Posts Tagged smartphone
Motorola Atrix Smart Phone: Small Cost, Big Features
When I finally broke down and got a smart phone upon returning from living in Mexico for a year, two of my traits made me get this Motorola Atrix Android phone instead of an iPhone.
1) I’m a value shopper at heart and 2) I’ve always rebelled against doing something just because it’s the popular thing to do. I didn’t want to be one of the iSheep.
I’ve got an iPod Touch and except for the horrible battery life, I like it. So I’m able to do a reasonably fair comparison. I’m totally digging this Atrix phone and here’s why.
The Price is Right
Without any special discounts, you can usually get the Motorola Atrix for $79 to $99 with an AT&T contract. I paid $49 because of a promotion running. So I essentially got a 4G, dual-core smartphone that does everything an iPhone does, with 16GB of storage to start with and the ability to add 32GB more any time, for 1/4 the price of an 16GB iPhone. I can also pull up Flash websites with ease—a huge plus. The music player can handle Apple files AND regular MP3 or WMA files.
Features Galore
For that $49 I got a smartphone with front and back 5 megapixel camera that shoots HD video. I’ve got Wi-Fi, 4G, and access to all my different e-mail accounts. It uses micro USB to connect to the charger and computer, which is not proprietary. (The phone comes with a USB cord and a charger attachment, plus an HDMI cable to connect to hi-def TVs.) There’s a speaker phone that works great in the car and Bluetooth connection ability of course. I can make any song a ringtone by just selecting “make this my ringtone.” Nice and easy.
Every important regular-usage app I have on my iPod Touch I’ve been able to get for this from the Android store. So I’m a ready traveler with dictionaries, currency converters, maps, flight searches, and all that. For those who want to document their life as it happens, you can put on Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Foursquare, and whatever flavor of the month is bubbling up. Shazaam, Yelp, Evernote, and all the other cool apps that can make this a real multitasker. With the Skype app on here, calls that come to my Skype subscription number ring on this phone, wherever I am, with a different ring tone.
The screen is gorgeous and the interface works well. I find it a little easier to type on this than my Touch, probably because it’s a tad bigger and there is a vibration for each letter typed. It offers word suggestions you can click on, but doesn’t automatically do text correction—thankfully. There’s a fingerprint recognition function built in to turn it on, but I haven’t used that because sometimes my wife needs to answer my phone for me if I’m in the other room or in the shower. Speaking of using the phone, the dailpad is turned off when you’re talking, but a sensor can tell when you’ve removed the phone from your ear and need to punch the dialpad or hang up. Almost like magic.
Perhaps the most important advantage this has over the iPhone for many people will be a battery life that’s far superior. Without any significant conservation commands in place, I generally get two days out of this phone before I have to charge it. The worst I’ve gotten is 16 hours after playing a bunch of games for a stretch and pulling up a map while I was driving. That’s a huge improvement.
What’s the downside?
Even the most staunch Apple haters have to admit that the company is tops when it comes to ease of use. The Android interface may be logical, but it isn’t nearly as intuitive. There are surely ways to customize it to have what I use most front and center, but I need to look at a manual to figure out how. The Motoblur function overdoes it when importing your contacts and throws your Twitter and Facebook ones in with your phone contacts and e-mail ones, creating a big overwhelming mess of people. Getting rid of them is not so easy. There are some functions I haven’t figured out yet and others I’ve stumbled upon by accident.
There are a few games and destination apps that are not available for Andriod, which could matter to some people. Most will just find an alternative though. You’re not integrated with your iTunes collection with this phone, but it’s very easy to import from there.
Overall, I consider this Motorola Atrix to be about the best bargain I’ve gotten all year. I was going to sign up for a new 2-year plan anyway, so getting a smart phone with this much power and this many features for this price is fantastic. Sorry Apple—advantage Android on this deal, by a wide margin.
See the long list of features and specs at the Motorola site.
Posted by Tim L. in Business Gear, General Gear on August 11th, 2011
Pelican i1015 Smart Phone Case
It wasn’t until my friend dropped her phone into Lake Union that I came up with a great use case for Pelican’s i1015 iPhone case. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the case, nope, it’s sturdy, waterproof box with a headphone jack, a carabiner, and slots that I suppose you could run a belt through. You put your phone in voice control mode, plug in your headphones, and seal the case around the phone. Now, your phone is protected from weather, falls, being smashed in your pack, whatever. All good. I was just having a crisis of imagination around what scenario I would need this level of protection for my phone. Then my friend dropped her phone into the lake. “Oh, that’s it!”
The Pelican i1015 Smart Phone case offers serious protection for your phone when you’re worried about the elements. If you’re doing a dusty road trip or going boating for the day or you’re heading to the beach, this will keep your phone clean, dry, and from getting trampled on by beach volleyball hotties. My headsets have a “activate voice control” button on them, so I was able to use the phone without taking it out of the case — but just so it’s clear, no, you can’t access the touch screen controls (controls of any kind that aren’t voice activated) when the phone is in the case.
A couple of possibilities… you’re a mad snowboarder who takes some falls. The case will keep your phone from getting crushed in your pack or pocket. You’re going boating and you need to have your phone on deck but there’s spray and you want to keep it dry. You’ve got your tunes while horseback riding. (Cue America’s “Horse with No Name.) Actually, it might be kind of cool if you’re doing voice memos of your crazy outdoor adventure… you’ve got your headsets on and you’re recording, meanwhile, you’re in a squall. You’re soaked but your phone is totally dry.
I’m curious. You tell me, why don’t you? What are you doing that needs mad protection for your phone? And if you’re that person, you can get your Pelican i1015 Smart Phone Case either from Pelican or from Amazon for just over 20 USD. Or check prices at Backcountry.com
Turns out John put this thing to the Ultimate Torture Test. See the results here.
Posted by Pam in Adventure Gear, Business Gear on April 15th, 2011
P-Flip Foldable Solar Power for iPhone
It’s a drag to find yourself hunting around for a place to charge your phone when there are no outlets in sight, when you should have known better and charged up before you left the house. And while I’m not so phone dependent that I freak out when juice is gone, I do enjoy all the stuff my phone does for me when I travel — it helps me find my way, it knows where there’s good food, it’s a pocket still/video camera, I can check email, and, I’ll admit it, I’m a Twitter junkie, so I can use it for 140 characters of nonsense from anywhere I’ve got a signal.
The P-Flip Foldable Solar Power for iPhone is a back up battery for those times when you’ve got a signal but no juice. It serves double duty as a docking station and charges up using either solar power or a power cable. Yes, there’s one for your Blackberry — and it fits the 3G and the iPhone 4.
I optimistically set this gadget to charge in my kitchen window in the heart of a Seattle winter. No dice, after 48 hours, it still needed to be plugged in to get fully charged. The site says it takes about 15 hours of sunlight to get a full charge. We hadn’t had 15 hours of sunlight during the whole month, so if you’re thinking you’ll use this as a back up battery at your cloudy destination, you’re wrong indeed. Something to keep in mind if you’re planning to rely on the sun.
My phone is an iPhone 3Gs. In order to use the P-Flip, I had to take my phone out of its protective case. I was hoping the battery pack would do double duty as both a case and a dock. No go, you can’t fold the P-Flip shut when the phone is in there, though it does make a nice dock. The P-Flip is very light and compact –about the size of an iPhone, actually — so it’s easy to find space for it in my laptop bag or carry on. According to the site, it extends talk time up to 6 hours, video or gaming time up to 10 hours, or music time up to 40 hours. That’s a lot of Angry Birds on a long flight.
Having an extra battery is handy when you know you’re not going to be able to charge your phone. I like the idea of a solar charged backup, though in practice this turned out to be not so practical due to my location. With so many off-the-grid apps available, the P-Flip might be a great thing to toss in the pack for a camping trip or overnight where there’s no power or for a journey where your phone acts as your entertainment center. I wanted this gadget to be more than an backup battery, but that’s exactly what it is — and at that, it does a fine job.
Get a P-Flip from Amazon for about $40 or check prices online
Posted by Pam in Adventure Gear, Business Gear on January 28th, 2011
PodFlexPro for Watching Video on Small Screens
Want to watch video on your small media player in multiple places and positions?
Sure, there are already all kinds of accessories out there that will hold your iPod, iPhone, or Touch on a little stand, but this new PodFlexPro holder is a different animal. The “flex” part has a double meaning here: the case itself is flexible, plus the way you can use it is quite flexible.
Basically this is a holder at the top with a plastic cover, then a snaking covered skeleton that can be bent and shaped to fit the place where you’re resting it. So you can set it on a table by forming an S shape or a V. You can hang it on an airplane seat back by making a hook at the top. You can use it on a machine at the gym by wrapping it over the top of the control panel.
The covering is a stretchy synthetic membrane and it’s a bit of a tight squeeze getting your device in there the first time—if you’ve attached a hard case or extra battery pack it’s a no-go. Plus your ability to pinch and spread your fingers for controlling it is limited through the clear plastic. The best way to use this is to get the video going, hit pause, insert it, plug in the headphones, and then watch your video or movie. You also have to play with the PodFlexPro a bit to figure out the physics. With a bit of time it gets easier. 
I’m not normally the type to watch a whole movie on a tiny screen, but for the sake of research on my last flight I watched an episode of Ren & Stimpy I’d downloaded for my daughter. (What can I say, she has a warped sense of humor already.) It was nice not to have to sit there holding the thing in my hand and I could act like it was my own seat-back entertainment system, just smaller.
And hey, it’s not just for the Apple crowd: 8 different Android phones will fit in it as well.
This accessory lists for $25, which is not too painful, plus it stores flat, easily jammed into any kind of bag between layers of clothing or in a laptop case. Retail distribution is just rolling out right now, but you can get it immediately at the company website or at AccessoryGeeks.com.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Kids and Family on November 24th, 2010
IPod Touch Great For Travel (Except for One Thing)
This past spring I gifted myself a 32GB iPod Touch. For the most part, I’ve been quite happy with it and think it’s a good tool for travelers. It’s great fun to play games on, I can surf the web or check e-mail at a Wi-Fi hotspot, and I can make Skype calls with it using the earbuds with a mic that came with it. It’s also been great carrying around a currency converter, several Spanish language learning programs, various dictionaries, and a weather report all in one little device.
The Touch is basically a thinner, sleeker iPhone—but without a phone. That means once you buy it, you’re done. AT&T won’t be reaching in your pocket every month asking for more. When you are traveling around the world, you don’t have to worry about roaming charges, SIM cards, or being addicted to checking your messages every five minutes. You just need to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to do most of the things people do while being connected with an iPhone. To make a call, you need to use Skype. (Get a subscription and you can call home a lot for just a few bucks a month from anywhere.)
No phone means this device is a little less convenient, but I don’t consider the lack of a regular phone an issue. Phones come with monthly bills and demand your constant attention. I haven’t been bothered by the lack of a camera either. I can take better photos with a real camera anyway. (The 4th generation one out now adds a camera.) There are some other little annoyances that are caused by issues related to software and not the device: you can’t use a lot of services like Pandora and Netflix outside the U.S. The keyboard is harder to use than one on a Crackberry, but these days most travelers are carrying a laptop or netbook for real typing anyway.
So what’s that one thing that’s a big problem?
The battery life SUCKS! I don’t just mean it’s kind of bad. I mean it sucks like a [insert your favorite p%rn, bad TV, or airline reference here]. The power disappears faster than your moocher friend when the bar tab arrives. The battery runs down faster than an office worker after four double espressos have worn off.
If you carry an iPod Touch with you when you travel, be prepared to add one chore to your list that will need to be performed daily, probably even twice daily: looking for an outlet for recharging your battery. This being Apple, there’s no way to carry a spare. When the battery starts deteriorating, you can’t just buy a new one at a phone shop either. You must find an Apple store. Good luck with that outside of the U.S. and Europe.
In all fairness, the new 4th generation version has a battery with 15% more capacity. They say that handles 7 hours of video, but since I’ve never managed more than 4 hours with mine, even right out of the box, I doubt it. When I or my daughter is playing games, the battery life is akin to my laptop’s—about three hours. Put it this way: I still carry my regular iPod along with my iPod Touch because I still want to be able to listen to music at the tail end of a full day of planes and buses. I know with my Touch the batter will be dead halfway through a long flight, even with wireless turned off.
I’m currently living in a Mexican apartment with the same plugs and current as in the U.S., so I’m pretty happy with my Touch. If I were backpacking around the world though, I’d probably get tired of being an outlet slave. My Kindle will go for weeks, so I guess it would be fewer apps, more reading. Not necessarily a bad thing…
You’ll pay up for the upgrades in the 4th generation model. The newest iPod Touch 64GB model is selling between $400 and $500 (the price of a full-featured netbook with all the bells and whistles) and the 32GB Touch is around $300.
There are a bazillion reviews out there telling you what’s better about the new model, but here are the basics: the resolution is crisper, you get a camera on the front and back and can shoot video, and there’s now a mic. That mic may not be a good thing if you use Skype a lot though—you’ll be holding the device up to your mouth or using speaker phone instead of using the 3rd generation earbuds with a mic, which is much more natural for conversations.
If you don’t mind last year’s model and won’t use the camera much, you can get the older 64 MB model for about $70 less at Amazon and the price should drop more soon, based on Apple’s sale patterns. It’s still expensive, but there’s nothing else out there that’s like it.
Posted by Tim L. in Business Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on September 30th, 2010
