Pong cases
A smartphone case might seem a bit of a throwaway gift but if you know someone who has everything, then a Pong case could well raise an eyebrow. Available for iPhone, iPad and a range of BlackBerry and popular Android handsets, Pong sets itself apart with its claim of reducing exposure to mobile radition while optimising mobile reception. The company web site has all sorts of laboratory claims to this effect too.
Weird science? Snake oil modelling? Take your pick, as it’s going to be hard for a user to determine if the improved signal strength is noticeable or if Pong’s redirection of TRP (total radiated power) is going to save your life or not. Even so, I found the case I tried had a great tactile surface – it stopped my iPhone 4S from sliding around all over the furniture – and was tough enough to save it from some potentially fatal drops. So in some ways, at least, it proved to be a lifesaver.
More info Pong Research
Wacom Bamboo Stylus Duo
For some, the idea of using a pen with an already decent touchscreen display is a retrograde step but products like Wacom’s Bamboo Stylus should be viewed as more of an enhancement rather than any kind of replacement for pinch and prod. At one end of the Bamboo Stylus Duo is a soft rubber dome that doesn’t miss a beat on the screen and at the other is a real ballpoint pen, with a housing that accepts standard cartridge refills.
As soon as you start using the stylus on a tablet it all feels extremely natural. Scrolls and swipes are a breeze although it might take a while to get used to pressing the home key on an iPad with the Bamboo. Then it dawns on you that you might as well just swap between finger and stylus, as suits. Yet there’s more to than just nifty navigation, as Wacom’s Bamboo Paper app for iOS and Android is not only a great sketchbook, but you can snap or import images and annotate as you like. On the iPad, the results can be e-mailed, printed, saved to photos or even sent to Evernote. A word to the wise though, the Bamboo Paper app on Android is limited to the Samsung Note series and SIII devices at present, but wider support is promised, hopefully before next Christmas. ®
Price £35
More info Wacom
Ten... tech stocking stuffers
COMMENTS
Fail
I was already pretty dubious about taking the article seriously when it's supposedly about stocking fillers, yet there's nothing in this list at what I would call stocking filler price. I stopped reading altogether when you feature an iPhone case which supposedly reduces mobile "radiation" yet increases signal strength. If you're going to put out such an obvious marketing puff piece based on stuff you've been handed/loaned, next time please put the complete and utter bull***t on the first page so I won't have to waste any of my life on it again.
Putting aside the claims of "radiation" from mobile phones causing harm, you cannot at the same time reduce "radiation" and increase signal strength - THEY ARE THE SAME THING. If you block/attenuate the signal coming out of/into the phone, your signal strength and quality will drop.
"Weird science? Snake oil modelling? Take your pick, it’s going to be hard for a user to determine if the improved signal strength is noticeable or if Pong’s redirection of TRP (total radiated power) is going to save your life or not"
No, it won't be hard for any user with any ounce of common sense at all. Any user with any common sense at all will realise that if you block something you cannot amplify or improve it at the same time. No, they'll stay the hell away from the company foisting quackery on you at an inflated price; they'll get A.N. Other brand silicone case/skin for their phone and pay £5-£15 for it. Which, incidentally, will also stop your phone sliding around and protect it from falls without the exorbitant price tag that this thing commands.
There is no depth of fail low enough to describe the depths that TheReg has plumbed with this "article".
I thought it was going to be serious
Ha ha ha ,
Bob Dormon picked 10 completely random tech items, which probably have a decent kickback, threw them onto a webpage and gave the page a title.
A Spyder4 screen calibration tool for photographers........had me rolling about the office floor
A Dlink routeur .................... had the rest of the office rolling about the floor
An Aston Martin mouse ......... we had people coming in from the street to see why everyone had tears in their eyes whilst flailing about wildly on the office floor and they too joined in....
It's wednesday and Bob must have some serious problems coming up with anything original, so we got this............
ha ha ha.
I'm still wiping away the tears as I write
Not...
Stocking fillers.
Hmm, thinks...... Want a few fun items to fill my Geek's stockings? I know I'll buy him/her a £180 monitor calibration thingumy and some £250 headphones.
Errm. no.
Who at El Reg HQ seriously believes that as a last minute Christmas present, any of us is going to waste £180 on a monitor calibration tool just because it'll work on a FruitPhone? Or £260 for headphones, for that matter?
I mean, yes, I understand that these articles are at least 50% about the affiliate program clickthroughs, but still...had you offered stuff that people might even remotely be interested in picking up as impulse-buy last-minute gifts, it could've worked. I've no idea who this list is targeted at, only that they clearly have far more money than sense.
