Expert Blogs
I first got to preview the MirrorCase at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and again at the New York CES Preview a few months ago, but now it's shipping and I've had a chance to use it firsthand.
The MirrorCase lets you lie your iPhone almost flat and point the camera at your object of interest, and record videos or take photographs.
People will try to remind you that Steve Jobs dismissed seven inch tablets, saying the interface didn't work. But I am old enough to remember back as far as 1984 when Steve Jobs defended design decisions that he knew would be discarded soon after. For example, he praised the 64K limitation of the original Macintosh, which I owned back then, saying it would force developers to write more efficient code, knowing that the 128K model was around the corner. Besides, the iPad mini boasts a 7.9" screen, which is technically closer to 8" than 7".
I'm not a big fan of Instagram. It can be pretty obvious when a photo has been through an Instagram filter. But what if you really want to manipulate an image, perhaps to make it look like it came from an old film reel? You are going to want more fine grained (pun intended) control compared to Instagram.
As good as Apple is, they sometimes leave gaps in their product line or leave out features. This isn't a bad thing, as it allows third parties to fill in those gaps. For example, the iPad Smart Cover and Smart Case are nice and the Smart Cover was certainly innovative when released. But they only do a good job of supporting the iPad in landscape mode.
My traditional 30 pin iPod speaker docks are pretty much obsolete now, thanks to the new Lightning connector. But that's okay, because I can use the audio jack and Bluetooth to enjoy audio from my new iPhone 5.
I've come across a number of gadgets that make the transition easy. Suppose you prefer a speaker, to share your audio with others. I got to try some compact devices from Matrix Audio that fit the bill. They offer both a Bluetooth model, called nrg, and a wired model called one.
My traditional 30 pin iPod speaker docks are pretty much obsolete now, thanks to the new Lightning connector. But that's okay, because I can use the audio jack and Bluetooth to enjoy audio from my new iPhone 5.
I've come across a number of gadgets that make the transition easy. Suppose you want to use headphones for privacy and isolation.
There are a lot of Bluetooth keyboards to choose from, but few meet all the needs of most users. Too often they are too small to type on in their effort to be compact, or they are fine to type on but too big to be portable.
Not everyone is upgrading to the iPhone 5 and indeed now that the iPhone 4S is $99 and the iPhone 4 is free, with contract, those devices will be around for a long time. And to make your battery last even longer, there are a lot of iPhone 4 cases that include a built in battery pack.
I must admit, I hadn't heard about Cygnett and their cases for the iPhone 4, but they sent me a variety to try on my new iPhone 5, and I'm sold! They offer a broad assortment of cases, from ultra slim to rugged multi-piece designs that will ensure protection. From the moment I opened my iPhone 5 box, when the suction from the packaging caused my new, naked iPhone 5 to be lifted up and promptly dropped, I was determined to keep my phone in a case!
Apple's new Lightning dock connector has made traditional iPod docks obsolete, and since vendors haven't created Lightning dock stereos, yet, it's pretty clear that the future is using wireless technologies like AirPlay and Bluetooth to transmit audio.
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