iPhone 3.0 beta 4 A2DP still needs work
by Justin Horn on Apr 30th, 2009 @ 9:51 amUPDATE A2DP now working great on beta 5!
I first tried the A2DP bluetooth when 3.0b1 first came out and it was definitely beta. Since then it’s slowly improved. The issue of the audio breaking up / freezing when using other apps (vs leaving the phone locked) is gone. The quality is pretty good, but still doens’t seem as good as wired although I guess this is to be expected.
The one issue that’s come up and hasn’t been resovled is while trying to use the headset while jogging. Everytime I go outside with the iPhone in my pocket and my Motorola S9-HDs on my head it starts to break up. It’s worse when I’m jogging, but still happens even when just walking. With every beta it seems to break up a touch less, but no real improvments. When “kinda” jogging inside the problem doesn’t exist. I have a feeling it has to do with added interference outside the protection of my concert walls. We are still 30-60 days from a final release so I’m hoping they get a few more betas out between now and then with a fix for this issue.
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Juice pack air for iPhone 3G coming late April?
by Justin Horn on Apr 2nd, 2009 @ 12:29 am
With Mophie’s history with the Juice Pack 3G release (it was delayed, more than once) I’m not holding my breath, but I’m sure those of you that voted for late April in our Juice Pack Air poll are pretty happy.
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Apples & Oranges, iPhone Accessories, Speculation
Review: iPhone gone solar… Solio battery pack
by Chiyin on Mar 31st, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
While Justin has been using the mophie juice pack and waiting for the upcoming juice pack air, I’ve gone solar. A while ago I came across the Solio Classic battery pack and decided to give it a try. Basically the Solio is a battery equipped with solar panels that can recharge itself harnessing the power of the sun. Unlike the juice pack, the Solio is not exclusively for the iPhone, it comes with different tips that can connect to different electronic devices including USB. Since getting the battery I’ve been testing it with different devices like a Motorola krzr, iPod Photo, iPod Video and of course my iPhone 3G and it works pretty well.
The setup is fairly simple, you plug in the cord, attach a tip and then simply connect the device you wish to recharge, that’s it. There is only one indicator on the battery, an LED that flashes green every 3 sec or so when it’s charging a device, a solid red when the battery is charging, or a combination of both when a device is attached to it while it is under the sun.
Its performance has exceeded my expectations, it charged a fully depleted iPod in about 2 hours using about 60% of the battery charge. It takes a bit more to charge up the iPhone but that’s expected, especially since the iPhone was on while I was charging it.
To charge the pack you simply open up the battery to reveal it’s 3 solar panel and place it in a sunny place. It does take a while to fully charge the battery, specially if the sun is not shining, but being from the Sunshine State that’s not a big problem for me. The average charging time is about 8 – 10 hours under the sun, but you can also charge up using the included USB charge cable. But that kinda defeats the purpose of the pack, don’t you think?
Overall, I’m happy with the Solio, my only problem was using the included USB tip with the iPhone. Turns out there’s a new tip for the iPhone 3G, but once I got the new tip everything was good. So, if you want to go green or you are like me and don’t like anything resembling a protective case enclosing your electronic devices, give the Solio a try. And if you do, let us know how you like it…
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iPhone 3.0 A2DP first impressions
by Justin Horn on Mar 19th, 2009 @ 3:05 am
UPDATE 6.21.09 A2DP bluetooth on iPhone 3G S works great, 3G not so much
UPDATE A2DP on iPhone 3.0 beta 4 follow up
Now that the first beta of iPhone 3.0 is out I decided to take a dip into the wireless stereo world with my first pair of A2DP headphones, the Motorola S9-HD. I plan on posting a more detailed review after I’ve had a few days to test everything out, but here are my first impressions…
Good stuff! First I wanted to test to make sure it was truly in stereo so I played a couple songs that have very distinct use of the left and right channels. I used Money by Pink Floyd and Mr. Brightside by The Killers (Treaty of Paris is just the last song I was listing to before taking the picture). Everything worked as it should with the correct audio on the left and right channels. The sound quality is pretty good, but it just doesn’t seem quite as good as the wired set. This could be the norm for all I know since this is my first set of stereo bluetooth headphones.
One issue that is a bit annoying is the music gets choppy or even stops playing for a few seconds when trying to do anything with the phone. Even browsing for another song to play inside the iPod app causes this issue. When you just let the phone be, like locked up in your pocket, it plays perfectly. It’s possible the sound quality and stuttering issues are due to this being the first beta, so I don’t want to harp on it too much just yet. Even with these cons it’s already good enough for me to use the wireless set over the wired when it makes sense, like…er, jogging?
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iPhone, iPhone Accessories, Reviews, Speculation
Mophie juice pack air poll up!
by Justin Horn on Feb 18th, 2009 @ 2:22 pmJust wanted to let everyone know the “when will mophie juice pack air be released?” has been posted! Mophie is saying spring 2009 for a release, but we all know what happen last time with delay after delay! So keep that in mind when voting.
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Apples & Oranges, iPhone Accessories
Mophie Juice Pack Air coming spring ’09
by Justin Horn on Feb 14th, 2009 @ 8:46 pm
The Mophie Juice Pack 3G was just released back in early November of 2008 (when will mophie juice pack 3G be released?), but Mophie has still been hard at work for us battery demanding power exxxxtreme users! 
We have not yet posted the when will Mophie Juice Pack Air be released?, but stay tuned as it will be soon!
UPDATE Poll is up!
The successor to the Juice Pack 3G, called the Juice Pack Air is currently only available for preorder, but should be out sometime this spring. If you can’t wait that long take a look at our review of the currently available Juice Pack 3G. As I’m sure you’ve guessed already the ‘Air’ is used to signify the thinness of the this new Juice Pack. This is taken right from Apple’s well know marketing playbook with the Air’s slogan “Introducing the world’s thinnest external battery pack for iPhone 3G”:
The juice pack air™ is a rechargeable external battery concealed inside of a protective form-fitting case for the iPhone 3G. It offers you the full protection of a hard-shell case while providing virtually twice the battery life of the iPhone alone; all in an ultra-thin, light-weight, low-profile design.
• The world’s thinnest Apple certified “Works With iPhone” external battery in the world!
• Rechargeable 1200mAh lithium polymer battery virtually doubles your time to rock, talk, surf and send.
• Pass-through USB charging and sync with iTunes
• Extended smart battery and full case protection
• On/Off switch offers choice of battery or case
• Integrated 4 LED charge status indicator
• Height: 4.9” Width: 2.59” Depth: 0.75”
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iPhone, iPhone Accessories
