smartphones Archives

I love photography. Admittedly, I am not that great at it, but I sure do love photographing the things around me. Years ago, I hauled around one of my Nikons anywhere and everywhere I went. Those days are gone, now I carry an iPhone everywhere I go. Everywhere. Like most people these days, our smartphones are essentially welded to our hands… if not, it’s in a pocket, bag, resting on a desk, nightstand or traveling with us – even to the Loo.

As a people, we are snapping pictures of everything at an extraordinary rate. Even taking pics of simplest minutia of our lives, has become common practice. People are taking snapshots of their food, walls, the clouds… you name it — we all take snapshots of it. Taking selfies is ubiquitous within our culture and various societies. One might think, these things are now somehow part of our DNA. While I admit to snapping a few selfies over the years, my personal focus is on capturing the beauty of things around me.

Now that I am always armed with a camera, er iPhone. I often wish I could carry a tripod as well; allowing for smoother, less grainy shots. I also wish at times, there was an easier way to shoot some of the photos I take, especially when shooting macros. Setting those shots up can be a real chore, and you best not move that camera while you take your best shot.

Enter EmoFix.

So now that I finally mentioned the product, what the heck is EmoFix?

Simply put, EmoFix is a small Bluetooth device, that essentially is a remote control for your smartphones camera. You click the button on your EmoFix, and your smartphone’s shutter fires. Whoa. Oh, and it also can trigger the shutter while in video mode as well! It’s simple, not super glamorous, but it works, and very well I might add. By the way, you can grab one on their Indiegogo Campaign: EmoFix: The Selfie Lover’s Best Friend.

I received a couple EmoFix prototype devices, for testing and for my EmoFix Giveaway! I have played with EmoFix for awhile now, and I am very impressed.

Here are some of the things I love about EmoFix:

EmoFix is small, but very well built. I ran over it with my Jeep!
EmoFix pairs easily with Androids and iOS devices, via Bluetooth.
EmoFix can be paired with many devices. You can restart it (hold button for 15-20 seconds) and pair it again with new devices.
It doesn’t require the installation of any app.
It works with your native camera apps.
Very long battery life.
Fits on a keychain, or a carabiner.
Water resistant. It indeed worked, I tested it while in the shower 😉
In camera mode EmoFix always fires, flawlessly. Depending on the app, see below…

Dimensions:
(Taken with my calipers, and Jewelers scale)

Width: 40.39mm
Height: 41.11mm
Thickness: 4.62mm
Weight: 17.2 grams

Things I had trouble with:

It doesn’t work in some camera apps. See list of apps I tested it in below….
When I tried using it in an app it didn’t work in, it was trying to actuate the volume control.
I had issues pairing with multiple devices on one of the test devices. Although the second device I tested worked flawlessly.

Apps I tested EmoFix with:

Native iPhone camera, both Photos and Video worked well.
Camera+ Photos worked great.
BigCamera, worked.
Simply HDR, worked.
Dramatic HDR, worked.
HDR Fusion, worked.
Instagram Camera, EmoFix didn’t work, it tried actuating volume.
iMotion, didn’t work.
TimeLapse, didn’t work.
Hyperlapse, didn’t work.
ProHDR, didn’t work.
iCameraHDR, didn’t work.

Where you can get EmoFix:

You can enter to win a working prototype in my EmoFix Giveaway!
They are currently running an Indiegogo Campaign: EmoFix: The Selfie Lover’s Best Friend
You can grab one through Indiegogo for $19, otherwise they will be $29 when released publicly.
Learn more at EmoFix

Final Thoughts:

I think if you love taking selfies, of yourself and friends. The EmoFix is for you. It’s unobtrusive and doesn’t violate airspace laws like a selfie stick. ;-P

If you are like me, and wish there was a way to remotely trigger your smartphone’s camera. This is for you. Sure, we don’t ‘need’ it, it’s not a ‘must have’, but I tell you what, It will make my life easier in approximately 30-40% of the types of shots I take. For $19 it’s a great buy in my book.

Full disclosure: I received this prototype, directly from the manufacturer, for testing, evaluation and review. I pride myself on being as thorough as I can in my unbiased reviews. The fact I recieved this for free has no bearing on my review. That being said, thank you EmoFix for providing this prototype for testing.

Matt

Matt is a Systems Development Director for a multinational franchise. Matt has lived and worked in Hawaii, Chicago, South Florida and currently resides outside of Atlanta. He enjoys his hobbies including Technology, Gadgets/EDC, Fountain Pens, Wetshaving, Clocks, Antiques & Coffee. He even roasts his own coffee weekly.

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To continue last weeks post about Rackspace Email. I decided today would be a good time to explain the nuances of IMAP and POP3. I will try and keep this as low-tech as I can. I wont define the protocols, as there is enough written about it on the web. I will explain it simply.

First, let’s set the stage. Imagine if you will that email is stored up the sky or cloud. We will pretend that all mail resides up there until you ask for it – by hitting send/receive.

Ok, now let’s knock out the older POP3 protocol.

Every time you check for email… Imagine a trapdoor in the sky opening up, and physically dumping all your emails into your computer or device. Since we are opening a door, its dropping into the machine… it means it is no longer up in the sky/cloud.

Now lets take the newer and much cooler IMAP protocol.

Every time you hit send/receive… Imagine a window shade opening, instead of having to physically download a piece of mail. The computer looks inside to see whats there. The mail is always and forever in the cloud. Your computer/device basically makes a copy of the messages and shows them in your email client. Next time it does a send and receive, it incrementally updates itself to show the new messages.

Why I like IMAP much better:

In todays world, we are not tied to one computer or device. We have cellphones, smartphones, iphones, ipods, ipads, tablets, laptops, netbooks and desktops. Often we have multiples of these devices. In this seemingly every growing connected world we live in, we want – no – we expect to be able to access mail on all our devices.

If we were to setup POP3 on each device, they would fight for the physical piece of mail. Devices would constantly struggle to keep in sync. Fighting over the one message. Maybe it ends up on your phone. Then later you check your PC, and its not in your desktops email client (remember it’s on your phone). Give up trying so hard to keep this in sync. Use IMAP.

In my life I check email on my iPhone, iPad, Laptop and iMac. Sometimes I also check via the web. Since all of my devices are setup using the IMAP protocol. Everything is ALWAYS in sync, without the need of jumping through insane hoops. It just works.

Two caveats that I like to mention in helping with IMAP.

1. If you do something to an email message on a device, it will replicate that “something” on the other devices. For example… If you delete the message on your phone. The message really deletes on all devices – as well as the server. If you file the message in a folder called “vendors” on your desktop, it will move to that same folder an all other devices.

2. Each time your device does a send and receive, it is indexing what is on the server and syncing changes. I find it helpful to keep your inbox clean. Meaning keep a minimal amount of messages in there at a time. Once you are done, file it, delete it, whatever.

If you are the type that likes to keep 20,000 emails in your inbox. You are asking for trouble. Remember each of those devices has to count and sync all those messages a great many times a day. My email client checks every two or three minutes. Imagine if it had to count to 20,000 each time it checked for mail, and file/delete/move/sync as needed. That can cause hiccups.

Hope that demystifies POP3 and IMAP.

Matt

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