Kick The Buddy Episodes Review » 148Apps » iPhone and iPod Touch Application Reviews and News

Stress balls have been around for countless years, taking the edge off any high pressure situation. sometimes though, squeezing a stress ball just isn’t enough. this is where Kick the Buddy Episodes hits the spot, especially if the stress has been caused by the holiday season.

Kick the Buddy Episodes dispenses with storytelling and complex game mechanics. instead, it’s all about beating up Santa Claus. Sounds a little cruel, doesn’t it? while the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Santas might not be too impressed with such behavior, it is a quick and fun way to de-stress.

With a festive background and consistently smiley Santa, the player gets the chance to cause all kinds of destruction courtesy of an array of different seasonal items. The controls are simple. just tap and drag the relevant item around so as to attack Santa. Items range from ornaments and snowballs that can be shot at the jolly man to heftier items such as stockings and Christmas trees to bludgeon him with. despite the violent tone, there’s no sign of blood or anything like that, with Santa simply exclaiming from time to time in disgust.

With each blow, the player earns money which can be put towards unlocking more means to attack Santa. these are as elaborate and as seasonal as a gingerbread man, fireworks and even a snow gun. other weaponry such as fireworks or antlers can be unlocked with in-app purchases of $0.99 but it’s not essential. More crucial to stress relief, the player can also import a photo of someone from their photo library to make the suffering that bit more personal if they want.

Kick the Buddy Episodes is a simple concept but a fun one. At a time of year when we’re all encouraged to be so festive yet are consistently stressed out, it’s a fun way to take a break. I do question its longevity over time though, something that could have been solved by adding a few simple aims and objectives.

Posted in: Games, iPhone Apps and Games, Reviews Tagged with: $0.99, christmas, Dmitriy Glebenok, Festive, in-app purchases, Kick the Buddy, Kick the Buddy Episodes, santa

iPhone 101: Set up keyboard shortcuts for easier typing

Typing on the iPhone or iPad becomes easier as you get used to it, but some things remain cumbersome to write even after years of use. The keyboard acrobatics required to type something like “Wi-Fi + 3G” or a long email address on a touchscreen keyboard can be somewhat maddening if you have to input that multiple times a day.

Fortunately, a new feature in iOS 5 comes to the rescue: custom keyboard shortcuts. In the Settings app, navigating to General > Keyboard > Shortcuts gives you access to a fully customizable list of shortcuts you can edit to your heart’s content. If you’re familiar with TextExpander on the Mac, this setting in iOS 5 functions much the same way.

only one shortcut is included by default: “omw” = “On my way!” You can edit that shortcut or add completely new ones, and as long as the shortcuts are easy to remember and easy to type, you can vastly speed up your typing on the iPhone for common phrases you use.

When you tap the “+” icon on the Shortcuts screen, you’ll see a page that gives you input options for “Phrase” and “Shortcut.” The “Phrase” setting is what you want your shortcut to expand into, while “Shortcut” is what you’ll actually type. As one example, I’ve set up “Wi-Fi + 3G” as a phrase on my iPhone. all I actually have to type is wifiggg, and my iPhone will automatically expand that into “Wi-Fi + 3G.”

I also write about Apple on Twitter quite a bit, and in order to squeeze within Twitter’s character limits I’ve set up a shortcut to substitute in the character for the Apple logo () whenever I type the shortcut applogo. Setting up similar shortcuts will allow you to type all sorts of special characters not included on the iPhone’s keyboard.

another way the keyboard shortcuts feature comes in handy is circumventing the standard autocorrect for some terms. Many times in the past I’d type the word “hell” and have it autocorrected to “he’ll,” for example (all those times my mom put soap in my mouth didn’t teach me a thing). I still haven’t been able to work around what I consider iOS’s most irritating autocorrection — its always corrects to it’s even after setting up a keyboard shortcut trying to prevent it — but I’ve been able to eliminate most iOS autocorrect oddities via keyboard shortcuts.

iOS 5’s shortcuts feature is a great way to simplify inputting text you find yourself typing many times throughout the day, and as PC World points out, you can even use it to set up multiple email signatures for different use cases. As far as I can tell there doesn’t appear to be a limit to the phrase length — I put in half the lyrics to “Yellow Submarine” with a “yllwsub” shortcut, and iOS didn’t complain — so you could potentially create shortcuts for several paragraphs of text that you can quickly input with just a few keystrokes.

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iPad 2 Covers » Refurbished apple iphone 4 to be shown for Rs. 22,400

Refurbished apple iphone 4 to be shown for Rs. 22,400

Using the discharge of the apple iphone 4S just nearby, there&rsquos another bit of great news for individuals in India who love everything Apple. the smartphone manufacturer has refurbished apple iphone 4 mobile phone models and can now make sure they are readily available for just a little over Rs. 22,000. having a year&rsquos warranty tossed set for the products, this could just be the offer individuals have been awaiting. Customers may also choose to buy the organization&rsquos AppleCare Protection Arrange for the refurbished phones. &nbsp

Apple has reworked on individuals apple iphone 4 mobile phone models which had minor defects inside them and were remembered towards the factory. these defects could vary from manufacturing defects to cosmetic ones. Apple has fixed the defects and is able to result in the refurbished phones obtainable in the retail market. these to aren’t second hands products they simply couldn&rsquot be offered initially because of a flaw within their systems.

Based on BGR.in, the refurbished products are 16GB models. When the apple iphone 4S is released, Apple is only going to sell original apple iphone 4 types of 8GB variants. the refurbished apple iphone 4 appears like an ideal smartphone for individuals who would like an apple iphone but they are reluctant to invest tones of cash onto it. since Apple sells refurbished products in other nations too, customers could be be assured about Apple&rsquos services.

Tough the apple iphone 3GS and apple iphone 4 will still continue being available for sale following the discharge of the apple iphone 4S, Apple is clearing the decks because of its latest offering. with whispers from the apple iphone 5 already doing the models, India, such as the relaxation around the globe offers quite a bit to anticipate in next season

Reviews: Jawbone UP by Jawbone

Like other Jawbone products, UP comes in a small, thoughtfully designed box that consists of hard plastic and cardboard elements, displaying the bracelet in its clear upper chamber while hiding instructions and extra accessories in the bottom. Planned for sale in four different sizes and seven different colors, each with a zig-zagging rubberized texture, UP is equipped minimalistically by comparison with its older brothers: all you get besides the bracelet is a stubby gray charging cable that is surprisingly short, creating a real challenge if you hope to plug it into the back of a desktop computer. this is particularly problematic because unlike other recent Jawbone accessories, which will also work with any micro-USB cable you might have sitting around, UP requires this special proprietary cable for charging. If you don’t have a USB port on the front or side of your computer—iMacs, Mac minis, and some PCs—this may be an issue for you; you’ll need to supply a USB wall adapter of your own, because none is in the box.

Every one of Jawbone’s accessories thus far has looked somewhere between “pretty nice” and “neat,” and on first inspection, UP follows that pattern. the bracelet is tipped with silver plastic on both ends, one side a square button and the other a larger removable cap for the 3.5mm plug. Most bracelets—and watches—form a single complete loop when they’re put on your hand, but UP instead has overlapping ends, a design decision that frees both ends of the band to be used for the aforementioned functions, while enabling the band to grip varying wrist thicknesses. in a particularly awesome move, UP’s box includes a flip-up thin plastic panel on the outside so that you can know for sure whether a given size of band will fit your wrist without having to open the package, and the large version we picked after trying the other package sizers was definitely the right choice for our wrists. While the band isn’t as ideally sized as a typical wristwatch, it’s pretty close, and it’s water-resistant enough to be worn in the shower; you just need to avoid charging it while its metal headphone plug connector is wet, or otherwise doing things that might damage its rechargeable battery.

The first hitch with UP’s open-ended band is that the ends tended to catch on things—clothes, pillows, and the like—when we were wearing the bracelet, making us feel somewhat uncomfortable with its presence, and in one case actually knocking the bracelet off while we were sleeping. secondly, the need to pull the headphone plug cap off creates a risk of loss that added to our discomfort with the solution, and we actually briefly misplaced the cap at one point during testing. Third, because of UP’s sub-optimal headphone plug interface, you need to turn the headphone port volume on your iOS device up to the maximum amplitude in order to use UP, as well; even doing so, we experienced frequent synchronization errors with our test iPhone 4S. Fourth, UP is really an on- and off-again accessory. Users have to remove the bracelet for every synchronization, and separately to that stubby little charging cable for power; Apple’s devices cannot recharge UP’s internal battery, which will need to be refueled roughly once per week.

There’s very little question that UP would be a lot easier to use if it communicated with iOS devices using Bluetooth, charged inductively, and formed a single loop around the wrist. Normally, we might give a new product some slack if these things required technology or engineering beyond the scope of the price point, but UP isn’t cheap, and there’s little question that it could have at least included wireless functionality and a single loop band for $100. this is purely a guess, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jawbone was planning annual replacements of UP akin to its ever-changing Bluetooth earpieces, and has priced today’s model high enough to replace it with a wireless version in 2012. given what Apple and Nike accomplished for $19 with the wireless Nike + iPod Sensor years ago, it’s hard to see $80 of additional value in what UP brings to the table.

We say that because what you actually get with today’s UP for the asking price isn’t particularly amazing. There’s a motion sensor inside akin to the ones already found in the iPod nano and iOS devices, enabling the wristband to estimate how many steps you’ve taken in a day—just like the sixth-generation iPod nano’s pedometer feature. also inside UP is a timer that you can manually activate by briefly holding down the silver button, which triggering a brief vibration in the band to provide haptic feedback. this timer is primarily there to count the number of hours you’ve slept and timestamp sensed motion, visually signaling that the sleep timer function is active by briefly displaying a blue moon icon through UP’s rubber surface. When the timer’s not active, UP instead quickly displays a star that changes colors to indicate the band’s power status, before turning off its light. Seeing the star shift colors is quite possibly UP’s coolest feature; we can only imagine how much better UP would have been if the band had been designed with a peek-through clock face, like Nike’s earlier and less expensive Amp+ watch. on that note, given that there’s a clock inside, it’s worth mentioning that it would be easier for some users to embrace UP as a watch replacement, rather than as another thing to wear on your wrist.

Most of UP’s work is handled by a free app called UP by Jawbone, which as of press time is on version 1.3, and uses technology developed by MotionX. the app uses clean, colorful graphics to provide representations of how close you’ve come to your daily sleep, walking, and food goals—none particularly well implemented—with a particularly attractive main screen that displays percentage bars for each activity. the app also includes Nike+ GPS-like features that can use the band’s motion sensor or your device’s GPS location services to track your movement, then provide pace and distance estimates, plus the opportunity to challenge individual or multiple friends to meet specific goals.

Additional graphs can be called up to provide granular details on your activity, generally estimated by the software using manually inputted information or assumptions based on the band’s motion. for instance, UP guesses that you’ve been sleeping deeply or lightly based on the “micro movements” you make while sleeping. it similarly asks you to take pictures of the foods you’re eating, name them, and then rate how satisfying they were before calculating a satisfaction index. And it archives all of this information over time so that you can go back and see how well you slept, walked, or ate towards your stated goals; this information can be kept private, shared publicly, or shared solely with friends on a social feed accessed from the app or the web.

There are a couple of other things that the UP by Jawbone app enables the wristband to do. A feature called Activity Reminder can be used to trigger brief vibrations in the band, occurring between certain hours at increments between 15 minutes and 4 hours, 45 minutes. “Smart Alarm” lets the wristband vibrate at “the best time within 30 minutes of the time you set” to silently wake you up. Both features are disabled by default.

It’s at this point that you’ll need to make a big decision on your own—do these sorts of features really strike you as useful, worthy of $100, and well-implemented? or merely a collection of things that you could probably measure and accomplish on your own without wearing a wristband around all the time? all of our editors leaned towards the latter perspective, though it needs to be said that if you’re willing to fork over this sort of cash for a vibrating sleep timer or reminder to boost your activity level, UP’s wearability guarantees that you’ll feel these sensations in a way that some iOS devices can’t. but then, they have audible alarms and reminder features that cost nothing, and inexpensive apps offer similar functionality, as well.

As much as we’d hoped that UP would be spectacular, our experience with it was less than thrilling. the wristband design is pretty close to where it needs to be, the technology inside feels a generation or two behind the curve, the software is limited, and the price tag is just too high. Like most of the other Jawbone accessories, it looks good enough that no one’s going to laugh at you for using it, and there’s just enough functionality here to justify its existence. but it really begs for a more refined and capable sequel, preferably one that adds wireless capabilities to the mix and makes better use of the clock hardware inside, say nothing of adding other features. If Apple doesn’t deliver a similarly featured iPod nano next year, a next-generation UP could be a good enough alternative for some users. Today’s version is only okay.

MIIT Says No Need to Package Chargers with Phones, Consumers Rejoice?

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MIIT, the Chinese government body that inspects all your favorite mobile gadgets and toys, has announced that starting December 1st, mobile phone makers do not need to provide a charging cord to them along with the phones they submit for testing. What does that mean for consumers? It means that mobile phone vendors are now free to sell their devices without packaged power cords.

Sina Tech is trumpeting this is a victory for the consumer, since third-party chargers are often significantly cheaper than the ones that come bundled with your phone. Think about, for example, the difference between Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone chargers and third-party chargers. that USB connector cord will cost you $20 if you buy it from Apple, and $0.89 if you buy a generic brand. so that means big savings, right?

Well, yes and no. from what we can tell, although phone makers are no longer required to package power cables with their phones, MIIT’s new regulations don’t stipulate that they’re not allowed to, and since that’s often a way for phone manufacturers to make some extra money, we’d guess that especially in terms of higher-end phones, you may still have to buy them with the power cord packaged.

That said, many vendors will likely offer phones without packaged cords regardless of what manufacturers plan, allowing customers to save money and also potentially reduce waste if they already have a charger or two for the phone at home. It’s not an earth-shaking market change, but it does seem like it can only be good for consumers, so…hooray!

PC World Philippines :: News and Trends :: iPhone Buying Guide

By Lex FriedmanNovember 29, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – While there are many dozens of Android phones on the market, Apple to date has released only five models of the iPhone. only three are currently offered by Apple and its U.S. carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint). Whether you’re planning your first foray into the world of iPhone ownership, or an upgrade from a now woefully outdated first- or second-generation model, choosing which iPhone to buy is a decision that requires some thought. Your options: The iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4, and the iPhone 4S.Cash as cash canThe first question, as it so often is when it comes time to buy shiny new electronics, is what your budget is. In theory, if you’re buying your new iPhone for yourself, you’re prepared to set aside at least $70 per month for service (and possibly considerably more, depending upon your service plan). each carrier sells new iPhones with two-year contracts, so whichever iPhone you get, remember that you’re paying at least $1700 over the next two years to use the device.

But your phone’s contract cost is non-negotiable. Where you can save some cash–if you’re willing to sacrifice in other areas, as we’ll discuss below–is on the one-time expenditure you make when you actually buy the phone itself.

The iPhone 3GS is available for free from Apple’s online store, though you’ll have to sign a two-year contract with AT&T to get that 8GB model at no cost. (Apple sells an unlocked version of the 3GS for $375.) AT&T is the only carrier to offer the 3GS, as that phone is only compatible with AT&T’s GSM-based network. (Curiously, AT&T lists the iPhone 3GS for sale at $1, though as this article was published, AT&T’s online store claimed to be out of stock.)

Bargain hunters who’d like a phone released after 2009 can still save some coin by opting for an 8GB iPhone 4. it costs $99 with a two-year contract, which you can sign with either AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. (Unlike the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4 works on the CDMA network used by Verizon and Sprint as well as AT&T’s GSM network, though you have to buy a phone compatible with that specific network.)

Then, there’s the latest iPhone model–the iPhone 4S, which came out in October. it starts at $199 for the 16GB model, with 32GB and 64GB versions available at $299 and $399, respectively. Again, those prices require a two-year contract; you’ll be able to choose which carrier–AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint–that you sign up with.

What’s in storageIf money is no object, your next must-answer question applies to storage. As noted above, the free AT&T iPhone 3GS and the $99 iPhone 4 are both offered only in 8GB models. And the phone’s operating system and stock apps eat up some of that storage anyway; you’re probably looking at no more than 7GB of usable storage with one of those models. Is that enough?

That depends. will you be syncing your iTunes music library with this iPhone? if the answer is yes, check how much music you own by clicking on Music in the Library section of the iTunes sidebar and then looking at the status line at the bottom of the window. if you’re using iTunes Match, you can obviously free up plenty of music space, since most of your music will instead reside in iCloud, not on your device.if your music library won’t be a problem, consider what else you might use the iPhone for. many apps are on the smaller side–well below 50MB. but if you’re an avid gamer, remember that graphically intense games can gobble up 600MB or more in an instant. And if you plan to take oodles of photos–or shoot hours of video with the built-in camera on your phone–that’s another big potential space-eater.

Remember that the iPhone 4S comes with either 16GB, 32Gb, or 64GB–plenty more storage, if that’s what you need.

Feature showOn the hardware side, the 3GS is available in black only and sports a rounded back. The 4 and 4S are available in both black and white, and sport a straight back. You can still find cases and accessories for all three models, but accoutrement for the 4 and 4S are more readily available.

All three models support iOS 5, Apple’s latest and greatest incarnation of its mobile operating system. but there are significant differences among the three iPhones in terms of what they do and how they do it.

Cameras: each can take photos and shoot video. The iPhone 3GS is limited to a single 3-megapixel camera and shoots VGA-quality video. The iPhone 4 employs a 5-megapixel still camera that can shoot 720p HD video, and a second, front-facing VGA-quality camera. The iPhone 4S uses an 8-megapixel still camera that can shoot 1080p HD video, and the iPhone 4′s same front-facing VGA-quality camera. only the iPhone 4 and 4S support FaceTime, Apple’s video-calling technology for calls between iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, and Macs.In plain English, the iPhone 4S can take point-and-shoot quality photographs, the iPhone 4 shoots decent photos, and the iPhone 3GS takes photos with a decidedly camera phone-esque veneer.

Processors: Camera quality isn’t the only way the iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S compare along a good, better, and best scale. The phones’ internal processors mirror that line; the 4S uses the same Apple-designed A5 chip that powers the iPad 2, and it blazes. both the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS use an A4 processor, with the 3GS the measurably slower of the two older models. You may only notice that slowness if you’re frequently around folks using newer, faster iPhones, however.

Displays: The iPhone 4 and 4S use Apple’s Retina display, packing the screen so densely that your eye can’t make out the individual pixels; it’s a particularly impressive feature for apps written to take advantage of the Retina display. The 3GS’s display is less visually impressive, but still quite legible.Voice Recognition: only the iPhone 4S supports Siri, Apple’s virtual voice recognition-based assistant. Folks who use Siri quickly come to depend on it for quick tasks like scheduling reminders, setting appointments, checking the weather, and taking dictation. but the vast majority of iPhone owners have long relied on their fingers for those tasks without much difficulty, so you won’t suffer much without it.

Pick a phone, any phoneSo, how do you choose? if you’re the kind of gadget hound who needs the latest and greatest Apple technology, well, then you probably didn’t just read this piece–the iPhone 4S is the only option that will satisfy you.

The $199 that separates the 16GB iPhone 4S from the 8GB iPhone 3GS could pay for somewhere between two and three months of cellular service for either phone. Whether paying extra cash for the increased storage, better cameras, additional features, and snappier performance is worth it is an entirely personal decision.

Some extra points to consider: You’ll sign a two-year contract when you order a new iPhone (unless you opt for much pricer unlocked versions of the iPhone you buy). You’ll never be able to upgrade your iPhone’s storage space size. but it’s quite likely Apple will offer another major iOS upgrade or two over the next two years, and there’s no guarantee that the already two-and-a-half-year-old iPhone 3GS will support any or all of the features of a hypothetical iOS 6; 2008′s iPhone 3G, for comparison’s sake, can’t run iOS 5.

Spending $99 for the iPhone 4 instead of taking the free 3GS may thus provide a better return on your investment, since you’re under contract with your carrier anyway. It’s a better phone in numerous respects, and will very likely be able to run at least one iteration of iOS that the 3GS cannot. Saving an extra $100 by eschewing the iPhone 4S today might make it easier to justify purchasing a hypothetical future iPhone once your new contract is up two years from now.

If, on the other hand, you’re considering a new point-and-shoot camera, or you’re apprehensive about your potential skills as a literal touch-typist, the extra $100 for the iPhone 4S may be worth it.

Regardless of which phone you choose, the good news is simple: You’ll end up with an iPhone, and that means you’ll have an excellent smartphone in your pocket.

iomega SuperHero Backup & Charger for iPhone Review

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When I recently updated my iPad 2 to iOS 5, something went wrong and I lost the backup of my iPad 2 – which meant I had lost all my pictures and notes from the iPad 2.  Of course, iOS 5 lets you backup everything to the cloud now, but I’m still a bit upset about my data loss, and I want more than one backup of some of my data on my mobile devices.  I was very interested to learn of the SuperHero Backup and Charger for iPhone that backs up your contacts and photos on your iPhone or iPod touch as it charges.  I was pleased to be selected to review it when iomega offered one to The Gadgeteer.

The SuperHero looks like a typical iPhone charging dock.  It’s made of brushed aluminum instead of plastic, though.  It has an iomega logo on the front, and the top has silk-screened instructions reminding you to turn on and unlock your iPhone before plugging it in.  (The photo shows the top before the printed protective sticky label was removed. There’s also a protective cover on the docking connector.)

A power adapter and a 4GB SD card are supplied with the SuperHero.  You can replace the SD card with a larger capacity, if needed.

Both the SD card and the power adapter plug in to the back of the SuperHero.

I was pleased to see that my iPhone 4 would fit into the charger without having to remove the Bumper case.  The charger should work for most Apple mobile devices that use the docking connector, but the backup function will work only with the latest generation iPod touch and the iPhone 4, 3G, and 3GS.  (I would imagine it should work with the iPhone 4S, too, but I’d contact iomega to confirm this if I had a 4S.)

Before you can backup your data, you must install the free iomega SuperHero Backup app from the iTunes App store.  You have a few setup options with the app.  You can select to backup your contacts, and you can even have them encrypted and protected by a specified password.  You can backup photos, but you must enable location services for the SuperHero Backup app to backup photos.

You can specify a backup name, and the backup set on the SD card is in a folder with the backup name.  You should be able to backup multiple iPhones onto the same SD card, assuming there’s enough space on the card.

I had denied location services when I first started the app, so I went to setup, enabled location services, then started up the app again and turned on photo backup before plugging my iPhone into the SuperHero dock.

You’re given a 25 second warning before backup starts.  You can cancel it if you don’t want to do a backup every time you charge the phone.  Once the backup started, I could see it was backing up my contacts.  When it backed up my pictures, it only backed up two of them.  They were two images that I had downloaded for use as backgrounds.  For some reason, it didn’t backup any of the pictures I had taken with my iPhone.

At least my photos get automagically transferred to my computer with Photo Stream and iCloud, so I’m not too worried about the pictures.

The SuperHero Backup and Charger for iPhone looks nice sitting on my desk.  It’s nice to have a way to charge my phone without having to plug it into my computer or leave it in my bedroom in the charger I have on my night table.  I also like having another backup of my contacts, because those things took a long time to type in and I wouldn’t want to do it again.  It would be a great backup method for people who haven’t updated their devices to iOS 5 or who don’t want to use iCloud.  The dock is even small enough that I could throw it in my gear bag when I travel so I’ll have an extra charger and a backup – just in case!

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Top iPhone 4S Cases

It is now a fashion to always possess a very good and attractive iphone case as without it many usually consider the one involved as not being enlightened. There are a whole lot of iphones present that are mostly of great quality and as such these iPhone cases are of great quality for this motive highly necessary to always elaborate upon. most of these iPhone 4S cases are usually considered to among the top iphone cases which definitely is a good sign and hence very ideal to be made known all the time. It is even noted that, some people are mostly concerned about purchasing only the best iphone 4S case available on the market.

Most of the top iphone cases usually possess some qualities that are of great help and one such quality is due to the fact that, the iphone case possess areas whereby credit cards can placed or accommodated. This is really an aspect often considered by majority of people and to be precise, any iphone case that does not possess this aspect is mostly seen as not being of standard. well this depends on the one making the purchase. the issue is that, many are mostly concerned about being able to accommodate their credit cards.

Furthermore, another relevant issue is that, these top iPhone 4S cases are also noted very well to possess silicon materials and most of these materials are often of good quality and as such have the ability of protecting the iphone in general. This is really an aspect that should always be considered first before any other thing and for this purpose, majority really do take their time to assess the iphone case before making purchase and that therefore explains why there is usually great concern about that aspect.

Hitherto, most of these top iphone cases are also noted very well to be made of quality leather. This is yet another aspect that is mostly considered very vital by majority of individuals and for this purpose should never be taken as a joke in any way. Leather is good materials and one major quality of leather is the fact that, it can be used for a very long period of time without encountering any problems relating to weather conditions. for this motive, it is usually good to look out for these qualities so that, nothing goes wrong as far as purchasing is concerned.

Charging on the go

The Star/Asia News Network Saturday, Nov 26, 2011

Hand-crank/hand-wound or self-powered chargers come in different forms: some are made for mobile or hand-held devices while others are strictly hand-crank torch lights or radio.

Another popular option these days are solar chargers that allow you to charge your gadgets – mobile phone, iPod, digital cameras and GPS – on the go.

From my brief experience using hand-crank or solar chargers, I realise that you need to make sure your device’s battery is not completely dead when you use this type of charger. the charger’s main function is to top up your battery juices. (Some online reviewers claim that hand-crank chargers do not work on devices with completely drained batteries.)

Flexible and compact solar panels are all the rage nowadays. Some of these chargers can charge the device directly or top up your rechargeable batteries.

However, bear in mind that the charging ability depends largely on direct exposure to sunlight. it doesn’t perform well when it is used in thick canopy jungles or on cloudy days. Also, you need to make sure the output voltage is compatible with your device.

The different brands of hand-crank chargers in the market include US-based SOS Ready (sosready.com) and Eton (etoncorp.com).

Solar charger brands include Goal zero (goalzero.com), Brunton (bruntonoutdoor.com) and Solio (solio.com).

The Goal zero Nomad 7, for example, received rave reviews for its lightweight properties (about 300g) and ability to charge headlamp batteries, a smartphone and GPS in one full, sunny day. it apparently has reserve capacity to charge the devices in less than full sun (shady/cloudy). Some reviewers claim that the Goal zero can charge the iPhone from about 20 per cent to 100 per cent within two hours.