reviews

Earphones are a tricky thing to review. The reason is factors like sound quality, although objective, has such a wide range of acceptable levels that only the finely tuned are picky. But, while sound quality is certainly a huge factor to whether a set of earphones are successful, there are other variables at play too. Thee include, comfort, price, style, and additional features.

But with all f the earphones, earbuds, and headphones that I have reviewed over the years, there have been very few that concentrate on the health of your ear. That is, the level of sound that the unit spits out and how it affects the health of your inner ear. Sure, some throw in a small note about how their earbuds fit within the acceptable level of sound pressure to the inner ear by various groups, but it is always classified as “just another feature.” Most concentrate on sound quality, style, comfort.

So when I had the opportunity to review the AirDrives Interactive Headphones I was intrigued. This product bucks convention and decides to market itself as a “smarter listening” choice. This product… more...

It may seem like a tiny accessory not worthy of a mention. But anyone that has tried to listen to their iPhone with their existing favorite pair of headphones realize the importance of such a product.

It’s simple actually. The recessed 3.5mm port in the iPhone is not terribly friendly with some existing earphones or earbuds with shallow jacks. If it can’t reach the hole, you just won’t get a sound. Some people will just submit to using the ones included with their iPhones. But for those who prefer to use their tried and true phones or buds, you need an adaptor.

This 3.5mm Stereo Head Jack Converter from WirelessGround.com is built especially for the iPhone. It does exactly as advertised: by extending the jack in a giant “L-shaped” it allows full flexibility with all headphones. At a great price of $9.95 you can’t go wrong. Check it out here.

Previously I reviewed Marware’s Quickvue for the iPhone and was positive about the case. Last week and today I concluded my review of Marware’s offerings for the iPhone.

You can read my review for the Sidewinder at Apple Matters alongside the Sportsuit Convertible.

To sum it up, the Sidewinder makes for an awesome holster that will grip your iPhone setting aside any fears that may arise due to the holster only holding onto the bottom of your iPhone.

The Sportsuit Convertible on the other hand takes Marware’s original design for the Sportsuit and applies it to the iPhone but the sleeve’s protective covering tends to be overly clingy to lint which dirties the iPhone’s screen.

Connect Four anybody? Connect Four is also sometimes known as Four-in-a-Row or Four-in-a-Line. Asside from battleship, this is another game that I enjoyed playing during the few minutes I had for recess at my elementary school. Yet another childhood (board) game brought back as a web app on my iPhone. All a player has to do to win is line up four of thier pieces either diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. The game design was executed cleanly, therfore the game is very responsive. There is no P2P option, so the player faces a series of CPUs which increase in level as the player progresses.

Perfect for a day when there is nothing else to do. Add this one to your selection of iPhone games by bookmarking this link. 

This one is not specially made for the iPhone, but works great with Safari. Have you ever thought of something that you needed to remember, but knew you would forget? For those who can empathize with this situation, this app is for you. Oh Do Not Forget allows for a person to send an SMS to the future. If you needed to remember to buy eggs at 9am, just tell ODNF (Oh Do Not Forget). At 9am you will receive the SMS you sent to the future reminding you about the eggs. You can set any date you want in a variety of different ways.

I have used this service many times. It is extremely useful because I do not remember anything. The simplicity of this idea is what amazes me. I cannot believe I did not think of this idea myself.

Point Safari over to OhDontForget to check it out.

Want to spoil your ears this holiday season? How about spoiling them in style with the Vibe Duo noise-isolating hi-definition earphone/headset from V-Moda?

The Vibe Duo offers hi-definition sound quality, trendy styling, fine detailing, all at an affordable price. After a week of testing, I feel the Vibe Duo will maintain their position as my iPhone earbud of choice. The Vibe Duo does everything the Apple supplied earbud does including a hands-free microphone and call and music control buttons.

Finding a fit was no problem. The Vibe Duo came with 3 sizes of silicone fittings that should fit any ear. I did, however have a pretty uncomfortable fit with all sizes tried. Although, I must admit, I may have whack ears. The fittings are soft to the touch but maybe it’s the shape of the them (they are wider rather than longer) that just doesn’t mesh with my ears.

The styling is lightweight and very trendy. It comes in Black (Nero), Red, and Chrome and it comes with a leather carrying pouch. It boasts durable black fabric cable and a handy clip to keep it attached. This is… more...

Okay, my first comment after using this was OMG!

This is the first, the very FIRST application I have used to fool around with my iPhone that has worked the first time exactly like it claimed to, and exactly like I wanted it too.

My preference in cases like these, messing about with expensive pieces of electronics, is to find “green button” solutions, that is to say solutions where you basically press a button, or chose one option, and what you want to happen just happens. Any advanced settings or other offerings should be hidden in the background and not, as is the case with a lot of amateur (as in the sense of people who are doing something out of love and out of fascination, not lack of skill or ability by any means) developers, having the ugly guts of the situation thrust upon you via infinite option boxes or command line requirements.

AppSnapp is meant, as they say, to:

1. Jailbreak iPhone/iPod Touch on 1.1.1

2. Patch Springboard to load third party apps

3. Activat non-AT&T iPhones automatically, while leaving already activated… more...

NLU Bodygaurdz
Price: $24.99 for two complete Bodygaurdz (front and back protectors)
URL: http://www.nluinc.com/
Rating: 5 stars

When it comes to protecting your iPhone there aren’t many options available that will offer full protection. Of the few that you can buy now, NLU’s Bodygaurdz for iPhone is perhaps the best thing you can buy right now and puts competitors such as the Invisible Shield to shame.

Bodygaurdz come in 2 packs, each pack contains a front and back film. Basically you’re getting 2 products in one, a bargain for any avid iPhone shopper even when compared to low end static cling films. But that’s not the meat of this product, more like the tip of the iceberg. What makes the Bodygaurdz so great is they are so damn durable!

Before you start gloating about how damage resistant your iPhone is, you’ll have to get through applying them first. It requires little effort but some level of patience and time. The Bodyguardz are applied the same way the Invisible Shield is applied in that you have to… more...

SwapTunes is this nifty program that allows you to sync your iPhone with more than one computer.

“This simple app lets you sync your iPhone music/videos with more than one computer by keeping two iTunes libraries on the iPhone and allowing you to quickly swap between them whenever you like.

The reason I wrote this is because I have different videos and music on both my home PC and my work PC. Unfortunately, iTunes does not allow you to sync music/videos to more than one computer. So, until there is software like Floola, Poddox or Sharepod for the iPhone, I created this simple solution.”

Every time you run this program, it will switch to your other library, allowing you to have two different libraries on your iPhone! It will even keep bookmarks of audio books and/or videos and allow you to continue listening and/or watching where you left off.

I love this program. It is great having a little bit of information from one computer and a little from another on my one iPhone. Try this out over the weekend-- you’ll love it!… more...

A few weeks ago I ranted and raved about the Jawbone Bluetooth headset. I know some people feel the ear fit is tough to work out but it works really well for me and I thought the sound was amazing.

After publishing the review, I was contacted by someone representing the Gennum NX6000 Bluetooth Headset. He had read my Jawbone review and asked if I would consider testing out this headset as a comparison.

Being one who always enjoys a little head to head showdown I agreed. Having just completed my testing and review of the Jawbone a few weeks ago, I decided to give the NX6000 a try.

I decided, based on reader complaints of the Jawbone that there were 2 main areas of consideration when comparing the 2: comfort and sound quality. I tested the NX6000 while driving home from work with my beloved Red Sox on the radio and the windows rolled down. My buddy on the other side of the call seemed to hear me well enough as I motored down the highway. He had… more...