Hasta La Gadget!

After a long period of speculation, we finally know about the “Facebook phone”. In fact, it’s not really a dedicated Facebook phone at all, but a custom build of Android which has a special Facebook home screen. While I’m no power-Facebook user, I can imagine that people using Facebook a lot will enjoy this new offering.

The HTC First is the first phone to come packaged with Facebook Home, software that fills your home screen with friend’s photos, status updates and more information, directly from your Facebook account. You’ll also be able to quickly bounce in and out of chats and conversations no matter what app you’re running on the phone.

Spec-wise, the HTC First phone is nothing too fancy, sporting a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU, a 4.3″ 1280×720 screen, 5.0 MP rear-facing camera and 4G LTE capabilities. Under the hood, it’s still an Android 4.1 phone, and Facebook Home is really just a custom app launcher and skin running on top of it. The phone will be available in matte, black, white, red and pale blue.

If you absolutely must be on Facebook all of the time, you can order the HTC First over at AT&T for $99.99 (with a 2 year contract.)

And if you’re interested in trying out Facebook Home without buying a new phone, it should be available later today on the Google Play store for many popular Android smartphones.

PowerA’s officially licensed Star Wars iPhone 4/4S cases must have been a blockbuster, because this year the company is striking back with iPhone 5 variants of the cases.

All previous designs remain unchanged. You can still join the Dark Side of iPhone cases with the Darth Vader case, give your phone a shiny metal ass with the C-3PO case, turn your iPhone into a Droid with the R2-D2 case and have a huggable device with the Chewbacca case.

You can order the cases from Firebox for £20 (~$31 USD) or directly from PowerA for $35. Yes, that means the Chewie case is the best deal,  what with all that awesome fur.

[via Rampaged Reality]

Geeks travel with a lot of stuff, that is undeniable. You have your smartphone, your tablet, your MP3 player, your camera, your Wi-Fi dongle, comic books, your bottled water, and your smartphone just to name a few. That means when you leave the house, odds are you have to schlep a backpack everywhere, or the pockets of your pants are all puffy, heavy, and saggy. What you need is a better way to carry all of your gear.

ThinkGeek has teamed up with the geek clothing purveyors Scottevest to build a jacket that has a bunch of pockets called the Tropiformer. To quantify the technical term “a bunch of pockets” more precisely, the jacket specifically has 22 pockets. It doesn’t really look like it has 22 pockets from the outside, but it does. Among those plentiful pockets is a big pocket sized specifically for your tablet. It also has a pocket inside the left-hand flap with a clear material over the top so you to operate your smartphone without having to take it out. Handy, indeed.

The jacket comes in four different colors including blue, red, gray, and cement, and is made from a lightweight, water-resistant fabric. The sleeves are held on with magnets so you can rip them off easily during your Hulk fantasies, or if you get too hot. Check out the video below to see more jacket-of-many-pockets action.

You can order the Tropiformer jacket right now for $149.99(USD) over at ThinkGeek.

If you’re in the market for a new device to help keep your iPhone or other smartphone charged up and ready to use, the MonkeyOh is a cute and offbeat way to do this. The device looks like a monkey with a USB port in his mouth. It has little feet and hands that secure smartphones of varying sizes and holds them near your outlet.

You can also wrap the excess charge cord that comes with your smartphone around the base of the holder near the outlet. The flexible monkey arms are designed to secure iPhones and other devices with or without cases. One of the best things about this smartphone holder and charger is that it sticks the phone out from the outlet far enough that you can use the second outlet for other needs. MonkeyOh also works as a phone stand in either landscape or portrait modes.

The MonkeyOh does require the use of the new generation small Apple power adapter. You can charge other smartphones as long as you have the Apple power adapter by simply plugging in your USB charging cable. MonkeyOh is on Kickstarter right now seeking the funds to come to market. A pledge of $15(USD) by April 18th will get you one of the first MonkeyOhs, with estimated shipping this July.

With so many Bluetooth speakers flooding the market, it’s getting harder and harder to decide which one to buy. Well, I’ve been test-driving one for the past few days that I definitely think should be in the running. The Braven BRV-1 is a compact, rugged-looking Bluetooth speaker that I definitely would consider keeping in my backpack from now on.

While it measures just 5″(w) x 3.25″ (d) x 2.5″ (h), and weighs just over 12 ounces, this compact speaker really does offers big sound in a small package. As I write this, I currently have it streaming tunes from my iPhone about 12 feet away, and it’s filling my 400 square-foot living room/office with sound.

The speaker is nicely designed, with a rubberized case which provides easy access to the volume controls (which also control tracks if you hold them down longer), power switch and a play/pause button which doubles as a pairing button for Bluetooth and for accepting and hanging up on calls. Its only metal bit is its speaker grille, which comes in either black or blue.

Braven packed the BRV-1 with two full-range speakers, and a passive subwoofer, powered by a total of 6 watts of class-D amplification. This gives it plenty of oomph, despite its size. In my playback experience, I found minimal distortion at even the highest volume levels, and a clean, ear pleasing sound with plenty of low-end for a box this small. Sure, its bass won’t substitute for a powered subwoofer, but it’s as good as many bookshelf systems I’ve used over the years.

In addition to its music playback chops, the BRV-1 functions as a speakerphone for your Bluetooth smartphone. I didn’t find audio quality to be particularly thrilling during calls, but that’s more likely a limitation of the phone networks than the speaker itself. I was also able to use it to control Siri with my phone sitting on the other side of the room.

On the back of the BRV-1, you’ll find a twist-off protective cover which conceals access to its microUSB charging connector, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a full-size USB connector which can be used to syphon off some power to your other gadgets in a pinch. It won’t charge an iPad, but it’s more than fine for helping out your dying smartphone. Speaking of battery life, I was able to get slightly more than the quoted 12 hours of power from a single 3 hour charge. There’s also an on-demand battery indicator hidden beneath that cap so you can see about how much power you have left (in 20% increments).

If you’re wondering about that twist-off cover, that’s because the BRV-1 is IPX5 rated water-resistant, and sealed well enough to take to the beach, poolside, or even in a rainstorm. That said, it’s not designed to be submerged, and despite its rugged looks and shock absorbent design, I wouldn’t intentionally toss it around more than you have to.

Overall, the BRV-1 is a very impressive little speaker, and it will be taking up residence in my travel bag. If I have any complaints at all, it’s that I’d prefer that it supported AirPlay in addition to Bluetooth, and that there was some sort of tether attaching the back cap so you don’t risk losing it. But those are minor issues, and the excellent sound quality, portability and rugged good looks are more than enough to win me over.

The Braven BRV-1 retails for $179.99(USD), and is available now.

Disclosure: Braven provided speaker for review in this article. However, all reviews are the unbiased views of our editorial staff, and we will only recommend products or services we have used personally, and believe will be good for our readers.