If you’re anything like me, you always have your smartphone with you. I always have a fear of losing something in my pocket, especially my car keys, so it drives me crazy to have a lot of things stuffed inside the pockets of my jeans. If you like to go a bit more minimalist and don’t want to have to carry your smartphone and your wallet, OtterBox has a new case that you might appreciate.
The case is called the Commuter Series Wallet and is available for the iPhone 5/5S and the Samsung Galaxy S4. This certainly isn’t the first case on the market to offer wallet capability, but it does look like OtterBox’s offering will hold more than a lot of other cases on the market. OtterBox is also well-known for making cases that actually protects your phone in the event of a drop.
Rather than having slots, this smartphone case has a sliding drawer on the back that appears to be approximately a quarter of an inch deep. You can cram credit cards, driver’s license, and cash inside the wallet drawer and have them with you at all times. The only downside I see is that the case is rather thick and might not fit in your pocket if you’re the sort who wears skinny jeans.
The Commuter Series Wallet is available now from OtterBox for $44.95(USD).
True friends will be there for you through thick and thin. But this seemingly ordinary cable will tell you who’s the truest of them all. The one willing to drain their phone’s battery so you can keep using yours. This is 21st century mooching right here folks.
The cable has two male microUSB connectors. The one with a thicker plastic head goes to the uh, chargee, while the smaller head is meant to connect to your selfless buddy’s phone, which will act as a charger. If you can’t find anyone willing to have their device drained, use the USB adapter that comes with the cable to plug into a computer or USB charger instead. Try not to cry when this happens.
The cable will only work with mobile devices running Android 4.0 or later that have a microUSB port and a USB host mode. You can order the smartphone-to-smartphone charger cable from GeekStuff4U for $15.30 (USD). Knowing who has your back? Priceless. Knowing that no one has your back? Depressing.
What if you are camping or find yourself in the wilderness and you need to use your phone? Chances are you will need a charge. Good luck finding a power outlet out there. But that’s okay. FlameStower has your back. This device uses the heat from fire to charge cell phones and other electronics via USB, making it perfect for camping or during emergencies due to power outages.
In the worst of situations, you can almost always start a fire. It will work over a cook stove, campfire or any fire source, and starts charging gadgets in seconds.
This project is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter through October 24th, and it seems like a worthwhile investment. A pledge of at least $80(USD) will get you your own FlameStower when it starts shipping this December.
A couple of days ago we saw MobileFun’s sticker kit that makes an iPhone 5 look like an iPhone 5S, sorta. It turns out they have a sillier stick-on conversion kit for the iPhone 5. The iFruit vinyl skin is based on Rockstar Games’ eponymous companion app for Grand Theft Auto V. I bet they find this sticker hilarious.
Because the phones are about the same size, the vinyl should fit the iPhone 5s as well. You can order the iFruit skin from MobileFun for $13 (USD). Man, mocking oneself is expensive. To complete the transformation, change your phone’s wallpaper to one of the iFruit app’s backgrounds. Se7ensins forum member Tag 7s extracted the images from the app itself.
There are plenty of external batteries on the market that have USB ports allowing you to keep your smartphone or tablet charged up on the go. The thing I never liked about those battery packs is that you have to carry your charging cable with you. I think we should be getting away from cables, not trying to carry more cables with us on the go.
Mugen Power has announced a new portable power bank that sheds those wires, assuming your smartphone is compatible. The cool new feature is that the Mugenizer N11 supports Qi Wireless charging. That means if you have a smartphone that has integrated Qi charging technology or a phone with an accessory battery door (and a Qi battery pack), you need no cables.
All you need to is place your Qi enabled phone on the surface of the battery and the power will flow. The N11 has a 4800 mAh battery, so you should be able to get about two charges out of it with most smartphones. The device also has a conventional USB port so you can charge via cable if you need to. Of course you still need to plug in the battery to juice it up too.
You can pick up the Mugenizer N11 battery pack right now for $69.99 (USD).
Can’t afford an iPhone 5S? Just don’t want to wait for one to show up? Recently bought an iPhone 5 that you can’t return anymore? No worries. For just $24, you can transform your iPhone 5 into Apple’s newest smartphone… minus the features.
MobileFun has debuted a bunch of vinyl kits that will let you do just this. Each kit comes with a complete set of stickers that’ll allow you to cover up your existing iPhone 5 and give it a 5S makeover. From the currently sold-out gold iPhone 5S to the silver and space gray devices, these kits are supposed to let you cheat your way to get the look of the 5S. Or maybe not…
Too bad the kit can’t somehow bring along any of the upgrades or features the iPhone 5S got either. Guess you get what you pay for.
Many programs provide an option to save or “print” documents as PDF files, but transferring or accessing the PDF on the go will require a couple of extra steps. You may have to sync your tablet with your computer or cloud service, mail the document or copy it on a flash drive. EnerGenie has a simpler solution: just print on E-ink.
The EnerGenie ePP2 is a specialized ebook reader. When you connect it to a computer via USB, it will be recognized as a printer. Print as you would normally, but select the ePP2 as your printer to send your document to the device. You can then view your file on the ePP2′s 9.7″ 1600 x 1200 E-ink display. Use its stylus if you need to fill out forms, append your signature or make notes. It also has a complementary program that lets you send a document from the ePP2 back to a computer as a PDF file.
According to Liliputing, the ePP2 will be sold for around €399 to €499 (~$540 to $670 USD). Ultimately I wouldn’t recommend it at this point. It’s way too expensive , it has limited features – it doesn’t even have network connectivity – and as I said, you can go paperless with practically any tablet and a couple of extra steps. But I think the idea behind it is quite promising. Hopefully its future versions will be significantly cheaper or more versatile.
It’s good to know that we live in a day and age where technology is increasingly making our lives safer. When you’re out on the road, OnStar keeps you ready for anything – from turn-by-turn directions to hands-free calling. OnStar is a powerful built-in technology available in most GM vehicles that connects drivers to a real person, 24/7. OnStar can even help out with almost any situation on the road, whether it’s a crash, medical emergency, or even a flat tire.
Now there’s a smartphone app that connects drivers to their vehicles. The OnStar RemoteLink Mobile App lets car owners control their vehicles from just about anywhere. When installed, the app allows drivers to do things like lock the doors, check on fuel levels, or even start the engine.
Check out this video to learn more about how OnStar can help, and visit http://www.youtube.com/OnStar to see what other incredible features are available.
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” Technabob received compensation for writing it, however, we only recommend products or services we find interesting or have used personally, and believe will be good for our readers.
If you have to ask what an oscilloscope is, Gabriel Anzziani’s invention isn’t for you. The founder of Gabotronics made waves when he created the amazingly tiny Xprotolab oscilloscope. Now he’s working on the Oscilloscope Watch, a more portable and versatile version of the Xprotolab.
Like the Xprotolab, the watch is an oscilloscope, a waveform generator, a protocol sniffer, a frequency counter and a logic analyzer in a device that’s about the same size as a sports watch. It has a 1.28″ e-paper display and a 400mAh Li-ion battery that should last up to 12 hours of continuous use or over 30 days if you’re just using it as a watch. It’s powered by the ATxmega128A4U 8-bit microcontroller and will have complementary PC and Android apps. Gabriel is still figuring out the best form for the instrument’s probes. He’s leaning towards integrating them in a keychain, but he’s also considering turning them into wristbands or even the straps for the watch.
Pledge at least $100 (USD) on Kickstarter to get an Oscilloscope Watch as a reward. Eat your heart out, Tokyoflash.
Microsoft was late to enter the tablet wars and paid for it dearly. But the company isn’t giving up just yet. Today it unveiled Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, the updated versions of its Surface – formerly known as Surface RT – and Surface Pro tablets. The most significant change hardware-wise are their new and more power efficient CPUs that lead to a significant increase in battery life. On the software side, the tablets will come with their respective variants of Windows 8.1 when they launch on October 22.
Microsoft hopes to improve the reputation of its cheaper tablet by boosting its battery and display. Surface 2 has a 12-hour battery life – thanks in part to its 1.7GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 CPU – and a 10.6″ 1080p display. In comparison, its predecessor only has an 8-hour battery life, a Tegra 3 CPU and a 1366 x 768 display. Watch Microsoft’s video to find out the other improvements to the Surface 2:
Sadly, Surface 2 still has its Achilles’ heel: it will only run Windows 8.1 RT, not the full version of the operating system. That means, among other things, that you won’t be able to run desktop programs on it. You’ll have to rely on what’s offered on the Windows Store for apps. If you want a more complete device, you’ll have to go for the more expensive Surface Pro 2.
Surface Pro 2 gets the 1.6GHz Haswell Core i5 CPU with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU. That helps give it a significant boost in battery life: 7 to 8 hours compared to only 4 to 5 hours in the original Surface Pro. Surface Pro 2 also has more storage and RAM configurations. There’s one with 4GB RAM that can have either 64GB or 128GB storage, and there’s one with 8GB RAM that can have either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The stylus featured in the video above will be included on all configurations of the Surface Pro 2.
The price for the Surface 2 will start at $449 (USD), while Surface Pro 2 starts at $899. You can pre-order both tablets from Microsoft starting tomorrow, but as I said they won’t ship until October 22. You should check out the Surface website or Wired’s coverage for more on the tablets.
I’m not sure why Microsoft is still selling the gimped Surface 2. Worse, they’re going to keep selling the first-generation Surface RT at $349. If it were up to me I’d cut down on the cost and confusion and just focus all my efforts on the Surface Pro 2. Because that is a very capable device. It’s a hell of an expensive tablet until you realize it’s also a decently priced laptop.
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.
