While Belkin has long been at the forefront of Apple accessories, offering everything from keyboard cases to baby monitors, it somehow left the audio arena unexplored. That ends today with the introduction of the Belkin Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater. Behind that mouthful of a product name is essentially a portable speaker dock for the iPad housed inside a protective case, which seems a lot more reasonable than Bang & Olufsen’s pricey speaker “wedge.” The Thunderstorm’s front-facing speaker system boasts full-range drivers and integrated air channels for “immersive sound” and “deeper bass.” All the internals are powered by Audifi, a mobile audio engineering outfit that Belkin specifically hired for the project. As for the cover, Belkin took a cue from Apple’s own magnetic offering, but went a step further with the addition of multifold creases for different viewing angles.
We spent a few days with the Thunderstorm and so far we’re impressed with the volume and depth from such slim speakers. Though we didn’t have a chance to test it, Belkin is also offering a free iOS app to accompany the product — it essentially lets you fine-tune the audio with presets for music, movies and games. However the Thunderstorm is not without a few annoyances: the case adds an unsettling amount of bulk to the iPad and it’s currently only available with the now-ancient 30-pin connector (we’re told a Lightning-equipped version is due in Q2 2013). If you’re happy with the ole universal dock though, you can pick this up in the coming weeks from Belkin’s online store, Amazon.com or the Apple Store for $200 a pop. In the mean time, you can get a closer look at it with the galleries after the break.
Pushing air cooling to its limits might mean buying a bigger fan to the mortal PC builder, but for Mike at Total Geekdom, it meant constructing a wind tunnel case. Built from a box fan, medium-density fiberboard, lexan and aluminum, the tunnel increases airspeed by about 240 percent and cools its contents with a brisk 9 mph breeze. At full bore, however, the fan churns out air speeds between 26 and 30 mph inside the case’s sweet spot. As for computer hardware, the rig packs an Ivy Bridge 3770K processor, a pair of Radeon 7970 (Sapphire Dual-X) GPUs, 8GB of RAM and a 40GB SSD. There’s still room to overclock the beast, but it currently keeps its CPU humming at 4.5GHz with temperatures between 64 and 65 degrees Celsius, and can run its GPUs at 1225MHz with core temperatures at 46 and 56 degrees Celsius. So, what does one do with a wind tunnel-cooled PC? Why donate time and computing processes for cancer research through the World Community Grid project, of course. For photos, performance specs and a full break down of the construction process, hit the bordering source link.
Just because Felix Baumgartner set records by jumping from 128,000 feet doesn’t mean he has a lock on stratospheric freefall stunts: see G-Form’s latest video (after the break) as proof. In keeping with the tradition of launching a case line and then subjecting it to abuse on camera, the company dropped a new Xtreme iPhone 5 case from a balloon that reached 100,000 feet before it and its payload — which actually happened to be a 5th gen iPod touch — fell to the Nevada desert. Not surprisingly, that we’re hearing about the story means the drop went as planned — apart from needing some time to warm up after a plunge through -60F skies, the MP3 player emerged in fine shape. Is the freefall a publicity play that won’t affect how anyone uses an Xtreme in real life? You bet. Still, it’s one of the more dramatic drop tests we’ll witness, and evidence the case can take some exceptional abuse; after all, it’s not every day that our mobile devices reach terminal velocity.
The case we’ve got here from Spigen SGP is easily the most form-fitting unit we’ve get had our hands on for the iPhone 5, and it’s quite the looker, too. This is the Spigen SGP SGP10091 Armor Slim Case for iPhone 5, and after you’re done with that mouthful, you’ll want to know that works with both a relatively hard-yet-rubbery TPU base and a polycarbonate midsection for both a bounce-factor and a hardcore beat-up protection assurance.
This case comes in three different color combinations, the one we’re working with here called Satin Silver. The other two options are Metal Slate and Gunmetal – very fashionable indeed. The different centers and covers are interchangeable, too, so if you’re thinking about getting the full collection, you can mix light and dark! We’re all about the light with our White iPhone 5, mind you.
This case allows a rectangular opening for your mute switch / rotation lock that’s accessible but not overly wide. Your volume buttons are covered by the TPU casing with + and – symbols so you still know what you’re pressing, the same being true of your power/lock button up top (without the symbols). On the bottom of the device you’ve got a slim opening for your Lightning port wide enough for your standard Apple Lightning cord.
The bottom also has a set of grilles that allow your audio to continue blasting forth from your device like wild. The headphone port – one of the most important points on any case for case maniacs like us – is slightly wider than the hole – as it should be! Spigen SGP makes a point of noting that Apple EarPods and “earbuds with L-shaped plug (within 6.17mm diameter) including Beats by Dr.Dre” are compatible with this case specifically.
The case is next-to-weightless, super-thin, and protective, available starting this week for $17.99 MSRP in stores that carry fine cases galore – go grab one!
It’s time to take another peek at one of the strangest and surprisingly year-round-appropriate cases for the iPhone, that being the Loop “Mummy”. We’ve had a look at this case as it resided on the iPhone 4/4S, now it’s time to see how well the Loop team made the concept fit with the iPhone 5. This case is made not just for Halloween, but for all seasons in which you want to get fashionable with silicone on your iPhone – and with a few card-holding bandages to boot.
This case comes in an appealingly large amount of different colors, the one we’re having a peek at this week being the Neon Blue. You can also get this case in Black, Graphite, Magenta, Purple, Powder Blue, Orange, Neon Green, Red, and White. The folks at Loop also offer up both single cases and bundles of three, with a discount occurring to the tune of $15 for three – that’s $60 USD where otherwise you’d pay $25 for one.
They’ve got custom packs (choose your own three) or pre-made packs including Aqua Thunder, Chicago, El Diablo, Good n Plenty, Greyscale, The Hulk, and Urban Camo – see if you can guess which set of three creates each of those bundles. And rest comfortably knowing that each of them, made with the same mold of course, fits the iPhone 5 perfectly. The design for this case improves over the Mummy we inspected for the iPhone 4/4S as well, with slightly more perfected sizings on the holes for the mute / display lock switch and moving forward with the Lightning port at the bottom of the device with a bit more form-fitting an amount of silicone to keep the case tight.
The usability of the case as a card holder is still ever-so-questionable. Not because it doesn’t work – it certainly does hold a few cards if you want it to, securely, too. Instead it’s not a realistic sort of situation for any modern card-holding citizen. Where there’s one, there’s 20 – and I can’t fit 20 in this case, that’s for certain. If on the other hand you’re a minimalist and want to skip the wallet because you’ve got only digital money and a driver’s license, this case/card holder is the one for you!
The perpetual challenge of developing an iPhone-friendly gamepad (or any phone-oriented gamepad) is the bulk, either for a gargantuan case or else a separate controller. If Justice Frangipane’s team and iDevices have their way, that clunkiness will be a distant memory. Their proposed FlipSide case for iPhones (we see a prototype here) centers on Bluetooth 4.0 gamepad controls that stay clipped to the back when just checking email, but attach to the front for playtime. They’ll save us from hunting down a wall outlet, too; the combination of a sensitive solar cell and a thin film battery from Infinite Power Solutions should keep the case powered up through even indoor lighting. The only real challenge is getting the case produced, as Frangipane is looking for crowdfunding to make the FlipSide a reality. Provided his group makes its donation target, though, there’s the prospect of an Android version — so those who don’t play the iOS way could still reap the rewards if they chip in at the source link.
In this day and age where virtually anything and everything is being turned into phone cases, it was only a matter of time before we saw a couple inspired by a lot of people’s favorite seafood: lobsters.
While I’ve seen cases with images of lobsters plastered all over them, this one-ups all of them by being a case that’s in the form of a real lobster.
Flip it over and you just might cause the people in the office to panic because there’s a lobster on the loose!
The case was designed by Noddy Boffin as a modern day tribute to Salvador Dali’s absurd Lobster Telephone – and while it’s not available for purchase, it’s still one awesome case for show (but it’s not very awesome when it comes to compactness or portability.)
While I don’t game that much on my iPhone, I have discovered that while touch-based controls might seem intuitive, but they are just awful for space shooters and other kinds of fast-paced action games. That’s one of the reasons why the WynCASE will probably work well.
The WynCASE for iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5 and iPod Touch is designed offer a better gaming experience, akin to something like the PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS. At least that’s what the designers hope for. This case has slim brushed metal buttons that don’t need any battery power.
WynLABS developed something they’re calling BridgeTOUCH technology, which makes use tiny input spots on the touchscreen itself, minimizing latency, and making it better for fast-paced games – though it does cut off a tiny bit of screen real estate.
When not in use, you can flip the WynCASE around, and use it as a protective back case for your iPhone, without blocking the rear-facing camera and flash.
The WynCASE is launching over on Kickstarter on December 11th. The project needs to amass $80,000 to get made. With left in funding and you’ll have to pledge $30 to get yours.
It took a little longer than some of those other cases, but Twelve South‘s BookBook for iPhone 5 is now shipping en masse. Some of those who pre-ordered began receiving their units as early as last week, but if you missed that wave, there’s no need to gesture for the panic button. The outfit’s newest wallet / iPhone case is actually more than just a resized version of the prior one; indeed, it finally figured out how to add a rear camera hole without worry of flash echo, and there’s a new snap-in mechanism that holds your phone in place. The clever exterior remains largely the same, and there’s still room for your most important IDs and credit cards as you flip it open. We were pretty big fans of the prior build, but the addition of the camera hole makes this one a no-brainer for fans of the style. The gallery below is completely free to peruse — those who hit the source link, however, will be asked to fork over $59.99 to get one of their own.
With the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes the most well-rounded Amazon content delivery system you’ve ever held in two hands – but that’s all it is. This device is being sold as exactly the device it was meant to be: the Amazon Vending Machine HD 8.9, and it takes its job seriously. If you could never bring yourself to pick up an iPad and the Apple-bound content environment that is iTunes, nor could you purchase a Nexus 7 or 10 as connected to Google Play, Amazon might be the third heat you were looking for.
Content Delivery System
It’s a mistake to compare the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to any other tablet on the market not inside the Kindle Fire family unless you’re a software developer, a hacker, or you’re just about to jump into the digital content arena and have never before purchased yourself a digital video. With the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, the iPad 4th generation (the one with the Lightning port that’s in the store now), and the Google Nexus 10, you’ve got extremely high definition displays, and it’s there you should start if you’re demanding to see the best hardware package.
But here’s the thing: there’s a massive amount of Android tablets on the market today, each of them able to access the whole of the Google Play store. There’s several iPad models in the line’s history, and a set of rather similar Kindle Fire models tablets out there able to access the Amazon content system – but Amazon’s system doesn’t stop at the Kindle Fire. The only system that stops at the hardware (and vice versa) is the iPad.
What the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does is place the Amazon content system directly at the center of a machine that’s been checked and approved by Amazon itself. With that, it’s been limited to the Amazon content system so that you can be assured an experience that Amazon approves of – Apple does that same thing with the iPad. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is indeed a fabulous place to access your Amazon content.
The connectivity on this device is wi-fi but a 4G LTE bit of AT&T mobile data is available from Amazon if you pick up the edition with that ability. The offer behind that LTE is interesting at $50 a year, but with a limit of 250MB of data a month – this means you’ll be able to use this device for email using that data, and if you start watching streaming content or downloading media, you’ll go over in no time at all. Watch the overage costs rack up and that smile will turn upside down real quick.
Hardware
The display is extremely nice, bringing on a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels over 8.9 inches, that being 254ppi. That’s less than the iPad 4 and less than the Nexus 10, but up at this resolution we’re not able to tell the difference without getting up real, real close – closer than we’d get on any normal day, that’s for sure.
Colors are reproduced extremely accurately and with the darks on this machine being as deep as they are, we’ve been using this machine as a content machine via the miniHDMI as a top pick. Downloading an HD video from Amazon’s collection and playing it on the device or through the microHDMI port to an HDTV makes for a massively impressive experience – amongst the best on the market if not straight up the best there is with a wire.
The speakers on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are Dolby powered and stereo – bringing on two channels for real. The speakers on this device are loud enough that you’ll not want to be a room away from a sleeping baby when them turned all the way up – you’ll wake that baby up. It’s unfortunate that they’re facing backwards as most of the tablet universe still has them aiming, but holding the tablet with two hands has the sound bouncing off your palms – that’s good enough for most.
Battery life on this device is rather good, especially since you’re only working with wi-fi connectivity at this time. LTE might make you bust down a bit quicker when it comes around, but for now you’ve got a couple of days at least with daily usage as a game-player and TV show downloader/watcher. Chatting on Skype (which is, mind you, generally OK but certainly not the nicest Skype experience on the market by a long shot due to less-than-perfect video quality) will drain your battery quickest.
There’s also a rather nice case/cover that you’ll probably want to pick up from Amazon if/when you purchase the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. It’s made by Amazon and looks like what you’re seeing above, complete with a magnetic “smart” off/on function (as the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does indeed have that sensor) and has a rubbery bumper that allows it to stand up like you’re seeing here too.
Performance
With the processor mentioned above you’ve got a suitable environment in which you can play most if not all of the most high-powered games on the market. What you’ll see in the video below is Asphalt 7, a racing game, opened and tested in a real basic way just so you can see how quick everything renders out and responds – just as nice as the nicest devices on the market today.
We’ve heard of some people having small problems with the user interface and non-immediate opening of apps and switching between screens, but any such problems were negligible from our perspective. This is a high-quality device and Amazon has created a user interface over the top of Android that should do the original creators proud.
You’ve got a processor from Texas Instruments that’s one of the rarest on the market today, the OMAP4470 dual-core used only on the Nook HD family, Samsung Galaxy Premier, the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B, and a variety of oddities. This processor works perfectly well for this device, comparing in performance with the other dual-core processor on them market in a very general sense to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor we’ve seen on a large number of smartphones this year including the Galaxy S III and HTC One series.
The processing power here does not bring us as ultra-swift a system as we’re seeing on the Nexus 10 or the iPad 4th gen – but the difference is invisible if you’re not using both one next to the other or doing extensive processor tests in a lab. Once you’ve got it in the lab, on the other hand, you’ll find the device ranking up on systems such as AnTuTu benchmark system with a score of 7247 – nowhere near the quad-core competition.
Store Access
If you’re not planning on purchasing videos from Amazon, you don’t want to use Amazon’s system for music, you’ve got no intention of purchasing any ebooks from Amazon, and you don’t want to use Amazon’s App Store, this is not the tablet for you. This unit is first and foremost a window into the Amazon library of digital content, and you’re going to have to pay for it.
The Amazon store exists at all corners in this device, and the different kinds of media you’re consuming here sit right up front and center. The first display you see on this device once you’ve started it up is a giant set of icons in a side-scrolling gallery that says quite clearly “you’re about to start” rather than “welcome to your Amazon tablet.” If there’s a scale from tablet interfaces that goes from standard computer to window, it starts at Android, moves up to the iPad, and ends at the Amazon Kindle Fire – this is not a device you’re going to use like your notebook or your desktop, it’s a consumption window.
X-Ray
There’s a brand overlay that exists between two different bits of in-content excellence that come with this device working with content from Amazon called X-Ray. This system works in videos as a direct connection to IMDB, showing the actors that are working in essentially any given scene and with books showing keywords and connections to them throughout the story you’re reading – find all the Ali Babas in the story and link in to them with ease.
This system works with a lovely collection of ebooks and videos coming from Amazon – not every single piece of content coming from Amazon, but certainly enough to warrant calling it a great selling point for this tablet. We’re always wondering who the heck that guy is getting his face cut off by the monster in the horror film scene we’re watching – now we know!
Kindle FreeTime
The folks at Amazon have come up with an extremely simple home screen replacement app that brings forth an environment for your kids. This environment is created by you, the parent, and is so simple that you can’t mess it up. You open up Kindle FreeTime and select the profile you want, deciding there what settings you want your child to work with and what apps/media they’re going to be able to see, and bang, you’re done.
From there the person in that profile – child or not – needs a password to exit again. That’s so simple that we wish Amazon would release FreeTime for the Google Play app store – please? Pretty please? For now you’ll need a Kindle Fire to use Kindle FreeTime – and for some parents that might be a deal-maker.
Wrap-up
If you’re deeply invested in the Amazon universe for content, this device is the best content delivery system you’re going to be able to buy today. It’s the biggest tablet Amazon makes at the moment and gives you access to all of your Amazon-held content in high definition, top to bottom. It’s not an Android tablet (as far as the Google Play store is concerned), it’s not an iPad, and it’s not a Windows device. It’s a unique tablet that’s deeply engrained in the Android environment.
The price of this device in its wi-fi configuration – that being the one we’re looking at here in this review – is $299 USD, and for that price there’s no competition unless you want a smaller display and a different content environment. For Amazon users, there’s nothing else – unless of course you consider the smaller version: see our Kindle Fire HD 7 full review as well.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
