips to choose from. You'll also get a hard travel case to protect your investment. For a $150 the 700s are one of the cheapest audiophile headphones in the market. It's right up there with the clips S4 series as mine go to headphones for smart phones and the dual amateur drivers inside really opens up a wider frequency of sound. So that means your music will be fuller with accentuating details. Now audiophiles prefer more natural sound design over brands like Monster, that artificially boost the bass. So very attentive listeners we're really happy with the 700s. You can read more in the review on CNET.com but if you're shopping for a headphone upgrade from the stock buds that came with your smart phone, these guys definitely won't disappoint. I'm (Justin Hugh?). You just took a first look at the ultimate ears 700 headphones and that sounds good to me. Speaker: Welcome back to the holiday help desk. Brian Tong here with Ms. Molly Wood. Speaker: Hello world Speaker: Jessica Dolcourt. Steven (Beacham?). You have to show your camera. Speaker: You're feeling shy today. Speaker: Oh sad face. Sad face. All right. Anyways, let's check it out. We got our phones open and we wanna talk to you guys. So we do have a call from our friend, Tim in Florida. Tim's been waiting patiently. Tim how are you doing today? Speaker: I'm just fine. How are you doing? Speaker: Excellent. Tim now you have a question about phones... So throw it on us. Let's see what we can do for you. Speaker: I'm obviously not an Apple fan but I do know people who are interested with the iPhone and one thing I have a question with iPhone 4S is when I look at cellular networks it was pretty much every single (solitary from?) there is. So can you explain to me exactly, is it a world phone if I get a phone on AT&T or Verizon or Sprint, where can I use it, what type of data connections can I expect to use with it. Speaker: Right. Go Jessica. Go. Speaker: So the iPhone 4S is technically a world phone. Typically the phones for Apple have been on the GSM technology, using that kind of technology. So they were easier world phones to take overseas. With Verizon and... Sprint of course use CDMA so that's a different kind of technology and what... the phone has in it to be able to be considered a world phone, there are actually 2 chips. So there's a GSM chip and a CDMA chip. So they'll turn on the networks for CDMA and you can only use it on those CDMA networks in the US. However if you want to take the phone abroad, you can get a micro simcard and slip that into the phone and then Verizon or Sprint's partners will let you talk using your iPhone in another country... However it's not going to be cheap. So it's definitely a good solution but not the cheapest solution out there but you can take it abroad with you. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Yes its a kind if thing were... Speaker: I think that Verizon and Sprint phones will for the simcard right? Speaker: Sorry I missed that... Speaker: Can you get a micro... can you get a micro simcard for the Verizon and Sprint phones to activate the GSM chip? Speaker: Only to work abroad. So that will not be activated in the US. It will only work on the CDMA networks for Verizons or for Sprint separately but you can't get an iPhone 4S stick in an AT&T micro simcard and expect that it's gonna work here because it won't because that's just sort of what they do for... you know, to keep their competitive advantage. They want you on their networks. So you're gonna be locked to their network. Speaker: Right. One alternatively... Speaker: That is not an unlocked phone. So if it's a Verizon phone with Verizon simcard then you can use it (abroad?). Speaker: Yes and you would wanna call Verizon ahead of time and sort of say you need to activate this feature for me. I think they have like a $5 a month and that's on roaming. Speaker: And that depends where you're going too... So Verizon does have CDMA partnerships in some countries. I think GSM is definitely the standard that is more used worldwide but I definitely recommend before you go somewhere before your friend go somewhere... call up Verizon and just make sure that you've got that check list laid out in front of you with everything you need to use that service. Speaker: Sounds good. Definitely answers the question I had. Speaker: Excellent. Speaker: Awesome. Thanks for... Speaker: Happy to help. Speaker: Thanks for hanging out with us Tim. We really appreciate it. Speaker: All right. It looks like the phone calls... the phone related phone calls are rolling in. So let's... let's keep it going. Speaker: I see what you did. Speaker: Can we get it? 'Cause they're calling me on the phone but they wanna know about phones. That's what I meant. Speaker: Their phone... Speaker: All right. Speaker: That was almost the second most annoying sound that I've heard. Speaker: That was pretty terrible. I'm not gonna let you. Let's go over here with Mike. Mike who appears to be calling from Boston. Mike what's your... what your phone call phone question? Speaker: Yes I have... call about smart phones. I am debating between the Droid RAZR, the Droid Bionic and the Galaxy Nexus. Speaker: You're not alone. Speaker: I wasn't... I wasn't... I'm considering the iPhone 4S but it's not 4G capable. I was kind of disappointed with that release and I've kind of eliminated the HTC Rezound because I'm not looking to listen... For me (top?) quality is the most important feature but e-mail web browsing, texting are secondary. I have to admit I'm kinda leading toward the RAZR because I think it has better specs than the Galaxy Nexus. Especially considering at some point early mid next year I'm (??) to get ice cream sandwiches operating system. My questions are should I be concerned that the RAZR doesn't have a removable battery, am I correct that RAZR specs are better than the Nexus, is it worth spending the extra 100 bucks or so to get the RAZR over the Bionic? Speaker: All right. You have done your research. I gotta say. I know. I like this. Speaker: All right. You might have to remind me if I don't get all of the answers to the questions. I do wanna say first of all that the HTC Rezound is... the in ear ear buds are not the only reason to get this phone and if you don't like the phone, that's fine. If you like the phone and you're only caveat is that you don't listen to a lot of music, you can still get the phone. It's a top of the line Android 2.3 gingerbread phone and it's just fine and basically I viewed the ear buds are sort of like an extra, you know, an extra gift but the does stand on its own. However if you're already leaning towards the Droid RAZR, yeah I think you should take the plunge and go for that. It's my personal opinion that you should always invest the most... spend the most money on the most phone that you can now because unless you switch phones often, you're gonna be riding that phone for 2 years. So I think it's worth the investment because over 2 years the price of the phone amortizes and at the end of the day you're looking at like, you know, how many cents or dollars a day actually I'm spending and is that worth it. So yes I think it is. Speaker: And I think you're right that it's the ice cream... it's the ice cream sandwich upgrade that puts the RAZR over the edge. It's slated for that upgrade and if you get... you know the spec difference between the Galaxy Nexus and the RAZR is pretty negligible actually. I mean there maybe a few... Speaker: The camera... Speaker: If you care about the megapixels. Speaker: The camera. Yeah. Speaker: But... But I cant tell you from experience that Samsung cameras are better than Motorola cameras. So the megapixel difference there is maybe not such a big... Speaker: Yeah I mean that the Galaxy Nexus camera I thought, you know, I sort of reviewed it relatively, I did some photo tests but I sort have thought that Samsung has really great cameras out there. They've got good 5 megapixels cameras and they've got great 8 megapixel cameras out there too. Why do they put a 5 megapixel camera on this phone when they have better cameras out there. So for me that's a bit of a head scratcher considering this is supposed to be sort of their super premium show off (PPs?) phone... However I was able to take some good pictures and then... I think basically the removable battery on the RAZR... I mean it's hard for me to say because I haven't ran into a battery problem. We have the phone in house we've never had to turn it off and reboot it... I think that if you have a real problem you would go into a Verizon Store and you would bring your problem to them and hopefully they would be able to replace it for you on the spot. However with other customer service, you know, it's really hard to say. I don't think it's come up yet... However... Speaker: So it sounds like we feel... we feel pretty good about the Droid RAZR for you Mike. Speaker: Yeah there are other phones that don't have removable batteries and... Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: iPhone. Speaker: And they seem to do... Yeah the iPhone and the Nokia Lumias are gonna have it. So feel free to (comfort in?) about that. Speaker: Sound good? Speaker: It does. You would probably kinda opt more for the RAZR or the Nexus? Speaker: We're thinking RAZR for you. Speaker: Primarily because also it is the phone that you can buy. Which I'm pretty big on. Speaker: That's true. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: But we think in the next week or 2 the Galaxy Nexus is probably gonna surface. If you can wait, I would say wait a week or 2. Go into the store, check them out and get your, you know, get your suspicions confirmed... Speaker: True. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: See which one you like in the hand. I personally like I said before I think the Droid RAZR it looks really sleek, it looks really sharp but I don't love the in-hand feel but if that doesn't bother you one bit then... and that phone looks cool, and that's what you wanna hang your identity on as smart phone owner, then I think it's a good phone. Speaker: No Pressure. Speaker: Yeah I think also the whole fact that if you were the techophile that was really hoping for NFC to take off. The Samsung Nexus, that's a part of the equation because Verizon has locked it down. It doesn't even really come in the play anymore. So even having a future phone that might be able to do mobile payments... that's not really a distinguishing factor anymore than Nexus. So you're not gonna be missing that. Speaker: Although you can also use NFC for... Speaker: You're talking to yourself albeit... Speaker: The Android Beam. Did you guys see that. Speaker: You can shoot your contacts. Speaker: All right but we gotta keep the call... we gotta keep the calls going. So Mike I think on paper yes RAZR, if you really wanna wait, you could at least try them out both in the store and then let... the aesthetics make the decision for you. I hope that helps. Speaker: All right thank you so much. Speaker: All right. Speaker: All right. Speaker: We're gonna go tech outs. Spencer. Spencer has a... a question everyone is talking tablets. Spencer how we can help you out today? Speaker: Hi, I'm looking to buy a tablet within the next year and I'd like to know if I should but the transformer prime or if I should wait for the iPad 3. Speaker: That's juicy. Speaker: I like that. Speaker: I mean I had time to play with the Transformer Prime extensively. One thing is that... over the weekend there are ramblings and I don't know if it's been officially confirmed that they're actually delaying the Transformer Prime until after Christmas. Speaker: Of course they are, you know why? Speaker: Of course they are. Speaker: Disaster. Speaker: Yeah, you know everyone was waiting. It was supposed to be coming out before Christmas I think around the 20th but reports surfaced... from retailers as well that they're delaying it... because they said the strength of the Wi-Fi is having some issues. So Transformer Prime... if you're hoping... maybe decide, oh I wanna get a tablet before Christmas or which... Speaker: No wait... As this says that's just a rumor. Speaker: That's a rumor now. Speaker: There's a story from today. Speaker: Okay that's good. Speaker: I Googled it just in case. I would say this though and in fact thank you (Endless?) in the chatroom we're just... this is exactly what I was thinking, is right now I would wait and see what is announced at (CES?). If you're not set on the (Ecosystem?) either Android or, you know, it sounds like you're willing to either try out iOS or the Android (Ecosystem?). CES again I think is going to be... raining tablets and we'll probably see Windows 8 tablets. It might actually look tempting. We'll see a lot more Android tablets. So, if you can wait, it's not a holiday obviously. You're thinking about waiting for iPad 3. I would just wait across the board and see what drops them. Speaker: You've gotta always just wait to see what... and when everyone says should I wait for an iPad 3, none of us really know what the iPad 3 is gonna deliver. So we couldn't say yeah, totally, just go ahead and get it. So... just wait out to see what this... Speaker: For sure Apple will come up with something great. Speaker: That'll be great. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: So you know just check out the specs of what... what matters to you the most. I mean you have plenty of time to wait. So... Speaker: You got time. Speaker: Are you leaning towards anyone or you just want a tablet now. Speaker: Well I can wait. Speaker: All right. Then yeah wait for CES 'cause I think you're gonna get some good options coming out then. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Okay thanks for calling. Speaker: Sounds good. Speaker: All right. We got one last call. It looks like still on the line, Kevin in New York. Speaker: All right Kevin. How can we help you out today. Thanks for calling the holiday help desk. Speaker: Hi I was wondering what's the best smart phone accessory would be for under a $100. The most functional, the most... just the best in general. Speaker: Okay someone is raising their hand here on the classroom. Speaker: Who is it? Speaker: I'm gonna point to... Molly. Speaker: Desktop doc. I love desktop docs. I love them. They are so useful because if you just sit your phone there and it charges all day and then you can see where... you know where it is all the time... It's not like in your purse. Speaker: You are so excited about this. Speaker: I just love them and I'm... super bought like the one thing that's bumming me out since I bought the iPhone is that... is doesn't... I don't have it anymore and I miss my Droid (desk?) desktop. Speaker: You can see... you can see the clock and everything... Kevin what phone do you have right now? Speaker: And the weather and you can make little photo slideshow. Speaker: I have the Samsung Galaxy S2. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Desktop Doc. Speaker: Okay wait I've got one too. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Actually (Bonnie Shaw?) turn me on to this. This is a... a rubber band that adds a macro lens to any smart phone and it's 15 bucks. So you will have budget for both of those things probably. Speaker: What's it's called? What's it's called? Let's look it up. Speaker: That's pretty cool. Speaker: It is called the Macro Cell Lens Band. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: It's a rubber band... but it doesn't come with the lends. Speaker: It basically is a rubber band with an embedded macro lens and you wrap it around a smart phone to take close up photos. Speaker: That's okay. Speaker: So even though some of them have macro lenses in them already, this will get you like more macro. Speaker: More macro. Okay also... Speaker: Maxi-macro? Speaker: Yes okay. Speaker: Our executive producer Bonnie suggests portable battery because an extra battery is definitely the gift that keeps (on giving?). Speaker: Do you want fun or you wan function. What do you looking for Kev? Speaker: Definitely function but also fun at the same time. Speaker: Desktop Doc. Speaker: Desktop Doc. Speaker: That's... that's function. Fun is the rubber... Speaker: And I'm a big fan of the... the portable chargers too. Speaker: Fun is a rubber band with a lens dude. Speaker: Desktop Doc. Speaker: A bright blue rubber band with a lens. Speaker: Whatever. Speaker: Kevin we're really helping you in any way (??) perfomance Kevin. Speaker: I know. Is this even really useful to you do? Speaker: Yes and... I think... Speaker: I did look at it it's addressed to me. Speaker: He was about to say no. Speaker: She has no choice. Speaker: I'm just saying. Speaker: He also... Speaker: He has to say that. Speaker: I also think one of the... like a universal car mount is pretty useful. Speaker: Oh that's true like one of those spiders? Speaker: Especially for... yeah. Speaker: Do you know what I'm talking about? Speaker: I like that. I mean if you're phone has GPS which it does you can even get one of those (mounted stick?) on your window so you can put it there when you drive. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: That's useful for me. Speaker: Not as fun isn't it? Speaker: Well not as fun as a rubber band either. Speaker: What's wrong with you guys? Speaker: What's wrong with you? Speaker: Okay all right. Speaker: All right Kevin... Speaker: Several excellent options for you Kevin. Speaker: I hope we helped him in some way. Speaker: All right. Thanks for calling buddy. Speaker: All right. Speaker: I think that does it. Speaker: And that's a wrap for today. Speaker: That is a wrap for our 2nd to last. Our penultimate holiday help desk show. Thank you Jessica. Speaker: You are so welcome. Speaker: ...For joining us. We'll be back next week with BestBuy on the show talking about their big deals. I myself did in fact after all the discussion on the TVs episode I got a sweet deal on a new TV at BestBuy. (Homer Rabara?) from Gamespot.com will also be here with us live in the studio. So if you have a gaming gift question or you want the dish on the new consoles, you definitely wanna call us up. 3 p.m. Eastern, Noon, Pacific next Monday or e-mail us at holidayhelpdesk@cnet.com. Speaker: All right. We'll see you guys next week. Speaker: See you next week guys. Speaker: See you. Speaker: Bye. Speaker: Bye.

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Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar

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This Concept Laptop from Lenovo Has a Transparent Display

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See Adobe Lightroom on the Apple Vision Pro

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TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro

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How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro