Mobile phone accessories and gadgets

mik · 04-02-2014, 02:24 PM

I thought i would start a thread for smart phone gadgets and accessories, just about every body has phones and the vast array of goodies that are available for them ............... it's like being a kid in a candy shop

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On the subject of extra battery time, yes i have a spare battery i can just throw in my note 2, it takes about a minute with my clumsy old fingers, however i wanted something maybe a little better, and i'm always on the lookout for a good smart phone gadget........... anyway while looking for a better protective case for phone in one of the many phone places , the girl behind the counter showed me a case with an inbuilt battery.

According to the specs the case battery capacity is about the same size as the 3100 mAh one in my note, however it doesn't seem to translate into the same hour time as the standard phone battery, i would say it gives about10/12 hours of medium use, probably about half of a charge compared to the factory battery,
which i think is still a pretty fair buffer zone.
the way it works is you plug a micro usb into the bottom of the case, and it will immediately start to charge with or without the phone in it, there are 4 tiny lights on the bottom of the case showing charge state.
when you wish to charge the phone push a the button next to the lights and away it goes, the lights flash away 4,3,2,1.

It's not bad, but a couple of small flaws for this particular one, the finger access in the case so you can push the power button on the right hand side and the volume/camera zoom button on the left are a bit tight for a fat fingered buggers ............ but nothing a bit of creative artistry with a dremel cant fix

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also like a lot cases, the case cover has no stay shut mechanism,
so if you drop the phone and it lands face first and with the extra weight of the battery case, a big chance your gonna damage the phone, i will have to invent something to keep it shut(my kingdom for a black lacker band !),

A small whinge is there is no access to get the pencil/s pen out the phone once it's in the case, can't be helped i suppose, it is a small thing but, it would not have been too hard to put a little pocket in the hinge area to keep it.
flaws aside it is still handy to have that extra bit of battery reserve and hopefully a bit of protection for the phone.
there is the added bonus of if someone trys to mug you, if the mugging party gets a good wack on the side of the scone with the now heavier and solid phone he's gonna be having sleepy time

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Spudz27 · 04-02-2014, 07:45 PM

A gadget we sell at work is a HUD that pairs with the navigon app on your smartphone. Basically you install this HUD on the dash and it gives a holographic display of speed, distance, distance to turn etc. This device only works with a smartphone however. It won't pair to a normal gps.

mik · 04-02-2014, 08:45 PM

Beauty Spudz27 , a while ago I was looking for a speedo type app myself as I find that often during the bright sunlight period, I can't see the speedo too much because of reflections, i came across one and it is very useful........ even though I just use it for a speedo and not the hud feature.

**Charliewool** · 04-02-2014, 08:56 PM

How many $$ Spudz?
And how hard to install?

Spudz27 · 05-02-2014, 01:10 AM

$$$$$ is about $170, install is simple. It sticks to dash with double sided mounting tape and you can either install a little plastic sheet on the windscreen that shows the display, or use the plastic screen that clips to the device. Personally I would use the clip on screen, but it won't be as high up when displayed, but when you are not using it, at least you don't have a small plastic screen in your sight.

http://www.cnet.com.au/garmin-hud-339346150.htm

Yellow_Festiva · 05-02-2014, 09:04 AM

Our local shopping centre has a vending machine that sells battery boosters for Iphones. A fleeting glance saw that there were pretty exxy, perhaps $30 a pop..

Wonder how many they have sold?

mik · 05-02-2014, 04:57 PM

i don't know how popular they are Yellow Festiva, but my brother has one, and the guy that gassed up my aircon bloke had one connected to his iphone yesterday because he would otherwise be recharging the iphone 3 times a day, he was calling it a life saver, handy i guess,
but i dont think i would like to have one connected to my phone from another pocket all day long.

mik · 31-08-2014, 12:32 AM

Been a while since visited this thread, just thought I'd mention a cheap little blue tooth speaker I bought a while ago for the mobile, very handy to increase the volume and the qaulity is pretty good too,
it pairs up top the mobile easy as pie, I'm not sure of the wattage.
You can use it as is our or give the top a slight twist and it the spring loaded speaker gains about 20 mm in height to change the sound a tad.

it runs off a rechargeable battery, i just use it while I'm doing chores , i listen to songs from Google play or stream the radio through my phone,
i reckon is pretty good actually, I have been told by the family. ....." it's a little bit loud", : ).
it was about 30 bucks I think, the brand is
Pendo, model : MRS-b120