Hasta La Gadget!

With the AT&T MiFi Liberate you’ve got what’s straight up the most advanced mobile hotspot on the planet, complete with a full-color touchscreen, microSD card storage, and DLNA connectivity. This machine is unique in its abilities as well as its physical state, it sitting upright like a tiny folded-over book of notes with AT&T’s 4G LTE network under the hood. The hardware here was created by Novatel Wireless and the network is all AT&T, and as this is just one of two AT&T hotspots on the market at the moment, you’ll find that the few features it hold above the head of its brethren do indeed make it worth the extra few bucks you’ll be paying right out the gate.

Hardware

The MiFi Liberate takes what you want in the first place, AT&T’s 4G LTE network connectivity, and adds a few bells and whistles so you know you’re getting a unique device, not just a parred-down smartphone. This hotspot’s only competition on AT&T is the Sierra Wireless Elevate 4G, a device that also offers up 4G LTE. The Elevate also works with a microSD card slot and a 1.77-inch display with a 1,800 mAh battery. While the Elevate offers connectivity to 5 devices at once, the Liberate offers up to 10.

That’s where the Librate starts to look a lot more enticing. This device starts at $199.99 but the only way you’ll be able to buy it from AT&T is on a two-year contract, this reducing your price to $49.99, at which point it’s the data costs you’ll be looking at for the most part. The battery on the Liberate is a massive 2,900mAh, its touchscreen display is a 2.8-inch color TFT LCD, and the entire device measures in at 99.5 x 73.1 x 8.8mm, weighing 120 grams.

There’s a simple setup here with microUSB port on one side of the battery enclosure on the back, and a power button on the other. The back (underside) of the machine also has a couple of soft plastic bumpers so your device doesn’t get away from you and a rubbery cover for your microSD card slot (capable of carrying up to 32GB, mind you). You’ve also got access to your SIM card under the battery enclosure – all of this is easy to work and open yet securely fastened for on-the-move action.

User Interface

This machine is able to work with several “modes”, each of them having more or less wi-fi range and battery conservation. You’re able to receive text message updates for the device from AT&T, but because you’re not working with a keyboard, you’ll not be sending any outward. You can work with quite a few different security measures on this device including NAT Firewall, anti-CSRF, VPN pass-through, and of course wi-fi protected setup.

You’re also able to set up session timeouts for when you’re only planning on using the device for a short time but wont be able to reach in and tap the machine off (if it’s in your backpack for example). You can also create an admin password hash and block “retry” attempts from users making with the hack – no luck for them!

Data Speeds and Battery

While Novatel Wireless rates the battery time at 11 hours on this device, we’ve been hard pressed to empty the machine out. This is with AT&T’s 4G LTE network in both Minnesota (we’re in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul) as well as NYC (having traveled there recently during our review period), and we’re certainly not complaining. You’ll easily be able to bring this hotspot out to your local coffee shop and work for a good 8 hours online without worrying about the battery running out.

As for data speeds, we’re seeing pretty standard fare for AT&T’s 4G LTE network. Download speeds seemed to max out right around 16-19 Mbps on average and hit upload speeds of right around 9 Mpbs pretty constantly. Our most recent tests of devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S III yielded essentially the same results in the same testing areas.

Bonus Points

This machine works with GPS and DLNA. Isn’t that weird? What you’d use GPS for is connecting to your notebook computer to see where you are in the world should your notebook not com packed with such a feature. DLNA allows you to stream media wirelessly to your DLNA audio devices with ease. Interestingly you’ll be doing this via your web browser on a device that’s not the Liberate and not the speaker you’re streaming to – so in the rare occasion that you want to stream to a speaker with DLNA capabilities and don’t have that capability on your notebook, you can do it with a microSD card plugged in to your Liberate!

That’s the kind of fun connectivity we’re glad (if not a little baffled) to see on a wireless hotspot such as this – well done!

Wrap-up

While it’s difficult in general to get too excited about an internet delivery machine, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that the MiFi Liberate is easily the most awesome mobile hotspot I’ve had the pleasure of using. If you’re looking for the top mobile hotspot on AT&T’s network for 4G LTE, you’ve found it. Now you’ve got to decide if it’s work the extra few Hamiltons you’ll be paying for it over the one competitor it’s got – good luck deciding!

AT&T MiFi Liberate mobile hotspot Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time to get extremely bright with the Flashpoint 500C LED Light from Adorama – so bright it’ll make your photo session as visible as the sun. What this unit actually consists of is 500 individual Ultra Bright 5mm LED bulbs in a lamp with 4 barndoors, a 2-way switch , two color temperatures, and a 13-foot long power cord. This unit is both extremely light and super bright, especially for the cash you’re going to lay down on it.

We used this array of LEDs in a single unit for several product shoots as of late, including (but not limited to) the Parrot Zikmu Solo speaker, Sony HX850 BRAVIA hdtv, and the Samsung UN75ES9000 HDTV (as seen above and below). This light is more than ready to be one of your key lights in any portrait or product shooting situation, without a doubt.

You’ll be working with 50%-5900 K (Kelvin) Color Temp and 50%-3200 K (Kelvin) Color Temp and there’s a two-way switch for when you only need 250 bulbs instead of all 500 at once. You’ve got AC V style battery pack or XLR connection for power and of course four lovely barndoors to pull the light in what ever direction you do so desire. The light itself is 35 cm X 19 cm X 7 cm / 14 X 7.5 X 2.75 inches in size and you’ve got the ability to work with an add-on Flashpoint battery V Lock mount Li-ion 162.8-watt battery if you do so desire. We just used the massively long cord straight to the wall, this coming in standard with the package.

You do need to purchase a stand separate if you don’t have one handy, this costing around $40 from Adorama as well. The final cost of the light itself without the stand or the add-on battery is $199.95 USD, and for such a price you’ve got yourself a heck of a deal. Brighten up your life with so much light blasting from this beast that you’ll never know how you lived, breathed, and shot without it!

Adorama Flashpoint 500C LED camera light Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The folks at Bodyguardz have created an all-glass screen protector for the iPhone 5 that’s only the second such solution on the market we’ve seen after the Spigen SGP GLAS.t and tR – blink and you might mistake one for the other. This is essentially a whole extra pane of glass that you place on top of your standard iPhone screen with slightly rounded corners and cut-out holes for your home button and earpiece. This version of the glass screen protector comes in at .4mm thick and boasts at 8H+ surface hardness, too.

What’s the difference, then, between this solution and the solution they’ve got over at Spigen SGP? Not one whole heck of a lot, that’s for sure. In fact, if you look at the specifications of the Spigen SGP GLAS.tR, they’re nearly identical. Both glass panes work with a completely transparent body, both have the holes cut out in the same places, and they really, truly feel like they were designed by the same group. That’s either really good taste on the parts of both companies, or they’ve got the same single license owner for the original technology – the makeup of the glass and the design.

While we investigate further, know this: this glass screen protector works fabulously. It’s extremely strong, thing enough that it’s not in as much danger of cracking as the thicker solutions, and it feels really good to use. On that note though, you should know that the edges MIGHT chip if you bang the glass around enough. It’s said to be hard as steel, but chips can happen to anyone.

Note: If you have a toddler at home who uses your iPhone often, this is not the screen protector to get – the same goes for all glass-based screen protectors. We’ve seen glass screen protectors break in the past, and we’re not convinced beyond the safety of our kids’ fingers that it wont happen again, no matter the manufacturer.

That said, it does indeed protect your iPhone’s display just about as well as you could possibly hope for. This protector applies in a single push, results in no bubbles (unless you’re really, really unlucky), and is entirely transparent. This solution is available for sale from Bodyguardz online right this minute for $39.95 USD and the box contains installation instructions, an alcohol wipe / cleaner, micro fiber cleaning cloth, and the glass screen protector itself.

You also get a couple of bubble home button stickers since putting this protector on your iPhone results in a home button that’s a bit deeper than you’re used to – I personally like to stay away from the sticker because this way I’m not having any accidental chats with Siri, but to each their own! Have fun with it!

Bodyguardz iPhone 5 Pure Premium Glass Screen Protector Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Welcome to the modern boombox, a brightly colored speaker from KAKKOii (Japanese for “cool”) that connects with Bluetooth and goes by the name WOW! This speaker is also known as Without Wires and – surprise – connects directly to your smart device with Bluetooth and plays all the audio you want, like mad! The biggest draws you’re about to see here are durability, uniqueness in form factor, and sound power.

The first thing you should look for in a Bluetooth speaker such as this is one of two things – depending on what kind of person you are, you may want to start by seeking out the unique factor. The WOW speaker has that – it’s got a bit of a rounded triangular base, silicone surrounding most of its body in one of five different solid colors, and is really, really comfortable to hold in your hand. It’s made to be a sort of Art Object, looking nice on your modern desktop or peeking out of your backpack.

The second thing you should look for – or you could alternately look for, of course, if you only need one greatness – is sound quality. This device blows the hinges off your bicycle with 85 db sound output – that’s enough to fill a small room full of college students without a doubt. And also if you are planning on tossing it into a room with a load of college students, you’ll rest easy knowing that its mainly silicone coating makes it extremely durable.

This speaker doesn’t come with any damage-proof guarantee, but we’ve dropped it more than once and haven’t even heard a skip in the connection to our wireless devices, much less felt it break. The WOW speaker has a built-in rechargeable battery that’ll last you around 4 hours, and certainly no more than 5 hours if you’re lucky – by our tests, anyway. You’ll recharge the battery via a miniUSB port in the base, this being the only open place on the speaker besides the speaker grille on the other end inside the horn.

The Bluetooth range on this little monster is between 9-10 meters, that being right around a fabulous 33-feet just so long as you don’t have a bunch of walls blocking your way. If you’re connected with your iPhone to this machine and get an incoming call, you can rely on its auto-silence mode while you’re taking the call and the auto-play mode when you’re done – simple built-in excellence!

So here’s the decision you’re making when you’re deciding if you want to purchase the KAKKOii WOW speaker: first, you’ve got to consider that they’re going to cost you £55.00 (VAT included) or NZ$99.95 – depending on which of the two countries this device exists in today you’re purchasing one from. If you’re from the United States, you’ll want to consider that this unit will cost you right around $80 USD if you import it. Therein lies the second factor – do you want to import it? You may just want to wait for it to blow up in popularity so rapidly it hits the US shores in the spring of 2013.

Then there’s this factor: do you really want a Bluetooth speaker you can toss across the apartment and not have to worry about busting into a million pieces? Yes, yes you do – and with audio power to back it up, audio power like this, you’ll be glad you picked up a WOW. It’s fun, it’s pretty, and it works great!

KAKKOii WOW Bluetooth speaker Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s nothing quite like spending several hundred dollars on some of the most advanced smartphone technology in the world with the iPhone 5, then covering it with wood. That’s exactly what you’re going to be doing with the 10terra wood iPhone 5 case, and in this case, you’ll be working with the Tree design. The folks at 10terra currently have a relatively limited set of wooden cases, made for the two most recent iPhone sizes, the iPad back to the 2, and the Nexus 7, and they’re all made from high-quality bamboo – real bamboo, accept no imitations.

You’ll be working with slightly different sets of tones depending on which unit you get and will, of course, be getting a unique case no matter what as each case is made of real wood. This bamboo is carbonized with the same hardwood floor technique that many modern homes work with, and everything feels no less than top quality from start to finish. Right at the start when you pull the case out of the box you’ll get in the mail, you’ll notice something strange – it comes in two pieces and doesn’t clip on to your device the way essentially all other cases do.

Instead you’ve got some padding int he back and a fit around your device that’s so precise that the case holds it together like magic. There’s also a sort of tongue of wood from one side that goes under the other so there’s an extra bit of hold-together for the whole final product. You can rest easy, also, knowing that your case’s top and bottom pieces will have the grain matching up perfectly, each case being cut from the same single piece at the start.

The 10terra wood iPhone 5 case allows you to access all of your buttons and ports with ease with the single exception being the headphone port at the bottom if you’ve got non-standard headphones plugging in. As you can see at the bottom there’s a longer tunnel you’ll have to get through than you would with many other cases, but if you’ve got a standard set of iPhone EarPods, you’ll have no trouble at all.

This case is going to cost you a cool $36.95 right this minute if you order from 10terra and, again, they’ve got several other models for other devices as well. Every case is hand-finished and has a lovely laser-etched tree design on the back and the brand 10terra on the side of the volume button side of the case – real distinct, real classy.

10terra wood iPhone 5 case Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.