LG Spirit 4G (MetroPCS)

Most people look to MetroPCS for a good deal, and you're not going to find a better one than the $199 LG Spirit 4G. It's a fast, powerful phone, with a thin design and a killer price tag. It isn't quite as good as the Samsung Galaxy S III, but it also costs less than half the price. It's the best deal you can get on a MetroPCS LTE smartphone?right now.

Design, Network, and Call Quality
The Spirit 4G is thin and lightweight, though the all-plastic construction doesn't feel particularly premium. The back panel is made of textured gray plastic, with a silver ring around the display and textured panels on the top and bottom. There's a Power button on the right, a volume rocker on the left, and three capacitive touch buttons below the display. It measures 5.08 by 2.61 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.3 ounces, which keeps it looking trim and sleek.

The 4.5-inch 960-by-540-pixel TFT LCD is sharp and bright, and text and images look great. The resolution isn't as high as on the GSIII, but it also lacks the GSIII's PenTile pixel layout, which can cause images and text to look slightly fuzzy. Typing on the on-screen keyboard felt fine in my tests.

If you're worried about buying a MetroPCS phone because of T-Mobile's impending purchase?of the company, don't be. After the merger with T-Mobile, MetroPCS will shift its focus to GSM and LTE, that's true. But sources have told us that the new network will support VoLTE even after CDMA declines. That means VoLTE-capable phones, like the Spirit 4G, should work just fine.

What will happen to data plans remains to be seen, but right now, LTE service plans on MetroPCS are fantastic. You can get truly unlimited talk, text, and data for $60 per month. $50 per month gets you 2.5GB of LTE data, with throttled speeds after that, and $40 per month is good for 500GB of LTE data, with slower speeds once you've reached your cap.

Data speeds are excellent over LTE, though the Spirit only has average reception. Still, I saw speeds of around 6Mbps down and 4Mbps up, which is very fast. As we discovered in our Fastest Mobile Networks?survey, MetroPCS's LTE network can actually exceed 4G speeds on Verizon, though Verizon's network is more consistent and offers far more coverage. The Spirit also connects to 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz band.

Call quality is average. Voices can sound fuzzy, harsh, and somewhat robotic at top volume, but if you turn it down a little, these problems almost completely vanish. Calls made with the phone in my tests sounded clear and natural, though noise cancellation isn't very good. Calls sounded fine through a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset and the stock Android voice dialer worked fine. The speakerphone sounded okay and is loud enough to hear outside. Battery life was solid at 10 hours and 47 minutes of talk time.

Processor, Android, and Apps
The Spirit 4G is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960L processor. It isn't quite as fast at the 1.5GHz chip in the Galaxy S III, but the Spirit's lower screen resolution meant it often turned in very similar benchmark scores. You'll be able to run any of the approximately 700,000 apps in the Google Play store smoothly.

The phone is running Android 4.0.4 "Ice Cream Sandwich," along with LG's Optimus UI overlay. It's a pretty light modification, but it makes the phone feel a little more accessible and user-friendly than stock Android. There's no word on an update to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean," though that's common among contract-free phones. Still, ICS is a vast improvement over Android 2.3 "Gingerbread," which even the LG Connect 4G?is still running.

You get five home screens to swipe between, and they come preloaded with some apps and widgets, and you can customize them however you see fit. There's a good amount of bloatware preinstalled, though most of it can be deleted. There's also the usual Android bells and whistles, including a fast Web browser, excellent email support, and voice-enabled, turn-by-turn GPS directions via Google Maps. You also get SmartShare, which allows you to share music, photos, and video on your HDTV or monitor via DLNA.

And as you can see from the hot pink text scrolled over the image of the phone at the top of this page, the Spirit supports QuickMemo. That's LG's system-wide note taking service which lets you annotate screenshots with handwritten notes and sketches, which you can then share.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
You get 4.07GB of internal storage, along with an empty microSD card slot underneath the battery cover. I was able to use 32 and 64GB SanDisk cards without issue. The phone played AAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA music test files, but not FLAC. Music sounded great through?Altec Lansing Backbeat?Bluetooth headphones as well as a pair of wired earphones. For video, all of our test formats played back in resolutions up to 1080p.

The 5-megapixel camera is the only major disappointment here. Shutter speeds are virtually instantaneous, and you get LG's Cheese Shutter, which allows you to snap a photo by saying the word cheese (good for taking group shots with yourself in the photo). Unfortunately, the Spirit doesn't take very good photos. All of the images I captured suffered from underwhelming detail and poor color reproduction. They'll work in a pinch, but in general, they just look poor.

Videos are much better, as the camera records smooth, but somewhat grainy, 1080p video at 30 frames per second. There is also a perfectly adequate 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.

Camera aside, the LG Spirit 4G gets you a lot of smartphone for just $200. It still isn't as good as the Samsung Galaxy S III, which has a larger, sharper display, a faster processor, better call quality, and a much nicer camera. But the Galaxy S III costs $500, which makes it a dealbreaker for many buyers. In that case, the Spirit 4G is your next best option, by far.

The LG Connect 4G is older, but priced much higher than the Spirit, although it has a smaller display and is stuck on an old version of Android. The ZTE Avid?would be a pretty good deal, if only it didn't feature one of the worst phone displays we've ever seen. The LG Motion 4G is the cheapest way to get LTE on MetroPCS, though it has a tiny, low-res screen and lots of bugs. So anyway you cut it, the Spirit 4G is the best deal you can get on a capable LTE phone for MetroPCS right now.

More Cell Phone Reviews:
??? LG Spirit 4G (MetroPCS)
??? Motorola Electrify M (U.S. Cellular)
??? Sonim XP Strike (Sprint)
??? Samsung Ativ Odyssey (Verizon Wireless)
??? HTC One VX (AT&T)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Yj5GKJO26Gs/0,2817,2414954,00.asp

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The best luxury family home for sale in Spain?

Finding the perfect family home in Spain can be surprisingly difficult ? if you are looking for somewhere that has character, is well located, private, fully reformed (to a luxurious standard) and suitable for children.

This may seem an odd assertion but look around and you will see that many properties for sale in Spain are on anaemic new estates with an elderly or second home demographic.? To make matters worse, these properties (however luxurious) tend to have small plots and are not located close to schools and services.? Frequently, they have, more or less, a uniform design and minimal accommodation, something that is far from desirable for family life.

Of course, there are exceptions to the general rule.? One is the house of a friend of mine, located close to the vibrant town of Gandia in Valencia Province.? Certainly, it deserves close attention, if you are looking for a Spanish property that is truly exceptional ? and it represents, to my mind, the best luxury family home for sale in Spain (and I have seen hundreds!).

So, what makes this gorgeous villa so different and so perfect?

Well there are four principal reasons:

1.?? It is a very substantial property, comprising some 843m2(!) of build on a 4,439m2 urbano plot.

There are six double bedroom suites (including a vast master bedroom suite) and a separate one bedroom apartment.? The property also has a games room, library, television room, huge main living area, a dining room and study ? so, there is ample space for entertaining, working, relaxing and, of course, for children to play.

As you would expect, the kitchen is very large, open plan and ideal for either family use or the preparation of food for large parties.? It is also perfectly located beside the dining room, whilst having direct access out to the terrace beside the swimming pool.

The swimming pool is completely private and very large (15m x 5m!) and has a diving board and salt water cleaning system.? It is a heated pool with an automatic pool cover (essential when small children are around) and a 5m x 2m Jacuzzi with water jets!

The house also has a massive garage with a gym area, workbench and room for three cars ? with an additional storage room.

2.?? The property has a superb and very large (4,439m2) private plot that is not overlooked by any other houses.? This is important, of course, but, gloriously, the plot is mature and blessed with many mature and productive fruit trees, extensive flower beds, a vegetable garden and an extensive area laid to lawn.? The garden is fully irrigated and even has a practice area for golf!

Meanwhile, high fences and hedges surround the garden and make it completely secure, allowing your children and any animals to roam freely and safely.

3.? The villa is located just outside Gandia and has a wonderful position that overlooks the verdant citrus groves of La Safor.? The sea forms a glorious visual boundary to one side of the property with, to the other, dramatic mountains that rise steeply up from the surrounding land.

In fact, one of the delights of the villa is that the fantastic beaches of La Safor are little more than a ten minute drive away, whilst an equivalent journey takes you into the mountains and superb walking in totally unspoilt wilderness areas.? These are also great for mountain biking, rock climbing and bird watching.

Perhaps, most importantly, the villa is within five minutes? drive of a first class, private Spanish school which takes pupils from kindergarten age all the way through to Bachillerato (UK ?A? Level equivalent).? The children of the owners go to this school and can confirm that the school works well and provides a sound and loving education.? Meanwhile, an international school is located in nearby Alzira in which the British curriculum is taught ? should you wish your children to have an English speaking education.

Gandia, of course, is well known as a remarkably well connected town.? It is only 50 minutes? drive (or train ride) to Valencia City and its international airport and is close to two excellent golf courses located at Oliva Nova and Carcaixent (Gandia has a nine hole course and a tennis club).? The town has fine restaurants, hundreds of bars and cafes and all the shops (big and small) that you could possibly need for day to day living.? Indeed, the infrastructure surrounding the villa is very fine and you can obtain anything you need with ease.

4.? The villa has been extensively (and very tastefully) reformed by the current owners, who have spared no expense in making sure that the property is in immaculate condition, with all the fixtures and fittings of the highest quality.

It also goes without saying that this property is fully legal and has the full range of services that you would expect with regard to mains water, electricity and land line telephone lines (with ADSL).

So, can you find somewhere better?

I rather doubt it, frankly, and I have seen thousands of properties in Spain.

So, if you want a luxurious family property in Spain ? one that has a wonderful atmosphere and one that has everything that you could possibly desire ? then La Masia is surely for you!

For more specific details about this unique property do have a look below and, if you are interested in further information, then please do not hesitate to contact me?

DETAILS OF THE BEST FAMILY HOME FOR SALE IN SPAIN!

Plot size: 4,439m2

Constructed area: 843m2

Usable living space: 473m2

Original build date: 1985

Price: 1,495,000 Euros

?Accommodation

*?? Master bedroom suite: large triple aspect main bedroom with views to the sea, large walk-in dressing room, large double aspect bathroom with spa-size bath, two ceiling-mounted showers, twin sinks, separate WC.

*?? A further 5 bedroom suites, all double size bedrooms with walk-in closets and separate bathrooms with bath and shower.

*?? Open plan kitchen/breakfast room with fully equipped modern kitchen: island with induction hob, two ovens, microwave, steam oven, heating drawer, fridge, freezer, wine fridge. Ample cupboard space including larder cupboards.

*?? Separate laundry with washing machine and drier.

*?? Games room.

*?? Library with floor-to-ceiling fitted shelving and wood-burning stove.

*?? Television room with wood-burning stove.

*?? Double-height main living area with gallery and main fireplace.

*?? Dining room with fitted glass cabinets.

*?? Study with floor-to-ceiling fitted cupboards and bookshelves

*?? Massive garage with gym area, workbench, room for three cars. Additional separate storage room.

*?? Separate basement apartment with large bedroom, bathroom and open plan kitchen/living area and french windows opening onto the garden.

*?? Pool bathroom with shower and WC.

Outside

*?? Extensive terraces with views to the mountains and the sea, covered pool-side seating area, paella house, washing house with retractable roof, two garden storage casitas, automatic entrance gates.

*?? 15m x 5m swimming pool with diving board. Salt water cleaning system. Automatic pool cover. 5m x 2m Jacuzzi pool with water jets. Pool heating system.

*?? Garden: irrigation system, extensive lawn area, many mature and productive fruit trees, extensive mature flower beds.

FOR MORE DETAILS PLEASE

CONTACT ME

Source: http://www.culturespain.com/2013/02/01/the-best-luxury-family-home-for-sale-in-spain/

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Want to disinherit a relative? It's complicated

Geoff Williams ? ? ? 12 hrs.

When Shirlee Smith left one of her four daughters out of her will, she was not trying to be mean.?

The Pasadena, Calif., resident says the 44-year-old daughter she disinherited is a college graduate and has a good job and a husband whose family is wealthy.?

"I never thought of it as disinheriting her," says Smith, 76. "I simply thought of it as providing for my kids who aren't doing so well in life."?

If Smith had more assets to fight over, she might be taking a chance by leaving one child out of her will. If the disenfranchised one gets angry enough, or the assets are large enough to make it worth it, he or she can sue in court to have the will overturned, experts say.?

And it is not just the wills of the famous, like singer Michael Jackson and actor Tony Curtis, that get disputed.?

"It happens more frequently than people think," says Ron Washburn, professor of legal studies at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. Any time a will contains a statement about a rift with a family member, "that statement is going to reverberate."?

Marina Modlin, an estate-planning lawyer in Campbell, Calif., says as many as 30 percent of her clients disinherit a family member from a will. Because she only handles cases in probate court if they are uncontested, she does not know how many of the wills she prepares are challenged, but she suspects it happens fairly often across the United States.?

"It's one of the most unreasonable areas of the law," she says. "With business contracts, they're grounded in fact, but here, you have people just getting upset, and they start basically suing because they have hurt feelings."?

Disinheriting someone can be a way to haunt a family member from beyond the grave, but there may be pragmatic reasons involved, as in Smith's case. So if you plan to leave someone out of a will, here is a blueprint for doing it:?

Spouses and minor children
Just as you cannot tell a divorce judge that you refuse to split assets or pay alimony, you cannot leave your surviving spouse's house and all of the money to a child or some other family member.?

Using language to disavow and disinherit your spouse will not help. Any lawyer will tell you that the spouse can waive the will and receive whatever he or she is entitled to under state law.?

Minor children are also protected by the courts. Whatever financial support the minor is entitled to receive, he or she will get, assuming the money is available, says Linda Amato, an estate-planning and elder law attorney in New York City.?

Adult children
As cruel as it sounds to disinherit a child, people have their reasons. Sometimes there is no relationship. Other parents, like Smith, might feel the adult is well-off and does not need an inheritance.?

Still, a person's circumstances can change, so experts advise caution about withholding money.?

"People can get sick or have financial setbacks," says Steve Weisman, an estate-planning attorney in Amherst, Mass.?

Those planning on disinheriting an adult child should be gentle with the wording, says Denise Martin, a 55-year-old writer living in Gresham, Ore.?

Martin had a tumultuous relationship with both of her parents but believed she had patched things up with her mother, who died eight years after the two resolved their differences.?

The will, which may have been written when they were on the outs, stated that for the purposes of the document, the court should consider that Martin predeceased her mother. In other words, Martin was dead to her mother.?

"Her cutting me out of her will I could handle," Martin says. "The vicious verbiage was life-busting.?

"There's a difference between legalese and cutting someone off at the knees emotionally. How a will is written matters."?

With that in mind, it could be tempting to disinherit a child by simply not mentioning his or her name. That, too, would be a mistake, says Weisman.?

The court does not want to keep someone from getting assets that they deserved and that the deceased may have wanted them to have. A judge might think the omission of someone from a will was a mistake resulting from carelessness or a failure to update the document to reflect a new spouse or child, Weisman says.?

Parents
If you write your will while your parents are still alive, you do not legally have to leave them anything under the assumption that you die first.?

"They aren't entitled to anything," says Amato. But if you die without a spouse or children, your estate will go to your closest relatives, who are your parents.?

So if you want to specifically and deliberately disinherit a parent, you need to write it into the will and designate a different heir, Amato says.?

Extended relatives
Just like with your parents, there is no legal obligation to leave assets to siblings, aunts and uncles, or cousins. But if you die without a spouse, children or parents, your next-closest relatives would inherit your estate, says Amato. Also, relatives could contest a will by saying they played a large role in your life or that you promised them something.?

For this reason, Modlin suggests that if your estate is large enough to be worth fighting over, you should leave token amounts to family members -- whether estranged siblings or a distant niece.?

"A small gift to a disinherited heir may deter them from contesting the will, especially once they understand the cost of contesting it, and the likelihood of prevailing," says Modlin.?

Weisman also says a will should contain language saying that the deceased has provided for everyone he or she wishes to in the will and that if anyone is left out, it is intentional, not inadvertent.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/want-disinherit-relative-its-complicated-1B8189706

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Valentine's Day Lingerie Shopping Guide: Gifts Between $200 and ...

In this installment of our Valentine?s Day Shopping Guides, we feature some lovely pieces that we?re sure will catch your eye. Click the picture or links to go directly to the items and enjoy.

Honeycooler Handmade Cropped Silk Cami; $210.00

Trashy Lingerie Molded Cup Camigarter; $235.00

Trashy Lingerie ?Corazon? Teddy with Bullet Cups; $235.00

Damaris ?Naked? Silk Tulle Bra & Thong; $256.67

Gilda & Pearl Loves of Montparnasse Tie Front Bra and Side Tie Knicker; $260.33

Dottie?s Delights ?Good n? Plenty? Bra & Panty; $265.00

Fifi Chachnil Red and Pink Bra & Panty Set; ?201.00 ($277.60)

Christine Lingerie Glamour Gown; $285.00

I.D. Sarrieri Chantilly Lace Bodysuit; $296.00

Trashy Lingerie Tempest Corset; $350.00

Agent Provocateur Luna Short Slip; $350

Naory Cupido Chemise; $389.00

Beaujais Sweet Nothings Lingerie Set;?260.00 ($410.80)

LaBelle Fairy Victorian Corset; $425.00

Les Jupons de Tess Lace Bra & Skirt; $440.60

Source: http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2013/01/valentines-day-lingerie-shopping-guide-gifts-between-200-and-499.html

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After Nearly 30 Years, Apple Fans Still Flock to Macworld

In the days before Apple split with Macworld, fans of the company's products used to pack the event in feverish anticipation of watching Steve Jobs tell them what new goodies his company had in store for them. How things have changed: The show has a new name, Macworld/iWorld, and an actor who will be playing the late Jobs in an forthcoming biopic took center stage.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/2822671b/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C7720A60Bhtml/story01.htm

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Online Auctions: An unconventional way of making money | Online ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://realbid.blogspot.com/2013/01/online-auctions-unconventional-way-of.html

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Social Media Marketing: What Does That Meme? - Empower Network

Running a business online can be challenging, because there is always something new popping up. New businesses, new techniques, and new brands mean there?s always something to see, but for a new business owner, it can be quite daunting, as well. For instance, the social media websites of the Internet are among the freshest arenas for communicating with prospective clientele, yet you still need to be aware of how to utilize them effectively. Keep reading to find out how you can promote your business successfully.

Try your best to create a good reputation for yourself, but in the end focus on making profits over anything else. Keep your credibility up, so always check your facts before making a post. Maintain a professional tone and make sure all content and links are relevant to your business. This will make your page much more interesting and profitable.

TIP! Each time you upload content to YouTube, make sure that you link to your site in the video description, and check for Facebook and Twitter buttons by each video, as well as on your channel?s page. It?s better to get YouTube members to subscribe to you on Twitter or Facebook, since they will share the videos that they like.

Help visitors easily share your blog posts with their friends. You will want to be sure to put the Facebook share button at the top of all of your posts. This could add extra work for you and may take time, but it definitely will make a positive impact for you.

Social Networking

TIP! Don?t post inspiration quotations in your Twitter account, since it usually just tells your subscribers you don?t have anything else good to say. People will see this as annoying and filter it out.

Remember that social networking sites are about more that just advertising your product. Social networking will let you gain more knowledge about your customers. One of your goals should be to get your customers to view you as a real person and to interact accordingly. It is possible to speak with customers regarding your products, but you can also use social networking to personally interact with them.

Use Facebook as a venue for running contests. You want people to feel happy by feeling like they?ve gained free stuff. One way to generate this feeling among your visitors and raise a little hype is to run contests. Contests draw an audience that is eager to learn as much as they can on your latest products and offerings because they are hopeful they will win.

TIP! Embed Facebook buttons or comment boxes on your blog to make it easier for your readers to share your content on social media sites. By including a ?like? button on your blog, your readers will be able to easily promote your business to their friends and family.

Only buy online ads that offer you good visibility. Placing your ad in a highly noticeable spot on the page will increase the chances that people will click on your ad and visit your business, thus increasing your sales.

Use social media marketing to provide information about your business. For example, post pictures of yourself or employees at a charity event. Take photos at your workplace and share good news about your employees. Any activities that portray your company in a positive light are a good idea.

TIP! You can get some help from a service in managing your Twitter account. The actual features of these services vary, but the majority of them will automatically manage following and unfollowing individuals for you.

Testing strategies and campaigns before you go live with your social media profile site can help you tweak your plan for maximum success. Even after you launch it, you should run a test to see if you have the right things you are looking for. This way you won?t publish materials that may ruin your business image.

Social Media

TIP! Videos posts on YouTube and other social networks need to have excellent titles for a number of reasons. You should include keywords that pertain to your niche.

Don?t think results will come right away. It takes time and effort to create a viable revenue stream using social media. Building a large audience on Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks will not occur overnight. Talk about your social media marketing campaign via your other marketing tools.

If you have followers on Twitter, follow those people back. You do not want to create a sense of alienation from those who open their Twitter feeds to you. People want to know that a company they deal with cares about their customers, and is friendly. If you follow back on Twitter, it is very easy to set up, and it ensures that your customers get something back.

TIP! Make others feel that you have expertise in your field by helping people online as well as on social media pages. That can help you bring in a lot of new business.

By utilizing the tips provided in this article, your social media marketing campaign will be both enjoyable to run, and effective. Try to experiment and see which methods work for you. The Internet is rich in customer growing opportunities, and it is important that you be among the first to use new methods. Social media can be an important tool to use to expand your business presence on the Internet.

To Get More Info About Online Marketing And Learn The Secrets Of How You Can Start Making 1k Per Day Online While Working Less Than 4 Hours A Week Click Here!

Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/promo101/blog/social-media-marketing-what-does-that-meme/

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