Back in the day when Palms and PDAs ruled the portable electronics market, you could get several designs of folding or mini keyboards to connect to your PDA to turn it from a ‘consumptive’ device (that mostly displays content) to a ‘creative’ one (one that allows you to easily create new content). Sure, you could use the other input options, but they had their limitations.

Now we have these cool, powerful Android smartphones and tablets, and have been mostly frustrated in finding good keyboards for them because they use a Bluetooth format called SPP instead of the HID format that Apple and other devices use. I finally found a keyboard I like that uses the SPP format for my Android stuff!  Let’s give a close look at the Freedom Pro Keyboard from Freedom Input. 

Note – this review will focus on how the keyboard works for me on my Toshiba Thrive tablet and Sprint Samsung Epic 4G (a Galaxy S phone). Results would almost certainly be different on other operating systems, carriers, and even other Android devices.

To over-simplify the issue – SPP stands for Serial Port Protocol and emulates data coming over a serial port, like the old Palms used to do before Bluetooth or even USB.  HID stands for Human Interface Device and provides support for a variety of input devices including gaming controls. It is commonly used by gaming systems as well as Apple and some other devices. Some devices can use either format, including some newer Android devices, but most of us need a SPP device. (The Epic is a Galaxy S phone, listed by Freedom Input as a HID phone, but I have not been able to connect using HID. They do point out that some carriers or plans limit the HID format, so perhaps that is what is going on.)

The Freedom Input Freedom Pro Keyboard has a switch so it can do either. Physically, it is identical to the Verbatim 97537 Keyboard without the SPP/HID switch (and the Verbatim unit is about $10 cheaper) and very reminiscent of several Palm keyboards, such as the venerable iGo Stowaway. (Just FYI, older iGos were SPP format. Those available now seem to be HID).

The specs include:

• Size Opened: 319.2 X 102.9 X 9.6 mm (12.6 X 4.0 X 0.38 ins.)
• Size Closed: 162.5 X 102.9 X 19.2 mm (6.4 X 4.0 X 0.75 ins.)
• Weight: 258g (including batteries)
• Formats: SPP, HID
• Power: Uses 2 AAA batteries (included). Over 90 hours use and 3000 hours standby
• Included in Box: Keyboard, leatherette case, batteries, instruction manual, ‘cheat sheets’ for some devices
• Compatible With: Pretty much everything:  Android, Apple, Blackberry, Palm, Symbian, and Windows devices

Open keyboard and folding device stand

Other points worth noting include:

• Full 5 row keyboard with 75 keys.
• 6 Dedicated keys to: Answer Call, End/Reject call, Open Messages/email, Open Address book, Open task and Open Calendar.
• 6 Additional ‘SK’ keys emulate on-screen controls or commands
• 12 user-defined quick launch keys.
• Control and function keys allow complete control of your mobile device from the keyboard.
• Separate LED indicators to show power and connection status.
• Pull-out folding device stand.

The unit is well-built and designed. It passes the Gadgeteer Creak Test and feels like it would survive the real world nicely. Once you open the keyboard, you can lock it with a sliding pin. There is a cleverly designed pop-up folding stand tucked into one side that can hold a phone at a convenient angle. The keyboard is flat, but the locking pin means you can prop it up safely. It even comes with a decent case.

I tried to set it up with both my phone and tablet. The phone was a bit easier, but following the directions on the site exactly eventually got them both going. You are going to need the slightly hidden on-line directions.   The manual did not help much; for some reason it seems to be missing an import pairing step – after telling the phone the code, you also need to enter it into the keyboard.  You also need to download a free app.

Folded- Samsung Epic phone for comparison

There are several customizable and ‘quick launch’ keys.  Twelve you can program for a variety of things and six that do specific things once configured; six other keys (labelled ‘SK’) emulate on-screen buttons or commands such as menu, back, and search bar. Additional keys can, on some devices, open the web browser or control playback. It is very important to note that not all of these button and keys work on all devices. In fact, many of them do not work on the Android, but those that do are easy to set-up, either in a pop-up menu or in the app.

How the keys line up and size comparison- typical USB keyboard on top, Freedom Pro on bottom

The open size can easily make you think that the keyboard is much smaller than a standard QWERTY board, but when you line it up as in the photo you see the keyboard sections are very close to being the same size. They do cheat a bit by making some of the keys narrower than usual, and the split space bar is narrower than you are used to. This throws off touch typing just a bit, but not being much of a touch-typist myself, it is not a big deal. I do keep missing certain keys though – backspace and shift seem to be my personal foibles on this one.

This is a decent keyboard in actual use. As mentioned, it is not quite ‘touch type’, but not bad. For basic text entry, tolerating errors that I could clean up later, I actually got nearly what I can do on a regular keyboard. There is little feedback for pressing keys – a bit of stiffness and a sort of a ‘flat’ response, but no vibration or noise. The keys are a tiny bit ‘stiff’, so just touching a key does not activate it. Holding a key causes repeats, just like my full-sized keyboard.

Turning off the keyboard does not automatically remove it as the preferred input method, but a couple quick taps on the Android disables it nicely… except that on my tablet, I keep getting an error message saying that it is not responding and must be forced closed. Stopping it in the application manager usually stops it.

As you read this review you may be uncertain of my real feelings for this device. Let me make it very clear. I like this keyboard. It is a nice compromise between keyboard size, packing size, functionality and cost. There are other options if you want a smaller board with smaller keys for better portability, or a more normal board for easier typing, but this is a great option that does both fairly well.

I could wish that the board itself had a few features – feet for propping it at an angle and a more visible on/off switch – or that the manual was more clear or the website easier to navigate, but overall this is a good product. I can accept some of the issues with it (non-functioning keys, etc.) as the price to pay for a device that is designed to play with so many different devices – as long as it plays with my devices nicely!

Filed in categories: Android related, Bluetooth Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Bluetooth keyboard, folding keyboard

Freedom Input’s Freedom Pro Bluetooth Keyboard Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am.

We all know that a screen protector will help keep your iPhone’s display as pristine as the day you bought it. But installing one can be a huge pain in the butt. First you have to make sure the screen is clean so you don’t install the protector over dust particles. That’s actually the easy part. The difficult part is getting it lined up correctly and bubble free. There are many screen protector brands on the market. Some require water to install and some are dry apply. But none of them are as easy to apply as the PureGear PureTek Roll-On Screen Shield Kit for iPhone 4/4S. Their install method is pure genius.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

First of all, this is how my iPhone 4S looked before I installed the PureGear PureTek Roll-On Screen Shield. You will notice that I have a screen protector installed (I don’t recall the brand – it probably came with a case I reviewed), but there are bubbles. Those dreaded bubbles. Argh… No matter how careful you are it’s almost impossible to avoid them. With the PureGear protector, bubbles are a thing of the past.

The packaging is actually a fixture that has been designed to align your iPhone and the screen protector for perfect installation.

Just tear the paper tab on the back and pull off the outer cover / instructions.

What you’re left with is a plastic tray that has the screen protector attached to it. Also included is a microfiber cloth to polish the phone’s screen and a special roller.

The protector lifts up to reveal a tray that holds an iPhone 4/4S. PureGear also offers versions of this kit for the Motorola Droid 4 and Motorola Droid Razr.

Included with the kit is a dual roller that you use to install the protector. If you’ve ever installed other screen protectors, you have probably used a credit card to smooth out the protector. I like this roller a lot better.

With the iPhone’s screen wiped off with the microfiber cloth and firmly seated in the holder, the protector can flop back over the phone as shown above. Then all you have to do is place the special roller between the “rails” and roll it down the length of the phone.

As you guide the roller, it separates the top layer as it sticks the protector to the phone. The trick is to roll it slowly without stopping. I know this because I screwed up 2 protectors in the process of writing this review. With my first try, I didn’t roll it without stopping. I rolled it a few inches, snapped some pictures for the review, rolled it a bit further, took some more pictures, etc. I ended up with a protector that had several bubbles that would not go away. I knew the problem was completely my fault, so I pulled off the protector and installed a 2nd one that PureGear sent me. This time I rolled it in one continuous motion. I thought it had installed perfectly till I looked closely and noticed that t was not lined up correctly with the home button. Darn it! I emailed PureGear to tell them about my experiences and they agreed to send me another one.

That is a concern that you only get one shot to get the protector installed correctly. You won’t be able to peel it up and reseat it.

As they say, 3rd time is the charm. My last try was a complete success.

When you’re done, you’re left with a piece of plastic that you have to peel off.

You might notice that the dual roller looks different in this picture when compared to the earlier pictures. I think the new design may be based on the fact that people were having some issues with the protector not lining up correctly like I did on my 2nd try. This 3rd time it lined up just fine though.

Here is the finished product. No bubbles and perfectly lined up with the home button and the speaker at the top.The protector is slightly smaller than the display, meaning that it should work great with bumper cases.

If you click the image to zoom in, you might notice a couple spots along the very top edge. They disappeared after 24hrs leaving me with a perfectly protected display. The protector is made of an industrial strength film that has self healing technology. It feels smooth and looks clear.

Installing the PureGear PureTek Roll-On Screen Shield is easier and faster than any protector I’ve ever installed. As long as you pay attention to what you’re doing and don’t go too fast, you should end up with great results.

Update 2/9/12 – This morning after having the protector installed for 2 days, I noticed that there is a weird reflection issue when the display background is a light color. It sort of looks like thin vertical lines under the protector. This might be what some people refer to as a moire problem. I only noticed it when I went to send someone an text message. The background is a light Blue and I thought the screen had grease strikes on it. But, there’s nothing there. It’s very slightly distracting, but not horribly so. Unfortunately I can’t photograph the problem.

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Screen Protector

PureGear PureTek Roll-On Screen Shield Kit for iPhone 4/4S Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 8, 2012 at 3:58 pm.

Want to watch Television on your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android tablet ? Perhaps the Hauppauge Broadway is the solution for you. The Broadway connects between your TV source and home Wi-Fi network, converts the TV signal to be displayed on your mobile device, and sends the signal to your device via Wifi or the Internet.  The Broadway converts and compresses the live TV signal to Apple compatible h.264 video format or Flash when transmitted to Mac, PC or Android. It contains a tuner with support for cable and satellite set top boxes, ATSC over-the-air TV signals and unencrypted digital cable TV (clear QAM). You get full control of the TV channel selected via Broadway’s “IR-blaster” technology. In theory (and I’m guessing it would depend on link speeds and latency) you can also stream your favourite shows while abroad from your home to your tablet via the internet.

Available from the Hauppauge Store for $199.

Filed in categories: Android related, Audio, Video, TV Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Android, iPad, TV tuner

Hauppauge Broadway – Tellie on ya Tablet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Accessories can sometimes be just as important to us as the gadgets themselves. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m always on the lookout for a new favorite gear bag, wallet, writing instrument, phone case, etc. Lately I’ve been fixating on finding the perfect capacitive stylus that I can use for drawing and writing. When I came across the Adonit Jot Pro Stylus, I knew I had to try it. I actually purchased it with my own cash because I didn’t intend to review it. But after using it for a couple weeks I knew I had to share my experience. So here goes.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Over the years, I tried many capacitive styli with my iPad and Android tablets. With only a few exceptions, they’ve all been pretty similar. In the image above, you see the Jot Pro next to a Targus stylus. The Targus has a typical large rounded rubber tip. Although it works fine for writing and drawing, it’s less than optimal because it’s difficult to do really detailed work because it’s hard to see what you’re writing due to the large tip. The Jot Pro has a very unique tip which solves that problem very well.

First of all the Jot Pro is larger than the typical stylus. It’s more along the lines of a pen or mechanical pencil. It is 6 inches long and .375 inch in diameter. It’s also nicely weighted and balanced to give it a true pen-like feel.

The barrel is made of aluminum and is available in Black, Silver and Blue. A rubber grip around the bottom half of the barrel makes the stylus comfortable to use for long writing or drawing sessions.

It also has a magnet in the barrel that allows it to “stick” to your iPad.

I love love love that there’s a threaded cap that protects the stylus tip when it’s not being used and stores on the opposite end when it is in use.

Replacement caps are available in several colors for $6.00.

The tip of the Jot Pro is what sets it apart from the other capacitive styli I’ve reviewed. It looks like a finely tapered point with a plastic disc stuck to the end. But if you look really close, you’ll see that the tip is actually a tiny ball.

The transparent disc snaps on to the ball tip allowing it to swivel in a variety of angles.

The bottom of the disk has a thin layer of plastic, so you don’t have to worry that it will scratch your display. Replacement discs can be purchased at $8 for 2 discs.

The Jot Pro glides effortlessly on an unprotected display. However, it didn’t work well at all on a Pure Gear screen protector which I had on my iPhone. It felt sticky and wanted to drag across the screen. The Pure Gear protector is thicker and softer than other protectors I’ve used, so it’s possible that the Jot Pro might work just fine with other brands of screen protectors.

The swivel disc lets the stylus adapt to the way you hold it instead of you having to hold it in a certain way against the display.

The best thing about the Jot Pro is that you can see what you’re writing and drawing through the disc. It really makes a huge difference when drawing and allows for more detailed work. I also found that the Jot Pro is the first stylus that actually feels like a pen when writing. In addition to the Jot Pro, Adonit also offers a classic (does not have the rubber grip or magnet) for $19.99 and a Jot mini that has a pocket clip (no pricing on that one yet). Even more importantly, Adonit will be offering a pressure sensitive stylus soon that I’m really looking forward to try. The Jot Touch will allow for varying line thicknesses when drawing depending on how hard to press it against the screen.

The Adonit Jot Pro is my new favorite stylus. What is yours?

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Stylus

Adonit Jot Pro Stylus Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 2, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Gone are the days of snapping a picture and having it shoot out of the camera already printed and ready for sharing.  Digital cameras are great for snapping pictures, but you’ll have to wait until you have access to a computer to email them if you want to share them.  The new SC1630 Smart Camera Powered by Android from Polaroid gives you a digital camera with instant photo-sharing capabilities.  The SC1630 has a 16MP CCD sensor and 3X optical zoom, up to 32GB of storage with a microSD card, and a 3.2″ widescreen LCD touchscreen display.  There are 18 pre-defined scene modes to help you capture the perfect picture.  The camera has automatic face and smile detection, geo-tagging, color-correction, and cropping.  Smart features arrange the photos into albums by date, location, and people.  Because the camera is Android-powered, you’ll be able to instantly share your photos whenever you have a WiFi connection.  You can also connect to the Android Market with the Polaroid SC1630, so you’ll be able to choose from the 400,000 apps there to expand the function of your camera.  Polaroid hasn’t yet announced the price or availability of the SC1630.

Filed in categories: Android related, Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Digital Camera, Polaroid

Polaroid SC1630 Android-Powered Camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 1, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

Amazon introduced their first Kindle device back in 2007 when the dedicated eBook reader population was made up almost exclusively by Sony’s Reader line of products. The eReader population has grown to include more brands than I can count and in the last 5 years, we’ve seen the technology in this category evolve from e-Ink devices to readers with color LCDs. After several popular e-Ink Kindles, Amazon’s first color device is the Kindle Fire. Although it may look and act like a tablet, Amazon does not want you to compare the Fire to an iPad or dedicated Android tablet. They say the Fire is just a content consumption device for books, magazines, music and video.  Of course telling people not to compare their device to other tablets, will cause them to do the opposite. I’m going to take a look at this already very popular device and let you know what I think.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Hardware Specifications

Processor: 1Ghz Texas Instruments OMAP 4 dual-core processor
Operating System: Android
Display: 7″ multi-touch 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors
On-device Storage: 8GB internal (approximately 6GB available for user content)
Battery Life: Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content
Charge Time: Fully charges in approximately 4 hours via included U.S. power adapter. Also supports charging from your computer via USB
Connectivity: Wifi 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or enterprise networks with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks
USB Port: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector)
Audio: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers
Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8
Size (in inches): 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm)
Weight: 14.6 ounces (413 grams)

Included in the Box

Kindle Fire
U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V)
Quick Start Guide

Let me start out by showing you how the compares to the iPad 2 as far as device size. For me personally, a 10 inch display like the iPad’s is the sweet spot when it comes to web browsing and magazine reading. The smaller 7 inch display of the Fire is definitely great for portability, but it feels cramped when I’m using it for web browsing and viewing magazines. That said, I find the screen size of the Fire to be just fine for reading books, watching full screen video and playing games.

The Kindle Fire has a very spartan design. It’s available only in Black and you’ll find no flashy chrome trim, LED status lights or menu buttons on this device. Actually it has only one button… a tiny power button located on the bottom edge.

The front of the device has the display with a narrow bezel around all the edges.

The display is crisp and clear, with colors that are bright and vibrant. It’s not Samsung brilliant, but it’s still very nice. The image above does not do it justice. It’s very difficult to photography glossy color LCDs like the Fire.

The back of the Fire is made of a soft rubber like material that attracts smudges and grease.

Along the top edge are two speakers. Don’t expect to be able to hear audio in noisy environments. Even at max volume, it’s not very loud. In a small room, it works fine though.

On the bottom edge you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB connector for charging and the power button. That’s it. No dedicated volume buttons, microphone and no camera. These omissions definitely restrict the Fire from being considered a full fledged tablet since you’ll be unable to use it for Skype calls and other video chat type applications. The omissions do not end with the microphone and camera though. The Fire also does not include a flash memory card slot for file expansion and it lacks Bluetooth connectivity as well. The lack of Bluetooth means you will not be able to connect a wireless Bluetooth keyboard or headphones. The lack of a flash card slot isn’t a deal breaker since Amazon gives you free file storage in the cloud for all their content and the built in 8GB of memory (6GB available for user content) enables you to store 80 apps, 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books directly on the device.

In hand the Fire feels really solid. It feels like a slab of Lucite with no flexing, creaking or cracking. It’s comfortable to hold in your hand because the edges are rounded and the back has a slight grip to it.

User Interface

The Kindle Fire is powered by the Android operating system, with a highly modified front end.

The home screen uses a familiar bookshelf motif that consists of multiple shelves. The top shelf is a carrousel / cover flow style stack of icons of the latest accessed apps, books, music, videos and webpages. You can flip through the icons by dragging your finger across the stack. I don’t really like flipping through the icons because frequently I’ll tap an icon and nothing will happen or it will flip to the next icon in sequence and launch that one instead. You can add your own icons to the bottom shelf, which is designated to hold your favorite apps, books and magazines. If you add more than 4 favorites, a new shelf will be created to add more. Then the whole home screen will scroll up and down.

At the top of the screen is a search box that will allow you to search the content on your device. As you type a book title or app name, you’ll see a list of matching items that filters as you continue to type the search criteria. The search feature will not drill down into books though. It will only allow you to find items based on titles, authors and artists.

Below the search box is a navigation bar that takes you to the 7 areas on the device: Newsstand, Books, Music, Video, Docs, Apps and Web.

Like other Android devices, you can view your notifications by swiping down from the top left corner of the display. To access the volume slider and other hardware settings, you tap the little gear icon in the upper right corner.

You will also notice a Home icon and back arrow at the bottom of the display. This is a menu that isn’t static on the screen. You usually have to tap the screen to have it appear. I really prefer a dedicated home button (and volume buttons) of some sort on my devices.

Reading Books

Here we see the book area. You can view your library by cover art grid view…

Or display it as a list which shows the title and author. In list view it also shows a percentage of how much you’ve read for each book.

It would be great if there was a way to file books in named folders, but the only way to organize the book list is by author name, recently read or by title.

Notice the Device / Cloud button at the top of the display. You’ll find these buttons on the Books, Magazines and Apps pages. When you’re on the device tab, you’ll see the books, magazines and apps that have been installed directly on your device in the 8GB of built-in memory. The cloud on the other hand, is an online storage space for you to securely store and access all of your own personal content, from your own personal movies, mp3′s, documents, etc. You can access your “Cloud Drive” on Amazon from almost any device that can access the internet.

Your amazon account includes 5GB of free cloud storage. For $20 per year more, you get 20GB of storage space, plus unlimited space for your mp3 music files. If you need even more memory, there are additional paid plans.

Of course you can access Amazon’s store to browse and purchase books. You’ll need a WiFi connection though as the Fire does not include built in 3G connectivity like other Kindle devices.

I like the interface for the store a lot. It’s simple and easy to navigate. I always found the store on older (non-touch) Kindle’s to be a little tedious to use.

I love that you can download a free sample of a book that you’re interested in buying. The samples show up in your library with the rest of your books.

I found the book reading experience on the Kindle Fire to be enjoyable. I’m already very comfortable reading on devices with a color LCD as I do almost all my reading on an iPhone. I always switch the background to black and the letters to grey, but you can also have a white or sepia background.

When you’re reading there are no distractions on the screen. Just words.

To see the clock, you have to tap the center of the screen. Turning pages is accomplished by tapping the left or right side of the screen. You can select words or phrases for a definition. You’re also able to highlight and make annotations.

You can then view your notes and highlights for each book by clicking the menu button at the bottom of the display.

Reading Magazines

Reading magazines on a 7″ display isn’t a wonderful experience in my opinion because you can’t easily read the magazine pages as intended due to the screen size.

The Fire’s magazine reading interface does offer a solution to that problem by allowing you to toggle into a Text Mode. If you look at the image above on the Left, that’s the normal magazine page. In order to comfortably read the small text, I have to zoom in. But if I toggle to Text mode as seen above on the Right, the article text is reformatted in more of a book style. Pictures are still shown and you can even search text. However, you can’t annotate, highlight or bookmark pages in magazines.

FYI: turning the Fire into landscape view makes things worse. It shows 2 magazine pages side by side with even tinier text.

Listening to Music

The music player on the Fire isn’t overly fancy. It has the necessary features to get the job done. Just remember, that the max audio output from the built-in speakers is pretty low and the Fire does not have dedicated volume buttons. The music player has a volume slider right on the screen though.

You can use the music player to stream music stored in your cloud drive. But of course, you’ll need to have a wifi connection to do so.

Watching Video

The Fire comes with a free month of Amazon Prime service. Amazon Prime gives you free 2 day shipping on tons of products and unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost along with newer movies and TV shows that can be rented or purchased. For example, right now you can rent The Help for $1.99 for 48hrs. Or buy episodes of The Vampire Diaries for $1.99.

I did cartwheels (ok, not really…) when I saw that the original Star Trek episodes were available for free. I watched the very first episode, which I had somehow managed to have never seen. The episode streamed perfectly with no hiccups, pausing or stuttering.

It’s important to note that the Prime Instant Videos are streaming only. So you’ll need a Wifi connection to enjoy them. However, rented movies and purchased TV shows can be downloaded so that you can view them even when you’re offline.

Apps

The Kindle Fire is powered by Android, but you will not be able to access the standard app market with this device. You’ll only be able to use Amazon’s own appstore, which is a bit of a bummer considering that Amazon’s appstore does not include all the apps that the app market has to offer.

Don’t get me wrong, Amazon offers a very good selection of apps and even offers a paid app for free each day. But I hate not having it all. I’m greedy. One example of an app that I’d like to install on the Fire which is not included in Amazon’s appstore is the official Gmail app.

The good news is that there’s an email app included on the Fire. I set it up to connect to my Gmail account. Yay right? Well… not really. The app is ok for reading and responding to messages.

In portrait mode you can thumb type.

Or kinda touch type on a very cramped keyboard when in landscape orientation. But here’s the bad news… you can’t connect to your gmail/google contacts. What is up with that? Grrrr…

Good news again… you can use the Fire’s web browser to access your Gmail and your contacts.

Web Browsing

Browsing my favorite sites on the Fire is an ok experience. It’s not nearly as comfortable as browsing on the iPad due to the screen size though. You can browse in tabbed mode as shown above.

Or full screen mode, which gives you a few extra lines per screen.

In landscape mode, it’s much easier to read the text, but you have to scroll more often.

Browsing on a small screen can also cause frustrations when tapping links when they are small and next to each other. A lot of times you’ll need to zoom in so that you can tap accurately. I don’t know how many times I tried to tap something and would end up tapping an adjacent link and then have to press the back button.

Book marks can be viewed by thumbnail or list.

One of the touted gee whiz features of the Fire is this new web page loading technology called Amazon Silk. According to Amazon, it’s supposed to be a revolutionary Cloud-Accelerated “Split Browser” that dramatically improves web page loading times. Unfortunately, I really haven’t noticed it being any quicker than surfing on my iPad. If anything, it actually feels SLOWER to me. I wanted to do some speed test with my favorite Speedtest app, but guess what? It’s not in the Amazon market and my attempts to sideload it failed.

Another weirdness I noticed is that some flash based sites like CNN’s video pages, prompted me to install the latest Flashplayer and thought the Fire was an OSX device. Of course trying to install it didn’t work.

I had the same issue with Hulu.com. Android fans always brag about being able to load flash enabled sites but it feels hit or miss to me. I never really notice the lack of flash on my iPad because I don’t visit many (any?) flash enabled sites.

Performance

Changing from screen to screen, app to app, loading books, magazines, etc, all feels snappy. The Kindle Fire has a dual core processor, so it’s not laggy by any means. The only lag I can really complain about is with the web browser. I’m not the only one complaining, so I’m hoping and expect Amazon will improve the tech behind Amazon Silk.

Battery Life

No complaints here at all. Battery life is great. I can get days and days of use out of the Fire before needing to charge. Granted, I don’t watch many videos or surf for long periods of time using this device.

Conclusion

The Kindle Fire is already a wildly popular device because of its sub $200 price tag and Amazon’s brand reputation. The reasons why I like the Fire are its price, compact size, nice display, snappy performance and good battery life. The reasons why I don’t like this device are the lack of 3G, Bluetooth, dedicated volume and menu buttons, laggy web browser and no access to Google’s app market or core apps (Gmail, Calendar, etc.). I understand that this is Amazon’s first “tablet” device, so I’m cutting them some slack and am hoping that that future models will address at least some of these deficiencies.

I don’t consider the Amazon Kindle Fire to be a real tablet.  But it will be many people’s first taste of Android and using a tablet style device. I think this device is causing ripples in the tablet market which will benefit all of us. Even an iPad fan like myself.

Filed in categories: Android related, eBook Readers and Gear, Featured Items, Reviews, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Android, ereader, Kindle, Tablet

Amazon Kindle Fire Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 31, 2012 at 11:10 am.

Verizon announced a new DROID RAZR that is available on January 26th. I have often commented that I wished manufacturers would stop with the thin obsession, and focus on battery life, and they finally listened to me. OK, so probably not to me, but still, I like this change.

The RAZR MAXX is only 8.99 mm thick vs. its thin cousin the RAZR at 7.1mm. But for that modest 1.89 mm you go from a 1780 mAh battery to a 3300 mAh battery. They claim you will get more than 21 hours straight on a single charge, and this is a 4G LTE phone. See more specs after the jump.

The Specs:

• 8.99 mm thick (I assume this is at its thinnest like the RAZR)
• 3300 mAh battery rated for 21 hours straight on a single charge
• Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor
• 4G LTE (Mobile Hotspot capable)
• 2.3.5 Gingerbread, upgradable to Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 8-megapixel rear-facing camera
• 1080p HD video capture and image stabilization technology for crisp and clear videos
• Front-facing HD camera for video chat
• 32 GB memory – 16 GB on-board memory and 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed (actual formatted capacity is less)

This is a very interesting update, and highlights what I really like about the Android eco-system, the ability to choose from an array of options that best meets your needs. If you are willing to sacrifice a little thickness (and I assume weight) you can get a 4G capable phone that can consistently last the entire day.

You can check out the entire press release on Verizon’s site.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: 4g, Motorola, razr, verizon

Droid RAZR MAXX Announced originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 26, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Extreme is right!  The Monaco Extreme Charge Car Power Adapter, simply put, is the best money you’re going to spend for car charger.  And you’re not going to spend that much. WirelessGround sent one of these chargers to The Gadgeteer for review, and you’ll find that their price of $14.95 isn’t going to break the bank. You can pay more and you will do worse.

If you’re anything like me, you’re running low on juice for ALL of your electronics.  You see, I’m not a nerd, I don’t even play one on TV.  But I love them.  I love nerds, geeks, smarty pants…whatever you want to call them.  Some girls like rogues who speak in flowery (read: B.S) words.  I like a guy who can sing the Periodic Table of Elements to me.  What can I say…I’m weird like that.

But for all my quirks, I just don’t recharge my toys with the same fervor as say…my husband the software engineer.  For him, everything gets plugged in at night before bed religiously.  Like brushing his teeth, he plugs in his laptop, tablet, phone, Sprint Overdrive…whatever…if it’s electronic and he needs it to get 3 to 4G coverage, it’s plugged in at night.   So you can imagine his consternation when I get into the car and my phone is dead or my laptop is powered at 15% or I just don’t get that the Overdrive needs to charge.

The Monaco Extreme is the Bang for your Buck that you’re looking for.  At 3.1 amps (2.1 and 1.0 respectively for the two USB outlets), you will charge and charge fast, and you can charge two devices at the same time.  If you’re like me…you’ve got electronic devices running on fumes.  You want that second port.  You NEED that second port.

Your 2.1 AMP port is going to charge your tablets, iPads etc., while your 1.0 AMP port will charge smart phones, iPods, iPhones etc.  Totally compatible with just about everything.  ”Compatible with the (but not limited to) Apple iPad, Apple iPad 2, Apple iPhone, Apple iPhone 3G, Apple iPhone 3GS, Apple iPhone 4, Apple iPhone 4 (White), Apple Verizon iPhone 4, Apple iPhone 4S, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices and other USB supported smartphones, tablets and devices.”   No kidding.   It’s sleek, it’s sweet, it’s inexpensive, and it just works.

Easily in the Power Outlet in your automobile. No fussing around.

In the photo just above, notice my power outlet with the Monaco Extreme Car Charge Power Adapter plugged in. (And please look past the obvious need to vacuum my SUV.)   And let’s face it, those of us who run TeleNav or other GPS applications from our smartphones know full well what a juice suck those apps are.  It helps to have a cool charger with 3.1 AMPS to power up your gear when you’re mobile.

It’s normally priced at $29.95 but theWireless Ground currently has them priced at 50% off.  I’d stock up.

Filed in categories: Android related, Car Gear, Reviews

Tagged: car gear, USB charger

Monaco 3.1 AMP Extreme Charge Car Power Adapter Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 25, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Power, storage and access are the holy trinity of the geek. We cannot have too much access to the Internet, too much storage (digital or physical, for our gadgets) or too many different ways to get powered up. While USB seems to be well on its way to powering everything from GPS units to phones to wrist watches, it’s still difficult to carry enough battery power around to recharge your gear if you’ve left the grid or your laptop behind. Choiix has a line of power devices that are designed to this exact market: small, light, nicely priced, and, most important, very powerful. As a test item, Coolermaster sent me the Choiix Power Fort 5600 in white, which is a rechargeable 5600 mAh brick a little smaller than a deck of cards or a pack of smokes, yet able to recharge your iPhone, iPod, Droid, GPS, flip phone, or just about anything else that you’d usually charge through your computer’s USB port. It’s even capable of charging the iPad, which takes 10 watts, rather than the usual 5 watts most standard USB ports deliver.

Tiny, but powerful, the Choiix Power Fort can fit into almost any small space in your gear bag.

On one side edge of the device is a micro-USB port, and on the opposite edge, a full USB port. The top is a glossy plastic (white or black is available) with a brushed metallic button in the center. Off to one side from this button is a band in the same brushed finish with 4 blue LEDs. All sides except the glossy top are clad with a grippy material. This is helpful if you’re fumbling around in your bag for it, because once you get into your mind where the top is, you’ll know where the power port is, even in the dark.

Full-sized USB port accepts just about anything that can be powered from USB. Note the rubbery texture of the back and sides.

Four LEDs show status when charged, or when charging.

When you press the button for a few seconds, It will display your available power. When charging (through the micro-USB port) the buttons blink as the battery fills up, with the “full” amount staying lit and the next blinking. To go from one, single blinking LED to four solid ones takes about an hour using my iPad charger. I never noticed any loss of charge unless I actually used it to charge something. This is important in this type device, because the usual use case is filling it up, tossing it into your bag or pocket, and only pulling it out if you need to charge something. If you had to continually monitor it’s power level, even if you never used it, that would seriously impact the convienence factor, or it being ready when you need it.

During testing, I invited many friends to “power up” while at lunch or out after work. I saw every phone go from being “in the red” to completely or nearly full in every case. Usual time for, say, an iPhone 4 at 20% was 40-50 minutes to get into the 80% range. That’s a nice bump when you’re facing the prospect of a long drive home and have forgotten to top-off during the day.

Take a look at the above chart I grabbed from the Choiix web page to get an idea of the extended use time this little box can deliver: 6 extra hours for a tablet, 28 more for your smartphone, and 172 more on your MP3 player. They may be a little on the high side (all those times are listed as “up to”, remember), but they are not far from reality, at least from my experience thus far.

As I’m writing this (on my iPad in Evernote), I’m in a park on a biking weekend in Savannah, GA, with my iPhone charging in my saddlebag. The iPad power adapter, iPad, iPhone, and Power Fort are all I brought with me for the 2.5 days I’ll be gone, and between wifi in the motel and cafes, and great 3G coverage on my phone, I’ve not felt cut off in the least. I’ve done other trips with similar equipment, and always felt a little fearful that I’ll not be close to power and will thus run shy somewhere. With the Power Fort, I think that’s behind me. I hope so, anyway.

So, are there any drawbacks? Maybe a few. The microUSB port that is used for charging is one of those that make it difficult to tell which way you plug it in. Over time, I’m wondering if it will become worn out from me trying to plug in, realizing that it’s at the wrong orientation, and then putting it in correctly. Once you’re in the right orientation, it fits fine, but those connectors are so easy to get wrong, I wish companies would stop supporting it. The miniUSB connector is more obviously trapezoidal, so less prone to this issue, but that’s not the fault of Choiix, except in using what I feel is a poor standard. There are worse ones on the market. (Regular USB, I’m looking at you!)

I hate these tiny micro-USB ports. They are easy to plug in wrong.

Another drawback is the lack of a clear “charging” mode. When you plug something in the full-sized USB port, you then have to hold down the button on top, next to the level LEDs, and then it will start charging your device. And it will keep on feeding power at that rate, until you either unplug it or hit the button again. It would be nice if you could plug it in and it would auto-charge until the device was full, then stop charging. On more than one occasion during initial testing, I accidentally just left it plugged in, and ran the Power Fort down, while the device had been fully charged for hours. Once you learn that it’s manual, you know to keep checking, but it’s irritating. Maybe the lack of auto detect power metering is one of the things that keeps the price reasonable.

Something I’d like to see: a ”play-through” feature, where you can power another device through the USB port while you’re charging the Power Fort. It doesn’t do it right now, but it would sure be nice to recharge both the Power Fort and your iPad or whatever at the same time. Otherwise, you have to have more than one adapter, and more than one available outlet.

All things considered, the Choiix Power Fort is much more asset than liability. At $40, it’s half the price of many of the similar devices on the market. I’ve not tested any other USB chargers, but have loads of friends and customers who have, and I’ve not heard good things from many of them. Mophie’s Juice Pack series gets good reviews for an integrated case/battery charger (I reviewed one for my iPhone 3G and loved it!), but their power units that would compare with the Power Fort are nowhere as cheap or powerful.

Included in the package is the Power Fort, a USB cable that will work for recharging, a miniUSB cable, and a velveteen drawstring bag that will hold all items. Also included is a whale of a lot of peace of mind for the roaming gadget user. Four and a half stars.

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews, Tablet Computers and Gear, Travel Gear

Tagged: External battery

Choiix Power Fort 5600 Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 23, 2012 at 11:00 am.

The SmartWatch is part of Sony‘s Smart Extras for their Xperia smartphones.  The SmartWatch connects to an Android phone via Bluetooth and shows you information about incoming calls, and lets you see emails, weather, Twitter and Facebook updates, and even the time.  You can even control music playback with the SmartWatch.  It has a clip like the one on Apple’s iPod nano, so you can clip it onto your bag’s strap.  Or you can buy one of Sony’s optional watchbands, available in several colors, and wear it on your arm.  It  fits on any 20mm watch strap, if you have one you already like.  The SmartWatch doesn’t have a speaker or headphone jack, but you can listen to the music on your smartphone with a Bluetooth headset.  You can even buy apps for the SmartWatch from the Android Market.  The SmartWatch should be available in Q1 of 2012.  The Sony website doesn’t show a price yet.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: Android accessory, Watch

Sony’s SmartWatch Accessory for Android Phones originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 20, 2012 at 10:00 am.

There aren’t a lot of speaker docks designed specifically for Android smartphones because of the sheer number of different styles.  However, if you have an Android phone with microUSB and 3.5mm audio connectors, you can amplify your music with the speaker and control playback and volume with the included remote and the free SONR app.  The Universal Speaker Dock for Android from Digital Innovations works with most any Android phone.  (See the first link for a list of supported phones.)  The dock supports the phone in either landscape or portrait orientation, and it charges it, too.  The dock delivers 2.1 stereo sound with 6W from the two speakers and 10W from the subwoofer.  It’s $99.99 and can be purchased directly from Digital Innovations or from ThinkGeek.

Filed in categories: Android related, Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Android, Docking speakers

Speaker Dock with Remote for Android Phones originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 19, 2012 at 9:17 am.

The Magic-Pro iGoGo TV box is powered by Android 2.3.1, so you’ll be able to enjoy Android apps – internet surfing, movie watching, and games – directly on your big HDTV.  iGoGo TV has an ARM Cortex-A8 1GHz processor and 512MB DDR3 and 4GB NAND flash inside, and you can add even more memory with microSDHC cards and USB external hard drives or flash drives.  It supports 1080P Full HD video decoding for most video formats, and it connects to your HD TV with an HDMI output port (1920 x 1080p).  It also has a built-in 2MP webcam and a microphone for video calling.  It has a 2.4GHz RF Air Mouse remote control, with an optional upgrade to 2.4GHz RF Air Mouse + Keyboard, for optimal surfing and gaming.  The iGoGo TV is $188 at Pyramid Distribution.

Filed in categories: Android related, Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Android TV

Magic-Pro iGoGo TV Android TV-Box with Built-in Webcam & Mic originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 16, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

We had a good Christmas season at our house this year, electronics wise! A combination of events from price drops and clearances to unexpected cash meant that my wife and I both ended up with a tablet. She got a white 16GB iPad2, and I got a 32GB Toshiba Thrive AT105 10″ tablet. (I am not a big Apple fan but my wife is a professor of education and iPads are already deeply integrated into education, so it was a logical choice for her.)

Maybe you’ve read other reviews for this tablet- after all, it has been out for some time. If so, the over-all impression you probably got was that it was a good performer, and well-priced, but a bit clunky both in size and in power. What are my impressions?

In the interest of full disclosure, I was hoping this would be a review of the ASUS TF-201 Prime tablet and dock. That was the machine I was researching and hoping to get. When we got to the store to get my wife’s iPad, however, they only had a demo unit available. It blew me away but I would have to wait some time before it shipped. Bummer. Combine that with the already worrisome price tag – $600 for the 64GB machine and $150 for the dock. I was also wondering if maybe a Chromebook might be a better choice for me after having a chance to play with one.

Anyway, we were in the clearance section of the store hoping to score a cheap iPad cover to get us started, when I noticed a few tablets boxed up in the section… including the same iPad we were getting ready to buy for about $100 off! As my wife got more info on the iPad from the sales staff, I looked at the Android tablets. Most were the ‘off-brand’ units, or 7″ screens, but one was a 32Mb, 10″ Toshiba Thrive, which had not been on my radar much before. The price was nice – $379 for the 32GB version – about $100 less than the new models a few yards away were selling for. Hmmm!

My main screen (Beautiful Widgets for time and weather)

Most of the specs are pretty nice:

• Android 3.2 Honeycomb (no word currently on when the Android 4 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ will be coming out as an upgrade for this unit.)
• 10.1″ high-resolution screen, 1280×800, 16:10 aspect ratio, wide viewing angle (iPad2 – 1024×768)
• 1GHz Dual-Core Mobile Processor with NVIDIA GeForce graphics (iPad2 – also 1GB Dual Core)
• 1GB DDR 2 RAM and 32GB storage
• 5MB main camera with flash and auto-focus, 2MB forward camera with microphone
• Stereo speakers (with pretty decent volume and quality)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
• 23Wh Prismatic lithium ion battery with up to 11 hours per charge
• Ports and jacks (get ready for this): full-size HDMI, full-size USB, micro-USB, proprietary dock (all behind port covers), full-size SD card slot, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, power jack
• Sensors: gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor, GPS, digital compass
• Hard buttons or controls for power, volume, screen rotation, and back cover lock. LEDs for charging, connectivity, and notifications.
• Textured, ‘Easy Grip’ back cover that can be replaced for customization
• 10.75 inches x 6.97 inches x 0.62 inches, 1.6 pounds. A bit of a heavy-weight compared to the iPad2′s 9.5″ x 7.31″ x 0.34″ and 1.33lbs
• MSRP of $480 (iPad2 32GB’s $600)
• In the box: tablet, AC charging cord (2-pin AC cord, ‘brick’ and power cord), mini-USB cable, manual, other documentation
• Software includes several Google apps, several Toshiba apps, and several 3rd party apps. A lot of it is bloatware. Some of it is actually kind of neat, but there is almost always a better app available. Complete list here.
• Rootable, even though they keep trying to prevent it with some of the updates. There is also a good forum dedicated to the device, with a sub-forum on up-to-date rooting directions.

Compared to most other newish Android tablets, this thing is a little thick, a bit heavy, and rather slow. The camera is nothing special. However, it does a perfectly competent job on the main tablet jobs- video, music, web, basic games, ebooks, etc.

Side view- charging port, headphone jack, USB, HDMI, mini-USB

'Top' edge- SD cart slot, rotation lock, volume, power

'Bottom' edge with speakers and dock port. Samsung Epic shown for comparison- it is actually a tad thicker!

While it is a bit bigger than the top end units, it feels comfortable to hold. The ‘Easy Grip’ is lightly rubberized and ribbed so it feels good in your hands and you feel like you have a good grip on it. OK, holding it up in bed one-handed and such is a bit more tiring than holding an iPad would be, but I just use my cell phone for that sort of thing.

I am not going to worry much about speed specs and so on. This is an older tablet and there are lots of reviews that touch on things like that. Besides, it is a ‘full-featured’, but ‘low-end’ unit, so the numbers are not that impressive. What I would like to look at are the interesting aspects of this tablet.

First, since it has a full-sized USB port, it takes thumb drives! They need to be configured for FAT, but the file manager can copy files, media, etc. to and from the drive quickly.  So far, I have not had any luck getting it to read my Cirango 250Gb drive, but the exFAT formatting may be the issue. It also reads SD cards as easily as the slot in my laptop does.

Maybe your tablet does this as well, but I have not seen it mentioned before – the Toshiba keyboard has a microphone button so you can voice input instead of typing! It certainly is not perfect – it got my name and address right, but the phrase “I own four tortoises” came out as ‘iPhone4 work’, but it is pretty interesting and potentially helpful for transcriptions, interviews, and people with disabilities. I know there are apps that do this, but so far the native ability works better than any app I have tried.

Still working on using an external portable keyboard. There are several on the market that work with it, but I have a $70 Freedom Pro folding Bluetooth keyboard that works nicely with my Samsung Epic Smartphone (because it can do Bluetooth HID or SPP support, and many Android devices need SPP) that I am trying to connect. I have read that it can be done, so I probably just need to re-install a driver or something.

Connecting to the computer via the mini-USB was effortless, as was connecting to Wi-Fi and syncing to my Google accounts. Overall, the start up process was pretty dang painless.

This site shows up great, even in portrait mode

I have already seen the benefits of tablets at work, for fun, as a productivity tool in meetings, and more. As soon as I get the keyboard working, I may never tote my laptop anywhere again, and my smartphone may stay in my pocket most of the time!

I do have a short wish list for it, however. I wish it had a built-in kickstand, like the HTC EVO 4G has. That little feature was such a handy element. I know that most cases do this for you, but I really wish it had it already. I wish the power button was a bit easier to find. It almost lines up with the charging LED, but there is little sign of where to press when you look at the front of the tablet. Many other reviews touch on the idea that the camera is located where your fingers try to go – that would be nice to fix as well.

It also suffers the typical Android tablet lament – lots of smartphone apps do not like the size or processor. However, I have seen lots of reviews that suggest the issue is even worse for the newer processors, so that is another small benefit of the late adopter! My favorite games are generally board, card, and dice games that play nicely on the Thrive, even if a few are a bit stretched or pixelated. I don’t do many games that demand a lot from the machine, but things like AirAttackHD play just fine.

Would I rather have gotten the Prime? Well, sure! It is newer, sleeker, faster, brighter, etc. – but with the dock to get about the same functionality as the Thrive, I would have had to spend about $650 to do what I am now able to do for under $440 (once I get the Bluetooth keyboard working.) Plus I get the benefits of the slow adopter – reduced prices, established support community, known bugs and work-arounds, less expensive and widely available accessories, etc. The dock is available on Amazon for under $15, backs can be had for under $4, and several cases are available for less than $20.

So… want something with more ‘oomph’ than a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet? Not ready to spend more than a good laptop for a new tablet? OK with something a bit older, thicker, and slower? The Toshiba Thrive may be your tablet!

Filed in categories: Android related, Reviews, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Android tablet, tablet computer

Toshiba Thrive AT105-T1032 10.1″ Android Tablet Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 16, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Chinon has introduced two new Android tablets.  The SWIFT7 (left) has a Cortex-A8 Core 1.2GHz processor with 512MB DDR3 processing memory, 4GB of storage space, and a 7.0 inch 800×600 LCD (4:3 ratio) with a capacitive touchscreen.  The SWIFT10 (right) has a Cortex-A8 Core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB DDR3 processing memory, 8GB of internal storage, and a 9.7 inch IPS 1024×768 LCD (4:3) with a 10-point capacitive multi-touch panel.  Both models run Android 2.3 Gingerbread with an Android 3.0 look-alike UI, and both have microSD slots for memory expansion, USB connectivity, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, and 3G connectivity through an external USB modem (EVDO/WCDMA/TD-SCDMA), not included.  With the tablets, you’ll be able to view your pictures, read ebooks, watch videos, listen to music, and surf the internet.  Both models can be pre-ordered at Chinon; the SWIFT7 is $159.99, and the SWIFT10 is $279.99.

Filed in categories: Android related, News, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Android tablet

SWIFT7 and SWIFT10 Android Tablets from Chinon originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 14, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Android fans have been eagerly waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus because it is the first device on the market powered by Android 4.0. Otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich, this new version of Android merges the tablet (Honeycomb) and smartphone (Gingerbread) versions of Google’s popular OS into one version that will be used across both types of devices. I was lucky enough to get my hands on this phone for a few days, so let’s take a look at one of Verizon’s latest Android smartphone.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Before I begin, I will mention that I do not live in or very close to an area with 4G LTE coverage. I was only able to test the phone with a 3G connection.

Hardware Specs

OS: Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
CPU: 1.2GHz Dual-Core Processor
Memory Internal: 32GB
Carrier: Verizon
Network: CDMA/PCS/1xEVDO Rev. A: 800/1900 MHz,LTE: 700 MHz
Data Speed: LTE, EVDO Rev. A
Display: HD Super AMOLED™ 4.65” contoured display, 1280×720 pixels
Rear-facing Camera: 5.0 MP
Front-facing Camera: 1.3 MP
Bluetooth
WiFi
Battery: Lithium Ion, 1850mAh
Battery Standby 150 hours (6.25 days), Talk Time (hours) Up to 12 hours
Dimensions: 5.33” x 2.67” x 0.37” inches
Weight: 5.1 ounces

As you can see from the image above, the Nexus is a big boy when you compare it to an iPhone 4S. Although it is a large device, it doesn’t feel or look out of place when used as a phone.

The Nexus has a gorgeous 1280×720 resolution display that is bright and crisp. It has vivid colors but isn’t cartoonish like other Samsung Android phones that we’ve seen in the past. The 4.65 inch display takes up almost the entire front surface of the phone. A strip at the bottom of the display is devoted to 3 (and sometimes 4) touch sensitive buttons. From Left to Right, the buttons are Back, Home and Task Switcher. When appropriate, a 4th button will appear on the Right that has three small vertical square blocks. This is the Menu button.

While the phone is in idle with the display turned off, there is a status LED that will slowly pulse when there’s a new email, text message or you’ve missed a call.

Above the display is the front facing camera.

The back of the Nexus has the camera lens and LED flash. It’s a little disappointing that Samsung opted to use a 5mp camera instead of an 8mp camera which seems to be the norm these days. That said, the camera captures decent pics and is crazy fast with no shutter lag whatsoever.

The back of the phone has a thin piece of flexible plastic that is easily removed to reveal the battery compartment and 4G LTE SIM card slot. In my short time with this phone, I found battery life to typical in that I would need to charge the phone once a day with light to normal use. It’s tough for me to offer concrete data about battery life since I’ve only been using this phone in an area with 3G and absolutely no 4G coverage. In my experience with other smartphones, I would say that the Nexus used power slightly quicker than HTC Rezound that I tested last.

You’ll notice that the Nexus does not have a microSD card slot. That’s a bit of a bummer, but the phone does have 32GB of storage, which makes the lack of a flash card slot less painful.

If you look closely at the side of the Nexus, you’ll see that the display is slightly curved. Samsung claims that this will make the phone more comfortable against your cheek when you’re on a call. Hmmm… I don’t know about you, but I’ve never noticed my flat phones as being uncomfortable against my face.

The Left side of the phone has the volume rocker button which has good tactile feedback and sticks up high enough that your thumb tip can easily find it when you’re on a phone call.

On the opposite side you’ll find the Power button and electrical contacts for an optional dock.

On the bottom edge is a micro USB connector for charging and connecting to your computer. You’ll also find the microphone and headphone jack.

I had a rude awakening when I plugged the Nexus into my iMac to transfer some files and found that the phone does not support the USB mass storage feature that I’ve been accustomed to using with every Android phone that I’ve owned over the years. At first I thought it was Android 4.0′s fault because it uses the MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) file transfer standard which is plug and play compatible with Windows machines, but not OS X machines.

In order to transfer files to and from the Nexus with my iMac, I had to install a special file manager app. Bleh! After a bit of research, I came to learn that it’s not exactly Android 4.0′s fault. Other 4.0 devices will support USB mass storage. The reason that the Galaxy Nexus does not support USB mass storage is because it does not include a microSD slot. As long as an Android 4.0 device has a removable flash card, it will support USB mass storage.

In hand, the Galaxy Nexus is comfortable to hold due to the rounded sides. Although the phone is light weight, it is solid and easily passes my patent pending gadgeteer squeeze test with no flexing, creaking or cracking. It’s a big phone though, so it’s not really pocket friendly.

Performance wise, this phone is very snappy. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since one of the best things about the Nexus is that it hasn’t been “polluted” with a lot of carrier bloatware and interface special sauce like HTC’s Sense and Motorola Blur.

Let’s take a look at a few of the new features that Android 4.0 offers.

The default lock screen isn’t too different, but you do have the option to use the front facing camera and your own face to unlock the phone. It’s kind of fun to play with and worked well for me. It falls back to a pattern matching unlock screen if the stored face isn’t recognized.

The app view scrolls left to right instead of up and down. In the image above you can see all the stock apps.

Here is the 2nd page of apps minus the Tiny Tower and Where’s My Water games that I installed. There are only two apps that have been added by Verizon and if you don’t want to see them you can actually disable them. Disabling does NOT uninstall them though, it just removes them from the app view. But, I was happy to see that Android 4.0 offers easier app removal now. Instead of having to go into the settings/applications area to uninstall an app, you can just tap and hold the icon for the uninstall option.

Also added to the app view are your available widgets. You can scroll through them just like you can your apps.

There is also a button in the top right corner for quick access to the App Market.

Here we see the dialer interface.

Your favorites dialing screen reminds me of the Windows 7 phone interface.

I didn’t have any issues using the Galaxy Nexus to make and receive calls. I’ve read that it can have problems with 3G connectivity, but I didn’t find that to be the case during the time I’ve been using the phone. In my area, 3G coverage is very good, so I rarely experience problems with dropped calls and the Nexus was no different in that regard. Call audio was clear and volume was very good even when I made calls from my basement with only 1 bar signal strength.

Browsing the web on the Nexus is a joy. My iPhone feels pretty cramped after using the Nexus! The browser feels pretty snappy too… even under 3G.

Another cool feature that I haven’t been able to test because I don’t know anyone else with a Nexus is the new Beam feature.  It will let you easily share contacts, websites, apps, maps, directions and YouTube videos with other people close by. The phone has NFC (near field communication) and when held near another NFC enabled Android 4.0 phone you can touch to beam and share. It kind of reminds me of the good old days when you could beam contacts and even apps back and forth to Palm OS devices.

All in all, I like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus quite a bit. If I were in the market for an Android phone right now, it would be the one I would probably buy even though it lacks a microSD card and I would have to deal with the annoying lack of the USB mass storage feature. Except for those 2 things, I love the huge display, snappy performance and quick camera. It’s definitely the phone to have right now due to the latest version of the OS and pure Android goodness.

Filed in categories: Android related, Featured Items, Reviews

Tagged: Android, Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Smartphone Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 13, 2012 at 11:00 am.

You’ve probably seen these little robotic rabbits before; they were introduced a few years ago with the name Nabaztag.  Violet is introducing a new version at CES that has all the cute and more smarts.  The new Karotz is the first hardware device made especially for Facebook, and it can update your status with audio files it records, texts, or photos.  Friends can take control of your Karotz and use its integrated webcam to see what it sees, send you a message or audio file, send a poke, or move the rabbit’s ears or change the color of its light to get your attention.  It has advanced voice recognition and can respond to questions and search the internet to find answers, and it can play music, check for new emails, read the weather report, RSS feeds, tweets, and more.  Some accessories available for the Karotz have RFID tags, so the rabbit can recognize when your child gets home and send you an email to let you know.  The free Karotz Controller app is available now in the Android Market or in Apple’s App Store.  Karotz are available at Karotz.com and the Amazon, Brookstone, J&R, Computerworld, and ThinkGeek websites for $129.99 MSRP.

Filed in categories: Android related, Geek Toys, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Internet Appliance, RFID

Violet Launches Karotz Smart Rabbit That’s Compatible with Social Networks originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Disclaimer 1: Rooting can have a difference connotation down here in Australia and I’m not sure if it means the same thing in other countries. This article has nothing to do with the Aussie colloquial term  

I literally fell into being an Android fanboi. After a raft of Sharp data organisers, Palm devices and then Windows Mobile PDA and phones, I quickly needed to get a new phone. I don’t turn my phones over quickly, I’m not a “must have the latest” kinda person as long as the device is still doing the job (can I really call myself a Gadgeteer? ). My intention was a new Winmob phone ( V6.5  at the time)  but all the Winmob phones offered by my carrier were too big  (4.3″ screen) and because of that I ended up with an Android based Froyo HTC Desire (3.7″ screen) not because of  the Android but because of the size.  Like all good Gadgeteers from there my research began as Android was new to me at the time (does this redeem me?).  Well you can’t research Android without coming across rooting your device so I thought I’d put this quick article together about what exactly is rooting and why would you do it ?

Disclaimer 2: Rooting will generally void any manufacturer warranty and can potentially brick your device. If you are not comfortable with the procedure and not willing to take the risk then please do not attempt. 

The term rooting comes from the old Unix days where the Super User account (SU) had root access to all the files, i.e. access to the files from the root directory up, so basically administrator rights in Windows terms. On a standard Android device you’ll only have access to some files, which limits your control over a number of variables and functions. The procedure for rooting an Android device can be as easy as downloading and running an app on your device or may be be a multi-stepped process.  For all those Apple folks out there this is the equivalent of Jailbreaking your Apple device (or at least as close as a comparison as you can get when you talk Apple v Android ).

This article is not intended as a how-to tutorial but as a list of some of the advantages you can get from rooting your Android device.

Remove OEM Bloatware:

Many manufacturers and carriers will have customised ROMs on their devices. These often include applications that THEY think would be useful to you or are useful to them by say pushing traffic through them.  These applications may take up valuable storage space, or stay active in memory using up valuable resources.  The apps are normally written into the protected areas and can’t be uninstalled as they are system apps.   To the left is a picture of the typical bloatware found on an Australian Telstra Android phone ( in this case they’re actually only shortcuts ). Rooting gives you the ability to remove or freeze these.

Backup and Restore your Entire System:

Backup programs for non-rooted devices only have access to user accessible areas of apps and data.   Having root access will give you access to all areas on your device and allow you to make  ”bare metal” rebuild images.  Where is this useful ?  Let’s say a manufacturer ships out an Over The Air (OTA) system update to you that makes your device unusable. If you have a “bare metal” image then you can just go back to your last working version and not apply the system update until it’s stable.

Run Custom Roms:

Since the release of the Nexus G1, the Android ROM community has grown and grown and there’s a plethora of “cooks” out there baking custom ROMs for almost all Android Devices. Alternate ROMs can be anything from hacked OEM ROMs to ROMs built from the ground up.  These ROMs will typically incorporate things that will speed up your device and add functionality not found in the OEM ROMs.  Of course the ability to backup and restore your entire system means that you can easily try different ROMs and easily go back to the one you like the best or even go back to the OEM one if that’s the one you prefer. Cyanogen is probably one of the popular alternate ROMs out there, in fact the founder of Cyanogen was employed by Samsung based on this project. The most active alternative ROM site is XDA-Developers where you can find multiple ROM options for the more commonly available devices.

More screen real estate:

With smaller-screen devices you are constrained to the standard screen estate given to you by the manufacturer.  Especially on the 7″ tablets (which kind of straddles the phone/tablet size), the icons are normally too big which leads to excessive scrolling to find that app you want. By changing the LCD density, you can get more real estate on the screen.  Conversely as you get a bit older you might want to make those icons bigger

Speed and Battery:

Many developers will tweak the kernel to dramatically improve performance .  Processors can be overclocked or underclocked and unnecessary processes can be eliminated. These changes result in better performance and better battery life.

Keep up to date with versions:

Most manufacturers are notorious for developing a product, releasing it and then dropping all support after the next model’s released.  By using customised ROMs you can update to the latest version of Android OS before they are officially released (if it ever is) . Especially useful if you have an older device that isn’t supported by the manufacturer but is by the development community.

More memory:

Root will allow you to move and manipulate the partitions where system and data resides.  Manufacturers will set the partition limits to best suit them at time of manufacture. You can push some functions and applications to the external card storage of your device.  Older phones were notorious for running out of memory after you’d installed a number of  apps. While later versions of Android did this automatically, root gives you complete control. Rooting will also allow you to freeze unnecessary processes.

Take screen shots: 

Everyone likes to show off their artistic abilities by showing off their home screens or show off their high score in Angry Birds .  While some manufacturers do give you the ability to take screen shots, most don’t.  Want to post an error on your screen or similar ?  Screen shots can be useful.

Change boot screens:  

Don’t like the boot animation that comes up when you turn your phone on (often almost an advertisement)? Root will allow you to change and personalise even down to this level.

Filed in categories: Android related, Articles

Tagged: Android, rooting

Rooting your Android device…advantages? (…it’s not a bad thing) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 6, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Plantronics recently added a number of Bluetooth headsets to their lineup. I am familiar with Plantronics from my call center days. They make very nice headsets. I also owned a Calisto Pro at home that I only very recently retired in favor of my VTech cordless phone system.

Two of their new headsets are designed to work with a new Android and iOS application called My Handset. I was given the opportunity to review their Marquee M155. They even sent me one of the limited edition white ones. So does the addition of apps improve the experience, or just complicate it? Let’s find out.

What to Review

Sometimes you get a device to review, and it is simpler than you expect, with others it is like an onion. I figured a nice review of a Bluetooth headset would not take long, but this headset has more under its skin than most. So my review will start off with a typical review of the hardware, how the headset works, then move on to the Android software, and finish with a look at the Vocalyst Text and Voice services that are included with the headset.

What’s in the Box

The headset comes with:

• The headset
• 3 different sizes of earpieces (medium installed already)
• Optional ear loop
• AC adapter
• Manual

After you open the packaging, you can see the adapter and manuals below the headset. The adapter is an integrated unit. It has a micro-USB tip to charge the headset, but you cannot detach the cable to charge via a standard USB port like a lot of phone charger designs. Not a huge deal, but it is slightly less flexible than I have become accustomed to. You can also charge the headset with a USB cable, and frankly, I have quite a few of those around.

Behind the manuals are the ear pieces and loop. The medium size is already installed on the headset; you can swap out for the larger or smaller size, if you wish. Changing ear pieces was not an easy task because they are very secure when they are on the headset. I find this to be a very good tradeoff, especially since you don’t need to change these more than once. I saw no need to attach the ear loop.

• Tap once to answer an incoming call
• Tap once to end a call
• Press for 1 second to ignore
• Tap twice to redial
• Press for 2 seconds to initiate your phone’s voice dialing
• Press until red/white LED flashed to activate pairing mode
• Tap 3 times to activate Vocalyst™ (USA only)

That’s a long list, but is very intuitive. You can also simply say “answer” to answer the phone.

The power button is very simple. Red is exposed when it is off, green when it is on. Pairing is very quick. While using this headset I typically left it turned off until I needed it. It paired quickly enough for me to answer an incoming phone call.

The volume control is a button that also serves as mute. There are three volume levels, each time you press the button, it switches between the three. When you hit the maximum volume, the voice prompts tells you “Volume Maximum”. To mute, you can use the mute on your phone, or press the Volume button for 1 second.

I have used Bluetooth headsets intermittently over the years. I’ve never been a fan of the walk around all day with it in your ear, but this is light and comfortable, and if that is your style this will fit the bill. As I mentioned, I had no issue pulling it from my shirt pocket, turning it on, and being quick enough to receive a call.

The design of this headset is minimalist. As a result, the mic is pretty far away from my mouth and rests against the side of my face. I found this off-putting at first, but quickly became accustomed to it. I actually prefer more of a boom mic setup, however I received no complaints from anyone during calls on sound quality and volume. I did a quick comparison test with my Calisto Pro headset, my Sony MW-600 headset, and the Marque performed very well. It was noticeably better than my Calisto Pro boom style (which surprised me) and on par with the Sony.

Another great feature is that it talks to you. When you turn it on, you hear “Power On, Talk Time 5 hours” or whatever the battery life is. In addition, you can pair it to two phones. When it connects you hear “Phone 1 connected”. I paired this with my VTech phone system and my Droid X. I was able to take and make calls with both system using this headset.

All in all I really enjoyed this headset, and this has become my number one choice. It easily slides into my pocket. It comes in black and white. We all know why there is a limited edition white addition, and this would pair very nicely with the white iPhone, but I frankly do not get the white thing. I like my gadgets in basic black. But the nice thing is you have a choice.

MyHeadset

I have a Droid X, so I downloaded the Android application. They also have an iOS version.

When you choose Pair Me Up the applications walks you though pairing up your headset.

The Controls tab displays the various controls. The first screen shows you the basics.

You can continue to the Volume controls.

And also the power controls.

The other big option with the application is the sound check. Ostensibly this is to do just that, check your sound quality.

Once you make a short recording with your headset, you can play it back on your phone, or e-mail it. And this is a nice little add-on. You can certainly use this for things beyond simple sound checks. A nice touch would have been the addition of a widget to let you quickly record and send.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the app. It serves as a nice online manual if you forget the commands, provides a nice walk-through of pairing your headset, and the sound check could have some nice uses, but I just felt it could do more. Then again, what it does, it does well.

Vocalyst

Vocalyst is an extra feature that I didn’t expect to find. You get a free year’s basic subscription. You can sign up right on your phone using a link in the MyHeadset application. You will need the code that comes printed in your package. One negative was that the web site did not work well on the phone. I would expect some effort would be made to work this out, but it does not appear to be a consideration.

After clicking the sign up button you are presented with the activation screen:

Landscape provides a little better look for the setup page:

You can change your settings on the phone, but I found it tiresome, and resorted to the the web page on my laptop.

With the standard service you can:

• Record and listen to audio messages
• Read and Send e-mail
• Read and post to Twitter
• Read and post to Facebook
• Listen to feeds for News, Sports, Finance, and Weather
• Connect to Evernote

With the upgrade you can add a number of applications including SMS, Calendar, Remember the Milk, and a number of news sources.

This was an interesting feature to experiment with, but it did not really grab me. I was amused as it read my twitter stream. Every link it spelled out “h-t-t-p-forward-slash-forward-slash”, a killer tweak to the service would be an option to filter that and just say “link”.

The nice thing about this is they give you a free year to check it out. The truly nice thing is they let you sign up without providing a credit card. Too many similar setups seem to hope you forget about it and get billed; this didn’t. Huge kudos for this approach.

Conclusion

I really like the hardware. The application is a nice addition, but it would be nicer to see an easier way to record a note for sending (though you could do it with Vocalyst) and maybe the ability to see charge time in the application. I will continue to play with Vocalyst, but for me, it is just not that attractive. Maybe I’ll change my mind over time.

Filed in categories: Android related, Bluetooth Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: bluetooth headset

Plantronics Marque M155 Bluetooth Headset Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 30, 2011 at 4:18 pm.

I am on a quest to find the best all around stylus that I can use for drawing and writing on my iPad and / or iPhone. The latest one that I’ve had the opportunity to review is the StyleUs Touchpen from Tuff-Luv. It combines a capacitive stylus with a Black and Red ink pen.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

The StyleUs stylus has a brushed silver aluminum body with a steel pen clip. It’s only 4.75 inches long and given the fact that it has two ink pen tips, it has a surprisingly small body that will be discreet in your shirt pocket.

This is a multi-function pen that includes two ink tips and a capacitive stylus tip. The Black and Red ink pen tips are accessed by twisting the barrel. Turn in between to retract the tip. As a pen, the StyleUs is light weight but has good balance. Both pen tips write smoothly with no ink blobs.

The top has a built in stylus tip that will work with any capacitive display like you find on the iPad, iPhone and Android tablets. The tip is a soft nub that feels hollow and will compress like a ball if you press it. It works fine for tapping on-screen buttons, selecting icons, etc. For jotting quick notes it works pretty well, but I wouldn’t want to use it to enter lots of ink notes as it sometimes skips. This might be due to the way the tip compresses. If you’re familiar with the Targus Stylus, it has the same type of tip. It’s not optimal for drawing as the tip is too wide to really see what you’re doing for detailed sketching.

The Tuff-Luv StyleUs Touchpen is a nicely priced simple stylus that can be used with your favorite capacitive device. The fact it also houses 2 ink pens makes it a better buy that similar styli in its price point. It’s not my favorite stylus by a long shot, but if I were choosing between it and the Targus Stylus, I’d pick the Tuff-Luv for the added functionality.

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Capactive stylus

Tuff-Luv StyleUs Touchpen Capactive Stylus Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 28, 2011 at 11:00 am.

The JXD S7100 is a 7 inch Android 2.2 device with built in gaming controllers. Install Mame or another gaming emulator and this would make a great little gaming device. It’s available from isharegifts.com for $139.99. There’s a video on their site showing it in action and it does support English and other languages.

Filed in categories: Android related, Gaming Gear, News

Tagged: Android, Gaming

JXD S7100 – Android Powered Gaming Device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 24, 2011 at 11:45 am.

A few years ago, most of the people reading this article probably carried two devices with them every day in their pocket or bag: a mobile phone and a PDA. PDAs aka Personal Digital Assistants were the norm back then, while smartphones were still just a glimmer in eye of Steve Jobs and the Google whiz kids. These days no one wants two devices when they can carry one uber-nifty mega smartphone right? Maybe not.

Once a month or so, I’ll receive an email like this one:

Hi Julie,

I was wondering if you could give me some advice on a replacement for my Palm TX?  I’ve done quite a bit of research and found that no one except HP (IPAQ) is making PDAs any longer.  (And they are expensive.)

I could go to a different platform, but it seems that there isn’t anything handheld that enables you to enter data with a stylus and that functions primarily as a business organizer (focus on calendar, contacts, notes, and enables you to sync it with the computer.)  I don’t need a phone with more functions and I don’t want to have to pay a monthly data fee to use the device. I really like the simplicity of Palm devices.  It seems I am not alone.

Some people are turning to the iPod Touch, but I really like the “always on” feature of PDAs. Plus, I understand it is primarily an entertainment device as opposed to a business organizer.

Any thoughts.  I’ll need to sync with a Windows 7 PC.

Don

I know that Don isn’t alone because I live with someone that has no desire for a smartphone. She still uses a Palm Zire 31 which was released way back in 2004, the dark ages of mobile computing.

As I see it, people that want to continue using pocket sized PDAs, have 3 choices:

1. Continue using older PDA devices for as long as you can find / replace them

Most of the people that email me asking for PDA advice, always start out by saying that their Palm device is dying and what current device can they buy to replace it. Guess what? You can still find brand new boxed Palm PDAs for less than $50 on eBay. And if you don’t mind used devices, you can easily spend less than $25. Handspring Visors and Windows Pocket PCs can be found too. This is the most inexpensive solution and most likely the best one for people who are perfectly happy kicking it old school.

In addition to the basic PIM (Personal Information Management) apps that are built-in to each device, you can still download 3rd party productivity apps from sites like Handango and Freeware Palm.

The biggest problem I can see with these older devices is the fact that there is little to no support for them other than like minded users on various online forums. There’s also the issue that as we continue to update our desktop computers to newer OS versions, the ability to sync/backup our data on these devices will probably become impossible due to software incompatibility. That said, depending on the device, you can still find syncing software for Palm and Windows CE/Pocket PC devices on http://www.hpwebos.com/ and http://hp.com respectively.

2. Consider a WiFi enabled Android device

There are two ways to get a pocket sized Android device that can serve as a PDA. One way is to buy a WiFi enabled smartphone and only use the WiFi connection instead of the cellular connection. Just like with older Palm devices, older Android smartphones can be found at bargain prices. However, if you want something shiny and new, consider one of the Samsung Galaxy Player devices. They offer 4 and 5 inch models that are priced at $230 – $270. They have all the main features of current Android smartphones like WiFi, GPS, Camera, SD card expansion and Bluetooth, but without the need to pay for a monthly data plan. I took a quick look at the Galaxy Player 5.0 at my local Best Buy and was tempted to buy one just to do a review.

One of the best reasons to go with an Android device is the fact that you completely bypass the need to sync data with a desktop PC. All data syncing is done with Google (calendar, contacts, email) via WiFi to the cloud. And for those of you that are extra paranoid, there are third party apps that will back up your data to an SD card.

3. Another option is an iPod touch

Apple’s iPod touch is almost like having a thinner iPhone without the actual phone feature. Priced at $199 – $399 depending on the capacity, the touch has WiFi, Bluetooth, and front / rear facing cameras. What it doesn’t have is a flash card slot or a real GPS… but there is a mapping feature that uses proximity to known Wi-Fi networks to figure out your location. Definitely not very accurate though.

There are a bazillion productivity apps for the touch including some of the really popular ones that used to be available for the Pocket PC and Palm OS like Pocket Informant and iambic’s Agendus.

Like Android devices, you have the option not to connect the iPod touch to a desktop computer as the data will be stored in the cloud with iCloud. iCloud will also make sure that your data is the same across all your iOS devices which is cool. I like that I can take a picture with my iPhone and it will automatically show up on my iPad and iMac. You can even sync your Google data (calendar, email, contacts) with Apple’s built in apps.

Of course if you choose option #2 or #3, you’ll have to charge your device every 2-3 days unlike 2-3 weeks or longer with an older Palm device.

If it were me, I’d probably choose the iPod touch for a few different reasons. For one thing, it has more support from Apple in the way of OS updates than the Samsung Galaxy Player and other older Android devices. Apple tends to provide major OS updates through 2 generations of devices. So if you buy the current or last gen device, you can still run the latest and greatest version of the OS. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Android devices. There is also a huge variety of 3rd party accessories for the touch that include cases, charging docks, speakers, fitness sensors and more.

So what do you think? Is there still a market for PDAs? Are there other devices not mentioned here that you think would make a great PDA for the non-smartphone crowd? Let me know your ideas.

Filed in categories: Android related, Articles, iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: PDA

Is there still a market for PDAs? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 21, 2011 at 5:49 pm.

Should Amazon be worried that ARCHOS has just announced a 7 inch Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) tablet for $199? If I were faced with a buying decision between the Kindle Fire and this new ARCHOS 70b Internet Tablet, I would pick the ARCHOS due to the specs alone. The processor is faster than the Fire’s at 1.2Ghz, it has an HDMI out port, a SD card slot and the full app market. It won’t be in stores till January, but that’s just a hop, skip and a jump away. Which tablet would you choose between the two? Full press release after the jump.

ARCHOS Unveils the ARCHOS 70b Internet Tablet, the First Android Honeycomb Tablet Under $200

DENVER, CO – (December 20, 2011) – ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, announced today the upcoming availability of the first android 3.2 ‘’Honeycomb’’ tablet under $200, the ARCHOS 70b internet tablet. The new ARCHOS 70b IT is an enhanced version of the ARCHOS 70 IT Gen 8 that features an upgraded capacitive touch screen and a powerful processor at 1.2 GHz.

The ARCHOS 70b internet tablet runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb, Google’s full suite of mobile applications with Android MarketTM, giving users access to over 300,000 applications such as games, books, social media and news. With Honeycomb, users will have faster and smoother transitions between different applications, and more intuitive navigation to and from home screens.

Very slim and light, the newest version of the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet Gen 8, offers the best performances in terms of portability, immediate internet access, multimedia, apps and affordability.  This new version has a higher resolution capacitive screen (1024 x 600) for vibrant colors and crisp clarity and has doubled the RAM to 512 MB for a smoother web experience and more efficient multi-tasking.

This connected mobile device with a sublime user interface, 3D Graphics accelerator and Wi-Fi connectivity, also comes with a full pack of connected apps such as a web browser and email application, HDMI output and Micro SD connectivity.

With this enhanced Android tablet, users will benefit from:

•    An affordable price starting at $199 for 8GB
•    Smoother multi-tasking and a faster web experience thanks to the upgraded RAM
•    Brighter colors with a high resolution capacitive screen
•    Android 3.2 Honeycomb, the Android version designed for a tablet
•    Access to a full array of apps with the Android Market and its 300,000 apps such as news, eMagazines, eBooks, social media, games and more
•    A full multimedia experience with upgraded multimedia ARCHOS apps for video and music
•    HDMI output, giving users full access to their Android experience on their TV including all the pre-loaded apps, video playback, 3D games, photos and all the Android Market apps

Availability & Price The ARCHOS 70b internet tablet will be available in stores starting in January with the recommended retail price of $199.

About ARCHOS ARCHOS, pioneer in the portable audio and video player market, and now specializing in Android Tablets, has repeatedly revolutionized the market for consumer electronics since 1988. Today, ARCHOS offers Android Internet Tablets, Tablet PCs and MP3/MP4 players. In 2000, ARCHOS launched the Jukebox 6000, the first MP3 player combined with a hard disk. Then in 2003 ARCHOS introduced the first portable multimedia players with TV recording. In 2006 Wi-Fi is implemented and then touch screens in 2007. In 2008, ARCHOS launched the first generation Internet Tablets, and then the first ever Android powered tablets in 2009. ARCHOS has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. ARCHOS is quoted on Compartment C of Eurolist, Euronext Paris, ISIN CodeFR0000182479. Website: www.archos.com.

Connect with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ARCHOS.EntertainmentYourWay Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ARCHOS_US

Filed in categories: Android related, News, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Android, Tablet

ARCHOS Unveils the First Android Honeycomb Tablet under $200 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 20, 2011 at 12:54 pm.

Just released by WordPress, version 2.0 for Android is a major overhaul from the previous version (1.5). With its new one touch dashboard, rich text formatting bar, enhanced media support including image alignment and sizing, and better tablet support, blogging on the go becomes much more viable.

Previously creating and formatting posts was messy, especially placement of images.  To do a Gadgeteer post, I would have had to use a combination of the WordPress app, WordPress Mobile website, and WordPress on my notebook. This post has been written (literally as I’m actually writing this with my Lenovo Tablet and stylus) entirely in the app with only minor notebook intervention.

Available now from the Android Market

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: Android app, Blogs

WordPress for Android 2.0 – Better blogging on the go originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 20, 2011 at 9:30 am.

This folding stand for smartphones and similarly-sized devices literally folds up to credit-card size to fit in your wallet.  The ifold Mobile Phone Stand is made of 3D PriPack 500 micron polypropylene, so it’s durable and lightweight.  When unfolded, the ifold supports iPhones, Android phones, and other small devices for hands-free use.  Although both photos here show the phone in portrait orientation, the ifold also supports phones in landscape.  The ifold is available in black, white, and frost for £6.99 ($10.80) and ships worldwide.

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: universal phone stand

A Phone Stand You Can Carry in Your Wallet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 20, 2011 at 8:19 am.

It was finally time to upgrade my wife’s smartphone, and we had a few challenges to deal with. The biggest ones are that she is a ‘slow adopter’, the apartment she uses when at work in a different state has poor reception, and we use the Sprint network.

After some research, I had narrowed it down to a few mid-to-upper tier phones, and stumbled across the Photon 4G from Motorola – a model I had heard very little about. The Photon is one of the top offerings available from Sprint, and is absolutely loaded with specifications.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: Android smartphone, Sprint smartphone

Quick Look: Motorola Photon 4G originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 19, 2011 at 6:10 pm.