Reviews

The $39.99 Goal Zero Rock Out Portable Speaker does rock out, but they needs a few adjustments before I can recommend them for a hall of fame.

The Good

The heavy-duty case and wooden frame make for a substantial device. In other words, it doesn’t feel delicate, which is good in a portable product. For a small portable device, the sound is adequate. Not good separation, but you can’t expect that in a single-box device.  The hanging cord is a good idea and came in handy when visiting Yosemite recently where my Apple iPhone played away while the speaker hung on a door handle.

While in the gym, I tend to make / receive a lot of Skype calls to my wife or relatives. As I exclusively use stereo (A2DP) Bluetooth headphones in the gym to give me absolute, cable-less iPad 3-video-watching freedom while exercising, I've also run into problems related to the Bluetooth bugs of Skype: most of the time, I couldn't just use the headphones I already worn to conduct the call. Instead, I needed to use the speaker / microphone on the iPad itself, making my environment hear what both I and the other party say. Therefore, I decided to investigate the problem and come up with solutions to it.

In the last few days, I've participated in several discussion threads in the Phone Cameras / Tablets & Apps forum of DPReview. (See for example THIS, THIS and THIS). In order not to have to repeat the same facts again and again in future discussions, I've decided to dedicate a complete article to the question of using the iPad as a photo frame.

Not everyone wants to keep their iPad or similar tablet in a case. The iPad 2 is wonderfully thin and to put it in a case is almost sacrilegious. Apple's Smart Cover is a nice enhancement but it doesn't always help you keep a good grip on the iPad. In fact, some users have found out the hard way that the iPad 2 can fall to the ground if you grab it by the Smart Cover!

HyperPhysics App Review

By Nate Adcock

Sometimes you want to just kick back with a cool beverage of choice, and you know...? Do something crazy with your iPad!! Maybe something radical like: observe the conservation of angular momentum applied to a smooth body in motion as it turns ever more rapidly around it's center of mass. Huh, you say?!.. Ever see a skater speed up in a spin just by pulling in her arms? That's an application of exactly what I'm talking about, and you can learn a lot more about these interesting physics principles using the HyperPhysics app!

I've always liked ­playing on my mobile devices, even back in the Pocket PC / Windows Mobile / Palm OS days. They revitalize me quite a lot, particularly after a hard, exhausting day.

Playing without physical controls (buttons), only using the touchscreen, is pretty hard. This includes a lot of game types, particularly ones where quick direction changes are needed and / or you can't make the smallest mistake and must be absolutely sure even the smallest movements on the directional pads (D-pad for short) is registered. In games like these, physical D-pad / button feedback is of extreme importance.

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