SPG - iPhone Reviews

Review: MiLi Powerspring for the iPhone 4

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:26:50 +0000

Like many other folks earlier this year I became the proud owner of an Apple iPhone 4. There are some issues with the phone that we all know about but one issue that was supposed to be improved was that of battery life. However as an IT Manager it can be that at times I'm stranded working on the shop floor where there is no access to power for charging and conditions in the building give rise to signal cold spots meaning that the iPhone is constantly seeking a signal and that of course drains the battery.

As the iPhone 4 does not have a replaceable battery an alternative solution had to be found. The product chosen to try and eliminate this problem is:

Product: MiLi Powerspring for the iPhone 4
Supplier: CaseAddict.com
Price at time of posting: £ 54.99

Product Specifications:

Capacity: 1600mAh
Input: DC5V/500mA
Charging time: 4 hours
Standby time: Up to 360 hours
Talk time: Up to 6hours on 3G
Up to 13.3hours on 2G
Internet Use: Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10.6 hours on Wi-Fi
Audio play: Up to 36hours
Video play: Up to 10.6 hours
Dimension: 124(L)X65(D)X18(T)mm

A review sample was requested from CaseAddict.com and this was posted out the same day (impressive) and as it was posted via parcel post it arrived two days later.

The MiLi Powerspring arrived in a standard 'bubble wrap' envelope and contained within was the hard plastic box containing the gadget and associated bits and pieces.

The contents of the box were:

The MiLi Powerspring
USB to mini-USB cable (hidden inside the inner box lining)
Instruction manual

One nice extra here was that that the iPhone connector was protected by a push on plastic sleeve which prevented any accidental damage to the connector.

Once removed from the packaging the Powerspring in its Black and Silver livery can be prepared for mounting the iPhone.

This is simply done by removing the protective connector sleeve and then pushing back the hinged part of the casing which allows the iPhone to slide down into place.

Once the iPhone has been docked into the housing the hinged portion may be clicked into position where it locks pretty firmly upwards against the iPhones' body.

This obviously increases the dimensions and weight of the iPhone 4 when held within:

Height: 115.2 mm -> 124 mm (+8 mm)
Width: 58.6 mm -> 65 mm (+6.4 mm)
Depth: 9.3 mm -> 18 mm (+8.7mm)
Weight: 137 grams - > 213 grams (+75 grams)

The size increase is most noticeable on the back of the encapsulated iPhone 4 as the piercing within the back of the housing to allow camera access is significantly tunnel like, this means that this area could be a holding area for dust and debris if the phone is kept within a pocket or untidy bag.

However the increased thickness can not be avoided as the housing incorporates the 1600mAh Li On battery which serves as a secondary power source for the iPhone 4 and such batteries are not lightweight at all!

To mitigate this the housing is nicely rounded on all edged and the back relieved towards the hinged area which results in a comfortable presence when held in the hand.

The left hand side of the housing (above the hinged area) has a 'cut out' moulded in place which allows good access to the volume and mute controls on the iPhone 4.

The Powerspring has two slots moulded into the base portion which allow sound from the twin speakers on the iPhone 4 to exit the housing.

The base also contains a mini-USB port which is covered by a form fitting rubber plug which can be popped our to reveal the port itself.

This port allows the Powerspring to be charged either via USB connection to the PC or via plugging it into the Apple power adaptor supplied with the iPhone 4.

The top hinged portion of the housing again sports 'cut outs' in the moulding which give access to the power switch and the headphone socket, with twin parallel holes above the camera port allowing access to the light sensors.

The right hand side initially appears to be featureless until one notices the power switch at the bottom of the housing and the LED strip immediately above it.

The LED strip indicates the charged state of the Powerspring from empty to full via 4 bright blue LEDs. The LEDs shine for a few seconds after the device has been turned on, and when plugged into a power source flash and glow indicating that a charge is taking place and how full the battery level is. Once the unit is completely charged all four LEDs are lit the flashing stops.

My unit arrived some 25% charged and took approximately 2 hours to fully charge when connected to the PCs USB port.

As you can see here the partially discharged iPhone 4 is within the Powerspring which has been turned on. The iPhone 4 is charging without any cable near it at all - the Powerspring is working and doing its job!

A typical working day with the iPhone results in the charge level dropping to between 43 and 65% depending on the amount of device usage. This is with WiFi and 3G turned on throughout the working day.

TESTING

With the Powerspring in place to charge the iPhone 4 while in use both around the shop floor and at the desk the charge level under the same conditions only dropped my a meagre 4% to 96%. The Powerspring during this time used between 25% and 50% of it's power (One LED lit the next flashing).

A further test was carried out on a weekend trip to Wales where the power charger for the iPhone 4 was left at home as was the charger for the Powerspring. All that was taken with me to power the iPhone 4 was the fully charged Powerspring. Although the iPhone 4 was Brodit mounted for navigation while in the car the rest of the time (eBook reading, movie watching, emails, phone calls, etc) it was powered by it's own battery or the Powerspring.

At the end of the extended 3 day trip away the Powerspring had used over 75% of its power (one LED lit and flashing) and the iPhone at all times maintained a charge above 86%.

Finally the Powerspring was allowed to exhaust all power reserves and it took 3 hours 52 minutes to regain a full charge.

Pros and Cons

Increases thickness and weight of the iPhone
Battery is non-removable

Prevents the iPhone 4 from suffering the antenna grip of death
Can be charged wherever there is a free USB port
Nicely shaped housing feels comfortable in the hand
High capacity 1600mAh battery greatly increases the iPhones battery life
Relatively small and portable

CONCLUSIONS

The Powerspring itself is constructed of what appears to be hard ABS plastic which is rigid enough to give a goodly amount of protection to the iPhone itself and also serves to prevent the grip of death. The housing is nicely styled both with respect to the silver black colour code as well as designed to fit comfortably within the hand. There are no issues at all when operating the encapsulated iPhone all controls are easily accessed. It is safe to say that the Powerspring does indeed greatly extend the power longevity of the iPhone 4 in most situations doubling it as claimed.

The Powerspring has now become part of my standard arsenal in the fight against power loss whilst away from a charging point when using my iPhone 4.

Review: Proporta Leather Case for iPad / Aluminum Lined Leather Case for iPhone 4

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:14:58 +0000

Recently becoming a proud owner of both an iPhone 4 and an iPad I looked around for additional casing to protect both from the rigours of daily life. I contacted the guys at Proporta and they were more than happy to send out to us:

Product: Leather Case for iPad (#32878)
Product: Aluminum Lined Leather Case (Apple iPhone 4) (#33929)

Which are part of their range of Apple products (cases, mounts, adaptors, etc). The cases came plastic bag wrapped and on removing the outer packaging the cases in black and beige leather are revealed.

The beige colouration contrasts well with the black leather to give a stylish and contemporary look.

The edges of both cases are finely stitched, the iPhone case in white stitching the iPad in black. The iPad case has a doubly reinforced hinge portion that allows the case to open book style and initially allows the iPad to be slipped into position.

Once in position the case can be closed to give a decent level of protection to the front on the iPad. There is no closing fastener on the cover but the padding adds a decent amount of weight to hold the case closed. As the iPad is likely to spend a goodly amount of time either in a brief case or on the desk this should suffice in most situations.

The case uses basic friction to hold the iPad in place within the case, and it can be removed at any time by gently pushing the screen sideways. A bonus as with the official Apple leather case the rubber holds it to tightly to easily remove the iPad!

Looking at the 'front cover' of the case one notices a black band stitched into the leather on the outer side, and held in place near the hinge by a medium sized press stud. More on this later.

Below the band is an integral pocket which can be used for holding business cards, A5 paper, etc. Useful.

When within the case access is granted to the iPads connection and speakers via stitched openings in the base of the case. Remember though that (as with the Apple case) you'll not be able to use the iPad with the official iPad dock as the case prevents the connector engaging.

Again there are additional openings in the right hand side of the case to allow access to the volume and orientation controls.

With the top corners of the case relieved to allow access to the headphone socket and the power switch.

The only drawback with the openings in the case is that due to the 'book' style design those on the top and right hand side of the iPad are open to anything that might be floating loosely in the brief case.

Back to that black strap mentioned earlier. In the press stud fastener is unpopped the strap and be bent backwards (taking the cover with it) and pressed against a secondary stud located on the rear of the case. This revamps the case into an 'A' section and allows it to act as a stand for the iPad. Again a useful feature as a free desk mount can be a boon when working at the desk!

In contrast the the iPad case the model for the iPhone is a flip style where the front cover flips open to reveal the iPhone.

The leather of the iPhone case is softer and less rigid than that of the iPhone, possibly by design to as not to cause any harm to the glass housing on the iPhone 4, however this also adversely affects the look of the case. Once the iPhone has been placed in position the screen opening tends to gape open somewhat which gives a false impression that the case is not well constructed.

As with the iPad case the left hand side of the case is relieved to allow access to the silent switch and the volume control buttons.

However unlike the iPad the case is not supported at the top by additional leather and this means that the front face of the case can flex upwards easily due to the thinness of the leather at both sides.

The right hand side of the case covers most of the housing of the iPhone 4 as there are no controls requiring access.

The base of the case, against which the iPhone 4 nestles comprises of only two thin leather strips, which do allow access to the connector, but also occlude the speakers to some degree and also serve to offer little protection to the base of the iPhone.

The top of the iPhone is protected by the flip when the case is closed and again the flip itself is cut back to allow access to the headphone socket.

The power switch is hidden safely away by the flap to help prevent accidental operation. One additional level of protection is given to the iPhone by the flap as it is lined with a piece on thin aluminum sheeting which should prevent screen damage from impacting external objects.

Conclusion - Leather Case for iPad

The case is well constructed from good quality leather with fine 'tight' stitching with no loose ends. The iPad is held safely and securely and the case will suit the professional user who will tend to carry the iPad with a bag or brief case. The added desk mount is as welcome bonus but as the sides are used to form the feet of the 'A' shape it can tend to slide across the desk if any sharp pressure is applied to the screen.

Quality leather
Stylish design
Good level of protection for critical areas on the iPad
Paper holder in cover
Integral desk stand

Will not fit the iPad dock

Conclusion - Aluminum Lined Leather Case

The case is well constructed from good quality leather with fine 'tight' stitching with no loose ends. The iPhone is held firmly in position but the reduced width of the leather at the sides of the screen and on the base can result in the 'fit' looking poor or a lack of protection being offered. In many cases of this type there is an option to belt mount the case, there is no such option available here.

Quality leather
Stylish design
Aluminum lined flap

Will not fit the iPad dock
Lack of sturdiness in some aspects of the construction
Speakers partially obscured
No belt mount

[All images in this review have been processed by Snagit by Techsmith]

Review: Zagg Leatherskin and Invisibleshield for iPad

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:11:57 +0000

With the recent release of Apple's iPad , a number of aftermarket suppliers and developers have started to produce cases and protective covers for the device. These range from slip covers through to portfolios, flip-over cases and screen protectors.

I have always preferred to use my devices unadorned but the large shiny screen of the iPad caused me a little concern about unwanted scratches, so I went in search of a suitable protector. Read on to find out how I fared!

I'm not sure how I got there, but I eventually finished up at the website of Zagg Inc, who make a range of their InvisibleSHIELD products for a huge number of devices. These can protect the screen only, or can be supplied to protect the whole device.

In addition to the clear protective skins, they also offer a genuine leather protector for the rear of some devices, including the iPad. For me, this was the preferred combination- a leather skin to cover the back of the iPad and a clear screen protector. This does still leave the edges of the iPad vulnerable but the aluminium frame appears pretty robust.

Supplier:
Zagg Inc

Product:
LEATHERskin and InvisibleSHIELD for iPad

Price as tested:
$79 plus carriage and duty. Various prices and options available.

Availability and Delivery

Having chosen my preferred combination- tan leather back and clear front protector, I went in search of a UK supplier. It appears however that apart from one Ebay and one Amazon dealer that there are no mainstream distributors for the LEATHERskin, though a number sell the clear InvisibleSHIELDs.

No matter, because Zagg will ship to UK for $13, plus I had the bonus of a 50% voucher after submitting my email address into a lucky draw on their web site's front page!

The full cost of my choice would have been $80, but this reduced to $40 plus carriage making a grand total of £36. There is a Gotcha here though, more of which later!

Zagg dispatched my order within two days though once it had spent a few days in UK Customs and then the Royal Mail distribution centre, it took a full two weeks to arrive.

The Product and Installation

My initial surprise was how big the box was! This proved to contain a flat pack with the LEATHERskin plus a cardboard tube containing the InvisibleSHIELD plus the application accessories- a soft plastic 'squeegee' and a bottle of application fluid plus an instruction leaflet which included the web address of some installation videos.

As the LEATHERskin looked the easier of the items to install, I decided to start with that. Unpacking it showed it to be a thin but high quality sheet of leather shaped to fit the contours of the iPad exactly. The front surface was covered with three peel-off strips allowing easy fixing.

After offering up the cover to see roughly where to fix it, you peel off the middle strip (labeled '1') and fit it in place. It can be lifted and reapplied to get it exact. Once done it can be smoothed down and the second strip pulled away allowing the top to be fixed. Finally the bottom strip is removed and the bottom part of the skin applied. Once complete the whole thing can be smoothed down to consolidate the adhesion.

This all went without a hitch and the leather skin did indeed fit exactly around the contours of the back panel. It is thin and supple enough to allow the recessed 'Apple' logo to show through and it retains the svelte lines of the device.

It was now time to fit the front protector, for which some preparation is advisable. My first piece of advice is to look at the instruction video very carefully. This differs a little from the printed instructions and shows much more clearly how to hold the items while applying. Better attention to this on my part would have been useful! Apologies for the lack of photos of this process- it is a two handed job at best!

Next, make sure the iPad screen is totally clean and free of greasy marks, dust, smears etc. Given the comprehensiveness of the package, I'd have expected Zagg to supply some sort of cleaner, as we see from the likes of Proporta and Martin Fields, but there was none. Use a lint free cloth, preferably one designed for optical items to get the best effect, and try to work in a dust free environment to prevent specks getting under the protector between cleaning and fitting.

Now you are ready, and the first step is to use some of the supplied spray to wet your fingertips. This helps prevent smears being placed on the sticky surface when applying. Now peel off the protective paper backing, and spray the sticky surface liberally with the fluid. I didn't use enough initially and had to redo the process the next day, so heed the instructions! Once well wetted, offer up the protector to the iPad. It will slide well until the fluid dries out so can be eased into place. There is an aperture for the iPad's button which helps the accurate location.

Once in place, use a cloth and the supplied squeegee to force excess fluid and bubbles from under the film, towards the edges of the screen where they can be mopped with some paper towels if necessary.

Small bubbles will reabsorb over a couple of days but larger ones won't so if you see any significant bubbles, lift the film from one corner and 'chase' the bubbles out.

Zagg advise leaving the iPad turned off for at least 12 hours after installation to allow the film to 'cure' and to allow any fluid seepage to dry, but it will continue to settle for about two to three days. Pretty much all small bubbles and imperfections will disappear in this time, leaving a very smooth surface.

Should the need arise, the InvisibleSHIELD can be removed at any time in the future. If this causes any distortion to its shape, simply leave it a few minutes, it will regain its original shape, and you can then refit it. Hopefully this should not be necessary- once installed, one of the benefits of this product is its robustness. If anything adverse does befall it, it is covered by a lifetime warranty and Zagg will replace it.

The product information for InvisibleSHIELD makes much of its robustness. This is an excerpt from the product specification:

The invisibleSHIELD - ZAGG's customized, patented flagship product is tough. Created from a resilient film that was first used to protect U.S. Military helicopter blades from high-speed damage, the invisibleSHIELD is your personal electronics defender. This rugged film wraps around consumer electronics and keeps them functioning and looking great, just like the day they came out of the box. Featuring ZAGG's exclusive Nano-Memory technology, the invisibleSHIELD has unique properties that provide self-healing qualities and unrivaled abrasion resistance.

I quote these because as yet I have had no cause to test its efficacy, and I trust I never shall have!

In Use

The most visible part of my purchase is the LEATHERskin rear panel cover; whether you like this or not is down to personal opinion. It is available in light or dark tan, and with or without an embossed design. This is not designed to be a robust protector like the InvisibleSHIELD, and in fact there are already a few light scrapes showing on the leather's surface after four days use.

After three days, the InvisibleSHIELD front film has become very smooth and bubble/blemish free. It does add a slightly 'rubbery' feel to screen touches owing to the nature of the material, but this is fine once you get used to it. The resistance to greasy finger marks compared to the bare screen is excellent. I've only needed to wipe it over about once a day, compared to previously when it needed cleaning after every session.

Value for money

There is no doubt that the screen protector does an excellent job and is well worth its cost. Zagg also make a full body protector for the iPad in the same material. Both are available in UK. I preferred the cosmetic look of the LEATHERskin and at 50% discount this represented reasonable value for money, with the total package including carriage coming in at £36.

I mentioned a 'gotcha' earlier on regarding the cost, and this is it: being an import from USA, the package has to pass through UK Customs. For some reason, Zagg quote the full price rather than the price paid, and additionally they incorrectly quoted the cost of the InvisibleSHIELD separately at $39 even though it was part of the $79 package. The result of that was a VAT bill for £14, plus a Royal Mail handling fee of £8, payable on collection. This increased the actual price I paid to £58. I'm not unhappy with that, but it is an added and hidden cost of buying from USA. By comparison though, buying the same package from one of the UK dealers would still have cost a total of £75, so Zagg's discount was welcome!

Conclusion

Overall I am very happy with my Zagg LEATHERskin and InvisibleSHIELD package for my iPad. Fitting can be tricky but I have no excuse- I failed to fully watch the video and had to redo it. This however was very easy and the second attempt was successful. The change to the tactile feel of the device, and its feeling of increasing its security in the hand is a real benefit. Although not likely to protect from catastrophic damage, the reputation of the film suggests it will be impervious to all the normal threats of everyday life.

Review: Brodit active mount for iPhone 4

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:28:10 +0000

Product: Brodit Active Holder Tilt Swivel for the Apple iPhone 4

Our good friends over at DSL Developments have supplied us with one of the first Brodit mounts for the Apple iPhone 4. The mount in question is the Active model which is suitable for powering via a cigarette lighter socket. [Product code: 521164].

This arrived packaged as per usual by Brodit in a plastic bag which contained the mount itself, the instructions and a bag of mounting screws. For a new user to the world of Brodit you'd also have to purchase a matching Brodit Mount for your car.

As you can see the mount comprises the mounting bracket itself and a trailing 'active' power lead which ends in a USB connector. This in turn plugs into the supplied USB to car power adaptor (cigarette lighter socket). Once fixed onto the Brodit mount and the power plugged in the iPhone 4 can then be slid into place. Power feeds into the mount via the active lead and from there directly into the iPhone 4, giving plenty of power for hands free phone calls or satellite navigation.

Brodit (as with previous iPhone mounts) have covered the mount with a fuzzy velvet-like material which serves to prevent any scratching of the iPhones surface. I'd prefer the mount to be plain plastic but as we're taking about a phone housing with a lot of glass in its construction Brodit are taking no chances!

As always with Brodit the iPhone 4 is held very firmly and even when driving at speed over bumpy roads there is no problem with vibration or movement - the phone is held safe and securely.

It is worth mentioning that as a Brodit user of many years when I've received a new mount I've always taken a shortcut in the mounting process. This has been achieved by unscrewing the prior mount at the universal swivel and then bolting into place the new bracket and swivel. With this mount this was not possible as Brodit have changed the design of the swivel and I had to install the mount in its entirety on to the bracket mounted in the car.

This was queried with ProClip USA who advised:

Quote

The tilt swivel is a new and better design. From now on all new holders will have this new tilt swivel. It will hold the tension better.

So a design improvement that caused a little more work on the install, but at least it looks like the new design will be maintained for future mounts making life easier once again in the future! There seems to be more movement in this new swivel design which allows the iPhone to have a greater range of positional range once mounted.

One other point of note is that the cable exists from the back of the mount instead of the more usual exist in the base, this actually helps cable management as it pushes the power lead towards the dashboard of the car instead of the gear lever (in my 307CC), this means there is less chance of cable snagging so can be seen as an added safety feature.

To conclude: Yet again another well engineered mount from Brodit, proved with speed and efficiency by DSL.

Pros and Cons:

A good sturdy mount designed by experts
Velvet-like coating protects the iPhone 4
No vibration or movement in the phone when driving at speed
Ensures a good level of power for operation when making calls or navigating
Reasonably priced
Designed specifically for the iPhone 4

Supplier (UK): DSL Developments
Supplier (USA): ProClip USA

[Note all photographs within this review have been processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

Review: Vaja ivolution Grip for Apple iPad

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:54:50 +0000

Product: ivolution Grip for Apple iPad
Manufacturer: Vaja

Our good friends at Vaja Cases have kindly supplied us with one of their latest products, the 'ivolution Grip for Apple iPad' for us to take a look at and review. It's been a while since we last investigated a Vaja case and it'll be good to see if their reputation for producing a high quality product is still in place.

What impressed even before the case arrived was the customer service, within half an hour of the review request been made we had a response that a case was being dispatched to us and seconds later a dispatch confirmation e-mail giving the FedEx shipping details.

The case shipped from Vaja in Buenos Aires, Argentina, over to us in the UK in a total of five days (including a weekend) which is amazing, I've waited longer for UK shipping products to arrive!

On opening the FedEx packaging the Vaja product box was revealed as usual in the brightly coloured and striking packaging.

The outer sleeve is then slid away to reveal the rainbow coloured inner box.

Which was then finally opened to reveal the ivolution Grip itself.

The inner surface of the grip is covered in a thin white layer of leather which is embossed with the Vaja logo, and this is bonded with what looks like a high strength epoxy adhesive to the rest of the case.

As always from Vaja the product oozes quality with the Grip being manufactured from full grain cowhide leather which is in turn selected from the top ten percent of Argentina's leather, and it shows. Nowhere at all is there any defect, no scarring, no insect bites marks and no imperfections. The leather is premier quality as is always the case with Vaja.

The main body of the case is of thicker formed leather with what feels like a goodly layer of firm, yet soft, foam padding sandwiched between the inner face and the outer back surface which gives excellent protection to the back of the iPad.

Vaja always astound me with their case manufacturing process as the corner grips are made from the same piece of leather as the rest of the iGrip yet feel almost as if there is spring steel inside them - they are so strongly 'sprung'. This almost magical leather skill serves to create a strong yet supple gripper action that holds the iPad securely yet with do danger of marking or damage to the device.

The iPad is lowered down into the iGrip case and gently yet firmly firmly pushed slowly downwards into the casing. One can almost feel the leather stretching reluctantly open and then gratefully close back into position as it enfolds the iPad in it's grip.

Once enfolded within the iGrip the feel of the iPad is completely transformed. The back of the iPad which had felt slick, somewhat hard and fragile to the touch, is now much more robust and a joy to handle. The leather feels wonderfully soft and warm in your hands and you are much less concerned about handling the iPad, even putting it down on the desk is less of a worry as you know that the inherent padding will soak up a lot of impact shock loading. I did spend a fair bit of time just enjoying the pleasure of holding the iPad with it's new leather coating even prior to turning it on!

When in use the iPad is of course regularly rotated between landscape and portrait orientations and the added tactility of the leather gives greater confidence in handing the iPad as it is much less slippery and therefore less likely to be dropped! As well as looking impressive the iGrip gives both protection from impacts as well as less risk of losing your grip on the machine - with the iPad being an expensive gadget those are important points!

The iGrip is constructed so that easy access to all controls is given, with a recess in the grip on the right hand side to allow you access to the volume and rotation lock controls. The leather is nicely rounded at the edges and folded inwards on itself, there is no raw inner leather to be seen which ensures that there is no area to snag or catch or wear. This ensures that the iGrip will remain good looking for the life of the iPad.

Adjacent to controls is the metal Vaja logo which follows the diagonal lines of the recess and as always looks smooth and carefully designed. With Vaja even the logo fitment shows the quality of the design, and as an ex-design engineer these small points are important.

There is no recess on the left hand side of the iGrip where the SIM card slot is located (if you have a 3G iPad), this ensures that the slot is well protected against external hazards such as dust. Plus of course on a non-3G iPad there is no requirement for such a recess to be present. Therefore the left hand side of the machine is completely protected in leather.

In contrast to the sides of the iGrip both the top and bottom of the iPad are only partly protected, that is the rounded back itself is covered but the edging which holds the top face controls and the bottom facing speaker and external connection port are fully open.

This may minimise the protection offered to the device but it does ensure that the controls are easy to get to, that on the 3G model that the antenna is not obscured and that the sync cable can connect freely and the sound output from the speaker is clear.

It is however worth noting that once the iGrip is in place the iPad will not fit onto the official iPad Dock and to connect to your PC / Mac you can only use the sync cable. This same limitation also applies with the official Apple plastic / rubber case, so no great drawback.

Conclusion

Yet again Vaja have created another premier case from top quality leather using their own in house engineering techniques producing a superbly designed and elegant housing for the iPad. Not only is it stylish in the extreme, but serves to give the iPad much needed protection when both on the desk or in the hand. Once fitted it feels a natural part of the iPad and greatly enhances the tactile feel of it when handled.

The only drawback is that it is highly priced, at $100 per iGrip it's not cheap, but if you want the best quality leather produced by top leather craftsmen then the price is well worth paying.

Pros and Cons

Quality premier leather used
Crafted by the best leather craftsmen
Adds a good level or protection to the back / sides of the iPad
Greatly enhances the handling of the iPad when in use
Allows the sync cable to be used when in place

Minimal protection of the top / bottom of the iPad
Prevents the use of the iPad Dock

Final Thoughts

Some may comment that the iGrip offers no protection to the screen of the iPad and this is indeed true, but is of no detriment to Vaja as they have many other cases available for the iPad which offer such protection, both in 'flip up' and 'book' configurations. Some of these cases even include support for desk mounting the iPad at ergonomic working angles. [The Leather Agenda 2 being my favourite]. So feel free to check out their other iPad products at vajacases.com.

[Note: All images in this review have been processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

Review: iPhone 4 Bumper

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:46:45 +0000

Product: iPhone 4 Bumper (Black)
Supplier: Apple UK

One of the ancillary products launched by Apple along side the iPhone 4 was the 'iPhone Bumper' a protective sleeve that the iPhone fits into. With the decision being made to retain my iPhone 4 I thought it wise to invest in some protection and that going with the official system might prove the best way to go.

The iPhone 4 bumper in the UK retails at £25 in the Apple store and as usual comes in an Apple style package which makes it difficult to see any details.

Once removed from the packaging it becomes clear that the bumper is manufactured from a harder plastic body surrounded by a softer rubber edging. This rubber is then gently flexed open to allow the iPhone to be pushed in to position.

The base of the bumper in pierced to allow access to the sync port and speakers, with similar holes on the side and top to allow access to the 'silent mode' switch and the jack plug / noise cancellation mic.

The on / off switch and volume controls are activated via controls in the bumper which press through on to the controls on the iPhone 4.

The bumper fits relatively closely to the body of the iPhone, but on my machine felt slightly loose until I'd grasped the phone on all sides and clenched my fist, thereby pushing the case tightly against the phones body which seemed to cause the bumper to take up some slack in the fitting. Once that had been done the bumper does fit closely and well.

If the iPhone is allowed to 'stand' for an hour or two on the desk the bumper returns to it's natural state and that slight looseness returns. A second or two of being gripped in the hand again though removes the loose feeling once more. Annoying but you'll have to live with it.

Points worth considering with the bumper housing:

It will certainly add some level of protection to the iPhone 4 if it is dropped and lands on an edge.

The rubber edge sits proud of the front and back of the iPhone serves to raise the glass back (or front) off the surface it is placed on - which may reduce the risk of micro-scratches in the glass.

If you have bought an iPhone desk dock (as I have) you may as well forget using it with the bumper in position as the bumper will not fit into the dock, the slot in the dock is too small to accommodate it.

Concluding Thoughts

I had expected that the bumper would be a simple rubber sleeve which would be stretched to fit around the iPhone and this is not the case, it has been well constructed of both rubber and plastic and engineered nicely to fit on the iPhone.

It does add additional levels of protection to the phone and actually looks good in place (which surprised me) plus the rubber edge makes the iPhone slightly less slippery in the hand which does tend to increase your level of confidence in handling the iPhone.

The bumpers evidently come in six colours; Black, White, Blue, Green, Orange and Pink, however the Manchester store only had black on the shelves. Mind you in my opinion it looks good on my Black iPhone.

If you therefore need a little extra protection for your iPhone 4 the bumper case is to be considered, however at £25 for a single bumper it has to be classed as expensive. However it is an official Apple product so a high price is to be expected.

Added Benefits

Alas I am one of those who suffers from the dreaded 'Grip of Death' issue at my home whereby if my fingers or palm 'short' the left antenna (WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth) with the right / bottom antenna (GSM and UMTS) the signal reduces from 2-3 bars:

To 0-1 bar.

However once the bumper had been fitted to the iPhone 4 the signal seems to be rock steady at 3 bars. Good news indeed!

[Note: All images are processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

REVIEW: Apple iPhone iWalk Emergency Battery

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:35:58 +0000

Apple iPhone iWalk Emergency Battery Introduction

The iPhone has been a product of major interest ever since it burst on to the scene in its 1st Generation form, but one thing it has in common with other mobile devices is battery longevity... By that I mean if you are like me, with heavy use, the iPhone won't make it through an entire day without some help!

GPSforLess have come to the rescue with a solution to that very problem. Does the solution live up to expectations? Read on to find out!
For your delectation some photographs are thumbnails which may be clicked on to load a larger image.
Thanks go out to our new friends at GPSforLess for providing us with a review sample.
For more information on the Apple iPhone iWalk emergency battery, click here to visit the product page at the GPSForLess website.

Fast Facts
Rechargeable lithium ion battery Ultra small & simple Power Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and all other iPod devices except Shuffle Small and lightweight for pocket, purse or briefcase Begins to charge your Apple device immediately Insert the charger, and the indicator light turns to red. When the battery is fully charged the indicator light turns to Blue. Charge the Smart Backup Battery and iPhone / iPod together (the iPhone / iPod will charge first and then the backup battery — the next morning both are completely charged) Smart, automatic on/off charging technology protects the battery from overcharging Powerful and safe Battery Cell Rechargeable for over 500 Cycles 2 Light LED Battery Status Indicator Full one year warranty Charge using adapter that comes with iphone/ipod
Specifications

Model No CM608
Model Name iWALK
Battery Type Lithium ion
Capacity 800mAh
Input Voltage DC 5.0V
Output Voltage DC 5.0V 0.25V
Size 6.1x3.15x1.75cm
Weight 35g
Working Time For iPhone

Standby Time Up To 112 Hours
Audio Playback Up To 11Hours
Talk Time Up To 3.5 Hours
Video Playback Up To 3 Hours
Internet Use Up To 2.5 Hours
Working Time For iPods Unit: Hrs IPOD Audio Video InternetiPOD Nano 2nd Gen 58

iPOD Nano 3rd Gen 58 12 iPOD Classic 80GB 47 8 iPOD Classic 160GB 47 8 iPOD Photo 26 7 iPOD Video 5th GEN 30GB 30.5 6.5
iPOD Video 5th GEN 60GB 30.5 11 iPOD Video 5th GEN 80GB 30.5 11 iPOD Touch 10 3 iPhone 3G 12.5 3.5 3

Aesthetics
I was quite surprised when I opened the packaging of the iWalk emergency battery charger for the Apple iPhone from GPSforLess. I was expecting the battery to be a bit of a beast, but to my surprise, it is perfectly pocketable, which means carrying it around hasn't been a major issue for me, since I don't carry a manbag or anything like that! .
Front
The device itself is quite straightforward, much as you would expect from an external battery. At front left, there are three LED lights, the first two being indicating charge left when connected to the iPhone, the third indicating the status of the battery as it is charging. The only other marking on the front is the iWalk branding. Simple and functional to my mind.
Back
There's not really much to say about the back of the iWalk. Oh wait, yes there is, the back actually houses the all important charging socket... We'd definitely be lost without it.

The charging socket is designed to accomodate the iPhone cable socket, which is proprietary to Apple. As mentioned, the pleasing thing is that, as Apple supply a USB charger, you can charge the iWalk via the mains adapter or a USB socket. So best of both worlds.
Top
The top of the iWalk quite plainly houses the iPhone connector. Unlike the actual iPhone charge cable, the iWalk doesn't have the squeezable side tabs that release the two prongs that hold the cable in place, therefore it just pushes into place.

I have managed to dislodge the iWalk a couple of times by moving the iPhone while it is charging but, on the whole, plugging the iWalk into your iPhone is a pretty stable affair and I've suffered no real issues with it.
Attached to iPhone
I've included this photo to show you what the iWalk looks like when attached to the iPhone. It does add a bit of bulk to the device, but it is still perfectly usable both as a phone and a PDA. I had no issues in using the iPhone with the battery attached.

The iWalk physical connection to the iPhone is reasonably sturdy but I would still treat it with care as excessive pressure could see it snap.

Charging
Charging the iWalk is a piece of cake. Simply take your iPhone charger and plug it in to the socket on the back. Fear not, those of you who prefer not to carry the bulky plug adapter, the iWalk can also be charged directly from a USB port as well! Bearing in mind there's not much more to be said about charging a battery, I decided to perform a few tests to give you a little more insight into the iWalk. Charging from fully depleted using the iPhone mains charger took approximately 2 hours. To be a bit more scientific and confirm the findings I performed the test a few times, and on each occasion it took approximately 2 hours. So on the whole, not a bad charging performance. The next bit is a little less scientific as I just could not find an application for the iPhone that would give you a percentage reading on battery charge, so I settled for a little guess work!

With the iPhone's battery depleted to roughly 25% (I did say it was a guess!!), I plugged the iWalk Emergency battery in and let it get to work. When charging your device two red LEDs light up to indicate charging is in progress. After a full hour the iWalk emergency battery was fully depleted. Using my same guesstimating technique, I would describe the iPhone's battery to be restored to 75% of capacity, which would indicate that the iWalk had boosted the iPhone's battery by 50%. Whilst it didn't charge the iPhone to 100%, it would definitely get you out of a fix and give you at least 50% more capacity until you can find a power source.
Pros&Cons
Svelte size Connector doesn't lock in place Attractive design
Quick to charge

Overall Conclusion
To conclude, the iWalk has been a very welcome addition to my iPhone. As I am a very heavy phone user, and also do lots of email and listen to podcasts when I get the chance, most of my devices are usually running out of power near the end of the working day. With the iWalk in my pocket, I am able to get a welcome extra boost to carry me on into the evening at which point I am usually not very far from a power outlet!

All that remains to be said is that I would recommend the iWalk as a good addition to any iPhone users kit...

Mini Review iPod touch 16gb

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:23:44 +0000

Mini Review iPod touch 16gb

Overview

Early in September, Apple announced the new iPod touch would be available by the end of the month. I had read a lot of good things about the touch and when I finally got my hands on one, I just had to have it….So here I am with a touch in the hand and here’s what I think about this new gadget….

The first thing that strikes you with the touch is how thin it really is. 8mm is thin! The handling is easy and is comfortable in the hand.

When you first switch on the device the battery on my unit was almost fully charged. The screen appears with an image of a synch cable inviting you to plug it in to a PC or Mac. (This is a dilemma for since I work in both formats!) The touch took quite a long time to sync first time around, it must have been 15 minutes with a USB2.0 connection and a Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo.

On the front of the touch is only one button known as a “home” button. Pressing this once brings up a “slide to unlock” message. (Why no-one has ever thought of this in the windows mobile arena amazes me!) After unlocking the device, you are confronted with several nice looking icons:

Along the bottom of screen is Music, Videos, Photos and iTunes which I suppose speaks for itself. A light finger press takes you to each section as you would expect.

Music
All the standard iPod stuff is in here. The interface is easy to use one handed and if you flip the screen horizontally, the orientation changes and Coverflow mode appears. This mode allows you to flip through your CD collection as if you were flicking through a real physical collection which is nice… Having used an older iPod for some time, I much prefer a list…

Video
Again does what it says. You can purchase videos / TV shows on iTunes and upload here. The playback is flawless with no stuttering. The graphics processor must be decent! At this time, the only TV shows available are from the US and they may not to everyone’s taste! Err…Friends anyone!! I suppose in the future, a British TV company will jump on board and release something through iTunes…I’m not holding my breath!

Photo
This is quite possibly the nicest feature on the touch. You can synchronize your photo’s from Apple’s iPhoto app on the Mac with the touch. When the device sync’s the Mac does a conversion for the screen size which took a while in my case since I’ve got 2600 photo’s! When you rotate the touch, the screen orientation changes automatically from landscape to portrait and is very quick to flip. To zoom in you simply pinch two fingers outwards and inwards to zoom out. At first this does seem a little awkward but you soon get used to it! You can also flip your finger from side to side as if flipping through a photo album. Very nice.

iTunes
This is distinctly separate from the music player app in that you need a wifi connection to browse iTunes as you were using a desktop PC or Mac. The interface makes good use of screen real estate but isn’t quite as good as the real iTunes on a desktop. There’s a search function and with perseverance you can usually find what you’re after….You can preview tracks for 30 seconds and choose to buy and download using your wifi connection. The downloaded music is synced back to your desktop when you connect. The music playback is just as good as the iPods gone before.

Higher up the screen are more icons:

Safari – Apple’s own web browser.
When first used, a message appears inviting you to turn wifi on after which you need to enter your wep code. All this took seconds and a webpage appear unbelievably quickly! The browsing experience is quick (although I do have fairly quick broadband at home) in fact the web browser is almost as quick as a desktop pc! The screen is very readable and navigating web pages is easy. When you view the photo’s you can pinch in and out with two fingers to zoom in and out same as viewing photo’s. There’s a bookmark button along the bottom and you can sync your favourite web pages from your PC or Mac.

YouTube
I’ve never been a big fan of YouTube simply because the videos look like they’ve been uploaded mainly by airheads with too much time on their hands! But for research purposes I watched a few videos and the playback was fine, no stuttering / buffering problems and the picture quality is good. The one good thing about YouTube on the touch is that you can bookmark the videos you’ve watched for viewing later. I’ve found that once the wifi is turned off or you’re out of range of a hotspot, then the videos aren’t available anymore which I suppose is logical in not filling up the memory.

Unfortunately YouTube wasn’t available when I trying to photograph it….

Calendar
The Calendar is very clean and clear to read. A month view is displayed and if there are any appointments, a dot shows next to the date. It’s not quite as sophisticated as Pocket Informant I have to say but it does remind me of Psion’s old calendar… But the one BIG disappointing thing about the calendar is that NOT editable on the go. You can only view appointments! The only way to change these is to update your Outlook or iCalendar on Mac or PC and re-synchronize. Why o’ why has Apple crippled this device as a potential PDA?!

Contacts
Again the Contacts is very clean and easy to use. The nice feature here is that you can flick your finger on the screen and the list of contacts rolls smoothly. Once you’ve found the contact, you simply tap and up comes the whole address etc. Nice. The surprising thing about the contacts app here is that it’s EDITABLE when the calendar isn’t! Very odd!

Clock
Does what it says on the tin. The initial view here is a World Clock showing your local time zone. Along the bottom are further icons for Alarm, Stopwatch and Timer. In my opinion, the Alarm is a complete waste of time since this device has no speakers. This must be a ‘carried over’ feature from the full blown iPhone which actually has speakers. The touch’s alarm consists of a few simple beeps in different patterns – very 1980’s…

Calculator
Nice looking calculator but there’s only basic functions here and no hint of a percentage key. With all this technology and processing power in this little device, why couldn’t Apple have given me a scientific calculator?

Settings
Pressing the settings button brings up a whole sub menu of options to change all aspects of the device including brightness, music playback, video, photos etc, I visit this section quite a bit when I remember to turn off the wifi!

Battery Life
I’ve read around a few web sites that the battery life is not as good as Apple claim. Obviously this depends on how you use the touch, but the one important thing here is to remember to turn off the wifi !! I noticed the battery draining quite a bit when this was turned on and thought I might have a faulty battery until I realized what the cause was…

Memory Capacity

It seemed to me silly to buy an 8 Gb touch when for only 70 quid more you can have double the memory! That said, I have 2600 photos, 3000 music tracks and I still have 6 Gb left. I can see me filling this up quite soon. I’m not quite sure why Apple made a touch with only 16 Gb when the older models came with at least 30 GB.

Conclusion
For nearly 6 years now, Apple have dominated the music player market to the extent that Microsoft with their Zune media player has got it’s work cut out to compete for market share. With this in mind, I was interested to see how far the new iPod touch would have “PDA” functions possibly making a dint on Windows Mobile market share.

I believe the Windows Mobile interface has a long way to go before it looks as good as the interface on the touch. I would also say that the touch has a few things that could be improved such as the iTunes, Calendar, Calculator and Clock. Is it too much to ask of Apple to make the calendar editable?? This feature works on the iPhone…

Will I be buying an iPhone? Not yet. The 8Gb is too small a capacity and there’s no 3G and HSDPA. When the iPhone reaches this point, then I might reconsider. Next year maybe…..

In the meantime, I’m quite happy with the touch, but you have to keep in mind this is a Video iPod with a touch screen NOT an iPhone without the phone.