I took a pink one from the display, and went to find out the cost. $35 sounded average to me, so I asked if I could try it on. (There has to be an advantage to shopping in a store to online, right?!) While slipping into the pretty pink case, I realized my husband (who had just purchased a new Milestone X – aka Droid X/X2) was getting fitted for a blue Trident Cyclops of his own. Trident makes variations for most popular models of phones, and these cases were similar in design.

The cases come in 2 parts: a flexible silicone skin, and a 2 piece polycarbonate shell that snaps closed to protect your phone from drops.

As you can see from the above photo, the silicone skin is perfectly contoured to the device, with cutouts for the important things like camera, dock, speakers, etc. Volume buttons, power button, and mute switch are covered, yet allow for easy use. Openings for headphone jack and dock have snug fitting plugs to keep out dust and moisture.

You will also notice the ribbed sides which means you won’t lose your grip on your phone. The back of the iPhone case, as seen below, allows the silicone skin to be flush with the polycarbonate shell, and its “nibs” make sure your phone won’t slide off a slick surface.

Of course, it’s not enough to protect only the back and sides of an expensive phone. Trident has taken that into consideration. The model for the Android comes with a screen protector (applied by the nice man at the C-Spire store). The iPhone model (which, by the way, fits both 4 and 4S models), has a screen protector built in. It fits great, and in no way impedes use or sensitivity of the touch screen.

These cases feel good in your hand, and they look terrific. Browsing through Trident’s website, you can see a variety of cases available for Apple devices, Motorola, LG, HTC, Samsung, Blackberry, and more.

So if you’re ready for something a little different, check out Trident the next time you’re looking for a new case.

When it was evident that Palm was going the way of the dinosaur, I switched to Windows Mobile. And I gave Handango even more of my money.

All the while, happy Blackberry users were doing likewise, and buying apps left and right, increasing the purchased apps database on Handango.

Handango loved its customers, and loved the developers as well. How many of you remember the Champion Awards, and the value of having that logo on your website to prove your coding skills! Handango would find bloggers and industry analysts who knew the field and could properly evaluate programs – and the best were rewarded with their seal.

But today developers don’t get much choice over where they sell their wares. If you are an iOS developer, you can sell your apps in iTunes. That’s it, case closed. (We won’t delve into jailbreak or root apps.) If you program for Android, you have a slightly larger market, but, you won’t find Android devs selling their apps on their own sites either. You really have to go to Google or Amazon. Web OS had its App Catalog. Windows Phone? Yes, even they have a marketplace of their own, although it’s a brand new one, and not the one Microsoft attempted for Windows Mobile 6.

So where does this leave Handango? They are closing up shop slowly. All paid content has been moved off Handango. Although they still partner with some carriers, they are not selling directly, and they don’t even sell “premium” apps through their carrier partners. They maximum price point is $19.99.

We have entered a new world when it comes to loading our smartphones: App World, iTunes, Google Play. I am reminded of people complaining about Apple’s “walled garden,” but it’s no longer just Apple. WalMart has done its best to kill off the mom and pop stores in our neighborhoods, and these big app stores have done the same in the land of technology.

Goodbye, Handango. In my memory, you’ll always be the Champion.

Depending on your mobile phone, your camera can be “ok” or really great. They range all over the place, from 3 to 12 Megapixels, and some use the same lenses made for expensive SLR cameras. But regardless of the number of Megapixels available, your phone’s camera still has some basic limitations. It is, after all, a fixed lens. Fortunately, there are any number of companies who have come up with lens extensions for camera phones, and today I’m looking at the Easy Macro lens – mostly because I love macros.

The Easy Macro lens has a unique design. And while I cannot speak to its longevity or durability, for $15, it probably doesn’t matter if it doesn’t last forever. The tiny lens is suspended inside a rubberband. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it. Yet that’s really all there is to this lens. The photos below show it attached to my iPhone.

Due to it being a simple elastic band, you can fit this lens on almost any camera phone, with or without a case. It’s easy to install, and easy to remove. Just stretch the band between your fingers, slide it over the top of your phone and position the lens over your phone’s camera. The only hard part might be finding a place to keep it. For me, it’s easiest to just place the Easy-Macro back on the card it came on, and return it to the little plastic sleeve.

So how does it work?

Take a look at the photos below. I happened to have a little bag of sea salt, the kind you put on edamame, so I thought I’d give that a try. On the left you can see the original photo, and on the right, the macro shot, where you see each grain looking like a large rock.

While this gives you an idea of how the macro works, the subject is rather monotone, so you don’t get the idea of how the lens works with your camera. We’ll look at another set of comparisons, and a single macro shot of some feathers from an ancient Mardi Gras mask. (I point out the age of the mask, because it was difficult not to get a macro shot showing only dust!)

I’m pretty impressed so far. It’s much easier than some other lenses I’ve seen advertised, doesn’t require a dedicated case, and is practically dirt cheap. I can’t wait for my next trip to the garden to see what I can capture with my new macro lens.

You can get it for yourself for $15 from PhotoJojo.

Every Friday, Easy Macro has a contest on their blog – guess the content of the photo and win your own Easy Macro lens!

Mul­ti­ple reports have emerged of T-Mobile switch­ing on 3G for fre­quen­cies that exist­ing unlocked iPhones and other devices can use. At least some parts of Neva­da and some parts of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia and the North­west are see­ing 1,900MHz repur­posed to be used as addi­tion­al car­ry­ing space for theHSPA+ 84Mbps net­work antic­i­pat­ed for 2012. Those who live in the altered areas are see­ing speeds faster not just than they would on EDGE but faster than AT&T’s real-world 3G, at 7.92Mbps down and 1.8Mbps up.

How jealous of Verizon streaming Wild card games and Superbowl?!

The US International Trade Commission has just ruled in favor of Apple’s patent claims against HTC, banning some HTC devices from sale and importation to the US. The decision comes after ITC found that HTC violated two claims on one of Apple’s patents. This final patent infringement ruling will not take effect until April 19, 2012.

Victor Webb (Gadget Gurus): 

We haven’t experienced any real issues with signal strength on our LTE Galaxy Nexus units in the few days we’ve been using them since release, but Verizon is now saying that there is an issue — and it’s working on a fix. In a response tweeted by official Verizon account @VZWSupport today, the company says that reported signal issues are “currently being investigated” and that a software update is in the works, but there’s no release date yet. Various reviews have sporadically reported problem…

BT to sue Google: The six patents in question “relate to technologies, which underpin location-based services, navigation and guidance information and personalized access to services and content,” BT said.

Apple sues Samsung over Smartcover patent infringement

Nuance buys Vlingo

Blackberry Playbooks stolen…I guess it’s the only way RIM will get rid of them. Amazon almost bought RIM…came to its senses.

Blueant headphones

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RIM cancelling java. no more java on bbx.  you go native, webworks, flash or go home
they said java wont give the same user experience on qnx or bbx.
the playbook and new smartphones will be called box
bbos + qnx = bbx
A week with the iPhone 4s

Jerry’s new case fever -

• SGP Neo Hybrid
• Scoshe Bandedge g4   Review

Freaky iTunes!

Alli’s Amazing Anti-Android rant

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RIM goes down – and not in a good way

So why do you want to use a Blackberry?

iOS 5 is released – Apple’s servers are overwhelmed.

Server farm, what?   – The dreaded 3002 error

1. OS 5 official release

2. OS X 10.7.2 – iCloud Ready, Faster Safari v5.1.1

3. iPhoto 9.2 – Strange update story. Kept getting update message for 9.1 but when going to software update, no updates available. Gave in and bought from MAS.

4. iMovie, Find My iPhone/Find My Friends, Remote apps are updated.

iCloud migration smooth as silk on iDevices and on Mac.

Apple TV Update brings Airplay Mirroring, Movie Trailers, NHL, and WSJ Live.

Airplay Mirroring cool tech but A4 overburdened.  Playing Real Racing 2 stutters just enough to affect gameplay.

Ashleigh’s iTunes problem – still no solution. She’s taking her Mac to Apple.

AT&T iPhone 4s Pre-orders: Into the black hole.
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I took a look around the interwebs for some Windows Phone 7 news. Their app store has hit a whopping 30,000 titles.
According to our old friend Surur over at wmpoweruser, http://wmpoweruser.com/analysts-confirm-windows-phone-7-as-the-3rd-ecosystem-but-remain-guarded/
The Mango “resuming” screen is lame.

Microsoft job posting – The Windows Live DRX team produces the SkyDrive client applications that fuel our customers thirst for stable, secure and available online storage. DRX is building experiences to deliver all of your content from the cloud and your devices to any of your devices anywhere anytime. Our team develops clients for Windows, Windows Phone, iPhone, Mac and Android. We are looking for developers that are looking for their next challenge to build the highly distributed platform and multi-platform clients for the SkyDrive suite of products delivered through Windows Live and Windows.
Live Mesh/Windows Live Mesh was great. I’d been using SafeSync until Lion (their update is due Sept. 14). Cross platform services – as opposed to apps – rock. Can MS pull this off?

iTunes Match – The agony and ecstasy of caching/streaming.

Playbook will run Android apps soon. Any Blackberry will run Android apps eventually. Is this like running VMWare or Parallels on a Mac?

New phones coming with better screens than the iPhone’s retina display? http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/smartphones-wit.php

Have you tried the voice search feature in the Chrome browser?

Thoughts on Nick “Comex” Allegra going to work for Apple?

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Beta 2

2 new iPhones in Sept?

Thunderbolt the standard, not the phone (vs. USB 3 vs. Firewire)

Playbook and BB apps – may not be news, but definitely notable.
Playbook can ONLY download apps from App World. You can’t run java blackberry apps on the playbook.  Rim will be releasing the Android and blackberry java player this summer. Playbook is based on QNX OS and the smartphone is JAVA.

Bringing handheld interface to the desktop

iTunes and Android Marketplace in Taiwan

Evo 3D – why did they remove the kickstand?

Thoughts on last week’s guest

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Shelton Basham, CEO, Full Circle Wireless
800-863-8023

Business to business buy back
refurbish, recondition, recycle, repurpose

testing process on hardware and software

fastlanewireless.com

round 2 technologies

data security

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Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player

Amazon Has an App Store too!

CTIA

Lies, Lies and Vicious Rumors? – Is Apple pushing back iPhone 5 hardware to 4th Qtr?  2012?

WWDC to focus on OS’es only?

Jerry caved in – iPad 2 on order, but the SmartCase arrived!

Picks of the week

Alli: Anti-pick – CTIA app

Grocery IQ http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grocery-iq/id290591617?mt=8

Jerry:  Is there any other?  iTunes Red Cross donation for Japan relief efforts

iPad: Zite (Free): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zite/id419752338?mt=8

Contest: Win your choice of a iPhone 4 or iPad 1 South Park skin.

Have 2 iPad skins to give away and 1 iPhone 4 skin.

iPad Skin:



iPhone 4 Skin:

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