A DROID MAXX and a Blog

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

(Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Fans Voices program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.)

So a few weeks ago I informed every one of the program in which I would be a participant. For the next few months, I will be writing about my experiences in using a specific product.

As noted in the disclaimer, this is possible through the Verizon Fans Voices program. Upon being selected, I was provided with the DROID MAXX and six months of unlimited data in which to test drive it. This is my first foray into the world of smartphones. As a few of you may know, I’m pretty much old school on many things. If I can text and make a call, I’m set. This was a chance to experience what I’ve been missing.

To date, I can sum that up in two words: a lot.

On the DROID MAXX…

Literature states it can last about 48 hours per charge. I’ve not been that fortunate, but seeing as this is my first time in the smart phone arena, I suspected my usage wouldn’t exactly match up to that. My first thought was about every 36 hours. I’ve been getting about 32 hours per charge, but it’s not been a big drawback. Charging time isn’t long at all. If I let the unit charge and not use it, I’ve been looking at around three to fours to go from 15% to 100%.

I know today’s phones are vastly different from your traditional cell phones. With the cell I currently use, I only have to charge it about once every two weeks. I knew I would have to charge this more often as my brother and sister both have iPhones and they charge them at least every other day.

After the initial charge of the DROID MAXX, I set about finding different apps that could potentially aid me in performing activities as they relate to Blog Red Machine. The main apps to find were those directed at social media such as Twitter and Facebook. While I have enjoyed all the different apps available to use these social sites (more specifically for Twitter), my biggest surprise has been my increased activity on the two sites. The ease which I now possess to respond to tweets and posts on BRM’s Facebook page is remarkable even if I’m working on something on the PC.

With tonight being the last Reds Social of the season (no, can’t be there), I will be able to keep up with all the tweeters at GABP. Use #RedsSocial if you’re there. I’ll be following along!

I repeat, I’ve been missing a lot and I’m well aware I’m just scratching the surface here. More on that in a minute.

I also downloaded At Bat from MLB.com (I mean, it’s still baseball season.), FanSided (BRM is part of the FanSided network.), and a couple of baseball related apps. Got to get some research done on those posts, ya know. Not having to open a new tab, then check back to that tab is still a practice difficult in breaking from an old-timer like myself, but knowing the DROID MAXX is at my side (along with those apps) has actually curtailed the time to author in-depth posts.

Participants in the program are also fortunate to receive NFL Mobile for free for the duration of the program. Now, football isn’t my sport of choice (of course, it’s baseball), but I have found myself watching a little more pigskin.

My next experiment will be either a Google+ hangout in the hopes the staff will be on board for it or I just might shoot and edit a video.

Oh, and if you would like to download the FanSided app (and why wouldn’t you?), go to the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.