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Friday, June 13, 2014

Product review: Nomad ChargeCard and Nomad ChargeKey

Connect and charge your smartphone on the move

Mark Bridge writes:

What would you say to a tiny little device that enabled you to recharge your smartphone almost anywhere, whenever you wanted?

This is pretty much what a US-based company called Nomad is promising. In fact, they sent me two of their latest products to try.

But first, a quick look back at my personal mobile phone history. My Nokia 2110 delivered around 30 hours of standby time. The first Nokia smartphone - the 9000 Communicator - achieved something similar. An Ericsson r380 from 2000 (running dear old Symbian) managed something like 120 hours. Last year's HTC One, which is my current handset, has a 2300mAh battery delivering up to 500 hours of standby. But that's theory. Today, in real terms, it barely manages a day of average use. Don't blame the phone; blame the apps.

As a result, I've developed a strategy. If I'm going to be out for a while, I carry a spare battery with me. Well, technically it's a UTOO 'power bank' with a built-in micro USB cable, but it's just a clever battery as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I need to make sure the power pack is always charged for whenever I need it - which can be a problem if I'm out for a couple of days in a row.

So I carry a spare mains charger as well. This isn't as much of a challenge as it sounds: I have a folding Mu-brand plug and a USB cable. That plug is a beautiful piece of design; it's like a baby Transformer. As a result, the combination of plug and cable is almost pocket-sized. It would be genuinely pocket-sized if I didn't already have a battery in my pocket.

And so my heart skipped a beat when Nomad got in touch. Could I say 'goodbye' to my collection of accessories? A couple of days later, a cardboard envelope dropped through the letterbox.

Inside were two devices, each in packaging that's only a few millimetres thick. Here we go...

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I started with the Nomad ChargeCard. It's a microUSB cable in the shape of a credit card (8.1cm by 4.6cm by 3mm). Let me explain. On one corner of the card - which reminded me of some 'keyless' car keys - is a microUSB plug. Clipped into the centre of the card is a USB plug; one of those 'skeleton' plugs that has four gold teeth but no outer shell. You unclip the USB plug, which has a short flexible cable attached, and you're now able to charge your phone wherever there's a USB socket. Your PC, a friend's laptop, a game console, in the car... plenty of choices.

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The theory is great, although my combination of HTC One and old Dell XPS laptop didn't work particularly well. I couldn't charge the phone 'face up' without worrying that the orientation of the sockets on my laptop and phone could cause the card to act as a lever and break something. A longer cable would have helped - but that would also result in a less pocket-friendly product. Despite this, it’s still a remarkably tough and flexible product. I may just be a worrier.

I also felt the designers had missed a couple of tricks. Firstly, a hole in the corner would let you use the card as a key fob - or add it to your keyring. Yes, I know it's designed for pockets and wallets but what's wrong with multi-tasking? And on the subject of wallets, is there any chance future versions could have a little cap for the microUSB plug? Okay, I might lose it after a few days but it would stop me from worrying about the protruding plug damaging something.

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On to the Nomad ChargeKey. It's an even simpler design than the ChargeCard; a short (6.6mm end-to-end) flexible cable with a skeleton USB plug on one end, a microUSB plug on the other and a keyring loop near the microUSB plug. Add it to your keys and then forget it... until you need it, anyway. Has it made a hole in my trouser pocket? No. Have I needed to take care of it in any special way? No. Has it broken? No. Will it be staying on my keyring for the foreseeable future? Absolutely. I can even charge my phone from my laptop without removing the rest of the keys.

Although I've been testing the microUSB versions of Nomad's products, there are also versions that offer a Lightning connector for anyone with an Apple iPhone 5, 5c or 5s, as well as compatible iPads. The company is selling its products online via its own website at hellonomad.com for $29 and also via Amazon for £20.

The Nomad ChargeKey and ChargeCard aren't a permanent solution to the problem of smartphone battery life. That's something for manufacturers to solve. But they are certainly a practical alternative to carrying a mains charger, cable and spare battery around all the time. Anyway, what kind of person would do that?

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Author: The Fonecast
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1 comments on article "Product review: Nomad ChargeCard and Nomad ChargeKey"

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Mark

6/18/2014 5:10 PM

Nomad has redesigned the ChargeKey and ChargeCard: they're now the NomadKey and NomadCard. The card version no longer has the microUSB plug on the corner; instead it's on a second clip-out cable, which looks more practical and less worrying!

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Opinion Articles

Carnival of the Mobilists #234

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to TheFonecast.com for this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists, an itinerant online publication that contains the best mobile-focussed writing from the previous seven days.

The summer holidays may have reduced the quantity of online commentary for Carnival #234… but the quality remains unaffected.

Author: The Fonecast
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Everything you need to know about smart metering in the UK

In recent months there’s been a lot of talk about smart metering and the wider subject of machine-to-machine communications. With well over 100% penetration of mobile phones in the UK, the promise of machines exchanging information over the mobile network offers operators a new opportunity for growth.

To explain more about the technology and the potential, we invited Ross Catley to join us for this week’s edition of The Fonecast. Ross has worked in the utility & telecommunications industries and is now a consultant who advises on smart metering.

Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.

Author: The Fonecast
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Wholesale Application Community (WAC) – Mobile Networks Respond to Apple

James Rosewell writes:

Mobile network operators have responded en-masse to the success of Apple’s App Store. Apple should be very concerned. The Wholesale Application Community (WAC) has been formed as a corporate entity today with representation from AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, GSMA, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Smart Communications, SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp., Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, Verizon and Vodafone. Not many major Mobile Network Operators (MNO) are missing from the list.

Author: The Fonecast
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Apple's quarterly results: bloodbath or brilliance?

Mark Bridge writes:

They were a proud race. Proud of their individuality. Proud of the simple yet high-tech environment they inhabited.

But their population wasn’t growing as quickly as it had. They weren’t dying out – far from it, because they were committed to the cause – but there weren’t as many bright new faces as there’d been before. And now the Others were moving closer.

Yes, they’d done their best to resist the Others. They’d tried moving into new areas; not running away but expanding. It seemed to work. A new generation – a new race, some said – had been born. Different, yet the same. So why did they still feel as though the Others were getting dangerously close?

That’s not the opening of the worst science-fiction novel of all time. It’s the place where some people think Apple finds itself at the moment.

Author: The Fonecast
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Why Facebook is a friend of anonymity

Mark Bridge writes:

Mention 'anonymity' to anyone these days and it's pretty likely they'll start talking about Facebook. Maybe Google Street View, maybe RF chips in passports... but probably Facebook.

This 'over sharing' of personal information is a far cry from the situation a few years ago. Once, no-one on the internet really admitted who they were. That New Yorker cartoon - "Nobody knows you're a dog" - wasn't far off the truth. You couldn't tell a dungeonmaster from a librarian when they were online.

Author: The Fonecast
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