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Tag: smartphone

Cosmonaut Capacitive Stylus Review

Posted by Andrew at 12:42 AM on May 22, 2012

I’m not a fan of capacitive touch screens as they are the user interface of a 5 year old, which is great for finger-painting but useless if you want to do anything precise, such as write normally or position a cursor between two letters. And multitouch is over-rated: I’d rather be able to place one point exactly than five blurry ones.

With this in mind I’m reviewing the Cosmonaut Capacitive Stylus for Touch Screens by Studio Neat. Originally a Kickstarter project, it’s now available for general sale direct from Studio Neat and Amazon for $25.

Cosmonaut Stylus in Box

The stylus is presented in small cardboard box and there’s no need to attack the packaging with scissors which is a welcome relief. On sliding open the box, the cardboard inner has rocket fins printed on it, giving the Cosmonaut a spaceship look. A nice touch.

Cosmonaut Stylus in Packaging

The Cosmonaut is a fat rubber covered pen, about the same thickness as a whiteboard marker. However, unlike a whiteboard marker, it’s got a little bit of weight to it. Feels good in the hand, though I have largish hands.

Cosmonaut Stylus

In use, the Cosmonaut takes a little bit of getting used to; the tip is a slightly squidgy and you have to press down for the Cosmonaut to register the button press or the stroke. You can’t simply flick the stylus across the screen as you might with your finger. In some ways, this is a good thing as it prevents unwanted touches.

The Cosmonaut makes drawing apps much easier to use as the stylus mimics a pen or brush quite well. It’s also pretty handy for apps that have lots of closely spaced buttons. However writing like an adult is still out of the question, but the limitation is with the capacitative screen and the necessary fatness of the tip.

Overall, the Cosmonaut is well-designed and well-built. It’s easy to hold and works as it’s supposed to. If you want a stylus for your tablet, this should be on your short-list but just don’t expect to return to the precision days of the PDA.

 

IDAPT i1 Eco Universal Charger Review

Posted by Andrew at 2:46 PM on May 14, 2012

The Idapt i1 Eco is the portable member of Idapt’s family of universal chargers: by using the same interchangeable tips as the dual and triple versions, the usefulness of the system is extended from the home to the car and travel.

Idapt i1 Eco Universal Charger

If you aren’t familiar with Idapt, their system offers a wide selection of charging tips that are snapped into a charging station which has anything from one (i1 Eco) to three (i4) changeable charging points. The benefit is that the charging station can be uniquely customised to your mobile device usage. For example, your phone might have a micro-USB connector, your iPod has an Apple connector and your Nintendo DSi has its own connector. By using the relevant tips, all three devices can be charged at once. Geek News Central reviewed the Idapt i4 earlier in the year.

Within this context, let’s take a look at the i1 Eco. Out of the box, you get a the i1 unit itself, a mains power connector, a USB power connector, a car USB adaptor and three charging tips – mini-USB, micro-USB and Apple.

Idapt Charging Tips

The main unit takes only one of these at a time, but there’s an additional full-size USB port on the side, so two devices can be charged simultaneously.

The i1 Eco can be powered either from the mains or from a USB power source: the cables interchange at the lime green coloured multi-connector. As you can see from the picture below, these are standard connector types, namely micro-USB and IEC “shotgun”.

The power transformer is incorporated into the body of the Eco 1 so there’s no “wall wart”, only an ordinary plug on the end of the cable. The advantage of this will become clear shortly and when buying the i1 Eco, UK, USA or Euro mains plugs can be specified.

Power cable

At the other end of the Eco 1 is the socket for the charging tips. These pop in and out and are exactly the same as the ones used in the tabletop models, which is handy if you have invested in a range of tips.

Tip Socket Tip Inserted

The USB socket on the side is used to charge a second device via a cable, which is best used for tablets or other larger devices which can be unwieldy to connect on the end of the i1 Eco.

i1 Side Shot

As might be guessed from the name, it’s intended to be a green charger. The packaging is all recycled cardboard and the body of the i1 Eco is made from recycled plastic. Even more unusual is the presence of a power button on the side of the i1 Eco, which is there to help save energy.

Most consumer electronics chargers don’t have an on-off switch and most gang extension sockets don’t have on-off switches either, which means that to fully turn off a charger, it has to be pulled out of the socket, which is pretty inconvenient and most of us don’t bother. The chargers continue to consume power even when there’s no device being charged and this power is completely wasted.

The i1 Eco eliminates this problem by having an on-off switch and by automatically powering off when the recharging gadgets are fully charged. This is a great feature and as a result, no power is wasted when gadgets are connected but fully charged and the Eco 1 can be safely plugged in all the time.

Overall, it’s all very clever, useful and green to boot!

Are there any downsides? There are a couple but nothing too serious. First of all, the USB car adaptor that goes in the cigarette lighter socket is a bit flimsy and lets the overall package down. For comparison, the Griffin PowerJolt is a far better adaptor.

Secondly, the auto-power off feature is sometimes a bit over-enthusiastic. On occasion I’d connect up my tablet (Motorola Xoom 2 ME) to charge and I’d come back later to find that the i1 Eco had switched off while the tablet was still only part charged. Other times it worked perfectly with the tablet and I had no problems with other devices (Bluetooth headset, mp3 player, ereader). To be fair, the included literature does mention that some smartphones can be incompatible with this feature so I guess this includes tablets too.

Update: Idapt contacted me to say that with troublesome devices, simply hold the on-off button down for about a second when turning the charger on and this reduces the auto-off sensitivity. I carried out some further testing of the i1 Eco with the tablet and can confirm that this solution works so problem solved. Thanks, Idapt.

The i1 Eco is a clever and flexible portable charging solution that will particularly appeal to those who have already bought into the Idapt way and have a full set of charging tips.

The i1 Eco is available from Idapt for £19.99 and extra tips are mostly £5.95.

Thanks to Idapt for providing the i1 Eco for review.

Touchscreen Kleen Review

Posted by Andrew at 4:33 PM on May 8, 2012

Fingerprints are the bane of modern life. You’ve got your beautiful new tablet, you show it to your friends and before you can say, “oleic acid”, there’s a horde of greasy smudges all over the screen. Aaargh!!!

Here at Geek News Central we’ve seen several solutions to this problem, from carbon-based wipes to fashion self-cling pads. Touchscreen Kleen adds to the portfolio: it’s a special-formulated spray combined with a microfibre cloth.

TouchscreenKleen Package

It’s pretty simply to use….turn off the screen, squirt some cleaning solution onto the microfibre cloth and polish the screen with the cloth. Job done.
And it really is that easy. I cleaned tablets, smartphones, LCD monitors and they all came up looking like new, completely smudge free. Very impressed.

The microfibre cloth is washable so if you have to clean a really dirty monitor screen, the grubby cloth can be washed before the next use.

Touchscreen Kleen is available in two sizes, 15 ml and 50 ml, currently on special offer at £3.99 and £5.99 respectively in the online store.

Disclosure – Touchscreen Kleen was provided for review by Screen-Kleen Ltd.

Aurasma Augments Adverts

Posted by Andrew at 12:23 AM on May 1, 2012

Aurasma LogoAt Gadget Show Live, Aurasma were showing-off their impressive portfolio of augmented reality advertising campaigns. The list of clients is long and illustrious, including BBC, Sky, Bentley, Dunhill, Marks & Spencer, ebay and Stella Artois.

If you haven’t experienced augmented reality, it’s the overlaying of computer-generated imagery onto a real-world view as seen through a smartphone or tablet camera. The applications are myriad, from showing a video when the camera sees a billboard poster to providing information about the artist when looking at a painting.

AuraAurasma’s augmented reality app is available for both iOS and Android, and once loaded on your smartphone, you can start looking for enhanced adverts, which Aurasma call “Auras“. These have additional content which you can only see through your phone. Auras can also be created for real locations and while most of the Auras add animals or cars into the scene, they can also be used to put tourist information in the view.

In the last of my interviews from Gadget Show Live, I chat to Tamara from Aurasma, who told me more about Aurasma and Auras.

RHP MirrorCase Goes For A KickStarter

Posted by Andrew at 1:37 PM on April 29, 2012

RHP Multimedia MirrorCaseAt this year’s CES, Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin interviewed John Palmeri of RHP on their new MirrorCase, a special case for the iPhone 4/4S that lets photos be taken while the phone is horizontal, i.e. flat, rather than the more usual vertical orientation.

Depending on your point of view, it’s either a clever idea that stops the camera intruding on the moment or else it’s sneaky way of taking pics without other people realising. Regardless of reasons, it may be of interest to know that the MirrorCase is currently on Kickstarter.

If I read the funding levels correctly, at the moment $35 will get you pre-order of the MirrorCase (RRP $80) but there are only limited numbers of backers at that level. If you do miss out, you should be able to back at $40. Backers are also offered a discount on the iPhone 5 version, whenever that comes out!

There are another 28 days and $21,000-odd to go before the project is funded. Assuming this, delivery is expected in July.

JayBird Headphones for Sport

Posted by Andrew at 2:45 PM on April 22, 2012

JayBird SportsbandTo be honest, I’d never heard of JayBird headphones until I came across them on the DAD Audio stand at Gadget Show Live. However, having listened to their pitch, I’d consider a pair for use at the gym or during sport. Why? Because JayBird specialise in headphones and earbuds that are sweat-proof and difficult to dislodge.

On show were two Bluetooth headsets, the Sportsband and the Freedom. As you might expect, the Sportsband is a traditional headband model with modern styling (shown left), whereas the Freedoms are earbuds (show below) with a twist.

Jaybird FreedomsKeeping earbuds in during exercise is a constant problem, and the Freedoms solve this problem but having a cunning in-ear hook that latches onto part of the ear. This ensures that the earbuds stay in the ear no matter how active and sweaty the wearer gets.

If you are in the UK and are interested in picking up a pair, JayBird headphones are sold online by DAD Audio. Both models are currently £99.

To learn more, listen to my interview with Stephanie at the Gadget Show Live.

WOWee ONE Portable Speakers at The Gadget Show

Posted by Andrew at 5:43 AM on April 22, 2012

Portable speakers were much in evidence at Gadget Show Live, though frankly some had the acoustics of a tin can rather than than anything close to hi-fi. Fortunately the WOWee ONE range of portable speakers tend towards the latter and while I doubt that musical purists will be impressed, those of us who simply want our tunes out-and-about will be satisfied.

WOWee ONE Pro

There are three models in the WOWee ONE line-up; the Classic, the Slim and the recently announced Pro (shown left). Although there is a conventional speaker included, all of these portable speakers are designed to vibrate the surface they’re lying on to produce sound using a unique gel pad on the bottom of the WOWee ONE that helps transmit the vibration from the speaker to the surface.

The Classic and the Slim need a cabled input (3.5mm jack) but the new Pro can make a wireless Bluetooth connection with a smartphone. The Pro also has a mic and can pair as a handsfree kit. With built-in rechargeable batteries, expect to get 10 hours of music from the Slim and the Pro but double that to 20 hours for the Classic.

I listened to both the Classic and the Slim at the Gadget Show and I though the sound was great for an impromptu party. The Classic seem to have the edge in the quality and range, probably because of the greater mass. Prices are a penny shy of £50, £80 and £130 for the Classic, Slim and Pro respectively.

I interviewed Magnus Hammick and he told me more about their products.