Black Friday Smartphone Report - Samsung Jackpot!

MY BLACK FRIDAY SMARTPHONE SNAGGING SUCCESS STORY

I spent Black Friday 2013 in Eastern Ohio, and was lucky enough to bag the Samsung smartphone special, getting two Galaxy S4 handsets for nothing down. The regular price is $199 with a 2-year contract agreement.

My college "kids" were both due for an upgrade, so this was perfect timing. We didn't hear about the deal until we arrived in Ohio the day before Thanksgiving. I had previously planned on plucking a couple of Galaxy S3 devices for their gadget pleasure, but that idea quickly got nixed when I heard about the deal.

We could have actually gotten the new Galaxy smartphones on Thursday, but we waited until Friday. We figured the masses would go after the first day, and the crowd would be much smaller on the second day. That wasn't the case...

We arrived at Best Buy at twelve o'clock. I made my way to the cell phone area, and there was quite a line. It wasn't like one of those obsene lines that go outside and around the building, but it was bad enough. Activating new smartphones takes some time, so even a short line can take an eternity.

The Best Buy rep told us that we were approximately 3 hours away from being served. We all looked at each other, wondering if this would be worth the trouble, but decided to go for it. My wife and daughter bailed to go shoe shopping while my son and I held our place in the line.

Some people were worried about the Galaxy S4's running out of stock by the time they arrived to the front. But we were told that 90% of the people in line were on Verizon, so we were safe with our need of AT&T handsets. That was a relief.

Originally, I had planned on upgrading my son, daughter, and wife's smartphones. The son and daughter had their Samsung Galaxy S2 handsets, and the wife had a Galaxy S2 Skyrocket with an LTE radio. Sadly, we were told while in line that there was a 2-phone limit per family on the zero-down upgrade deal. 

By the time we made it to the front of the line, we found out that my son and daughter's upgrade date was actually one day away. We were a day early! I didn't think once about checking my upgrade eligibility before getting in line. That wasn't very smart!

But thankfully, after speaking to the representatives over the phone at AT&T, we were relieved and truly thankful when they rolled back the upgrade date by one day. Our 3-hour wait was not made in vain.

It took an additional hour to get our phones activated, because I didn't have my bill current. After paying my monthly bill, we were able to move forward and set up the new phones. Since I had an existing plan that I wanted to keep, it took quite a bit of work for the Best Buy rep and the AT&T phone rep but they finally got everything switched over.

We were all exhausted after this long process, but in the end, I would do it all over again. The special is still on today, a day later, but there's no guarantee that it will go beyond today. 2 years ago, I was able to land the S2's and the Skyrocket on similar Black Friday deals. Both of those models returned to their full prices after Cyber Monday.

Last but not least, my wife's upgrade will be available in two days. I have a big decision to make. I'll either look for another Galaxy S4 deal, or pass down my own Galaxy S4 (after I fix it) and get a Galaxy Note 3 for myself. But we will save that for the next post!

Did you land a great deal on Black Friday that you would like to share? Post it in the Disqus comments section!

Carlton Flowers
Black Friday Gadget Sniper 

CZ Audio Podcast Is Back! Is iPhone 5C Influencing Samsung?

THE AUDIO PODCAST RETURNS! LATEST TALK ON IPHONE RELEASE & MORE

I have finally gotten around to getting back to my audio podcasting. I'd like to know from you, my great CZ Blog gang, whether or not you would like to see more audio podcasts like this posted to the site to fill up all the dead space between my fantastic blog posts.

I tend to write in streaks, and then disappear into the land of being "too busy". But as much of a talker that I am, it's very easy for me to post audio content to the site as opposed to writing the super fabulous techno nerd content that you've enjoyed for so long.

Post your thoughts in the comments section on what you think of more frequent audio podcasts. You can even suggest topics for discussion, ask questions, or even request a song selection for me to sing. I'll leave that up to you.

But in today's podcast, we'll talk about the release of the new iPhone 5S and 5C, and what surprising twist has popped up in terms of sales for Apple. Also, has the iPhone 5C influenced Samsung in some special way? Find out how in the podcast!

Looking forward to hearing back from you, and here's your audio podcast. Just click the podcast image or the link below and it will open up your mobile device media player:

 

Click Here To Listen Now!

Carlton Flowers
Techie Podcast Yapper 

Samsung Galaxy S IV Rumors - S Pen Taunting Me

THE GALAXY S IV S PEN RUMORS HEATING UP!

The rumors keep swirling about the smartphone coming to Android Nation that will likely be the most advanced ever released. It's the Samsung Galaxy S IV.

And as we watch closely for leaks on details, there's one thing that really gets me keyed up... rumors about an S Pen.

This is starting to get a little ridiculous. At first, I wrote off the Galaxy S IV S Pen rumors as fiction, because I did not thing that Samsung would want their new flagship smartphone to compete directly with the Galaxy Note II. It just didn't make sense.

But the rumors are persistent. There are several sources out in the blogosphere, many of which have credibility, who keep droning on about the Galaxy S IV including an S Pen.

It's hard for me to put my biggest dream about the S IV aside, with all these fresh rumors circulating. I want to be able to let myself down easy if it doesn't turn out to be true.

But now that I think about it, there could actually be some sensible reasoning for Samsung to include the S Pen on the Galaxy S IV.

If they view this as the new minimum standard for their devices, then it shouldn't be a threat to the Galaxy Note II. Plus, the size of the Note II is still bigger, albiet slightly.

Add to this the fact that the rumors swirling around about the Galaxy Note II are completely insane, stating that the next Note in the seriies will come with a 6" or larger display.

The only way I can see them pushing the bubble and creating a monstrosity like this is if they keep the smartphone/phablet people happy with a more sensible jumbo-sized device with an S Pen.

So if this all pans out, and we see a 4.99" Galaxy S IV with an S Pen along with a 6" or bigger Galaxy Note III, then hats-off to Samsung for pushing the limits of the imagination and carving out new niches that could make a lot of people happy.

All I can say is that the Galaxy S IV better have an S Pen, or I will be seriously let down. My hopes are up, and I can't go back to my previous thinking. I want my theory to ring true, and I want a Galaxy S IV with an 8-core processor and S Pen in my hands come May of 2013.

Come through for me Sammy, please come through for me. Make my dreams come true.

Carlton Flowers
S Pen Finatic