Mobile Fun Blog

A guide to choosing the best Screen Protector

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Screen protectors are fast becoming one of the most popular accessories for mobile phones – mainly because of the number of handsets with large, high quality displays. A screen protector will stop your screen from getting scratched or damaged and will help keep your handset looking like new.

There are a number of different options available to protect your screen, from a simple MFX screen protector, to privacy screen protectors right through to the top quality Martin Fields Screen Protectors. On paper they all seem to do the same job, but there are subtle differences between them so I’ve put this post together to highlight the key differences between them and make choosing the best screen protector for your phone simple and straight forward.

For this test, I’ve used the same image displayed on an iPhone with the screen brightness set to maximum I’ve then applied a screen protector to half of the screen and taken a photo. The photos have not been edited in anyway other than cropping and no filters have been applied – what you see below is as close to the real thing as possible. You might notice a few air bubbles in the photos, these will normally disappear after a day or two so don’t pay too much attention to these.  The first image here shows how the picture is displayed on the phone with no screen protector fitted.

Test Image with no Screen Protector

Martin Fields Screen Protector:

Martin Fields Screen Protectors are without doubt the best quality screen protector you can get. They’re crystal clear and will make your phone look like new. They don’t reduce the clarity of your screen and colours look exactly the way they’re supposed to. If your screen protector gets dirty, they can be removed easily from the phone, cleaned and refitted.

Martin Fields are exceptionally clear

MFX Screen Protector:

The MFX screen protectors are available for most phones currently on the market and are quick and easy to fit. As you can see from the image below, there is little to no distortion of the images and colours appear as they should. MFX Screen Protectors will work with both touch screen handsets and standard phones and are precision cut to size. If you’ve got a lot of devices that you want to protect, a 12 in 1 Universal Screen Protector Pack is also available. This includes 12 screen protectors of varying sizes that can be cut to fit devices such as cameras, sat nav units, phones & games consoles.

MFX Screen Protector

MFX Mirrored Screen Protector:

Mirrored Screen protectors have two purposes, first and foremost they protect your screen from getting scratched and secondly they can turn your phone into a mirror. Just like the MFX ones, these are precision cut to the size of your phone and are extremely easy to fit. When your phone is in use and the screen is lit up you can see the phone normally. When it’s not in use the reflective coating on the screen protector turns your screen into a mirror.

Makes the screen of your phone reflective

The only slight downside is that they do alter the colours on your phone’s screen slightly.  You can still see clearly enough for calling, texting and emailing, but they can make looking at photos and videos more difficult and as a result, these type of screen protectors are probably suited to non touchscreen handsets or those of you that use your phone more for texting and calling. They do attract finger prints quite easily too, so a Mobile Phone cleaning cloth is a must have item if you use a mirrored screen protector.

MFX Mirrored Screen Protector

MFX Privacy Screen Protector:

The last ones in the MFX family are the Privacy screen protectors. These are a great way of making sure that no one else is looking at what’s on your phone or reading your emails over your shoulder. They’re quite a bit thicker than a standard screen protector and provide extra protection against knocks and scrapes, but more importantly are made so that you can only see through them from certain angles.

Try to view the phone from the side and you won't see anything

Once fitted to your phone you’ll only be able to see the screen of your phone when you’re looking straight at it. If you try and see the screen from the side you’ll just see a black plastic sheet. Although they have a dark tint to them, you shouldn’t have any problems looking at photos or playing videos on your phone. If you find that it darkens the screen too much, just increase the brightness settings on your phone. The Privacy Screen Protectors are precision cut to size and available for most of the latest handsets, as they’re a bit thicker removing air bubbles.

MFX Privacy Screen Protector

The Privacy Screen protectors will work fine with Resistive touch screen handsets, but aren’t currently available for capacative touch screens such as the iPhone, HTC Hero or LG Arena.

InvisibleShield Screen Protector:

The last of the screen protectors then is the InvisibleSHIELD. Technically, this isn’t a screen protector as InvisibleSHIELDs normally cover your whole phone, not just the screen. They’re also made completely differently to the rest – rather than being a solid plastic sheet that sits on your screen, these are made from a soft flexible plastic film that sticks to your handset using a liquid spray adhesive. You spray the invisibleshield with the liquid and then place it on your phone. It dries in seconds and when you remove it from your phone it leaves no residue behind. Of all of the screen protectors here, these are probably the most secure fit to your phone and there is no chance of you catching a corner and it coming off. The downside though is that they do require a little more time and patience to fit, but the end result is well worth it.

InvisibleSHIELD Screen Protection

On my test, the screen image didn’t come out too great, but I’ve had one on my phone for over 12 months and honestly can say that the screen is clear and images aren’t distorted, although they do tend to attract smudges and require wiping clean now and again.

Summary:

If you’re looking purely to protect your screen, then you won’t go wrong with either a Martin Fields Screen Protector or an InvisibleSHIELD. There’s not much between them, although the faster fitting time will probably make the Martin Fields a better option.  Of all of them, I’ve scored the Mirrored one the lowest, but that’s mainly down to how much it changes colours on the screen. In terms of fitting and protection it scores the same as the other MFX Screen Protectors.

My Ratings:

Martin Fields – 10/10
MFX Screen Protector – 9/10
InvisibleShield - 9/10
MFX Privacy – 8/10
MFX Mirrored - 7/10

Plantronics 975 Bluetooth Headset Review

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Plantronics are one of the leading manufacturers of telephone headsets. While their mobile phone range isn’t perhaps as large as rivals such as Jabra, Plantronics tend to focus more on quality over quantity and as a result they tend to pack an impressive number of features into their Bluetooth Headsets.

The last headset released by Plantronics was the Voyager Pro – a heavy duty headset that’s designed to suit the needs of people who use their headset for long periods of time. It is without doubt a great headset – one of the best you can currently get, but for those who want something for more occasional use, or something more discrete, the Plantronics Discovery 975 may suit you better.

Plantronics Discovery 975

The Discovery 975 is a small, lightweight bluetooth headset that looks great and was voted ‘Editors Choice‘ in August by cnet.com so I thought I’d give one a try and see just how good it is.

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Review: HTC Hero Battery Bank BB G300

Friday, October 30th, 2009

These days smart phones are more power hungry than ever before – but then they do so much more than they used to. It’s not uncommon for handsets such as the HTC Hero to be used now as MP3 players, Sat Nav, Internet & Email devices, Games consoles, video players and more, so it’s no real surprise that most phones now only last around a day before they run out of charge.

The Hero is one of the most popular smart phones currently available from HTC and if you’re using it with the latest software update you should be able to get just over a day’s use out of it before you’ll need to recharge it. For the casual user this isn’t too bad, but if you rely on your phone throughout your working day, you’re going to be running out of power by lunchtime.

Fortunately, the guys at HTC realise this is a problem for most people and have released the HTC Battery Bank BB G300 to help people get more out of their phone.

HTC Battery Bank gives your Hero more power

The Battery Bank is essentially an external battery for your Hero (or any other handset that can be charged using a USB cable). It has a 2680mAh battery, which is roughly twice the capacity of the standard HTC Hero and is capable of charging your handset 3 times before it runs out of power. The Battery Bank is smaller and lighter than the HTC Hero and will fit easily into your pocket or bag, so carrying it around shouldn’t really cause you any issues.

Battery Bank is smaller & lighter than the HTC Hero

Simple to Use

Charging the battery bank is extremely simple. It comes with a Mini USB cable that you can use to charge it from your PC or Laptop, or if you’d prefer you can charge it using your existing HTC charger. To check the remaining power level of the Battery Bank you just need to press a small button on the side of the Battery Bank and a series of LED lights will show you how much power is remaining.

4 LED lights show charge level

As you’d expect, you connect the Battery Bank in the same way as you would your charger. One end of the USB cable connects to your phone and the other to the Battery Bank and your phone starts charging straight away. If your phone is completely dead you can connect the Battery Bank and after a couple of minutes you’ll be able to use your phone while it charges. To fully charge a Hero from empty will take around two hours – longer if you’re using the phone while it’s charging.

Multiple Device Support

While the Battery Bank is made by HTC, it doesn’t mean that it’s only suitable for use with HTC phones. I’ve successfully used the Battery Bank to charge iPods, Bluetooth Headsets, Car Kits as well as phones by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry.  All you’ll need to charge these devices is a USB cable that supports charging.

HTC Battery Bank can also be used with iPods & MP3 Players

Summary

The Battery Bank is a handy accessory to carry around with you – particularly if you don’t work in an office. If you travel a lot or spend long periods of time away from power points then you could find this to be one of those accessories that you can’t be without.  The Battery Bank does what it sets out to do and it does it well. The fact that you can use it to power other devices too is an added bonus. It does cost more than some of the other emergency chargers on the market, but you get what you pay for. The Battery Bank is fast, powerful and doesn’t run off AA batteries. If you don’t use your phone that much and just want a spare charger for emergencies then this isn’t the charger for you, this is more suited to those who are using their phone heavily and find they can’t make it through a day without running out of juice.

Review: X-mini II vs. X-mini Capsule

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

With more and more mobile phones being used as MP3 players, the need for a way to listen to your music without compromising on audio quality is growing. Most phones have a built in loud speaker which is okay for answering the odd phone call while you’ve got your hands full, but the quality of the audio is never anything special. If you prefer to enjoy your music through a set of headphones, you can take your pick of high quality headphones from companies such as Skullcandy, Shure, Sennheiser & Etymotic – but what if you want to be able to play your music out loud?

Over the last few months we’ve seen an increase in the number of small portable speakers that are designed for use with mobile phones and laptops. Two of the most popular ones are made by X-Mini and they are the X-mini II & the X-minimax Capsule. At first glance they’re both very similar, so I decided to try them out and see just how good they are.

X-mini II

X-mini II Speaker

The X-mini II Speaker is a compact single speaker that’s not much bigger than a golf ball (when closed). It has a short 3.5mm audio cable built into it’s base and includes a longer audio/charging cable that connects to a mini USB port on the side of the speaker. It has an inbuilt battery that can last for up to 11 hours on a single charge.

Controls on the X-mini are minimal – a discrete on/off switch and a small volume dial are located on the base of the speaker.

Connecting it to your phone is just a case of plugging the 3.5mm audio jack into your phone or MP3 player. If your phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio socket, you can use an audio adapter to convert your phone’s proprietary connection to a standard 3.5mm jack.

Using the built in cable does restrict where you can put the speaker as it is only 9cm long, so if you want a bit of distance between your phone and the speaker (to reduce the risk of interference) then you’ll need to use the Audio/Charging cable that’s included with the X-mini II.

As the name suggests, the cable performs 2 functions – firstly it charges the speaker using a USB port on a PC or laptop and secondly it acts as a longer audio cable.  You can also use the longer cable to ‘daisy chain’ the speakers so that you can have your music playing from as many speakers as you want – the only downside is of course that you’ll need to buy more speakers.

X-minimax Capsule

X-mini Capsule

The X-minimax Capsule speakers are slightly smaller than the X-mini II and have a magnetic base that allows you to stick them together when they’re not in use. One slight disadvantage you have with these is that there isn’t a built in audio cable so you’ll need to make sure you carry the audio cables around with you or you won’t be able to use them. X-mini do include a storage bag for the capsule that should help you to keep them all together.

Unlike the X-mini II,  there isn’t a volume control on the speakers, just an on/off switch so you’ll need to adjust the volume level on your phone or MP3 player.

Two cables are included with the Capsule – a short 3.5mm to Mini USB cable for when you want to use just one speaker and a longer twin charging/audio cable for when you want to use both speakers.

As with the X-mini II, the cable performs 2 functions – firstly it charges the speaker using a USB port on a PC or laptop and secondly it acts as a longer audio cable. The capsule speakers can’t be ‘daisy chained’  in the same way as the X-mini II as they don’t have a 3.5mm line in socket.

Sound Quality

To test the speakers out I connected them to both a laptop and an iPhone. I connected each set of speakers to my laptop using the built in cable and played back a variety of music, from bass heavy dance tunes through to strong vocal numbers as well as a few scenes from movies.

First up was the X-mini 2. When I briefly tried these in the office they sounded a little bit muffled, but with so much background noise it wasn’t a true reflection so instead I tried them out at home. I’ve always thought that the speakers on my laptop weren’t too bad. The audio always seemed clear regardless of whether I was listening to music or watching films, but after using the X-mini II it’s made me realise that the built in speakers on my laptop aren’t really anything special.

X-mini II Box Contents

Sounds from the X-mini II were clear and sharp and the bass was more powerful too. The X-mini II has an extendable ‘vacuum’ that is designed to act like a sub woofer and increase the bass – which it does, but even with it closed, the bass is still good. Vocal tracks were crisp & clear and you could hear every breathe that the singer took. Dance tracks were good, although if you like to feel the room shake from the bass you’ll probably want to opt for something a little more powerful.

X-mini II works well with phones and MP3 Players

For films it’s a definite improvement over the laptops own speakers, I was only using one X-mini II though so didn’t really get to enjoy any stereo effects, but I’m sure that when you ‘daisy chain’ them you’ll get the full effects. Action scenes were good, a fairly decent rumble during on screen explosions and no distortion either.

X-mini II sounded better than built in speakers

I had the volume on my laptop set to maximum and the speaker had no problem in playing back the audio. It didn’t crackle or start to sound tinny like other speakers I’ve tried – even when the volume on the speaker itself was turned to maximum. Although it was on full, I didn’t find it particularly deafening and it only just managed to fill the room with sound so if you’r planning on using these for a house party you’ll probably want to get a second one. If it’s just for casual listening around the house or as alternatives to your built in laptop speakers then you will struggle to find fault with them.

Next up was the X-minimax Capsule – looking at them, they’re like the baby brother of the X-mini 2. Each speaker is smaller, but you do get two of them and this does make a difference. As you get two different cables in with the capsule, you can chose whether to use just one or both of the speakers. I tried using just one speaker – connected to my phone it worked fine, it’s an improvement over the built in loud speaker, but wasn’t quite as good as the X-mini II. Using just one speaker with my laptop felt a little bit under powered and songs weren’t quite as clear as they could be – having said that, the audio was still slightly clearer than using the built in speaker.

X-minimax Capsule Box Contents

Connecting the second speaker made all the difference. The sound felt more solid and powerful. I played the same songs as I did with the mini II and there isn’t a massive difference between the two. Most noticeably though was how they dealt with bass. The X-minimax Capsule isn’t as ‘bassy’ as the mini-II and I felt that they were better suited to music that you listen to rather than feel. Vocal and acoustic tracks were crisp and clear, but the dance tracks felt a bit weak. When it came to watching films they did a great job, although in action scenes the rumble during explosions was less than the X-mini II.

X-mini Capsule charges via USB

There aren’t any volume controls on the X-minimax Capsule, so volume had to be changed on the phone/laptop. I did find though that if you cranked the volume up to maximum, on some tracks there was a small amount of crackling and distortion. If I reduced the volume to around 85-90% on these tracks, the distortion stopped. It felt as though the capsule was louder than the X-mini II, but because some songs distorted slightly, you can’t really ever use it on full volume.

X-mini Capsule provides great stereo sound from your phone

Summary

Both speakers do the job well, but for me the X-mini II stood out as the better option. Even though it’s just one speaker, it felt clearer, louder and had more bass than the X-minimax Capsule. It is a bit bigger and heavier, but it’s worth it. The fact you don’t need to carry around a bag of cables is a bonus too. If you want something louder than your phone’s loud speaker for playing your music on and don’t mind lots of cables, then the Capsule will suit you down to the ground as most phone’s won’t go loud enough to distort your music, but if you want to be able to use it as alternatives to your laptop speakers and for music from your phone/MP3 player, the the X-mini II is a better option.

My Rating:

X-Mini II Speakers 8/10
X-Minimax Capsule Speakers 7/10

Clip and Talk Solar Edition Review

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Solar power has been making an appearance in more and more mobile phone accessories over the last year or so. Initially only available as stand alone Solar Powered Chargers, the technology has now found it’s way into mobile phone cases, Bluetooth Headsets and Bluetooth Car Kits.

Of all of the accessories available, Bluetooth Car Kits are the most logical accessory to make use of solar power – after all, they do spend most of their time either on your dashboard or sun visor.

Until recently there were only a couple of Solar Powered Bluetooth car kits available – the LG HFB-500 and the Drive Solar Pro. The latest car kit to join the range is the Clip & Talk Solar Edition. The Clip and Talk range has always been incredibly popular and offered great value for money, so I thought I’d put the latest addition to the Clip and Talk family to the test to see how it performs. (more…)

Nokia 3720 Classic vs Samsung Solid Extreme

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Nokia’s latest rugged handset, the 3720 Classic, was released yesterday and up until now Samsung & Sonim have been leading the way with tough phones that can withstand some pretty extreme conditions. Nokia (as always) have been a little bit slow in releasing a rugged phone as both Samsung and Sonim have been producing phones with certified IP ratings for well over a year now. While the Nokia 3720 Classic isn’t the most durable handset out there, it does seem to measure up well against the competition. On paper, it’s closest competitor is the Samsung B2100 Solid Extreme so I thought I’d put the two side by side to see just what the differences are between them.

Nokia 3720 Classic Vs Samsung B2100 Slide

I’m not going to be putting them through their paces and test out just how much the phones can take in this post as I’m not allowed to destroy our stock(!), but I will run through the key differences between them and some of their main features. (more…)

A Guide to Nokia Car Kits

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

If you were to think of a fully fitted car kit, chances are two brands will spring to mind – Nokia & Parrot.  Both of these companies make some great kits, Parrot have their fantastic MKi range that you can connect your phone and music player to, and Nokia have just recently updated their car kit line up to add more focus on music & mapping integration and to make installation quicker and easier.

The most popular Nokia Car Kit ever was the CARK-91 – the one that had a cradle for the Nokia 6110/ 6210/ 6310.  Over the years, the car kits have moved away from having bulky cradles that are screwed to your dashboard, to more descreet remote controls that blend into your dashboard and don’t draw attention.

The Classic Nokia Carkit & Nokia 6210

If you’ve already got an older Nokia Car Kit installed in your car and are looking to upgrade it to work with current Nokia handsets, the bad news is that unless your car kit is a bluetooth one, it’s not upgradable and you’ll need to replace the kit.

While this might sound like it’s going to be expensive, fitted car kit prices have come down in price considerably over the past few years, so replacing your kit might not cost as much as you’d think – not only that, but Nokia have changed the way that the kits connect to your vehicle, so depending on the car and stereo that you’ve got, you might be able to install it yourself.  Now before you get too excited, Installing a car kit yourself isn’t that easy – even with the newer ISO Car Kits.  You will still need to remove some fascia panels from your car or dashboard, remove the stereo and possible connect wires to the car power supply.  I tried to install my own, got 90% of the way there and had to give in and call the professionals, so if you want an easy life (and a car that still starts) get it installed professionally.

On to the Car Kits then. Nokia now offer 3 car kits, the Nokia CK-100, CK-300 and CK-600.  Each one offers different levels of integration with your phone, and as the model names suggest, the higher the number the more features you get. All three have now dropped the external speaker and will now route all calls and music through your Car Stereo as standard.

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Nokia E71 FlexiShield Skin Review

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

If you’ve got yourself a powerful smart phone such as the Nokia E71, chances are that you’re going to be using it heavily during your working day for appointments, calls and emails.  It’s unlikely though that come 5.30 you’re going to put the phone away until you’re back in work. What’s more likely is that the phone becomes the centre of your social and home life and is something that you simply can’t leave alone for any great periods of time.

With the phone working so hard to keep you in touch with the world and your life in order, you’re going to need a way to keep your phone safe and protected.  Mobile Phone Cases come in all shapes and sizes – from Premium Leather Cases made from the finest quality leather, through to the everyday leather, plastic and silicone cases.  With such a great range available finding a case to match your needs shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but often these cases tend to cover up our phones, taking away the feeling of pleasure we get by showing off our phone to our friends and family!

Case manufacturers know how much we love to show things off, and have come up with a range of Skins, Crystal Cases, Silicone Cases and InvisibleShields, all offering great protection for our mobile phones, without covering up any of the phones design features, branding or reducing its functionality.

Nokia E71 FlexiShield Skin

Nokia E71 FlexiShield

The FlexiShield case for the Nokia E71 is one of the latest cases that protects and shows of f your phone.  It’s made from a tough gel that makes it flexible like a traditional silicone case, but a lot stronger and tougher than a crystal case. The first thing you’ll notice when you fit the Flexishield to your E71 is how neatly it fits your phone. Unlike some silicone cases that can become loose or ‘baggy’ over time, the FlexiShield is a snug fit to your phone.  There are cut outs for the Camera, speaker, headphone socket, data cable, charger & memory card. The only slight negative is that it does cover the volume keys and power switch, so turning your phone off or adjusting the volume will mean having to remove your phone from the case.  Removing the covers from the memory card slot and data cable port is also a little tricky, but not impossible.

Where the Flexishield stands out from its rival ‘Plain Jane’ styled Crystal Cases and Skins is with a unique diamond pattern design found on the rear of the case. It adds personality as well as helping to hide any scratches that might form on the back of the case over time.

E71 FlexiShield Skin

The screen isn’t covered, so if you are worried about damaging your screen you’ll need to use an E71 screen protector.  You can buy these separately, or you can buy a Nokia E71 FlexiShield Plus which includes a screen protector and saves you a few pounds too.

Conclusion

While the FlexiShield isn’t as smart looking as some of the designer PDair or Krusell Leather Cases, it does what it’s supposed to do  - remain inconspicuous and protect the phone. If you don’t fancy this as your main case, or want something a little more fashion concious for when you’re at work, then I’d suggest getting the FlexiShield for times where a more durable case is needed  such as sports activities or social events.

Jabra Bluetooth Speakerphone SP700 Review

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

I have used a few Bluetooth Visor Car Kits in the past only to find sooner or later (more sooner), I retire them to the Bluetooth graveyard located in a dark corner in the spare  room at home.   It always begins on a high  with a  promise to provide a ‘Hands-free’ but safe, convenient , compact, foolproof and law abiding way to receive and make calls while sitting in the comfort of a stationary or moving vehicle… However, eventually the honeymoon gloss fades and cracks appear to what first seemed a win, win situation.

Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone

So when presented with the opportunity to try yet another Handsfree Bluetooth in-car visor product I did not climb over the office furniture or rugby tackle fellow colleagues to be first in the queue.  However  on this occasion a particular feature of the Jabra SP700 caught my imagination – it claimed to offer  both voice and stereo music streaming direct from my Bluetooth enabled mobile phone to my in-car entertainment unit.

In the Box

The compact and stylish Bluetooth speakerphone also comes supplied with a visor clip that is already fitted, a USB charger cable, USB car charger and ‘plain English’ and compact user guide.

Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone Box Contents

Getting Started

Just connect the USB charger cable to a spare USB port on your computer and up pops an illuminated  red battery icon to indicated that it is charging. When fully charged this icon then changes to green.  If you do not have easy or regular access to a computer then think about  purchasing a USB Mains Charger and use the USB charger cable  provided in the box when not in the car.  On the front of the unit are a range of icons that illuminate to indicate what status the speakerphone is in.  I will discuss these in detail later.

There is no dedicated off/on button, and although not immediately obvious, this function is activated by  pressing  and holding the front of the speakerphone; 2 seconds to switch it on and  4 seconds to switch it off.  If like me, you tend to exit your vehicle and forget to switch the speakerphone off then do not worry, the SP700 has an auto-power off when the phone is out of its Bluetooth range.

Pairing the SP700 to your mobile phone couldn’t be easier; when you switch it on for the first time it automatically enters its pairing mode which is clearly indicated by an illuminated Bluetooth Status icon appearing.  Next, just activate the Bluetooth function on your phone and set the phone to “discover” the SP700, enter the pin code (0000), mount it to your car visor and you’re good to go!

The Jabra SP700 clips neatly to your sun visor in the car

Controls

Now the SP700 is not big on controls, I have already mentioned the lack of an on/off button and it does not have any audio adjustment controls aside of a volume up & down button on one side of the unit, and there is also a FM transmitter button located on the opposite side.

Features

Now the SP700 provides the basic functions like any other like handsfree kit, as well as supporting extended features of some phone models like voice dialling – which as you may have already experienced is a potential Olympic Linguistic event in its own right.  Also the SP700 features advanced noise reduction and echo cancellation that insures excellent sound quality on both sides of the call.

When using the SP700 the current status is clarified by a clear voice announcement – available in 10 languages – a treat no doubt for those multi lingual potential users out there or those wanting to practice some basic phrases before arriving at their international holiday destination this summer!

The voice announcer switches from a female to a male voice for different status alerts.  However the announcement that caught me by surprise was the one that announced the caller ID of an incoming call – brilliant – and by pressing the front of the speakerphone I could answer or end the call.  The announcer also confirms when the speakerphone is switched off and also when it has made connection with your mobile  phone.

I found the clarity of the incoming call to be excellent by comparison to other Bluetooth visor speaker phones that I have used in the past, and I can confidently say that my voice was clearly received by my caller.  I must admit that my vehicle  suffers from very little cabin noise generally – however I also tested it in my wife’s 1.4 about town vehicle which isn’t a tractor by any means – but with mischievous and noisy kids in tow I still found the SP700’s speakerphone to be equally as impressive.

The Jabra SP700 has a classic, slim line design

The best feature is the FM transmission -  A simple press of the FM transmission button illuminates the FM transmission icon and speakerphone mute icon, then kicks the voice announcer into action as she clearly tells you the FM frequency to tune your car radio to.  If this frequency is congested by existing  radio stations then you can make adjustments by 0.1MHz at a time using the volume keys, the announcer will recite the new frequency selected each time you make a change.  My radios’ RDS function displayed the word JABRA to indicate that I had sourced the correct frequency and I promptly saved it to a spare preset number.   This remains the fixed FM frequency unless you make a change as previously mentioned or reset the unit to factory settings.  The only thing I did not have time to test was how the selected FM frequency would stand up to long journeys whereby you may drift into localised radio stations sharing the same frequency; however, the ease I found in changing frequencies leaves me quite confident that such an event occurring would not be a major problem to resolve.

The Nokia E71 phone was used to test the SP700 for streaming music to my car stereo, on hitting the play button on the phone, music came belting out almost immediately through the car speakers.  The quality was fairly good, however I found that the SP700’s lack of audio controls came to haunt it as the volume controls previous used to adjust the FM frequency remain set to this function while in FM transmission mode,  so you have to rely on your in-car audio controls to equalize the sound and adjust the volume.  This sometimes is a problem when you switch back to the radio or CD mode as the volume can sometimes be far too high for those built in sources.

Taking calls using the FM transmission mode was a delight, however be aware that your calls may be picked up by a stranger who is tuned to the same FM frequency and in close proximity to your vehicle, so keep this feature just for music or calls that are not of a private or sensitive nature.  On a final point if you turn off your radio or forget to change the status of the SP700 back to its own speakers, then the SP700 automatically disconnects from its FM transmission status following a period of non-use.

The SP700 boasts up to14 hours talk time & up to 255 hours standby however after a week of testing I am yet to re-charge.

Conclusion

I must admit the SP700 has not changed my preference which is to avoid taking calls while driving if I can, however when circumstances dictate that this is unavoidable or for those of you or where this is a day to day necessity then the SP700 does not disappoint, mainly because of its ease of use, functionality, portability and quality.  The Ace up its sleeve however is the FM transmission that adds a more practical and up to date feature for all music lovers who have migrated their favourite playlists into the fashionable multi-media Bluetooth mobile phones that are currently available – a smart move by Jabra.

The Ultimate Guide To Mobile GPS Applications

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

If you’ve read our Ultimate Guide to GPS on Mobile Phones you’ll know that GPS isn’t all about Satellite Navigation and turn-by-turn directions. Using a Bluetooth GPS receiver with your mobile phone will open it up to a whole range of applications that will allow you to do things you may not even realise were possible on a mobile phone.

This guide will run through some of the free and paid apps for Symbian, Java, Windows & BlackBerry phones for each of the 5 types of application – Sat Nav, Tracking, Mapping, Location Aware & Geo-Tagging.

amAze GPS

Sat Nav | Free | All Phones that support Java, Windows Mobile & BlackBerry

amAze GPS is probably the best free Sat Nav application available. While it’s not quite as pretty to look at, the features of this amazing free app really make up for it. It has detailed maps of Europe, North America and Australia, and unlike most applications that store all this map data on your phone, taking up valuable space, it downloads the maps as and when you need them. amAze will automatically rotate the map in the direction that you’re driving, and will even overlay your route with a satellite image of where you’re driving. Weather updates are included at no cost. If you want to reduce the amount of data being used, you can also switch to a simple mode that will just display an arrow pointing the way instead of downloading the detailed maps. Speed Camera alerts aren’t available just yet, but are coming soon. amAze GPS is easy to download and install.

The application is free, but as it relies on an internet connection and downloading very small amounts of data, we’d recommend adding an internet bundle to your account to prevent any nasty surprises on your bill.

amAze GPS works on almost any phone

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