12 Days of Giveaways: Day 7 with Telus and the Samsung Galaxy S4™ Mini

"Mom, I need a new phone!" 

"Dad, can I finally get my own phone?"

"I'm the only one that doesn't have an awesome phoooooone!" 

Sound familiar parents?

Whether you're a parent of a teen that has "hinted" plenty times that they wish for a new smartphone under the tree this year or just in the market for a new phone that won't break the bank, you must consider the Samsung Galaxy S4™ Mini. 

With its 8MP camera and compact design, beautiful and responsive display, and all the bells and whistles that the mini’s big brother the GALAXY S4 is known for, this would surely make the perfect gift! 

I am attached to my Smartphone! It's like a part of me. Organization, social media, keeping in touch with loved ones, taking pictures (and tons of it!), listening to music, reading, checking emails, everything! 

In this day and age, I feel it's a necessity to have one (Yes teens, thank me now!).

Features:

• Compact design – The GALAXY S4 mini’s slim design makes it perfect to take with you anywhere, anytime.
• Premium experience – This device offers the same flagship experience as the GS4, including an 8MP camera, Group Play and Samsung Link.
• Powerful performance – The S4 mini packs a punch with a 1.7 GHz Dual Core Processor and the Android Jellybean 4.2.2 operating system.

One of my biggest issues with smartphone these days is the grip and how big they are for little hands (like mine). Without my case on it, it would probably be kaput by now.

This is one fantastic thing about the new Samsung Galaxy S4™ Mini. Even though it's more compact than it's "big brother", it doesn't compromise on it's features and what it can offer.

Sweet & Petite... with a powerful punch! Much like me. 

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini available at Telus for $0 on a two-year term or $400 outright.

To learn more about the awesome Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, click here.

And for newbies that are still getting comfortable with their phones and have a ton of questions or worrying parents that are concerned about the online safety of their children (you just never know in this digital age!), I absolutely love Telus' unique Services: Telus Learning Centre and TELUS WISE®.

Learning Centre sessions are great for tweens/teens or those just starting out with their first smartphone.

Telus' specialized Learning Specialist can give them a tailored one-on-one tutorial on how to use the phone so they are 100% comfortable using their new device – it’s great for parents too!

They offer one-on-one or group sessions according to what you feel is best or most comfortable for you.

Sessions range from 15 to 45 minutes depending on your learning style and what you would like to learn.

I really wish they offered this when I got my first smartphone. I was so confused! And didn't utilize all the great features I had after many months of owning it.

TELUS WISE® is a great program for tweens and teens! Recently launched by Telus which is peace of mind for parents that are getting their kids on their first smartphone – it’s all about smartphone and Internet safety and how to teach kids to have a clean digital footprint.

You can learn more about TELUS WISE® here. And psst... this service is a PTPA winner!

Courtesy of the wonderful folks at Telus, one of you will win a new Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini!

To enter, simply leave me a comment below telling me who in your family would LOVE this phone and why!

Contest is open to Canadian Residents only.

Ends 12/12.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Snap Before You Eat! Foodtography with HTC One Camera #Review

There's only one important rule in this cam-crazy, hash-tag, smart-phone world we live in:
Snap Before you Eat!
Oh and also never tag or post an unflattering picture of a loved one.
Golden rules, people, golden rules.

It's not that we are trying to follow "trends" (even though it is one...), it's just plain and simple -- we as human race love looking at food as much as we love to eat.
Am I right or am I right?

And for those that like to complain and criticize about others posting too many food pics... I have two suggestions for you:
1) Stay Away from Social Media (especially Instagram!) and 2) You're hungry - please indulge in something yummy! 

It's funny because just recently I dined at a five-star restaurant and you would think snapping a photo of your food prior to eating would be frowned upon but I was not the only one!
Nearly all the diners would take a quick snap of a dish and the waiter even said after arranging the food nicely in front of me: "Okay you can take a picture now!"
Ha! As if it's expected!
Of course this comes with courtesy so flashing camera lights in a romantic dimly-lit restaurant where folks are attempting to enjoy a nice (expensive) meal should be kept to an absolute minimum. Or you can just remove the flash and edit it later. :)

I am foodtography-obsessed.
I enjoy sharing succulent, mouth-watering images of dishes that I create myself or satisfy in from favourite restaurants and bakeries. I provide recommendations and tips for fellow foodies and I appreciate getting the same from other foodtography pictures as well.
Thanks to Instagram, I have discovered many hidden gems not too far from home or learned of a must-try dish at a restaurant I've been eyeing for some time.

The only thing that can totally ruin a drool-worthy food photo shared online (and other important photo-sharing rule): Bad quality and highly-pixelated images.
It's a foodtography no-no!
It's not your fault if your smartphone offers you a camera with low resolution or you've got uncontrollably shaky hands but nowadays it's super easy to find a phone that offers you amazing and crisp professional-quality

I was given the opportunity to put my love for foodtography to the test with the new HTC One.

The new HTC One smartphone’s most talked about feature is the camera and its UltraPixel innovation; which allows up to 300x more light to enter the image (NASA uses this same type of technology in Hubble Telescope!).
This means that it uses less megapixels but allows for more light which makes the images come out looking better in low-light than cameras with more megapixels.

That's awesome!
Being a blogger that does many restaurant reviews and shares personal recipes, high-quality images are a must.
I don't always have my Nikon DSLR (which is heavy and takes up way too much space in my purse) around during snap-worthy moments so I do trust my handy smartphone to be responsible for capturing the deliciousness.

Here's one example!

Hungry yet?

Check out how sleek this phone is. Perfect fit in my hands.

Here are my non-professional tips for taking photos on your smartphone (or new HTC One!):
1) Focus on the image from a good distance (not too close or not too far) and then press onto the middle of the dish to get the camera to set its focus.

2) Keep your hands steady
Nobody likes blurry photos so ease up on the caffeine and snap away!

3) Keep your flash on Auto (in some cases, removing the flash may be necessary which is when you would have a really good photo editing app or software on the computer to help with editing the lighting of the image.

4) Take more than one image at a time really quickly after another (this may not be possible with some phone cameras but this is made super easy with the Burst Mode and ZOE features on the HTC One!)

The Burst Mode allows you to take a series of photos at one time. Tap and hold the shutter button to use this mode.

The HTC Zoe™  is one of my absolute favourite features of the HTC One.
Simply press the shutter and the phone automatically takes up to 20 photos and a 3-second video, and adds that living moment to a gallery that’s filled not just with pictures, but with life. In HTC Zoe™ mode, before you take an HTC Zoe™ photo, the camera is buffering the action so you can even capture photos from a second before you press the shutter!
Bring your images to life! Now that is super cool.

Another cool feature in HTC Zoe™ mode is being able to remove unwanted people/images!
When you need to cut that extra person out of your photos, use HTC Zoe™ to take the pic and then tap on Edit, Retouch and Object removal to quickly remove unwanted objects from your photos.

Aside from the wondrous camera, I love that the HTC One also has a really great battery life!
That's another big issues with my current smartphone. My battery lasted 2-3 full days ON without having to be charged even after browsing online, taking photos, watching videos, etc.
2-3 days is a pretty legit time frame when it comes to smartphone batteries these days.

Listening to music rocks (literally!) with their Beats Audio™ technology that HTC is so famously known for.
Fresh, clear, rich and authentic sound straight from your smartphone.

And of course the mom in me is loving their Zoodles Kid Mode™.
This is great because my 4 1/2 year old daughter loves using my smartphone and is always playing games and watching videos on it and in this day and age of questionable pop-ups and sneaky videos that creep up from YouTube - this is a really important feature!
There are many great features - check them out below!

And calling all Type A Multi-taskers!
You can multitask on the HTC One and quickly switch between the apps without exiting the home screen. Yes, there isn’t any multitasking button on the smartphone but you will find an easy shortcut to multitask on HTC One: tap on the home button twice and the screen will pop up showing you the most recent running apps. To close some app, tap and hold on that app and swipe it up.

Okay, so that's enough of my HTC One babble. Simply put, go grab one.
Fantastic Camera, long battery life, multi-tasking made easy, kid-friendly and awesome sound?
Oh and it's gorgeous to boot.

Now let's go back to the food, shall we?

All these images were taken using the HTC One!

For more information on the new HTC One, visit them www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one/.

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Disclosure: An HTC device was provided for full review purposes plus compensation; however all opinions expressed in this review are my very own.

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Express Yourself with Gelaskins Review & #Giveaway

With my Tula Pink Tail Feathers GelaSkin on my iPhone 5.

 If you're like me, attached to the hip to your smartphone, then this product line will surely be perfect for you.

Mixing artistic expression with functionality, GelaSkins provides lovely designed skins and hard cases for your technological devices -- from your iPhone to your tablet, gaming system to your e-Reader.

They have something to suit all styles, you can even custom make your own with your personal photographs.

I am always constantly searching for products that are not only useful for my day-to-day lifestyle, but also ones that are inventive, cool, unique and of course appealing.

I'd much prefer to have something that not every Tom, Jim or  (insert name here) has but one that compliments who I am.

That's what I loved about GelaSkins. They have such big variety of designs in their gallery created by talented artists -- it's like walking into an online museum... for your smartphone.

And I LOVE art!

Their super-thin (less than 1mm) durable skins provide protection from scratches and dirt without the bulk and I noticed that the grip on my iPhone 5 was a lot better with the gelaskin on than without.

The skins cover the front and the back of your phone.

Sure it won't protect it from a fall, but all devices aren't safe from one even with a hard case on.

You still want to protect your investment as much as possible yet keep it looking pretty and proper, these skins will do the job!

They are priced at only $14.95 each so much like my wardrobe, a girl can accessorize and customize my smartphone as often as I want! 

Their hard cases start at $34.95.

With purchase of a skin/hard case, you also get access to their GelaSkins Wallpaper Gallery.

They also have a great offer called the GelaScreen Combo where it includes a skin + a GelaScreen (Crystal clear screen protectors).

What I also love about GelaSkins is that a portion of each skin, case or print sold goes directly to the creator, helping to support and promote independent artists everywhere.  Support your indie artists, folks. Support Inspiration!

Amongst my new gorgeous skins, this Tula Pink Tail Feathers Skin is an absolute gem! 

Isn't it gorgeous?

I also grabbed the Bloom from Designer Lawrence Yang and Gustav Klimt's The Kiss (one of my all-time favourite works of art ever) and a Dragon from Designer Jeff Wood for my hubby's Galaxy.

For more information, visit them at: www.GelaSkins.com and you can also visit them on Facebook and Twitter for updates and fun contests!

 

Try GelaSkins for yourself! 

Enter below using rafflecopter to win a $25 Gift Code to use on GelaSkins.com.

*Open to Canada and US residents.

Ends 3/16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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