Tag: gadgets

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Capacitive Pen

One of Jeanne’s favorite iPad apps is a drawing and painting app. It saves on paper and minimizes the risk of her writing on other things. Unfortunately, unless it’s finger painting, drawing and painting using fingers doesn’t exactly train her on the motor skills for actual drawing, painting, and eventually writing. Enter the capacitive pen. I’ve been planning to get one for some time. So it was quite timely when James gave me one from his trip to the US. Thanks, James!

Only problem is that there are bits of metal on the pen. So to minimize chances of it scratching the screen, I was forced to install a screen protector. Now that was a chore! It took me 5 tries before I was satisfied, i.e. the display area is clear of dust and bubbles. Even so, there were still some dust specks here and there. But since they were on the border, I can overlook them.

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Unlocking the Huawei D100

I recently got a Huawei E5 with a Globe Tattoo subscription. Although I can easily share the Internet connection to my wireless devices, I needed my PS3 and Linkstation to share the connection and be accessible from my wireless devices. Supposedly, the E5 can be used as a USB modem. But when I plugged it to the USB port of my Huawei D100 router, it wouldn’t work. Next, I removed the Globe SIM from the E5, put it in my unlocked Huawei E1550, and plugged it into the D100. No luck either. It seems I need to unlock my D100, too.

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Huawei E5 (Globe Tattoo Superstick)

I finally got fed up with the recent erratic behavior of my Sun wireless broadband connection and decided to disconnect it. To replace it, I got the Globe Tattoo Superstick. It is essentially a rebranded Huawei E5 packaged with a Globe Tattoo subscription. The rebrand involves the firmware and a hideous Tattoo sticker that I promptly removed.

The E5 is a mobile 3G modem, router, and wireless access point. As a 3G modem, it connects to your 3G network provider (in this case Globe). As a wireless access point, it serves up to 5 wireless clients which can then connect via the router to the 3G modem, and then to the Internet. It has a battery that lasts at around 2-3 hours with one charge. A bit short but can be longer since you can charge it via USB from your laptop (now that’s a mutualism relationship!).

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ElmScan 5 Compact OBD-II Scan Tool

On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) is a generic term referring to a vehicle’s self-diagnostic and reporting capability. Through a port, it provides realtime data in addition to a standardized series of diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), which allow one to rapidly identify and remedy malfunctions within the vehicle. OBD-II is simply an improvement over OBD-I in both capability and standardization.

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iPhone DLNA Players

I’m a fan of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) because of its promise of using standards-based technology to make it easier for consumers to use, share and enjoy their digital photos, music and videos. When I got my Buffalo Linkstation, I started streaming movies and music from it to the Playstation 3. But I had to stay in front of the TV.

When I got my iPhone 4, I got a media player that I can use anywhere in the house. I was lucky enough to be able to get VLC from the App Store while it was available. However, it meant copying files using iTunes to the iPhone. Somewhat, archaic to say the least and definitely a far cry from what’s possible with DLNA. So I went around searching for a DLNA player. Here is the result of my research.

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