MobileViews Blog

Author: todd

  • Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger: USB Charger is Useless

    I bought this Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger recently hoping it would solve two problems at once. First, it is smaller than the power strip I’ve been carrying on trips for years. So, it would reduce luggage volume and weight slightly (every ounce counts). Second, it also has two USB charging ports. My hope was that it would help me eliminate one or two USB charging transformers.

    Unfortunately, it turns out that the USB ports only provides 500mA per port. Most USB chargers I have lying around are a full 1A. Basically, my devices don’t even see power when plugged into the Belkin’s USB port and doesn’t charge. I tried a couple of HTC Windows Mobile phones and found that none of them saw power when plugged into the Belkin.

    However, it is still a useful and small power string and surge protector with three grounded A/C outlets. So, I’m taking it on my trip to San Jose next week. I won’t be using it to charge anything from its USB ports though.

  • Testing ScribeFire with MobileViews Blog

    Just testing the Firefox ScribeFire plugin with this blog. Hope it works.

  • 4th Generation iPod nano Spoken Menus (video demo)

    I posted this item over on my MobileAppsToday.com blog but thought it was interesting enough to repost to my personal mobile tech blog too.

  • Great Spin Control by HTC 🙂

    Great spin control by HTC who has made the, IMHO, the best Windows Mobile devices for years now and now produces the first Google Android based phone – the T-Mobile G1

    Android and Windows Mobile smartphones are complementary, says HTC

    Given their track record in producing very appealing Windows Mobile hardware, I can’t see Microsoft turning their backs on them for manufacturing the G1.

  • Asus Eee PC 1000H 802.11n WiFi Works

    I’ve found two wireless access points (WAP) that Asus Eee PC 1000H will not connect to so far. I have not ID-ed the hardware. My Acer Aspire One connected to both of these WAPs. So, if WiFi compatibility is important, I would stick with the Aspire One. That said, I’m enjoying use the Eee PC 1000H in general and took it over to my brother-in-law’s home earlier today. After getting the WPA2 passcode, I connected to their WAP and noticed I had a 135Mbps connection. I only have an 802.11g WAP in my home, so I never thought to check what the 1000H supported.

    Since my MacBook also supports 802.11n, I guess I should consider springing for an 802.11n WAP for my home one of these days.

  • Acer Aspire One Runs Cooler Than Lenovo IdeaPad S10

    Engadget reports that the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (not yet available) runs what looks like an average keyboard-side surface temperature of 104 degrees F. If accurate, this is incredibly uncomfortable to use. My old Dell Latitude D600 notebook used to run about 100F on the palmrest area over the hard drive. It was so uncomfortable at that temperature that I ended up getting a USB keyboard for my office (it was my main computer). The Dell Latitude D620 that replaced it a few years later ran at much cooler and more comfortable temperature (around 90F, if I recall correctly).

    My Acer Aspire One has gotten up to 96F which is pretty warm itself though a considerably cooler than the Lenovo S10. The one advantage both netbooks have over full-sized notebooks like the D600 is that their small keyboards mean that you will probably not actually use the palm rests. So, these surface temperature are not as much of a problem as they are with notebook PCs.