Shiprack Package Tracker [Android App Review]
If you're used to getting loads of mail and you like to keep track of where it is as it's being delivered, Shiprack is definitely worthy of your consideration and time. Hot on the heels of Phil's review of Slice (okay, not really on the heels of), it's time to see if Shiprack is the less invasive alternative to Slice. (Hint: it is.)
Setting up Shiprack is an absolute breeze. Once you've got it all nice and installed, you have to set up what e-mail account Shiprack will be looking for emails from. Shiprack operates very similarly to Tripit; whenever you receive an email with a tracking number in it, you forward the email off to Shiprack, and they'll automatically start tracking it for you.
This is great (to me), because you can only track purchases that you want tracked. Shiprack doesn't automatically search your entire inbox, so if there's anything that isn't really pressing, you can simply omit it. Shiprack also doesn't tally your total expenses on things, so there's that small element of ignorance that can keep your shopping and package-tracking guilt free!
Once you've got a package tracked, you'll be able to see all kinds of cool information, namely your item's tracking number and when it's estimated to be delivered. Shiprack seems to update in near-real time, so you'll have a detailed log of whenever your package hit a new checkpoint.
If you're interested, you can also see a map (on Google Maps, of course), detailing your item's journey, with colorful lines and goofy looking thumb tacks showing each new leg of its journey.
In the settings menu, you can add email aliases that you'd also like to forward tracking information from, so if you get lots of tracking numbers across lots of accounts, Shiprack has you covered. You can also mess with the typical fare like notification tones and vibration options, but something unique to Shiprack is the ability to set quiet times. It's not life-changing, but it's cool to see it there.
Finally, you can pick and choose what updates you'd like Shiprack to notify you of. I'm pretty crazy when it comes to my goods, so I want to see everything, but you've got full control over knowing if your stuff is ready to ship, in transit, or delayed, to name a few.
In the world of package trackers, I think Shiprack really nailed it. What it lacks in visual polish, it more than makes up for in functionality, plus, you've got the freedom to choose what gets tracked. That might not seem like a big deal to some, but in a world where our information is becoming increasingly public, every little bit I can keep my hands on, I like to do just that.
Shiprack is free and ad-supported, but if you'd like to simultaneously support the developer and remove the ads, there's an in-app purchase of 99 cents. We've got download links after the break.
read more
 |
 |
Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers
A Review of the Archos 10.1 G9 Turbo 250 GB – Android 4.0 ICS out of the box with bottomless storage
When I first heard of the Archos tablets with an actual built in hard-drive I was very skeptical. A few questions popped in my head about battery life, response time, weight, thickness, and stability. Would I feel this tablet jerking around in my hands as I do with a normal external hard-drive picked up during use? So many pro’s and con’s popped up in the equation with the addition of such a feature over normal flash memory. To me the Archos 10.1 G9 Turbo is a very interesting concept, read on to find out if Archos pulled this off successfully, or is it just a gimmick?
What’s good:
The G9 Turbo had loads of storage space, a decent screen, a kickstand and Android 4.0, round that off with a $ 399 price tag and you have an awesome mobile media tablet.
What’s Bad:
The plastic feel of the tablet does not give it a solid feel. Also the battery life/charging speeds could be better, I found if I wanted a full charge I had to leave the tablet alone the whole time.
The short of it:
The G9 Turbo with Android 4.0 is an overall great tablet. Besides my few complaints with the build materials and charging issues, this tablet is a solid performer.
Specs
- 1.2GHz OMAP4 dual core processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 10.1 inch (16:10) 1024×768 capacitive touchscreen,
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Google Mobile Apps Suite including Android Market
- ARCHOS made multimedia apps for extra format and codec support including H.264 HP support
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and upgradable to 3G via the ARCHOS G9 3G Stick (sold separately)
Video Review
Build Quality
Being the proud owner of a Motorola Xoom it is hard to compare any other tablet to such a quality build. When I first picked up the G9 Turbo it felt completely foreign to me, so I handed it over to my fiance who proceeded to tell me it felt good. Over the next few days I adjusted to the feel, while never feeling quite as solid as the Xoom does, it felt good. The outer shell of the tablet is hard plastic. While the material is easy enough to hold onto and seems durable enough; an extra layer of rubber around the edges would do some good for extra grip, and added protection. Overall the plastic does get the job done but does leave something to be desired.
External Ports/Design
This tablet was built with the idea of portable media in mind. This was first obvious to me when I see an HDMI mini port along with a kickstand. Both of these features worked well, especially the kickstand, since I could charge and watch a video at the same time without having to fumble around due to the placement of the charging port. The power button is on the top as expected the but volume rockers on the other hand seemed to be placed in an odd spot, it is on the “bottom”. When I first got my hands on the G9 Turbo I kept on confusing the power button and the volume rocker. I wasn’t familiar with the device and kept pressing the volume rocker to try turn it on. It was not till I tried watching a movie on the tablet that I realized why the audio was placed where it was. When flipped horizantal to watch a movie, the volume rocker on the “bottom” makes much more sense.
It isn’t to often that I am happy to see a feature missing while reviewing a device. This was the case when I first noticed that the G9 Turbo did not have a rear camera. Most times we find ourselves using our phones to take pictures in the moment, rarely do we find ourselves scrambling for our tablets. On the other hand if they had omitted a front facing camera I would have been displeased. While the 720p front facing camera is not ground breaking, it is included for good reason (Skype). Everything else is as expected, speaker is on the back, and some Archos logos here and there.
Display/Speakers
As a portable media device, you would expect a decent audio and video experience, this brings us to the display and speaker. First off let me start off by saying that display reminds me a lot of my Xoom, and when set side by side I can see no real difference. The resolution of the screen is 1280 x 800 bringing us in at 150 ppi, now days this is pretty standard for the average tablet. This may leave you wanting when compared to the displays on the Transformer Prime or iPad (see high resolution IPS displays). Overall while watching videos on the G9 Turbo they looked clean, and the colors looked spot on (no over saturation here). Although it may not be the best or newest screen technology, it looks really good and was easy on the eyes.
The speaker sounded good as well. Although it is placed in the back it was loud enough that I never really had to strain to hear what was going on. If watching a movie or playing a game, for the most part I could hear what was going on. I would have preferred the speakers on the front, but it seems all to rare that a company actually does this. Fortunately with the kickstand open the sound normally will get reflected back at you. But if the situation calls for it you can always switch over to a Bluetooth headset, or headphones.
Internal Hardware
The internal hardware for the G9 Turbo is pretty standard for the average tablet these days. With a OMAP 4 dual core processor clocked at 1.5 ghz, and 1 gig of ram you shouldn’t have any problem watching movies, or checking your email. The G9 Turbo being based off the OMAP 4 processor ensures that you wont have any problem playing HD video content, something that can be a problem if using a device based off of the Tegra 2. This absolutely is a must being that the G9 Turbo has an HDMI mini port, since its core purpose is streaming movies to HD TV’s. Overall I am completely satisfied with the specs of the G9 Turbo for the price.
Software
Often times you find a bunch of unwanted software or a skin installed on your phone or tablet. With the G9 there are some pre-installed apps on the tablet, but they can all be removed. The important thing here is that a few of them are actually useful. The ARCHOS made multimedia apps for extra format and codec support was extremely useful, it will definitely save anyone looking for out of the box movie playback a few bucks.
From what I have read (and my experience with my Xoom) is that new life has been found with the introduction of Android 4.0 (ICS). The heart and soul running the G9 Turbo is pretty close to untouched ICS as you can get. As you can see from the video ICS on this run very smooth. I credit this to the fact that ICS was designed from the ground up to run on the OMAP 4 architecture, something that defiantly benefits the G9 Turbo.
Memory (Hard-drive)
After being limited to at most 48 gigs of space at most on my Xoom or Rezound, I found the G9 Turbo’s 250 gb hard-drive refreshing. The thing is though how well does it work? Lets just say besides the thickness of the G9, I would have not even noticed it was there. Not once could I feel the tablet vibrating in my hand, or lag due to a large file being opened. After doing some research I found out why, the G9 Turbo uses a Momentus Thin Hard Drive. Well what does that mean? Archos website describes it as “Wanting to give users the best of both worlds, ARCHOS paired the Seagate® Momentus® Thin hard drive with a dedicated 2GB1 flash caching system. This ARCHOS engineered hybrid solution offered on all ARCHOS G9 hard drive tablets is designed to limit spinning and to keep the drive powered down when not in use, which will protect it when on the go as well as preserve battery life. These unique features combined with ARCHOS’ changes in Android to allow for hard drives means that your 250GB1 HDD feels like it’s an SSD.” Overall I came away very satisfied with the experience of the hybrid hard drive.
Verdict
When I first got my hands on the G9 Turbo I wasn’t so sure about it, the feel to me was off, and felt a little thick. After some hands on time with it though I really found its potential. With a massive amount of hard drive space, a kickstand, and some good media software I was ready to transfer all my media files over to it. The G9 Turbo isn’t perfect, but it is a great mid-range tablet; especially for those people looking to bring their media on the go.
Any thoughts? Let us know if you have any questions below!
NEXT: International giveaway of the ARCHOS G9 101 Turbo!
ARCHOS Releasing Honeycomb Tablets Starting September 20 with up to 1.5 GHz CPU, 250 GB of Storage Seagate, Archos Team Up for Low-Priced Tablets with up to 250 GB Storage
This article, A Review of the Archos 10.1 G9 Turbo 250 GB – Android 4.0 ICS out of the box with bottomless storage , was originally published at androidtime.com – Your Android News Source.
Cogs [Android Game Review]
Oh, Cogs. If ever I've had my noodle baked more from an Android game, I cannot say. In terms of sheer mind-bendingness, complexity, and demanding that the player stretch their imagination in many multiple directions, you take the cake. This is all aided, of course, by your incredible 3D models, which are some of the most gorgeous I've seen in any Android game. But enough fawning; let's get into the meat of what makes Cogs great.
For starters, lets just talk about the graphics. Not only does Cogs feature some insanely beautiful 3D designs, it does so without sacrificing performance. Animations chug along, buttery smooth, and with all the turning gears and cogs and steampunk goodness floating around, that's quite a feat to see.
So what's the point of Cogs, anyway? Well, there's one cog that spins all by its lonesome. It's your job to move tiles with other cogs on them in such a fashion that you make a cog on the other side (or sides) turn as well. It kind of makes you feel like a watchmaker, and watching the chain of cogs either come to life or grind to a halt based on your moves is strangely enchanting.
You're ranked on three things: moves used, time, and completion. (The last one seems a bit silly, honestly. You get a medal just for finishing?) Whenever you start a new puzzle, you're shown the optimal time and moves to finish in. Once the level starts, the timer starts counting down, and as you dwell, the color will shift from gold to silver to bronze.
The move counter acts much in the same manner, but consider this: you don't need to move single tiles at a time. If you want to move a whole row, tap the farthest tile and it'll shift everything in the row over one space, but it'll still only count as one move! You've earn yourself many a-more precious medal that way, trust me.
The levels get increasingly more difficult (duh), but as soon as the second or third level you're tasked with not only making a golden cog spin, but you've got to cross to planes to do it. To get around the potential issues with turning a 3D model, Cogs introduces the two-finger swipe. Place two fingers, swipe around, and you can see any side of the box-with-a-propeller on it. It's a cool mechanic that is implemented rather well and keeps Cogs both challenging and feeling fresh the whole time.
And that, in a nutshell, is Cogs. It's a beautiful exercise in excellent game design, a mind-bending puzzler, and overall, an excellent game on Android. If you're the puzzle-loving type, Cogs should be in your library, no doubt.
Cogs is $ 2.99 in the Google Play Store. We've got download links after the break.
read more
|
|
Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers
Quick review – Lightning Launcher
Many older devices are a bit limited when it comes to RAM. RAM (Random Access Memory) is where your applications store parts of their program and data during operation. One of the biggest RAM-hogs on stock phones are the customised Home Screens, such as HTC Sense.
If you were to swap out to a homescreen that takes up a fraction of the memory the bloaters do, it would load faster, operate smoothly, and leave far more memory available for other multi-task applications to make good use of.
Without further ado lines, I bring you Lightning Launcher, a homescreen launcher which has one objective – be tiny. The developer even makes the configuration window install as a separate package, so that it isn’t loaded into memory during normal operation.
What it looks like…
The launcher is highly customisable and these screenshots do not give an extremely good representation of that. You can change the whole homescreen from a list into a set of icons and widgets with a few menu selections. Still, these are my two favourite configurations.
"Zune" style on the left, and adjusting padding of an icon on the default homescreen on the right.
Multiple, minimalist themes
There a couple of theme setups included, such as ‘Icons only’, ‘list with icons’, and my favourite – Zune Mode (in the screenshot, left side).
Interestingly, these home-screens can scroll vertically, almost as if you are making a list of your favourite applications. When you eventually run out of space, you can start placing icons below your existing ones, making a scrollable homescreen ‘page’.
Here’s a video of the Lightning Launcher in action:
Widget Support
If you install ‘LLW Any App Widget’ from Google Play (the Launcher can prompt you), then all of the widgets from your applications can be rendered in this minimalistic environment. Though you shouldn’t really be loading up Widgets if your device is low on memory, this is a nice inclusion for people who have larger memory devices that want to enjoy Lightning Launcher.
There are no other homescreen panes either. You get just the one. Once again, if you’re intention is to speed things up, you shouldn’t be running a launcher with multiple panes.
A Rating
If your phone is older and often running low on internal memory, Lightning Launcher may be a godsend. As for people who have plenty of memory to spare, you needn’t use this application as it could never compare to the one you are currently running.
I suppose Lightning Launcher (you can get from here on the Play Store) gets 6/10 when all the viewpoints of smartphone owners are combined. Though it lacks in a lot of features that we take for granted in other launchers, that minimalism is what makes it super-lightweight and fast.
SPB Shell 3D Launcher – Android App Review 
Nightly Poll: What’s your Favorite Android Launcher?
This article, Quick review – Lightning Launcher , was originally published at androidtime.com – Your Android News Source.
HTC One S review (European version)
HTC knows it has to deliver in 2012. The past few months haven’t been kind to the veteran Android manufacturer, with tumbling revenues and unrelenting competition from Samsung and Apple. And so, as it hopes to reclaim some lost glory, HTC has launched its new range of “hero” handsets, the HTC One series.
Much of the media attention since the HTC One announcement at Mobile World Congress has been focused on the new flagship product, the One X. And with good reason — the One X is a fantastic phone, and one that makes smartphone history as the world’s first quad-core phone. But equally alluring is the X’s smaller, sleeker sibling, the HTC One S — a 7.8mm-thick, metal-framed device powered by a next-gen Snapdragon processor. Unlike the polycarbonate-clad One X, the One S retains the classic HTC aluminum unibody design, with both vanilla and plasma-fried flavors unveiled at MWC. Though it lacks the pin-sharp 720p display found on the One X, the One S nevertheless is a premium product.
But now that it's actually available to purchase, where does the 4.3-inch One S fit in the broader Android landscape, and has HTC been able to cram all this high-end hardware into the phone’s slender shell without compromising in other areas? Find out after the break, in our definitive HTC One S review.
 
An unbelievably thin phone with superlative build quality. Performance is speedy thanks to the Snapdragon S4 CPU. There’s also the same fantastic camera that’s found in the One X, and great battery life to boot. HTC Sense 4 compliments ICS rather than replacing it. |
USB storage is limited to 10GB. Although superior to other PenTile displays, the One S’s qHD screen will be a turn-off for some, as will the lack of removable storage and battery. |
 
The One S will inevitably live in the shadow of its big brother, but it’d be foolish to overlook this device. Despite its position in the middle of the HTC One series, this is is no mid-range handset. The One S is a smaller, sleeker, leaner version of the X (with much better battery life, we might add), and it’s just as capable a smartphone as HTC’s new flagship. If you can get past the lower screen resolution, it’s definitely worth a look. |
|
Inside this review |
More info |
|---|---|
|
|
read more
|
|
Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers
Review: Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T
It’s been a little while since I’ve taken Windows Phone for a spin. In fact, the last time Windows Phone and I were hanging out it was before the big Mango update. I had spent some serious with T-Mobile’s HTC HD7 and, overall, found the operating system to be fairly limited and without much in the way of developer support. Much has happened to the ecosystem since then, including the Mango update and the partnership with Nokia.
Regardless of your thoughts on Microsoft or Nokia, we have two companies that were effectively pushed out of the mobile game by iOS and Android, working together to make a phone to try and win back some users. Their offering is called the Lumia 900 on AT&T’s 4G LTE network, and it’s a pretty big deal.
Sweet, sweet hardware
Nokia has always had hardware that stands out. Even back in the day when Nokia was cranking out 2G phones, you could spot them from a mile away. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Lumia 900 will differentiate itself from the crowd — in a sea of nearly identical slabs, this phone truly stands out. The polycarbonate monobody casing, available in both blue and black, create a surface that is just textured enough to allow your fingers to grip it, without adding a visual pattern to the finish. There’s no removable battery, making the casing a solid, seamless piece.
Nokia’s ClearBlack glass lays on top of the body, almost like the polycarbonate shell is a removable case for the phone. The device is flat on the top and bottom, though the weight on the phone is ever so slightly imbalanced (due to the placement of the screen) so it doesn’t always want to stand up on its own.
In a world of 720p screens and Retina displays, the Lumia 900 looks under-qualified to hang out with the big names in the smartphone world. The 4.3-inch 800×480 resolution on the Lumia seems like something we would have seen on phones over a year ago, and is sure to give smartphone power users reason to question the specs of the device. Despite the resolution, everything on this screen looks incredibly crisp and clear. The Windows Phone UI, with its basic colors and sharp shapes across a flat black background looks great. More than that, websites and text render very clearly. This display, underneath Nokia’s ClearBlack glass also shows up much better in direct sunlight than the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Samsung Galaxy Note or that on the iPhone 4S. The phone has an 8MP camera (with Carl Zeiss optics) in the back and a 1MP front facing camera
The Lumia 900 is a 1.4Ghz single core processor phone with 512MB of RAM. In no way does this phone feel even remotely sluggish, no matter what I did to try and slow the phone down. The device performed exactly the same way no matter what, which is truly a testament to how Windows Phone is able to handle this hardware.
The Lumia 900 has an 1830mAh battery inside, which is more than capable of keeping it alive for over a day on 3G. It’s not shocking that, compared to a dual-core phone with 1GB of RAM and a 720p display, you get better battery life. When connected to AT&T’s 4G LTE, the Lumia 900 will give you much closer to 14 hours of battery life. Compared to other 4G LTE devices the Lumia 900 gets great battery life, with the exception being the over-sized Galaxy Note.
For more about the specifications, check out our comparison of the Lumia 900, the iPhone 4S, and the Galaxy Nexus.
Mango is a huge improvement, but still fairly limited
In the smartphone market, Microsoft’s Windows Phone is in a distant third place. The biggest downside to having a device in distant third is that, no matter how amazing the hardware is, there’s still not nearly as many apps for Windows Phone as there are for iOS and Android. Common apps like Dropbox are nowhere to be found, and the third party apps that try to offer access to the online storage locker don’t even come close. For users moving from Android, there’s no Google Apps, and for users moving from iOS, most of the popular apps you are used to are nowhere to be found. If you’re not bound to any particular set of services, moving to Windows Phone would be great, but I think those users are few and far between.
My favorite parts of Windows Phone — the integration with Microsoft’s other services — are still around, which is great. The Xbox Live app, SkyDrive integration, and the Microsoft Office access are each really great tools that you can’t get anywhere else. For any user who is already enjoying these Microsoft products, the phone is a really pleasant way to complete that experience.
The Mango update to Windows Phone brought a huge cache of new features, things like turn-by-turn navigation, multitasking, and more developer support for the LiveTile UI. These were, for the most part, a huge improvement to the Windows Phone user experience. Unfortunately, there’s more than a few things that still make using WP7 a little awkward.
The LiveTiles, for example, are one of the cleanest, most polished looking experiences I have ever had on a smartphone. That is, right until you install a third party app. The experience allows you to set a specific color for the entire experience and change that at will. On top of the colors, your apps can display information on the tile like how many emails are unread. Developers have the ability to incorporate the LiveTile experience into their apps, but from what I could find many developers haven’t bothered. Even fairly major apps, like Twitter and Facebook, keep the color scheme to their own default colors and don’t change it in any way.
Also, there’s this dedicated search button on the Lumia 900, next to the home and back buttons. When you press it, no matter where you press it, the button launches Bing Search. If you are in the email app, it doesn’t allow you to search through the mail for example. In fact, in most places, there’s a software search button that is to be used completely separate from the search button on the device. This is a new feature as a part of Windows Phone Mango, and a feature that I wish would get fixed because it’s a clunker.
All told, however, if you’re not absolutely in love with a different mobile OS, Windows Phone is perfectly capable of delivering a quality experience.
Easily the best phone for the price
The most exciting part of the Nokia Lumia 900 is that it’s a great Windows Phone on AT&T’s crazy fast 4G LTE network. The L900 is the only Windows Phone to date with access to that network, and the only LTE non-Android phone on AT&T. The Lumia 900 is going to be joining the likes of the $ 299 Samsung Galaxy Note and the $ 49 Pantech Burst in the 4G LTE world, but it’s coming in at $ 99 on a two-year agreement. For the price, the Nokia Lumia 900 is absolutely the best phone on AT&T’s 4G LTE network, and a huge boost to the Windows Phone lineup.
The Lumia 900 was loaned to us from AT&T/Nokia.
Geek.com
HTC One X review
Don't call it a comeback. HTC certainly was in the running for King of Mobile World Congress 2012 (an award that would be way cooler if it existed) with the new HTC One line, and the HTC One X specifically. When you stop and think about it, however, it's also a logical progression.
HTC started 2011 with the eventually disappointing Verizon ThunderBolt, which was thick, heavy and a battery hog — due in no small part to its LTE radio. The prevailing winds started to shift later in the year, however, with the likes of the Sensation and Amaze 4G, and you started to get a sense (pardon the pun) that the Taiwanese manufacturer was starting to regain its footing. (That shift was further indicated by the likes of the Windows Phone HTC Titan line.)
And that brings us to 2012 and the HTC One X, the pinnacle of the trio of Android smartphones that make up the HTC One line. (The others are the HTC One S and HTC One V.) There actually are two versions of the One X — the GSM version with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and another with a dual-core Qualcomm Krait processor and an LTE radio for 4G data.
The HTC One X review that follows is of the international quad-core version. We'll follow up with AT&T dual-core, LTE version of the One X when it becomes available.
|
A great camera, equally great display, and all the power of NVIDIA Tegra 3 that we've come to expect. Sense 4 meshes nicely with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Free 25GB of online storage thrown in via Dropbox. Impressive design and build quality. Battery life is pretty good.
|
That said, the non-removable battery and lack of microSD card may be a sticking point for some. The 4.7-inch phone may be too large for small hands. The protruding camera lens can be easily scratched and isn't easily replaceable.
|
| The leader of the next-generation HTC One series of smartphones has been a breeze to use. Android 4.0 has been improved upon with HTC Sense 4 while still retaining the overall look, feel and function of Ice Cream Sandwich, which in and of itself has an excellent user experience. The camera is a high point, Beats Audio makes music sound better, and you get a bunch of online storage thrown in for free. HTC easily has a winner in the One X. |
|
Inside this review |
More info |
|---|---|
|
|
read more
|
|
Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers
Review: Supertooth Disco Bluetooth speaker
I’ve never bothered with a big home stereo system. I have nice speakers on my computer, and typically if I am listening to music I am in there. The listening experience is somewhat lessened when I am doing something from across the house, however, and the music needs to travel through several walls. I often find myself using my phone as a small stereo, though I have yet to find a phone that is capable of delivering a quality bass kick when necessary. So, in an attempt to fix my need for quality mobile music I took a look at the Supertooth Disco, a Bluetooth stereo speaker.
Supertooth has a history of making curious little Bluetooth accessories for niche markets. They focus on making the most features available for the widest variety of devices. The Disco Bluetooth speaker is no exception to this. The speaker will connect to just about any Bluetooth device that transmits music, and it supports A2DP with controls on the front of the speaker. I tested it on my Galaxy Nexus using Play Music, and all of the controls worked seamlessly.
There is a 3.5mm jack if you want to plug straight in, but when you are using Bluetooth you’ll get about 15-20 feet of wireless connection before there’s a quality difference. The speaker is lightweight and sturdy enough that you can set it just about anywhere and it will be perfectly safe. The Disco comes with a travel case that looks like you can use the speaker while inside it, but the sound is instantly muffled.
The Disco is capable of delivering a great sound, and is loud enough to enjoy in a single room or outside. The 12W internal subwoofer delivers plenty of bass on the standard settings, but at the bottom of the control dial you’ll find a bass button which dramatically increases how much bass the speaker is outputting. Unless you really need some bass, you probably will be better off leaving that feature disabled. When you get towards the louder end of the control dial, most sounds become distorted and scratchy, especially if the volume on whatever you are using to deliver the music is turned all the way up as well. At half power, this speaker is more than capable of delivering enough quality sound to fill a room and your battery will last longer that way as well.
The built-in NIMH battery will keep the party going for about 8 hours at a reasonable volume, but if you crank it to 11 you’ll cut that battery life just about in half. If you plug it in, the speaker will be fully charged in about 3 hours, but the lack of a battery indicator of any kind makes measuring this kind of difficult especially if you leave the speaker on standby for awhile (Supertooth claims you can leave the device idle for 500 hours).
For just over $ 100 at most online retailers, the Supertooth Disco is ideal for anyone who needs higher quality music, and the speaker is versatile enough that you can either keep it plugged in a single room or carry it with you anywhere you want to listen to music. The only real downside to this device is the lack of a battery indicator other than the red light that lets you know when the battery is almost dead and green when it is fully charged. Considering how long the battery is capable of lasting if it is used at a reasonable volume, that is a pretty small complaint for a powerful little speaker.
Geek.com
Jabra Freeway Bluetooth Speakerphone review
When it comes to using your smartphone in the car, it's a tricky proposition. Hands-free is a must. And after that, it really becomes a point of actually having to use your phone — or in this case, the Jabra Freeway speakerphone — as little as possible. Can you place or answer a call without touching anything? When you do have to touch something, how many motions does it take to perform an action? Are those actions easily memorized? And, at the end of the day, does the darn thing just work?
Jabra is a long-recognized name in Bluetooth accessories. But it's been some years since I've used one of their speakerphones (read our review of the Motorola T505 I've been using for as long as I can remember). Switching to the Freeway is a nice change in design. Clipped to the sun visor, it looks a lot like an old-school oversized garage door opener that curves back around the front.
Let's not beat around the bush here: The Jabra Freeway has quickly become my speakerphone of choice. Read on to find out why.
read more
|
|
Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers
Review: Asus Zenbook UX31 ultrabook
The Ultrabook category of computers is still relatively new, but many companies are putting the best foot forward to try and stake their claim in the market. The Asus Zenbook UX31 is the top of Asus’ Ultrabook lineup, so we decided to see how it compares to other devices on the market.
Like all Ultrabooks, the UX31 is insanely thin. At the thickest point, this machine is only slightly bigger than the two USB ports they managed to sneak onto the sides. The case is made of what Asus calls “hairline” aluminum, which feels incredibly solid. There’s no flexing in any part of the casing or the screen. The hinge even feels more solid than most laptops made today. Sure, you need to apply some force to open or move the screen, but once it starts to move it glides very smoothly. The keys on the keyboard are plastic, coated in a material that makes the keys look just like the rest of the casing. Just above the keys are the Bang and Olufsen ICEpower speakers, which are attached to the screen.
Every part of this Ultrabook feels solid, but still stays under three pounds. The sides host to a micro Display Port, microHDMI, and an SD card slot, in addition to those USB slots. Like most of the devices in this category, the Zenbook can have either an i5 or an i7 with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics card drives the Ultrabooks 1280×800 screen. Even under heavy use, the UX31 still stays cool. The vents that line the back of the laptop with matching vents under the speakers create enough air flow without making a lot of noise. The only downside to the hardware design is that the entirely of the exterior is a gigantic fingerprint magnet.
When looking for an Ultrabook, the key components for one to be successful is a sturdy design and good battery life. One of the biggest features Asus totes about the Ultrabook is the ability to suspend the battery for days, even weeks. Asus includes a battery widget on the homescreen of the laptop that tells you how long the device can hibernate for before the battery is dead. On a full charge, the widget claims the device can hibernate for 12 days.
Leaving the Ultrabook off the charger over a weekend, I returned to that widget telling me the laptop would stay hibernated for 7 days. Nevertheless, the laptop then proceeded to deliver 6 hours of battery life. On a full charge, the laptop would typically deliver 9.5 hours. The hibernate software from Asus is impressive compared to other laptops, but it seems the math is slightly off for just how useful it is.
Unfortunately, the Zenbook is not perfect. As a consequence of being so thin, the microphone in the bezel of the screen is downright unusable. It picks up every touch of the keyboard, the air that passes by the Ultrabook, and any time you shift the computer. The touchpad is great for all of the single touch uses you could have, but the multi-touch control on the ultrabook is lacking. The touchpad is far more responsive with left to right controls than it is with up to down controls, and there’s no real way to control the sensitivity of the scrolling with the built in software.
As an added perk to the normal Windows 7 OS, the UX31 includes a facial unlocking tool that can be activated. The software allows you to save various images of your face, and uses the webcam when the lockscreen is on to try and match your face to the images that have been stored. Unfortunately, the software is incredibly slow, making it so you need to hold your face still for upwards of 30 seconds before a lock is achieved. I found that I needed to store more that 20 pictures in order for the unlock experience to be even remotely fluid. IF you are willing to put the time into it, the Asus face unlock would be a nice addition.
Aside from the microphone and the lack of sensitivity controls on the touchpad, the only thing I would say needs to be fixed on the Asus Zenbook is a backlit keyboard. Being an extremely mobile device, Ultrabook users routinely find themselves in a place where a backlit keyboard would be a huge benefit.
The i5 version of the UX31, which was tested for this review is available for just under $ 1,000 which makes it on-par with the rest of the Ultrabook realm. When compared to the 13″ Macbook Air, the Zenbook is $ 300 cheaper, but given the lack of backlit keys, lower quality microphone and touchpad, and the core i5 processor over the Air’s core i7, the decrease in price is matched by the decrease in quality.
Geek.com
