Feb 22
Reviews David
e55, martin fields, mobile, nokia, phone, protector, screen
Martin Fields Screen Protectors
For the last four weeks, I’ve been trying out a screen protector for my phone, sent from MobileFun.co.uk. I’ve been particularly keen to try these out after reading their blog post on all the various screen protectors they sell.
After 18 months of constantly wiping finger prints from my E51’s screen, it was badly scratched. It really is amazing how much damage even paper kitchen towel can do to a plastic screen. So, when I bought my E55 in September 2009, I didn’t remove the plastic slip that covered the screen as part of the original packaging, in a cheapskate way to protect its screen. The packaging cover did a good job of keeping scratches off. Although, after many months of constantly going in and out of my pocket, the cover’s corners began to curl up and pick up fluff. this forced me to peel them back and cut them off so that the peeling didn’t spread. Although the more I did this the more screen was exposed to the elements.
So yes, this pathetic state of affairs meant only one thing, it was time for a real screen protector. MobileFun.co.uk kindly sent me a set of their Martin Fields screen protectors. The first thing that struck me when unpacking them was that not only was there a cover for the main screen, but also for the camera on the back of the phone – very thorough. The packing was a simple moulded plastic affair, with both sets of protects on a backing sheet. The screen protector is cut to shape, and they even thought to cut a hole out for the light sensor so that the phone could still take accurate readings of the ambient light level.
I didn’t find fitting the screen protectors very difficult, but this could have been beginners luck. The most difficult part was keeping my (freshly polished) phone screen free of bits while I got the screen protectors ready! My method was to hold the protector between finger and thumb on the edges (i.e. not to leave finger prints on the adhesive side), and approach the phone at a roughly 45 degree angle, and line up with the ear-piece cut-out. Once initial contact was made, I prevented air bubbles by actually pushing the protecting upwards and downwards so that it gradually flexed onto the screen surface, as shown below.
How to apply a screen protector without getting air bubbles.
You couldn’t really apply this method to the tiny camera lens protector. For that, you just need to line it up by holding as close as possible, and then almost drop it into place. I did get a bit of a finger print on mine, but fortunately not on the area covering the camera aperture.
I can’t fault the visual quality, and would say that the MobileFun blog post had it spot on with their appraisal. The only complaint I had with this one is that it had a couple of chips which show up when the screen is illuminated. After four weeks of use it has shown no wear at all. I am always slipping my phone in and out of my pockets and the protector has shown no sign of curling up at the corner.
One of the other claims for these protectors is that you can wash them and re-apply them, after drying with a hair-dryer. I haven’t tested this claim as it has been working so well I didn’t want to disturb it. When I do try this, I’ll return and update this post.
I tried to do my own photo test to display the visual quality, but it was difficult to make a fair test. Rather than a general image, I went for showing off the pure-white level. So here is my non-scientific comparison of the Martin Fields protector vs a bare screen vs the packaging film I was originally using.
White levels behind screen protectors
If you’re interested in trying them yourself now, follow this link.
 | | Share this post |
Dec 14
Reviews David
battery, bp-4l, bp4l, charging, e52, e55, E71, e72, energy, extended, li ion, lithium, mAh, mobile, n97, nokia, phone, power, replacement, storage
As mentioned previously on my blog, I use a Nokia E55, which uses Nokia’s largest battery, the BP-4L. Now, if phone batteries don’t float your boat, then stop reading now. But wait, do you have a Nokia phone? Is it perhaps the E90, E71, E52, E55, N97, E72? Then if you are using any of those, would you like even more battery life? Well in that case, maybe batteries aren’t such a boring subject!
I’ve been testing an extended version of the BP-4L, sent to me for review from MobileFun.co.uk.
More
| | Share this post |
Nov 16
Reviews David
feed rinse, filter, keyword, RSS, Twitter
Setting up a filter in Feed Rinse.
I came across a great web service last month called, Feed Rinse. The idea behind Feed Rinse is to apply keyword filters to an RSS feed, and return you a new feed URL, in which the content has been rinsed clean of all the stuff you don’t want to see.
This is handy if you subscribe to something that is particularly noisy. In my case, I found it useful for two Twitter users. I had followed them because they said really interesting things that I wanted to read, but, they were awful for doing loads of tweets at the same time, with lists of other Twitter users they wanted to thank for retweeting them. This was ruining my Twitter time-line.
By using Feed Rinse, I was able to add the RSS feed of each user, and apply the filters so I could block out all the content I wanted to read. Now, rather than following them on Twitter, I read them in my newsfeed reader, via the feeds Feed Rinse.
| | Share this post |
Nov 2
Reviews David
accessories, bizz, bluetooth, bluetrek, card, charging, drive, flash, free, hands, handsfree, headset, mate, memory, micro, mobile, mobile mate, pairing, reader, sandisk, sd, sdhc, secure digital, usb, writer
We have a hardware review today. Mobilefun.co.uk have kindly sent me a Bluetooth headset to try out – the Bluetrek Bizz.
The BlueTrek Bizz Bluetooth Headset
More
| | Share this post |
Oct 26
Reviews David
9.10, cannonical, cd, distribution, download, gnome, installer, karmic, koala, linux, live, livecd, open, operating, source, system, ubuntu
As the winter draws in, it’s time for wrap up warm with some open source goodness, as the October 29th release date of Ubuntu’s latest version, Karmic Koala, draws near. So, let’s take a look at what’s new!
Running the installer from the Live CD is the same user-friendly set up that Ubuntu always has. Although in addition to drive encryption that came in with the last version, there is now an added option to format your hard drive with the new Ext4 file system, a new version of Linux’s native file format.
Once the installer gets running, you get to watch a presentation of screens telling you all the key features of the operating system. This something Windows has had for years, and is a great idea to educate new users on just what they can do with Ubuntu.
Ubuntu's new informative installer
Once you’re into the Ubuntu desktop, everything will be familiar if you’ve used previous versions. Although, you can see straight away a fresh set of icons have been used, and the default wallpaper is much brighter than previous versions.
Browsing the applications and system menus gives you a view of the key new features to Karmic.
The default IM application has been switched from the long-standing Pidgin, to a new but very similar application called Empathy. I expect few users will really notice the difference here.
Ubuntu's new IM client, Empathy
In the applications menu, you will find the “Ubuntu Software Center”. Desktop Linux distributions have long had software to deliver applications to you. Ubuntu’s has been the “Synaptic Package Manager”. Although Software Centre gives you a far more user friendly interface. The distinction of having a single section named “Free software” hints at Cannonical’s long term goals of being able to deliver commercial software to the Ubuntu desktop. This is a boon for developers. Until now, Linux’s repository method of delivering software has been a mixed blessing for them. The aspiration of new developers is to get their work into as many repositories as possible. However, commercial developers have shied away from this because Linux repositories have offered little opportunity for generating an income.
The Ubuntu Software Center
Confusingly, there is another existing application called “Add/Remove Applications” alongside the Synaptic Package Manager in the System/Administration menu. This appears to offer the same software set as Synatpic does, although again with a better user interface, including popularity ratings.
Ubuntu's Add/Remove Applications window
Finally, we have the addition of “Ubuntu One”, Cannonical’s other embryonic software as a service. Ubuntu One is a Dropbox like service (utilising Amazon S3), available to all Ubuntu users. For free, everyone gets 2GB of storage, but this can be expanded to 50GB for $10 (US) a month, although I couldn’t find where you are meant to authenticate your account. You can also access your files via the web and share specific files and folders with specific individuals. The eventual aim is that you will be able to synchronise all of your application settings across multiple Ubuntu computers. This is a promising service, but from my own research I have yet to find any information about privacy and encryption, which are essential to me for any on-line storage service. On the other hand, the Cannonical deserve kudos for finding innovative ways to generate more income from their desktop operating system.
Ubuntu's "Ubuntu One" cloud storage running.
You can find more screen shots at my Ubuntu 9.10 Flickr gallery.
If all of this has caught your interest, then go Get Ubuntu!
| | Share this post |
Older Entries
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Google
Flickr
YouTube
RSS