Way back in July, I was introduced to this bluetooth headset in Las Vegas.  The device comes with charger, pouch, usb cable and a bluetooth usb plugin for a laptop (if you need it).  It has been on the road with me for many months.  So it’s about time to give a quick review, no?

The headset comes with a few sized earplugs, and it took me a bit of use to find the one most comfortable.  The buttons on the headset are easy to use, with volume on/off just a tap away.  But at first I was hating it on my Mac.  Pairing it over bluetooth was easy, but unless I manually paired and unpaired, I constantly got “A Bluetooth audio error occurred” followed by volume errors and eventually audio products (like Skype) bombing.

It took me a while to figure out the fix.  There are different sound preferences for Sound Effects, Output and Input on a Mac.  You can choose to have one device for input and something different for output etc.  The issue was Sound Effects.  The bluetooth device was enabled for Sound Effects and stayed that way even after turning off the headset.  My Mac beeps a lot.  If the device is not connected, the error occured.  Once I changed it so sound effects were always the Macbook speakers, the problem went away.  Below is the wrong setting.

Once I caught that, everything else worked a charm.  Bluetooth range is a few yards, and sound quality is good.  Battery life is pretty good too.  I have managed 3 hours talk time easily enough without recharge.  The pouch is very handy for throwing into my laptop bag and it is now a permanent part of my travel kit.

Recommended.

Currently languishing/activating in my “favoured device” cradle at the home office.  The BB Torch has landed as a replacement to my Bold.  So far, all I can say is it is a big change to the last device, so I will need time to get used to it.  Also, it feels bigger, and a bit slower (although it is still activating).

Let’s give it a week and see.

One of the reasons I find myself bring my Macbook and iPad on the road with me is the inability to type much on the iPad.  The on-screen keyboard is good, but not for anything longer then a few sentences.  Enter the Freedom i-connex. The folding keyboard runs over bluetooth but has hotkeys aimed at iPhone/iPad.  I shall report findings in a few weeks.

I have a lot of gadgets.  You may know that already.  I also like my car and hate cheap, crappy fixtures on cars (Some suction mounts for example).  Since I purchased Tom Tom for the iPhone, using it easily would require a fixture.  Enter pro-clip.  Sean recommended the site and although not cheap, the quality of their product is excellent.  You need to purchase two pieces, a mount and a device holder.  My car is not typical (Alfa Brera) so immediately I was expecting to be disappointed.  Not only do they have my car listed, but offer two different mounts for two different positions, depending on your preference with pictures displayed.

After that, you pick your holder.  The holders are custom built for your device and specific model.  For my iPhone, I chose the iPhone4 with bumper case.  Installation of the mount is simple, then you fit your holder to the mount.  If you change car, you just buy a new mount and keep your holders.  If you change device, you change your holder.

Recommended

Microsoft will announce a version of its Windows computer operating system that runs on ARM technology for the first time, said two people familiar with Microsoft’s plans.

Who can blame them, after the blazing success of Zune and (until WinMo7) the Windows Mobile platform

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Multiple VMs running Active Directory, SQL2005, Domino do hurt performance though.  For a short term fix, I ordered a Verbatim 32MBGB SSD Express Card, taking advantage of the express slot on the side for the first time.  Plan is to run a vm on it and leave the local disk for other things.

Here are the steps taken:

1. Open package
2. Read instructions
3. Download drive from Verbatim site
4. Install driver and reboot
5. Insert card

Easy eh?  Well no.  Errors copying to the card and so far 4 total system freezes.  So, go into disk utility and try to re-partition the drive in every format, and get these type of errors:

So I go to their support page, click here and click on “your questions answered”.   And get a big fat emptiness.  Nice.  Call support line.  eMail support at lunch.  No response.  Call support this evening.  They are closed from 4pm CET.

Not a good start Verbatim.  A cursory google search shows I am not alone.

Although the Sky TV move happened on schedule, Virgin Media wont install my broadband for another week. In fairness, this is not a delay, it’s just their next available slot. Another wincing point is that I am being moved from cable broadband to good ‘oul adsl (telephone line based) broadband. God help me.

So between now and then, all the kit in my house will connect to the intertubes using my MiFi. So far, this device has never failed to impress and has saved me a fortune.  This little device gives me decent connectivity on the Three network (although it is unlocked). A few short years ago, this would of been considered smokin broadband!

My lack of travel for the first half of this year is now leading to a fairly unforgiving few months ahead.  Trips to France, Austria, Germany, Holland all are now in the near future.  Having a PAYG data sim in each of these countries (when you land – buy one if you have a MiFi) saves a lot of money.  Strongly recommended.

Ok.. enough ‘fnar ‘fnar references.

Matt had a MiFi. This is a 3g Dongle, but without the dongle bit. Basically its a 3g Dongle that you put a sim into, but it is also a mini wifi router. So, insert your sim, turn it on and it connects to the internet. Then you connect to it as a wifi source and bingo, you connect to the internet! Unlike dongles there is no wire and you can connect multiple objects to it.

Had.to.have.one.

So, about 2 weeks ago I bought a MiFi on ebay. You could walk into a store and buy a locked one, but then you are tied to the carrier. On ebay, they are unlocked for about £60.

I got an
“UNLOCKED 3G HUAWEI E5830 Mifi USB Mobile Modem Router”

HUAWEI E5830 Mifi

It came with a 3G uk SIM card, and I added some credit to it. Then after traveling to Ireland I bought a 3G Irish sim card, and added some credit to it.

Connect to your MiFi and complete some very basic configuration work, then you can switch sim as you need (think about this people who travel) and all your devices can connect to this router and connect to the internet.

Speaking purely for myself this will come with me everywhere from now on and save me a fortune.