|
MOBILE EXTRAS
INTRO
A charger shaped like a sport cars with a
woodgrain finish, a floating case and a phone that barks -- never say cellphone accessories are dull!
COPY
QUICK CHARGER & DISCHARGER
Here’s one way of using your mobile phone in
a car, without risking life and limb, or attracting the attention of the boys
in blue. Mind you, the car in question is only 9-inches long, has a top speed
of zero mph and is finished in a rather unusual wood-grain effect... (Also
available in black, blue, red and green). It’s a desktop charger, a sporty
little number with slots for a phone and a spare battery pack. A display panel
is set into the bonnet and the headlight covers double up as the discharger
buttons. And yes, the wheels do go round, but they’re very stiff, so you can’t
play table-top Le Mans.
Power is supplied by a plug-in mains module,
the connector pops into a hole where the exhaust pipe should be. Operation is
fully automatic; it will either start charging right away, or go through a
discharge cycle, then charge from flat. It uses a range of microchip-controlled
voltage and temperature sensing protocols, to determine charge state and
battery condition. Maximum charge current is in the order of 500mA, which means
most standard nicad and NiMh packs will be fully charged in between 2 and 3
hours, discharging a full pack takes around twice as long. Our test sample was
configured for a Nokia 8110, which uses a lithium-ion battery, the charge time
in that case is around 4 hours for a 1200mA pack. When charging is complete the
car emits a bleeping sound.
The electric’s checked out okay; the LED display is not especially
informative, apparently there is an LCD version somewhere in the pipeline,
which tells you how far the charge has progressed. Given a choice we’d probably
go for that one. Now we come to the tricky question of naffness. It’s naff! But
come on, let’s not get too precious. It would make a fun gift for a frustrated
sports car owners, doubtless a few will buy one for themselves, but please, not
the wood-grain finish...
THE FACTS
Typical Price £40.00
Features charger/discharger,
audible warning, 500mA charge current, 250mA discharge current
To fit most popular makes and models
Contact Kondor
Ltd., telephone (01202) 4811133
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 78%
UNIVERSAL MAGNETIC HOLDER
Just when we thought we’d seen every type and
style of phone holder there was... Cellphone accessory manufacturers continue
to amaze us with their ingenuity, take this Universal Magnetic Holder for
example. It’s the height of simplicity, there’s no clips, clamps or moving
parts to wear out or go wrong, plus it can be fitted to most cars in a matter
of minutes.
The holder is a thin flexible strip of
plastic material, backed by an adhesive pad. If necessary it can be bent
slightly, to follow the curve of the dashboard. Sandwiched between the backing
pad and the front of the holder there are sixteen powerful button-shaped
magnets, that exert a strong pull on the steel casings of the cells inside the phone’s
rechargeable battery pack. The makers also claim that the magnetic field can
help prolong battery life by aligning the ions in the cells, and strengthen
signal reception. We have to admit to being completely unaware of either
effect, nor was our confidence in these claims strengthened by the warning on
the packaging, that placing CDs close to the holder could ‘weaken the magnetism’...
Work that one out!
Fitting the holder takes no time at all, though
you only get one chance. Any attempt to
remove it -- once it is in place -- completely destroys the backing pad. The
magnets stick together and they’re a swine to separate. Be warned also that the
adhesive can be softened by heat, the interior of a car can get very hot!
Despite the ‘universal’ tag we found it
worked better with some phones than others. Flat backed Nokia’s, like the 2110,
are very secure indeed. Ericsson phones with small curvy battery packs are not
so good, and will probably slip off on a bumpy road. Motorola Flips and TACs
are somewhere in between. As far as the battery life and signal strength claims
are concerned, we found no noticeable improvement but it does make a very
effective cassette eraser...
THE FACTS
Typical Price £20
Features magnetic
dashboard holder
To fit most makes and models
Contact Fone
Range Accessories, telephone 0181-838 8888
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 78%
PORTABLE HANDS-FREE KIT
Personal hands-free kits are now appearing
thick and fast, this one for the Nokia 8110 is made by Axess International, and
marketed in the UK by Alexander Batteries. The design follows the by now
familiar pattern; the interface module fits onto the phone’s accessory
connector on the base. It has two sockets, one is for the mains charger or a
car power cord, the other -- a sub miniature jack -- is used by the combined
earpiece microphone cable. Unlike just about every other hands-free kit for
Nokia phones we’ve seen, this one actually mentions the fact that it imposes a
small drain on the phone battery, in this case some 200 milliwatts. It’s enough
to have an impact on running times, though probably by no more than just a few
minutes.
The microphone on this kit is only around
12cm downstream of the earpiece, which puts it at chin height on most people.
The others we’ve seen recently tend to be between 25 to 30cm or collar height.
The mike isn’t especially sensitive and you can find yourself talking to your
shoulder if the caller can’t hear you. The earphone works well though -- speech
is crisp and there’s just enough bass to add a little weight to the sound. It
is fitted with a foam muff, so it doesn’t slip out easily and is tolerably
comfortable. The price of simple hands-free kits like this have been falling
steadily for the past few months, so at around £30 it’s not a bad deal.
THE FACTS
Typical Price £30
Features
To fit Nokia 1610 & 8110
Contact Alexander
Batteries, telephone (01327) 301090
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 80%
MOBIL-SAFE VARIO SYSTEM
Forget all this talk about cellphones frying
your brain. There’s plenty of other ways they can damage your health, including
giving a very painful poke in the stomach or thigh every time you sit down, if
you wear a belt case. This neat belt holder from Hama can help prevent a nasty
case of antenna jab, it’s another one of those clip-on jobbies, that allows the
phone to move around; it can rotate through a full 360 degrees if necessary --
acrobats take note -- yet it still affords a high degree of accessibility
and security. Hama call it the MSV or Mobil-Safe Vario system. The system bit
refers to the fact that the clip or ‘chip’ on the back of the phone can also be
used to attach it to a range of other mounting devices, including dashboard
holders.
The chip is a small, flat, plastic moulding with
a slot and V-shaped groove moulded on the back, On the other side there’s a pad
of double-sided adhesive, to stick it to the phone battery. A cleaning swab is included
in the kit, to makes sure the surface is free of grease or other contaminants.
The instructions say it takes around 72 hours for the bond to reach full
strength, and not to use it for at least 12 hours. Extra chips, designed to fit
most of the phones on the market at the moment, are available for £3.00 each.
The actual belt holder is attached to a short
leather strap; this forms a loop that goes around the user’s belt, it’s kept in
place by a sturdy press-stud. The chip slides easily into the holder and once in
place locks into position. It feels very secure and it’s more likely something
else will give, if someone tries to snatch the phone. The phone is released by
pressing a pair of buttons on the side. It’s easier said than done, and it
takes quite a bit of practice -- and strong fingers -- to do it one-handed. It’s
worth investigating, especially if you have, or plan to use any other
compatible Hama holders
THE FACTS
Typical Price £20
(extra ‘chips’ £3.00)
Features 360
degree belt holder for mobile phone using ‘system’ fixing for other types of
holder, secure locking action
To fit most popular makes and models
Contact Hama
UK, telephone (01256) 708110
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 82%
WATERPROOF CASE
Cellphones and water don’t mix. Salt water is instant death, so it makes
sense to take some precautions if you’re going to take your mobile on holiday.
This waterproof case from Hama will keep it safe and sound, what’s more you can
still use it, and as an added bonus, as long as there’s some air in the plastic
envelope, it will float. The brightly coloured clip at the bottom makes it easy
to spot and it comes with a fluorescent orange lanyard.
The phone slips into the open end of the
case, there’s a sort of teat at the end, for the aerial, it’s long enough for
it to be fully extended on most models. Once the phone is safely inside the end
of the bag is folded over and placed between the two halves of the clip. It’s
screwed tight and nothing can get in, or out.
Most regularly-sized handsets should fit without too much trouble, though
we found it wasn’t quite long enough to accommodate models with flips or flaps
-- try before you buy.
We subjected the case -- with a Nokia 2110
inside -- to a five minute soaking under a cold shower, and ten minutes in the
sink, not a drop got through and it remained buoyant. Ringing tones suffered
some slight attenuation, though the Nokia phone could be heard clearly from a
distance of more than 3 metres. Dialling out and holding a conversation was
just about possible, the bag cuts down sound from the earphone. Microphone sensitivity
was hardly affected, speech at the other end of the connection remained loud
and clear, apart from some extra scuffing noises
One drop of saltwater is enough to ruin your
phone, if it’s not insured you could be looking at a replacement bill of a
couple of hundred pounds, or more. If you’re going to the beach, or likely to get
wet it’s fifteen quid well spent.
THE FACTS
Typical Price £15
Features water-proof
case/floatation bag
To fit most non-flip models
Contact Kondor
Ltd., telephone (01202) 4811133
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 90%
PHONEY OF THE MONTH
This must be some kind of record. Just a few
months after the Nokia 8110 appeared the cloners have brought out their own
version. Attention to detail is impressive, down to the sliding cover and the
layout of the keypad. In fact the only small departure from the original is the
operation of the ‘C’ button, which makes a barking sound when pressed. No, we
couldn’t figure it out either, but it’s there if you need it...
THE FACTS
Typical Price £3.99
Features the
usual mix of tunes and voices, plus an unusual ‘bark’ mode
Contact street
markets and toy stores everywhere
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 80%
---end---
Ó R. Maybury 1997 0807
|