The Sony Xperia L2 smartphone, as almost all the 2018 smartphones do, accepts a nano SIM card. Its system tray can only fit a nano size, the smallest available at the moment. If you are transferring phone service to it that uses a larger SIM card, you either have to trim the SIM card down (if it’s the modular kind; there are many tutorials online) or get a new SIM card from your cellular service provider.
This is the reason why I typically avoid installing new updates immediately, but I felt like boldly going this time and I paid the price 🙂 ChromeOS Version 64 came to my lovely Samsung Chromebook PLUS last night, and I installed it immediately.
We start a new series called “Creepy Google” 🙂 As I was setting up the Sony Xperia L2 I downloaded the GooglePAY app (formerly known as Android Pay) so I can test the NFC and mobile payment feature of the phone. Surprise surprise, the app refused to start until I gave Google Play Services the microphone permission.
I did not intend to do this, but I accidentally started the upgrade process while fumbling with the phone, and so my good old LG Stylo 2 has been upgraded from Marshmallow (it came with Android 6.0 out of the box) to Nougat (Android 7.0).
Fear not, there’s nothing wrong with the Nougat version running on the phone. I haven’t noticed any issues or performance differences (faster or slower) with it. It is an aging phone obviously, but 2GVB of RAM is good enough if you rule rogue apps with an iron fist 🙂
And now to something so not fun. Bloatware! Sony may not be as obnoxious as some other manufacturers with bloatware but they have their share, which I divide in three categories. Now the term “bloatware” is subject to interpretation. Some people consider everything that’s not part of the OS bloatware, others only consider things they don’t want/need 🙂
These are pre-installed apps from 3rd-parties (not Sony, not Google) that exist on the device and can be disabled but cannot be deleted. This drives me crazy. Why can’t we delete apps we don’t want?
The offenders are the ones you see in the picture plus AVG Protection and the Swype keyboard..
In Part #1, we unboxed the Sony L2. Here, in part #2, I am summarizing the things to pay attention to during the initial setup and configuration of the phone.
I personally prefer to turn on the phone, uninstall unwanted apps and go through the settings and turn off things I don’t want/need, and then connect to Wifi and login with the Google account. This requires an additional step of having to do a second pass in the settings because some of them get activated after a connection. But it prevents the stampede as everything tries to connect and install things before you can turn them off. Most people prefer to connect to Wifi first and then turn things off,so it’s up to you.
And we are back with our second smartphone text and pictures useful unboxing post, the new entry-to-midrange Sony Xperia L2, an unlocked GSM smartphone that straddles, at least features-wise the entry-level and the mid-range. In this post, we describe and show what’s in the box. A lot more is coming on this smartphone – please leave a comment if you have any questions about it!
Chromebooks have the MS-Windows carry-over windows-switching ALT TAB feature, but what if you want to quickly switch between windows of the same app? If you have an intermediate or advanced Chromebook with 4GB or more of RAM, you can open up all sorts of windows at the same time. And if you have many windows, it can be hard to find that Chrome browser window or that file manager window.
So here’s a quick shortcut I discovered accidentally while fumbling on the keyboard: there is an easy and quick way to switch between windows of the same app, faster than ALT-TAB if you don’t care for what’s happening in the other active ChromeOS apps!
As of 2/17/18, I’ve been using them for about a week. As the reviews stated, these are indeed narrow. That’s why I picked up a larger size than usual. I rarely buy wide shoes, and I have no problem getting in them. But if you buy wide shoes, that’s something to worry about or at least be prepared to return them or hand them off to friends and family.
These is a flat shoe, more akin to Vans sneakers than the typical FILA exercise shoes, so keep that in mind as well. I’m using them for walking, but one week is far too soon to tell how they will hold up.
Granted, considering the price, I’ll be happy if I get six months out of them 🙂
The Samsung Chromebook PLUS (which I will call “SCP” further down this post to save up on space) has a microSD slot on the side. If you haven’t owned a Samsung device before or one with a microSD slot, in this post, we give you a visual guide on how to install the microSD card. It’s not hard, do not be afraid 🙂
