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Before power banks, people had to rush to the nearest wall socket with their chargers to get their devices charged when their batteries were in the red. Now that we have power banks, we don’t need to do that. We can charge our devices when we need to, and if we have a large enough power bank, we can charge multiple devices or charge the same device more than once. In an increasingly mobile society, power banks are becoming more essential for those who are constantly on the go.
The MiLi Power Sunny is very compact—it’s actually smaller than some of the devices that they’re responsible for charging, so portability won’t be an issue. The power bank itself has 3100mAh available for your devices to use. The main cord (which can also be used as the charging cord) resembles a landline telephone cord. For those who remember having a landline phone, those cords can get tangled easily. The device also comes with an iPhone/iPod/iPad cord and another adapter so you can charge devices with a microUSB port. It would have helped if they had included a third cord to specifically charge microUSB devices instead of just the adapter.
There is a miniUSB port on the left to charge the Power Sunny itself, and a regular sized USB port to the right to charge your devices. If you have any other miniUSB cords, you can also use them to charge the device. I used the cord from my PlayStation 3 controller to charge the device. You won’t see any distinctive markings other than the MiLi logo. There are four lights and one button on the bottom of the device—one light represents a 25 percent charge, so if all four are lit up, you know you have 100 percent juice to use for your devices. Just plug in your device to get it charged, and press the button to check how much juice the Power Sunny has left. There’s only one USB port to charge your devices on, and this was probably done to keep the Power Sunny as compact as possible.
The Power Sunny also takes a painfully long time to charge despite having less battery capacity than its big brother, the Power Rover. If you need a 100% charge for the day, it’s best to just plug it in overnight. If you have devices with a large battery capacity, such as the current generation of smartphones, you’ll probably need to do this every day. It also gets hot to the touch while charging, like many compact devices, so be careful about handling it after you’ve charged it. Charging devices with the power bank took anywhere between two hours for devices with less battery capacity to around four hours or more for devices with larger battery capacity, so it will largely depend on how much juice your device can hold to get to a 100% charge.
In the end, the Power Sunny is just a miniature version of its big brother, the Power Rover. It can charge devices quickly and is definitely a usable power bank. Its biggest advantage, of course, is that it it can fit in your pocket and give your other gadgets that quick boost when their batteries start dipping into the red.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Jose Alvarez
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If you remember the IdeaPad Yoga 13—the 13-inch notebook/tablet convertible device from Lenovo that can fold up to 360 degrees—you might just be excited to hear about its little brother, the IdeaPad Yoga 11, which is a smaller and lighter version of its predecessor.
The IdeaPad Yoga 11 runs on an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor clocked at 1.30GHz and holds 2GB of RAM and 64GB embedded flash memory. The device has a full chiclet-type keyboard, a five-point multi-touch screen, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port and a full-sized SD card slot.
Overall, its hardware specs are rather impressive, although unfortunately I really can’t say the same for software. Unlike the first IdeaPad Yoga, which runs on Windows 8, the Yoga 11 uses Windows RT as its operating system. It was a bit of a crippling encounter because I felt that the desktop computing experience was lacking. Having Windows RT means that you can’t download traditional or legacy apps to the desktop. For instance, I was unable to install trusty ol’ Google Chrome on the desktop because of the limitations of the OS. I was thus forced to use Internet Explorer, and words will never be enough to describe how I frown upon Internet Explorer. Luckily, my other necessity, Microsoft Office, was already pre-loaded on to the system.
Like the Yoga 13, the Yoga 11 can be used in four ways. When the two slates of the device are bent at an angle from 90 to 180 degrees with keyboard facing upward and the screen facing the user, you can use the device as a laptop. When, however, the keyboard is folded so that it is tucked underneath the screen, you can use it as a tablet. In the tablet setup, the keyboard faces outward, but there’s absolutely no reason to worry that you might accidentally hit the keys when you’re holding it or setting it on a surface. The keyboard is automatically disabled when the device is folded in such a manner.
From tablet mode, you can also set up the device to make it ideal for multimedia viewing and for presentations. You can use the keyboard as a flat stand, with the keyboard facing down and the screen propped up at 90 degrees, or you can set up the device in a tent-like shape, where the keyboard and screen are facing opposite sides.
The hook of the device is its portability. It is only half an inch thick (when folded) and weighs 2.8-lbs. It’s like carrying an 11.6-inch paperback book. Its size and weight compared to ultrabooks is impressive, but compared to tablets, I don’t think it will have the same appeal. Nevertheless, I had no hesitation in bringing the device to work and taking it home everyday. I even packed it in my rucksack and took it along on our road trip to Subic.
The general performance of the device can be described as inconsistent. Sometimes it was fast; sometimes it lagged. Fortunately, the instances of the former outnumbered the latter. It takes almost a minute, however, to boot the device, as well as shut it down, which is why for the majority of the time that the device was in my custody, I opted to never shut it down and put it into Sleep Mode instead.
The multimedia experience that I had with the Yoga 11 took me by surprise. I watched some HD videos on YouTube, hit full screen, and I was left more than satisfied with the intensity of colors and detail that I was able to get from the 11.6-inch 1366 x 768-resolution screen. What surprised me more was the powerful audio that the device could produce. The sound that it pumped out was magnificently loud and surprisingly well-balanced; not once did I feel the need to plug in my speakers or headphones. Notably, the audio didn’t sound distorted when I played music at full volume.
There’s a reasonable amount of keyboard travel on the Yoga 11’s keyboard. My only complaint would be that the keys aren’t backlit.The touchpad is thankfully spacious and responsive, but I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that it lacked palm rejection. There were a few instances in which my palm grazed the edge of the pad and suddenly I was in a different part of the word document I was typing. It was a distressing experience.
Battery life is one of the important features that add to the usefulness of the device. Throughout my time with the Yoga 11, I was able to use the device for at most 11hours of moderate use that involves web browsing, typing, and listening to music at full brightness without having to reach for the charger. It also takes a reasonable amount of time to get a full charge.
Is the Yoga 11 worth the investment? I think PHP 44,995 is too much for a device like this. But let’s say you just won the lottery and you’ve got oodles of cash to spare: is it worth buying? The appeal of the device depends greatly on the perspective through which it is looked at. It is definitely on the losing end when it is compared to other tablets because of its size and thickness. Using the Yoga 11 is like carrying around an 11-inch tablet and an attachable keyboard with you, except the keyboard stays on—forever. Its edge over most laptops, though, is that it is slim and it weighs like nothing, making it extremely portable. However, with Windows RT on board instead of Windows 8, I doubt if anyone would really consider it as a replacement to their current laptops no matter how chunky they are. Ultimately, I would say that if I needed to go to press events and had post stories to our site while I’m there, I would have no qualms in taking the Yoga 11 as my companion, but apart from that, I can see no other use for it.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Racine Anne Castro
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The Canon PowerShot D20 is a waterproof camera meant to be taken outdoors on adventures. You don’t want to bring an expensive camera around when you’re riding the waves at the beach or climbing up a mountain. The Canon D20 is the friend you take on those adventures with you. On our recent beach trip, I took the rugged Canon PowerShot D20 with me for a test.
It’s waterproof up to 33 feet, shockproof up to 5ft, and temperature-resistant from 14°F to 104°F. It might be a bit bulky weighing 228g but I wouldn’t mind bringing a slightly bulky camera on-hand if that means it can take constant drops and minor bumps.
The camera is enclosed in a tough plastic black body with curved edges and a bright metallic accent. It comes in three different colors (yellow, silver, and blue) all of which are bright enough to help make the camera visible even under water. On one side it curves into a wave shape that helps your grip when you need to keep the camera still with both hands.
At the top you can find the Power, Shutter, and Playback button, and laid out on its back are round pebble shaped plastic buttons for Zoom, Menu, Function, and a similar textured tile for grip. You can also find here the silver Record Button. The buttons were fairly large and well spread-out. When you’re under water, it’s difficult to have to look at the camera buttons, so it helps that the buttons are easily distinguishable by feel. On the lower right is a latch where the provided lanyard can be attached. On its side, and bottom is a sealed door that encloses the battery/memory card compartment and the HDMI/USB ports. The D20 doesn’t have an internal memory so you better make sure to bring along your SD card with you. There is also no warning if you accidentally weren’t able to seal the door properly.
I brought the camera along with me when we kayaked, and the waves were pretty strong that day. It was a good thing the PowerShot D20 could take a good beating so I didn’t have to worry about the waves smashing into the device. The wrist strap will be particularly helpful too if you’ll be doing a heavy water sport. The D20’s body is a bit too rounded that it would easily slip off when you’re holding it with one hand so I probably wouldn’t risk bringing the camera around without a strap. Being the klutz that I am, it would have slipped off my hand already, but the strap comfortably secured the camera around my wrist.
The Canon PowerShot D20 has a 12-megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom lens with a focal range of 5.0-25.0mm. It takes about 1.6 seconds to power, and around 2.2 seconds to load in-between shots. It allows you to take still photos, and video up to 1080p. I took photos mostly in Program Mode, and the image quality came out fairly well considering this is a point-and-shoot and it’s not meant for heavy photography. Even under the harsh light of the beach, the photos didn’t come out overexposed. It had a little trouble capturing fine details though, and you can see this when you zoom in on pictures. Some noise was also visible on dark areas of the photos.
You can preview photos in the D20’s 3-inch 460k-pixel resolution LCD. You can opt to change the screen’s brightness and I didn’t have any trouble with it even when I review photos it in the water. Under the very bright sun though, you’d still have to tilt a bit to see the images on the LCD. The screen display was clear and crisp, but I noticed that the photos you see on the screen isn’t exactly what you would see when you upload it on your computer. Some photos looked brighter in the camera display but would come out a little bit washed out on the computer.
Overall, the Canon PowerShot D20 is a point-and-shoot camera worth buying if you need a waterproof camera that you could also take with you on rough outdoor adventures. It also produces quality still images and video.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Addie Mendoza
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In this fast paced world of ours, where social media is king, internet access is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Whether for work or for play, it’s really difficult to just depend on the free but unreliable Wi-Fi we get at restaurants or malls. There is nothing more convenient than having your own connection, anytime and anywhere you need it.
Unlimited mobile internet is not for everyone. There are those who just don’t have the expendable cash to commit to a postpaid plan, and those who simply don’t use that much mobile data to justify the expense. For those who fall under these categories, prepaid internet access is the best option. With the Tattoo 4G Prepaid Superstick, subscribers have access to Globe’s expansive HSPA+ nationwide coverage of 3,015 sites, while only having to paying for what you use.
As its name suggests, this device, along with the two other models under the 4G category, is the next generation of the 3G sticks first introduced to our market several years ago. While they don’t exactly hit the speeds that are available for LTE capable devices (that are still quite expensive at this time), they do provide decent download speeds.
The Globe Tattoo 4G Prepaid Superstick we got to test is the Huawei E5331-s. It is a mobile hotspot that can support up to eight devices simultaneously. This is really convenient when you carry a combination of smartphones-tablet-laptop, plus have family or friends who want to share your connection.
The device accesses the Internet via HSPA+ (4G), HSUPA, HSDPA and UMTS. On the box, it says that it can reach a maximum speed of 7.2 Mbps, but the device is actually rated to have a peak download speed of up to 21Mbps on HSPA+. At home in Quezon City, I got decent download speeds of between 3.5 and 6Mbps, speeds that were faster than my wired connection, although as is the nature of the beast, these speeds slowed down during peak hours.
In lieu of a screen, the device has a set of LED indicators that show you signal and Wi-Fi strength, battery levels, as well as any unread text messages you may have. While this may have added to its battery life, I miss the 3G/2G indicator in my older unit, which told me to just shut off the device to conserve the battery when the 2G sign was flashing. The unit is charged using the included USB extension cable, and has a working time of 4 to 5 hours on a fresh charge.
Installing the device to my laptop was a breeze, and took under a minute on OSX 10.8.3. Despite not being on the list of supported operating systems, we also tried installing it to a Windows 8 device, and while it took a bit longer to install, the process still proceeded seamlessly.
From the device’s configuration screen, one can easily setup their device manually or with the Quick Setup guide, check for software updates with one click, send and receive SMS, checkout the stats and see who’s connected to you.
All in all, the Tattoo 4G Superstick is a worthy investment for those who want fast and reliable internet wherever they are without breaking bank. Its reduced price of PHP 2,895 is really a steal, considering the number of devices it can accommodate at the same time.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Mika Fernandez-David
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The days when the camcorder was the mass weapon of choice in video recording are long gone. Using one’s smartphone or point-and-shoot camera makes much more sense nowadays since these devices are powerful enough to shoot high-quality videos on the go and they make sharing content on the web much easier. The camcorder seems rather lame now compared to all the other cameras out there. The Sony Handycam DCR-PJ6 looks, feels, and performs pretty much like your average ‘corder, except for one thing—it throws in a built-in projector. It got me thinking—is this added feature enough to push someone to consider getting a camcorder in the current era of digital imaging? Let’s take a look at the device and see if it indeed has the chops to change one’s mind.
When I first picked up the DCR-PJ6 and slid my hand into the strap, I immediately noticed how light it was compared to a lot of camcorders I’ve handled. The battery was even attached to the rear at that time. It’s weightless and compact, making it easy and comfortable to hold.
The start/stop record button can be found on the rear of the device, placed at just the right angle to make it easy for you to press it with your thumb. The zoom lever can be found atop the device, together with a dedicated button for taking stills. Up front is the lens, and beside it is a small lever that controls the lens cover. Directly below the lens is the built-in LED video light.
The device has a 2.7-inch LCD screen that can be swiveled to up to 180 degrees. The projector is found on the other side of the screen. On top of it is a slider that controls the focus of the projected image.
The interface is a tad confusing since there are a lot of menus and sub-menus, and it’s pretty tough to navigate through them with the five-way controller. While rummaging through the many lists of options, I found a scene selection menu where you can customize the camcorder’s settings depending on the type of scene you’re recording.
However, if you’re in too much of a hurry to capture a moment to go through the scene selection menu, there’s an Intelligent Auto mode that allows the camera to recognize up to 18 combinations of scenes, then automatically adjusts the settings based on the conditions, guaranteeing that you get the perfect shot even if you don’t have the time or a free hand to tweak the settings manually.
The standard video codec for the DCR-PJ6 is MPEG2-PS—the format used by analog broadcast TV systems.Even though I would’ve preferred shooting in HD, I was very happy with the results. Colors needed a wee bit more saturation, but the overall quality was way more than acceptable. They turned up rather sharp with minimal digital noise on a TV screen and on the screen of my laptop. Shooting in the dark wasn’t much of a problem. As mentioned, the DCR-PJ6 has a built-in LED video light upfront, which allowed me to take footage in dark conditions.
Zoom speed and AF were slower than I expected, considering that camcorders generally have faster zoom and focus than other types of cameras during video capture. The device is capable of 60x optical zoom, but it also has up to 70x extended digital zoom. The only bummer is that you can only use Extended Zoom when SteadyShot—the camera’s image stabilization system—is turned off.
Optical SteadyShot is the feature that I found the most useful. My hand often shakes when recording long clips, and I don’t think I’m best suited to hold a video camera without a tripod, but surprisingly, when I played back the videos on the camera and on my computer, they were smoother and less wobbly than I had imagined because I switched on the Optical SteadyShot.
Audio quality was good—loud and audible, even if the person being filmed was a meter or two away from the camera. This is likely due to the device’s built-in zoom microphone.
Of course, the cherry on top is the built-in projector. It isn’t the first one in the market to have one, but I still think of it as an interesting, novel feature. It’s like having a mini-theater attached to your camera. As long as you have a white wall or any other flat surface, you can sit together with your friends and watch all the clips you took of your day, like how we did during our Subic trip.
Battery life is reasonable. I was able to use the device for an average of three hours of non-stop shooting after each full charge. Unfortunately, at one point, I had to cut my shooting short because I had to transfer the recorded clips from my SD card. I had to wait for everything to be copied to my hard drive before I could delete the contents of the SD card so I could start shooting again. I would’ve preferred if the device had internal memory—probably 8GB at the very least.
The Sony Handycam DCR-PJ6 carries a reasonable price tag of PHP 17,999. Despite its comparative affordability, some may be reluctant to purchase a dedicated device for shooting videos, and would probably opt for a powerful point-and-shoot or bridge camera within the same price range. Some would even consider getting a smartphone that is more expensive, as long as it has Full HD video recording capabilities. With the DCR-PJ6, though, you get a powerful video recorder that can take long clips in good video and audio quality, a fair-enough stills shooter, and a handy projector for the price of only one device. It may seem like a useless combination to some, but somewhere in the market, someone’s looking for that sort of multifunctionality. This may not be enough to convince people to actually purchase a camcorder, but it’s a good reason for me to conclude that this particular camcorder isn’t as lame as you think.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Racine Anne Castro
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Every gamer needs video cards. Otherwise, we’d be using the integrated graphics that come with our motherboards, and these don’t really come up to the demands of PC games today, or won’t even let us run some games at all. Some people use multiple cards and/or multiple monitors to make the graphics as realistic and as crisp as possible, and for the more daring, they do something called overclocking—pushing the card past its advertised speeds.
The Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7790 is a graphics card that caters to the gamer on a budget. If you’ve purchased a graphics card before, you probably already know how to put one in—just open up your desktop, find the PCI-E port on your motherboard, attach the graphics card into the PCI-E port, secure it to your case, and then plug the included six-pin cable into your power supply. You can then use the port of your choice (usually an HDMI port) and attach an HDMI cable from your device straight to the monitor. When you first start up your computer with your new graphics card, you’ll be on integrated graphics—just pop in the CD that comes with the card and follow the on-screen instructions to install your drivers to have the monitor run on your new graphics card and at the resolution you desire. You might need to restart your computer again for the new settings to take effect. Keep in mind you’ll need to update your drivers to enjoy the full power of your video card if you plan to use it long-term—most video card manufacturers roll out these updates at least once a month. The device comes with two more DVI ports, so you can also hook up additional monitors to the device. It also takes up two slots on the back of your case, so if you plan to use more than one card, keep in mind how many slots are available on both your case and motherboard.
For starters, you’ll have 1GB of GDDR5 RAM at an effective speed of 6.4GHz on the Radeon HD 7790 itself, along with an overclock of 7.5 percent on the GPU, thus taking it up to around 1,075MHz. To truly bring out the power of the graphics card, you need to watch HD video or play a graphics-intensive game or set an older game’s video settings to High or Ultra. The games I used for my review were World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and BioShock Infinite.
The Radeon HD 7790’s performance will also rely on the rest of your rig’s specs, so keeping your other components current will make a difference as well. The system requirements for Mists aren’t extremely high, but when set to High or Ultra, the game will really be tested. I set my graphics to Ultra and went to one of the most crowded areas in the game, Stormwind’s Trade District. The card has to render plenty of character models along with other game graphics that are enabled upon switching your video settings to High or Ultra. I also play on a very high population server, so rendering the game graphics pushed the card heavily. I got an FPS rate of only 17, which is somewhat playable if you’re just standing around, but not when you’re in a dungeon or a battleground, where you need to react quickly to what is going on around you. BioShock Infinite ran well, but the frame rate had moments where it dropped below 20FPS. I also wouldn’t recommend playing games above 1920×1080 resolution with this card.
I also noticed a little discoloration in gaming and outside of it on my display. I’m not sure if it was my display itself or a mistake in the card’s settings. You can adjust display settings through AMD’s Catalyst Control Center (CCC), and you can also adjust other card settings, although the same settings in the CCC can also be found in the settings of your games. Overdrive mode boosts the card’s performance even further, although the limits on Overdrive mode might not satisfy those who overclock their rigs. In its defense, however, it makes overclocking easier for gamers who don’t know much beyond just putting in the card and installing its drivers.
Some people have reported power consumption issues with AMD cards in the past, but the Radeon HD 7790’s power consumption has improved over its predecessors. Idle, the card only consumes 7W of power, but if you use multiple monitors, this number almost triples to 20W. During gameplay, you’ll see an average of between 69W to 78W of power usage, with a maximum of 100W. You’ll probably never reach the maximum unless you’re running multiple monitors off of the same card and playing a graphics-intensive game (for example, Crysis 3) at Ultra settings on DirectX 11.
The HD 7790 isn’t bad, but it’s not the cream of the crop either. You’ll need to overclock to get it to perform well, and limit yourself to 1920×1080 resolution if you want a decent frame rate at the High/Ultra settings in the games you play.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Jose Alvarez
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I was never big on sharing tidbits of my life via social networks. The way I like my gadgets reflects this; as long as they perform their dedicated tasks well and make my life easier, I’m good. The arrival of smart devices, however, changed this simple little world of mine. Fate conspired, and a smartphone found its way into my life. This is the single most convenient thing anyone can ever own. Everything can be accessed and shared with just one click. Since then, every attempt I have made to keep away from my social networks has given me withdrawal syndrome. When I heard of the existence of smart cameras, my inner shutterbug immediately took notice and the promise of instant photo sharing was too sweet to pass up.
The WB30F of Samsung WB series of cameras is a Wi-Fi-capable device that was given the catch phrase “big on style and performance.” My first impressions on it were spot-on. Samsung came up with beautiful design for the WB30F. It’s barely the size of my palm, and very lightweight, despite the extra hardware that makes the camera smart. It even comes in several colors to suit your individual style. It has a relatively small set of external controls that I personally liked, since it helps reduce clutter and confusion during use. It pops right into a pocket or purse, and once there, you won’t even know you have it.
Under greater scrutiny, I am quite confident that it will live up to Samsung’s standards. As I’d mentioned earlier, it has a small number of external controls, so getting used to it is not a problem. At the top of the device sits the power button, just beside the zoom rocker with the shutter button at its center. At the bottom is the battery door that houses both the 700mAh battery and microSD slot. The camera’s rear houses the LCD screen and a set of buttons which are rather self-explanatory. It also has a dedicated Wi-Fi button that enables you to share your photos in just one click.
This button is the key to simplifying photo sharing. Hit the review button and scroll to your photo of choice. Hit “Menu”, choose “Share (Wi-Fi)” and pick among the list of sites on which you can share your photo. Let’s say you prefer to share on Facebook. The camera will then ask you to log-in using an on-screen keyboard. After finishing, click “OK,” and you’re done! WB30F also allows you to automatically share your images right after taking them through its Autoshare feature, which you have to connect to your smartphone or tablet with an installed Samsung SMART CAMERA App.
The one thing I loved most about the WB30F is how easy it is to edit your pictures should you prefer to enhance them before upload. The button beside “Menu” will bring you to the different camera modes and filters that you can use before shooting. Scroll past these choices for the “Photo Editor” that gives you the freedom to rotate your picture, adjust the brightness and contrast, saturation and even re-touch your portraits and apply red eye correction. There is also an extensive set of smart filters including a miniature effect, vignetting, soft-focus and fish-eye. Should you want to crop your photo, just zoom it in while in review mode until you get your desired composition then hit “OK.” I had fun with the extensive choice of preferences with the photo editor, and how easy it is to use the different modes.
If you’re looking for more, the WB30F also has a Live Panorama capability that creates great panorama shots just by moving the camera sideways while pressing the shutter button–something that beats a lot of other point-and-shoots, making me settle for stitch buddy features instead.
While I did enjoy this beauty’s features in photo editing before upload, I find it a little lacking in the image quality department. Everything looks good enough in review mode on its 75 mm LCD screen, but once you move to a regular 14” monitor, the shortcomings start to show. The camera is also a little too light, which makes it feel a little squirelly in the hand, affecting my composition. The WB30F’s easy-sharing makes up for its average photo quality though, and that makes sense; it’s a dedicated device for sharing images in the web above other things.
Despite its light weight, stylish look and its good photo editing features, whatever the WB30F can do, the average smartphone can too, to a certain degree. I highly suggest the wonders of the WB30F for those who have money to spare for a dedicated on-the-go camera exclusively for sharing online, and occasionally, when you need a point-and-shoot to quickly document a nice night out.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Cla Gregorio
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Tablets have moved slowly but steadily from the “nerd gadget” end of the spectrum to the realm of the common tech user. This is partly due to the fact that tablets are wonderful little things that allow you to take your music, videos and photos everywhere without having to compromise too much between viewing and carrying comfort. I, along with many others, including certain fruit-themed manufacturers, believe that the perfect size for a tablet is somewhere between 7 and 8 inches. Another reason for the increased popularity of the tablet is the plunging cost of ownership. Manufacturers have made it so that devices can be owned by anybody with a little spare cash to burn. The democratization of technology is great for everyone, and leading the charge, as ever, is Cherry Mobile. Their latest seven-inch tablet has proven to be an excellent deal, with dealers scampering to keep the product on the shelf. I’ve spent a lot of time with the device myself, and I can say I completely get why everyone wants it so bad.
The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is a handy little device with a 7-inch IPS screen that runs at a resolution of 1224 x 800. This gives it a display density of about 216ppi. Not exactly Retina-quality, but nothing to scoff at either. It’s better than a lot of the tablets out there today, and blows away practically every other tablet at its price point in the market, but we’ll get to that later. The Fusion Bolt runs a quad-core, 1.0GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, which is more than sufficient for a regular user’s needs. On paper, it looks great. A quad-core device with the kind of screen it has certainly has my vote. We were excited to get our own device to play with, and we were impressed with what we saw. Out of the box, with the firmware that came with it, the device was a little slow to respond. A little while after the initial launch, however, Cherry Mobile made an update available. This greatly improved the user experience, which we will cover here.
The device is very simple. Based on the brand stamp on its nicely-textured back as well as the button placements, it seems like it is designed to be used in landscape mode. The front camera that sits squarely in the center of the wide edge reinforces this impression. On the same edge as the camera is a dedicated “Home” hardkey, along with a volume rocker and power button. All are very easily accessible and tactile. There is also a port for the charger, a micro USB port that can be used to charge, as well as take peripherals, a micro HDMI port for output, and a headphone jack for audio. The device does have internal speakers that are loud, if a bit tinny-sounding.
I have used the device almost constantly since I got it, using it to make posts, send email and lots of other simple tasks. Out of the box, I have to admit that using the device was a frustrating experience. It was slow to open apps, and even the keyboard would take a few seconds to load sometimes. After firmware update, though, the Fusion Bolt really shone. The way it performed was exactly as you would expect from an affordable, quad-core device. While it won’t break any records, it is a happy little workhorse that will handle tasks just fine. The stock Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean OS runs zippy, save for a few points during use. Overall, it is a pleasant experience.
The Fusion Bolt has a 4,000mAh battery that is capable of powering the device, with Wi-Fi on, screen almost on full brightness, for about a day. This is with quite heavy use, but at no point did I feel I was short on juice. It also comes with 8GB of internal storage, as well as a microSD slot for extra storage. It is an able multimedia device, capable of playing HD video, at least the 720p videos that I had, without stuttering, freezing or any of that unpleasantness. The device has two cameras, a main, 2.0-megapixel snapper, and a front-facing VGA camera for video calls. The main camera is not the best in the market, but does a sufficient job. The Fusion Bolt does a great job with video calls, and with a decent connection, can serve as your main online messenger.
The device does leave a little to be desired when it comes to build quality. It comes across plasticky, and the screen protector that came with it was quite easily scratched. The Fusion Bolt also creaks a little when pressure is applied, but the screen does not warp at all when pressed. It also does not come with Bluetooth, so connectivity options are limited. Still, Wi-Fi is really all most people will use, and with the right hardware, an external keyboard can and will work, giving you a great option for working on the road.
On the whole, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is a device that gives amazing value for money. It might not have the most solid build quality, or the greatest connectivity options, but for just a hair under PHP 4,000, it is superb. It gives users a great screen, quad-core computing, and a handy 7-inch overall footprint that ensures you will carry it everywhere. While it isn’t the tablet for everyone, this is an affordable, cheerful tablet that, if you have a few bucks to spare, will make a great addition to your gadget line-up.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Ren Alcantara
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Presumably, at the outset, Canon hadn’t imagined how well-off the market for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras would be, so they maintained their focus on their DSLRs, bridge and compact models. Now that the category has evolved and is getting more and more competitive, the company finally felt the need to step into the arena. The EOS-M is their first contender.
The EOS-M hosts an 18.1-megapixel APS-C sensor and has an ISO range of 100-12,800, but is expandable to up to ISO 25,600. It has the same DIGIC 5 image processor found in the EOS 650D. That’s not the only thing the two devices share. In fact, the M has been dubbed by several reviews online as a smaller version of the 650D. The M also adapts the 31-point Hybrid AF system—combining phase detection and contrast measurement—that was featured in the 650D.
Despite having many similarities with the 650D under the hood, the M reminds me more of Canon’s PowerShot cameras with its compact look and feel. Its build consists of stainless steel, magnesium alloy, polycarbonate, and glass fiber. The device is very lightweight and is easy to lug around in a small backpack even with the kit lens attached to it.
The M has a mode dial, but it only carries three shooting options—Photo, Video, and Full Auto. Each mode has sub-menus, which you can sift through using the camera’s 3-inch 1,0404,000-dotcapacitive touchscreen.Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual exposure modes are all present under the Photo Mode submenu. The camera also features a collection of creative filters and effects, like Toy Camera, Soft Focus, Fish Eye and many others. The M lets users record videos in Full HD at 24 and 25 frames per second (fps). Users are allowed to adjust the exposure settings during video capture, as well as take stills while recording.
Even though there are endless submenus on the device due to the lack of external controls, the interface wasn’t all that messy. I managed to easily navigate to the settings that I needed to access without giving up and consulting the manual.
The screen is also the only means by which you can frame your shot since the M does not have a viewfinder, nor does it provide any port to which users can attach an external VF. Truthfully, I would’ve preferred having a viewfinder on the M, even if I know that it would have made the device slightly bulkier.
The moment I started shooting photos with the M, I was impressed with how responsive the screen was. The touch-sensitive screen of the EOS M allows you to control AF and trigger the shutter just by tapping on the screen. The problem—or non-problem, depending how you look at it—is that it’s a little too sensitive. On one hand, that kind of sensitivity will come in handy in certain situations, such as when the camera is on a tripod and you want to do a long exposure, so you need to keep it extra-steady. On the other hand, having a touch screen that’s too sensitive can be a problem when you take pictures without meaning to when your fingers accidentally graze the screen. To me, it was more of the latter. The over-sensitivity of the screen started to become an annoyance by my second day of use.
It’s interesting to note, though, that by tapping on the screen, the AF system responds quicker than when I half-press the shutter release button. This is true not only in locking in AF on a subject, but also in actually taking the shot.
The M deserves some plus points for its ability to display live previews. When you tweak the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance or add filters and effects, you get a live preview of the result on the screen as you adjust the settings. When I took some shots and reviewed them on the camera, I noticed that the actual product and the preview were exactly the same.
Metering is generally accurate, while photos turned up impressively sharp and with just the right amount of saturation and color vibrancy. Noise is kept at a minimum, even in the shadow areas of images shot at ISO 6400. I even tried printing some of my favorite images on letter-size photo paper, and they still turned up nice and sharp.
Heavy users—particularly those who shoot both stills and videos—might be frustrated with the battery life of this camera. When we took the M with us on our trip to Subic and used it to capture photos and videos of our adventure, we could only use it for about three hours between each full charge.
The M can record stills in JPEG, RAW, and both formats simultaneously. It can also shoot Full HD videos. Users are also given the option to shoot stills whilst recording a video, but the latter is then interrupted.
The M has no built-in flash, but luckily it has a hotshoe on top so you can attach a Speedlite. Canon also sells an adaptor that allows you to mount your EF and EF-S lenses on the M—a huge advantage for those who have already stocked up on their collection of Canon lenses
The basic kit comes with an EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens and is priced at PHP 35,998. Meanwhile, the kit that includes an EF-M 22mm f/2.0 pancake lens and an EF Mount adaptor costs PHP 40,998. At PHP 47,998, you can get both lenses plus a Canon Speedlite 90EX. The M comes in four colors: black, white, silver and red.
Serious hobbyists (or even professionals) will most probably benefit from the M—those who want premium image quality in a camera that’s portable and convenient to bring along for everyday shooting or when they don’t want to lug around their bulky DSLRs. Those who are into travel photography will definitely see the value in this device because of its portability and laudable results, even despite its flaws in AF.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Racine Anne Castro
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There is a lot to be said about the current state of tablet technology. They are now available at every price tier, and have features that range from what can only be classified as “bare” to “everything short of the kitchen sink.” Tablets fill a very important niche in the gadgeteer’s arsenal, bridging the gap between the smartphone and notebook, doing tasks usually expected of one or the other. As such, tablets usually end up a little undercooked, lacking in a few tasks that a dedicated phone or laptop could tackle with no problem. Samsung has had a lot of experience in the smartphone, tablet and notebook arena, and it shows. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is the refinement of the tablet, choosing not to do things half way, but its own thing exceptionally well. We were lucky enough to spend a few days with the Note 8 before the launch to see if Samsung got the formula right.
As the name suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is a handy little tablet with an 8-inch screen. The device itself is about the size of a pen-and-paper yearly planner, and roughly half the thickness. It has a nice heft to it, without being too heavy to use or carry around all day; its the perfect size to slip into a bag. Its likeness to a planner is more than just coincidence. Being of the Note family, this little device is ready to take on all the organization tasks you have to throw at it, thanks to a super-powered suite of note taking, calendar and stylus apps that give it more creative power than almost any tablet in the market today. At the heart of the productivity of the Note 8.0 is the stylus that neatly tucks away into the lower-left corner of the tablet when not in use. The stylus itself is incredibly handy. It lets you do a bunch more thinks than take notes or make clippings. Certain apps, such as the news aggregator Flipbook, or the email app allow the user to hover the stylus over folders to get a preview of the stories or photos that lie within. The video app also allows the same hover function to scan for a particular frame or scene in a video without having to interrupt playback. I found both functions to save quite a bit of time and frustration when dealing with the loads of photos and emails that magazine work brings with it.
Equally handy is the ability to quickly and easily write on the native calendar application, much like one would do with a pen and paper planner. It’s a lot more natural than making notes for occasions with the keyboard, and much faster to boot. For those who rely on textbooks and the like, the stylus continues to be an invaluable tool. If there are some lines that need particular attention, the stylus allows you to highlight them with a quick tap and swipe. By far my favorite function though, was the ability to write right on the page as soon as thoughts struck me. I imagine this would be of great use to students, as they can scan, convert and then write on their books in a handy digital format rather than lug piles of books around, possibly busting their backs in the process. The Note 8.0 even has a handy ebook reader mode that cuts glare and drops the screen brightness to a level that is comfortable for reading books, even for extended periods. A lot of the nights that I had the tab were spent consuming ebooks that I had accumulated over the many months I was without a tablet. The experience was made even more pleasant thanks to the Tab 8.0’s “Smart Stay” feature that allowed the device to stay awake as long as I had my eyes on the screen.
Because of its sizable screen, but overall small footprint, the Note makes for a great tool for browsing the Internet. More comfortable than even the largest mobile phones, but not as clunky as a large tablet, the device was very easy to hold, even in the ever-changing landscape that is the bed, or the tight confines of the city’s trains. Wherever I found myself, I had the ability to catch up on the 20+ hours of shows I watch in a week, which is great when a lot of your time is spent traveling to and from events and meetings. While the display isn’t the sharpest, with Samsung opting for a TFT instead of the standard IPS screen, 189ppi is more than sufficient to watch videos, particularly if your only other option is a dinky little mobile phone screen.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 is also a full-featured phone. All I had to do was pop my micro-SIM into the little tray, and there I was, connected to the rest of the world through my magic 8-inch window. Be warned, with a device like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, you’re going to be online a lot. It’s just such a handy device on which to draw, sketch, write and share all the content you can imagine. It wasn’t a coincidence that I was able to be productive during the Holy Week break. While I didn’t really have any more time than usual, I was much better able to utilize the small pockets of time and channel them into productivity. The large 4600mAh battery was capable of keeping the device usable for just over a day of rather heavy use, including Wi-Fi, some mobile data, messages and videos, plus a Bluetooth keyboard.
I am sold on the Galaxy Note 8.0. It’s a great device that doesn’t try to be a compromise between gadgets, but instead fully accepts what it is, and does so in a way that no other device has in the past, really. There’s so much I want to write about the device, but don’t have room. I highly recommend this device, particularly if you are in any creative field. It’s a solid media consumption and production machine that will keep you chugging along no matter where you are.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Ren Alcantara
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The home and things inside it comprise the largest chunk of the average person’s investment. We’re not just talking about the amount of money we pour into our homes and belongings. The home is the one place where our identities are most concentrated. In it, we express our wants, needs, desires and interests. The amount of time and cash we put into making our homes “just right” is astounding; just take stock of how much you have spent on yours. Now, we do our best to keep the premises safe: we keep things well-lit, we lock up at night before going to bed, and we make sure not just anyone gets in.
As life goes, though, we just can’t watch over our homes 24/7. We have work, family and vacations. Next to leaving word with the neighbors or convincing a friend to house-sit, the average family has few options. Some families have the help stay home to hold the fort, but the problem here is that sometimes, whether by malice or negligence, things go wrong. By the time you find out something has gone wrong, it may have been days, even weeks too late to really do anything. CCTV is an option, but most families don’t feel the need for a CCTV system at home, primarily because of the prohibitive cost and troublesome setup.
D-Link, one of the leading names in networking, has taken their broad expertise in creating solid, reliable network devices, and given everyone access to a more secure life with their DCS-7010L Outdoor Cloud Camera. This camera brings peace of mind at a price that won’t leave you with a semi-furnished home. The camera itself is a simple little weather-proofed deal that comes in a shade of industrial silver. There really isn’t much in the package, just the camera itself, a LAN cable, power adapter and installation CD. There is also a mount and template for mounting the device onto an outside wall.
The beauty of this bullet cloud camera is the ease with which it can be installed. While I like my gadgets, I don’t really have a degree in anything electronics-related, and if there’s the least bit of soldering required, I’m going to think twice about starting a project. The D-Link camera was utterly painless to set up. All I had to do was plug the device in to the same router to which I was connected, pop in the installation CD and follow a few quick steps. My laptop found the device in under a minute, and in roughly five, it was live. The exact number of people needed to get the thing running: one. Just me and my AB Philosophy degree. It was that simple. A few extra steps were needed to get a little more functionality from the device, though, thankfully, it was all just a web-based account setup that connected the camera to the cloud for easy viewing. This is much simpler and more affordable than traditional CCTV solutions that cost an arm and a leg for both the devices and necessary installation fees.
Once the account was up and running, all I had to do was head over to the necessary website, and I could see our office kids downstairs, hard at work, right where I had pointed the cam. To get even more bang for the buck, I installed the appropriate app for both my Android and iOS device, both of which allowed me to see what the camera was up to just by having a data connection and launching an application from my home screen. These apps also allow users to zoom, activate night mode, and control the quality of the streaming video, or take screenshots of the action as it unfolds. All these features proved exceptionally handy when we wanted to spy on the office as we were out on our yearly Gadgets roadtrip. The camera, in turn, lets people on the ground know it is working thanks to a little LED indicator on the front.
The D-Link bullet camera did very admirably. I had set the device up indoors, and despite the low-light conditions of the dungeon wherein we keep our junior staff, I was clearly able to identify the websites they were browsing from about 10 feet away. Though the device does allow you to zoom, it’s really just a software zoom that crops the image, not an optical zoom that brings the image closer, but for the ease by which this camera goes up, putting cameras in several spots to provide an overlapping field of view should be no problem whatsoever. The device also comes with a slot for a microSD card for short clips, and the capability to store and archive footage on a networked hard drive.
Though I did set the device up indoors, it is rated to IP-66 standards, which means it is completely impermeable by dust, and can withstand water up to anything short of immersion. This rating, I imagine, only covers the device though. You still have to be careful about both the power and LAN cables, as they re the standard, “indoor use only” variety, and are the weakest links in the device’s weather-protection chain. The device also comes with inputs and outputs for audio and digital optical connectors, presumably for a more traditional CCTV setup.
Make no mistake, despite how easily this device can be made operational, it is no toy. It’s built solidly, and performs as promised. If you are handy with a drill, can lay some basic wires and have a working index finger for manipulating a mouse, you should have no problem with the D-Link DCS-7010L Cloud camera.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Ren Alcantara
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Windows Phone 8 is one of the more neglected smartphone operating systems in the market. This is a real shame, since there are a lot of great phones that run the OS. Not the least of these is Nokia’s Lumia line, at the top of which is the gorgeous Lumia 920. Our good friends at Nokia sent one over for review last week, and in the short amount of time I have spent with the device, I have loved it.
The Lumia 920 is currently Nokia’s flagship device, and they have designed it to look and act every bit the part. The Lumia 920 is all curves from the rounded-off edges of its Gorilla Glass 2 screen to its tough, polycarbonate sides and back. It feels warm and organic in the hand, like it is exactly where the phone belongs. The Lumia 920 brings more than just Windows Phone 8 to the table. It comes with a very roomy 4.5-inch IPS screen , a dual core S4 Snapdragon processor running at 1.5GHz and 1GB of RAM. The screen has a crisp resolution of 332ppi and looks great, even in direct sunlight. It is a little on the large side, at approximately 5 x 28 x 0.4-inches, and a bit hefty at 185-grams, but the build just feels solid. You know, as you move it around in your hand and use it that this is not a device that will let you down.
Our Lumia 920 came in a beautiful shade of red. At first, I found it to be a little on the orange side, but slowly, as I spent more and more time with it, the color grew on me. The color on the plastic used in the main construction of the device isn’t painted on, rather the plastic itself is colored. This greatly increases the wear resistance of the phone, and makes it look every bit the premium product it is. I can’t stress enough just how sexy this phone is, or how well the sleek finish and form go with the modern Windows Phone 8 interface. Those familiar with the Windows Phone 7.x OS should have no problem adjusting to 8.0—it’s pretty much the same thing, but with features that allow it to be more in-line with future hardware. Most will be content to see that it is just as pretty, simple and functional as the previous iteration of the Windows Phone OS. The home screen can be configured to your liking, icons can be pinned and resized to your heart’s content, and colors can be changed to reflect your current mood or whim.
Using the phone was dead simple. I have not really owned a Windows Phone device in the past, but that was no hindrance to getting the Lumia 920 to go. I just signed in to a Windows Live account, which I also use for my Windows 8 work laptop, and everything was good to go. My contacts, messages, settings and online accounts were all there, seamlessly and painlessly.
The OS kept the extremely smart keyboard that did a great job at prediction and auto-correction, even during my clumsiest attempts at messaging, and was as easy to use with one as it was with two hands. Of particular interest was Nokia’s City Lens app. It is a very well executed augmented reality app that combines GPS, a data connection and the device’s camera to show you what points of interest are nearby just by raising the Lumia 920 and looking at the city through the screen. Though some landmarks were a little out of date, the majority of them were just fine and, more than once, I was able to find a gas station or quick bite to eat thanks to the app.
Another feature I found extremely convenient was the Lumia 920’s excellent Bluetooth headset integration. With my Plantronics Voyager Legend paired to the phone, I was able to have messages read to me, dictate a reply, call or ignore the message completely. This made driving and communicating a much safer, and actually quite pleasant experience.
The camera on the Lumia 920 carries Nokia’s “Pureview” label, and is an 8-Megapixel affair, with Carl Zeiss optics. The camera, I’m sad to say, let me down a bit, with more grain than I was expecting for a top-tier device. It is more than adequate for the odd snapshot or two of a night out, but in a world where flagship devices offer cameras that are able to take magazine-quality images, the Lumia 920 lags behind. There is also a handy 1.3-megapixel front camera for video calls or self-portraits.
A huge plus for the device is the battery life. The Lumia 920 has more than just wireless charging in its bag of power tricks. We went on our yearly Gadgets roadtrip a few days after I got the device, and I wanted to put it through its paces, so I defiantly left the charger at home, just to make a point. Okay. Maybe “defiantly left” is too strong. I forgot the charger at home. I was connected to the phone via a Bluetooth headset, was connected to a mobile hotspot a lot of the time, and made about an average number of calls and texts during the two-day adventure, and I was very pleased to find that by the time I returned home, I had roughly half a day of use left. That was a total run of over 50 hours of real-world battery life, very impressive, considering everything the phone can do.
I said it at the top of this review: I love this phone. Sure, there are other more popular operating systems out there, but the simplicity of the Windows Phone 8 interface is pretty hard to top. The integration with Windows 8 (which many of you are likely using) is rather nice, and it feels rock solid. This, coupled with above-average battery life and superb Bluetooth support make for a phone that’s a winner all around.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Ren Alcantara
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I’m one who believes that everything I do should have some sort of soundtrack, whether I’m on the road, working, reading, or writing. This is why I always carry a trusty pair of earphones or headphones with me wherever I go, whatever I’m doing—physical activities included.
I’ve had this long-standing predicament, though, of determining which among my headphones is best suited for use during my occasional jogs. The headphones I have at home are a bit bulky, and I often feel uncomfortable wearing them over a long period of time. The earphones, on the other hand, just keep falling off whenever I move. The Blaupunkt Sport 112 Neckband came my way, and I decided to put it to the test to determine if it’s the type of audio device that would be actually be well-suited for any kind of physical activity, as advertised.
To be honest, audio devices with earbuds are among my least favorite types of gadgets because I never seem to get them to fit and stay inside my ear. This particular device is no exception. I constantly had to re-secure the earbuds inside my ear canal every fifteen minutes or so just to hear the music well enough. As much as I was frustrated, I really couldn’t pin the blame on the device. I guess the problem is pretty much my small ear canal openings.
I was pleased, though, that even if I couldn’t get the buds to stay in my ears, I didn’t have to worry about the headphones falling off my head. The headband kept it sitting snugly around my dome even when I used it whilst running and exercising. This was definitely good news to me because there’s actually no way of adjusting the size and fit of the headband, so in case it didn’t fit, it would’ve been a bit of a problem.
There’s not much to say about sound quality except that the Sport 112 Neckband lives up to the reputation of other Blaupunkt products, having superb audio quality. The mixture of frequencies is well balanced—the lows are well rounded, and at the same time, the highs are not washed out. Overall, there’s good sound detail coming from these cans.
I found the cord a little short, though. I understand that running, jogging or doing any other physical activity with a wire dangling on the side or along the thigh can be annoying and uncomfortable, but so is having a wire that’s too short that you accidentally tug it from your head when your body is doing big movements. Maybe it the cord were a wee bit longer, I would’ve fully enjoyed wearing the device on my head and I would’ve felt a tad more at ease.
What I appreciate the most about the Sport 112 Neckband, though, is its lightness. Even though I kept fidgeting with the earbuds, I liked how I didn’t feel like I was carrying a brick on my head, which is how I usually feel when I’m wearing supra-aural headphones. Dangling the device around my neck when I wasn’t using it was never uncomfortable; at one point I even forgot that something was hanging there. It wasn’t any trouble to carry around in my bag, either, since the device weighs almost like nothing. Also, despite having a slim and almost weightless neckband, it doesn’t look nor feel like it’s going to break into pieces if I accidentally sit on it. It’s comfortable enough for long-time use, and it keeps your
As the name indicates, this device is supposed to be worn while you’re taking part in some sort of physical activity, which means that you’ll most likely be sweating. However, nothing on the box indicates that it’s sweat-proof, and that’s something that I’m slightly uncomfortable with. Instead of having a trouble-free, tune-filled exercise session, I’d probably be worrying if the earbuds are getting drenched in my bodily fluids.
The PHP 1,200 price tag is not bad for a set of sports headphones, and based on the time I’ve spent with device, I can attest to its value for those who want to liven up their physical activities with some music. The Blaupunkt Sport 112 Neckband may not be protected from your sweat, but it can offer you a secure and comfortable fit. You will hardly notice it on your head while you’re being pumped up by intensifying tunes with excellent audio quality.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013
Words by Racine Anne Castro
If you need an ultra-compact USB flash drive, look no further than the Sandisk Cruzer Orbit. At only 1.5-inches long and just over 0.25-inches thick, its 360-degree swivel design and pocket-sized portability ensures it can fit into any USB port, making it easy to store, transfer, and share data whether for home or office use. You can attach it to any binder, key ring or lanyard so that you don’t lose track of it while you’re on the go. It also comes with 128-bit AES encryption, making sure your files are safe. You can also back up your files to the cloud from any web browser. Depending on your data needs, it is available in 4GB, GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities, so whether you’re just doing homework or have large files to move around, there is a lot you can do with the Cruzer Orbit flash drive.
First Published in Gadgets Magazine, May 2013