Philips DCM109/37 Cube Micro Music System Dock for iPod/iPhone

Just bought a Philips Cube DCM109/37, primarily to use with iPods and iPhones. I am no audiophile, but to my taste the sound coming out of these speakers is very satisfactory. Bass, high frequencies, clarity, volume - I am actually quite impressed. The iPod dock is a little bit strange. Instead of a bunch of inserts to match every model of iPods and iPhones ever made, this model has a little plastic piece that pushes on the iPod from behind as it sits on the cradle, keeping it in place. I'd say that it probably pushes too hard, so some unites may get scratched. I think I will end up using the auxiliary input most of the time, and only put my devices on the cradle when they are being used for a long time. In general, it seems like the iPod capability was very much an afterthought - the iPod component is slapped onto the back of the main unit. Not the best visual design in the world, but I will live with it. Philips Cube has a clock display, but the size of the digits is very small, so it is hardly useful as an clock (a very popular application of many iPod docking systems). The round LED display remains softly lit even when the unit is not on, so it may not be the best solution for the bedroom.

iPhone battery problem (and solution)

When my iPhone's battary totally died (partially because I wanted to run it down, as often recommend) I charged it to 100%. To my great surprise, only a few hours later, without much use, the battary was down to 65%! I charged it again, but it started to leak juice again. I keep all battary-intensive tasks at a minimum, but I checked and rechecked the setting several times. Nothing!

Here is how I solved the problem. I enabled airplane mode for just a few seconds. I charged the iPhone again. The problem dissspeared. The phone is holding the charge much better. Not being an Apple engender, I cannot explain all this. Maybe there is some process that was lingering in the memory. Anyway, from now in I just might switch to airplane mode every once in a while.

eBooks on iPhone: my ultimate (for now) solution

It took me several days to figure out just the right combination of ebook reading software on my iPhone. It seems that at the moment no app of this kind can perform all functions that I find absolutely necessary. Namely, I want to be able to read fb2 books and they must be very well organized on the device with multiple nesting folders. GoodReader (presently $1 at the app store) works very well with folders and handles PDFs using reflow technology. However, this reader does not support fb2 format. I also don't like the fact that when GoodReader opens zip files the resulting files are not stored in a temp folder, but instead show up in the same folder as the archive. UBooks is a free app that reads fb2, but it does not support nesting folders. But a very nice feature of this reader is the fact that it stores files in a folder seen by iPhone Explorer, which makes uploading files very easy. So, my combined solution right now is to load my digital library in zipped txt format into GoodReader using WiFi (works quite well, although a bit slow) and use UBooks for any additional books in fb2 format. And, of course, there is a Kindle app for newly purchased books.

There is also an app called ShortBook ($5) which looks very promising. It looks like it relies on internal info in fb2 files for its database, so the resulting list is quite manageable. But I don't like the way book pages are presented and the interface is a bit convoluted. I was going to give this app a try, but its free version kept crashing every time I attempted to change the font from the default Arial to Verdana. I guess I will wait until buying it.

Best place to shop for an iPhone case.

Best place to buy a case for an iPhone?

It does not matter how much you spent (and were willing to spend) on an iPhone. You still should not overpay for iPhone accessories. The best place to look at a wide assortment of cases is your local Apple store, but everything there is extremely overpriced. You may find what you like and then hit the web in order to find a better deal. But instead you can head to a discount store. I found a great selection of iPhone cases at FiveBelow. As the name indicates, no item at this store costs more than $5. Because iPhones are hugely popular (I believe about 10% of all cellphone market) there are heavy volumes of related merchandise. Sometimes cases are marked as if they only fit iPhone 3G, but 3Gs is no different! FiveBelow has iPhone cases in many colors and designs. And they also have screen protectors. If you know of a discount store other than FiveBelow, it may be worth checking out as well.

iPhone vs. iPod

It happened so that I had to upgrade a great deal of my electronics all at the same time -- needed a better phone service, my laptop nearly broke and my iPod's hard drive became too small to handle my file collection. After much going back and fourth I decided that there is simply no way for me not to have both a 160 gb iPod and an iPhone. Here are the reasons:

• Of course, the capacity. I envision having to constantly review the files on the iPhone in order to save space and be able to download something new.
• Battery concerns. iPod batteries last a long time and I suppose they have somewhat improved with years. However, my use of the iPod is very heavy every single day. My old one had to run on red quite often. Now, add to this running a phone service, WiFi and some apps. I do not want to end up without a phone all of a sudden because I listened to my iPod too much!
• With 160 gb I can count on having a very spacious external drive to transfer files. Without that I would have to buy another device anyway. Why not make iPod that extra device? I can enjoy it while carrying to files from place to place.
• Using two devices means that the load will be divided between them. Perhaps, breaking down will not be so likely?