MiFi 2200

MiFi 2200

You may have heard about getting your computer on the Internet with cellular service.  Yes, you can get a cellular card from your mobile phone company and use it in your computer to get on the Internet.  Another way to do it is with a special wireless router that you get from your mobile phone company.

I looked at the Mi Fi 2200 from Verizon. It is called an Intelligent Mobile solution and it is a really fresh way to get on the Internet. The MiFi 2200 is tauted as the world’s smallest wireless router. It is not only small, but it doesn’t look at all like a router. In fact, it looks like a shiny black credit card that is about ½” thick.

The MiFi accesses the Verizon cellular network to get you on the Internet, so you can get online wherever there is Verizon service, which is pretty much across America.

You can use the MiFi just like a modem that provides an Internet connection. Just plug it into a computer with the USB cable, configure the software and you are online. You can also use it as a wifi router, which can let up to 5 computers or other devices within about 30’ hook up to the Internet. It is really cool. Keep the MiFi in your shirt pocket and you are a walking WiFi center.

You get about the same speed as a DSL modem, so the Internet service is good. The MiFi is feature laden. It supports Wi-Fi encryption, port forwarding, port filtering, and other common router options.

In my testing, the MiFi worked seamlessly and gave me Internet access in areas where it would not have been otherwise available. It comes with a wall charger and lasts about 4 hours on a single charge. It can also plug into the USB port on a computer to be recharged.

The MiFi is a great option for anyone who lives or travels to areas where they cannot get good Internet connectivity through other methods.

There are however, two caveats. First, I found the Verizon, VZ Access Manager that helps you manage the MiFi really terrible. If you are used to working with networks, modems, and routers, you will be able to figure it out. If not, you will be at the Verizon store asking for help.  To their credit, Verizon has a video tutorial on their website that will also help get your through the software.  The good news is that once you figure out the software, you can manage the MiFi quite easily.

The second caveat is the price. The cost of the unit itself is not bad. It is $269.99 with a month-to-month Verizon data plan. It gets as cheap as $49.99 with a two-year contract. The service, however, is pricey. You will pay $39.99 for 250 MB of usage. This is good for only very, very  light use. The 5GB plan costs $59.99 a month. The problem is that heavy use can easily bring your usage over that. The Verizon software lets you monitor your usage quite easily, but I would like to see an unlimited plan so you wouldn’t have to worry about how close you are to your limit.

The good:

• Very small and pocketable
• Good design
• Instant Internet almost everywhere
• Good service and connectivity
• Can be use for up to five connections
• The device is inexpensive
• Month-to-month data plan is available

The bad:

• Expensive and limited data plans
• Poor software

The bottom line:

If you don’t mind the costs and you can stay within the data plan limits, this is an excellent product that can get you on the Internet almost anywhere. The Verizon service is very good, but they need to revamp the software to make it easier to use.

Internet connectivity is being quickly built into many televisions. Whether it is in the form of Apps or connections with companies like Netflix, the Internet connected TV is here to stay.

Samsung has an amazing a television that is only .3″ thick– about the width of a pencil. They also have a remote that not only is an exceptional remote control, but that also allows you to see the television picture on the screen on the remote. Many of the new Samsung TVs have bezels that change color depending on the light in the room.

Panasonic has improved their plasma technology and the pictures on their new plasma televisions, both 2D and 3D are really impressive.

While all these changes are nice features, they make a strong statement that television is morphing into something more than our current TVs. You can expect your next television to be the center of communications as well as entertainment. But you may want to wait to make your purchase until we see exactly where this all ends up.

One of the biggest things this year is 3D TV. In fact, the push to 3D TV is nothing short of amazing. While it was announced last year at CES, the implementation has been speedier than I ever expected. All the major TV manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic will have 3D TV on the market in the next few months. Content providers and distributors are already in place. By June Direct TV will have three high-def 3D channels. Sporting events like the MLB All Star game will be transmitted in 3D. DreamWorks and Technicolor will be turning out movies in Blu-ray 3D very shortly.

I have never seen such a carefully orchestrated push for a new technology. The movie makers and television manufacturers are convinced that everyone wants 3D because of the popularity of 3D movies like Avatar. I, however, as not so sure that people will like the requirements. They will have to purchase a new television to view the 3D programming. They will have to purchase a new Blu-ray player that can play 3D movie disks. And they will have to wear 3D glasses to view anything in 3D.

Certainly 3D is an immersive television experience.  I just think that it is coming too quickly on the heels of the high-definition TV and Blu-ray. Too many people have already made a large investment in their entertainment equipment when they purchased new TVs to make the move to high-def.

I also don’t like the idea of wearing 3D glasses. Maybe they can convince everyone that they are cool. In fact, I am sure that there will be a very big promotional push for 3D TV. They are spending millions on the technology and its implementation.So we can expect them to spend millions more to convince everyone that they need this new technology.

The company big-wigs talked about 3D as becoming ubiquitous on televisions, laptops, and even mobile devices. I don’t see how that can happen as long as we have to wear special glasses to view 3D.

So now we are expected to purchase new televisions and new DVD players. When they do develop the 3D technology to the point where we won’t need the glasses, I guess we will have to throw out our old 3D TVs and buy new ones. Maybe this is just another product with built-in obsolescence. I am curious to see if the public can be sold on it!

The Wii’s graphics can’t compare to the graphics of the other new gaming systems, but once you start playing you get so caught up in the games that the graphics don’t matter. You see, when you play with the Wii, you don’t just move your thumbs. The motion sensitive wireless controller will have you out of your chair and moving about. You really get into the game.

The controller looks like a TV remote which you hold in your hand and move to perform certain functions. So to bowl, you actually go through the motions of throwing the bowling ball. In golf you swing the remote just like is a golf club. In Excite Truck, you turn and twist the remote to steer the truck. The remote comes with a wrist strap and I highly recommend that you tighten it around your wrist when you play to prevent accidental release.

One of the wonderful things about the Wii is that both the games and the way they are played are appealing to adults of all ages. I wouldn’t even consider taking on a twenty-something in a shoot-em-up game that requires finger dexterity. But I’d be happy to take them on in a game of Wii baseball or bowling.

TheWii game console itself is a small (1.75 inches by 6.25 inches by 8.5 inches), sleek white device. The console comes with everything you need to connect the Wii to your television. It has a wireless controller, a motion-sensitive nunchuk (secondary controller used in some games), a sensor bar that is set on top or in front of the television,  a cradle (for mounting the console vertically), the power adapter, and a set of composite A/V cables. The Wii Sports package with baseball, bowling, boxing, golf, and tennis, is also included.

Setup is simple. Follow the Quick Start guide to plug everything in. Then turn the TV to the proper input, like Video 2 or Video 3. (This will differ depending on which input you plugged the cables into.) The games come on a CD which is easily inserted into the game unit. If the game doesn’t start, it means that you inserted the CD in the wrong direction, as I did on my first try. Just press the eject button and insert with the CD facing the other direction. Software setup is fairly straightforward, like entering your name and choosing the number of opponents and difficulty of the game.

Wii has wireless network built-in. It can hook up to a secure WEP or WPA encrypted network or to a wired network with an optional adapter.

The Wii’s navigation is done through an interface that Nintendo calls “channels.”  There is a Weather channel, a News Channel and a Message Channel that can be used if the unit is hooked up to your Internet connection. There is also Mii Channel where you can customize your own Miis. These are the cute little roly-poly avatars that are used in many of the games. There is also a Photo Channel which can be used to view and edit photos. You can load up to 1,000 photos through the Wii’s SC card slot and can view them individually or in albums. You can also create a slideshow with music.

There are lots of accessories for the Wii and you may want to purchase a few of them. Although you can play many of the games alone, an extra remote is almost a necessity to really have fun with two players.

Games for the GameCube can also be played on the Wii, but they don’t take advantage of the Wii’s motion sending capabilities. To play them as you are used to, you may want to purchase a classic controller for the Wii.

Then, of course, you will want to buy some games. The has plethora of games including Nintendo classics like Zelda, Mario and others. In addition you can buy Wii Point Cards to purchase classic games like Alien Crush, Pinball, Poker, Sim City, and others. Hits from the Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 systems will also be available. If you remember playing asteroids or other retro games, you’ll love this feature.

This is a game system that will last. As game designers work with the Wii, they will find new and innovative ways to employ the systems motion-controlled interface. So there are sure to be many inventive new games in the future.

Many gamers will find the Wii’s pricing very attractive. The game console with everything you need to set it up and the Sports Package can be purchased for $199.

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Wii Designed for kids ages five to 95, the revolutionary Nintendo Wii isn’t just a next-generation system it’s an all-generation system. The innovative minds at Nintendo discovered that the evolution of gaming has made video games very complex, and those who once enjoyed playing games with their entire families have become alienated. The Wii is pronounced “we” for a reason it symbolizes Nintendo’s driving philosophy: this system is for everyone. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer, a casual player or a grandparent who’d like to play a game with your grandchild, the Wii will provide you with a wondrous experience that returns gaming to simpler times while also defining a new age of game development. In addition to amazingly realistic next-generation graphics and a variety of outstanding titles to choose from, the true magic of the Wii starts right in the palm of your hand the controller. The unique Wii Remote controller is wireless and motion-sensitive, allowing you to use everyday motions to simulate the motions in your game. The Nunchuk controller attaches to the Wii Remote and uses an analog stick along with motion-sensing technology to assist in character movement. Imagine yourself in the thrilling world of Wii Sports, the awesome, action-packed sports game included with your Wii console. Using your Wii Remote controller, you’ll chase down powerful tennis serves, add touch to your golf swing to avoid tricky sand traps, overpower speeding fastballs to knock them out of the baseball park and more. The Wii Channel Menu, which is the first screen that will appear on your TV, provides a simple user interface that includes the Video Console Channel, News Channel, Forecast Channel, Photo Channel, Internet Channel, Wii Message Board and the Wii Shop Channel. Using the Mii Channel, you can even create playable caricatures of yourself called Miis that you can use in a variety of Wii applications. With an innovative motion-sensitive controller and the Wii Channel Menu, the Wii will truly make you feel less like just a player and more like you’re really part of the game. The Wii system has been wildly popular since its release. The Wii, the games, and the price are sure to appeal to the baby boomers whether they want to play alone or with the younger crowd. If you are into shoot-em up games and hard rock, look at a PS3 or an Xbox. If you want to taste some old-fashioned fun with a hi-tech twist, try the Wii. To see pictures and an even more detailed review, click over to Hardware Secrets.com.

If you happened to see the commercial of the little boy who uses an Olympus Tough camera as a “throw and fetch” stick for his dog, you might wonder if a camera could be that durable. Well, I am here to tell you that it can. While I might not be as careless as that little boy, I put the Olympus Stylus Tough-6000 through some pretty rugged testing and it took everything I threw at it without blinking. It is waterproof, shockproof, and basically — very tough!

The most amazing feature, might well be the “tap” feature. When it is turned on you can tap the right side of the camera to adjust the flash mode. Tap the left side and the camera will cycle through the Macro modes. Tap on the screen  to switch to  the Playback mode and tap on the top to confirm the selections. Everything is pretty well thought out. You can even tap twice on the top to turn the tap feature on and off. This feature alone makes the camera great for working in cold conditions when you want to wear gloves, It is also great under water. The LDC screen is one of the best I’ve seen in bright sunlight.

The camera is small and will easily fit in your pocket. It has a 3.6x optical zoom and is a 10-megapixel camera. It takes good pictures with good color representation. For a retail price of $279, it does a lot. It’s a great camera for outdoor scenery in cold, wet, or bright conditions. It’s also perfect for harsh conditions and klutzy people.

Conclusions:

This is not the most expensive waterproof  and shockproof camera, but it performs admirable for the average outdoor enthusiast at a very reasonable price. Picture quality is good. The screen is fantastic in bright sunlight. And the waterproof and shockproof qualities live up to their hype. The tap function works quite well making the camera good for cold weather or underwater photography. The camera is good-looking and easily pocketable.

Pros:

• Well priced for the features
• Compact and very portable
• Good level of waterproof/toughness
• LCD screen is excellent in bright sunlight
• Good macro ability
• Distinctive tactile feel to half-press of the shutter
• Good dual image stabilization
• Great Tap Feature

Cons:

• Slow flash underwater
• Relatively slow to start
• Slightly slow shutter response

My more detailed review with pictures can be found at Hardware Secrets.

Click the link below to read some owner’s reviews and/or to buy the camera at Best Buy.
Olympus Stylus Tough 100-Megapixel Digital Camera – Orange

BlackBerry Tour from Verizon

BlackBerry Tour from Verizon

When Verizon sent me the new BlackBerry Tour to review, I was pretty excited. This phone has the traditional excellence of BlackBerry’s email and messaging, a QWERTY keyboard, and a sturdy build, but it is also updated. Although the changes are minor, some make a major difference. For instance, I really liked the new design — not too big and not too small, with rounded corners and a great feel in the hand.

All-in-all, it’s a capable phone. It has a really great screen and a good camera and music player. It even does a great job at playing videos, if you are able to watch them on the small screen. The biggest negatives are that the BlackBerry OS is getting a bit dated, especially when compared to newer smart phones like the iPhone and the Pre and the Tour does not have Wi-Fi. Here are my general conclusions and Pros and Cons:

Conclusions

The BlackBerry Tour is the best CDMA BlackBerry that I’ve tested. Even with an aging operating system, it is quite functional as either a personal or business smart phone. The poor browser is offset by applications like Facebook, Flick3r and MySpace that allow you to access much-used web applications without actually using the browser. Phoning, e-mailing, messaging, and other functions work well as does the visual voicemail. The Tour is an excellent choice and all of the things we found wrong with it are minor, except for the lack of Wi-Fi, which will be a deal-breaker for some.

Pros

• Excellent screen
• Good keyboard
• Very Good Design
• Great feel in hand
• Good selection of apps for social networking, instant messaging
• MicroSD Card
• Good IM and social networking applications
• Good camera and video
• Accessories include a variety of plugs and a 2 GB MicroSD card

Cons

• No Wi-Fi
• Small screen
• Aggravating nested menus
• Inconsistencies in menu choices across the platform
• Poor web browser
• Keyboard needs dedicated @ and period keys

My full review including detailed pictures is at: Hardware Secrets.

Palm Pre

Palm Pre

The Palm Pre will not kill the iPhone, but it will give it a good dose of competition. It is a solidly built cell phone with a great, written-from-the-ground-up operating system. I fell in love with webOS, Palm’s new operating system. Although it is not always intuitive, this new operating system is easy to use. I can’t believe that I am advocating an operating system that is not intuitive, but I am. Here’s the reason.

If someone hands you a Pre and tells you to use it, you will most probably be baffled as to how it actually functions. It looks like a touch screen phone and it is, but it also has a slide out keyboard. In fact, it has three different input and control areas: the screen itself, the keyboard, and the small area below the screen which is called the Gesture area.

It this combination is what make the Pre so functional, but you may not be able to use it without any knowledge of how it works. However, that said, just have someone show you a few things or check out the Quick Start guide, and it won’t take you more than five or ten minutes to get going.

If you like to multi-task, this is the phone for you. It lets you fully  and easily control which applications are open and which you want to close. To give you an example of what I call “non-intuitive, but easy”, to close an application, you simply take your finger and swipe it in an upward motion to throw it off the screen. You might not be able to figure that out at first, but once you get it, it is very easy. As a matter of fact, it is also fun. The Pre has the same functionality as the iPhone with similar ways to expand and contract text, a screen that can be viewed either vertically or horizontally, but for some reason, it seems like more fun to use.

The Pre is easy to set up and uses an online system called Palm Profile to sync information, so you will spend less time with it tethered to your computer. It handles email beautifully and has all the other normal options like a camera, sms, mms, and cut & paste. It even has turn-by-turn navigation.

The Pre is perfect for information junkies and busy people. It has an excellent universal search. It also has a system called Synergy that congregates information from various areas and puts it all together for you. So if you have a contact in Facebook, and the same contact in Gmail and in your POP email, you won’t see him or her three times on your Pre. The Pre is smart enough to put all the info that you have on that person on one contact screen.

In fact, the Pre is one smart cookie. Although I think the keyboard needs improvement, this is still one to look at.

Here are my pros and cons:

Pros

• Excellent crisp and responsive touch screen
• Excellent webOS operating system
• Handles multitasking applications beautifully
• Synergy consolidates information very well
• Very good universal search
• Excellent email support
• Slide-out keyboard
• iTunes sync
• Palm Profile for online backups

Cons

• Keyboard slightly cramped and plasticy
• Difficult to navigate through the Apps
• Lack of Apps and App Store
• Apps do not readily show their price

Right now the Pre is available only from Sprint, but Verizon will also carry it in a few months. My full review with pictures is at HardwareSecrets.com.

FujiFilm Z30

FujiFilm Z30

The Fujifilm’s FinePix Z30 is a pretty point-and-shoot camera with a somewhat unique design. It comes in a shocking  pink, an intense bright orange, and a vibrant purple. That plus its rounded corners certainly set it off from the crowd.

I love bright colors, but unfortunately, the bright metallic look of this camera make it look a bit toy-like.  Also the designers didn’t take functionality seriously enough. The camera has no place to comfortably place your fingers to hold it when you take a picture. Although the two rows of rubberized buttons on the back look good, every time you want to press one, you have to put on your glasses to find just the one you want. Oh, and you have to open the battery door to plug in the USB cable.

The Z30 is a 10-megapixel camera with a 3x optical lens and a nice-sized CCD. Although the pictures were good, I found that many of the flash pictures had unevenly distributed lighting.

Have I said enough?? Take a pass on this camera. What is amazing to me is that the A150, a similarly priced and sized camera from the same manufacturer (Fujifilm), was one that I really liked. The A150 had impeccable design and took great pictures. (Check out my review of the A150).So take a pass on this camera and check out the A150 for a good entry-level digital camera.  The Z30 retails for $149. The A150 goes for $129. So a higher price is not necessarily a better camera.

Here are my pros and cons fro the Z30:

Pros:

• Compact size
• Good manual on CD
• Numerous continuous shooting, self-timer and flash modes

Cons:

• Poor lens placement
• Body feels flimsy
• Control buttons too small and close together
• Poorly placed USB port
• No place to grip
• 4-way directional control which is on the buttons, is difficult to use
• Not many manual controls
• Nested menus that can be difficult to navigate

My full review with pictures, specs and more details is at Hardware Secrets.

Check out the prices: Best Buy Digital Cameras

The A150 takes very good photos. The color representation is good and the low light photos are excellent. You also get a lot of extras. The camera has face detection technology that tracks a face and adjusts the setting for the best picture. It also has picture stabilization, continuous shooting, a self-timer, and macro mode. It has 14 different scene positions, and can even take movies.

If you want a simple camera to have on hand for a quick picture or to slip in your pocket to have available anytime, this is a good choice.

Here are my pros and cons:

Pros

• Sturdy, attractive build
• Large, clear screen
• Much added functionality
• The ability to shoot videos with sound
• Easy to use controls
• Excellent documentation including owner’s manual on disk
• Inexpensive

Cons

• Tripod mount poorly placed
• No viewfinder
• Screen fades out in bright sunlight

My full review with pictures is at HardwareSecrets.com.

Click the link below to see the current price for this and/or similar cameras at Best Buy:

FUJIFILM FinePix 100-Megapixel Digital Camera – Black

Kindle DX

Kindle DX

Bigger is not always better. Although Amazon has added some new features to it’s over-sized Kindle, I found several things that I didn’t like about it. Most noticeably is the fact that it is not as easy to handle as the smaller Kindle 2. Second (which may be first to many), it is very expensive. Third, it has a really crummy keyboard that’s difficult to use and even harder to see the letters on. Here’s a chart that compares the Kindle DX to the Kindle 2.

Everything that was great about the Kindle 2 is still great in the Kindle DX. The device is sleek, thin, and attractive. The Amazon’s Whispernet service allows you to download books (and browse the Internet) over the Sprint cellular network without any monthly fee. The screen is bright, clear, and easy-to-read. It has excellent battery life. You can make the text larger or smaller. There is a speech-to-text option that can read the text to you. You can play music while you read. There are over 300,000 books and periodicals available in the Kindle Store.

Although the larger screen is great and it requires less page turning, the device itself must be held with two hands and is a bit heavy for extended reading. Where the Kindle 2 could be handled and read like a paperback book, I found the DX gave a whole different feel.

The DX does have native support for PDFs and you can turn it to read the text horizontally as well as vertically. Yet the auto-turn mechanism is a bit too touchy and it often turns when you don’t want it to.

Amazon has lowered the price of the smaller Kindle 2 to $299 while the DX is $489. Even $299 is expensive for an ebook device. I can buy a whole netbook computer for that price. As you know, I am usually the first one to fall in love with a new device, but if I were to purchase a Kindle right now, I would go for the Kindle 2 rather than the pricer DX. Here are my pros and cons of the Kindle DX:

Pros

• Excellent design
• Large screen
• Less page turning necessary
• Good  battery life
• No monthly fees for wireless
• Excellent text quality
• Large library of content
• Good in bright light
• Easy to buy books, magazines and newspapers
• Speakers and headphone jack for audio
• Compatible with PCs and Macs
• Can be used without a computer
• Native support for PDFs
• Useful text-to-speech feature

Cons

• Very expensive
• Not as portable as the Kindle 2 with 6” screen
• Very poor keyboard
• Grayscale only. No color.
• You cannot change the size of the type in the Kindle Store
• Stiff scroll button
• Somewhat heavy and slightly awkward for lengthy reading
• No zoom for PDFs

You can read my detailed review of the Kindle DX with pictures on HardwareSecrets.com.