Join The Otterbox Defender Series Case for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2
I’m not certain why we haven’t reported on more products from Otterbox before, but I had a chance to try out the Defender Series of cases.
The Defender Series for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 are very much alike. Each of them have a inner polycarbonate shell with a foam interior, as well as a silicone skin case. They also have snap-on covers that allow you to stand up your iDevices. The one for the iPhone 4 has a clip, and the one for the iPad 2 has something like a kickstand.
These particular cases will definitely protect your favorite iDevice from scratching, as well as absorbing shock. I find it hard to believe that these don’t protect from water, and I can see why the official sites for these products make that disclaimer.
My only complaint is that it is very difficult to get the Defender cases on and off the devices. My thought is this: the best suits of armor can’t be put on like pajamas. Don’t let what I just said put you off, as their tutorial videos are a huge help.
If you are interested in this type of protection, then you can go to the official Otterbox site and get the Defender series for the iPhone 4 for $49.95 and the Defender Series for the iPad 2 for about $89.95. I’ll let you decide whether or not this is a high price to pay for this type of protection.
Orange UK’s new T-shirts can power your mobile devices, with sound!
In case you are wondering, these are not mouse pads that these people have on their T-shirts. This is Orange UK’s new technology, and it could be what you need to charge your mobile device.
It does so using piezoelectrics with the absorption of vibration from sound. I going out on a limb here and guess that the white pads on the belly are “sound sponges”. I would also imagine that this technology is highly effective if you are in the front row of a concert. Yes, now you can text and take pics all you want while the deep bass powers your mobile device.
Orange UK designed this sound battery T-Shirt for the Glastonbury Festival, and I’m sure it will make quite a splash there. I like the idea of being able to charge a mobile device on something that I am already wearing anyway. I’m guessing it could be made slightly less garish.
Continue reading » Orange UK’s new T-shirts can power your mobile devices, with sound!
Concept Rotary Powered Cellular Phone
When I was growing up, my family was one of the first to still have a rotary phone. I remember having friends over, and some of them had never even seen a rotary phone before. You can imagine my embarrassment, as we were always slow to adapt to new technology. I’m sure if my family got cell phones back then, we would have had something like this.
Designed my Richard Clarkson, the rotary cellphone definitely hearkens back to that never-seen steampunk era. You probably won’t see this come to a major carrier, as this is a concept, for now. Just to let you know, there is a touchscreen on the other side, so if you want to touchscreen dial, you can do that.
I’m guessing that this phone has a niche audience, but I can imagine the looks you would get from the steampunk crowd when you take out your rotary cellphone, at least until you take forever to dial a phone number.
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Hands on with the Jabra Freeway Hand’s Free Virtual Assistant
On a recent trip to San Francisco, I misplaced by Bluetooth headset. Fortunately, I had something Bluetooth waiting for me when I got back, with the Jabra FREEWAY Speakerphone.
We have reported on the initial release of the FREEWAY back in March, and even though it has a clip for the car visor, it can also work on the desk as well. I found that it instantly recognized my Bluetooth-enabled smartphone within mere seconds of being powered on.
Having the three speakers with virtual surround sound was also handy, not to mention it announcing the name of the incoming caller. The ability to have it answered by me saying “Answer” is another added bonus.
Continue reading » Hands on with the Jabra Freeway Hand’s Free Virtual Assistant
Deep Shot is good for computer-to-phone transfers, and vice versa
Even though our computer and smartphones make our world easier to live in, it can be a pain to transfer the information back and forth.
Fortunately, Tsung-Hsiang Chang, an MIT Grad student and Google Inern, and Yang Li (also employed by Google) have created Deep Shot. Imagine doing something on your computer, like driving directions. Instead of going to the Navigation App on your smartphone and retyping everything again, you can just take a picture of the screen, and what was on the PC will be on your phone.
The reverse of this also works as well. So if you are doing something on your mobile phone and you want to type it up on your computer, just Deep Shot it from the mobile to the PC. You can watch a video of it after the jump for more information.
Continue reading » Deep Shot is good for computer-to-phone transfers, and vice versa
Swoop the Owl keeps your iPhone safe while you are sleeping
This particular iPhone accessory is Swoop the Owl, and it reminds me a lot of the Woogie.
Although the Woogie plush device is designed to be used to protect the iDevice from small children, it would appear that Swoop the Owl protects the iDevice from adults. You know how must people sleep with their phones these days for the sake of the alarm or music, so why not have an extra level of protection?
Not only that, the user can still use their iDevice, but any calls should probably be used with a headset. It looks like it has a place for the headphones in case you want to listen to some tunes before you sleep.
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ASUS shows off Padfone at Computex
It is a good time to be a tablet or smartphone right now, so I don’t see any reason why in the world someone couldn’t combine them. It looks like ASUS is doing that with the Padfone, and they showed it off at Computex Taipai in Taiwan.
As you can see, the Padfone tablet opens up in the back so the Padfone smartphone can nestle safely in the back. Not much else is known about this, but the smartphone should have a 3G connection.
Another feature is that the smartphone can charge itself inside the bigger battery in the tablet. Of course, I think we all know what we really want, which is data sync between the smartphone and the tablet.
Continue reading » ASUS shows off Padfone at Computex
Google Wallet introduced, and PayPal is upset
Google has recently announced their new mobile payment system with Google Wallet. It is a free Android Android App that will arrive sometime this summer that will allow users to make payments for products and/or services.
Google Wallet, which is open platform software, was officially unveiled at a massive event a few days ago. This deal has been in the works for a while, and a lot of big companies like MasterCard, Citi, Sprint, and First Data have invested in it. In order to encourage more growth an usage of this unique program, Google Wallet is going to encourage a lot of deals like discounts, promotions, loyalty rewards, and the like.
It sounds like a terrific deal for consumers, but you know who isn’t happy about it? PayPal. Yeah, they are suing Google, accusing Google Wallet’s project leader, Osama Bedier, of “feeding confidential PayPal information to Google so that it can develop the NFC mobile payment system”.
Continue reading » Google Wallet introduced, and PayPal is upset
