Posts tagged computer
Review: iPhone 5 Dock from Mobile Fun
03 months ago
Docks are designed to allow you to sync and charge your phone while it is sat upright on your desk or bedside table. This one (showing off my very dusty iPhone!) is from Mobile Fun.
The dock is good for charging and syncing your phone with your computer, as well as plugging into the mains to charge quicker. It comes with a fairly short lighting to USB cable (also black – it’s long enough to go from the floor to my desk) which is useful, but not the USB mains adapter. The dock is small and actually looks great in glossy black – it has a non-slip base and has a good weight to it.
I’m impressed with how sturdy my phone is when sat in the dock. I worry about things like this being unstable or a bit precarious, and as a result breaking either the lightning connector or connection inside my phone. But this is very solid and my phone clips on very positively and doesn’t wobble around at all. Good.
I’ve now got this sat on my desk at work – my phone can charge and I can see the screen, there’s also no chance it’ll get accidentally swiped off my desk or lost under a pile of papers (not that I ever have massive piles of papers on my desk – if I can’t see the table there’s a good chance I’m stressed!). I can’t decide whether it’s most useful there or at the computer at home, I might need to buy another one. Thankfully they are a lower price than the official Apple ones at £21.95.
You can get a range of iPhone 5 docks from Mobile Fun.
Disclaimer: Mobile Fun sent me this dock to review here on Splodz Blogz. I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the product for free.
Cordies Cable Tidy
18 months ago
The second Quirky product I was sent to try by Find Me A Gift (the other one is here) was this Cordies Cable Tidy. It is designed to sit on your computer desk and keep all your cables organised.
I was sent the metal version of the product which has a really nice look to it – sleek and quite small, it didn’t clutter up my desk on its own, and when it had various cables in it looked neat and functional.
The top part has five grippy rubber fingers with gaps to hold onto your various cables – and you can fit more than one cable in each slot if you have loads of wires to organise. The base is nicely shaped with a grippy bottom so it doesn’t slide across the table.
This cute little thing is very handy. I have a couple of cables permanently plugged into my computer but not always in use, and I’m forever having to fish them out from behind the desk. Having those cables stored in this means I no longer have to get under the desk to find them, and keeps my desk nice and tidy as I like it.
Some of these desk products can be tacky and not very useful in the long run, but this one is a keeper… it looks good and fulfils a function that was definitely needed. It could perhaps have a bit more weight to it, but it works well and looks the part.
The Cordies Cable Tidy starts from £9.99 for the original ones, and £14.99 for the metal one I tested here, available from Find Me A Gift.
Disclaimer: I was sent this product by Find Me A Gift to review here on Splodz Blogz. I have not been told what to write and have been no less honest as a result.
Cake Through Your Letterbox
010 months ago
Recently I received an email titled “Cake Review Opportunity” that said: “[we] send personalised cakes for any occasion through your letter box”.
You do what? Cake through my letterbox? Don’t be silly. Not actually pushed through the letterbox. It would fall on the floor and crumble into oblivion. Or get stepped on at the sorting office. Or eaten by mice. Wouldn’t it?
I was wrong. Of course.
Baker Days is an online personalised cake company that have created the idea of a small but unique party cake that will fit through your letterbox.
They say:
The world of baking has just caught up with the world of computers. A masterpiece of a cake that’s completely unique and personalised by you and won’t cost the earth. Also new is our “letterbox cake” (r) , the world smallest personalised cake in a tin , It’s the perfect gift for friends near and far. Petite, personalised and postable.
What a fabulous idea.
They asked me to choose a cake so I picked a very ordinary “Keep Calm and Carry On” letterbox cake. Designed to serve one or two people my husband and I waited with anticipation to see what would turn up.
A couple of days later (you can request a specific date for the cake to be despatched) we received a little cardboard box – through the letterbox – which landed with a massive clatter on the floor. It was a little bigger than the Graze box I receive every week – deeper. Inside was a cute little cake tin, and I couldn’t wait to get the lid off!
The cake inside was quite dinky. My husband didn’t believe that it was big enough for two but I quickly pointed out that it had been pushed through the letterbox and was as big as possible for that to still work. The print on the cake was a little to one side but good quality. The little label giving instructions on how to get the cake out was useful and made things very easy.
I had gone for the standard Madeira cake – you can pay extra for carrot or fruit or chocolate, there’s even a wheat free version – and on first getting the cake out of the tin I was a little concerned it seemed quite solid. I needn’t have worried though, that must have just been the icing holding everything together, as the cake itself was very light. It was indeed a thin cake, but we cut this into two slices and there was plenty to share.
Apparently the cake will keep ok for a couple of weeks so even if there is a delay or you choose to have it delivered in advance of a special occasion then it’s still ok (fruit cake will obviously last much longer). It is the sort of thing you’d want to arrive in the post on the right day though, as part of the point is that it is delivered by the postie on their normal round when you know the recipient will be in to hear that clatter.
There are so many designs to choose from, all categorised on the site to make it easy to order exactly what you want. And of course you can personalise them too so the cake becomes the card.
At £14.99 per cake I think this is a little on the expensive side – so it’s not something I’ll be buying all my friends at every opportunity (sorry!). It is a brilliant idea, though, and works well, something to consider for a birthday or another occasion when a card just won’t do. I hope I receive a surprise one in the not too distant future!
Find out more about Baker Days on their website: http://www.bakerdays.com/
Disclaimer: I was sent a Baker Days letterbox cake in the post so I could tell Splodz Blogz readers about it. I have not been told what to write and I have been no less honest as a result.
Pebble E-Paper Watch for iPhone
11 year ago
by Splodz
in Gadgets & Tech
I spotted this in a tweet today and wow, I want one.
Pebble is a watch that you can customise by installing your choice of apps, and that connects to your smartphone (iOS or Android) using bluetooth.
With a high resolution e-paper display (like you get on Kindle) it promises to be sharp and very easy to read, even in bright sunshine.
Apart from looking great, the main feature of Pebble is that you can install and run apps on it much like you do on your smartphone. These then connect to your phone which you can have safely in your pocket or bag when out and about or in your music dock at home. At the basic level that means you can choose what sort of watch face to have on it – analogue or digital – I love the centre display on in the photo above. It also means you can use it with the GPS on your phone as a cycle computer or to track your running. You can use the buttons on the side to control your music, quickly read your text messages and see who is calling you.
And it’ll go seven days on one charge.
Take a look:
Only problem with all this? It’s not actually available yet. I don’t totally get the Kickstarter project idea but I think it’s about you pledging money to help get this product made, but you don’t actually pay anything unless the project actually gets off the ground. I really hope it does, I think what they’ve got here is an awesome idea. I’ll let you know when it’s in the shops.
Find out more about Pebble on the Kickstarter website, and let me know if you’ll be backing it.
Year in Photos (11 Mar 11)
02 years ago
by Splodz
in Year in Photos
The news today coming from Japan is heartbreaking. Earthquake, tsunami, fire, flooding, explosions… just terrible. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this natural disaster.
Friday 11th March 2011
11/03/11: Do disasters like this seem worse now we can watch everything live?
Year in Photos (30 Nov 2010)
02 years ago
by Splodz
in Year in Photos
We pretty much completed the move into our new building at work today… so I thought rather than using a photo of the snow for my Year in Photos snap today I’d share a pic of my new desk all set up and ready to start some proper work tomorrow.
(Snow pics to come a blog post very shortly!)
Tuesday 30th November 2010
30/11/10: New builidng. New office. New desk. New start?
