Pocketables

EyeNetra brings vision tests to cell phones

I use contact lenses myself, and don't mind paying to have the values adjusted every now and then. In some parts of the world though, getting a vision test is a lot more complicated than stopping by a store and paying a small fee. If there's equipment at all, getting the test can be very expensive. That's the kind of problem EyeNetra wants to fix.

Developed from research at MIT, it's an app/accessory combination that allows anyone to use a smartphone and the EyeNetra piece to do vision tests out in the field. The accessory itself is very cheap, only a couple of bucks. While the needed smartphone is less so, this is not meant as a consumer level combo in countries that really need it, but rather something that aid workers can bring and use themselves in order to do vision tests out in the field. The user looks through the eye piece and aligns some images using on-screen buttons, and the app then uses this data to calculate what correction is needed - all without an optometrist present. Paired with cheap glasses, the EyeNetra system can bring vision to people who otherwise have no way of getting the problem looked at (pardon the pun). 

It's great to see consumer technology be used in ways like this. It's currently in a test phase in parts of the world, but hopefully it will be available to consumers at some point too. I think I'd still like to visit my optometrist for my corrections, but I can definitely see this be useful in our part of the world as well, e.g. to check if child has vision problems and need to go see a professional. 

[EyeNetra via Nyteknik (Swedish)]

Ambitious designer releases concept for Windows 8 smartwatch

Wow. If there is one thing that will get me to buy a Windows 8 device as an Android fan, this is it. We have seen "smart watches" that run Android before, and pair with your smartphone to provide helpful notifications and features. Some even run their own apps. However, the concept you see above would clearly be in a league of its own, concerning both software and hardware.

Ideally, if produced the watch would run a full version of Windows 8 on its tiny screen, which, surprisingly, looks like it might work pretty well. I hadn't noticed this before, but the new Metro UI of both Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 should actually scale quite nicely to both large and small displays. You can also see that the concept would include a tiny Bluetooth headset in order to make calling less awkward.

Its industrial design may be a bit too "Tron" for some, but even so I think the idea of Windows 8 on a variety of hardware like this watch is a good one. It certainly speaks to how much excitement and support there is around Windows 8, especially the ARM compatible side of development. I know I would wear a Windows 8 watch with access to all the same apps as a tablet, no matter how weird it looked. Hopefully Microsoft doesn't make the mistake of nerfing the abilities of Windows 8 on ARM devices though, because it would make great devices like this just a little less awesome.

I highly doubt this watch will be released in its current form, but it is still a really great concept. It should at least serve to get people excited about Windows 8 and its potential, and I would hope that some manufacturers follow suit and get something out to market.

[WMPoweruser] 

Samsung Galaxy S II review

With the Galaxy Note fresh off the assembly line and rumors of the Galaxy S III breathing down everyone's necks, the Samsung Galaxy S II doesn't show up in the spotlight as often as it used to. Still, it's one of the top Android phones out there, and is far from outdated. With it getting cheaper and cheaper and putting up camp in the mid-range price segment it's gaining a lot of new users, and yours truly is one of them. Read on for a review of the Samsung Galaxy S II (international version). 

Noreve Tradition C leather case for Samsung Galaxy S II review

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S II to replace my 2.5 year old iPhone 3GS. I've been a heavy user of always-on cases for a long time, but with the S II, I want the ability to dock it at home and not deal with the added bulk except when I actually need protection. The natural choice then is a pouch style case, which you'll normally find in either leather or imitation leather. Noreve is a brand that's practically synonymous with leather cases in my head, so not long after I had made that decision I had a brand new Tradition C leather case in my hands, provided by Noreve for review. Read on to see if it's any good. 

CableJive's dockBoss+ gives your phone an Apple connector

The amount of accessories for Apple's 30 pin dock connector is ridiculous. This is partly because it's Apple, and partly because the connector has more or less the same across devices for many years. When I look over at my Samsung Galaxy Tab's 30 pin connector and then at my Samsung Galaxy S II's microUSB connector, I can't really blame accessory manufacturers for not focusing on a device group where connectors aren't even the same within the same brand and year. 

CableJive's dockBoss+ is a new cable that aims to help this issue at least a little bit. It has a female 30 pin Apple dock connector in one end and a microUSB charging plug and 3.5mm audio jack in the other end. The purpose of this is to let any device with those two ports (almost any non-Apple phone at this point) charge off Apple docks while at the same time feed audio to them. I've seen similar adapters before, but most of them only do audio - not charging. 

This won't let you use any of the more advanced features of Apple accessories, such as browse playlists and see song info on an audio dock, or utilize something like the Camera Connection Kit or anything like that. This is purely charging and "dumb" audio input, nothing else. Still, that's useful enough in itself, and it allows you to use that speaker dock you bought for your old iPhone or your new Android phone. $30 isn't the cheapest for a simplecable, but it isn't the end of the world either. What I would like to see though is all this functionality in a simple adapter that makes the phone dockable in the dock as well - something like this, but with a microUSB male plug and separate audio cable. 

[CableJive]

Asus MeMic, a Bluetooth accessory to Asus MeMo, stops by FCC

Last week at CES, Asus teased its 7-inch Eee Pad Memo. There were a few specs talked about, like its 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1280 x 800 display, but there wasn't any mention of release dates, carrier partners, or Asus-branded accessories. Thankfully, news and leaks don't stop after the busiest week in tech, and today, we've got a bit of news regarding one of the MeMo's first accessories. 

The little device you see to the right is the Asus Memic, which is a small Bluetooth device that will hook up with the MeMo tablet. Its main job, apparently, is to make and take phone calls so you don't have to hold a 7-inch slab of electronics up to your face to answer the phone.

I think that this type of accessory is a great idea, to be honest. I may be a geek, but I also have a social life; that is to say, I'm not going to jeopardize having friends and a girlfriend by holding to my face a relatively massive slab of plastic and metal to talk. I'd gladly use this small companion device, though, and I hope other manufacturers could improve on this idea, too. Just imagine having a single device that would do your tablet computing and your mobile telephony together, seamlessly, while having a more pocketable solution in a little compartment on the tablet itself to store and charge said solution. 

[Liliputing]

Nissan to bring self-healing iPhone case to market, possibly even this year

So, are you sick of scratches on your iPhone case? How about any phone case in general? Well, Nissan (yeah, Nissan!) has decided to bring some of its self-healing paint technology to an iPhone case that the company may actually sell this year, if initial beta testing goes well. 

This technology has been used in the Nissan Murano, 370Z and X-Trail, as well as the entire line of Infiniti luxury vehicles. It's able to mend small and light scratches in as little as an hour, while deeper cuts may take up to a week. 

Bob Laishley is Nissan's Overseas Program Director of Business Development, and he had this to say about Nissan's plans to expand the technology into other areas:

"We're really excited about the possibilities provided by this technology. In Japan, we've already linked up with world-leading mobile operator NTT DoCoMo to allow them to use the Scratch Shield technology on its Style Series N-03B mobile phones, and we think this technology has real scope beyond the automotive world. We're passionate about innovations that get people excited, and that means not being restricted to one industry or genre."

So, if all goes well for Nissan's initial batch of cases, I bet we could start to see the motor company license this out to phone manufacturers to actually use the paint without a case. For now, I guess we'll just have to lust over and wait for this case to reach store shelves.

[Nissan]

i'm Watch smartwatch aims to merge the Nano and Live View

"i'm Watch" is the name of a new accessory for smartphones. Where they come up with these names, I honestly don't know, but the i'm Watch can best be described as Sony Ericsson Live View functionality merged with an iPod Nano with a watch kit. It's a watch that looks very much like an iPod Nano in a watch kit, but when you start looking at the menus you will see a lot more features that you'd expect to see on smartphones rather than a watch - or a Nano. The i'm Watch runs a very custom version of Android 1.6 on a 240 x 240 pixel display, has 4GB of storage, and connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth. Through that connection it gets both an internet connection and a phone connection, allowing it to be "smart." 

Features of the i'm Watch include a music player, access to things like Twitter and Facebook, and the ability to see the address book on the watch and call contacts from it, read messages, and naturally see a weather forecast (can never have enough of those widgets). The watch will be shown off at CES in January and not ship until the end of that month - meaning that a lot of details are still unknown. The iPhone is for instance listed as compatible, but good luck getting things like messages out of that thing with Bluetooth. It's probably more compatible with some phones than others.

It's a nice accessory, and what I always wanted the iPod Nano to be. It does however have some very obvious flaws right there in the specs sheet. 24 hours of battery life in standby with Bluetooth on isn't much. Not their fault, really, as you can only fit so much into a case that small. The  €250 price, which is even €50 off normal, is also not exactly in the impulse buy range. With models going all the way to €9999 (no that's not a typo) they're obviously targeting people with a lot of money as well as people with a lot of money, but that might hurt consumer adoption. Still, I would very much like one as I love the concept. As I mentioned above I don't think my iPhone will be able to do much with it (though providing it with an internet connection might be enough), but my Android tablet certainly could. 

[i'm Watch]

Noreve iPhone 4/4S Tradition leather case review

I'm not the biggest collector of cases for my devices. Sure, I've got a Patagonia Daily Grind (in French Roast) that houses the Incase Neoprene Sleeve (black) in which my MacBook Pro lives while we're traveling together, and a bumper for my iPhone 4 and a simple little Belkin case for my iPhone 4S, but I've never really been a fan of "designer" cases that try (and fail) to make the devices that fit in them look better. 

Of course, I can be swayed if I find a company that makes some seriously awesome stuff. And that's what happened when Noreve, a French company that specializes in hand-making high-quality leather cases, reached out to me to review its iPhone 4/4S Tradition leather case. Click through the break to find out what I thought of this little leather beauty.

Video review: Slim cases for your Samsung Galaxy S II

 

If you picked up the Samsung Galaxy S II earlier this month and have been trying to decide about a case, here's a look at some of the ones I've been trying out. There aren't too many options available specifically for the AT&T variant, but of course the international version of the phone means there's a lot to choose from.

If you want to keep your Galaxy S II as slim as possible while still protecting it, the Pure-Gear holster case is a good choice. It's made of a hard plastic that will give you that extra protection and has a rubber-like feel for better grip.