Seamus Bellamy

Author. Journalist. Curmudgeon.

Review: ZAGGsparq 2.0

                                 
If there is one certainty in my life is that there’ll never be enough power for my hardware when push comes to shove. I tend to head out of the house when I’m working under a deadline. It’s the only way I can crank out pages without fear of being lured into a marathon session of Skyrim, noodling around on my dulcimer and generally doing anything but what I’m supposed to be doing. At times like this, I can be sure that the battery in whatever device I’m working with will crap out about 45 minutes sooner than I want it to.

Fortunately, ZAGG was good enough to send me one of their ZAGGsparq 2.0 batteries for review. It’s one of the few products that I’ve gotten my mitts on in recent months that I’ve been tempted to purchase once I was done writing about it. Want to know more? Of course you do. Head on over to TabTimes and read my full take on this sweet life-giving gem of a peripheral. 

3 great tips for using Dragon Dictation for iPad

                       

I’ve got to be honest with you, I’m not big on dictation. I tried it for Windows back in 1996 and it sucked. In 2011, I tried it again with Siri, and I while it sucked significantly less, it still kind of sucks. I know my success with voice-based computing has a lot to do with how quickly I speak. When I slow down enough to make use of a program like Dragon Dictation, for example, my brain gets a charley horse. It’s just not for me.

That said, Dragon Dictation is the solution a lot of people turn to on a daily basis when they have a yen to generate text on their iPad with a minimal amount of tapping and swiping. To that end, I’ve put together a short list of tips to help users optimize their experience with Dragon Dication. You can find it here. 

The Top 10 Smartphones Set to Ship in 2012

So that Motorola bag phone’s not cutting it for you anymore, hmm? Fret not: There’s a whole lotta handsets to choose from out there, with more set to drop over the next twelve months. You’ll find my gallery of 2012’s most anticipated handsets over at Maximum PC. 

Review: ZAGG Folio for iPad 2

On the whole, I use my iPad 2 more for consumption than creation, but for road warriors who rely on their tablet to sort their workaday lives out, a well crafted keyboard and case are a must. Recently, TabTimes asked me to take a look at ZAGG’s ZAGG Folio for iPad 2. How did it do under my crushing scrutiny? Read my full review and find out.