No doubt you’ve dropped your iPhone from a height that warrants a broken screen or cracked back.  But like many, you’ve gotten lucky despite being engrossed in a state of fear induced frenzy.  That’s why we recommend that all those with a penchant for buttery fingers invest in case that will extend the iPhone’s life, and yours, by more than a few inadvertent drops to the concrete.

G-Form, a company that’s products protect beyond any rational need (see the videos here and here), is back in the lime light with a new iPhone case that can shield Apple’s handset from even the hardest of slaps, literally.  What are we talking about?  Hit the above video to see, but to paraphrase, G-Form is so confident in their iPhone case that they launched Apple’s handset into a hockey net at 82mph off the back of a hockey stick.  If the company is to be believed, and we don’t see why not, the stick achieved over 30,000psi of force on the case, enough to shatter your face.  The result is a fully functional iPhone with a slight, snowy dusting.

Safe to assume that we’ve seen just about every type of iPhone case that has managed to escape the confines of a Chinese sweat shop.  That is until we received an email today pointing to a case called the WipeCoin.   Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect, but what we found was actually surprising, despite the fact that their pitch is slight flawed relative to their product offering.

The WipeCoin, as we mentioned is a case for the iPhone.  Simple enough.  It protects the edges and back of the iPhone.  But what makes it unique is the circular coin shaped protrusion at the lower left corner.  Drag your finger over it and you’ll unhinge a thumb sized plastic dot that sports a microfiber cloth adhered to its underbelly.  This allows you to easily, or painstakingly, clean your iPhone’s screen without dirtying your shirt.

Now, the reason that WipeCoin’s pitch is a bit flawed, is that they emphasize, at least in their chosen videos, that handsets tend to attract bacteria like a moth to a flame.  Unfortunately, this microfiber cloth, while it will clean the fingerprints and grease from your screen will do nothing to remove the dirt that adheres to your iPhone.  Furthermore, most of that dirt resides on the rear of the device, a place their microfiber cloth isn’t necessarily designed to reach.

Nonetheless, we tip our hats to WipeCoin for a unique product and hope to them all the success.  You can grab the WipeCoin case for $20 in black or white.

The iCade was a smash hit as soon as the vaporware piece of kit hit the webosphere.  Such a big hit in fact, that the product became reality thanks to Thinkgeek and ION Audio.  Well, as they say, all good things come in pairs.  The iCade Jr. is a miniaturized version of the original iCade, yet it’s specifically designed to fit your iPod Touch or iPhone.

Much like the iCade, your pocket sized iOS device connects to this gaming cabinet over Bluetooth, though for charging you can add Apple’s 30-pin cord thanks to a pass through slot.  Aside from the retro stylings of an arcade game past, the iCard Jr. boasts not just a joystick and four forward facing buttons, but four rear trigger buttons.  Without a hands on it’s a bit tough to say, but we’re gonna go ahead and assume that the trigger buttons are designed for games that don’t require a joystick since it would be difficult to reach for both.

ION Audio hasn’t said how much or when, but if we had to wager, it will be $50-75 and release sometime in March.

Well, would you look at that.  Just yesterday we were comparing the Xappr iPhone gun to that of Laser Tag.  And today, by chance nonetheless, Hasbro goes and announces a new Lazer Tag gun for 2012 complete with an iPhone/iPod Touch slot.

Unlike the Xappr, the Lazer Tag Blaster  can operate independently of the iPhone, though your experience will be significantly enhanced with one of Apple’s iOS devices mounted in the holder.  With the free Lazer Tag app downloaded you’ll be able to face off against both virtual enemies or up to 24 real human players.  The HUD as Hasbro calls it, will show you your upgrade options as you succeed in defeating your enemies from battle to battle, as well as the ability to view your remaining power (as in life), enemies in the area and ammo reserves.

The Lazer Tag iPhone guns are capable of firing a virtual shot up to 250 feet and run on 6 AA batteries.  One Blaster will cost you $39.99, while a set of two nets you a $10 discount making the final price $69.99.  They’ll go on sale August 1st.

Press release below

LAZER TAG 2012 PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

From the makers of the popular NERF blasters comes the revolutionary LAZER TAG system, combining the power, precision and excitement of live-action blaster battles with the high-action, strategic, augmented reality gameplay of traditional video games. To experience the LAZER TAG game, players download the free LAZER TAG app to their iPhone or iPod touch device, connect their device to their LAZER TAG blaster, and find themselves immersed in a world where video games and real life connect. Using either single or multi-player mode, players can engage in a LAZER TAG match featuring either real life worlds or virtual opponents. Each LAZER TAG blaster equipped with a device has a virtual firing range of over 250 feet and contains a ‘Heads Up Display’, or HUD, which allows players to keep track of their gear and remaining power, while also providing a view of the augmented reality targets and enemies in the area. A virtual leaderboard keeps track of each player’s profile and, with every successful mission, players will gain in-game access to upgradeable attacks, missions and gear. With LAZER TAG blasters, the stakes are high, the game is real. Don’t just play it, live it.

The 2012 LAZER TAG product line includes:

LAZER TAG 2 BLASTER Set
(HASBRO/Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $69.99/Available: August 1, 2012)
Get into the game with the ultimate LAZER TAG 2 BLASTER set, brought to you by the makers of the NERF brand. Set includes two LAZER TAG blasters. For enhanced augmented reality gameplay, simply download the free LAZER TAG app to an iPhone or iPod touch device and then connect the device to the blaster to activate the immersive gaming experience. When in multi-player mode, blasters are equipped with a virtual firing range of over 250 feet and an on-screen ‘Heads Up Display’ which, for the first time with LAZER TAG, allows players to see the lazer and keep track of their gear and remaining power. In the solo campaign, the blasters provide a view of the augmented reality targets and enemies in the area. Performing well in combat and mastering levels will increase players’ stats on a virtual leaderboard, as well as unlock upgrades for attacks, missions, gear and firepower. Game may be played in single-player mode, or in multi-player mode with up to 24 people. Players can also play LAZER TAG without a device using the blaster’s classic multi-player mode. Each blaster requires 6 AA batteries, not included. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and on HasbroToyShop.com.

LAZER TAG Blaster
(HASBRO/Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $39.99/Available: August 1, 2012)
Live the mission and conquer opposing forces with the innovative LAZER TAG blaster, from the makers of NERF products. For solo campaigns, players begin the game by simply downloading the free LAZER TAG app to an iPhone or iPod touch device and then connecting the device to the blaster. Players are then immersed in a live-action virtual gaming experience like no other. The on-screen Heads Up Display reveals virtual foes and targets in single-player mode and real-life worlds in multi-player mode, all while keeping track of remaining power and hits. Playing the LAZER TAG game as a single player allows players to use skill and strategy to master levels of increased difficulty, earning points and rewards along the way. Multi-player mode pits players against enemies in an epic competition where ability, energy and instinct rule. LAZER TAG blasters boast a virtual firing range of over 250 feet! Game may be played in single-player mode, or in multi-player mode with up to 24 people. Players can also play LAZER TAG without a device using the blaster’s classic multi-player mode. Available in either white or yellow; each sold separately. Each blaster requires 6 AA batteries, not included. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and on HasbroToyShop.com.

T-Mobile’s myTouch is a decent handset, but it came in two models, standard and with a slide-out keyboard. The latter is the myTouch Q, and it shares many of the same traits and specifications, but has two major differences that set it apart: the physical keyboard and a lower-resolution display. Both make a world of difference.

Hardware

With any phone that has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the myTouch Q is about twice as thick as the myTouch and can be considered a bulky smartphone. Rounded edges make it comfortable to hold in the hand, and the extra weight makes the Q feel more solid.

Unlike other phones with physical keyboards, like the older myTouch 4G Slide, the myTouch Q is comfortable to type on and is easy to do so at higher typing speeds. The hard buttons are comfortable to type on both with fingertips and finger nails, though the buttons are harder to press than most keyboards. I find harder buttons are better than rubber keys because they keep users from accidentally pressing keys mistakenly.

Besides for the keyboard the myTouch Q looks as typical an Android phone as you can get. A slim power button rests on the top left and is easy to press and find. The display is, unlike the myTouch and most Android smartphones today, a 480×320 display, which is slightly more than half of today’s 800×480, and exactly half of the iPhone’s 960×640. This means not only is the myTouch Q a low-resolution phone, it also isn’t widescreen. It is not a video device.

Also unlike the myTouch, the display is an LCD panel instead of AMOLED, which furthers the not-for-video design. It is easier to see in bright conditions and direct sunlight than the myTouch. The screen is also smaller, 3.5″ instead of 3.8 of the myTouch.

Aside from that the two phones are identical; the same CPU, same amount of RAM, same parts, and even the same battery.

Software

The myTouch Q uses the same Android 2.3 operating system as the myTouch, to the extent that nothing is different. If you held both phones in your hands, they would seem very different externally but identical internally. The only difference between the software is how fast it is, and only because of the difference in screen resolutions. The myTouch Q is actually faster because it doesn’t have to process as much screen data as the myTouch. The benchmarks reveal exactly how much faster it is.

Battery Life

Battery life on the myTouch Q is both better and worse than the myTouch, which means it’s better than the vast majority of smartphones today. I ran two tests on both handsets, with wireless settings on and off (meaning Wi-Fi and 4G active and not active). The myTouch had no difference in time, but the myTouch Q had about an hour difference on both tests. Still, even the lower 9-hours of continuous processing is far better than most phones can handle today.

In my real world testing, the long battery life was exceptional. Like with the myTouch and LG Doubleplay before it, I was able to spend over a full day making calls, texting, using GPS navigation, push email, and simple apps without having to worry about battery life. Even under very strenuous conditions I could come home at the end of the day with 20-30% battery life. As with the myTouch however, the myTouch Q suffers from poor battery life with continuous talk time, and I only managed just over three hours.

Benchmarks

As mentioned above, the biggest boon to the myTouch Q’s performance is having less screen to fill. With a small 320×480 display, benchmark scores tended to be higher on the myTouch Q than competing devices. However, it isn’t nearly as powerful as competing devices on more stressful benchmarks like Quadrant Standard. Even then the score is inflated because of the lower resolution, which is why it scored a cool 100 points better.

Other benchmarks I ran, like GLBenchmark, would not even run. To be clear, the myTouch Q is not a powerful phone. It’s fast enough to browse the web well and can run apps better than the myTouch, but don’t expect to be playing high-end games on this device. I tested OnLive’s gaming service on the myTouch Q, and it ran but the low resolution made it very difficult to play because the service is not intended to match such a small screen.

The myTouch Q, like the myTouch, failed my Amazon video test, where I stream video from Amazon Prime.

Camera

The camera is identical to the one on the myTouch, but the myTouch Q does include built-in flash. I tested the camera, as you can see in the sample shots below, and it’s decent but not great. For low-light shots the camera has extreme difficulty focusing, and there is severe oversharpening of images, as you can see in the last one (scroll right). However, in good lighting shots come out clear and colorful, though there is a definite lack of detail when looking at images in their native size.

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Conclusion

The myTouch Q is identical to the myTouch except for two things: a physical slide-out keyboard and a lower display resolution. Slight other differences like how fast it processes information (the Q is slightly faster) and the display panel’s build (the Q is an LCD panel, as opposed to AMOLED) posit that the Q is geared more towards typers and people who read a lot on their phones, not those who want to watch video.

Editor’s Rating:

3 out of 5 stars

Good

Bottom Line: Like the myTouch before it, the myTouch Q is a decent phone with great battery life. It’s very good for typing and web browsing, though suffers when running beefier applications. A solid basic smartphone.

Pros:

• QWERTY is comfortable to type with
• Excellent battery life
• Minimalist hardware and software design

With Android finally coming into it’s own (ie, owning the smartphone market), the only thing we haven’t seen much of are accessories. 3rd party manufacturers have been wary regarding Android smartphones because of the wide variation. With the iPhone, they know what to expect. That’s finally changing on a larger scale this year, and Philips is jumping in head first with Android docks.

Like the AS111 I tested earlier, the AS351 is an Android dock that connects to the phone through an MicroUSB connector, which swivels 180 degrees and has two supports to help keep the wide variation of Android smartphones in place. I’ve had the AS351 for an extended period, and it has worked excellently with any Android device. I’ve tested around eight different Android devices with it, including several Samsung Galaxy S II phones, the Galaxy Players, the T-Mobile myTouch and myTouch Q, etc. They all work just fine with this dock.

That’s because today, as I explained with the AS111, Android smartphones don’t currently support audio out through the MicroUSB. All music playback is via Bluetooth, which is far less convenient than the iPhone, but a problem with Android, not the dock. When I met with Philips at CES they assured me that the docks already support audio through USB, so as soon as Google updates Android to support it, Philips will release a firmware update to enable audio via USB.

The AS351 is no clock radio like the AS111, it’s a mini boom box. You may remember the Philips Fidelio DS8550 Speaker Dock I tested last year. The AS351 is its kid cousin. Besides for the size difference (both the physical size and the size of the speakers), the AS351 doesn’t include a single rechargeable battery, instead working on four AA batteries. This helps keep the price down and promote longer battery life per charge, but if you carry around a dock for music without the power cable, you may want to pass on the AS351. It lasted a good 7-10 hours of continuous playback at varying volume levels. Philips rates it for 8 hours, though if you keep the volume low and maintain a short distance between the dock and phone, it’s pretty easy to preserve battery life.

It works with any Bluetooth device, and also has an auxiliary in cable so it can double as computer speakers on the go. I actually brought the AS351 with me to CES because I stayed in a crummy hotel, and the dock impressed not only with long battery life but also it’s ease of use. I used it with and without audio cables, on multiple devices, and as a charging base for two phones (there is a USB port on the back for an additional device to charge).

For a speaker this compact, the sound quality is Excellent. It gets especially loud – loud enough for neighbors two doors down to complain. Audio accuracy is also very good, with only a few low and high notes not hitting their proper pitch and some tinny sounds at much higher volumes and frequencies. As far as my testing showed, the audio quality is superb.

There are two things I wish were different about the AS351. First, it can’t charge devices when the dock isn’t plugged in. This means if your phone is on it’s last leg and you don’t have a power cable, too bad. The power drain on just four AA batteries would be quick, sure, but the option is worth having.

Second is a slight audio fade in and out, which occurs at seemingly random times. If you are streaming music, like through Google Music, sometimes the AS351 will drop into standby mode while the phone buffers the song. This may help conserve battery life, but also has a very noticeable static hiss, followed by that silent void that is quickly obnoxious when listening to music. It breaks the mood, whether the music is acting as white noise or just needs a second to load. We all know how pronounced silence can be, and the AS351 get’s eerily quiet too often.

With the AS351 users can also download the free Fidelio software. Back with the DS8550 I wasn’t too impressed with it, but slight improvements, plus how the software works on Android (as opposed to iOS) do make a few major differences. The biggest is the option to automatically connect to Philips docks immediately after plugging them to the docks. Philips still uses Songbird, which I don’t like because it requires music to be downloaded directly from a computer. Fidelio also now includes a basic equalizer and bass boost, along with the option to set when if and when the software activates. Overall the Fidelio software is far more flexible on Android than on iOS, but it’s also not nearly as clean or as fast.

The other great thing about Fidelio on Android is the use of Alarm clocks. The AS351 may not look like an alarm clock, but with the Fidelio software it can be, and it doesn’t require any extra effort on your part. Just set an alarm through the Fidelio app and don’t shut the program down. The only downside is that the dock must be on (so plugged in, lest we waste the batteries). This means the lights on the four buttons remain on, though they are very dull. The bigger problem will revolve around your phone model, and notifications. As long as any Android device is connected to the dock, all sound will go through the dock. That means emails, calls, texts, and notifications will be amplified. If you’re trying to sleep and a midnight email rolls in, that’s annoying. Some Android handsets have software to set what times notifications play sounds, but most don’t, so it may not be worthwhile to use the AS351 as an alarm clock until Google sorts out it’s power management settings properly.

As far as Android docks go, the Fidelio AS351 is a fine one to own. It’s a great balance of solid audio performance, portability, and price. The AS351′ overall versatility make it an excellent product to own for travelers and home users alike. Whether you need to listen to your tunes in a mangy motel room or the comfort of your bedroom, or even in the car over a broken dash stereo, the AS351 has provided an excellent experience every time. I highly recommend it. It’s a great deal to boot for $130.

Editor’s Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Bottom Line: An excellent Android dock that provides high quality audio, great battery life on replaceable AA’s, and versatility in use.

Pros:

• Excellent sound quality
• Good size; not too small for the bedroom, not too big to take on the road
• Great battery life

Boy how we did love us some Laser Tag.  We’re not talking about those stand alone Laser Tag geek centers.  Nope, we’re referring to the at home game that included a chest mounted sensor and black guns that looked like they were 20 years from the future.  The sensors allowed you to be shot up to 4 or 5 times and then you were “dead,” that is until the next battle ensued.  You could play the game any where at anytime, provided you had a direct line of site to your opponent and were willing to strip on the gear.  So how about getting back to your routes without all the plasticky parts?

The Xappr is a gun specifically designed to complement currently up to 10 iOS games on your iPhone.  It’s not clear how it works, but we’re assuming it links over either Bluetooth or the iPhone’s 30-pin port, allowing you to pull the trigger on the gun and pick off foes on your handset’s screen.  The company also plans to kick out a mini-Xappr, which we can only assume is a smaller, more portable version of its big brother. But wait, there is more!

And for those of you looking to get nostalgic, as in Laser Tag, MetalCompass, the maker of the Xappr, has plans to release the first real world multiplayer first person shooter for smartphones – ATK.  In other words, any where you go you’ll be able to play a game of would be Laser Tag with friends.  Just whip out the Xappr, mount your phone and you’ll be able to choose between three modes of plays (Death-match, Last Man Standing and Teams Mode) and a variety of weapons that include guns, rifles, grenade launchers and powerful pulse weapons.  We don’t know what ATK will look like, but clearly it will be a location based app that will allow you to virtually shoot your friends (or enemies) in the real world.

You can preorder the Xappr today for $30 plus $15 for S&H.

Android docks are finally coming into their own in a big way. As someone who has a love/hate relationship with alarm clocks (doesn’t everybody?), a dock that can double as an alarm clock, completely controlled by the phone…that’s the future. The phone is the center of our world, and everything else plays around it. The bedroom clock may be the first serious step in that direction, and the Philips Fidelio AS111 Android Dock is a brilliant  step forward.

The AS111 is a very succinct, simple device. It has a MicroUSB connector for Android smartphones, though will charge any device with a MicroUSB port. It connects to devices via Bluetooth, and only Bluetooth. Android does not currently support audio out through USB, but all Philips Android docks do, so when Android does support it, the AS111 will be ready (after a firmware update to the hardware).

It has a round base with a clock on the front, speakers on the top, and little else. On the back there’s an AUX-in port for wired audio playback. When connected to a device via Bluetooth, the media buttons on the top can control music playback (play, pause, next and previous track). There’s also a button to turn on and off phone charging, which some users will find very attractive for conserving energy. Finally, there’s a night light on the underbelly of the dock. It has a slight orange hue and is very calm and pleasant. The brightness of the clock LED can also be adjusted.

Setup and installation is very easy. The dock works off of the software, so once the Fidelio app is downloaded, just connect the dock to your phone and the rest happens automatically. The clock will set its time based on your phone’s time.

I’ve used the AS111 for over a month and it is an exceptional device. I’m very satisfied with using it day in and day out. The stereo speakers aren’t all that powerful, but as a clock they don’t need to be. If I listen to music in the bedroom, it’s quiet anyways. Even with just 4W of power, I am satisfied with the quality of audio. Obviously bass is lacking, so you psychopaths who listen to Skrillex before clocking out won’t find this dock too appealing. Everyone else will.

All clock features are controlled through the free Fidelio app. As I discussed in the Philips Fidelio DS8550 Speaker Dock review, the software is okay and improving, though on Android compared to iPhone there are some major differences that both improve and can be a bit of a nuisance. Because it isn’t limited by Apple’s restrictions, alarms set will automatically enable when connecting to the dock (by activating the Fidelio app). This sounds great, but unfortunately it does this any time the phone is connected to any charger. If you only charge with this dock, the then’s fine, but if like most Android users you charge either more than once a day or connect to a computer, the Fidelio app starting every time the phone gets power is annoying. This feature can be turned off, but even after I turned it off it kept starting the app when connecting to a power source. Turning it off would also require starting the app every night if you want to use the dock as an alarm clock.

Otherwise the software is good, but messier than the iOS version. It’s slower than it should be and a little clunkier. While writing this review, I found another firmware update, which does speed up the app and clean some of the minor nags I found. It’s better, but still not as good as the iOS version.

The Fidelio AS111 dock on its own is excellent, the best I’ve seen to date. It has a proper balance of size, build quality, looks, and power. The software may need a little work, and perhaps some adjustments from Google, but all in all I highly recommend the AS111.

Editor’s Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Bottom Line: A great Android dock that replaces typical alarm clocks and clock radios.

Pros:

• Solid audio quality
• Simple, intuitive, and sleek design
• The hardware has everything users can desire from a clock

Motorola’s Droid Razr has proven to be a commercial success for Motorola and Verizon. One reason was because how stunningly thin the Razr is at just 7.1mm.

The Droid Razr Maxx isn’t thin. It’s the same phone, but 9mm thick. Why? That extra 1.9mm is all battery. And that makes all the difference in the world. Let’s see why.

Size

The Droid Razr is a better size than the iPhone 4S, both with a larger 4.3″ display and 2mm thinner. The Razr Maxx doesn’t have that second benefit, and is almost the exact same thickness as the 4S. The only difference then is the length and width, which the Maxx is certainly larger.

Whether or not a bigger phone is better is questionable, but the combination of a larger screen and thinner body certainly help. In this case however, the Razr Maxx, thanks to the overall design, doesn’t look or feel as small and comfortable as the iPhone 4S.

Winner: iPhone 4S, which is smaller and barely thicker, but a more comfortable and less dense device.

Appearance

Between the Droid Razr and iPhone 4S, it’s a tough call. Does the glass front and back sandwiching a metal band beat out hardened plastic and kevlar? Very tough, but once again the thinness set the Razr on a pedestal. With the Maxx, it’s the same general body but bigger. Fatter. It looks just as good from the front, but like a they say about mullets, it’s business in the front, party in the back. And this party’s got back.

Winner: iPhone 4S, thanks to stunning design and the Razr Maxx just being fat.

Display

Unlike some recent Android phones, the Droid Razr maxed out at 960×540, which is a slightly lower resolution than the iPhone 4S’, with 960×640. That means lower pixel density, so the screen won’t appear as clear as the iPhone. The Droid Razr Maxx has the same exact screen, a Super AMOLED display, which will provide better color and light contrast but is harder to see in bright conditions and isn’t quite as clear for reading text. The bigger problem isn’t the comparison between LCD and OLED, but the resolution itself. As a 4.3″ phone, it should have at least the same screen resolution, but it doesn’t.

Winner: iPhone 4S, with a smaller but higher-density display with a better screen resolution.

Operating System

This one should be a draw. After extensively testing Android 4.0 (full review coming soon), I like it. It’s a far better OS than Android 2.3, enough to make Apple concerned. But the Droid Razr Maxx doesn’t ship with Android 4.0. It ships with 2.3.5, and can be upgraded, but not the normal way. It’s not a simple “click to update” process, which for the vast majority of consumers is a problem. The 4.0 release is available for the Maxx, but isn’t officially supported by Motorola just yet. If it were, it would be a definite tie.

Winner: iPhone 4S, because the Maxx isn’t shipping with Android 4.0, and upgrading to the far better OS version isn’t a simple one-step process.

Processor

Processor speed and power is really based on how the software utilizes it, but based on speed alone the Droid Razr Maxx is a faster chip at 1.2GHz. It has the same ARM Cortex A9 build, which gives the Maxx 400MHz over the iPhone 4S. This makes the CPU alone potentially more powerful than the iPhone 4S’ A5, but we’ll have to see how well Android can make use of it.

What really wins this is the battery life. More powerful CPUs require more power, so it’s not always better for the phone as a whole. With the additional battery life, the CPU power almost doesn’t matter. If anything, I wish Motorola gave the CPU a speed boost in light of the bigger battery, but even without it, the processor is 50% faster than the iPhone.

Winner: Droid Razr Maxx, with a beefier CPU.

Storage

The iPhone 4S has three models: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The Razr Maxx has 16GB of internal memory and is expandable with 32GB cards. With excellent pricing on flash storage these days, the Maxx is a better choice even if it doesn’t have as much space as the iPhone because SD cards can easily be swapped in and out.

Winner: Droid Razr Maxx, because flash memory is cheap and the Maxx has expandable memory.

Wireless Connectivity

The Razr Maxx has Verizon LTE while the iPhone 4S is still stuck on AT&T’s “4G”, which is anywhere from 5-10x slower. ’nuff said.

Winner: Droid Razr Maxx, because it has LTE.

Camera

We’re expecting the Droid Razr Maxx, but based on initial reports and reviews of the Droid Razr, the iPhone 4S has a stronger camera. We’ll have to test this for ourselves, to be sure, but by all accounts the iPhone 4S wins this bout. I’ve been using the iPhone 4S camera as well, and so far haven’t found a better smartphones camera that wasn’t a Nokia device. And even that’s a stretch.

Winner: iPhone 4S, because the Droid Razr camera isn’t as good and the Maxx shares the same camera.

Battery Life

The one major change to the Droid Razr to make it the Maxx is the battery. It takes up another 1.9mm of space alone, thickening the body from the previous industry-standard slim 7.1mm. And what did Motorola do with that space? Shove in a mind-boggling 3300mAh battery, which nearly doubles the iPhone’s 1420mAh battery. 21.5 hours of talk time? 6 hours of continuous video streaming over LTE? Nothing gets that close, except for tablets, and even they can’t claim such ridiculous battery live. Nothing can compete with that.

Winner: Droid Razr Maxx, with the largest smartphone battery ever used, almost doubling the iPhone 4S and nearly every other phone out today.

Carriers

The iPhone is available on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Any phone named Droid is owned by Verizon, since they own the copyright, so the Droid Razr Maxx is also a Verizon exclusive. This has been a serious problem for non-Verizon users who wanted the Droid Razr, and it’ll happen again with the Maxx.

Winner: iPhone 4S, which is available on more carriers.

Price

The iPhone 4S is $200 base, and $300 for the 32GB model and $400 for 64GB. The Droid Razr Maxx ships for $300, which ships with less memory. With an extra $30 you can get a 32GB SD card and more closely match the iPhone, but even then it’s more expensive. Verizon also has the most expensive service pricing, compared to both Sprint and AT&T.

Winner: iPhone 4S, with more pricing options and better service pricing across multiple carriers.

Overall Winner

It may seem like a big gap, but it really isn’t. I added two points for the Droid Razr Maxx because it practically doubles the battery life of the iPhone 4S, and because battery life is an extremely important aspect of smartphones that most of us don’t put too much weight behind because battery life generally sucks. It doesn’t on the Maxx. Battery life makes the Maxx worthwhile.

What keeps the Razr Maxx from winning, or at least tying, is the lack of an easy Android 4.0 upgrade. If the Maxx shipped with Android 4.0, or if Motorola offered it as an easy upgrade, then it would be a no brainer for most users. The problem is only educated users will even know how to do it, and many won’t want to because the OS isn’t fully tested on the device.

The Maxx was also a perfect opportunity for Motorola to improve in a few key areas, including the CPU, but the company didn’t. They made the Maxx the exact same phone as the Droid Razr, just with a bigger battery. And there’s nothing wrong with that; the Razr is only a few months old and is still considered an excellent phone. However, every part was developed specifically for that phone. The Maxx wasn’t. It was developed as the smaller Droid Razr…with a bigger battery. That larger battery life isn’t taken full advantage of, and that’s a shame.

However, even though the Maxx doesn’t win this comparison, just remember that for some of us battery life is the most important thing. If the phone doesn’t last all day for you today, the Droid Razr Maxx is the best phone you can get. If only it wasn’t tied to Verizon, then I would consider switching over myself.

Smartphones today all boast one thing: raw power. But power isn’t everything, and in fact, power has been the biggest hindrance to everyday telephony. That’s why smartphones have such poor battery life. Well, not the T-Mobile myTouch. It has enough power to accomplish everyday tasks and open basic, non-intensive apps, all while maintaining a stunning battery life.

Hardware

The myTouch is a small phone. It has a 3.8″ display, small by today’s smartphone standards (the closest phone in screen size is the iPhone, at 3.5″). The body is tiny too, just slightly bigger and thicker than the iPhone 4S. This makes the myTouch very easy to hold in the hand, very comfortable in the pocket, and of course, very light.

The internals are nothing spectacular: a 1GHz single-core processor and 512MB of RAM power the myTouch, and as you’ll see in the benchmarks below, the relatively weak processing power shows. The display is an AMOLED panel can get very bright, though in direct sunlight reflects fingerprints much more than the display itself. The screen resolution is 800×480, matching the standard Android display.

It’s simplicity in almost perfect form. LG, the maker of the myTouch, has only the bare essentials in this phone. It has 2GB of internal memory (expandable to 32GB), only three Android keys (no search button), a 5MP no-flash camera and a basic VGA front-facing camera. It’s also got a very strong 1500mAh battery, which is why the myTouch has such great battery life (see Battery life). I’m very satisfied with the handset’s build and design, though it’s significantly slower than the myTouch Q, which has a display with half the screen resolution, but identical internal components.

Software

Running Android 2.3, the myTouch has good enough components to run most applications, but tends to lag under the burden of it’s current Android build. It lags when flipping between home pages and slightly in simple apps. As determined in the benchmarks (see Benchmarks), the myTouch is designed for long-term use, not power. Most of the applications required for day-to-day use, like Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Google Music, etc., ran just fine. They’re not as smooth as on competing smartphones, but they work.

Because the myTouch is T-Mobile’s phone, the software overlay is minimal compared to LG devices like the Marquee. Apps all have a dark hue around them, and the notifications bar has instant settings changes like enabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. The overall software design is simple enough for anyone familiar with Android to adjust to, and easy enough for new users to learn the OS.

Battery Life

Battery life on the myTouch is phenomenal. It averaged 10 hours in multiple battery tests, and under normal use lasted around two days of moderate to heavy use. Actual talk time is significantly lower, which is curious. I managed around 4 hours of consecutive talk time, which matches what T-Mobile states. I brought the myTouch with me to CES and it was the only phone that daily didn’t die from constant use. That’s compared to the HTC Vivid, Samsung Epic 4G Touch, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and iPhone 4S.

I was also impressed with using the myTouch alone for all of my needs. Like LG’s Doubleplay, the strong battery life made it easy for me not to worry about how much I used the phone because the battery wasn’t going to die. Use the GPS, instant messaging, calls, and anything else and if you’re lucky at the end of the day the battery will be mostly depleted. Unless you spend a lot of time talking on the phone, in which case the myTouch fares about as well as most competing devices.

Benchmarks

Even though the myTouch isn’t very powerful, it does surprisingly well in the Sunspider Javascript benchmark, scoring higher than any other smartphone currently tested. It’s impressive, and the only explanation I can give is that the browser is very finely tuned and the Android software and T-Mobile’s overlay don’t interfere with Java processing.

The Browsermark score is also impressive, though the Quadrant Standard test shows the true limitations of the myTouch, with one of the lowest scores I’ve ever had. The low-end internal parts are the likely cause of such poor performance. Several other benchmarks used were also on the low side, and a few failed to run entirely. Finally, Amazon’s Instant Videos ran on the myTouch, but regularly crashed and the video performance was extremely poor.

Camera

As mentioned earlier, the myTouch has a 5MP camera and a 720p camcorder. The camera itself is nothing special, but manages decent quality photos. It has no flash. What is particularly annoying about the camera is that no videos or photos can be taken without an SD card, even if the included 2GB of data is empty. Why, I don’t know. It’s ludicrous that users cannot take pictures without an SD card. And even with an SD card, shots are saved to the phone directly.

Picture quality is decent. Focus tends to be the biggest issue with moving objects, and very close objects. Colors are oversaturated and in bright conditions are washed out entirely. In low-light, the colors are even more oversaturated, seemingly to compensate for the lack of light. That said, there are plenty of opportunities with the myTouch to take excellent shots if proper focus is set and the phone is held steadily. Thanks to the small body and light weight, that’s very easy to do.

12►

Low-light photography is fair to poor. The lens isn’t fast enough to capture light without serious blur. Video quality is fairly good, struggling most with quickly changing focus. Sudden changes to the ambient light are very quick, but there is a very noticeable framerate drop and slowness in even moderate lighting. Walking down a well lit hallway with no lights on (lit by daylight from other rooms) still didn’t provide enough light for the camera.

Conclusion

The myTouch is a decent phone. By no means is it anything special, and only excels in battery life. For heavy web browser users however, the myTouch is also an excellent device. If you’re the kind of person who needs a phone that can handle a lot of activity but not necessarily a lot of calls, the myTouch is great. It’s small, lasts awhile, and convenient.

Editor’s Rating:

3 out of 5 stars

Good

Bottom Line: The myTouch is a solid smartphone that runs built-in applications well and maintains a great battery life. It handles web pages excellently, but don’t expect to play games on it, or get a lot of talk time.

Pros:

• Great size, build and design
• Simple software that doesn’t get in the way
• Excellent battery life…

Saving energy never hurt anyone.  But let’s face it, you gotta recharge your gadgets at some point.  Unfortunately, most people leave their device’s plugged in longer than necessary and despite them reaching a full charge, they’ll continue to draw power, something known as vampire power.

In a perfect world we’d all have a sixth sense as to when their charge cycle is complete and simply unplug them.  The Dexim Visible Green Charger not only automatically shuts off power when the charge reaches 100%, but also visibly displays at what stage your device is at in the charge cycle.  At 1-65% the light, which mimics power flow by displaying a pulsating light through an illuminated cord, will flash at a fast rate of speed.  When it reaches 65-99% it will slow down and at 100% completely turn off.

It’s a brilliantly simple device.  And while it won’t save the Earth overnight, it will hopefully prevent one more carbon emission from entering our Earth’s atmosphere.  Dexim sells each on for $29.90 and includes a folding AC plug for added portability.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that comparisons between the iPhone and Playstation Vita were abound, even though they are very different devices. The iPhone, obviously a phone, and the Vita, obviously not a phone, still carry a lot of the same characteristics. And for better or worse, even game consoles like the Nintendo 3DS, DS, and PSP have had a run for their maker’s money because of products like the iPhone.

Then again, considering how the two devices are so vastly different, this comparison won’t be a direct head-to-head. Instead, we’ll compare both based on equal ground, or as close as they get to it.

Display

From my testing of the Vita and the iPhone 4S, along with a number of other handhelds and smartphones, this is a tough call. The iPhone 4S has Apple’s retina display, a 326ppi 960×640 resolution screen that is extremely dense. It uses a high-quality 3.5″ TFT capacitive touchscreen that has, ever since the original iPhone, worked well in direct sunlight.

Meanwhile, the Vita has a 220ppi 960×544 OLED display, which is significantly less dense while on a 5″ screen. On the one hand that means that colors will be more vibrant and saturated, with darker blacks, but the downside is that the display won’t be nearly as visible in bright conditions. Recent OLED displays I’ve tested, including the Samsung Galaxy S II and Epic 4G Touch, are visible in direct sunlight, but that’s thanks to Samsung’s double-pane SuperAMOLED+ system. Sony uses a different glass model for their OLED display.

The benefits of OLED are this: more vibrant colors (to the point of exageration), deeper blacks, and less power drain. TFT, however, is brighter, more accurate, and has been used for decades (and is thus a more refined technology). So what really makes the difference here is the size and density. The Vita is bigger at 5″, and for video and gaming the density won’t be as important as for reading text.

Winner: PS Vita, but it’s close. If the iPhone were larger, or perhaps if we compared a different phone like the HTC Rezound (which has a 720p TFT display), the results would be different.

Processor

At this point, it’s safe to call the iPhone’s A5 processor old. It’s been around since last April in the iPad 2, and the chip in the iPhone 4S is even underclocked to 800MHz. The Vita, according to some developers, has an average clock speed of 800MHz but can go up to 2GHz. However, at that high speed the power drain will be significant, so most games are expected to play between 800MHz-1GHz. Both are based on the ARM Cortex A9 design, but Sony’s chip also shares many similarities with the PS3′s Cell processor. It’s a quad-core chip (compared to the iPhone 4S’ dual-core), though as of now it’s unclear just how powerful the chip is. It will take developers some time to really stretch it out, as it did with the Cell CPU.

The only big difference here is that the next iPad, likely to release in the April/May time-frame, will have an updated processor, likely the A6. The next iPhone won’t have it until the holidays, but I expect it to have the same 1GHz frequency but be a quad-core chip. The Vita, on the other hand, won’t receive any major upgrades, but it will remain more powerful than the next gen iPhone and all other competing smartphones for at least two years. Still, that isn’t a long time. However, today, the Vita clearly has the more powerful processor.

Winner: PS Vita, thanks to a CPU with twice the cores and the potential to be 2.5x as fast as the current iPhone.

Storage

Storage is a big deal…but in this case, not to Sony. The PS Vita requires some sort of storage to play games and get apps, but doesn’t come with any whatsoever. Vita owners have to buy external storage, and specifically need Sony’s new Playstation Vita Card storage, not SD cards. The pricing isn’t bad: $20 for 4GB, $30 for 8GB, $60 for 16GB, and $100 for 32GB. I’ve asked Sony a few times concerning the speed of these Vita-specific flash cards, but haven’t received any response as of yet. SD cards are known to be unfortunately slow, so slow in fact that pro-grade camera manufacturers are dropping the format and creating their own for their cameras.

The iPhone 4S starts with 16GB and goes up to 64GB, with $100 between the three models. There’s no expandability with the iPhone, but at least it has internal memory to begin with. The Vita actually requires it and forces owners to put down at least an additional $20 just for 4GB. That means to match the iPhone 4S, in terms of storage today, you’d have to pay $310 for the Vita and a 16GB memory card. Then again, put down $350 and that amount of memory storage is the same as a 32GB iPhone 4S, which retails for $400 (plus 2-year service contract).

Winner: iPhone 4S, because it comes storage to begin with and doesn’t attempt to cheat buyers out of more money for required data storage. Until Sony gets back to me regarding their memory card speed, and unless it’s faster than typical (slow) SD cards, the iPhone is the winner, though at higher densities the Vita is a less expensive prospect.

Wireless Connectivity

The PS Vita comes in two models, Wi-Fi only and with 3G. The iPhone 4S meanwhile is a phone, though is also limited to 3G speeds. The kicker for the iPhone is that on AT&T, it has access to what AT&T loves to call 4G (though Apple refused to agree to such marketing for the device because it isn’t true 4G), though both Sprint and Verizon iPhone models are stuck on the slower 3G network. 4G allows for up to 28.8Mb/s data transfer rates, and in my experience is as fast as Sprint’s 4G network, offering roughly 8Mb/s down and 1Mb/s up.

That immediately dings the Vita, because it could, theoretically, have double the transfer speed. Worse yet for the console, contracts are only available in the US through AT&T. Without LTE online gaming is impossible, and with only 3G speeds apps and streaming videos will be slower than what nearly every smartphone released in the past six months. Including the iPhone 4S.

Winner: iPhone 4S, thanks to faster speeds and availability on more carriers.

Camera

The Vita has two VGA cameras (640×480), one on the front and one on the back. The iPhone 4S has an 8MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front camera. If that’s not enough, the iPhone 4S is today considered one of the best camera phones available.

If, for some reason you think I need to go on…the Vita has no flash, no hope for taking great pictures, and is only there so developers can potentially make use of it.

Winner: iPhone 4S, because it isn’t a tacked-on piece of junk.

Battery Life

Judging battery life between a gaming console and a phone may appear unfair, but in fact it’s the PS Vita that has the unfair advantage, especially if it’s the Wi-Fi only model. Not only does it sport a beefier 2210mAh battery, compared to the iPhone’s 1432mAh. The Vita’s 5″ display may be more power hungry, but OLED is less power intensive than LCD displays. And the iPhone is always connected because it’s a phone. Even then, Sony averages 3-5 hours of gameplay, 5 hours of video playback, and 9 hours of music playback. The iPhone 4S claims twice the video playback time, 4.5x the music playback time, and can browse the internet for 6 hours over 3G or 9 hours over Wi-Fi.

As for gaming? There aren’t specific numbers for the iPhone 4S yet, but I’ve been playing games like Grand Theft Auto III and the recent update to Rage HD, and it certainly lasts over five hours.

Winner: iPhone 4S, which has a smaller, less-dense battery but still creams the Vita.

Price

Normally, price would be easy to determine because every year a new iPhone released alongside a new iPod Touch. That didn’t happen with the iPhone 4S, meaning the current iPod Touch is the same as last year. It’s as powerful as the iPhone 4, so the iPhone 4S stands alone. Pricing for it is simple: $200 plus a two-year contract, with a $54.99 base price on AT&T. That comes out to roughly $1520 over two years, for the very minimum, and that’s assuming users have the older pricing scheme. Based on today’s minimum pricing, it would be $1640.

Meanwhile, the PS Vita will retail for $250, or $300 for the 3G model with a base $15/month, without a contract.  If there were an equally powerful iPod Touch, the story would be very different. The only alternative for the same power is the iPad 2, which at the base model retails for $500, double the price.

Winner: PS Vita, thanks mostly due to no new iPod Touch.

Gaming Capability

Gaming prowess is by far better on the PS Vita than the iPhone 4S, for three reasons. First, it has physical controls on top of the full touch controls found on the iPhone and any smartphone. That means not only do users get essentially a PS3 gamepad built into the Vita, the large 5″ display is a multi-touch touchscreen, and the back is a touch-sensitive panel to boot.

Second, as mentioned above, the processor is faster, more powerful, and has more cores. And third, the display is much larger (as mentioned above), providing a more inclusive gaming experience.

Winner: PS Vita, because it’s built to be a gaming machine.

Games

It’s a long-standing tradition that game consoles sell because of the number and quality of games released for it. The iPhone (and smartphones in general) have slowly changed that thanks to how easy it is to develop games and how so many people have smartphones.

When the PS Vita releases outside of Japan, it will have 12 launch titles. That number is expected to grow to 30 within the first few months after release. The iPhone, in the meantime, will accumulate at least another 1,000 games between the time you read this and the Vita’s actual release. The sad truth is most of those games will be 99 cents or free and not provide a “true” gaming experience.

However, the iPhone has a large number of excellent games available to it. They may be hard to find, but the fact is the Vita will be lucky to have the kind of game sales that iOS developers get.

For games, the dealbreaker for anyone, there are three important questions: will the quality of Vita games far surpass what we see in iPhone gaming today? Will there be a lot of PS Vita games, both full releases and mini games (ie board games, card games, minor apps that are fun for a few minutes at a time; not traditional console games)? And will the Vita see a lot of hacking, game emulation, and remote gameplay through the PS3? There’s no reason not to expect a higher quality of games coming to the Vita than the iPhone, though there are only 34 planned full-release games that we know of thus far. The Vita has already been hacked for remote play of PS3 games like Batman: Arkham City and Battlefield 3, meaning that the portable console can play full-fledged home console games via Wi-Fi streaming.

However, we already know that the iPhone can do the same thing through OnLive (though the service isn’t currently active on iOS; it is available on Android and waiting for Apple’s approval). Plus games on the iPhone can be played with an external controller, so long as the game supports it. Big-name titles like Infinity Blade 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies are only found on iOS.

There’s no denying that the iPhone has more games, and because of the sheer number will likely always have more better games than the Vita. Furthermore, because of how many iPhones are out there (and all iOS devices), it will take a few years before some developers take the Vita seriously, if at all. It’s sad, but for now, true. So many of the current iOS games sell so well that they can keep lower prices. High-end games like Infinity Blade 2 go for under $10. There are so many deals from developers that many drop down to a buck. The state of gaming on iOS is, right now, way better than not only the Vita when it releases in February, but frankly better than any dedicated console period. It may even be better than the PC.

Winner: iPhone 4S, because the current gaming ecosystem on iOS far surpasses any other gaming machine, dedicated or not.

Overall Winner: iPhone 4S (by a hair)

It’s close. Very, very close. However, what the better gaming device really comes down to, as it always does, is the value and quality of the games that are available for said device. In this case, Sony is fighting an uphill battle with the PS Vita, at least for now. With the potential to make not just most, but all PS1 (and even potentially PS2) games available for the Vita through the company’s Playstation Certification program (or just making those games available period), that can change. That tide can change overnight.

However, as of now the Vita doesn’t have that capability. Everything else regarding the games available has been bettered by the iPhone, and without the push from PS1 and PS2 games, the Vita will likely never prove to be the better gaming device because of a lack of content. It’s a sad, but clear and apparent truth.

Even then, it’s very close. The PS Vita has better gaming controls and is a better designed device specifically for gaming, even if the display has a lower resolution and is less visible in bright conditions. 5″ vs 3.5″ for a gaming screen is no comparison. The Vita beats the hell out of the iPhone when it comes to control, not only because it matches the touchscreen and has physical buttons and analog sticks, but because it combines both for gameplay and has the rear touch panel to boot. It really is a mobile game developer’s dream.

The iPhone 4S takes the cake in too many categories though. It kills the Vita with a better camera, at around double the battery life (for gaming, and way more for almost everything else), and carriers available for 3G. We all know that the rise and fall of portable game consoles has depended on battery life, and just as with the PSP this is a weakness with the Vita. Only this time, it’s weak against not a Nintendo offering, but against a very capable cell phone.

A few very close points are pricing and storage. If there were a new iPod Touch released with the A5 processor, then pricing would be a clear win for the iOS device. But as it stands now, the iPhone 4S is the only one available (the iPad 2 would lose in pricing because of it’s high $500 price tag), and the two-year contract cost far outweighs the potential pricing of the Vita, even the 3G model for $30/m. And with storage, on the high-end the Vita could win (assuming users purchased the 64GB card and 3G model), but because Sony is releasing the Vita with no internal memory, the result is confused consumers who must spend more money to do the console’s basic functions…like saving games and using downloadable apps. Even then, the storage pricing is still more expensive than all iPhone 4S models (with a 2-year contract) except for the 64GB model, and, once again, only if you get the Wi-Fi Vita.

Based on our scoring method for comparisons, the Vita could have easily won if it shipped with internal memory. External memory is always slower than internal memory, but until I hear back from Sony regarding the speed of their memory cards, that’ll remain a mystery. If the Vita were available through other cell carriers, or if it at least had AT&T’s 4G (HSDPA/HSPA+ 28.8Mbps), it would score better.

What I don’t doubt is that over time these scores will change. The Vita will eventually ship in bundles that are more price friendly and with some storage options. The next-gen iPhone will also likely ship with a new iPod Touch. By this time next year there will also be a handful of Android competitors, and tablet gaming will finally come into it’s own. But when the Vita releases, it will face the fiercest competition Sony has ever faced in the mobile space, from a device that isn’t going away anytime soon. The only way I can see Sony staying ahead is by utilizing it’s enormous catalog of PS1 and PS2 games, and by making prices of those games competitive so everyday iPhone gamers will actually be coaxed into buying a dedicated mobile games console instead of just living the one-device life.

Update~ As TheVerge just wrote, minutes before this article was published, the PS Vita now has a second launch bundle that’s the 3G model with an 8GB memory card, one free PSN game, and a month of free 3G data. That bundle is available for pre-order now through Amazon. Does it change our score?

Because the score is so damn close – not only is it 4-5, but it’s a point of contention in nearly every category – and because this new bundle offers a reasonable amount of storage for the console, it may indeed turn the tide.

As mentioned above, games is the most important thing, which is why I’m going to say that, in this case, the new bundle won’t change the winner in this comparison. However, our scoring system for comparisons is pretty clear cut. So I’ll leave this decision up to you guys. What do you think? Does this new bundle put the PS Vita ahead of the iPhone 4S? Post your thoughts in the comments below and, if the majority of you think we should change the score, we will.

I hate Bluetooth headsets. They all have two problems: they’re uncomfortable and battery life sucks. Considering that making phone calls more comfortable is the whole point of a wireless headset, Bluetooth sets are generally garbage. But recently I’ve seen a positive change, thanks mostly to two recent headsets. One of those is the Plantronics Marque M155.

Unsurprisingly, the Marque is sleek and small, measuring at 2” long and a quarter inch wide and thick. It has one “home” button on the outside, an on/off switch on the bottom, and a volume rocker on the top. A microUSB connector fits snugly on the back. A glossy black finish with silver rims gives the Marque a very clean design, even though the glossy surface picks up fingerprints all too easily. On a device this small, that’s barely noticeable, if ever. I have to say that it looks very similar to the iPhone 4/4S. Or at least the black model.

While I wouldn’t call it an innovation, the key ingredient to the Marque’s success as a BT headset is the lightweight build. It’s tiny, and after wearing it for several hours on my admittedly sensitive ears, I wasn’t bothered by it whatsoever. No other on-ear headset I’ve tested has worked so successfully like the Marque. Plantronics offers a number of different wear styles, including a speaker cover (designed to stay in the ear without pressing against it tightly), which can be worn with or without the plastic ear claw. In any case, users have four major choices of how to wear the Marque. My personal preference has been to use the claw, which delegates the Marque’s weight between the top and inside ear.

Battery life is spectacular. Claiming just five hours of talk time, I’m impressed by the idle time. I left the Marque on for several days while making calls on and off and it lasted – on the original charge – for four days. That is to say, without even charging it once myself. Straight out of the box, it lasted four days with moderate use. After fully charging it for the first time, the Marque can last up to a week with conservative use, and easily several days (anywhere from 4-6 hours of consecutive talk time per charge).

Another long-time problem with Bluetooth is the difficulty in setting it up. Pairing devices is cumbersome, even for seasoned technophiles. Plantronics solves this with two methods. The first is a voiced step-by-step walkthrough when first turning on the device, which is exceptional. The second, specific to iOS and Android devices, is an app that helps users pair the Marque (or any Bluetooth device) to the phone. The app may seem overkill for just a pairing process, but Plantronics includes a number of additional features in the app to make it worth keeping.

When first testing the Marque with my iPhone, I was surprised to find that immediately after pairing an icon of a Bluetooth headset with a gauge sat beside the battery life percentage. I don’t know how Plantronics managed it (and will update with an answer when I get one), but that gauge actually shows battery life of the headset. To my knowledge the Marque is the only headset to do this, and it only works on the iPhone. Android devices did not display any icon specific to the Marque.

Because the Marque is capable of voice commands (internally, not the phone’s voice command functions), there are a number of useful features found only on this headset. Every time the Marque is powered on, it states how much battery life it has left, for talk time. Users can answer calls by simply saying “answer”, or “ignore” to ignore the call. This feature isn’t perfect; I’ve found that about 25% of the time the Marque failed to answer the call because it either didn’t hear what I said or didn’t understand the command. When it does work, it makes for a really hands-free device. Users don’t even have to press the talk button on the headset.

The aforementioned app, MyHeadset(which is different on iOS and Android, with far more options on iOS), includes a pairing guide and walkthrough, a sound-check (so you can confirm that the headset is working properly before making a call), two (dumb) games, and even product support. For confirming that the audio works alone the app is invaluable…I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve made calls with BT not activating for some reason. Or how many times I’ve made test calls just to confirm that the headset is indeed active

I made it clear that Bluetooth headsets have been a pain in the ass for the majority of the technology’s existence. The Marque, as the lightest and most convenient Bluetooth headset I’ve ever tested, would with nothing else already be a great headset. Combined with simple voice commands and gestures and a strikingly useful app, the Marque M155 is the best on-ear Bluetooth headset, period. Nothing else compares. If you have hated using Bluetooth headsets and have stuck with wired sets that come with the phone, the Marque will convert you.

Editor’s Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Bottom Line: The Plantronics Marque M155 is the best in-ear Bluetooth headset I’ve ever tested. Highly recommended.

Pros:

• Excellent battery life, both for talk time and idle time
• Very lightweight, comfortable to wear for hours at a time
• Voiced phone answering and spoken battery life are both extremely convenient
• For iPhone users, battery life displayed on the phone is brilliant
• Free app is useful for setup and general use

Okay, so Android and iOS just don’t fulfill your needs when it comes to a smartphone.  So what’s a tech aspiring, smartphone shopper to do?  If you so dare, you could opt for a Windows phones.  Microsoft has made great strides since previous iterations, and while we’d steer clear of anything that isn’t iOS (we like the idea of hardware and software under one roof) many a folks have been waxing poetic about Microsofts mobile platform.  And if you happen to be in the market, you might want to wait until March 18th, which is supposedly when the HTC Titan II will hit AT&T stores.

So what can you expect from this phone?  First off, it supports AT&T’s LTE network, which means 4G speeds.  It also packs in a 4.7-inch 480×800 screen, a  massive 16MP camera with 720p HD video and dual LED flash, a 1.5 GHz Scorpion Snapdragon processor, aGPS and a 1730mAh battery.

However, before you get too excited, word on the Net is that Nokia’s Lumia will also launch sometime soon and possibly at half the price; $99.99.  The Lumia 900 is said to be a solid Windows phone despite that the fact that is comes from the crumbling Nokia.

Car stereos specifically designed to hold the iPhone aren’t exactly a new piece of tech.  In fact, we’ve seen a few iteration over the years.  However, one major drawback to them has been that they’re designed to work with the iPhone and generally speaking the current generation iPhone only.   So what’s an Android user to do or anyone waiting for the next greatest device from Apple?  Say hello to the DASH from Devium.

Unlike other smartphone compatible head units, which consist of one faceplate and the body of the system, the DASH can be used with a variety of faceplates that are hot swappable and can accomodate a variety of popular phones.  However, for their Kickstarter project, and the sake of simplicity, they’re only building an iPhone/iPod compatible version, at least for now.  So, if you invest in the DASH today and 1 year from now Apple releases a new iPhone, with an entirely new form factor, Devium will develop a faceplate to accomodate the new shape and size.

Now, in terms of the Body, it will boast 50×4 watts of power and 2 preamps running at 2V for a front and rear subwoofer.  It measures  4-inches by 7-inches, which is apparently the standard double DIN size, allowing it to fit in a large number of vehicles.  A set of magnets will hold the iPhone in place and they’ve even allowed enough space for those of you that use a bumper case.    They say that none of this, not even the aluminum body will interfere with the GPS single, though it might be worth noting that the back of the faceplates will be made from plastic, which hopefully means they they’ll be on the cheaper side of things.  For inquiring minds that want to know, the 200 watt amp is built and made from Maxim, a company out of Sunnyvale, CA.

So how much do you need to spend to your get your own DASH?  $250.  They’re looking to raise $45,000 and they’ve got 57 days to go.  Something tells us they’ll accomplish this goal and much more.

We’ve heard of phones that can take bullets, albeit supposedly, but something tells us this handset from Casio might actually be able to survive a bullet wound to the body.  Why?  Well, first off it can purportedly withstand 1 ton of weight on its body, which is a feat in and upon itself.  That’s like a small car running over it and then using it like a fluffy pillow.  But that’s not that it can withstand.  The ruggedized phone, which reportedly will run a version of Android, can survive a 10-foot drop and be submerged in up to 10-meters of water without skipping a beat.

Casio has yet to make their latest G-Shock phone official, but one thing is for sure; it sure will be difficult cramming this phone into any pants pocket.

The LG Nitro HD feels like a phone from the future. That future being about six or seven months from now, when most high-end phones are light and thin, have huge screens, and boast ultra-fast data connections. If you want a phone that won’t go obsolete overnight, this is your guy.

The Nitro costs $200 with a two-year contract and is one of AT&T’s first 4G LTE phones. LTE stands for long-term evolution, and it’s currently the fastest network speed you can get on a mobile device outside of a Wi-Fi hotspot. Verizon was the first of the major carriers to debut an LTE network in the U.S. late 2010, with AT&T following in fall 2011. Sprint has announced it’ll begin rolling out LTE in mid 2012.

AT&T’s LTE network is coming online slowly, though, and it wasn’t available in our market when we had the Nitro HD, so we weren’t able to test the LTE connection. Nevertheless, 3G data service was very good, running so fast at times it felt like 4G. That was thanks to AT&T’s HSPA+ 21 network, which the carrier also considers 4G. It was also probably helped by the 1.5GHz dual-core processor that powers the Nitro — fairly state-of-the-art as far as current smartphones.

If you’re not used to phones with big screens, you’re in for a treat as soon as you unbox the Nitro HD. The screen measures a relatively massive 4.5 inches (diagonal), with a screen resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. That equates to a pixel density of 329 ppi (pixels per inch) — which matches the so-called “retina” display of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. However, I found the Nitro’s LCD screen to be not quite as eye-poppingly bright as today’s AMOLED phones, like the one on the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Still, the big, crisp screen is much appreciated when using the 8-megapixel camera. The Nitro’s built-in camera is performs extremely well in low light. However, it also has an annoying shutter lag when you snap a pic. (Perhaps that can be fixed with a software update.) Although the screen is 720p, the camera can can capture full HD in 1080p format. Regardless, videos look great on the big screen.

The Nitro’s implementation of Android (version 2.3 “Gingerbread”) is pretty straightforward, and will be familiar to anyone who’s used one of the Google OS-based handsets before. The Nitro neatly groups downloaded apps below the several that come preloaded. The bloatware is pretty annoying — it would be nice to be able to delete some of the pre-installed clutter or create folders. There may be ways to do this through other apps, but for the average Android user, it’s not obvious.

Benchmarks

Although it’s not specific to this phone, Google’s integration of its cloud services is getting better and better. First-time Android users will be thankful for the automatic cloud uploading of pics and videos, making them easy to share via Google+ or some other service. And it goes without saying cloud-based email and calendars sync seamlessly — even ones from non-Google services (Hotmail, for example).

Did I forget something? Oh, yes, phone calls. As a phone, the LG Nitro is unremarkable, though it’s served very well by the slim form factor. I must say, it’s impressive to see 4G LTE connectivity built into such a thin and light device. We thought customers might not see phones like this until later in 2012, when the combined LTE chipsets would become available, but engineers have found ways to innovate with design, and it shows in the Nitro.

The Nitro is an excellent modern smartphone, and it should keep its owners in the cutting-edge of mobile tech for at least a few months, and then keep them satisfied for a lot longer. It would have been nice to test the 4G LTE connection, but that’s because the phone is such a good vehicle for it. With a gorgeous screen, slim design and powerful processor, the Nitro is ready for anything you want to throw at it — even the future.

Editor’s Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

Great

Bottom line: The LG Nitro HD is a cutting-edge smartphone, with an big, high-res display that looks amazing. If you like — or are thinking about — Android, and LTE is in your area, you can’t lose.

Pros

• Huge screen
• Very light and thin
• Fast connection, fast processor. Did we mention it’s fast?

Cons

• Plenty of bloatware
• Camera has frustrating shutter lag
• LTE not in all areas

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Launching a new product, especially an Android one, is no easy feat.  To kick off (literally) the launch of the Galaxy Note, Samsung put a mini football (soccer) field square in the middle of Victoria train station in London, England and got 4 footballers to perform a variety of awe inspiring tricks.  And while it was no flash mob, it created enough fan fair that anyone walking by might have thought it to be one.

The Galaxy Note is one of Samsung’s latest Android devices.  It’s wedged some where between a smartphone and a tablet as it sports a 5.3-inch touchscreen and comes packed with its very own stylus.  Inside the handy device you’ll find a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash that can record full HD video, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, WiFi N, GPS and a screen that can produce a 1280×800 resolution.  The Note ships with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), but Sammy promises to upgrade it Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) in the very near future.

iPhone 4 cases are a dime a dozen.  That said, we’ve seen other wood cases for Apple’s smartphone, but nothing even compares to Miniot’s iPhone 4/4s iWood 4 case.  Why?  The detailing is unparalleled, as it includes a set of wooden, yes wooden volume buttons, a refreshing cool camera port and a finish (available in a few different woods) that looks like it was crafted from a plastic mold – yup, it’s that tight.  But, and yes there is a but, it comes with a hefty price tag of $103.

According to Miniot’s website it will ship in 3 week’s times since each case appears to be made to order.

Few iPhone cases offer more than protection. If anything, they might prop your iPhone up such that you can watch it on a plane while placed on the fold out table.  But none offer more utility than the PopSockets iPhone case.

Now, we’re not totally wowed by the design, and in fact we sort of hoped that its maker, David Barnet, had incorporated suction cups into his Kickstarter project.  Nevertheless, it’s still a highly useful case that solves a many a problem.

First off, it can stand in landscape or portrait mode.  Thanks to the expanding sockets you can manipulate the angle at which they rest.  They can also double as a wrap for your headphone cord and from the looks of the video still maintain a slender enough form factor to slip into your pocket, that is provided your pants aren’t of the super tight cut.  But that’s not all they’re good for.

The sockets can act as a shoulder stand, you know, for when you have the iPhone wedged between your ear and shoulder – no easy feat thanks to the iPhone’s svelte build.  Lastly, expand one socket and it can acts as a clip, allowing you to hang the iPhone from your pants, though this seems like a precarious way to store your iPhone since it doesn’t have any built-in tension.  And finally, when the sockets aren’t being used, you can simply pop them back inside the case and walla, you’ve got a standard iPhone case, that protects the iPhone from scratches and the occasional drop.

As mentioned the PopSockets iPhone Case is a Kickstarter project.  It’s already funded, but you can still get in on the action for just $25, which will get you your own case.