Sendero Group Travel Blog

Thursday, January 09, 2014

about two battery options from CES by Mike May

Two quick notes:

As we knew, MyCharge does not have a speech chip in their latest models of batteries. They are smaller with more capacity and of course they now have the iPhone 5 Lightening connector on some models. They have many shapes, sizes and colors.

Mophie, makers of the Juice Pack, have a very novel concept. Their latest 1700MA Juice Pack, has built in memory, either 16 GB or 32 GB. So, if you happened to get an iPhone with 16GB of memory and you are running out of space, you can have extra battery and memory in one think unit. It is only a third of an inch longer than the previous model.

There is an app you run to manage memory on what looks like an external drive. Everything talks nicely. It is quite easy to use. The data just acts like it is on your phone.

There are scores of other battery companies but these are two I checked out.

Mike

posted by Sendero Group  # 10:21 AM 0 comments

Summarizing the CES experience through Mike's eyes

One consumer technology reporter interviewed Mike at CES and provides a nice summary of his experience in her article "How a Blind Man Finds His Way Through CES"

posted by Sendero Group  # 7:01 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

CES 2014 report on Aftershokz model 2 Bluez headphones by Mike May

 

Here at CES in Las Vegas, I am pleased to test the new Aftershokz model.

There are a number of improvements.

The electronics have been moved from the back of the headband to the sides giving it a more balanced feel. The weight is the same but I find that it squeezes my temples less and the sound is still good.

The controls are on the right part of the band. There is no longer a button on the right ear tip.

The antenna has been moved forward so the unit does not drop out as much as the previous model.

There is better isolation so the sound linkage is much less.

The sound is different but I haven't tried them in enough different situations to know just how different. For phone calls and using VoiceOver, they are good.

They expect to be shipping in March. I'll comment more after I have had time to test thoroughly.

Mike

After a couple days using the new model, I think the new features are as advertised. I don't know about the durability but I do think that the process of flexing the headset when you take it off might have damaged the electronics over time when they were in the back of the headset. Now that the back is only plastic and the electronics are on the side, I trust they will work better.

In terms of the sound bleed, one of the problems is that they go really loud. I have to remember to turn them down to a level where I can hear them but they aren't blasting. I tested this today with music and a phone call and if I turned the level to a point where I could comfortably hear it, a nearby person could not here much bleed over.

Mike

 

posted by Sendero Group  # 6:09 AM 0 comments

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