Tag: device

1byone Tri-folding Pocket size Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard (Review)

Technology has made this world a better place certainly by making our life effortless every day. As in particular, the invention of smartphones, IOS & Android & Windows system tablets have undoubtedly fluid the communication system. Moreover, voice calls, tweeting or texting is much viral among the people nowadays.

on the other hand, writing documents, notes and typing long email messages in the smartphones were not possible until the innovation of Bluetooth keyboards. Besides that to make our work more convenient the 1byone company has launched a tri-folding wireless Bluetooth keyboard which can be easily carried anywhere and also can be fitted into your pocket. Owing to the reason we can obviously state that pocket-sized folding keyboard is much handier than a physical keyboard or other big sized Bluetooth keyboards.

Box Accessories

The packing includes a Bluetooth, user manual and a USB charging cable.

Build Quality & Design

The portable ultra-slim Bluetooth keyboard is well made by plastic on the front side and aluminium alloy on the backboard. The rubberized feet on the bottom works as a stand to the keyboard which also do not let the aluminium back get scratched somehow. The metal hinge allows the keys in the folds to retain the standard keyboard’s layout brilliantly. The design of the keyboard is impressive but not unique as the same style can be spotted with different brand logo. I think there is a bigger anonymous manufacturer who provides the device to multiple resellers.

There is a visible protruding segment present in the middle column on keyboard’s back, which is highly noticeable when it is closed, supposedly housing the main circuit board and battery. Also, there is 1byone logo, manufacturer information and additional standard symbols located at the bottom of the middle column. The charging port is located at the top edge of the same extended segment.

There is no dedicated power button on the keyboard to turn it on or off, the another welcome feature as you don’t have to keep reminding yourself to turn it off. Additionally, there is an automated power off feature, which is a little inconvenient. I will talk about it later.

Features and Flaws

The keyboard pretty much has the standard layout, other than the number keys are shifted to one whole row or column? and the num pad is missing.

For this review, I tested the keyboard by using it to type emails and long documents on my Laptop as well as smartphone and iPad. During my testing period, I didn’t notice any typing lag. Except one time when it was bit slower to register my input when my old Android phone was experiencing the lag system wide.

To connect the keyboard with the Bluetooth enabled device, you simply have to unfold it and press Fn+c. It will trigger the blue LED on top on the keyboard panel, indicating that the keyboard is ready for pairing with the device. Once paired, the LED will stop blinking and your keyboard is ready to use. The amazing part is that once paired with the device, you can simply unfold/fold the keyboard to connect or disconnect it with the paired device. There are additional function keys such as volume rocker and media controller, which can be activated by using ‘Fn’ key.

Sometimes if you press Ctrl+A the keyboard lifts up on that side, making it a little unstable at times.

Also, It might be a problem for those who has a habit of using right shift button as it has been shrunk a tad bit to fit it right on top of ‘right arrow’ button. While typing documents and performing certain tasks which involved the ‘Shift’ key, resulted in accidental pressing ‘Up arrow’ button. The Up & Down arrow buttons could inherit the ‘Split’ key design from that we see on Apple Laptops, which would have allowed the standard ‘Shift’ button. Pretty much like this one:

Some keys especially which lie on the line of the folding area doesn’t work properly as I had to press it multiple times to make it register my input.

In spite of drawbacks, the keyboard can be contributing for touch-typist and beat the burden out of swiping or thumbing. The keyboard doesn’t remain flat on the table or desk while working due to the metal hinges but it doesn’t pose much trouble to the user. Built-in 210mAh lithium battery, works for up to 114 days in standby mode without charging, with 64 hours continuous use. In addition, the sleep mode of the keyboard is automatically enabled to save power if the keyboard is unattended for 15 minutes. The keyboard can be brought back from sleep by simply pressing any key, but unfortunately, it takes a little while to function normally. It is a nice feature, but it may be a bit hassle for some users as most people lack patience because we expect the keyboard to be always ready for our input.

What do we think?

1byone could be a great travel companion, letting you work away from your desktop as it allows you to work wirelessly on the wide range of Bluetooth devices. The 1byOne Trifolding Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard is Available on Amazon India at ?5,278 (and $35.99 in the US), which put it right on top of the medium segment. As mentioned earlier, while researching for this article, I found that various companies are selling the same keyboard but with different branding (logo) and even cheap price. It is highly likely that they are all importing this gadget from China or another country for rebranding with the personalized company logo. (Example 1) (Example 2)

When gimmicks and flaws are combined with the high price range, it is difficult to recommend this gadget to our readers.

March 10, 2016
This simple device can convert any flat screen TV to touchscreen

With each passing day we witness technological innovations that revolutionise the way we interact with the world around us. The internet has been a boon to these innovators who leverage this mode to their advantage and develop products that offer a great value to the consumers. Internet also helps these innovators to collate the necessary resources for the purpose of the development of their products and the latest in line has been crowd funding that has been allowing innovators to get the required funding and focus better on the product development.

Another innovative product that has received a highly positive response from the ‘crowd’ is the Touchjet WAVE; a highly innovative idea that uses simple technology. The brilliance of this product is not the technology it uses but rather how it uses the technology. The product has been listed on indiegogo.com, a crowd funding website and within a day it has been able to generate over US$ 131,000, against a target of US$ 100,000 with still 29 days to go! So what makes this product so special and what value does it deliver that it has received funding from over 700 people in 1 day? Let’s find out.

A small device that the company has named WAVE can be clipped on the top of the television. It has an infrared sensor and an HDMI output that needs to be plugged into the HDMI port of the television. The infrared sensor senses the movements of the hands or a stylus that is supplied with WAVE and sends the signal to the Light Processing Unit or the LPU of the device. The data received from the infrared sensor is translated to the taps and gestures that can be understood by the Android operating system.

The device runs on Android 4.4 Kitkat and effectively converts your flat panel television into a giant touch screen. You can operate your television using your hand gestures or a stylus. Likewise, you can also connect your mobile phone wirelessly to the device and control your television from your smartphone. The smartphone can also be connected to the device to browse the internet and t download data and apps or to stream the internet live.

Since WAVE functions on Android, users can download and install over 1.3 million Android apps that are available on the play store. The device also has WIFI connectivity enabled for directly accessing the internet.

On the technical front, the device has a 2.0 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB DDR3 RAM, 8GB Flash drive, built-in optical touch sensor, WIFI and Bluetooth. It has an HDMI Output, an Audio Line out, 1 Micro USB OTG and 2 USB 2.0 ports.

Since the device runs on Android and not on any proprietary operating system, it has large number of applications. The device can be attached to a flat screen monitor and can be used for presentations, app developments, using Android apps or even for playing games.

Touchjet Wave

August 13, 2015
What is ‘stagefright’ bug and here’s how to keep your device safe
A new security bug targeted to Android devices allows anyone to spy on anyone with single MMS (video message). What makes it even scary is that the attacker don’t even require your interaction with the message sent to your device. You just have to look at the notification or unlock your device when such message arrives on your phone. Isn’t it scary?!

What is it?

It is theoretically a security bug in Android system that penetrates almost all smartphones powered by Android ecosystem. Devices that run Android OS older than Jelly Bean 4.1 are at high risk because they lack the application sandbox design to protect user data and other applications on the device.

The security of Android users is extremely important to us and so we responded quickly and patches have already been provided to partners that can be applied to any device.

Most Android devices, including all newer devices, have multiple technologies that are designed to make exploitation more difficult. Android devices also include an application sandbox designed to protect user data and other applications on the device. — said Google

The detailed information has not been made public yet, which is highly likely to be revealed during the upcoming Black Hat conference next week in Las Vegas. All we know right now that your Android phone can be tracked, monitored or exploited for some serious cyber crime if you do not take precautions or keep your device updated.

The exploit comes into play with Google’s “stagefright” media playback engine, which was introduced in Android 2.2 and prevailed ever since. It was only recently exploited when Google hangout and other 3rd party SMS apps introduced the feature to autoplay MMS (text message) on the phone once the user opens the message or notification.

The security hole affects almost all versions of Android, from version 2.2 right up to 5.1, the latest version. An Android user simply needs to receive a text message (MMS) from the attacker, which automatically trigger the malicious code hidden in that video message (thanks to the stagefright). This code can then be triggered when you see the notification, unlock screen to see the message, and finally when you watch the MMS message, touch the video or rotate the screen.

The good news is that Google has already developed a patch for this vulnerability and it is ready to be deployed through OTA — but, only if you have Google Nexus devices. For everyone else, you will have to rely on your manufacturer or service provider to roll out the security patch that would eventually fix this bug.

How to Keep your device safe?

Image courtesy: Swadesh Parasher

If you use Google hangout to manage text messages on your device, the fix is really easy.
1. Open Google Hangout App > Go to “Settings”
2. Go to “SMS” option.
3. Scroll down, and un-check “Auto retrieve MMS”
That’s it! it will protect you from the automatic execution of malicious code on your device when you receive an MMS message from your attacker. However, you can still get infected if you open the video or play it on your device. There’s nothing much you can do except taking precautions and be careful when you receive the MMS (Who uses it today?) from an unknown number.

All other third party SMS apps may or may not have the option to turn off auto retrieve function of MMS, if that is the case we suggest you use any other SMS managing app from play store that allows you to turn off MMS feature completely. If you’re a root user simply remove the third party apk files from your phone and keep your device up to date.

Source: TheRegister
July 28, 2015
BOX, The Bitdefender BOX! : A Security solution service for Home network!

Gone are the times when every newly developed technology is based on old devices that are already out on the market. It’s time for something new. Bitdefender came up with a smart security solution in the form of Bitdefender BOX, the one unified and independent solution for your home network security. The dependency of users upon antiviruses only is now obsolete since the BOX can handle it all.

What is Bitdefender BOX?

Imagine an antivirus software in physical form, where all your data is flowing in and out of the network is under constant supervision from the filters installed due to the hardware.

Adding a bit of intelligence to a small piece of networking hardware, Bitdefender Antivirus has now created a device for the security of all the devices under the Internet of Things, as a part of your home network. What’s more is that the BOX provides you, irrespective of your geolocation, BOX administration control and intrusion notifications on your Android and IOS devices through VPN.

The device must be connected to the internet in order to provide uninterrupted protection. Every packet flowing in through the net ports is scanned and verified for signs of any malicious or fake phishing packets. One can either use the BOX itself as the router or simply connect it to the router. The service is provided only to those who are registered with Bitdefender, or will be after purchasing the device.

Specifications

It is a small, sleek, shiny and lightweight box with measurements 1.1″ x 3.5″ x 3.5″. Small enough to fit in a corner of the table, and adding to the scene too with its LEDs. Feel proud if you already own it, because every multinational company building has large security boxes with a quite similar purpose but with great maintenance cost.

Packed with 64 MB DDR2 RAM, 16 MB flash memory and a single core 0.4GHz MIPS processor, it is surprising how this small device can handle all these tasks with such efficiency. Technology has really gone to the limits, and if you think you are in enough awe, wait till you hear about its VPN service out of your home network. Hardware wise, the device has a reset button (backside), two 10/100 Ethernet ports, and a very shiny cover, plus the Alien-eye LED. Under the hood, the chipset holds all the configurations and management interfaces, plus the connection modules to the cloud, handling all traffic monitoring.

Cost

Bitdefender is going to provide a free one-year subscription included in the $199 purchase for the device. After another $99 per year for the subscription update, once again you are free to live under its protection for one more year. Along with the BOX, if you really are a security guy, then there goes another $69.95 well spent.

Setup

The device seems simple enough, but as we know, some simple devices tend to confuse people more than complicated ones. How are you going to connect the device to your home network connection without disrupting your network service? Bitdefender thought of that too. Detailed Quick setup and User-brief instructions are provided with the device and are also present online to make installation easier.

You might think that this makes it more complex, but you are wrong. Decide whether you want to use the BOX as the default router or add it as an overhead protection to the router. After that make the connections, and setup a few usernames and password, an optional change in DHCP settings of the router, and if you are special, then maybe a bridge mode conversion of your default router, to connect to the box , and that’s it!

But remember, In order to complete the setup, you will require an interface. How were you thinking of configuring it? The download of the Bitdefender iOS or Android app is required to complete the setup. After this setup only, you can monitor the security of your home network, even when you are out of your home network range.

Bitdefender Box is also special because it provides the feature of VPN connectivity service to its users. All data streaming out of your mobile phone will be tunneled to the BOX at your home, which will forward it to cloud and thus providing your device with a constant link to the Home network security issue and configurations. Finally, Network Security solutions right in your hand, isn’t that cool?

Look out for this device wherever you can get your hands on it. Seriously

Source: Bitdefender

July 22, 2015
Painless way to check diabetes with needle free device

Self-testing kits for diabetes are common and patients themselves can test the level of glucose in their blood on their own. However, it means there is a needle that they have to poke themselves with frequently and for some this can be very painful. Now there is an alternative to this with needle-free devices to test diabetes.

Diabetes affects millions around the world. Most of them suffering from this ailment require medication and many among them are needed to constantly monitor their glucose levels. Diabetics generally get their blood tested at a pathologist’s clinic while there are several of them who have to check it more frequently and maintain a record and, therefore, use self-testing kits. These kits allow them to monitor their diabetes levels at home in a manner convenient to them; however it does include poking a needle into their skin.

Every time a diabetic checks his or her glucose level, a needle gets poked and this is not just painful for many but also if not done properly can lead to infections. Despite exponential advances in medical science over the last century, needles are still needed for several purposes. Though there have been several experiments with needleless injections we are still far from getting a practical solution. But, at least for testing blood sugar levels, we might soon get a device that would eradicate the need of a needle.

A technological breakthrough might be around the corner with several medical equipment manufacturers and technology companies trying to find a solution to completely eliminate needles from diabetes testing. Echo Therapeutics, a company based at Philadelphia has developed a device that is termed as the Symphony tCGM biosensor. The device is a transdermal biosensor that is capable of examining blood for sugar levels through the skin without the requirement of extracting blood.

The biosensor uses a patch with a biosensor that captures the reading of the patients and sends a signal to a remote monitor with an alarm that goes off if the glucose in the blood is beyond the normal level. The patch biosensor is attached to an electrical device that is shaped like a toothbrush and when it comes in contact with the skin, it removes a little skin from the surface in order to bring the biosensor within the range of the blood to collect required information. The entire process is painless and patients are saved from getting poked by a needle.

Similar devices are being tested by several other medical research companies and universities and these will become a boom to millions of diabetics around the world. Type 2 diabetics have to get their blood sugar levels tested frequently, however, it is the type 1 that will be benefitted the most. Type 1 diabetics have to get their blood sugar levels tested multiple times in a single day! A device like this will be highly useful for such patients who suffer from pain every day.

Update

We have received several inquiries from our readers about the commercial availability of the device. Accordingly we contacted the manufacturer about further details on product availability in the market. We have been informed by Echo Therapeutics, Inc. that the product is still under development stage as they try to make it more affordable and commercially viable.

Christine Olimpio – Director, Echo Therapeutics, told DigitFreak:

While the need and market opportunity for noninvasive CGM for people with diabetes is well documented, there are additional implications for personal health objectives, including weight loss, sports training and wellbeing. We believe glucose data from our sensor can seamlessly fit within other wearable health applications and provide an invaluable, and currently untapped, input to health and wellness algorithms.

Also, they have stated their plans to launch it as a part of their wearable device that can be useful to monitor various other physical attributes such as health training and weight loss along with checking the blood sugar levels. They have also said that the design of the wearable and diabetes monitoring device is the same except that there would be few differences in the display of the data.

(Image source: echotx.com)

July 15, 2015
What is Airplay and how does it Work?

But there are certain limitations as you can stream media from Apple to Apple device only like iPod, iPhone or iPad. You can even use itunes to configure your computer with an airplay speakers set, Apple TV or a receiver. But the great thing is about wireless technology as you will be performing all this with wireless technology.

The wireless has the power to operate within the range of several hundred square feet. So, let suppose that you own an airplay speakers set and you want it to set these at one end of your house. The second speaker set has been idealized for the other end. You just have to configure both these speaker sets with your iPhone and you can play a single song at both ends while sitting in your living room.

It hasn’t yet finished here as you can derive more benefits out of Airplay, if you are using online media streaming. Suppose if you are enjoying a movie on your iPhone but you feel the sound little depressed then you can boost the sound with the help of airplay technology and get the real sound out of your airplay speakers.

While considering about the compatibility of airplay speakers and airplay software, you should not forget that you can even configure your airplay software with third party speakers. Although it may not be an easy job at first hand but with little effort you can configure the airplay technology with third party speakers. Many third party manufacturers have been granted with Apple license and they can use their software while making compatible with Apple software.

It is not a difficult job to connect your device with Airplay speakers and you can broadly use two methods. The first and one click method will be using your wireless router for creation of home network. You just have to connect your speakers with the router and then connect your device with wireless network to enjoy the fun.

While the second method will require Apple airport express to connect your airplay speakers and your device. You can find a quick guide on the brochure and start making fun. Good luck!

June 24, 2015