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Saturday, February 9, 2013
Eko Pras sent you an invitation
Sunday, November 20, 2011
iPhone 4 cases to review
I received a handful of iPhone 4 cases to review over the last several months, including the Crimson Aluminum Frame Case. Its design and form-factor set it apart from the rest of the crowd. My hope was the design would allow better reception while not compromising on usability or protection….we shall see.
Box Contents:
* Crimson Aluminum Frame Case for iPhone 4
* Allen wrench and 2 spare screws included
* One set (Anti-fingerprint, front / rear) of Crimson Premium Film Surface Protectors
Crimson includes everything you need for installation, plus a bonus set of screen protectors and cleaning cloth.
Features:
* Precision CNC machined
* Aircraft-grade aluminum frames
* Engineering-grade resin corner guards
* Stainless steel screws
* Durable anodized or polished finishes
* Weighs only 19 grams
* Unobstructed access to all ports, controls, and camera
* Works with all iPhone 4 models – GSM and CDMA
The Frame Case is relatively minimalistic; while being lightweight, it's rigid and provides good protection. The front and back of the case are anodized coated, finely machined plates of aircraft-grade aluminum. The two plates sandwich the iPhone 4 between them. Compared to a majority of other iPhone 4 cases I have tried/seen, the Frame case is rather boxy and a bit extreme. Because of its frame/sandwich design, this case works with all iPhone 4/4S models – GSM and CDMA. In addition to black, the case is available in silver, polished silver, red, cobalt blue, and polished gold.
At each of the corners are 'engineering-grade' resin corner guards that both of the plates screw into. The corner guards are well constructed but (IMO) the weak point of the engineering. If you take the case on and off regularly, the threads could potentially be stripped by the stainless steel screws.
As you can see, the iPhone is held securely in place by the corner guards. There are little strips of rubber that keep the iPhone from rubbing against the hard plastic and in place. It is a tight squeeze to insert the phone but better for it. Once inserted, there is no movement or wiggling around.
The case adds a beveled edge to both sides of the iPhone, thus not allowing the glass faces to touch whatever surface it is resting on. As you would expect, all four of the iPhone's sides are very accessible due the design of the case. The right side allows easy access to the mute and volume buttons. This design does not seem to interfere with the iPhone's antenna as much as the other metal cases I have reviewed.
The top allows for access to the power button and earbud port.
Like the leftside, the right of the case does not interfere with the iPhone's antenna either.
The base also allows for easy access to the sync/dock port and does not interfere or block the iPhone's speakers.
As you can see, the rails of the case do not get in the way of connecting the usb sync cable at all.
The Crimson Aluminum Frame Case design works with the dock connector on my Altec Lansing iMT800 MIX Boombox, something a majority of the aluminum iPhone cases have failed to be able to do.
Alright, I have to say it…..at least for me, the case feels horrible. It transforms your sleek and slim iPhone into a utilitarian, clunky brick. The frame edges stick out too far from both a bevel and side point of view. If I could redesign the case, I would reduce the bezel and make all the edges like the top and bottom, where the aluminum does not go beyond the iPhone itself. While it would not provide as much protection, it would give the case a much slimmer feel to it. I would leave the bumped out edges because they work well, add grip-ability and provide a good amount of protection at the corners.
Due to its non-antenna-interfering design, it does not degrade the cellular or wireless signal much at all. A definite plus when comparing this case to other metal iPhone cases. I used this case in the same test locations as my previous reviews and unlike others, the case did not impact my ability to send and receive calls in the marginal areas.
The Aluminum Frame Case costs $40. Considering Crimson includes front and back screen protectors for your iPhone, it is a pretty great deal. Even though I do not like the form factor of the case, it is well made and provides a good amount of protection at a cost effective price point.
original post the-gadgeteer.com
Box Contents:
* Crimson Aluminum Frame Case for iPhone 4
* Allen wrench and 2 spare screws included
* One set (Anti-fingerprint, front / rear) of Crimson Premium Film Surface Protectors
Crimson includes everything you need for installation, plus a bonus set of screen protectors and cleaning cloth.
Features:
* Precision CNC machined
* Aircraft-grade aluminum frames
* Engineering-grade resin corner guards
* Stainless steel screws
* Durable anodized or polished finishes
* Weighs only 19 grams
* Unobstructed access to all ports, controls, and camera
* Works with all iPhone 4 models – GSM and CDMA
The Frame Case is relatively minimalistic; while being lightweight, it's rigid and provides good protection. The front and back of the case are anodized coated, finely machined plates of aircraft-grade aluminum. The two plates sandwich the iPhone 4 between them. Compared to a majority of other iPhone 4 cases I have tried/seen, the Frame case is rather boxy and a bit extreme. Because of its frame/sandwich design, this case works with all iPhone 4/4S models – GSM and CDMA. In addition to black, the case is available in silver, polished silver, red, cobalt blue, and polished gold.
At each of the corners are 'engineering-grade' resin corner guards that both of the plates screw into. The corner guards are well constructed but (IMO) the weak point of the engineering. If you take the case on and off regularly, the threads could potentially be stripped by the stainless steel screws.
As you can see, the iPhone is held securely in place by the corner guards. There are little strips of rubber that keep the iPhone from rubbing against the hard plastic and in place. It is a tight squeeze to insert the phone but better for it. Once inserted, there is no movement or wiggling around.
The case adds a beveled edge to both sides of the iPhone, thus not allowing the glass faces to touch whatever surface it is resting on. As you would expect, all four of the iPhone's sides are very accessible due the design of the case. The right side allows easy access to the mute and volume buttons. This design does not seem to interfere with the iPhone's antenna as much as the other metal cases I have reviewed.
The top allows for access to the power button and earbud port.
Like the leftside, the right of the case does not interfere with the iPhone's antenna either.
The base also allows for easy access to the sync/dock port and does not interfere or block the iPhone's speakers.
As you can see, the rails of the case do not get in the way of connecting the usb sync cable at all.
The Crimson Aluminum Frame Case design works with the dock connector on my Altec Lansing iMT800 MIX Boombox, something a majority of the aluminum iPhone cases have failed to be able to do.
Alright, I have to say it…..at least for me, the case feels horrible. It transforms your sleek and slim iPhone into a utilitarian, clunky brick. The frame edges stick out too far from both a bevel and side point of view. If I could redesign the case, I would reduce the bezel and make all the edges like the top and bottom, where the aluminum does not go beyond the iPhone itself. While it would not provide as much protection, it would give the case a much slimmer feel to it. I would leave the bumped out edges because they work well, add grip-ability and provide a good amount of protection at the corners.
Due to its non-antenna-interfering design, it does not degrade the cellular or wireless signal much at all. A definite plus when comparing this case to other metal iPhone cases. I used this case in the same test locations as my previous reviews and unlike others, the case did not impact my ability to send and receive calls in the marginal areas.
The Aluminum Frame Case costs $40. Considering Crimson includes front and back screen protectors for your iPhone, it is a pretty great deal. Even though I do not like the form factor of the case, it is well made and provides a good amount of protection at a cost effective price point.
original post the-gadgeteer.com
Nokia C3 review 3
Opera Mini could be the web browser of choice and as with all the current apps so far, it might be a little basic and slow nonetheless it displays correctly formatted full-width web-pages and a lot definitely gets the job completed. There are some nice extra touches at the same time. Start typing in the address bar plus it brings up matching sites you might have previously visited.
Zooming into a cushty reading level is a individual button press away, as is returning to the fullpage view. What's a lot more, when zoomed in, text is formatted to suit the width of the screen so you should not scroll from left to directly to read it all. Topping all of it off, with Wi-Fi onboard you could browse at a reasonable rate, though 3G isn't present so mobile browsing can be a little slow.
On the multimedia system side, the C3 is undoubtedly limited. You get a basic ipod that correctly reads mp3 tag words, arranging your music into directories of Artist, Album, and Track. You also get an Fm radio, while on the visual side there exists a simple picture viewer and video clip playback is supported, though you will most probably struggle to find much that plays about it.
As for this phone's photographic camera, about the best thing it is possible to say about it is that it is there for taking the strange snap of friends. However, the miserly 2-megapixel resolution, lack of autofocus or even a flash, and generally mediocre performance means you'll still want a suitable camera whenever possible. Meanwhile, the limitation of five second movies is particularly disappointing. At least the app is straightforward enough to use.
A collection of basic apps like an alarm clock, calculator, and voice recorder are installed however, you don't get anything quite so clever being a map application or compass. You also get several reasonably enjoyable basic games and also both games and apps may be added to by visiting the particular OVI app store where various both free and paid for apps can be obtained.
Making calls on the Nokia C3 will be another area where it excels. The ear piece is deafening and clear while we heard no complaints with the microphone from the other conclusion. Even the loudspeaker is previously mentioned average and certainly trounces the indegent one on the HTC Need HD.
Battery life seemed great especially when left on standby, as you can find no apps running in the setting – we left this phone for almost a week after fully charging it plus it still had four out of four bars showing once we returned to it. In more heavy put it to use of course drains quicker, but we'd expect you to be able to only worry about charging it maybe once or twice a week.
Verdict
The Nokia C3 plainly isn't the be all and also end all, and betrays the sub-£100 price in its lower resolution screen, limited number regarding functions, and slow performance. Nonetheless, if you're happy to be described as a little patient at times it supports very well. Its screen quality is fantastic, it's well built and effectively designed, the keyboard is nice to utilize, and the software is easy to access grips with. For the funds, we really can't think of your better phone.
Zooming into a cushty reading level is a individual button press away, as is returning to the fullpage view. What's a lot more, when zoomed in, text is formatted to suit the width of the screen so you should not scroll from left to directly to read it all. Topping all of it off, with Wi-Fi onboard you could browse at a reasonable rate, though 3G isn't present so mobile browsing can be a little slow.
On the multimedia system side, the C3 is undoubtedly limited. You get a basic ipod that correctly reads mp3 tag words, arranging your music into directories of Artist, Album, and Track. You also get an Fm radio, while on the visual side there exists a simple picture viewer and video clip playback is supported, though you will most probably struggle to find much that plays about it.
As for this phone's photographic camera, about the best thing it is possible to say about it is that it is there for taking the strange snap of friends. However, the miserly 2-megapixel resolution, lack of autofocus or even a flash, and generally mediocre performance means you'll still want a suitable camera whenever possible. Meanwhile, the limitation of five second movies is particularly disappointing. At least the app is straightforward enough to use.
A collection of basic apps like an alarm clock, calculator, and voice recorder are installed however, you don't get anything quite so clever being a map application or compass. You also get several reasonably enjoyable basic games and also both games and apps may be added to by visiting the particular OVI app store where various both free and paid for apps can be obtained.
Making calls on the Nokia C3 will be another area where it excels. The ear piece is deafening and clear while we heard no complaints with the microphone from the other conclusion. Even the loudspeaker is previously mentioned average and certainly trounces the indegent one on the HTC Need HD.
Battery life seemed great especially when left on standby, as you can find no apps running in the setting – we left this phone for almost a week after fully charging it plus it still had four out of four bars showing once we returned to it. In more heavy put it to use of course drains quicker, but we'd expect you to be able to only worry about charging it maybe once or twice a week.
Verdict
The Nokia C3 plainly isn't the be all and also end all, and betrays the sub-£100 price in its lower resolution screen, limited number regarding functions, and slow performance. Nonetheless, if you're happy to be described as a little patient at times it supports very well. Its screen quality is fantastic, it's well built and effectively designed, the keyboard is nice to utilize, and the software is easy to access grips with. For the funds, we really can't think of your better phone.
Nokia C3 review 2
Moving onto software and the Nokia C3 is running Nokia's venerable Series 40 operating system. It's starkly simplistic in its general look and feel, and certainly doesn't push any frontiers in terms of functionality. However, on such a simple phone it feels quite adequate. Moreover, there are a few additions that mean it isn't completely behind the times.
The Home Screen can be either kept clear or you can add up to three widgets with a choice of favourite contacts, Facebook, calendar, shortcut bar, radio and media player, and notifications amongst others. It's not on the level of a full smartphone OS but you can customise everything to get you where you want pretty quickly. You can also assign a shortcut to each direction of the directional-pad (D-pad) as well as the two raised silver buttons.
Symbian/Nokia's love of menus is the only thing that really lets the main interface down, with too many options and a somewhat unintuitive layout. Thankfully, as the phone has such basic functionality that the menu-chaos isn't too much of an annoyance, as you soon learn the whereabouts of everything.
Also, whereas most of the key apps like contacts and messages are quick to open - and look and feel like native apps - many extras like email, Facebook, and Twitter are Java apps, taking a couple of seconds to load and sporting a totally different look and feel. It's somewhat irritating, certainly compared to proper smartphones, but thankfully once you're in the apps they all work very well. Moreover, considering how cheap this phone is, it seems a more than acceptable compromise.
Managing your text messages on this phone is a breeze, with texts stored in conversations making it easier to keep track of what you and a particular contact were chatting about. Thanks to the excellent keyboard it's also easy to bash out fairly lengthy messages in double quick time. You can also access Windows Live Messenger, though the service is pretty slow.
Email support is basic, even lacking notifications of new messages until you've already opened the app, but the layout is nice and intuitive, and there are all the usual options you'd hope for.
Facebook and Twitter are accessed via a Communities app, which appears to be nothing more than a list of the above apps. It can take a little while to load the apps and, like email, you don't get notifications of updates or messages. But so long as you get in a habit of checking the services every now and then you'll still feel like you're in the loop.
The apps themselves are also nicely laid out and easy to use, if a tad slow. You can even upload photos straight from the camera.
The Home Screen can be either kept clear or you can add up to three widgets with a choice of favourite contacts, Facebook, calendar, shortcut bar, radio and media player, and notifications amongst others. It's not on the level of a full smartphone OS but you can customise everything to get you where you want pretty quickly. You can also assign a shortcut to each direction of the directional-pad (D-pad) as well as the two raised silver buttons.
Symbian/Nokia's love of menus is the only thing that really lets the main interface down, with too many options and a somewhat unintuitive layout. Thankfully, as the phone has such basic functionality that the menu-chaos isn't too much of an annoyance, as you soon learn the whereabouts of everything.
Also, whereas most of the key apps like contacts and messages are quick to open - and look and feel like native apps - many extras like email, Facebook, and Twitter are Java apps, taking a couple of seconds to load and sporting a totally different look and feel. It's somewhat irritating, certainly compared to proper smartphones, but thankfully once you're in the apps they all work very well. Moreover, considering how cheap this phone is, it seems a more than acceptable compromise.
Managing your text messages on this phone is a breeze, with texts stored in conversations making it easier to keep track of what you and a particular contact were chatting about. Thanks to the excellent keyboard it's also easy to bash out fairly lengthy messages in double quick time. You can also access Windows Live Messenger, though the service is pretty slow.
Email support is basic, even lacking notifications of new messages until you've already opened the app, but the layout is nice and intuitive, and there are all the usual options you'd hope for.
Facebook and Twitter are accessed via a Communities app, which appears to be nothing more than a list of the above apps. It can take a little while to load the apps and, like email, you don't get notifications of updates or messages. But so long as you get in a habit of checking the services every now and then you'll still feel like you're in the loop.
The apps themselves are also nicely laid out and easy to use, if a tad slow. You can even upload photos straight from the camera.
Nokia C3 review 1
Other phone's hardware features generally exceed our expectations at the same time, though there are a handful of slip-ups. A microSD slot for including to 8GB of extra storage means it is possible to pack your phone with plenty of tunes to be controlled by and photos to show friends and family. The headphone jack also means you're absolve to use your own choice regarding headphones – a stereo headset having an inline control for answering calls is provided inside the box. It's okay for taking telephone calls but certainly isn't the best in terms of music listening.
More pressing a problem than an iffy headset could be the microUSB socket, specifically the undeniable fact that the microUSB socket doesn't also charge the device. Instead Nokia has employed the proprietary cylindrical charging socket that is situated on the top edge. MicroUSB is allowed to be the standard socket for asking and data transfer nowadays, in like manner see Nokia still veering off course is merely plain irritating. What's more, you don't even get Nokia's new compact charger as located on the Nokia C6, so travelling along with your phone is even more undesirable.
The keyboard Nokia C3 and navigation buttons don't purge any such concerns. Their action is pronounced using a noticeable break that shows you the key has been hard pressed. The keyboard keys are a tad stiff however, not to the extent that they will significantly hamper typing. The layout is also easy to access grips with, allowing for quite speedy typing. As ever, we find we could type faster on onscreen keyboards but also for a physical keyboard, this example is greater than acceptable.
One slight downside is the otherwise very welcome backlighting with the reflective silver finish on the quantity keys can make them difficult to learn in an environment with common office lighting.
One final negative note concerning this phone is its camera. Gone will be the days when merely having a camera was an additional benefit, and the 2. 0 megapixel affair with this phone doesn't really hold around much scrutiny. It lacks autofocus or any flash and doesn't really replace these deficiencies in any some other department. Given this phone's value, we certainly wouldn't expect something more but neither is this a location where Nokia has excelled alone.
More pressing a problem than an iffy headset could be the microUSB socket, specifically the undeniable fact that the microUSB socket doesn't also charge the device. Instead Nokia has employed the proprietary cylindrical charging socket that is situated on the top edge. MicroUSB is allowed to be the standard socket for asking and data transfer nowadays, in like manner see Nokia still veering off course is merely plain irritating. What's more, you don't even get Nokia's new compact charger as located on the Nokia C6, so travelling along with your phone is even more undesirable.
The keyboard Nokia C3 and navigation buttons don't purge any such concerns. Their action is pronounced using a noticeable break that shows you the key has been hard pressed. The keyboard keys are a tad stiff however, not to the extent that they will significantly hamper typing. The layout is also easy to access grips with, allowing for quite speedy typing. As ever, we find we could type faster on onscreen keyboards but also for a physical keyboard, this example is greater than acceptable.
One slight downside is the otherwise very welcome backlighting with the reflective silver finish on the quantity keys can make them difficult to learn in an environment with common office lighting.
One final negative note concerning this phone is its camera. Gone will be the days when merely having a camera was an additional benefit, and the 2. 0 megapixel affair with this phone doesn't really hold around much scrutiny. It lacks autofocus or any flash and doesn't really replace these deficiencies in any some other department. Given this phone's value, we certainly wouldn't expect something more but neither is this a location where Nokia has excelled alone.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Amazon Kindle Fire Content and Controls
Before while using Kindle Fire, I uploaded a lot of my music (the non-DRM variety) towards the Amazon Cloud. As a outcome, it was all available in my experience on the Fire. I also bought an album or two directly with the Fire. The music store is clean and simple to use. I especially enjoyed playing music about the device while I read the book.
As noted earlier, watching movies can also be easy and entertaining on the actual Fire. With my Amazon Perfect account, I can stream anyone of hundreds of movies direct towards the device. No first-run films, but several decent ones like Fear and Loathing in Vegas and Iron Giant (Just like Netflix streaming, there are also lots of duds). When I desired to see a new movie, I merely rented it on the gadget ($2. 99 for the SD version from the Green Lantern) and began watching. Best part? I could pause on the Fire, switch on my Blu-ray player, access my Amazon account and just pick up where I left off within the movie. Worst part? The Kindle Fire only had use of the SD version of the actual film, so I had to pay for again to watch the HIGH DEFINITION version on my HDTV.
Quite simply, the Kindle Fire is a great and easy-to-use content consumption gadget. It's also a decent — though not perfect — internet browser. The tab-based Silk browser had been, on occasion, as fast because promised. Some pages zip within, but other times Silk would stall out and won't load a page. Silk isn't like other Android tablet browsers. Amazon built this one also it uses Amazon's own servers in order to pre-fetch pages it thinks you'll view alongside help websites load fast. Amazon informs me the experience will get quicker as Amazon's servers cache much more page info. Email is an additional story. First of all, Amazon hid the e-mail under Apps, so I had to find it to work it. I don't understand why this isn't on the main interface from the beginning. It sits on a shelf once you've work it. I do not like the actual default email screen — it's dark with white text and way too hard to read. Email messages appear as black text on whitened screens. The switch is mysterious and annoying.
There is a larger problem with the Kindle as well as I saw it in from email to menus and set up. This interface is not usually optimized for 1024×600 resolution on the 7-inch screen. While the bookshelf and items onto it are large, some of the actual controls are tiny. The primary menu, which includes Newsstand, Publications, Music, Videos, Docs, Apps as well as Web, is fine, but the setting icon is smaller compared to tip of my pinky — it does bring up a summary of items that are somewhat larger and I actually do like that the settings tend to be simple and obvious: lock the actual screen orientation, volume, brightness, Wi-Fi manage, sync and a more switch. Digging into many of these types of controls I was confronted again and again with shockingly small text — frequently white on black or gray on the deeper gray. Virtually all from the email app (controls, subject lines and also the contents of messages) is small and hard to see. Even the "Buy" buttons tend to be tiny — you'd think Amazon would a minimum of want to make those bigger.
Many things look wonderful about the Kindle Fire, but only when the partners design for the display. I bought a bunch associated with magazines through Newsstand (often I'd to download apps first after that subscribe or buy individual issues — still a simple process). GQ and The brand new Yorker looked great. Esquire's PDF FILE pages, though, look bad plus some are unreadable if you move in.
Web pages look great in landscape mode, but there isn't enough screen property to see much of the actual page. Portrait mode makes the pages tiny — you are able to pinch and zoom, but then you're only seeing the main page. This is a location where I definitely prefer my personal iPad's larger 9. 7-inch display. Kindle fire review.
As noted earlier, watching movies can also be easy and entertaining on the actual Fire. With my Amazon Perfect account, I can stream anyone of hundreds of movies direct towards the device. No first-run films, but several decent ones like Fear and Loathing in Vegas and Iron Giant (Just like Netflix streaming, there are also lots of duds). When I desired to see a new movie, I merely rented it on the gadget ($2. 99 for the SD version from the Green Lantern) and began watching. Best part? I could pause on the Fire, switch on my Blu-ray player, access my Amazon account and just pick up where I left off within the movie. Worst part? The Kindle Fire only had use of the SD version of the actual film, so I had to pay for again to watch the HIGH DEFINITION version on my HDTV.
Quite simply, the Kindle Fire is a great and easy-to-use content consumption gadget. It's also a decent — though not perfect — internet browser. The tab-based Silk browser had been, on occasion, as fast because promised. Some pages zip within, but other times Silk would stall out and won't load a page. Silk isn't like other Android tablet browsers. Amazon built this one also it uses Amazon's own servers in order to pre-fetch pages it thinks you'll view alongside help websites load fast. Amazon informs me the experience will get quicker as Amazon's servers cache much more page info. Email is an additional story. First of all, Amazon hid the e-mail under Apps, so I had to find it to work it. I don't understand why this isn't on the main interface from the beginning. It sits on a shelf once you've work it. I do not like the actual default email screen — it's dark with white text and way too hard to read. Email messages appear as black text on whitened screens. The switch is mysterious and annoying.
There is a larger problem with the Kindle as well as I saw it in from email to menus and set up. This interface is not usually optimized for 1024×600 resolution on the 7-inch screen. While the bookshelf and items onto it are large, some of the actual controls are tiny. The primary menu, which includes Newsstand, Publications, Music, Videos, Docs, Apps as well as Web, is fine, but the setting icon is smaller compared to tip of my pinky — it does bring up a summary of items that are somewhat larger and I actually do like that the settings tend to be simple and obvious: lock the actual screen orientation, volume, brightness, Wi-Fi manage, sync and a more switch. Digging into many of these types of controls I was confronted again and again with shockingly small text — frequently white on black or gray on the deeper gray. Virtually all from the email app (controls, subject lines and also the contents of messages) is small and hard to see. Even the "Buy" buttons tend to be tiny — you'd think Amazon would a minimum of want to make those bigger.
Many things look wonderful about the Kindle Fire, but only when the partners design for the display. I bought a bunch associated with magazines through Newsstand (often I'd to download apps first after that subscribe or buy individual issues — still a simple process). GQ and The brand new Yorker looked great. Esquire's PDF FILE pages, though, look bad plus some are unreadable if you move in.
Web pages look great in landscape mode, but there isn't enough screen property to see much of the actual page. Portrait mode makes the pages tiny — you are able to pinch and zoom, but then you're only seeing the main page. This is a location where I definitely prefer my personal iPad's larger 9. 7-inch display. Kindle fire review.
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