I’ve been looking for some kind of portable iPhone dock for a while now. I currently have the ability to charge my phone in most rooms either by docking it in an alarm clock, or in the front of a TV, or just by putting it in the dock connected to my mac. The only problem with the ones I have is, a, they aren’t portable, and b, the sound quality isn’t that great.
So….I was in Currys last night at this one caught my eye, as it had a sticker on the box saying “iPhone 4 Bumper compatible”. All the docks in my house currently don’t have any of the dock adapters in them, as this is the only way I can sync/charge my phone without having to take it out of the bumper cover. As you can imagine, seeing a device which catered for this was a massive win !.
Another major selling point for this, was it can be also powered from 4 AA batteries, making it something I’ll be able to take camping, or even just to take out in the garden.
So..what’s it like ?….well it’s surprisingly good, it does claim to have “Crystal clear sound” and that it does, even with the volume cranked right up, it doesn’t distort at all. The design itself is nice, the plus and minus buttons light up on the front in a pretty cool orange, when you doc your device, and there’s a on/off button at the top on the back.
As well as being an iPhone dock, it’s also got an AUX-in at the back to allow you to plug in external devices via a 3.5mm jack plug.
There is also the ability to have this as a dock connector for your PC/Mac as there is a USB cable connector in the back.
I think the final thing to note is the free App you get with it called Fidelio. Now you can use your normal media player on your iPod/iPhone, or you can use their application which gives you a few cools features. It seems to aggregate a few apps I already have, for example Tune-in Radio (a radio app) and AccuWeather (a weather app) and brings them all together into a nice little packaged.
All in all a decent piece of kit, I don’t currently know how long 4 AA’s will last, but will update the post once I’ve tried it.
As always, unboxing pics, and screenshots of the app below.
Posted by Ub3rG33k on Apr 12, 2011 in Apple, iPad, Tech
As you know, I already have the original iPad, or should I say, I had the original iPad (C is now the proud owner of a shiny, carefully used, original iPad).
I decided that due to my iPad 2 shipping early (the 9th, and not the 15th that they originally stated), and C was working away for a week, I could survive a couple of days without the iPad and handed it over on Friday night. To be honest, you don’t realise how dependant you become on tech, I felt like I’d lost a limb…..that was until today when my iPad 2 turned up
A few noticeable things, it’s definitely a lot thinner, and seems a lot lighter….as for the speed…much snappier
Like most people getting the iPad 2, I threw on Infinity Blade to see how it looked. Infinity Blade is one of the games that has been enhanced for the iPad 2….and yup, the additional textures really do make it look at lot better, make me almost forget that it’s the same resolution as the first.
To be honest, I was slightly annoyed at the official announcement of the iPad 2, and how it was keeping the same screen and same resolution. Being an iPhone 4 user, the resolution difference is very noticable.
The only other real addition that affects me is the front and rear facing camera. I’ve had a quick go on Facetime with C, and all worked well, but I can’t see me really using it much. I currently have a front facing camera on the iPhone 4, but can’t remember the last time I used it, and with the recent purchase of the Panasonic DMC-TZ10, I don’t really see a use for the rear camera.
The improved gyroscope is a god send, as I couldn’t play Rage HD on the iPad as I’d got so used to playing it on the iPhone. As for the rest of the games, to be honest, it’s still early for the new hardware, and expect more developers to hit the “More Textures” button as time goes on, as they did with the Retina Display patches they provided. Right now, I’ve just got a thinner, faster, lighter iPad.
All in all, it’s new, it’s shiny and it’s Apple
One last thing, before I had the official case for the original iPad, this time I thought I’d give the Nude Case a go as it was meant to be lightweight…..to be honest I’m blown away buy it, you can hardly tell it’s protected
Last year when I bought the iMac, I made the decision that it wasn’t a gaming platform, and I would use the consoles for my gaming needs. Since then Steam has come to the Mac, and with the Mac App Store providing the likes of COD4, Bioshock and Borderlands, it looks like I may have to rethink.
Although I am a major Apple fan boy, the Apple Magic Mouse is good, but no good for gaming. Don’t get me wrong the precision is good, but the touch sensitive top…not so good. I recently started playing Minecraft, and found it extremely annoying that every time I rested my middle finger on the right side of the mouse (as we all do) it would randomly scroll through my inventory. I found this to be the same with any game that uses the scroll wheel, and to be honest became a pain in the butt.
So, I needed a reasonably cheap, but mac compatible gaming mouse. Now I know that you can just plug in any mouse and it will work, however I’ve used the Razer mice in the past and I’ve really liked them. The DeathAdder comes with compatible Mac drivers allowing you to configure every last feature to get the perfect setup.
The full spec is below
3500DPI Razer Precision™ 3.5G infrared sensor
Five independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons
Ultra-large non-slip buttons
Ergonomic right-handed design
PC/Mac compatible
I have to say, it feels good to have a decent mouse in my hand again, and looks like I’m back to “PC” gaming.
Screenshots below, as well of a video of the cool light on the back.
