So, it seems Samsung is releasing the Galaxy Note in Premium Suite. I believe this is an exclusive event because even their video is private. Not cool.
Apr 162012
Apr 112011
Hi I’m Russel, I’m a gadget addict. I like to have electronic devices that make my life more enjoyable, more efficient, and more convenient — or so I thought.
As I tried more devices, I got more and more obsessed with getting the latest and the greatest. I became addicted to upgrades. Eventually, when financial resources started to run out, I decided to cure this addiction.
Now I can confidently say that I’m no longer a gadget addict. I am now reformed.
Because of my experience, I have resolved to help others kick their gadget addiction and start living near normal lives.
This blog will now be directed towards that quest of providing practical advise for those with the addiction and to those who have to live with people with the addiction. This site is for you.
Mar 252011
Being mobile means most of the time you are away from the power outlet. You must have a power supply that can last as long as you are out in the field.
Unfortunately, battery life isn’t always the best feature of our mobile devices like smartphones. We either need to buy expensive long life batteries or stay in places that have available power outlets.
Fortunately, Kodak came out with a very useful and affordable alternative power source for us, the Kodak Portable Charger KP100-C+2 kit.
The kit is a combination of an AC Charging Base and an external Power Pack. If your device can be charged from a USB port, then you can use the Kodak Portable Charger KP100-C+2 Power Pack as power supply.
Here’s a list of included items in the kit:
- AC Charging base – this charges your device through a USB and it also charges the Power Pack. This charging base needs to be connected to the power outlet.
- Power Pack – this is the external battery. It can charge your devices from its USB port.
- Two Rechargeable AA batteries – each rated at 2400mAh.
- Power Cord
- User guide
Advantages
Portable - this unit is small enough to fit in you laptop bag. If you just take the Power Pack it becomes smaller.
Reusable - the fact that it uses rechargeable batteries makes it reusable again and again.
Replaceable batteries – unlike some external battery packs with built-in batteries, the Kodak Portable Charger KP100-C+2 uses rechargeable AA batteries that you can replace anytime.
Affordable - at USD11.50, this unit only cost as much as 4 cups of Frappuccino in Starbucks.
Real-life Performance
The packaging of the kit claims being able to give up to an additional 40 hours of charge for your devices. That would mean almost 2 days of additional power to your device.
I tested this with my Motorola Milestone Android smartphone. To get a base reading of how long my smartphone usually lasts, I fully charged it, used 3G Internet only (no wifi), watched a couple of movies, and listened to music till the battery emptied.
I then connected it to the Power Pack and turned it on. Again I used the phone and timed how long it will survive with the Power Pack.
And here are the results:
Motorola Milestone with default battery: 7 hours 40minutes
Motorola Milestone with Power Pack: 10 hours and 38 minutes.
More than 10 hours of additional power is not bad. And, this is from when the phone’s battery was empty. The phone was continuously being charged until the Power Pack emptied. What’s nice about this is if I wanted to continue charging the phone, I can just replace the batteries with freshly charged ones.
Personal Practical Uses
I’ve been using the Kodak Portable Charger for a couple of weeks now. Here are some of the ways I use it:
- I use my Android 2.2 phone as Wife hotspot, and the Kodak Portable Charger KP100-C+2 gives the phone extra power to last longer. This is very important since using 3G drains the battery fast.
- When I want longer MP3 playback outdoors, this kit is a good solution.
- I use the Power Pack as additional backup battery for my Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera
.
- I use the Power Pack to charge my mobile phones. I have USB Power Tips
that let me charge my 2 Myphone dual SIM phones and Android phone.
Conclusion
As we become more mobile with our electronic gadgets, we face the “battery empty” problem more often.
The Kodak Portable Charger KP100-C+2 is an affordable and practical solution for that problem. With its price, there’s no longer an excuse not to get one even if you already have one. In fact I’m ordering one these kits again.
I don’t know where to get it here in the Philippines, but I got mine from Amazon.com. To know how I got it shipped fast and affordable, read my article here.
Do you think this kit will be helpful to you? Le me know what you think by commenting below.
Photos of the product
Oct 302010
For those watching the new season of the brutally unique TV series “Dexter”, pay attention to the phone Dexter is using. Yes, it is a Nokia N8
I can understand why Dexter would chose an Nokia N8
Back to Dexter. He amazingly has 5 million fans in Facebook. Either a lot of people like watching him kill the bad, or they just enjoy following death, gore, sex, and all that evil in the world. A lot of people can’t seem to be satisfied with all that nasty stuff. Now, Nokia got a sweet deal being the “non-official” provider of mobile phones for the characters of the Dexter TV show. Imagine 5 million fans seeing Dexter flashing an N8, Laguerta using an E72, and Deb using another Nokia phone: 5 million potential Dexter wannabes who would be thrilled to use the same phone as Dex. Yup that’s Marketing, alright.
Oh well, it’s nice seeing the bad guys get chopped once in a while. But does it really justify the murders that Dex does? I have my opinion on this but I’ll keep it to myself. For now, I’m just happy seeing the Nokia N8 on TV.
Chill. 
Check out the Nokia N8 GSM Touchscreen Phone
Oct 252010
When our friends wanted to do their prenup (wait, is it still called a prenup if the couple is already married?) they decided to go to Tagaytay…Caleruega Transfiguration Chapel, to be exact, on a rainy friday afternoon. Small problem was we all didn’t know how to go there. Fortunately, I had my Motorola Milestone and my Smartbro plug-it SIM card in it. I opened the Google Maps app and to my amazement, it was disappointingly slow. Yes, 3G wasn’t always available on the roads to Tagaytay. It took a long time for the map to load, and Caleruaga wasn’t on the map (or so it seemed).
During those sad moments, I was thinking how much better Nokia Maps on my Nokia E71 was compared to this: at least with the Nokia Maps the maps were pre-cached so you didn’t have to wait for the maps to download. You only needed to download the map for the country you’re visiting prior to your trip, and then you’re all set.
I then did something which I should have done earlier. Search for Caleruega in Google. On top of the search list was the link to the official Caleruega Chapel site. There was also a downloadable map. Downloading the .pdf map with direction was fast. Soon we were able to find the place. But—it was already 5pm and the place closes at 530pm. Worse, they don’t allow pre-nup shoots anymore. And to top it all, you need to pay 30 pesos entrance fee per person which wasn’t mentioned in their website.
To cut the long story short, we only got a few poses in for the prenup, we were drenched by the rain and we were hungry.
Lessons learned:
- Do your research. It will save you the hassle of trying to look for the map.
- Have a hard/printed copy of the map with directions/instructions if possible.
- Call ahead. Ask about permits, fees, and allowable activities before going to the place.
- Above all, don’t depend on mobile phones for last minute help especially when that information depends on connecting to the Internet.
After Caleruega, we were famished. Our next stop was Bag of Beans. There we had great coffee ( I ordered bottomless house blend). I realized after that if you drink 2 or more cups of strong coffee you’ll have headaches. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the coffee but I just didn’t expect it to be that strong. Maybe next time I’ll be more prepared and starve myself of coffee for a year.
After dinner we did a short shoot. The Bag of Beans yard had a good looking lovers nook. Here’s how it looked:
This image is color corrected in Google Picasa.
All in all the trip was fun because I was with great company. So next time you head out to your next adventure make sure to bring a real map.
Jul 032010
Ok, now this is getting more stupid.
First Apple blames the users of their new iPhone 4 for not holding the phone the right way that eventually results in signal loss. When people complained how arrogant Apple was, they backtracked and now claims that, yeah there’s a problem with all iPhones.
You really didn’t have good signal in the first place: the iPhone was just exaggerating with its signal strength indicator so that iPhone users can feel great and brag about how good their reception is.
Here’s what I’m reading here:
- Apple is trying to cover up the design flaw of the new iPhone 4 by creating a new problem that’s easier to fix (software upgrade, anyone?)
- Apple assumed that iPhone users will accept everything they say, but realized that not all iPhone users are fanboys and brand lunatics, and some actually can think for themselves.
- Apple’s quality control department is not so good with their jobs. How can you miss sudden signal strength drops? Do their QAs actually use the iPhone? I knew people working as QAs in Motorola and they tell me that they use those prototypes until they break them. That’s the way to test phones.
Read more about this latest act of arrogance from Apple by following the link below:
Apple `stunned to find iPhones show too many bars – Yahoo! Finance.
Jun 082010
After several weeks of just using Wi-fi to connect my Motorola Milestone to the internet, I finally caved in and availed of Smart’s Unlimited Internet service. To test it, I activated the Unli Surf Daily which gives me 24 hours of unlimited internet surfing.
Web browsing is comparable to that of Singapore M1 3G. I’m now testing how it woudd perform if I use my phone as a 3G modem with my netbook.
So far, so good.
Posted from WordPress for Motorola Milestone
May 222010
I’m in the airport, waiting for my flight, while responding to emails from software developers from Brazil and chatting with them on MSN. By the way, I’m in Changi Airport, Singapore at 4 o’clock in the morning. And, I’m doing all this on my Motorola Milestone. The qwerty keypad is joy to use…
May 132010
Ok, here’s another fun way to use the Motorola Milestone (aka Droid in the US), but this time you need to buy a nifty little device called the “Game Gripper”. From Engadget’s review, it looks like you’ll spend countless hours playing games on your Milestone.
Click on the link below to read Engadget’s review:
May 102010
Just when I thought I’m already maximizing my Motorola Milestone (aka Droid in US), somewhere in the world people found another fun way to use this phone: SOLVE a Rubik’s Cube. How can the Milestone (Droid) do it? Check the link below
Motorola Droid solves Lego-encased Rubik’s Cube in 24 mind-melting seconds (video) — Engadget.