LG Intuition: A big phone or a small tablet

Is it phone or a tablet? The LG Intuition is both, in a design that splits the difference between Samsung's Galaxy III S and the Galaxy Note - or the new iPad Mini, for that matter.

The Intuition measures 5.5 inches tall by 3.5 inches wide. That's quite a handful for a phone. It's not going to fit well in your jeans pocket and be prepared for some stares (or snickers) if you hold it to your ear to make a call.

But let's look at the Intuition from another angle. If you're comfortable using a Bluetooth earpiece for phone calls, the LG can stay tucked into a jacket pocket or purse and need never approach your ears. And, if you prefer to travel light, here's a 5.9-ounce device that lets you leave the iPad at home.   

The phone's 5-inch display offers sharp 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution. It has plenty of real estate to view standard web pages or documents. It also makes a great ebook reader and it comes with Amazon's Kindle software already installed along with the usual collection of Android apps and some special tools from LG.

It also has speedy response times running on Verizon's 4G LTE network. The on-screen keyboard can seem a little cramped, but only if you compare it to a larger tablet. Like the Galaxy Note, the Intuition also comes with a stylus and software for capturing handwritten notes and drawings.

Many people will probably dismiss the Intuition as a novelty, but for some, it will be the phone that hits their sweet spot.

Verizon Wireless is currently offering the Intuition for $150 and throwing in a nice Bluetooth headset with a two-year contract.

By: Ric Manning On 10/31/2012

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Bluetooth phone channels a modern Ma Bell

Call me old fashioned, but I often miss the old Ma Bell telephones, the ones with a handset where the speaker and microphone actually lined up with your ear and mouth. Sure the handset was bigger than mobile phone, but it felt solid in your hand and you could tuck it between your shoulder and ear. And if it slipped out and fell to  the floor, so what? The darn things were bulletproof.

That's why I was eager to try the Swissvoice ePure handset. This is a device that merges the traditional phone handset with a mobile phone in a design that's both retro and modern.

Here's how it works: Using Bluetooth, you pair the ePure with your mobile phone. Now calls to your mobile phone ring through to the ePure handset. Swissvoice says using the ePure doubles the range of Bluetooth to about 60 feet. A navigation strip on he handset controls functions like pairing and speakerphone and a pair of buttons on the side control the volume.

With the ePure on my desk, I can keep my mobile phone connected to its charging cable. Income calls arrive with their assigned ringtones and I can make outbound calls using going it on my desk to answer incoming calls and make outgoing calls using voice controls.

The ePure also makes a pretty fair wireless speaker. That's handy for Skype or Facetime video sessions or for playing music or podcasts stored on the mobile phone. Swissvoice says the handset will deliver about 3.5 hours of listening time before it needs a recharge.

The ePure costs about $140 at amazon.com. A version with a pop-out 30-pin iPhone charging platform costs $10 more.

By: Ric Manning On 10/26/2012

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Click and Grow has herbs on autopilot

The vegetable garden is packed away for the winter, but we are expecting to have fresh basil all winter.

This week my daughter and I got our hands on basil-in-a-box from Click and Grow, a company that makes what's been called kits for the botanically challenged.

The Click and Grow pot is a plastic container that looks like a Mac Mini. Inside is a cartridge that contains soil, seeds, and fertilizer plus a water reservoir, a pump and light sensors. All we had to do was add batteries and water and place the box in a spot that gets about six hours of sunlight each day.

This is a houseplant that should be hard to kill. The only thing you have to do is refill the water reservoir about once a month. And there's a flashing light on the pot that signals when water or fresh batteries are needed.

The Click and Grow folks say we should see green sprouts in a couple of weeks. I'll update this report when we see some live growth and again when we have our favorite appetizer: tomato slices with mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil. 

The pots with one cartridge cost about $60 at clickandgrow.com. Replacement cartridges are $20. There are 10 plant options including marigolds, lemon balm, thyme, mini tomatoes, and chili peppers

By: Ric Manning On 10/23/2012

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Dark Sky app nails weather predictions

While the sunshine was giving way to dark clouds earlier today, I was wondering if I had time to walk the dog before the rain arrived, or if I would have to wait until the rain stopped and when that might be.

When my various weather radar sources couldn't answer my questions with the precision that I wanted, I found a new iOS app that could.

Dark Sky ($3.99 in Apple's App Store) matches weather radar with the exact location of my iPhone or iPad to estimate, almost to the minute, when rain or snow will arrive, when it will peak, and when it will stop. The app also has a highly-detailed radar image that pinpoints any active storms across the country and displays them in a way-cool blue-on-black map.

Dark Sky told me that, although the sky above my head was indeed quite dark, it wouldn't actually start delivering rain for another 40 minutes. Its shimmering graph indicated that the rainfall would be light and that the drizzle would let up in about 90 minutes. The prediction was spot on, pleasing both me and the dog.

By: Ric Manning On 10/19/2012

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Pioneer speakers cut the wires

This has been a summer with a soundtrack. When we spent time outside, we often brought along portable speakers. Sometime it was the Bose  SoundDock, other times it was the Coby Bluetooth dock that I reviewed a couple of months ago.

Now I'm trying out one of three new wireless speakers launched this year by Pioneer. I'm driving the XW-SMA3, the only one that has a rechargeable battery, which makes it especially appealing for outdoor use. 

Instead of Bluetooth, the Pioneer speakers use Wi-Fi to make a wireless connection between the speaker and a music source. In addition to a longer range, Wi-Fi lets the speaker connect to a music source on your home network, including a computer or digital music server.

The speaker also supports Apple's AirPlay streaming technology which lets you transmit sound from an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Android users can get in the game if they have an HTC phone that supports HTC Connect.

And, there's one more way to create a wireless link. The speakers can generate their own Wi-Fi hot spot, making possible a wireless link to a notebook computer or tablet PC.

With all those communication options, don't be surprised to find that the setup routine is a little complicated. The Quick Start guide has six different options for linking the speaker to a music source. It took me about a half an hour to get the speaker up an running on my front porch.

But the results, after some persistence and perseverance, were pretty sweet. The A3 speaker that I tested has a rich, full sound that instantly turned the porch into a party room. 

Here's how the three speakers line up:

The XW-SMA1 costs $299 and features dual 3-inch speakers, a 3/4-inch tweeter, and a tuned bass reflex port. The XW-SMA3 costs $399 and has the same specs as the A1 but with a rechargeable battery and a more rugged exterior. The XW-SMA4 costs $399 and has a slightly larger cabinet with a 4-inch subwoofer.

By: Ric Manning On 10/16/2012

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Best Buy plans to match online prices

Best Buy has long promised to match a competitor's price - but the promise only applied to conventional retail stores, not online sellers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Best Buy will extend its price-match policy to online competitors this holiday season.The consumer electronics chain will also offer free home delivery on items that are out of stock at local stores.

The moves are designed to counter he practice of "showrooming," where a consumer inspects and price-checks a product in a store, then buys it for a lower price from an online source such as Amazon.

This is a great move. I expect I am like many consumers who would prefer to get their hands on their gadget immediately -- and have a human being to help you if there's a problem. 

By: Ric Manning On 10/15/2012

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