BlueLounge Refresh – Neat Charging Solution

I tend not to use the charging adapters that usually come with the my phones or other devices if they can be charged via usb because its much more convenient and practical instead of having multiple wall socket chargers.
I came across the BlueLounge refresh and immediately added it to my cart. Its small convenient and cheap-ish ($50 on ThinkGeek). I really recommend it for people who carry more than one device on a daily basis.

I would really have loved it if it was slightly wider so that gadgets have some breathing space. Its hard to get 3 devices on it if one of the device’s charging port is on the side (think blackberry).

Rating:  

ThinkGeek ($49-$69)
Amazon ($69)

Video review after the break.

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iPhone OS 4.0 Breakdown – Front Facing Camera Coming to new iPhone?!

Apple announced the iPhone OS 4.0 yesterday with a handful of new features, one of the features that they announced is a feature that was requested ever since the iphone got released back in 2007, Multitasking. and also a few other additions to the OS that are more than welcome.

Apple’s version of multitasking is very impressive. Its not your current version of multitasking and its not “true” multitasking, when you exit an app its no longer running in the background but rather is in a suspended state ala Windows Phone 7, but what Apple did is very clever, new API’s are available that gives 3rd party developers access to certain processes to accomplish “multitasking”. Those services are:

• Background Audio
• Voice Over IP
• Background Location
• Push Notifications
• Local Notifications
• Task Completion
• Fast App Switching

So its not true multitasking but should cover most of the regular user’s need.

More details after the break

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The iPad Review

After using the iPad for 5 days I think I have a very good idea on the device and can really give my opinion on it.

Hardware

The iPad design is beautiful and minimalistic. its just like a large iPod Touch (you are going to here this a lot in this review, why? because its true) with metal casing.  the screen is great 9.7” LED with IPS technology that has a 1024×768 resolution  and a little too big black bezel. Home button at the bottom of the screen a volume control on the right side, also a screen rotation lock switch and the usual power button.

I was a little disappointed with the speaker a bit, its not very low but its only on one side witch make the sound sometimes low especially if you are trying to share the screen with someone.

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2 Major Announcements Within A Week

Both Apple and Microsoft are holding press conferences/events within a week. Apple event will be on April 8th and will be showcasing their new iPhone OS 4.0. There are no confirmed details on what might the new OS actually have in store for us but rumors consist of:

• Bigger Screen
• Higher Screen Resolution
• Front-Facing Camera
• Multi-Tasking
• Better Notifications
• A Useful Home Screen
• Might Have The New A4 CPU

As for Microsoft its not that simple, it will be held on April 12th and nobody knows what exactly the event will be about. its just speculation now. it could be:

• Project Pink (the long rumored phone project ever since Microsoft acquired Danger-The makers of the Sidekick).
• More Windows Phone 7 news (They officially removed the “Series” part)
• Zune news – really hope not
• Xbox news – The green theme suggests that. (Link)
• Courier Announcement – everybody is really hoping for that one, have you seen the Courier videos??

iPad – First Impressions

After posting the first iPad pic in Kuwait and first unboxing in Kuwait now its time to talk about the device, here are my first impressions.

Activating the device was a breeze (I have a US based account (Mark wrote a work around if you have a Kuwaiti account). FIrst thing I noticed how fast and responsive the device is, I mean its blazing fast. Loving the new Apple CPU.

The browser shows the full web pages and not the mobile ones, as seen from the pic above. Didn’t expect that as it ran the same webkit browser that the iPhone has, or so I thought.

The screen in nice, nothing super amazing . its large (bigger is better here) and some apps make use of the extra real estate.

A big letdown is not being able to charge the device via USB unless you’ve got a new mac. If you are a windows user you have to hunt down a wall socket to recharge.

The iBooks app is downloaded separately for free, after doing so you get a copy of Winnie-the-Pooh for free.

I’ll be doing a review and should be up soon. If you have any question please do so in the comments.

iPad Unboxing

Just finished unboxing my iPad and here’s a bunch of pictures:

A ton more pictures after the break, click below……..

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Guess Who’s Got An iPad?!

I just received the newly released iPad in my hands. stay tuned for more pics.

The iPad is Released Today….Who’s Getting One?

The long awaited Apple tablet device AKA the iPad will be on store shelves today. will you be among the first to order one (even though Apple are cancelling all order heading to forwarding companies) or will you be waiting for a proper review, a hands-on or even looking for an alternative – HP Slate for example.

iPad Compatible Apps

It starts, the first iPhone app on my iPhone to get a compatibility update is Ocarina. I’m sure during the next few weeks iPhone owner will be getting a ton of updates.

Then vs. Now: Storage

The image on the left consists of 8 cabinets, 2.5GB each for a total of 20GB and a total weight of 2000KG (2 Tons). and to the right a micro SD card which is a size of a fingernail approximately that has a higher capacity (32GB) and weight a cost a fraction of the IBM installation.

Of course IBM came up with a breakthrough when they introduced the 1GB HDD in 1981. as you can see in the image below vs. a 1GB SD card.