I had the opportunity to review the SanDisk 16Gb microSDHC Class 2 memory card. In case you're not aware, the class of a card refers to the read/write speed. The higher the number, the faster the card should perform. So, a class 2 is the slowest while a class 4, 6, or even 10 should be faster than a class 2. With that said, there are different things to consider when buying a new memory card.

While you're paying for size, you're also paying for the class and the brand. SanDisk is one of the most well-known brands for memory cards, so their's will usually be priced higher, but they also have a better reputation than some other brands. This card performed well for me. I transfered music, movies, and GPS maps onto it, all at acceptable speeds. So far I haven't had any type of corruption or issues with the card. Music and movie playback was smooth with no skipping. GPS performance was also good, there was no delays during map refreshes.

For the price, you're getting a highly rated brand of card but you're giving up some speed. For a class 6 card, you can easily spend $20-$50 more, depending on the brand. You can also find some class 6 cards for around the same price, but they're from less-known brands.

I give this card a 7 out of 10 and the only points it lost was the fact that it was a class 2. I highly recommend this card if you have sensitive data that you can't afford to lose (so you're getting a well-known brand), you want a large capacity card (16Gb being the largest you can find right now), but are willing to sacrifice some speed.

Buy it now from the PPCGeeks Store here!

The developer of this widget pack modestly describes this as "just another weather widget".  This is perhaps the most polished and well put together weather forcast widget pack available for the android.  He also has some amazing flipclocks that moderately resemble clocks from some paid applications (Check out the 'Weather forcast 4x2 widget.)  Definitely a 5 star application.

This widget is so handy that I am surprised it doesn't come on Android phones from the factory.  This is simply a 1x1 widget that displays one of ten gmail icons and will show how many unread messages are in your gmail account.  Tap the widget and it opens up the  Gmail application and goes to the inbox.  Simple, beautiful, customizable and functional.

The premise of this widget is simple: allows you to put more icons on your homescreen.  This widget app allows you to put 3 applications in the space of one; the fourth location links to the widget's settings screen.  At first it seems as if the icons might be too small, but the developer has done a good job and it's easy to select the icon you're after.  This  is a perfect addition for people like me as it allows for more room on the homescreens to put widgets.

This is an app that almost everyone would find useful at one point or another.  It's an open source task list that is simple to use and works very well.  The widget alone is enough to generate 5 stars.  The widget will display one of your todo lists in a nice and easy to read format.  Even if you don't use Astrid task manager, the widget can synchronize with other applications such as 'Remember the Milk, Locale and more.

Although it does consume an entire page, the 4x4 widget is stunning.  The widget gives buttons for the important musc player functions and displays the album art.  Beneath the surface this player will also scan through your music and make recommendations based on the songs you are listening to.  All around a great application over and above being an awesome widget.

UPDATE: My bad, I confused two different programs both titled 'Weather Widget' and after looking through the Android Market, there appears to be a few others. Anyhow, here is the link to the barcode image for the one I originally posted. Even though it's not what I had intended to post it is still very nice and is pictured above.

So far, the common sentiment among users is that Shopper is extremely similar to Google Goggles in that it uses the phone's camera to read a barcode or recognize cover art on books, CDs, DVDs and games; however a closer inspection reveals that instead of running a standard search, it performs a 'Google Product Search' (same search as selecting 'Shopping' on the google home-screen).  Google Shopper also is capable of voice recognition which is handy when the product you are looking for isn't readily available.  Simply speak the name of the product you are looking for and Shopper will do the rest.  As an added treat, when you want to let someone know where the best deal is for that present on your wish-list, Shopper allows you to 'share' products with your friends through various social media and messaging services.

Hands on, this application is useful but no game changer.  Searching for software and books in every test works exactly as described: cd cover scanning through Shopper is quick and comes back with pricing and product info in a matter of seconds. Oddly enough, using Shopper to scan the barcode on my Motorola Droid Car Mount which was purchased from big V fails with an error saying that shopper did not find any products with this barcode. You can witness this behavior in this video.

Even in it's beta form, people are finding good uses for this app, one poster going by 'Adam' on the Google Mobile Blog thought it "will help when at used book stores looking for rare books and vinyl records to resell."  To download Google Shopper to your Android phone, search for "Shopper" on Android Market or scan the barcode below.

Sources: googlemobile.blogspot.com; google.com

Owners of the Motorola Droid will often scoff at any implication their beloved is not as nice other phones, and with good cause: this powerful and customizable device is promoted by an advertising powerhouse who states the 'Droid Does' everything.  However, there is one aspect of this device that is lacking; the 'Droid Doesn't' have a large selection of accessories, more specifically cases that sport anything more personalized than the color, "Would you like a black case, or would you prefer pink?"

After looking at countless retail stores and reading reviews of the handful of existing hard shell cases, it was a pleasant surprise to find a series of custom fitted hard-shell cases sporting some handsome graphic designs here at the PPCGeeks.com store.

The 'Protector Case' from Mobi Products is easy to install and does not hinder the slider.  Access to all buttons is unobstructed.  Functionally speaking, this is a fine case.  Esthetically, the back graphic is quite nice and exactly what I'd hoped it would be.  The openings on the back are perfectly placed over the speaker and camera, also there are four holes that seem to be placed right over the processor so I assume they are to assist with cooling (bonus points for this).

Looking at the face of the phone with the case installed reveals seams which are unpainted and thus expose the underlying white plastic in a stark contrast to the black phone and mostly black case.  This stands out to such a degree that it overshadows other aspects and becomes the most prominent feature on the phone.  In some places the paint bled onto the seam which further distracts.

In conclusion the case is a good fit and a great price.  It has the potential of being a very nice looking case but the white plastic seams become the defining characteristic of this product.  If you cannot get past the white lines, you may want to skip this and go for one of the more expensive cases on the PPCGeeks.com store.  If you don't mind the white lines this case may just be your best bet.  Check it out here.

During my experience, calls were loud and clear. The volume knob controls the volume on your device, so its not an independent volume booster. The answer/end call button is also easy to use. Its large enough so you don't have to look up to find it. If you're using a bluetooth speakerphone, you're obviously going to be looking at call clarity. On our side, the calls were just as clear as your service offers (depending on coverage and reception). On the other side, the party said they could tell I was using a speakerphone, but it still sounded clear with some background noise. We didn't have to repeat any of our conversation, which is always good.

Overall, we give it a 7 out of 10. For the price, you could probably find a speakerphone that offers a little more features, but if you're looking for a basic one, this does the job pretty well. Its a bit bulky, but that's what makes the speakerphone loud.

Buy it at the PPCGeeks store here! ]]> http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2010/02/14/ppcg-review-jabra-sp200-bluetooth-speakerphone/feed/ 2 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2010/02/06/recommended-site-clamtxt/ http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2010/02/06/recommended-site-clamtxt/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:35:19 +0000 BigDiesel07 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=2949

Do you love to pester people with text messages without being identified? What if you could carpet bomb somebody to the tune of 600 texts at once and there would be no way to trace it back to you? At clamtxt.com, you can do just that!

What is it exactly? I'll let Clamfather, one of the founding clamsman, tell you.

ClamTXT is a web application that will send text messages in batch to a phone number that you choose. How many text messages sent depends on your membership status. There is also a possible custom message, reserved for registered and donating users. When you submit a number, and our bot rolls around to your entry, a message will be sent based on your registration status. Anonymous and registered users will have a link back to the site in the text message. All submissions will have a random character string on it, to avoid filtering of duplicate messages.

Does that sound enticing enough? If so, make the jump to read more!

Tiered Texting

There are four types of users on the site, with three of them available to the public and one being for staff members, with each level getting a greater feature set then the previous.

The first is 'Anonymous'. There is no registration required for Anonymous users. This level is mainly used by first-time users as registering is easy and enhances the usability of the site. Anonymous users have-

Limit of 10 text messages sent per submission

1 submission per 24 hours

No custom text

No set name in shoutbox (chat function of site)

The next level is for registered users of the site. Registering is simple as it only requires a username, password, and a valid e-mail address. No pain, no side effects, it's just that simple! Becoming a 'Registered' means that-

An increase in the maximum amount of text messages sent per submission to 50

1 submission per queue (about 20 minutes)

20 character custom text to be sent with the messages

Green username in shoutbox

"$5 will get you 600!" If I was marketing for this next level, that would be my slogan. This level, called 'Donator', gains access to all the features of the site. For a donation of $5 dollars, users get-

• Tier 1
  • Cost: $5
  • Blue name
  • 150 messages limit per 2 hours
  • Level 2 priority (sent before registered any anonymous)
  • 40 character custom message sent with text
• ☆ Tier 2
  • Cost: $10
  • Blue-gray name
  • 200 text message limit per 2 hours
  • Level 3 priority in queue list
  • 80 character custom message sent with text
  • Star next to name
  • BBCode access
  • Ability to add 1 number to block list
• ★ Tier 3
  • Cost: $20
  • Gold name
  • Bolded name
  • 500 text message limit per 2 hours
  • Level 4 priority in queue list
  • 140 character custom message sent with text
  • Filled star next to name
  • Ability to add 3 numbers to block list
  • Ability to remove 3 numbers from block list per 24 hours

Staff Members are called 'Admin' and manages the website itself, along with providing help to any troubles encountered with the site.

Usability

The site itself is functional and easy to use. Submission of the spam text to be sent is as follows.

As seen above, a user inputs the reason behind sending the message (optional), the phone number the text is being sent to, the message itself (length depending on type of user), and the amount of messages to be sent at once to the number into the spaces and then clicks submit. After clicking submit, the message is held in the queue for delivery. The bot that actually sends messages, 'Robut', delivers once every 20 minutes or so. The actual time depends on the amount of submissions set to be sent, with a lower amount of submissions speeding up the delivery time.

I registered and made a monetary contribution to become a 'Donator' to test the claims out. I sent several (50) messages to Laos101, our faithful compatriot who hosts the PPCG Podcast, and to Cornelious2, a news writer for PPCGN, at the same time they were producing a live a stream of the podcast. As you will hear, both Laos and Corn received the messages in a timely and extended manner. I believe "BigD, stop sending me spam messages!" is what Laos uttered, clearly exasperated (and amused) at the multitude of messages being  received by his phone. Start listening at 43:25 until 43:45 and you will hear Laos. Also, if you listen at 45:00 until 46:15 (that jingle noise is a phone receiving messages) you will hear Cornelious receiving messages.

Mobile Access

Any website that can be accessed via our phones is a plus and this site delivers. While there are no mobile applications (yet) to access this site directly, I found that Opera Mobile 9.7 on my Touch Pro2 works just fine in accessing the Submit page of the site . If you find that your mobile web browser can access the site, please post your results in the comments below!

Additional Site Features

Queue Page

One useful feature is the Queue page. Listed here are all the submissions made by various users that are waiting to be sent, along with the details of each message. This is useful because it allows a user to see where his spot is in the line of submissions. Some of the messages are 18+, so please be careful if foul language and obscene remarks offend you.

Responses Page

A humorous addition is the Responses page. Here lies a list of responses made by the victims receivers of the sent texts to the bot, along with the details of the sent message. Most of the responses are too vulgar to post here, but to get a sense of the possible hilarity, below is a copy of 2 sent message and the replys they received. These were the most amusing replies I could post on PPCG without losing my job. If you want the full effect, you can go here for all the responses.

PowerMat Home or Office Mat for HTC Touch Pro2 Review
January 21, 2010 by tsowen, PPCGeeks

Wirelessly charges up to 3 Powermat-enabled devices simultaneously (plus one USB power port). Works with all Powermat receivers. Universal Powercube with 8 tips is included to enable you to charge hundreds of different devices.

Product Features

The Powermat Home & Office Mat wirelessly charges up to 3 devices simultaneously by placing a device with a Powermat receiver onto the mat. There is an additional USB port to charge a fourth device via USB cable. The mat retails for $99.99. Cases and receivers are available at two price points: $29.99 and $39.99.

What's in the box?

• Home & Office Mat
• Universal, international power supply (Energy Star level 5, 100-240V) with built-in cord management
• Powercube Universal Receiver with 8 tips

Specifications

Charging Positions: 4 (3 wireless, 1 USB port)
Dimensions: .625" x 12.25" x 4.5625" (HxWxD)
Input Voltage: 100-240V AC, 50-60Hz Universal
Output Voltage: 18VDC
Output Current: 0.83A
Standby Current: 0.011A
Adapter Power: 15 Watts

The Good

The Powermat Mat is very easy to use. Simply take it out of the box, attach the wall charger to the powermat and plug it in. Find the correct tip and attach it to your device. Then place the receiver on the mat.

There are three charging spots located on the mat. A magnetic attraction between every Receiver and each access point on every Mat assures that alignment is precise and the most efficient charging will occur. This is one of the keys to the Powermat system’s ability to charge your devices as fast or faster than the original power adaptor. Once you have it in the correct spot a light turns on below the charging point, and a sound effect is played. You get three points of feedback to make sure your device is charging. The light and sound effect can be turned off.

The Powercube is a small plastic device with a default mini USB tip. Tips fit over the default mini USB cable. Place the Powercube on the mat and you can charge devices. The Tip Storage container
was a nice added touch which can store your extra tips for different devices all in one little nice container.

The Bad

The mat only has three different slots so if your a gadget person like myself you will find yourself running out of room. You will also have to pay extra if you want to charge more than one device by buying extra cases to fit your device.

The Bottom Line

The Powermat isn't entirely free of wires, but it succeeds at being different and at powering your phone. On the other hand, we don't see it fulfilling a need.

More Views

This product can be purchased in the PPCG Store for $97.95

Seidio Innocase Holster Review
December 31, 2009 by tsowen, PPCGeeks
The Seidio Innocase Holster will protect and fit your skinned or cased smartphone perfectly!  

Last week I reviewed the Innocase™ Surface – Black Touch Pro 2 so this week I figured I would review the Seidio Innocase Holster. The case is constructed of a hard plastic and has a pretty solid feel to it unlike other swivel cases I have used in the past which seem to be a bit flimsy and doesn’t have a nice solid feel to it. Since the case is designed to hold your Touch Pro 2 facing inward Seidio has taken the extra step and lined the inside of the case with felt to ensure that big beautiful display screen is fully protected. Another favorite for me is the fact the case comes with an adjustable swivel belt clip with 7 rotating angles. The unique spring clip was the only flaw or improvement I could find that was needed. The phone fits nicely in the case however I did have the phone fall out of the case twice during my test and evaluation period of the case. Luckily I had the Innocase Surface on the phone which protected it each time the phone fell out. The problem is the Spring Clip doesn’t fit entirely over the Innocase so if you tug a little on the phone it will release without depressing the Spring Clip. To test this I put the phone with the Innocase in the holster and placed it on my belt loop and bounced around and jogged in my living room and each time the phone would fall out of the holster. Also during the testing of the case I noticed if the phone is bumped or snagged on something it will pop out of the case as well so overall the case does not secure the phone as I had thought it would.

Additional Views:

This product can be found in the PPCG Store for $29.95

Innocase™ Surface - Black Touch Pro 2
December 10, 2009 by tsowen, PPCGeeks
The Innocase offers great protection for your Touch Pro2
without a bulky feel to it.

Have you dropped your HTC Touch Pro2 yet? Well if you have or are prone to (eventually) dropping your Touch Pro2 and have been looking for a nice hardcase, well look no further Seido has now launched their Innocase Surface line for the Sprint and Verizon Touch Pro2. This week I have had the pleasure of testing out this case and I have to admit I love it. The Innocase adds a much-needed degree of "sturdiness" to the Touch Pro2's less-than-rock-solid build, and fully protects its from scratches and other aesthetic damage. However, there are a few design flaws mean which means the case is far from perfect.

My favorite thing about the Seido Innocase for the Touch Pro2 is the sturdy feeling it adds to the device and gives it a little bit more grip in your hands. The case is very thin measuring in at a slim 1mm, adding little bulk to your device. The case is made of polycarbonate plastic and features Seido’s signature soft touch coating which gives the case a nice smooth touch verses a slippery one. I did find that with the Innocase that my Touch Pro2 would no longer fit in my holster I had bought previously. However Seido does offer an Innocase holster which is sold separately for.

Overall the cutting of the case seem to match up almost perfect, the only thing I found negative about the cutting and fit of the Innocase was pressing the bottom buttons seemed to be a bit more awkward due to the fact that the case was right up against the edge of the buttons.

Another thing I found within the design of the Innocase is the battery cover piece covers up most of the speaker holes which makes the speaker not as loud as it use to be. It would have been nice to see Seido take a little more time in the design and match the speaker holes for both the Sprint and Verizon Touch Pro2.
The Innocase was very easy to install and only took a few seconds to pop both the front and back piece on. Functionally the Innocase does not take away from the sliding in/out of the keyboard. Overall I was very pleased with the Innocase and the protection it provides to my Touch Pro2.
 

Additional Views

You can get about 6 hours of listening on a single charge and you also get different sizes of earbuds and a travel pouch, which the original S9's didn't come with. The S9HD's come in a sleek black with two chrome rings and a chrome Motorola icon in the back. The control buttons are easily found near each ear. The power button and mini-USB charging ports are located on the back bump, just as with the S9's.

Buy it now in the PPCG Store!

The goodies after the break...

Pairing the S9HD's was easy with the LED on the back bump to let you know when its in pairing mode. It also supports connections to multiple devices, which I didn't try since I didn't have more than one device at the time of my review. The battery life seemed accurate at 6 hours of listening time. Over time, I'm sure this will lessen as the battery wears, and unfortunately, there's no way to swap the battery out.

As with most bluetooth headsets, it says it has a 30ft range, but similar to my S9's, if my phone was in my pocket, the audio seemed to cut out occassionally. If the headset has a direct sight to the source it seems to perform better in this regard.

Now for the goodies, audio quality. The S9HD's feature SRS WOW HD technology, which is supposed to give you fuller bass and better overall quality. You can enable/disable SRS WOW HD by pressing and holding the forward button, and there is a noticeable difference in quality. With the SRS WOW HD on, it performs much better than its S9 predecessor, however, if your device has an equalizer or SRS WOW HD drivers, you may be able to achieve the same quality with the older S9's.

Call quality, on the other hand, was still poor. There's not much noise cancellation, so if you're in a noisy environment people may complain about the background noise. If you're working out though, you probably aren't going to be talking on the phone long, so it'll get the job done for shorter conversations.

Another difference, which I can't vouch for, is its ability to be sweat-resistant. I've never had a problem with the S9's, and I've used them jogging and working out without a problem. People have reported that the S9's have had buttons short out due to sweat, but many people have said the S9HD's don't exhibit that problem.

Overall, for $36 more than the older S9's, I think its worth the extra money, especially if you don't have an EQ or SRS WOW HD technology on your device. The sound quality is improved if you can't adjust it from your phone, and the theoretical "sweat-resistance" is a nice bonus. I also like the sleeker black and chrome look rather than the red in its predecessor.

There are two ways you can access Sly Dial. The first, which is free* but ad-supported, is by calling 1-267-SLY-DIAL (267-759-3425). A short ad will play once you are connected and then it will ask for you to input your victim's contact's phone number, after which it will connect your call. I tried it several times and every time it worked, connecting me to the voicemail prompt quickly.

The second way you can access the service is through the SlyDial Application. They currently have apps that work on the iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

I was able to review the Windows Mobile version of this app. There are two versions for Windows Mobile: Touchscreen and Standard (non-touchscreen). Both are compatible with Windows Mobile  5 and 6. I have received confirmation from MobileSphere that the  SlyDial application is also compatible with WM 6.5.

After installing the .CAB, I opened the application up. Minimalistic interfaces that get the job done without clutter are something I really enjoy, and this one is simple and easy to use. To note, I am using this application on my Touch Pro2 and, as you can see in the image, the words are readable, but blurry. I hope that they release an update that make viewing on a variety of screen resolutions clearer.

SlyDial worked flawlessly, as I was able to connect directly to my contact's voicemail when selected from the contact list in the application. In all, it took 10-15 seconds to go from the contact list to the voicemail prompt. Of course, results will vary if you are in a poor coverage area.

SlyDial will work in the U.S. for most carriers, but it will not connect to someone who has a prepaid mobile phone (Virgin Mobile, TracFone, etc.), does not have voicemail on his/her phone (like Zach Morris), their voicemail is full, or if they have a third-party voicemail service (e.g. Google Voice, Youmail).

While this application is not freeware, the service itself is free. Is SlyDial worth purchasing? Personally, I would say yes because I have difficulty remembering numbers  which complicates dialing in. For others, the call-to service may suit them just fine. So readers, what do you think of this application?

Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset Review
November 30, 2009 by tsowen, PPCGeeks
The Jawbone Bluetooth Headset offers noise  
cancellation and great call quality on both ends of the line

Over the weekend I had a chance to review the Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset. Aliph’s Jawbones headsets have always been rated among the highest-rated Bluetooth headsets for awhile now so I was kind of anxious to try this highly rated Bluetooth headset out. So without further ado let’s take a look at what’s in the box.

What's Inside the Box

The packaging of the box was very nicely done as to be expected. All of the accessories are in an exposed front-facing manner.

The Jawbone PRIME packaging contains the following:

• 1 Jawbone PRIME Bluetooth Headset
• 6 different earbuds (2 different styles)
• 2 earloops (including 1 'premium' leather-wrapped style)
• 1 USB charging cable
• 1 wall charger
• 1 user welcome guide with instructions
• 1 safety informational pullout

Everything you need is nice and neatly packaged in the box.

The Technology
Aliph has been one of the top Bluetooth headset companies priding itself in providing the best sound quality available in a Bluetooth headset. The Jawbone PRIME prides itself on being able to eliminate real word noise better than any other headset because it is the only headset that can accurately separate speech from ambient noise by utilizing a new technology known as NOISEASSASIN 2.0. A quick description of the improvements made to NOISEASSASIN are:

“Jawbone PRIME has even better background noise elimination than the previous generations. NoiseAssasin™ 2.0 delivers an order of magnitude improvement in the noisiest environments (6 to 9dB) extracting even more noise while keeping the user's voice natural.

 Acoustic Voice Activity Detector (AVAD) provides a fail-safe mechanism when the Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) doesn't touch your face. When the VAS is not touching the face, Jawbone PRIME performs as good as or better than any other noise cancelling headset. When the VAS touches the face, you get the turbo-boost to the NoiseAssassin performance.”

Click to Expand

I decided to test the PRIME's voice detection and background noise elimination at my kids soccer game. During the middle of the game I pulled out the PRIME and made a few calls. The PRIME delivered as expected, the recipients of the calls could faintly hear the cheering and hollering in the background nor could they hear the wind that was in the background. The recipients of the calls were shocked to find out I was talking to them on a Bluetooth Headset. On my end the call was crystal clear as well. I would say of all the Bluetooth Headsets I have owned this one was by far the better when it came to call quality and clarity.

The Design
The Jawbone PRIME like its predecessor the Jawbone 2 is slim and lightweight measuring 2.1 inches long by 0.5 inches wide by 0.5 inches thick, the PRIME is small enough to be discreet when worn. The Device is very lightweight as well weighing in and a petite 0.36 ounces so you barely even notice you have it in your ear. The PRIME sports a rather elegant dimpled loop pattern on the front giving it a very fashionable design.

The buttons on the prime can be a little difficult to find because they’re almost invisible. There is a slight dip towards the top third of the headset which hides the multifunction talk button, pressing the very top of the headset will activate the NoiceAssasin or volume button. Speaking of volume there is only one volume button which I was a little disappointed in so you will have to cycle through the volume levels a couple of times to find the perfect setting.

Flip the headset over and you will find a soft squishy rubber earbud covering the earpiece. The earbud was very comfortable and I found using the large size earbud cover the PRIME felt secure and snug in my ear. The earbuds were probably the most comfortable I have used with any other headset. I give the design on the earbuds and comfort Two thumbs up! There’s also an optional ear hook if you prefer, but I found that I didn’t really need to use it. Towards the back of the PRIME is a tiny nub that acts as the Voice Activity Sensor, which is used to amplify your voice. I found the inside contours of the PRIME followed my face perfectly in a comfortable manner. The PRIME also comes in several different colors also called “EARCANDY”.

"EARCANDY is our summer color burst, to bring self-expression and a smile to our line-up. The 4 colors represent great skin-tone complements and contrast, as well as personal style one cannot resist, this reinforces the basic notion that anything that the consumer wears makes a statement, and it should be designed as such...this is what we call EARCANDY." Yves Behar, Chief Designer

Paring and Setting Up
I paired the Aliph Jawbone Prime up with my Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2 in less than a minute. Pairing was quite easy and effortless. The PRIME comes with a very detailed instructions manual on setting up and using the device. I tested the device in several different settings, at the mall, in my car, at home and at my kid’s soccer game. In every environment all the callers said I sounded loud and clear, with a natural sounding voice and volume and background noise was minimal in each environment.

The Jawbone Prime has all the typical calling features for Bluetooth headsets such as answering, rejecting, and ending calls; voice dialing support; call waiting support; battery status indicator; call mute; last number redial; and it has multipoint technology that lets it connect up to two devices at once. It has a rated talk time of 4.5 hours and a standby time of 8 days.

Bottom Line
The bottom line is the Aliph Jawbone Prime is a great Bluetooth headset that combines high style with high performance. The device packs some innovative design and technology into a small device. To read about the Aliph Jawbone Prime or to order from our store follow this link.

Full Specifications

At almost a 4.5Mb download for the cab, its a rather large file. Installation size is 7436Kb.

More information at Elecont.com.

Buy it at the PPCG Store here (currently $9.95!)

More details after the break...

After entering my city, it ran an update and showed me the forecast. Its pretty finger-friendly with scrolling abilities. It shows about as much detail as one could ask for including the temp, "feels like" temp, wind, humidity, pressure, visibility, sunrise and sunset. There are temperature graphs and other details you can view as well. There's also a button that will show current weather alerts for your area, which can be very handy.

My real test was to see how it stacked up against the free TitaniumWeather, which uses MortScript. I must say that this app packs some powerful features that make it worth its money. If you're on another panel, you can see the temp and the weather (foggy, sunny, etc) along with an icon. It also shows you the last time it was updated without actually going to the panel.

If you go to the panel you'll see the current forecast and 4 days worth, similar to TitaniumWeather. From there, you get 11 more panels that shows the future forcasts including highs, lows, humidity, precipitation, etc. Tapping on the panel will launch the app. The right softkey runs a manual update.

Changing themes within the app is a little clunky. In the menu there's a button to Change Theme, but it doesn't give you a list. Each time you use that menu option it'll change the theme, so you have to go into that menu each time until you find a theme you like.

There are two other downsides to this app. One is that there is no dynamic way to update your location like TF3D (Manila) 2.1 and 2.5 have. While using TF3D you can have it fetch your location using the Google Location service, which can come in very handy. TitaniumWeather doesn't offer this feature either. The other is that there's no radar. I liked integrating GPSWeatherRadar into Titanium since it can pull your location using GPS/triangulation and show you the radar.

Overall, it is a very nice app, well worth the money if you use Titanium and want an alternative to TitaniumWeather with more features.

I give it a 4 out of 5 stars, mainly for the lack of a radar.

With the release of the Touch Pro 2, users are frantically looking for ways to protect their product. While holsters do a great job of offering mobility, they don't do justice for when the device is actually in your hands being used. Most of the time this is when the phone may drop, or get scratched, making you wish you'd want to jump off a bridge for damaging your phone.

Finding hard cases to protect your phone isn't that difficult. Ebay has a large collection, although most of the time, result in  a low quality feel and doesn't always fit that well. Thankfully Seidio has expanded their line-up of Touch Pro 2 accessories with their latest offering, the Seidio Innocase Surface, which provides an amazing layer of protection without added bulk.
Continue reading for the full review.

The Look:
The Innocase Surface currently comes in black, which thankfully is the color of most of our devices, so worrying about a mis-match in color is not an issue here. The Innocase Surface comes in two-pieces. One to clip on the back of your device and one to cover the front half.

The front clip is very well designed. Most hard cases are well... Hard!. The front clip on this product is very flexible. Why is this important? Well for one thing, you don't have to worry about the stiffness causing the piece to crack in certain areas if removing it from your phone, or while putting it on.

The back clip is a little more sturdy as its a full cover design. Looking at the back clip, you will notice that it is specifically designed at heart towards our Touch Pro 2's. There is a nice cut out on the top half for the sleep button on the device, a cut out at the bottom of the device for the stylus, usb jack and 3.5mm headphone jack. Adding to that, Seidio has also supplied the cut out for the nice wrist strap feature on the phone. On the back of the case, there is also a cut out for the camera, dual speakers and microphone switch.

Seidio has definitely done a great job with the look of the case. The soft rubberized finish blends in very well with the device, and it doesn't look tacky.

The Feel:
Applying the case to your device is very simple. Simply apply the back piece to the back of your phone, you will hear about 4-5 clicks as it's clipping properly to your phone. Proceed to do the same with the front piece and voila! Your done.

Well, how does it feel when it's on the phone? Many can argue that the Touch Pro 2 is already a bulky device to hold. Why add more thickness to the device? The Seidio Innocase Surface is designed from a high quality polycarbonate plastic that measures only 1MM in thickness. Holding the phone with the cover in place doesn't change the experience of your phone at all. There is absolutely no added bulk to the device.

The finish on the cover is exceptional. It has a soft, rubberized finish which allows the user to have a better grip on the device while using it.

Using the device while having the keyboard slid-out is also a non-issue with the case. Seidio has done a great job having a specific cutout along the edge, therefore the device still maintains its tilt feature, allowing the user to use their device to the full advantage.

Conclusion:
Many companies out there that design accessories for our devices, although do a great job, sometimes lack in certain areas. Seidio has been offering accessories for over five-years now and the quality is definitely shown with their latest offering. The Seidio Innocase Surface is highly recommended for users who are looking to have some added protection for their devices. The Seidio Innocase Surface is currently available for all customers and can be purchased for $29.95USD

Overall, it's definitely the best solution for protecting your device for years to come.

Head on over to SeidioOnline.com to purchase your Innocase Surface today!

Review Rating: 5 out of 5

Plantronics Discovery 975 Review
November 16, 2009 by tsowen, PPCGeeks
The Discovery 975 offers great-sounding call
quality on both ends of the line

There are headsets that are stylish, and headsets that sound great, but somehow Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset managed to combine these two features into one device. This week I had the privilege to test drive this device and I have to say I was blown away by it. The Discovery 975 has a sleek boom packed with microphones and windscreens that give it a surprisingly sound quality. It is sleek and stylish and comfortable.

Like its predecessor, the Discovery 925, the Discovery 975 requires no futzing: With one hand, you can place the headset in your ear, point the microphone boom down toward your mouth, and tap the call button to get rolling. Measuring 2.7 inches long by 0.8 inch wide by 0.5 inch thick, the Discovery 975 appears almost like a piece of jewelry when worn. Visually the Discovery 975 resembles a slimmed down Discovery 925, and is far less bulky than the Voyager PRO.

The Discovery 975  has a nice ear tip gel cover, with a square loop that lets the earpiece sit snugly within the folds of the ear without the use of an ear hook. Plantronics provides small, medium, and large ear-gel tips, so you have a good shot at obtaining a comfortable and secure fit. Using the meadium earpiece cover felt light--almost breezy--and stable, too.

The Discovery 975’s battery is rated for up to 5hrs talk time or 1 week standby from its 85mA Li-ion polymer cell. The case has its own rechargeable battery, just as the Discovery 925 did, which will recharge the Discovery 975 up to three times. The Discovery 975 can remain powered on and connected while it’s recharging in the case. The case lights up and flashes when a call comes in, just to make sure you notice it. There’s also an integrated display, which shows the separate battery status of both the headset and the case, together with the Bluetooth connection status.

Overall the call quality was excellent on both ends incoming calls sounded crystal clear; and at the other end, my voice sounded crisp and natural. The Discovery’s handling of background noise was somewhat disappointing to me. I tested the Discovery 975 in a somewhat windy environment. The parties on the other end could hear sounds of wind, but my voice was crystal clear.

The Discovery 975 has all your normal features such as answering, ending and rejecting calls, last number redial, call mute as well as voice-dialing. The Discovery 975 also features voice prompt that lets you know when you’ve enabled or disables call mute and the battery and Bluetooth connection status. At the base of the boom arm in the middle of the square diamond is the multifunction call button. The multifunction call button requires a bit of pressure to press since it is part of the overall boom arm. The volume control is a single button that is located on the side. I found myself having to use my fingernail to press this button. Also the volume control is a single button so you will have to cycle through several volume settings before you find the right one.

As for that Bluetooth connection, the Discovery 975 uses v2.1+EDR and supports Secure Simple Pairing (SSP),Hands-free and Headset profiles. It’ll also use Multipoint technology to simultaneously hold an active connection with two Bluetooth devices which is a nice integrated feature. Like the Voyager PRO it comes with Plantronics’ AudioIQ2 noise-cancelling technology and WindSmart systems for avoiding wind noise, with the two adding up to incredibly natural sound.

The bottom line: Despite the finicky controls, the Plantronics Discovery 975 is a stylish headset with a comfortable fit, and sounds great. Few headsets offer the complete package. With excellent comfort, superior sound quality, and beautiful styling, the Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth headset is by far the best headset I have tested.

For more information on the product or to purchase this product please follow this link.

Some of its features include:

• Dual-mic AudioIQ2 noise canceling technology enriches voice quality
• Boom places mics where they best capture your voice
• Three layers of protection from wind noise
• Durable headset withstands daily wear and tear
• Multipoint pairs one headset to two phones
• Voice prompts alert battery and mute status
• Fast-charging, long-lasting battery

Its also rated for 6 hours of talk time and up to 5 days of standby time!

If you search for other reviews of this device, you'll see that its among one of the highest rated bluetooth headsets out there, so I had high expectations from the start.  I've owned a Motorola H700 and a Jabra headset in the past, so those will be my main comparisons.

Read my full review after the break, you won't be disappointed!

Buy it in the PPCGeeks store here!

Unboxing:
It comes in a sleek black box with a clear plastic part showing off the headset. As usual, the first thing I did was put it on the charger to let it fully charge before I use it. The first thing I noticed is that it uses a microUSB charger, so that may disappoint the HTC crowd since they're accustomed to miniUSB chargers. With the 6 hour battery life, this may not be an issue though.

It is a bit on the larger side for bluetooth headsets, mostly due to its large battery. It has a long mic boom and a sleek design. It also comes with quite a few different ear pieces so you can try to get just the right fit.

Usage:
This is where the real test comes in.  With the bluetooth headsets I've used in the past, I've had problems hearing the other person if I'm in a loud environment.  I have a fairly loud vehicle on the road, so this is a good test.  So I turned on the headset and it connected to my phone right away (after my initial pairing of course).  I made my first call, and to my surprise, it was quite loud.  I even had to turn the volume down a bit.  During the whole 30 minute call, I never had a problem hearing the caller.

After talking for a bit, I asked the caller how I sounded.  They said I sounded really clear and they couldn't even tell I was driving.  While I didn't try it in heavy winds or a really loud environment, it appeared as though the AudioIQ2 feature works quite well.

The one complaint I had from someone was when they called me.  After pressing the multi-function Talk button it took a few seconds for the call to come through the headset, and during that time the caller said they heard a loud noise.

Overview:
I must say, this is one of the best headsets I've ever tried.  While its on the larger size, it still has a comfortable fit with excellent battery life and call quality.  I rate this headset a 4.5 out of 5 stars, and I say this is a "must buy" for anyone on the market for a bluetooth headset.  CNet rates this as one of the top 5 best headsets on the market today, and I find no reason to disagree with them.

The first thing I did was plug it in to let the battery charge. I wish it would have used a mini-USB plug like most HTC phones, instead it uses a small pinhole adapter. They also give you a standard headphone cable, of course if you want to use this on a phone without the 3.5mm headphone jack, you'll need an adapter like the one we reviewed here.

When I first put the headset on, it was a little awkward because the ear pieces are a little small for my ears (and I wouldn't say I have big ears either). There's enough cushion to still make them comfortable though.

Whenever I turn the headset on, I have to manually go into my bluetooth settings on my Touch Pro and tell it to connect to the device, it doesn't appear to be automatic like most other headsets. This could be a setting somewhere or ROM related.

There are 3 settings for listening to music: Normal, Wide, and Bass. For music, I prefer the bass setting. There is some feedback no matter what setting I use, which is kind of expected when using A2DP. I also have the A2DP tweaks from here applied.

If I use the supplied headset cable, the sound quality was great, just as good as some of the best headsets out there that I've tried. The EQ switch mentioned earlier doesn't work since the power to the headset is actually off while using the cable, but the sound quality is still great.

The only downside is call quality. While calls sounded fine on my end, the person on the other end said I sounded far away and soft.

The Samsung SBH600 has a rated battery life of 11 hours talk time, 11 hours music playback, and 12.5 days standby time.

Overall, I would rate this product a 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a comfortable headset that they can enjoy in their home or on an airplane. It is not made for an active user (like the Motorola S9's), but they are very comfortable for casual listening.

Buy it now at the PPCG Store here! ]]> http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/29/ppcg-review-samsung-sbh-600-bluetooth-stereo-headset/feed/ 1 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/26/ppcg-review-booksync/ http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/26/ppcg-review-booksync/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:56:54 +0000 mindfrost82 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=1075 I had the opportunity to take this little app for a test drive. For only $0.99, how could you go wrong right? Well, unfortunately this app needs some work. The functionality worked great. It automatically matched up my contacts with my Facebook contacts (by matching names), and I had the opportunity to sync birthdays and names. It'll automatically sync the profile picture as well. If you have someone saved as a different name, you can easily do a manual match and pair them up yourself.

The GUI, however, needs major work, atleast on my VGA Touch Pro. Things were overlapped and hard to read and its not very finger-friendly at all.

You can download the beta versions for free, or buy the final release versions for $0.99. From their website, it looks as though they're working on improving the GUI, which is much needed.

Some of its features include:

• Auto matching
• Manual matching
• Sync profile picture
• Sync birthdays
• Sync name
• Quiet mode - call booksync from a schedule app with the -q switch "booksync -q" to perform a background sync

I will give this a 2 out of 5 stars for the time being, in hopes that the GUI will be improved very soon.

Buy it from the PPCG Store here for only $0.99!!! ]]> http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/26/ppcg-review-booksync/feed/ 8 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/22/ppcg-review-resco-contact-manager/ http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/22/ppcg-review-resco-contact-manager/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:10:43 +0000 mindfrost82 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=958
I had the chance to review Resco Contact Manager v2.02 which adds some nice features from the previous version, such as:

* Touch Optimized Interface
* Profiles management
* Facebook integration
* Google Maps application support
* Customizable today plugin
* Categories/Companies groups operations available. Send SMS/MMS to all members in group
* SMS Chat and Call History
* Keypad Hot Key
* Quick search using Keypad
* Call & SMS Statistics
* Assign photo to a contact
* Send Contact VCard

The program loads very fast.  It reassigns your right softkey to its contact app instead of the built-in Windows one.  In the Start Menu, you'll find a new folder with direct links to Favorites, Options, MS Contacts, etc.

Scrolling is very smooth, as it is with most Resco apps.  It is very finger-friendly and easy to read.

There is one feature which I couldn't get to work, and that is the Facebook Integration.  After using TouchFlo3D v2.1, it integrated nicely with my contacts and updated their status and profile pictures.  No matter if I was connected to 3G, WiFi, or ActiveSync, it would hang on "Downloading Users".    I browsed the Resco forums and saw where people had the same issues, but no resolution.  This is the only negative thing I could find with this app.

It functions very similar to the free iContact, but if the Facebook Integration would have worked, this program would have it beat.  So if you can get the Facebook Integration to work, and its imortant to you, then it might be worth the $25 for this app.

I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars for now until Facebook is fixed.

You can buy it at the PPCG Store here!