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2013 Top 5 Android Phones for Christmas Gift

November 7, 2024 Tech Review
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2013 Christmas will come in less than two months, but many people have already had the bother of buying Christmas gifts. In my opinion, buying a cell phone will be an exciting thing that many people eagerly await. You may find a mobile phone listed on your friend or family’s wish list.

However, with a wide variety of mobile phones available on the market, most people would be dazzled and find it tough to pick a good one. Of so many devices, Android phone has grown to the version 4.1 Jelly Bean, which features a better camera, a more powerful processor and much more memory, making Android mobile phone an ideal choice in every way. So, which Android phone will you buy as 2013 Christmas gift? Have no idea yet? Why not take a look at our selections of the Top 5 Android Phones for Christmas Gift below.

1. Samsung Galaxy S4

The Galaxy S4 is way ahead of the S3 with almost the same size. It is a great phone with outstanding hardware such as plastic body, replaceable battery and memory slot as well as the great performance. At £500 it’s far from cheap, but those who like it love it.

2. Sony Xperia Z1

It looks very much like its predecessor Xperia Z but there are some noteworthy changes. It is a little bigger and heavier but nicer. It has a decent 2 GB of RAM but has a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. It’s a quad-core processor with an impressive clock speed of 2.2 GHz, the highest we’ve seen on a smart phone to date. It comes with a high price tag of around £599, making it probably one of the most expensive cell phones as of the end of this year.

3. HTC One mini

The 4.3 inch display screen HTC One mini is little shorter than the HTC One, making it more suitable for the users who would like to smaller screen (like iPhones) It has got same awesome hardware including sleek aluminum body and details in design. It is tagged at about £379, although it is not as good as HTC One, it is still considered to be a good handset at a decent price.

4. Motor X

It was released in the mid-2013. As the first Mobile phones built in the US, users are allowed to do many customizations. Its key features are as below:

1. Jelly Bean (Android 4.2.2)
2. Motorola X8 computing system, consisting of a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dual-core clocked at 1.7GHz, a quad-core Adreno 320 GPU, and two low-power processors, one that is used for natural language and the other for contextual computing
3. 4.7-inch AMOLED HD 720p display
4. 10MP rear camera, 2MP front camera
5. 16/32GB internal storage
6. Wireless charging

Motor X

5. LG G2

As LG’s flagship smartphone, the LG G2 offers many high-end features which cannot be seem on most other devices. The impressive design, real-world performance and stunning handy software features makes it a must-have device. Currently, it is priced at about £400, which is considerably cheaper than most of the top-end rivals.

4 Best RSS Reader for Your iPad

October 17, 2024 Tech Review
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Before starting our topic, let me ask you a question: What is RSS feeds? You know, in the past years when mobile technology was backward, we mainly got news from newspapers, magazines, and television. Obviously, there was inadequacy: limited sources, a delay between the event and coverage, for example, you could not read the firsthand news but had to wait one day after in the case of newspapers. But now, the story has a happy ending thanks to the RSS Feeds which brings various updated news, information or data straightly to your desktop or portable smart phone devices like iPad. With an RSS account, you can enjoy your own real-time, personalized news feed. In order to properly read the feed, an RSS reader is needed. Again, here comes another question: what are the good RSS readers for iPad?

Here, we are specially listing 4 best iPad RSS reader apps for your easy reference. Each of them has got distinct functionalities. Kindly read the below details.

1.The Feed.

The Feed is loved by lots of iPad users thanks to its stunning features—simple UI with basic and high end options, making it extremely easy for you to start the feeds, tailor news on your iPad or share with friends. Besides, you can also see the contents that your friends shared with you. However, there is sap: no social network integration is available. To sum up, The Feed is an good choice for the users who just want to keep up with their feeds on the go.

1.Feeddler RSS Reader for iPad

If you are a Google Reader fan, I think this app will be your best choice. Why? It syncs with your Google account, so that you can get the feeds from there easily. It also contains some Google Reader extras, for example, sharing and adding stars. Remarkably, you are able to share the feeds on Facebook directly, but unluckily, you cannot share them on Twitter, if you really need to, you can share your article via emails.

3.Flipboard.

Flipboard is a pure eye-candy app which is best suitable for those who emphases on the user interface a lot. It allows you to follow the blogs and websites that you love. You can pull stories from those sites as well as the accounts you follow on Twitter for sure. Besides, you can share articles with friends/followers on SNS circles (Facebook and Twitter only) or by emails. As great as it is, this app also has got the drawbacks. For example, the syncing is not available, that means, you have to add the feeds manually. Besides, on the Facebook/Twitter, you will not get the whole post but the excerpt or first few paragraphs of an article on the app. If you want to get the whole story, you need to open it on the Safari web browser.

4.Read Square.

Like Flipboard, the Read Square allows you to read the automatically updated RSS feeds from your Google Reader account. You can also add your Twitter and Facebook accounts to follow articles shared by people you follow and by friends. The social integration is available, enabling you to share stories on Twitter and via email. The only fly in the omit of this app is that, it takes you quite a while to fully load the articles and various sources. So, you need to be more patient. Regardless its weakness, the Read Square is somehow worth trying and you will get a different experience using it.

So, which app do you think suits you the best? Get your favorite iPad RSS reader from the App Store and start your RSS feeds reading journey freely.

What will the 3D Future be like?

September 17, 2024 Tech Review
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How is it like when watching a 3D movie in the cinema? It is probably like this: a bunch of people sitting in the cinema, wearing special glasses with the sound of “ooh” or “Wow” rising around. It seems that lots of audiences enjoy this kind of feeling very much.

I bet many people are very impressive with the awesome “Avatar”. It is said that it brought fourth wave of mainstream success for 3D. As the supply demand relations implies, the people’s fondness for 3D movies stimulated the fast development of 3D film business. Since then, more and more film companies are jumped on the 3D bandwagon. Does that mean 3D movies will have a prospective future? Well, differed people have different point of views. For those 3D fans, they firmly believe that 3D will have its day in the future. While on the other hand, some people may find it a faint hope. Reasons could be too expensive ticket, tiresome 3D glasses, senseless trick, etc. It’s fine. I understand if people genuinely don’t like something, they can easily find reasons to justify.

Like it or not, 3D is right here to stay. Actually, I’m not a real 3D fan, but still, I believe in the future of 3D movies. There are three reasons to back me up.

1. The number of 3D movies increases every year.

According to the forecast of International 3D Society, over 40 3D movies will be released in 2013, nearly ten times of 2005 when 3D movie was first blown up on screens.

2. More and more 3D screen installments are available in theaters.

Begin with 2005, the number of 3D screen installed in the U.S was only 98, after the releasing of Avatar, the figure surged to around 16,000 in 2010, making up 16 times of 2005! Besides, the 38 movies in 3D also witnessed a great leap from 16,000 to 43,000 in 2012.

3. 3D movies are making big money.

When comes to money or profit, I think there is nothing more persuasive than the figures. It is true that 3D movies released in the earlier years did not make much profit a variety of reasons. However, this is not the case since the near few years. For example, in 2010, the global 3D box office has tripled with $3.9 billion profit. 2012 was the Golden Day for 3D movies, of the 15 top-grossing movies, there were 9 movies shot in 3D, making up to $10.8 million revenue.

4. Many 3D TVs and 3D Related Products are on the way.

Where there is demand, there is market. With the steady development of 3D technology, more and more 3D products like 3D TVs and 3D Blu-ray Discs are coming up to meet with the demand. Actually, some surveys done on 3D TVs showed that many people found it worthy and useful to own a 3D TV. After all, lying lazily in the sofa and watching a 3D movie at home is a kind of comfortable viewing experience. Apparently, the 3D TV business will avoidably interact with 3D film companies or websites. What will the competition be like, only time can tell.

Regardless how many people dislike 3D movie, it is right here and blooming with great prospect. However, it is still early to call it a “victory”. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Playing Games on a PC or A Game Console

September 12, 2024 Tech Review
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Looking back to the days when technology was in the innocent age, people had very few entertainment options, which were mainly listening to the radio or watching TV shows. However, a new happy story began. The fast-developing technology is now improving our lives greatly, like the way we play. People are no longer attached to the radio or television, instead, they can do many things , say playing games for fun.

To play games, we have two main choices—on a PC or a game console. Different strokes for different folks. Some people like the PC gaming while others find console gaming more attractive. True! Both of them have got the pros and cons. For my part, I will vote for the game console. Basically, there are three reasons to argue for my point.

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1. The playability of a game console shines that of a PC. As a professional game paying gadget, it is quite easy to play what you want—load the games and play it. There is nothing to worry about except that you need to figure out if there are any updates for the game. However, this is not the case for computer gaming—definitely not a plug-and-play thing. You have to take the computer hardware into account—whether it is powerful to run the game or not? After all, a smooth game playing requires good hardware specifications featured on the computer. Even if it’s good enough to run the game, there are things you need to bother with—download and install the game. What’s worse, installing a game on a PC can be risky since you will not know if it can be run smoothly before you actually have a try. Moreover, a PC is more vulnerable to viruses and other security breaches compared to a game console.

2. The experience of console gaming is quite different from that of a PC. To clarify my point, I will give you two options. 1. You are playing your favorite games sitting on a chair in a small room, with the tapping of a keyboard and clicking of a mouse reverberating round the room. 2. Lying on a couch or sofa, holding your nice game controller to enjoy the gaming process freely. Which one will you choose? Besides, game console allows multiple players playing, while you also won’t find many PC games that support two players on one machine at the same time.

3. It is cheaper to get a game console than a PC. Generally speaking, the price of game consoles is lower than that of a PC adequate for running the games. Although in the recent few years, PC has come down considerably in price, it is still more expensive than a game console. For example, the Xbox 360 comes with a price tag of about $200-$300 while a high-end gaming PC will cost you a thousand or even more. Tips on how to play YouTube video on Xbox 360. Some people may argue that, “I can do other more things with a PC, but not play games only.” yes, for those who prefers gaming, it is quite easy to find out the reasons to backup their points.

Last but not least, choosing which one is really a matter of personal preference. Be it a game console or PC, make sure that it suits all your needs the best.

HTML5 Overview

September 5, 2024 Tech Review
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As a buzzword in 2013, HTML5 is something worth paying great attention to. For many people especially the ones knowing little about web development, the concept of HTML5 might be a kind of confusing and not easy to understand. As the latest revision of the HTML standard, it is gaining more and more popularity. Seriously, what is HTML5? Why is it so important?

HTML5

It is necessary for us to know the basic meaning of HTML5. It is a markup language using semantic tags like video/audio, telling web browsers the correct way to interpret and display the content properly. Well, perhaps you are still at loss. By all means, HTML5 is the latest version of HTML. That’s it.

In 2011, Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) announced that HTML5 would become the official Web standard in 2014. Be it true or not, the undeniable fact is that HTML5 has been gaining wide popularity. Some well-known companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple have decided to support the TML5, which has great impact to the development of HTML5 and make it possible to bring positive effect to the web design field. Apple is dedicated to adding HTML5 support to its i-devices like iPhone, iPad, etc, (click to see how to convert Flash to HTML5). In the meanwhile, Google is busy promoting HTML5 as the designing technology for all future websites it designed. All signs show that HTML5 is ready to offer users a better web experience cross all devices—smartphones (iPhone, Android), computers, tablets as well as various websites.

The reasons for the popularity of HTML5 can be various. When asked why it is important, perhaps the following four reasons would make sense.

1.As the next version of HTML, HTML5 has acquired many unique features which cannot be found on the earlier versions, significantly revolutionizing the way websites are designed and the way users view the webs. The key futures include but not limited to: Canvas for Images, Application cache, Video elements, etc.

2. More and more popular web browsers support HTML5. Currently, there are some well-known web browsers support most of the features offered through HTML5, such as IE 9+, Opera 10.60+, Firefox 4+, Google Chrome 6+, Apple Safari 4+. Apparently, the number is still on the rise.

3. Many leading web companies are offer strong support to HTML5. As talked previously, Apple, Google, Microsoft and other known companies are declaring their strong support to the development of HTML5. Besides, on August 7, 2013, Amazon announced that its Appstore was able to support HTML5 Web apps without extract coding.

4. A growing number of users are using smartphones to access the web. According to Google’s latest study which was conducted in the US, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan, “Smartphone ownership has jumped globally – increasing 11% to 44% of the total population in Spain and by 7% to 38% of the total population in the US,” said Jason Spero, Head of Global Mobile for Google. “Smartphone owners are always using their device – in France, 90% use their mobile devices to access the web every day.” So, we can see clearly that the growing smartphone use for accessing the internet has great effect on the development of HTML5. Ironically, a majority of those mobile devices cannot support Adobe Flash although Flash is being widely adapted on more and more websites. Relative info of HTML5 vs Flash.

While there is some unavoidable debate and discussion about HTML5, lots of developers are quite confident in HTML5. Well, anyhow, we don’t have a crystal ball, what we can do is to wait patiently and see what it turns out to be. Your thoughts?

Top 5 Flash Games on Facebook

August 27, 2024 Tech Review
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Facebook, the global No. 1 Social Network Site(SNS), has won millions of users. They hang on Facebook on daily basis or occasionally—update profiles, chat with friends, listen to music, share photos, watch videos and many other things. Interestingly, they can also play various games. Yes, without any doubt, social gaming especially Flash game is on the rise. Many game developers are aiming at this giant application platform for big business. The following is a list of Top 5 Flash games on Facebook estimated by Inside Social Games. Please note that it is arranged in a random order.

1. Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Saga was first released in April, 2012 for Facebook. As of April, 2013, it has attracted about 46 million users every month with its quick gameplay, colorful graphics and hundreds of tasty levels. The basic move of the game is to swap the positions of two adjacent candies horizontally or vertically, so as to create sets of three or more candies of the same color and they will be eliminated. There are over 100 separated levels with specific requirements to complete. To sum up, it’s easy and fun to play, but a challenge to master fully.

2.Bubble Island

Bubble Island is great to play and have fun with. It has attracted an average of 7 million players on Facebook. The goal is to match three or as many colorful bubbles as possible within 60 seconds. There is a lovely Raccoon at your side to feed your bubble shooters. In this cute and addictive game, you can choose either the classic or challenge mode to have great fun. To win the game, you must improve the shooting speed and accuracy.

3.CastleVille

It was made by Zynga’s Dallas studio. Upon its releasing in November 2011, it has won a million “like” on Facebook. As of April, 2013, the number of CastleVille players on Facebook has reached up to 8 million, placing itself to be 2013 Top 5 Flash Games on Facebook. Players are allowed to build their lands with castle elements, craft armor, art and various trade items. Their target is to explore the unknown land around the starting territory and expand their own empires into it.

4.8 ball pool

It is an easy but funny sport game loved by many users. There are a total of 16 balls with 1 cue ball and another 15 balls in various colors. Your object is to break the balls by shooting the cue ball into the triangular formation of the other 15 balls. It goes like this: left click the cue stick, drag it while you are holding the left mouse button down to aim the location that you would like the cue ball to go to. Once you have chosen, release the left mouse button immediately. To get better at this game, you should pay great attention to the amount of power you use on the shots as well as the accuracy you aim at the goal.

5.Top Eleven

It is an on-line Flash game specially developed for Facebook and other Social Networking Sites. As of May, 2013, there are over 10 million monthly users on Facebook. Players can compete with their friends, buy&sell players on real-time auctions, expand & improve the stadiums and lots of other funny things. Just follow the rules and enjoy the time acting as the Football Manager!

5 Best Browsers Supporting Flash for iOS 6 Devices

August 22, 2024 Tech Review
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It has been quite a while since Apple rolled out the iOS 6-the sixth major update to the mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Many users couldn’t wait to get the latest update to try out the special experience. However, it didn’t take long for them to find frustrations, simply because they cannot do what they like freely, for example, watch some Flash SWF videos on websites. Sure, it’s a big problem to play SWF on iPad, or iPhone since the Adobe Flash Player has always been turn downed by Apple products.

Delightfully, there are some good browsers capable of supporting online Flash content, allowing iOS 6 users to view any Flash SWF materials without installing the Adobe Flash Player. Note: if you would like to share SWF videos on websites like YouTube, please find more tips on how to share SWF video on YouTube.

1.Skyfire

It was the original Flash video-enabled web browser for iPad. As the enhanced version of the native browser of Safari, it is powerful enough to help users watch living streaming videos which are not supported by Safari, such as live news, sports and more. Besides, it allows users to customize the browser with more than 50 of their favorite browser tools. With only one click, users can access to the web’s most popular social networks, content feeds and utilities such as Facebook and Twitter feed.

2.Photon

Photon browser is a powerful and versatile Safari alternative that excels in its Flash support. Supporting unlimited tabbed browsing just like Firefox and Chrome. It allows users to watch Flash videos, play Flash games or use Flash apps freely. Besides, clicking the “Lightning Bolt” button, users can enter streaming mode to view Flash sites.

3. Puffin

Puffin is a incredible fast web browser. It is the premium version of the Puffin family. Basing on a massive cloud data center, it can support Adobe Flash on iOS 6 devices well. Thanks to its wicked fast loading speed, users can get a wonderful web experience easily.

4.iSwifter

It is considered to be the first gaming browser for the iPad in the world. It allows users to play any Flash games on iOS 6 devices freely, be it Social casual, social mid-core or MMOs. Besides, it also helps users to find their desired games since it is powered by Agawi cloud gaming platform. Additionally, the updated version has got much faster loading speed and the audio quality has been improved greatly as well.

 

5. Browse2Go

It is a fast, powerful and DNS- free web browser being able to support Flash content on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It allows users to enjoy various videos, games and movies on the iOS Device. Users can also watch Flash videos in full screen mode. With its elegant design and many great features, users can get a very enjoyable watching experience.

Top 6 HTML5 Games

August 21, 2024 Tech Review
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It is said that HTML5 would ultimately outdo Flash and become the official Web standard in 2014. Be it true or not, it has attracted much attention of web designers. With a selection of fantastic advantages, it not only allows users to embed videos in browsers without any plug-in like Adobe Flash, but also has great impact on the gaming industry. Providing a great and mobile-friendly way, web designers can create many funny games by using HTML5′s tag. That is to say, all the games are created 100% in native web code. They can be natively played by the HTML5-compatible browsers such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome and Internet Explorer, etc. Here are six best HTML5 games that loved by many people. Hope you will find any one of them of interest.

1. Solitairey

This is a free game especially suits for those people who loves playing cards in the spare time. As the name implies, it is a single-player game. The point of the game is to start with seven piles of cards with different numbers in each and to get it down to four piles that go from king to ace by suite. Sounds very simple and interesting, right? Well, you will sure find much fun during the playing. Just remember: winning the game requires much patience.

2. Save the Day

Developed in 2012 by the HTML5 gaming platform Turbulenz, Save the Day is a delightful game that gives you much fun. Your mission is to save people, put out the fire by flying a helicopter in a limited time. There are some stunning features of the game which include infinite replayability, hearty high-score high-jinks, High-octane helicopter heroics and scrumptious snack-sized game play, etc.

3. Lux Ahoy

If you like playing the Angry Birds or Pirates, I am sure you will love this game as well. It is an Earth-style, turn-based combat game with all the graphics creating and animated in Flash and ported to HTML5, so that it can offer you impressive and interactive experiences. Your goal is to hit the enemies with a cannon ball whose power and angle are well controlled.

4. Cut the Rope

This is one of the most popular games favored by thousands of millions smart phone users. It was designed by a Russia game developer called ZeptoLab in 2010. A lovely little frog is packed in a mysterious package, and all you should do is to feed it with as many candies as possible. Once you have satisfied the cutie, you will get many gold stars and proceed to next level. It’s quite simple to get through the primary levels, however, it would be more and more difficult since there will be various obstacles to stop you. Good luck!

5. HexGL

It is an awesome WebGL based futuristic racing game. It can be played via an HTML5-supporting browser directly. You can choose the causal or hard mode and select your quality, be it mobile, mainstream, or ultra—whatever as you like. Just go and challenge your friends on this fast-paced wonderful game!

6. Fight or Flight

It is an very easy and cool game. You have got 4 lives totally and your goal is to try to avoid the pink dots. You can earn points for every second you stay alive. If you want to get more points, you can capture the smaller dots. There are two ways to play the game, one is to use your mouse and the other is the device orientation—one of the HTML5 new features. However, not every browser can support this new feature well.

Overview of 4K

August 1, 2024 Tech Review
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What is 4K

When we talk about HD video, many people will think about HD 720p, HD 1080p, 2K, this is partly correct. Acutually, with the rapid development of multi-media technology, we also have got 4K, which refers to the recording frame size (2048 or 4096 pixels horizontal resolution across). To most comsumers, 4K video provides them the unprecedented full-on visual experience.

Where to get 4K video

As far as we are concerned, 4K videos are available on several known websites and they can be captured by some digital camcorders.

1. Websites include: YouTube (you can watch 4K video online or download it to your computer), Vimeo ( 4K videos are mainly about art, animals, plants, landscape, etc) and Metacafe (the defect is that you need to spend time filtering the real 4K videos)

2. Digital camcorders: Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon and other and HD camcorders.

Ways to play 4K video

Generally speaking, there are two ways to appreciate the 4K vidoes. The first one is to enjoy it on a professional 4K video player such as Sony FMP-X1 priced at $699 and REDRAY 4K video player with a $1750 price tag, which however, are too expensive for most comsumers to affort. This fact prompts many people to choose the other way, downloading 4K videos from websites and watching on computers, mobile phones and other popualr portable devices.

Problem about 4K videos

Incompatibility issue is quite common in the video world, which is also true to the stunning 4K. As is often the case, we will be puzzled by the problems such as “Well, I can produce 4K video with my Sony camcorder but none of my Mac players can play or convert it freely.“, “Does anyone know of any software which can playback videos at 4k resolution?” and a bunch more.

How to playback or convert 4K videos on Mac freely

Different from 720p, 1080p videos, the playback or conversion of 4K video is in a higher standard, calling for a professional 4K Video Converter. Firecoresoft 4K Video Converter is exactly what we need. Featured with the most advanced technology, it is reliable and professional. It supports converting 4K videos whether downloaded or shot by camcorders with best possible output quality. After conversion, you can enjoy or edit 4K video on application and even transfer it to any popular media devices. Note that 4K Video Converter for Mac is also available.

A Quick Review on uNu DX Protective Battery Case for iPhone 5

July 8, 2024 Tech Review
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The peripheral products of iPhone battery is always enjoying a good sale due to the fact that the its built-in battery is of limited capacity and cannot be replaced. Months ago, the uNu DX Protective Battery Case for iPhone 5 was available on the market, which’s considered to be an update to that of the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S. Now, let’s have a quick review of this battery pack as below.


It is made of a hard plastic case which has got a bezel on the screen so as to protect it from a fall. The minimal of 15mm thickness allows the DX case to comfortably protect while still emanating the iPhones original design. There is a small headphone adapter for convenient use because the actual headphone jack is recessed in the case. Priced at US$79.99, this uNu DX Protective Battery Case for iPhone 5 is compatible with Lightning connector and sported a Micro USB which can be used as a charger for the mobile, which allows you to charge the phone while sync it with a cable without taking off the case. Besides, there is a LED attached at the back of the case to indicate you the battery level with different colors: green for fully charged, blue means battery below 70% while red alerts battery below 30%, moreover, when the battery drops below 5%, the LED will flash with red constantly. Amazingly, the uNu DX has got a superb large capacity up to 2300mAh (equals to an additional 10 hours talk time), much larger than most battery cases available on the market, say Mophie iPhone 5 case which has only 1500mAh. In addition, the uNu DX lasts around 20% longer than Mophie iPhone 5 case under similar usage conditions.

It is not difficult to install the uNu DX which comes into two pieces. Plug the iPhone into the bottom piece which engages the Lightning connector, after that, the top piece will slide on to accordingly. Many users will have a little complain because they will have to press the button at the back of the case for at least three seconds before activating the uNu DX battery case. Fail to do this, the iPhone battery will be used by default. Besides, it takes a while to charge the uNu DX fully, therefore, it would be better to get a charger prepared by your side in case that you have missed out on the evening charge.

To sum up, the stunning advantages of the uNu DX include: fancy look with sleek design, practical use with large capacity battery, easy to use installation. It is obviously a perfect extension of utility for your iPhone!

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