Bluetooth keyboards have gone into and out of fashion over the years, but they're definitely in vogue at the moment, thanks to the use of tablets and 'phablet'-style large-screened smartphones, where a wireless full size keyboard can turn the device into a mini-laptop. Microsoft's new offering is ultra-premium and rather quirky, not least because of the early state of Windows 10 Mobile, but has a few unique features and is worth a look if the price doesn't put you off.
The search has been on for several years for a replacement for the (now no longer produced) Proporta Pocket Power, an all in one, no cables needed, truly credit card sized emergency charger - and, right up at the premium end of the market we now have a candidate, offering full 2A output and able to deliver around 700mAh at 5V in about 20 minutes. While only around a one third charge for today's smartphones, that this fits unobtrusively in your wallet in a card slot makes this a terrific (if slightly pricey) accessory to get you to the end of a long day. Coming in deluxe packaging, with extras, it's also just about the perfect gift for a smartphone owner, as I explore below.
Even if you do the usual 3.7V/5V maths to calculate the actual power available at the voltage your smartphone needs it (i.e. the 5V level), you still end up with well over 15,000mAh of useable charge from this new 'Executive' power bank. Add in a unique backlit LED readout, triple output jacks and a torch function and you've got a really, really interesting mobile accessory.
Yes, yes, Pocket Casts does indeed arrive into a very crowded genre on Windows Phone, yes, it's still early days, there are some rough edges and there's no video podcast support yet, but I've been using it exclusively for the last week and have been pretty impressed overall. It may not have all the bells and whistles of Podcast Lounge, but for pure and fast, straight down the line audio podcast listening and management, Pocket Casts is hard to beat.
Microsoft's own reviewer's guide for this, the Band, talks about it being 'the first device powered by Microsoft Health', and this is the key to understanding the accessory itself. Introduced initially in the USA at the end of last year, there was a feeling that it might never reach the rest of the world in that form, since the Band was quite clearly a 'version 1' and with many flaws. That it has made it to the UK in late April 2015 is handy because it means we get to play with it - and appreciate it, but don't be fooled that the Band is attempting to be a serious mass market product yet. Wait for 'Band 2', slimmer, lighter, tougher and cheaper.
You'll remember that I recently went on a quest to find a source of the in-ear, stereo 4-pole headphones that ship with the best Lumia handsets? I came up trumps, with the replacements costing only around £6, but the quest itself made me aware of how generally unsatisfied I was with the audio quality at this end of the headset market. Hence this review, taking the next rung up the quality ladder with the new ROCK JAW Arcana v2 - with good results.
After reviewingquite anumber ofemergencypowerbanks on these sites, most of which have been quite impressive, I think we have a brand new winner. In terms of build quality, output, capacity and sheer value, the Omaker Premium 15600 wins out over the rest of the competition by a clear margin. As you'll see from my illustrated review below, testing the Omaker with Symbian and Windows Phone smartphones, plus an iPad or two...
File this absolutely under 'cool gadgets that you don't need but really, really want' - the Kickstarter-funded Torso has now hit production and I've been reviewing it in the context of AAWP and Windows Phones, almost all of which have their microUSB jack centrally mounted on their bottom face - happily, for the Torso's vision, as you'll see. Summary? It's a terrific little smartphone accessory, with only one main caveat.
Another in Lumsing's excellent series of 'Power Banks', the 6000mAh model here is distinguished from its larger 10400mAh sister by being dramatically slimmer and almost all metal. As a result, the price-per-milliAmp-hour is higher, but I don't care - the 6000 is a "man's" charger - a veritable mobile power tool and yes, you can knock nails in with it. Probably.
Guest writer Adrian Hughes brings us a review of an accessory that is 'a little different, and one that intends to be more useful than the usual plethora of rugged cases and covers'. He looks at the Nokia Treasure Tag (WS-2), a little box that can attach to your keychain or other object of your choice, so that you may never lose your keys again (or your phone, or the tag itself)!
