By Andrew Liszewski

At one time Bluetooth headsets were only worn by tech-savvy go-getters who didn’t realize they weren’t the most flattering-looking accessory. But as the use of cellphones while driving becomes illegal in more and more places around the world, Bluetooth headsets are becoming a necessity. However, that doesn’t mean they still have to be worn 24/7, and since nobody wants to have to carry a cellphone and a Bluetooth headset ‘just in case’, Newton Peripherals have come out with an iPhone case that makes it easy to carry both with the MoGo Talk. Read my full review after the jump.

The MoGo Talk comes with the bare essentials needed to get you going, including the case itself with the Bluetooth headset already attached, a charging cable, various sized soft silicone ear tips and a microfiber cloth.

You might think that cloth is a nice freebie too, but since the MoGo Talk I was sent has a polished plastic finish just like the iPhone 3G & 3GS it was designed for, you’ll be spending just as much time buffing out fingerprints as you do with the iPhone itself. However, at CES a rep from Newton Peripherals told me that another version of the case would be coming that featured a soft rubber finish where fingerprints were less of an issue.

The MoGo Talk also included a plastic screen protector (not pictured) but since my iPhone already has one, I didn’t use it.

Removing the Bluetooth headset from the iPhone case is as easy as gently pressing on one edge which causes it to pop-up, but I’ll admit I did have to read the instructions to figure that out. (After spending quite a bit of time prying at the edges trying to retrieve it.) And as far as I can tell when it’s in the iPhone case, the Bluetooth headset is simply held in by a snug fit, there’s no plastic clips or magnets to keep it secure. So while it makes it easy to remove and replace, it’s not that difficult to accidentally dislodge it either, though I will point out that hasn’t happened yet.

Charging the Bluetooth headset is done while it’s attached to the iPhone case. There’s a small pop-up jack that reveals a microUSB connector, allowing you to connect it to your PC, or a USB equipped AC adapter. For starters, I would have probably preferred a miniUSB connector here, since it means I have to carry a new microUSB cable if I intend to charge the MoGo Talk when I’m away from my office. And secondly, the additional charging port also means you’ll need 2 USB ports available if you intend to charge both your iPhone and the Bluetooth headset at the same time.

Speaking to a rep at CES about this slight inconvenience, he mentioned that there’s a Blackberry MoGo Talk case coming out that allows the Bluetooth headset to charge at the same time as the phone is, requiring just a single cable. But because of the placement and size of its sync port, doing the same for the iPhone was something they were still looking into.

And as for battery life, the company claims on a full charge you can expect to get about 4 hours of talk time and over a week of standby time with the MoGo Talk, but in my experience that might be just a tad generous.

You see, in order to create a Bluetooth headset that could attach to the back of an iPhone case without adding a considerable amount of bulk, the MoGo Talk had to be very thin, and it is remarkably svelte. But the downside to that is there’s not a lot of room left for batteries. So if battery life is your number one priority in a Bluetooth headset, the MoGo Talk might not be your ideal solution. However, when it comes to convenience the MoGo Talk is a real superstar. As you can see it’s a very compact and thin Bluetooth headset, and is light enough to not require an extra over-the-ear support when being worn.

Whether it’s for ease-of-use or to keep the internal components to a minimum, the headset only features a single button on top which is used to trigger a wide variety of functions depending on whether you simply tap it, or hold it down for several seconds. There’s no dedicated volume controls on the headset either, but that’s because it uses an automatic volume control system to monitor the level of ambient sound while you’re on a call, adjusting it up or down as needed. But you can still adjust the volume on the phone itself if you wanted to.

The MoGo Talk’s Bluetooth headset also features a folding earpiece, which is pretty much a necessity so it can fold flat and piggyback in the iPhone case. As you can see in the photo, the ear tip doesn’t exactly look ergonomic, particularly when compared to the round ear tip featured on most Bluetooth headsets, but when it’s squished in your ear the soft silicone does conform to the shape of your ear canal, providing adequate sound isolation and preventing it from falling out.

The MoGo Talk also comes with 2 types of swappable ear tips. The thinner version with ‘ribs’ pictured here which provides for a bit less sound isolation, and a thicker rounded type (not pictured) which provides better sound isolation and fuller sound.

Pairing the device to my iPhone was extremely easy, as I expect a Bluetooth headset designed specifically for the iPhone to be, and call quality was perfectly fine on both ends. My current Bluetooth headset is the BlueAnt Z9i, and I will say it produces slightly fuller sound when compared to the MoGo Talk, but I’m going to attribute that to the Z9i’s larger earpiece. The earpiece on the MoGo Talk is very thin in order to allow it to fold flat, so I’d expect there to be a slight drop in sound quality, but I doubt most users would even notice. And anyone I phoned who is used to talking to me with the BlueAnt Z9i couldn’t tell I was using a different Bluetooth headset.

Of course as thin as the MoGo Talk Bluetooth headset is, it’s not paper-thin, so the case does add a bit of bulk to your iPhone, there’s no getting around that. As you can see in this photo it roughly doubles the thickness of the iPhone, but the back of the case is extremely contoured so it doesn’t feel as if it’s twice as thick in hand. It will definitely make for a slightly tighter squeeze in your pocket, but at the same time, you don’t have to free up space for carrying a separate Bluetooth headset, so it’s a reasonable trade-off I think.

And even though the MoGo Talk case does add some thickness to your iPhone, making it sit a bit higher on your desk, the fact that the Bluetooth headset on the back is flat means it actually won’t wobble around as much, which is something I occasionally find annoying with the iPhone.

Conclusions:

When it comes to buying any type of gadget or electronics there’s always going to be trade-offs you have to consider when making a decision, and the MoGo Talk is no different. If you’re looking for a Bluetooth headset that’s easy to carry when it’s not stuck in your ear then you’re probably not going to find a better solution than the MoGo Talk. The clever design of the headset and the iPhone case means the two can be easily carried together, even if it does result in a slightly larger bulge in your pocket.

But, if you’re looking for a feature-rich Bluetooth headset with cutting-edge noise cancellation technology and extreme battery life, the MoGo Talk will not be at the top of your list. The key word here is ‘convenience’, and I think Newton Peripherals have managed to pull that off with minimal compromises.

Pros:
+ Easy to carry since it almost disappears onto the back of your iPhone.
+ Thin design with minimal compromise in sound quality.
+ Case perfectly matches the finish on the iPhone 3G & 3GS, though that could also be considered a downside if you hate fingerprints.
+ Automatic volume control removes the need for extra buttons on the headset.
+ Includes different types of ear tips for different sound isolation preferences.

Cons:
- Uses a microUSB charging cable which means an extra cable to carry around for most people.
- Requires 2 cables to charge the iPhone and Bluetooth headset at the same time.
- Lack of clips or even magnets means there’s a slight chance the headset could fall out of the case if bumped.
- iPhone is roughly twice as thick with the case attached.
- The headset’s thin design means a thinner battery, which results in slightly reduced call and standby times.
- Flat design of the silicone ear tips may not result in a perfect fit for all users.

Links:
MoGo Talk Integrated Bluetooth Headset And iPhone Case – $129

If you have any questions about the MoGo Talk you’d like answered, please feel free to leave them in the comments, and I’ll try to respond to them as best I can.

By Chris Scott Barr

We’re no strangers to SSD’s here at OhGizmo, as we’ve already had the pleasure of reviewing a couple. Today Kingston announced their second generation of SSDNow V+ drives. These are their higher-end enthusiast drives, very similar to the OCZ Summit drive that we reviewed a few months ago. Kingston sent over one of these new SSD’s so that we could put it to the test.

Just like the V Series drive that we reviewed back in August, the V+ is available in a bundle or as just a standalone drive. The bundle includes mounting brackets, a 4-pin power cable converter, SATA cable and USB enclosure (for your old drive) and drive cloning software. The bundle will only set you back around $15, which is more than enough to justify the cost. Heck, the Acronis drive cloning software alone is worth it.

Features

• Sequential Speed: 230MB/sec. read 180MB/sec. write
• Innovative: 2.5″ form factor; uses MLC NAND Flash memory components
• Silent: runs silent and cool with no moving parts
• Shock Resistant: no moving mechanical parts means the SSD handles rougher conditions
• Supports S.M.A.R.T.: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology
• Guaranteed: three-year Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support
• Interface: SATA 1.5Gb/sec. and 3.0Gb/sec.
• Capacity1: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
• Storage temperatures: -40° C to 85° C
• Operating temperatures: 0° C to 70° C
• Dimensions: 69.85mm x 100mm x 9.5mm
• Weight: 84 grams
• Vibration operating: 2.17G
• Vibration non-operating: 20G
• Operating Shock: 1500G
• Power specs: 2.6W active; 0.15W idle
• Life expectancy: 1,000,000 hours MTBF

Those sequential read/write speeds are some of the more impressive that I’ve seen in this class of SSD. Of course we’ll have to see how it holds up in real-world testing. The new V+ drives also feature TRIM support, which should help it maintain these high speeds throughout its lifespan.

Test System

We’re using the same test system as our previous SSD reviews. This keeps all of our old scores relevant.

Motherboard: Asus P6T
RAM: 6GB OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Blade Series (CAS 6-6-6-24)
GPU: MSI Radeon 4890 OC Edition (1GB DDR5)
HDD: Western Digital 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache
HDD: OCZ Summit Series 64GB SSD
HDD: Kingston SSDNow V-Series
OS: Windows 7

CrystalDiskMark

I was a little disappointed to see that the drive didn’t quite live up to the promised write speed that Kingston advertized, though it was spot-on with the read speeds. That said, it still knocked the pants off of the similarly-classed OCZ Summit in a few of the tests.

ATTO

Here we see scores a little closer to what Kingston has specified. We also see it deliver a dominating lead in write speeds over the OCZ Summit. Of course synthetic tests only tell us so much. On to the good stuff!

Crysis Load Times

I honestly didn’t expect to shave another 6 seconds off of the load time here. While an SSD isn’t going to improve your frame rate, it will make sure that you get into the action as quick as possible.

Copying 5GB Of Mixed Data

This is the test that is going to make any SSD shine, and shine the V+ Gen. 2 did. Those high write speeds got the transfer time down to just over a minute. That’s less that 1/3 of the time it took with a standard 7200RPM SATA hard drive.

Windows Boot Time

Unfortunately I think that we’ve hit the wall with Windows boot times. Most of the time here is actually spent waiting on the motherboard to do its thing. The amount of time spent loading Windows is relatively short, so I don’t expect to shave much more off of this, even with future drives.

Verdict

When compared apples-to-apples against the OCZ Summit, this drive clearly stands above. Not only do you get more value (thanks to the offered bundle) but you’re getting significantly higher speeds. The 128GB drive that we tested retails for $512, ($528 if you opt for the bundle) which definitely puts this into the enthusiast class. If you’re looking to spend that kind of money on a new SSD, I wouldn’t have to think twice about recommending the Kingston SSDNow V+ Gen. 2. You can also find it in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB flavors.

[ Kingston ]

Für jeden Feuerwehrmann mit einer Axt und Künstler mit einem Pinsel, geeks sind bekannt von den Instrumenten auszustatten, die sie herumschleppen. Aus irgendeinem Grund bin ich der Meinung, diese sind / werden sollte folgende Fassung:

Laptop

Die wahre nexus jeder Geek der Welt, den Laptop können sie überall-berechnen, so lange gibt es eine Plug innerhalb einer Stunde oder zwei zu erreichen. Laptops erlauben geeks zu tun, ihre Sache, bis die Eingabe Blog-Posts für die Welt, um zu sehen, oder aus Abfällen Zeit durch Plurk und Wikipedia.
“Must-have” Features: Wi-Fi und Bluetooth. Die ehemalige Anzeigen für Sie an Ihrem lokalen Cafés, die letztere zu kopieren Zeug zwischen Ihrer Gadgets. Ein Multi-Format Card-Reader auch hilft.

Cell Telefon

Von High-End-Küche Senken zu grundlegenden Modelle, das Handy ist nicht nur für Geeks, sondern für alle Lebewesen in der modernen Zivilisation.
“Must-have” Features: In dieser Hinsicht bin ich nicht wirklich wählerisch, wenn es hilft, haben ein Telefon mit WiFi und Bluetooth mindestens. Auch BT für die Übertragung Zeug schnell, und WiFi-fähigen Mobiltelefon auch als Hotspot-Sniffer. Und natürlich sollte das Telefon, Anrufe und Texte ziemlich gut.

Kamera

Wenn ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte, eine Kamera speichert die Geek aus, die etwas zu schreiben. Just-Snap kaum ein interessantes Bild, Schlag auf einen interessanten Titel, und Sie sind gesetzt! Auch, Bilder zeigen, machen Sie alle Ihre Spielzeug und ihre Angaben, dass noch viel einfacher.
“Must-have” Features: Kompakte Abmessungen und lange Akkulaufzeit. Wenn Sie die Kamera nicht mehr passt in Ihre Tasche, werden Sie hiermit bekannt als “Fotograf” (oder ein wanna-be photog). Lange Lebensdauer der Batterie spart Ihnen Ausflüge in die nächste Steckdose, während die Akkus werden definitiv sparen Sie viel Geld.

Portable Gaming Console

Wer braucht einen tragbaren Media Player wenn entweder die PSP und DS spielen können Ihre Musik-und Video-mit einigen Änderungen im Falle der letzteren? Darüber hinaus erhalten Sie haben etwas zu tun, während Sie warten, dass jemand. Und, wenn ein Hot-Küken passiert, auf die Verwendung dieses Gaming-Konsole (eine Rarität um sicher zu sein), haben Sie die perfekte Gelegenheit, mit ihr!
“Must-have” Features: Pretty einfach. Ihre tragbaren Gaming-Konsole sollte doppelt so einem tragbaren Media-Player (spielen können Musik-und Video), und haben eine große Auswahl an Spielen. Alles andere ist einfach nicht wert.

Kopfhörer / Ohrhörer

Ohrhörer halten alle aus herauszufinden, über Ihre Britney Spears Sammlung. Higher-End-Modelle können Sie auch hören, die atemberaubenden Bass fast immer fehlen in externe Lautsprecher.
“Must-have” Features: Etwas, das klingt nicht Blech, und passt die Ohren (oder geht über sie) bequem.

Externe Festplatte

Flash-Laufwerke sind so 2007! Mit jeder Austausch von Dateien, die leicht-Besetzung, eine 16 GB-Laufwerk Daumen, warum nicht mehr effizient und gehen für die portable Festplatte Route? Die meisten Modelle bereits mit Ihrem Laptop Out-of-the-box Wie auch immer, und sie auch doppelt so groß (wenn relativ anfällig) Back-up-Geräte.
“Must-have” Features: Eine kleine Größe hält die portable Festplatte, die Kapazität sollte an Ihre Bedürfnisse anzupassen. Mein Laptop 250GB Festplatte gesicherten am … ein 250GB tragbare Festplatte.

Dies sind die wenigen Artikel, die Sie müssen ein lautes-und-stolz Gadget Geek. Fühlen Sie sich frei, um Ergänzungen vorzuschlagen.

Übersetzt von Google, Entschuldigung für die Qualität

Sales package:
Handset
870 mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-5BT)
Charger (AC-3)
Wired stereo-headset (HS-47)
Memory card (microSD 512 Mb)
Two Xpress-onTM panels
User Guide

Positioning

The Nokia 7510 occupies a special spot in the Supernova line-up, since it’s the only clamshell in the range to date and also the second best offering in it – it’s topped by the 7610, which is the most expensive of the four. Although I don’t think many will face the dilemma of choosing between the 7510 and 7610, because they are so far apart and just happen to coexist within one product line-up.
Another thing of note about the sliding 7610 Supernova is that it’s the only phone in the series that looks to appeal to both men and women. At the end of the day it should see the ratio of 50 to 50 or, say, 60 to 40 in favor of women. Clearly, it’s the most male-tailored device in the range.
However, designing this handset, Nokia went for a witty trick and armed the 7510 with a slew of applications, but cuts its specs a bit. All this clearly defines its target audience as the youth, since these consumers usually demand entertainment, player, radio, browser and a whole lot of other things from their phones. And the 7510 Supernova just happens to have it all in an attractive package with a reasonable price tag.
The 7510 also indicates that S60 continues rolling down to lower price brackets, since feature-rich S40-based handsets are getting cheaper by the minute. Can you actually recall some other instance when the 7000 series phones went for less than 400 USD? With all due confidence I must say that they have never been this cheap from the beginning. While it’s all good for consumers, on the other hand, it denies the company’s established nomenclature and brings in some confusion. Remember the Nokia 7070 Prism and its 50 Euro price tag? Times are changing indeed. (more…)

C|net has announced the “Top ten must-have gadgets for students”. Maybe British students can afford all this 10 items, but at my student times I could hardly afford any one of them. But times change, I hope. So here they are:

[photopress:Sony_Ericsson_W300i.jpg,thumb,alignleft] 1. Sony Ericsson’s W300i

If you need something to stop you from nodding off in lectures, Sony Ericsson’s W300i comes with plenty of storage for your MP3s — whenever you feel your eyelids dropping simply plug in your headphones and blast some Scissor Sisters straight into your lugholes.

What we think.
This is a entry-level Walkman phone with a great price tag and feature set

Editors’ rating — 7.7

[photopress:Samsung_NV3.jpg,thumb,alignleft] 2. Samsung NV3

Struggling to remember last night after one too many vodkas? Your trusty Samsung NV3 will fill you in on the missing moments and ensure your antics are captured for posterity.

What we think
A great-looking camera that offers impressive image quality and is dead easy to use

Editors’ rating – 7.5

[photopress:acer_travelmate3012.jpg,thumb,alignleft] 3. Acer TravelMate 3012WTMi

With a built-in camera and Bluetooth VoIP included, the lightweight Acer TravelMate 3012WTMi has all the features to keep you in touch with friends and family back home — although as yet it’s unable to write your lecture notes for you…

What we think
It includes a number of features that should appeal to mobile professionals, but the lack of an integrated optical drive could deter some users

Editors’ rating – 7.5
(more…)

1. I was presented with 40 GB creative Zen extra jukebox on my birthday in February.
2. The same day I also was presented with pocket PC HP iPaq on which I create this message.
3. I’ve acquired broadband for home; before I used awful dial-up (I’m serious)
4. I finally upgraded my cell to Motorola e398, but actually I’m still using my old Panasonic GD93 with another operator’s package and don’t care it hasn’t color screen and Java. It doesn’t look like a gadget but still can be used like a phone
5. GTA San Andreas out on PC.
6. We bought big screen TV for a living room and it was Samsung, just 29 inch.
7. Siemens sold its mobile department to Benq and soon German famous brandname will be changed on cell phones and other portable devices.
8. I totally upgraded my desktop – new CPU chip, motherboard supporting SLI, video card (single yet), satellite receiver, memory. AMD based certainly and waiting for M2 and DDR2 for this platform. Maybe dual core CPU but not now – let the Windows and another software reach dual stream performance first.
9. Our crew bought this cute domain name and started creating one more moblog now you can read only my posts but other team members are getting ready and looking for ads for this site
10. Opera became free and much more optional in its 8.5 version.

GSM phone Samsung D800/D820
GSM phone Sony Ericsson J230i

GSM smartphone Nokia N71
GSM phone Samsung SGH-P300