Archive for iStore

Review: Moshi Mythro Earbuds

Posted in Products with tags , on September 4, 2015 by itnerd

The final item out of my iStore goodie bag are the Moshi Mythro earbuds which earned a place on CNET’s best headphones for under $50 list. In short they are aimed at someone who wants to replace the stock earbuds that come with their iOS or Android device, and wants quality sound and construction without spending a ton of cash to get it. That sounds like a tall order. To find out if it delivers, I once again turned to registered massage therapist Mark Taylor who reviewed the Pencil by FiftyThree and the Two Hands by Felix. Let’s see what he thought of these ear buds:

The Moshi Mythro earbuds are very simplistic in design and its great that they’re affordable. Once taken out of the packaging I could immediately feel the quality engineered into the set. Comparing them to previous high end earbuds well in the $200.00 range that I’ve used in the past, they surprisingly work just as well, if not better. They seem to work well to casually listen to music on the subway and they cancel out any excess noise once fit into the ear canal. Trouble fitting your ears? Don’t worry- Moshi had covered that and has included three different sized ear tips. I tested them out in the gym, but I seemed to hit a limitation when it came to physical activities. I found that I wasn’t able to run or jump rope with them in as they would fall out and the music was muffled. I would suggest using Moshi’s Clarus as they wrap around the ear for a better fit. The mic button can be very sensitive if you’re wearing looser clothing. My zipper seemed to hit it and therefore turn off/on songs. Even though I cannot use them out for a run, or in my active lifestyle, Moshi’s Mythro are a great find for work, and casual use. I can definitely see why these headphones made CNET’s best headphones for under $50 list.

How much under $50 are they? They list for $29.95 USD. That’s a bargain given how well they work. Based on Mark’s recommendation, I’d put these on your shopping list if you’re in the market for new earbuds.

Leave a comment »

Review: The Two Hands II by Felix

Posted in Products with tags , on September 3, 2015 by itnerd

If you need to use your iPad hands free, there’s a number of stands out there that can help you with that. The one I am reviewing today is called the The Two Hands II by Felix and it came into my possession via my iStore goodie bag. Since I do not have an iPad, I once again called upon the services of Mark Taylor who was kind enough to review the Pencil by FiftyThree yesterday. Besides being a iPad owner, he’s a massage therapist. Here’s his thoughts on The Two Hands II by Felix:

The Two Hands II by Felix is a very stylish tablet stand. I was a little hesitant as I wondered if it could be durable and sturdy judging by the shape, and the weight of my iPad 2. But I could not be more incorrect. I had to take off my iPad 2 SmartCover case for the ‘’hands’’ to grasp on the edges of the iPad properly, but once it’s on, it stays on. I enjoy how I can have a comfortable angle to view the screen in either portrait or landscape. The edges of Two Hands II have some rubber grips that ensures there is good contact for any surface. And that makes me confident that the weight of the iPad will not cause it to tilt over, as experienced with my (now) previous Apple’s SmartCover. Overall it is simple, sleek, and durable. The Two Hands II tablet stand will travel with me from home to work, and even on vacations!

Clearly Mark found this iPad stand useful in terms of being able to use his iPad hands free. You can pick up one for $25 CDN and I think you’ll love it as much as Mark did.

Leave a comment »

Review: Pencil by FiftyThree

Posted in Commentary with tags , on September 2, 2015 by itnerd

A very cool item for iPad users that was in my iStore goodie bag was the Pencil made by a company called FiftyThree. This is a Bluetooth stylus that was designed to work seamlessly with an app called Paper for iPad by delivering an experience that feels closer to “the real thing” than any other styli. It’s battery powered and charges via a USB port in 90 minutes. Now I don’t have an iPad so to test this I had to find someone who did. Enter Mark Taylor. He’s a registered massage therapist and lover of all things Apple, including having an iPad. I handed it over to him and here’s what he thought of it:

The Pencil is a user-friendly device to compliment your tablet. I own an iPad 2 with some apps that require sketching and coloring and I found the Pencil simple to use. I downloaded the Paper app by FiftyThree and it is user friendly and straightforward to use, especially with the Pencil. The tutorial is simple to understand and helps you get a better idea of what the Pencil is capable to doing. The Pencil is sleek and extremely comfortable to hold. Very convenient that one can use either end of the Pencil for whatever they’re sketching or erasing. It seems that FiftyThree has taken a green approach with their packaging, with how they compact the Pencil, replacement tips, and user guide in a slim, paper container.

The one improvement I may suggest is being able to adjust the sensitivity perhaps through an app as I find the accuracy can sometimes be off when tapping specifically. Other then that, I would definitely recommend this product for everyone!

Paper goes for $70 CDN and clearly Mark thinks that this is something that most iPad users would use. Thus I’d take a look at it to give yourself a new way to use your iPad.

Leave a comment »

Review: Thump Comfort Fit Earbuds

Posted in Products with tags , on August 31, 2015 by itnerd

Here’s the latest item from my iStore goodie bag which is the Thump Comfort Fit Earbuds. The whole idea behind these earbuds is that they fit comfortably and eliminate noise while delivering great sound at a really good price point. That’s good on paper. But how do they really work in real life? To find out, I enlisted the help of Marcus Masucci who is a 19 year old student at George Brown College studying marketing. In his spare time, his passions include playing music and singing as well as listening to music. Thus he’d be the ideal person to judge the quality of these earbuds. Here’s what he said about them:

The earbuds have a very good sound quality to them and I was very impressed with the bass levels coming through the buds. The earbuds were also able to handle high levels of sound and volume which is definitely a plus. I found the noise resistance was also very effective. In terms of the ergonomics of the earbuds, in my opinion I find that grip plastic piece of the earbud is a little too big. I find that it sticks out of the ear too much which gives it a bulky look when wearing them.

Overall I was impressed with the sound of the earbuds and would give them a 3.5 out of 5.

They sound like a quality product to me. What seals the deal is that you only have to pony up $17.95 CDN for them. Thanks for reviewing them for me Marcus!

Leave a comment »

Review: Fluxmob Bolt

Posted in Products with tags , on August 26, 2015 by itnerd

in the age of the smartphone, the one thing that will freak someone out is running out of power. That will leave the user disconnected and going through withdrawal. Specifically, from social media, e-mail and the like. To avoid that, people often buy battery packs to keep their phones topped off. Today I’m reviewing an interesting battery pack that was part of my goodie back from iStore which is the Fluxmob Bolt
IMG_1549

As you can see, it’s in an interesting combo of red and black and it has five lights. One to indicate that it is charging, and the four lights that you see lit that indicate how much charge that it has. Four lights indicates a full charge. It has a nice rubberized feel and it is light. Really, really, light. Plus it is small and fits in your pocket or purse easily.

IMG_1565

It has built in prongs for North American power outlets. It is capable of doing 100V-240V so you can use it overseas. But you will need to source your own adapters to do so. Fortunately, Fluxmob can help you with that. You’ll also note that I have a cable plugged into the USB port on the bottom. Specifically the, Agent18 Charge/Sync Cable With Lightning Connector. One thing to note is that when you plug a phone into the Fluxmob Bolt, it automatically starts charging. That is unlike other batteries that I have tried where you have to turn the battery on for it to charge a device.

The Fluxmob Bolt has a 3000 mAh lithium ion battery on the inside, and is capable of charging at 5V/1A which will get your smartphone up to full charge quickly if it supports fast charging. It also takes about 4 hours to charge from being empty. Speaking of charging, how much can I get out of this battery? Here’s what I did to find out:

  • I charged a half charged ZTE Grand X 2 to full charge. It took 2.5 hours to get the job done and I had three lights left which indicated there was something between 50% and 75% charge in the Fluxmob Bolt.
  • I then charged my iPhone 6 which was at 68% and it got to 95% in 30 minutes before the Fluxmob Bolt ran out of power.

Bottom line, the Fluxmob Bolt will allow you to keep your phone charged during the day and has the power to recharge it once from empty or close to empty depending on the phone. Then you will need to recharge the Fluxmob Bolt. That’s good enough for me and I suspect it will be good enough for you if you need to top your phone’s power up during the day. Expect to pay $60 CDN for one.

Leave a comment »

Review: Moshi ionBank 5K With Lightning Cable

Posted in Products with tags , on August 24, 2015 by itnerd

One interesting item in my goodie bag from iStore was this Moshi ionBank 5K With Lightning Cable. It’s a battery pack of a different sort that’s aimed at Apple users as you can see below:

IMG_1566

It’s made of anodized aluminum and plastic. It looks very classy and will fit in with the other Apple gear in your bag. But it has a few tricks:

IMG_1567

First of all, it has a built in USB cable for charging they ionBank 5K which is kind of on the short side. It can be stowed away by wrapping it around the ionBank 5K. You’ll have to supply your own USB to AC adapter though, or plug it into the USB port of a computer:

IMG_1568

Slide back one of the aluminum panels and you see this Lightning cable. That way you always have a cable for use with your iDevices. The Lightning cable is not very long however. My guess is that it is about 3.5″ or so, It also means that when stored, the cable won’t get damaged. One thing to note is that you can charge a device via the Lightning cable and the USB port at the same time.

IMG_1569

On this side of the ionBank 5K, there are four lights (though three are lit in this picture due to the fact that I had been using it to charge devices) which gives you an idea of how much charge is left in the battery pack. If you see four lights, the ionBank 5K is fully charged. It also has a USB port to allow you to plug any device into the ionBank 5K: You’ll need to supply your own cable though.

Inside the ionBank 5K is a 5000 mAh lithium polymer battery. That makes it light, and in theory it will provide a lot of charging power. The question is how much charging power. To find out, I charged it for ten hours to get it up to a full charge. Then I went about testing it in the following manner:

  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 72% to a full charge in 47 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 3 dots which meant it had a charge level between 50% and 75%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 90% to a full charge in 45 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 3 dots which meant it had a charge level between 50% and 75%.
  • I charged a ZTE Grand X 2 from 80% to a full charge in 20 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 3 dots which meant it had a charge level between 50% and 75%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 88% to a full charge in 45 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 3 dots which meant it had a charge level between 50% and 75%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 61% to a full charge in 55 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 3 dots which meant it had a charge level between 50% and 75%.
  • I charged my BlueAnt T2 Bluetooth headset in 25 minutes.I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 2 dots which meant it had a charge level between 25% and 50%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 87% to a full charge in 45 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 2 dots which meant it had a charge level between 25% and 50%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 78% to a full charge in 45 minutes. I then checked the remaining life in the ionBank 5K and it was 2 dots which meant it had a charge level between 25% and 50%.
  • I charged an iPhone 6 from 46% but it didn’t get past 49% before it finally ran out of juice. It was weird that prior to this, it showed two dots which meant I should have had plenty of power left.

All of this was done over two and a half days. Clearly the ionBank 5K has the power to keep one or more devices fully charged while having power to spare. Its size and light weight make it perfect for taking on vacation or any situation where you might be away from an AC outlet, but you still need to keep your devices fully charged. But the fact that it ran out of power without waring was kind of weird. But that doesn’t stop me from saying that if you need a battery pack that will provide a lot of power, the ionBank 5K is worth looking at. It goes for $90 and you should consider it if you need to have extra power handy while you’re out and about.

Leave a comment »

Review: EarSkinz

Posted in Products with tags , on August 21, 2015 by itnerd

A unique item that was in my iStore goodie bag was a pair of EarSkinz. They are silicone covers that slip over your Apple EarPods so that they fit more comfortably. Now the only person who could have tested this for me was my wife as she uses EarPods when she runs rather than using her RHA MA450 earphones. After I installed them, they looked like this:

IMG_1571

They come in a number of color options. So you can choose something that works for you. The real question is do they work? According to her, the answer is yes. Her EarPods stay in her ears a lot better since the EarSkinz were installed. Prior to the EarSkinz, the EarPods would fall out during her runs because of sweat. That no longer happens. They also feel more comfortable in her ears. So I will say that they work as advertised. They’re $11 USD a pair. If you like your Apple EarPods, consider this a worthwhile investment to make them even better.

Leave a comment »

Review: ollo 4-In-1 Photo Lens and Ollocase For The iPhone 6

Posted in Products with tags , on August 19, 2015 by itnerd

This latest review of the products that were in my iStore goodie bag covers the ollo 4-In-1 Photo Lens and Ollocase for The iPhone 6. First of all, it comes with the Ollocase:

IMG_20150815_162424As you can see, it’s a minimalistic case. The bottom is completely exposed which might be an issue if the phone is dropped. But there is a ridge that extends above the screen to make sure the screen does not hit the ground unless there’s a stone or something that is in the way. There are redundant buttons for volume and power as well. It is grippy so your iPhone will not slip out of your hands. But the case serves another function. it acts a platform for a set of lenses that will enhance your photo taking activities:

IMG_20150815_152943 IMG_20150815_152947

As you can see, the lenses fit on top of the case and cover both cameras. It’s easy to get the sense on and off. I should also note that it comes with a variety of accessories to keep your lenses at hand that include lanyards and lens covers. With these red lenses installed you get wide angle and fisheye options. Let me demonstrate below:

IMG_1555

This is the stock iPhone 6 camera.

IMG_1558

This is the wide angle lens.

IMG_1559

And this is the fisheye lens.

Now if you unscrew the lenses, you get 10x and 15x macro lenses. Let me demonstrate:

IMG_1560

This is the stock iPhone 6 Camera.

IMG_1562

This is the 10x macro lens.

IMG_1564

This is the 15x macro lens.

So clearly these lenses will let you express your artistic side. Any complaints? First, the lenses cover the flash, thus you won’t be using this in low light conditions. Second, those with screen protectors may not be able to use this system as it will not fit if the screen protector is too thick.

The ollo 4-In-1 Photo Lens and Ollocase For The iPhone 6 is something that I can recommend if you are an avid iPhone photographer who wants to do really neat stuff that you can’t do with software alone. Expect to pay $90 CDN to get your hands on a set of these lenses.

Leave a comment »

In Depth: iStore

Posted in Products with tags on August 11, 2015 by itnerd

Today I had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of the Toronto location of the iStore at Scarborough Town Center.

IMG_1502Now, when I first got the invite for this grand opening, I thought that this was going to be a Apple Store clone. But I was really wrong about that. iStore is an Apple reseller that is very different than the Apple Store. That starts with the types of products they carry:

IMG_1530For example, they have products from Vanesa Rey….

IMG_1527Ted Baker….

IMG_1526Knomo….

IMG_1511B&O Audio Gear….

IMG_1507And Kate Spade to name some brands that they carry. Many of these are not in the Apple Store which allows them to co-exist in places that have an Apple Store, or be a destination for locations that don’t, such as the Scarborough Town Center which is in North East Toronto that has no Apple Store or Apple Reseller in sight. They bill themselves as “technology meets fashion” and I think it’s safe to say that this is true given this product mix. It’s clearly aimed not at someone like yours truly, but at the consumer that is more upscale. And that’s a good thing.

IMG_1508They have a bunch of other cool stuff that varies from drones, GoPro cameras, toys, and more. The iStore has some other unique features as well:

IMG_1514For example, they have a free recharging station for your phone that securely locks up your phone using your fingerprint.

IMG_1515This is where you place your phone and you’ll note that it will charge any device.

IMG_1510

Another unique feature is this area where you can test really expensive high end speakers. It has one neat trick.

IMG_1533

Simply by closing the door, you make it soundproof which allows you to properly judge the quality of the speakers. This is something that is a brilliant idea for the simple reason that you cannot expect someone to drop a few hundred dollars on speakers and have to judge them in a noisy retail environment.

IMG_1513Another cool feature is that there are these thin displays to draw your attention to what they they have on display. Plus all the items are available outside their packaging for you to pick up, touch and examine.

IMG_1535This is perhaps the best example of how accessible everything is. They have displays at a level where kids can touch and play. Plus they have bean bag chairs for them to sit on.

IMG_1519iStore is a Telus partner and you can pick up your next iPad or iPhone and get it onto the Telus network while you’re in the store.

IMG_1518You can also get your next Mac here as well, though I will note that they have a consumer focus. Thus you’ll have to go elsewhere for your next Mac Pro. Another note, the Macs, iPhones and iPad only take up about 20% of the real estate. That’s the exact opposite of the Apple Store where the same products take up 80% of the real estate.

IMG_1532Even with all this press in the store, it is very open and I never felt claustrophobic. It’s also not overwhelmingly bright which is a complaint that I have about the Apple Store.

iStore in Scarborough Town Center is open now. If you’re in the Greater Toronto Area, pay them a visit if you’re in the market for an iDevice or a Mac, or accessories for either. I truly believe that you’ll like the store and perhaps even Apple will have a look to see what they can learn from iStore about how retailing computers and accessories should be done.

Leave a comment »