Our very own David Gilson has been a bit quiet on the All About sites recently, but that doesn't mean he's out of the tech sphere altogether. Specifically, he's penned a couple of meaty accessory reviews which may be of general interest to all smartphone users here. Below are links to his review of the Sonivo Universal Induction speaker and the Mu USB adapter.

Firstly, the speaker which works using the crazy system of using the smartphone speaker to drive an electro-mechanical sensor in the accessory. Surely that can't possibly work? Well it does - but only after a fashion. Here's David:

This makes it ridiculously easy to get the sound from your portable device into the induction speaker. There’s no Bluetooth (or Wifi) pairing and there’s no cables. In case you’re wondering if this is really NFC – i.e. near field communications with tap-to-pair Bluetooth – no, it isn’t. It’s completely analogue tech.

That means this is actually fun to use, and you can even carry it around your house, just pick the pair of devices together and go into another room.

If you’re thinking that this sounds too good to be true – it is. The unique selling point of induction input means that the speaker is terribly susceptible to interference. We’re all familiar with the interference that mobile phones can have on audio equipment. Unfortunately, the Sonivo induction speaker not only picks up the audio from the speaker, but it picks up the digital signals from the phone’s cellular radios, which is pretty unpleasant.

Read the whole review here.

Secondly, we all love a good cabling accessory, especially if it saves space. David again:

If you’re the type who has to carry a phone charger everywhere you go, then you need something that’s small and compact. That’s easier said than done with the sturdy old three pronged UK mains plug. That’s where the Mu USB adapter comes in, its folding and pivoting design makes it easy to slip in a pocket while you’re on your travels.

The design of the Mu adapter has been on the go for a while. It was originally devised by designer Min-Kyu Choi, where it was originally envisioned as a replacement to for plugs on the end of a mains lead. In this original incarnation, a bar connecting the live and earth pins rotated so that all three pins were in line – this is what they call PVT Technology. Behind the pins, there were two panels which folded out as a socket cover that also exposed a little handle so that the plug could be easily pulled out of a socket. The design was taken further with a multi-plug adapter which would connect to multiple plugs in their folded configuration.

Read the whole review here.

Comments? David certainly seems to make tracks for accessories which are slightly out of the mainstream - be sure to drop him a line if you have other suggestions for stuff that needs covering 'in the interests of science'!