Isn't this a recharageable battery? I have something similar, but it doesn't
plug in to an outlet. Where did you purchase yours?
Anita
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jessica Moss" <junglebookfa...@gmail.com>
To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 9:32 PM
Subject: Re: Portable device accessories
Ok, if saving your battery life is a specific thing you're wanting to do, I
have one of the Newtrent, I think it's spelled, battery packs, that you just
plug your IPhone cable into, then plug it into your phone, and absolutely
love it. It comes with a power cord that you plug into an outlet to charge
it, which you'll have to do when you first take it out of the box, and
you'll most likely want to do this overnight; at least that's what I did,
sense I ended up plugging it in late in the afternoon, and I'm not
absolutely sure how long it takes it to charge..
There are 2 different one's, I think I have the heavy-duty one, because
it's kind of a decent size, and ends up fitting in my jacket/pants pocket,
but can last a pretty good while.
I took a trip up to NC about 2 months ago, which was about a 9 hour drive,
used several apps off and on, and didn't have to charge it until about a day
or so later, so I'd strongly recommend looking into one of these. I got it
as a Christmas gift, so can't remember how much they cost right off, but
they're well worth it sense you can carry it around and don't have to look
for an outlet/car charger, then have your phone tied down like it's a house
phone.
On Mar 29, 2013, at 10:29 PM, Esther wrote:
Hello Gena,
I'll interleave my replies after your questions:
I've been trying to get my head around what portable device to buy. To
save using battery power of my iPhone as an orientation tool. I thought
I'd buy myself a portable device. It appears that that the iPads with 3G
also have a GPS receiver. But can you pair a bluetooth GPS receiver to
the other devices? Could Navigon run on Nano's, iPod Touchs?
Esther: In general, you can only purchase specific Bluetooth GPS devices
that are compatible with being paired to Apple iOS devices such as the
iPod Touch or Wi-Fi only iPad, unless your are willing to jailbreak your
device and then research an app for jailbroken devices that allows you to
pair other GPS devices via Bluetooth. You cannot run an iOS app like
Navigon or any other complex GPS app being used for directions on a device
like the iPod Nano. GPS Bluetooth devices that have been successfully
paired and used with an iPod Touch with apps like Navigon include the Dual
Electronics XGPS150A and the Bad Elf GPS Receiver.
Your question is more complex than it might seem, because you also need to
know that the navigation software will work on a device that is not an
iPhone. The developer can detect the device architecture in the app. I
recently read that MotionX GPS Drive, a popular solution for users in the
U.S. and Canada, blocks the operation of the app on an iPod Touch. And I
remember that initially for quite some time, Sendero blocked the GPS
functions of their LookAround app if it was loaded onto an iPad -- even if
the device had 3G and was able to run Navigon and all sorts of other GPS
apps. The only GPS device manufacturer I know of, that posted lists of the
GPS apps they had checked out to work with their device on an iPod Touch,
is Dual Electronics. Otherwise, you probably have to find someone who has
bought the device and the navigation apps and can tell you the combination
works. There have been a few reports on the viphone list.
Remember, too, that some of the helper apps for locating POIs like
AroundMe, Where To?, and others, require an active network connection to
pass on their information, if you're not prepared to work solely within an
app like Navigon with downloaded maps.
You might be better off investing in an external battery pack for your
existing iPhone.
I see that Apple offer a personal Weather Station. Does VO read the
outputs from the station? Or is there other ways we can obtain barometric
pressure?
Esther: I've read about the Netatmo Weather station on the viphone list.
I gather that at this time the initial setup of the weather station and
its app is not accessible, although two of the users who are enthusiastic
about this product managed to do the setup independently by running OCR
programs to read the instructions. So if you have sighted help to get
this set up, both for the physical connection of the device and the
initial app installation, it sounds as though you can read the outputs
with VoiceOver, such as indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity,
along with carbon monoxide and noise levels. The developers were working
on installing wind speed sensors according to a November report. The
iPhone interface was reported as a bit cluttered for VoiceOver, but
usable. I don't remember whether you could get barometric pressure
reported.
Can't you get barometric pressure reported from the Weather Underground
mobile site? They even have one now that's specifically for the iPhone.
Use the URL:
http://m.wund.com/
or on the iPhone use:
http://i.wund.com/
Type in your city or postal code and then double tap the "Go" button in
the bottom right corner of the virtual keyboard. Then, once you have the
forecast page for your city, save it to your home screen by double tapping
the Safari "Utilities" button at the bottom of your screen, just above the
home button. Double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button, and you'll be
able to access the weather report for your city, both current and
forecast, including barometric pressure.
Also I saw this: Withings Smart Kid Scale. Anyone attempted to use this
product?
I look forward to any input on any of these accessories.
Esther: I don't know anything about this product. Gena, you can use the
Mail Archive page for the viphone list to search for more information
about the Netatmo weather station. They've now been archiving posts there
for nearly a year. Go to:
http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone%40googlegroups.com/
You can type in your search terms, like "Netamo" and "Sieghard" -- the
person who has posted most about this product -- into the text box and
press return. You'll get a report of the number of matches, and a set of
links with the post subject followed by the date, a brief excerpt of the
content, and the name of the poster. Activate any links that look
interesting to read the posts.
I also wrote some more extensive posts about Bluetooth GPS receivers for
the iPod Touch on the Mac-Access list, which is a UK-based Mac list that
also archives its posts at the Mail Archive. Here's a link to one of the
posts that may be of interest:
• GPS on an iPod Touch {was Re: An Excellent GPS app for iPhone and
visually impaired people]
http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access%40mac-access.net/msg10357.html
If you want to read down the thread to the next post, press Control-n in
Safari on your mac. To navigate to the previous post in a thread, press
Control-p in Safari. The initial post gives links to some of the product
web sites at the end of the post.
Thanks.
Gena
You're welcome. HTH. Cheers,
Esther
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