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Sometimes simple-but-effective accessories come along and it’s easier to show you them with a video than a wordy post. The Seenda Power Magic is one of those accessories.
In essence it performs three functions:
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It’s an FM transmitter so can be used to listen to music from your iPhone/iPod in your car (it also works with other MP3 players thanks to the 3.5mm headphone jack).
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It’s an emergency charger; the 1300mAh battery will let you charge a iPhone/iPod or other USB powered device.
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Finally it’s a hands-free car kit; Using the FM transmitter and the built in mic you can use the Power Magic for hands-free calling.
To show you a bit more of the Power Magic I recorded a quick video which you can see below.
When looking for a workgroup printer most people would go straight for a network laser printer. Typically laser printers are faster and more economical to run. However, there’s recently been a resurgence of workgroup inkjet printers with various models from Canon, HP and Epson alike.
The advantage of inkjet over Laser is the use of ‘wet’ or liquid ink that’s just a bit brighter than the power print of a laser printer. Add glossy paper in to the mix and the right inkjet printer is capable of producing photo quality prints that rival photo lab prints.
This week Matt and I have been using the Epson B-310N, one of their newer business inkjet colour printers that was released last year. We’ve been putting it through its paces and have put it to good use here in the office.
So can an inkjet printer really compete with a similarly priced laser? Read on to see what we think!
Sony Ericsson have definitely been busy over the past few months. At MWC we saw 4 new devices announced, the XPERIA Play, XPERIA Arc, XPERIA Neo and XPERIA Pro.
According to several sources on the web and a few email tips that we’ve had, Sony Ericsson are planning a total of NINE new handsets for the US in 2011. It’s claimed that they will all be android powered too.
I’m sure that the XPERIA Play will be a roaring success, baring the Playstation name has to be a real boon and something that many are going to be talking about, a ‘true mobile gaming experience’. The Play is expected to be in the shops on the 31st March here in the UK (I personally think that’s a bit optimistic) so I’d expect the shipping date in the US to be pretty close to that too.
So what of the other 5 handsets coming up? We’ve no confirmation of the names or spec or even if they exist but we’ll certainly be digging for the others. When Gareth spoke with Sony Ericsson at MWC there was a vague suggestion that there were other things on the horizon but of course they didn’t reply to questions about that.
Let’s see what the next few months have in store!
Posted by: Matt
If you are a regular to our podcast you’ll know that I’ve recently been ranting about various UK carriers reducing the caps on their ‘unlimited’ data bundles and/or increasing the cost. Today Three are bucking that trend and have announced a new ‘all-you-can-eat’ data plan for Pay As You Go customers.
As their press releases states, which you can see below, this could well shake up the whole industry. Lets hope it leads to much greater competition on data!
Not so long ago digital SLR cameras cost upward of a thousand pounds and were really only the domain of professionals and serious amateurs. More recently the DSLR market has opened up somewhat with entry level models costing hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.
Just the other day blog.IAMNikon.com sent us the new Nikon D3100. Aimed at those wishing to advance from the digital compact ‘point-and-shoot’ camera to something with more control. It packs some features that would be typically found on your average compact that make the transition a little easier. There’s a live view mode with full AF and a guide mode with on-screen help and prompts.
The D3100 even features HD video recording!
Below you’ll see my unboxing video of the D3100 and the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm lens in a kit. I’m much more used to Canon DSLR’s so please forgive my lack of familiarity with the Nikon. It hasn’t taken me long to get in to it though!
A few weeks ago we got to see the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc at MWC and later at a small event in London. James and I were in attendance and we were able to record a short video of the Arc in action. We were both really impressed with the Arc, it has a wonderful display and feels like a quality piece of hardware.
Sony Ericsson have kindly given us one of their early prototype units to take a look at. In fact we’ve been lucky enough to receive one of only a handful of working prototypes currently in the UK so I’ve spent some time pawing over it in the video below which will hopefully give you a taster of what the Arc has to offer. I didn’t manage to keep the video under the 20 minutes I was aiming for but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
We’ll have a full review of the XPERIA Arc once the hardware becomes final and we’ll have a full unboxing video once we can get our hands on a retail version!
Almost a year ago to the day we reviewed the original Palm Pre on the site. Our summary of the handset was that the operating system was great and showed some real innovation and promise for the future but that the Pre was sadly let down by poor hardware. The Pre went on sale initially on the O2 network here in the UK but sales never really reached an exciting level.
The successor to the Pre, the Palm Pre 2 was announced back in October of 2010 and looked to be a decent step up in both hardware spec and in the newer version of WebOS.
We’ll be looking closely at the Pre 2 over the next few weeks to see if HP’s influence has improved the quality of the hardware and what WebOS 2 has to offer. Our full review will be here soon.
For now take a look at the unboxing video below. You’ll notice that the Pre 2 is fussy when it comes to SIM cards, not only does it insist upon having a SIM card inserted it also must be active in order for the phone to work! So I’ll return with a demo video later too!
There are quite literally hundreds of speaker docks available for iPod’s and iPhone’s but as yet there are very few docks available for the iPad. Whilst I’m sure that everyone will soon catch up and bring out their own models, Logic3 have been one of the first to market with their i-Station Podium product.
The i-Station is an amplified 2-speaker stand with power and volume controls on the unit itself. The nice thing about this is that you can use it in either portrait or landscape mode thanks to a swivel in the back.
Having a media dock for the iPad seems like a logical choice to me, the iPad’s large display really does lend itself to making a great media centre and the i-Station also comes with an App for the iPad that allows for additional settings, EQ Functions and Weather display.
Check out the quick unbox below and I’ll be back soon with the review.
This week Gareth, Matt and James discover that the Nokia C3-01 is a mixed bag, Windows Phone 7 has some trouble with updates for updates, the Xperia X8 is a phone that will not take anyone’s breath away and the Google Nexus S is a finger print magnet.
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Google announced the Nexus S, the follow up to their first own-branded Nexus One phone, a while but here in the UK it started off as an exclusive to the Carphone Warehouse. However, from this week you’ll be able to pick up the Nexus S from a number of other retailers. We got our review model from Clove Technology.
You may recall my review of the Nexus One last year and that I was a big fan of the phone at the time, HTC did a good job with the build quality but with the launch of their own HTC Desire, complete with HTC Sense, my Nexus One was soon left behind.
This time around Google have partnered with Samsung and there are certainly hints of Galaxy S in the Nexus S, similar black plastic design and similar foot print. To me the Nexus S feels a little too plastic but the curved Super AMOLED screen is truly eye-catching.
As you’ve now com to expect, we have an unboxing video of the Nexus S below and we’ll be back soon with a full review.
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