Logitech Mini Boombox: Review

[Facebook wall post] On Friday, I received the Logitech Mini Boombox for review. When I took out, I was like: huh, so small. After I paired to my phone, I played a track from Adele. It filled the entire office. Heads turned, people gathered and looked at this wonder. One colleague even committed to buy it within a minute of sampling.


This is the strongest testimony one can get for a product trial.

Imagine this: a battery-powered mini speaker shorter than the length of an iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S2, offers up to 10 hours usage, bluetooth connectivity and direct cable connection, doubles as a speakerphone with built-in mic, touchscreen controls for skipping tracks and adjusting volume.

My colleague actually intended to get this Boombox and be used as a car speakerphone. Asked why not get a dedicated car speakerphone, he replied curtly: "This is portable and multi-functional." He also suggested that this Boombox could also be used for teleconference.

The Logitech Mini Boombox is powerful enough to fill the room, doing what it is meant to do. Not only will the audio make head turns, it will make people wonder how this compact device can achieve so much. The ability for me to place this thing anywhere, anyhow, without worries of wires, is game-changing. Instead of listening audio through my mobile device speaker, I can pipe through the Mini Boombox, which is as portable as my mobile device. Exciting.

As I compared the audio quality between bluetooth connection and direct line-in, I found that the bluetooth audio balancing sounds warmer and better bass production while the direct line-in gives a clearer sound with less bass. I actually prefer the bluetooth audio.

The Mini Boombox can pump out most music genres rather well, but it doesn't seem to handle certain frequency resonance well, like acoustic piano recording. When these tracks are played, the Boombox rattles. Do take note if you intend to get this to play your favourite classical piano tracks. One should also not expect the Mini Boombox to handle demanding loud music.

The Logitech Mini Boombox works really well as a portable wire-free speaker and handsfree speakerphone. Sound quality is surprisingly good for its size and will satisfy most consumer needs. Retails at S$109.

Photo Blog: Gadgets Overdrive During my Hong Kong 2011 Vacation

While I take a break and enjoy my vacation in Hong Kong in Nov 2011, my gadgets went on overdrive.

This is the first time I brought my 4-year-old daughter abroad, so I need to make sure she is well-occupied. I brought all her favourite gadgets - the spare iPhone 3GS and the iPad, plus a comfortable pair of Sony MDR-Z1000 headphones.

Who doesn't love a pair of comfy cushiony headphones?

I also brought the Logitech Wireless Keyboard for Tablet so that I can work using the iPad more efficiently. I love the hard slip-in case that converts into a stand to hold the heavy iPad.

For my own private listening, I used the Logitech UE600vi, an absolute ear-opener. It's so light and comfortable that I could wear this whole day. The treble frequency is not high and so it's very suitable for outdoor use. In comparison, the Sony MDR-EX1000 has very clear treble sound but when used outdoors, the treble overpowers the bass.

I love Hong Kong because it is a very well-connected environment, be it transport or telecommunications. Just 12 months ago, a 7-day unlimited data VAS from CSL costed HK$178. On this trip, it costs only HK$78! Thanks to the 1O1O shop staff at the airport departure hall, I got it set up on my Samsung Galaxy S2 in a brief, while my Singapore SIM card is moved to my iPhone 3GS. Besides data, this card offers free IDD call to many countries including Singapore - pay only HK$0.28 per minute!

This was the Prepaid SIM card I bought. Link

The reason for using the Galaxy S2 for the Hong Kong prepaid SIM card is obvious: Android phones enable Wi-Fi hotspot. With that, I can tether all my mobile devices to the Galaxy S2 and enjoy data connectivity at no extra cost. I made sure all our other mobile devices' data roaming is turned off, and the Wi-Fi is connected to the Galaxy S2.

Besides the benefits of Wi-Fi tethering, the Samsung Galaxy S2 can also do USB OTG (on-the-go), which means I can plug an external storage device to the Galaxy S2 and it can read the storage device. Thus I am able to transfer photos from my cameras via a card reader to the phone and upload to Facebook. The photos are edited using the NX200 built-in editing tools and then resized.

And with so many gadgets, it is practically not possible to survive on a a couple power sockets in the hotel room. For that, I brought my own extension sockets to charge up all my devices. I even bought a portable battery pack just for this trip in case the phone battery runs out before the day ended.

Now that I've taken care of the gadgets, let me share some photos I took during the vacation and the process of capturing them.

Day 1: Going to the airport.

I took this shot on the moving taxi. After a dozen shots, this one captures the airport control tower without blur while the surrounding is. Tip: there is no way to guarantee a good shot on a moving vehicle. Just keep shooting and hold your camera steady.

Above, I used the Panorama mode on the Samsung NX200 to capture this seemingly fish-eye shot of the aircraft. You can see that Panorama modes are not limited to long stretches of images. This 4:3-looking aspect ration is achieved by panning using the portrait mode instead of the landscape mode.

Shooting without looking at the viewfinder takes some practice, but it's the only way to capture images at places where photography is not permitted. With a fast camera like the NX200, it doesn't take more than a second to get this shot and stealthily slip the camera back to my case.


Day 2: Checking the weather.

Still drizzling. Our original plan was to visit HK Disneyland on Days 2 and 3. But Day 2 weather is quite bad, so we had to hope for a better weather on Day 3. To get this shot, I had to anticipate her as she slowly heads towards the curtain.

That's Disneyland Hotel, and at the foggy distant background, the mainland Hong Kong, not the CBD, by the way. That's way too few skyscrapers if you noticed.

Bossini got the license to produce a range of Toy Story merchandise to tie-in with the opening of the Toy Story theme park in Disneyland. Unfortunately, the park only started from 18 Nov, about 10 days short from our trip. Nonetheless, Mayenne got to pose with this statue inside the 4-storey store at Sai Yeung Choi Street, among others. Notice the similar poses?

Day 3: It's Disneyland!

Weather was perfect! Cloudy cooling day with no precipitation! The moment we entered the park, we saw the queue for a photo shoot with Mickey and Minnie. We quickly got on the queue and captured this beautiful memory.

The must-watch show, Festival of The Lion King. Shooting in the dark is no problem for the Samsung NX200. Tip: set the camera to Manual exposure mode, maximum aperture, and then fine-tune the shutter speed, using the viewfinder as a guide.

I didn't take any still images of the Street Parade, because I felt that a video capture offers a better visual memory for my daughter (she still watches the video regularly at home till today). Here's one just to show the colour vibrancy of the Samsung NX200.

There were 2 things which I felt regretful as night time approached, yet the regrets were all negated by one non-event. One: the Samsung NX200 battery could not last the entire day. For that, I was fortunate to have a secondary camera, the Fujifilm Finepix F550EXR to capture video footages, while trying to conserve the NX200 battery for the fireworks. Second, I did not bring a tripod for the fireworks shoot. So I had to look for a flat elevated surface and attached my pocket flexi-pod. The only elevated surface I could find: the trash bin.

And this was the position.

But all these problems came to naught, when the PA announced that the fireworks show was cancelled!!

As the crowd dispersed, I attempted to capture a better shot of the Castle.

I wasn't able to capture any more shot, because at this point, the NX200 battery went completely flat.

Day 4: The Return

Before we checked out of the Disney Hollywood Hotel, we explored the garden, which is surprisingly well landscaped. If you are staying there, please make an effort to visit the garden.

At the airport, she insisted on handling her new luggage we bought for her. Doesn't she look like a seasoned traveller?

Credits:
I'd like to thank the following companies for lending me some of the gadgets to use for my vacation:

• Samsung for the NX200 and lenses
• Logitech for the UE600vi earphones and Wireless Keyboard for Tablet

There is also the Sony Camcorder HDR-PJ10 which was not featured in this vacation blog because, despite their kind intentions to lend me, I decided not to bring for the trip because I had too many gadgets to handle. This camcorder has a built-in projector which can project up to 60-inch size, and records with an internal 16GB memory plus optional card slot for expandability. The original intention was to use the camcorder to record videos, and at the end of the day, I could project the footages in the hotel room. I tried it in my own bedroom and the brightness is rather good. In fact, it spurred me to look around for portable battery projectors so that I could watch movies in my bedroom without all the wires and heat and fan noise from the common projectors.

If you have any questions about the post, drop me a comment. You may follow me on my Facebook photography page at Chester Tan Photography.

Updating iPhone 3GS to iOS 5

Over its useful product life, the iPhone 3GS experienced 2 major iOS updates, from the factory-released iOS 3 to the present iOS 5. I must say it is certainly the most value-for-money smartphone I have owned. I managed to update my phone within 12 hours of the release of iOS 5. Apart from difficulty in connecting to iCloud and iMessage, the update was smooth.

Here's a video that gives you a good summary of the list of features available on iOS 5.

Features that I like:

PC Free. You no longer need iTunes to get your iPhone started. iPhone will guide you through a few wizard steps to get your iPhone up and running without requiring you to plug your iPhone to a PC/Mac near you. As part of the PC-free experience, you will be able to update iOS firmware over the air without iTunes. You can also choose to sync your phone with iTunes over Wi-Fi. When enabled, your iPhone will automatically start syncing with your iTunes over Wi-Fi when your phone is plugged to charger and when your phone goes idle.

Operate While Sync. During iTunes Sync with USB, you can still operate the phone. You can still use iTunes to do what you are used to all these years. And you can get used to the ability to continue to operate the phone even during Sync operation.

Notification Center. The most important and possibly life-changing feature of iPhone, you can drag down the status bar to reveal the Notification Center where all your unread notifications appear. You no longer need to scan through all your apps to look for the red bubble and find out what you have missed.

Photos Management

• Camera button. The Up Volume button can now be used as a shutter button.
• Edit Photos. You can edit photos inside the Photos app.
• Create Album Folders. You can create album folders and add photos from other albums to them.

Content-management and PIM

• Twitter Integration. You can seamlessly share your content on Twitter without third-party apps.
• Reading List. You can save any web page as text-only format and read it later.
• Apps Usage Summary. You can see which apps use the most storage in your iPhone, and uninstall or clean-up the data.
• Email formatting. You can format your email text - bold, italics, underline, etc.
• Calendar view. You get a better experience using the calendar.

iCloud. Another major feature for iOS 5, iCloud offers every registered user a 5GB online storage which can be used to backup your iPhone data, to host your new iCloud PIM - email, contacts, calendar and tasks. Very much similar to Google's suite of PIM apps.

iMessage. It's a hybrid of WhatsApp and IM, which allows you to send multimedia messages over data network. iMessage detects your recipient and turns from the usual green bubble to blue bubble if he is also on iMessage. If you sent message to the recipient's mobile number, only his iPhone will receive the message (like WhatsApp). If you sent message to the recipient's email address, then all his iOS devices that are registered with the email address will receive the message (like IM).

What are some of the iOS 5 features absent in the 3GS model:

• Camera shortcut button. You can't start the camera from the lock screen.
• Reminder by Location. There is no option for you to set to remind based on location.
• Vibrate alert. You can't create your own custom vibrate pattern alert.
• Siri.

What are the known issues when updating 3GS with iOS 5? Based on peer feedback:

• Battery drains faster than previous OS, due to more Cloud activity.
• The phone runs with noticeable lag when opening some apps.
• The phone is generally less stable, but with app updates, this problem could go away over time.

If your current 3GS feels rather slow and unstable with the kind of usage load you are experiencing, perhaps you should consider upgrading to a new iPhone. If your phone is working fine and are wondering whether you should update the phone, then please read this blog again from the top. If you follow the iTunes instructions, you should be able to restore all your apps and settings in the new OS. Still, be prepared for any mishaps and backup all your valuable data before embarking this major software update.

Audyssey SOMA Dock: Home Review

One showroom audio review and two blog posts later, I finally get a chance to bring the Audyssey SOMA audio dock back to my home for an on-location review. We all know that showroom conditions always seem to make the audio product sound better. So this review will finally put the question to rest: how well does the SOMA dock perform in real life environment?

I... like it!

Some sound systems make the music sound "noisy". But music coming out from the dock actually sounds very pleasant. The dock produces very crisp tweeter and naturally-resonating bass. The Audyssey engineers have certainly done a very good job in optimising the sound quality of this little audio gem, but I tweaked the sound using the free iOS app, increasing bass a little to suit my taste and my home acoustics.

With the iOS app, you have 3 ways to fine-tune the audio output to your liking. First, you can use the tilt control to swing the audio balance to either bass-heavy or treble-heavy. Then, you can adjust the treble or bass level independently. Finally, you can plot your own EQ chart and save as favourites.

I am surprised that the dock can play all kinds of music without sounding biased. From classical to pop, jazz to rock, even movie audio has got that dynamic punch. The only instance that the dock doesn't sound nice is when the audio source made a mess on the mix or the compression quality.

The Audyssey SOMA dock isn't just a dock for Apple devices. It plays audio via Bluetooth or line-in jack. That practically means almost every audio equipment can enjoy the quality SOMA dock. The best part is that you do not need to choose the source, because the dock can play audio from the iOS dock, line-in and Bluetooth simultaneously. And that's so liberating, especially the Bluetooth option. With the iPhone on hand, I can easily select tracks for playback. When paired with iPad, I can watch video content as the dock pumps out the audio in almost perfect synchronisation.

Having said, the dock is certainly not meant to replace your professional audio system, nor was it meant to rock the house down with its size. But I dare say it beats most of the compact sound systems. If you want to listen to astounding music from your smartphones, at the comfort of your cosy loft, you must try the Audyssey SOMA audio dock. Let your ears convince you.

Audyssey SOMA Audio Dock: A Friend's Testimony

Remember my previous review about the Audyssey SoMa Audio Dock, and that my colleague intended to get one? Well, he finally made a pre-order from Sound Decisions. Yes, the dock is so popular that it is out of stock till end August!

I'd like to share with you the following email message that he addressed to a common friend and later forward to me.

I went to Adelphi just now to look at the Audyssey i-Pod dock that I planned to buy. I tried out the dock with the songs in my iPhone. Fortunately I have got the “Grandma’s Hands”  piece in high quality MP3 format.  The dock played the song beautifully. The finger snaps were very life like. In fact, more so than my large B&W speakers at home!!!  I also played other songs like Spanish Harlem, Chinese songs, pop songs.  They played well but I can sort of tell that the songs are coming from a small setup rather than from big speakers. (Its is not obvious for some songs but obvious for others.)

Then I went to the B&W reseller shop just nearby to try out their newly released high end bookshelf speakers, PM1 which cost over $4K a pair. I played Grandma’s Hands again. While the sound was very clear from each speaker the finger snaps sounded like sh**!!!  They sounded flat, lifeless and just plain awful – very much like the same sound coming out of my big speakers before you tuned them for me. 

Suddenly it dawn on me that you mentioned before that you were shocked that most HIFI shops do not even positioned their speakers properly for optimum sound.  True enough.. the speakers’ positions were crap. They were not even toe-in. In fact, they were toe-out. That explained why such good speakers could produce such awful finger snapping sound!!!

Conclusion, the Audyssey SOMA i-Pod docking station is really optimised for good sound.  And secondly, all speakers no matter how cheap or expensive needs to be properly position/tuned to get good sound!!!

When I told him I would like his permission to post his comments, he said yes, and added the following:

Seriously I was very surprised the finger snapping sounded so life-like from the small box. Ric spent quite a lot of time positioning my floor standing speakers to make the finger snapping sound life-like on my big speakers. Even now, I would just rate it a barely life-like. But on the SOMA, it was very life-like. This is just a very specific example. I don’t know if the same applies to other variables or not.

(BTW, this particular piece of music, Grandma’s Hands, is from an audiophile testing CD I bought sometime ago. This special CD  teaches one how to audition an audio system. Before each musical track is played, a narrator introduces & explains what the track excels at and exactly what you should be listening for on a quality audio system capable of faithfully reproducing tracks just as they were recorded. In this case, it is the life-like finger snapping sound.)

True, or bull? Well, let your ears decide! Visit Sound Decisions showroom at The Adelphi (#04-06/07), or at the following retail outlets:


CK TANGS ORCHARD
310 Orchard Road,
3rd Floor, TechnoBay
Singapore 238864


GAMESCORE PTE LTD
109 North Bridge Road
#05-05 Funan DigitaLife Mall
Singapore 179079

Audyssey: South of Market (SoMa) Audio Dock

They claim to be "the best sounding dock in the market." And I think they are right.

Eugene from Sound Decisions invited me to experience this 13x23x23cm sound machine at their showroom at The Adelphi. When I arrived there, he first took us on a brief tour of the showroom. The 150-inch projection-screen home theatre set-up was awe-inspiring. But that's not what I was there for.

He then promptly led me to where the SoMa dock was placed. After sharing some technical specs, he docked his iPhone onto the port and played some music through it. Frankly, it sounded fabulous. There was no doubt on the kind of quality that this small box can deliver. The designers from Audyssey have proven again that size does not matter. The amazing part was that the SoMa dock was placed between a pair of floor speakers and it appears as if the sounds came from the big speakers!

Non-iPhone devices can also be used! SoMa Audio Dock functions as bluetooth audio speakers, as a speakerphone, even as speakers to your existing audio devices using line-in connection. You can also customise the sound EQ using an iPhone app. You could even dock your iPad, but due to the iPad size, the frontal sound direction is slightly blocked. In essence, the SoMa dock should not be placed in an enclosed area so that the sound can fill the room.

I was surprised that there are many normal-branded docks selling around the price range of S$300 - $600, with some specialised audio brands going up to $1000. Based on in-store samples, they sounded like normal home system speakers. But here is Audyssey, the brand behind all the audio technologies that go into high-end audio equipments like Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, selling for S$635. For that, the Audyssey SoMa dock is reasonably priced with that kind of exceptional audiophile quality it produces and the connectivity it offers to non-iPhone devices.

Don't take my ear for it. Go for an audio test and experience yourself.

P.S. The sound is that good that my audiophile colleague is seriously considering to buy one.

Internet Tethering via Bluetooth on iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.3

Old iPhone 3GS running on iOS 4.3 and newer are given a new lease of life with the "personal hotspot" function. It only supports Bluetooth and USB tethering, where the former is a lesser-implemented tethering method that not many devices support.

With my recent acquisition of the ASUS Transformer, which actually supports Internet tethering via Bluetooth, it gives me one less reason to sell away my spare iPhone 3GS phone. In fact, I think it's a better idea to do Internet tethering instead of buying a 3G-enabled tablet. This is because I can still use my iPhone on its own if I so wish without having to remove the SIM card. Though my primary phone is the Samsung Galaxy S, I still use the iPhone for reasons which I shared in my other article.

One screen too many?

When the iPhone is connected to a personal hotspot, the status bar turns blue constantly. A rather interesting sight, for I never knew it is possible to see the iOS status bar in colours other than black.

Bluetooth tethering is a more secure method of pairing devices and offers more consistent connectivity. Wi-fi tethering is more commonly supported. iPhone 3GS has at least one, so that's good for me. Bluetooth tethering is also available on the even older iPhone 3G under "Internet Tethering". For more info, visit the Apple Support link here.


Chester regularly seeks tech topics that enriches his life. Follow his road of constant discovery on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicdiary 

How to Create iPhone Ringtones and Use in iPhone

Ever wonder why most iPhone users use the same ringtones? That's because Apple ringtone format is proprietory. However, there are many apps that can help you do that easily.

Technically-speaking, as long as you can convert any music file to .M4A format, then rename it to .M4R, add the .M4R file into iTunes, and include "Ringtones" to sync to iPhone, you're done. (I actually drafted this post with step-by-step overview, but after finding that most of these iPhone ringtone apps already have instructions, I decided not to elaborate on the steps in my blog)

You can either convert it in your computer or on your iPhone itself. There are many desktop software (like iRinger) and iPhone apps (like Ringtone Designer) that can help you convert your non-DRM music into the correct format. However, you still need to sync with iTunes as "Ringtone" before you can actually select the custom ringtone under your phone settings. Most of these apps come with video tutorials that will teach you how to do just that.

Once you add a ringtone file in iTunes, you should be able to see the "Ringtones" library for you to manage and sync to your devices.

Customising text tones (.CAF) requires you to jailbreak your iPhone, so we shan't discuss that here.

For comparative purpose, if you are using Android phone, you can use any MP3 files as ringtone. You can also trim your music on your Android phone using many ringtone apps out there, and use it immediately on your phone without requiring to go back to iTunes to sync before you can use.

My iPhone 4 White Adventure

28 April 2011, Singapore - Last night (Wednesday), I saw from my twitter news feed that the iPad 2 is confirmed to commence on sale in Singapore on 29 April (Friday) - 1am online and 10am at the retail stores. What caught me by surprise was that the iPhone 4 White is going on sale today - 28 April (Thursday). This is the much-anticipated release and Singapore is one of the first countries that will get it.

Silly as it may sound, I waited past midnight and checked the Apple Online Store in hope that I will magically see the iPhone 4 White model available for online purchase. I slept at almost 1am, woke up this morning, and checked the online shop. Still nothing.

During lunchtime, I went to Parkway Parade, and following the list of authorised iPhone resellers on the Apple website, I asked them for iPhone - I didn't even mention the white version - but they said only telcos sell them. I wanted to get a contract-free unit because I would only save less than $200 if I were to keep my existing mobile plan and do an early recontract with 7 months remaining.

At about 2pm, the Apple Online Store went offline, signalling that a change is coming, obviously on the iPhone 4 White model. I waited in anticipation, but after 2 hours, the store was still out of service. With each passing moment, the chances of getting the online order before the long Labour Day weekend grew slimmer.

What happened next was privileged information, but in essence, I was offered an opportunity to purchase the iPhone 4 White from a specific authorised retail outlet, but at a small premium over the Apple Store. I grabbed the opportunity and by 5pm, I had the iPhone 4 White in my hands:

And was I glad I did, because when I checked the Apple Online Store which went back online, the iPhone 4 White is merely "coming soon".

Why was I so anxious to get the White unit? Because wifey has been waiting for it for the longest time. It was supposed to be her birthday present (last September), then Christmas, then Valentine's. So here, on the very first day of worldwide availability, I have it.

While my iPhone adventure comes to an end, the iPad 2 buyers' adventure have just begun - less than 3 hours to the online availability and less than 12 hours to store opening. Enjoy!

- 10.40pm (GMT +8)