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Cars

Jawbone UP and UP24 Product Reviews

Jawbone UP and UP24 product reviews. I had the UP24 for less then 24-hour. The main reason for this, UP24 has a Bluetooth system to connect with your iPhone through a wireless connection. However, the Bluetooth does emit electromagnetic radiation, even though the UP24 has a very low voltage model Bluetooth. This situation freaked me out and I decided to replace with the old version, UP.

In case you wonder, Bluetooth in UP24 cannot be turned off. So it is on all the time, that’s why I didn’t wish to use UP24. Also, I reported this situation to Jawbone and they stated to take this into consideration.

What about Jawbone UP? It shows your sleeping habits, how long you slept, how far you walked everyday. There are more functions that I haven’t used them. I am more interested on its sleeping features. And smart waking up feature, which detects the right time to wake you up. Especially, at the light sleep stage so you won’t feel sleepy all day like waking up at the deep sleep stage. UP also calculates the optimum power nap time for you based on your sleeping habits. Also, you can follow a diet with the UP. If you are planning to lose some weight.

Basically, Jawbone UP is an on-board computer of your body and if you are wondering what I am doing all day, it is a very useful gadget. The IOS app works really well and very easy to operate, so you won’t struggle with any problems.

iPhone has the same hardware to offer the same features but it is not recommended to sleep with an iPhone and using additional app on your iPhone’s background will reduce your battery life even more.

For the Bluetooth issue, I assume Jawbone will release a firmware upgrade and you will be able to turn off the Bluetooth whenever you wish. Because, this is quite easy to operate through the control button.

Lastly, both Jawbone UP and UP24 are very stylish wearable gadgets!  Don’t forget to choose the colour wisely :)

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Lifestyle

Editing RAW Photos on A USB | Kingston DTM30 16GB

Editing RAW photos on a USB drive! Yes, I did it with Kingston DTM30 16GB! Sounds a bit crazy but I have an Apple MacBook Pro Retina with 128 GB SSD hard-drive and I had to edit huge amount of RAW photos. If I upload them to my hard-drive, I would lose lots of space and, I risked editing them through a USB drive. 
The result? It worked perfectly. I never thought that a USB drive would be capable of achieving this performance for editing RAW photos. Because, each of these RAW photos were around 23 MB and the performance of the Kingston was really good! 
Kingston DTM30 was designed for USB 3.0 and this provides 70 MB/sec reading and 10MB/sec writing speeds. So, the performance of this tiny USB drive was amazing! In case you need to edit RAW photos, you can rely on Kingston DTM30 but with a USB 3.0 port.

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Fashion

Givenchy Gentlemen Only Intense

Givenchy Gentlemen Only Intense is an amazing fragrance. I never thought that the Intense word was not a marketing trick, it is really intense. You wear the scent for a very long time and I did not experience something like this before.

Most of the fragrance with intense word ends up with nothing. However, Givenchy Gentlemen Only Intense is a different planet. I thought it was a pure perfume! If you are planning to buy a new fragrance for a vivid and long lasting scent, try the Gentleman Only Intense! You won’t regret it.

 
Photos Credits
Givenchy
Categories
Fashion

Latest Fragrance from Fendi | Fan Di Fendi

Fan Di is the lates fragrance from the Fendi for men. I have recently had chance to try it and I can one thing, it is amazing. I wish that there is a mobile app that you can experience the scent but not possible at the moment. 
One of the first thing I liked at Fan Di Fendi was the design of the bottle. It features an invisible spray pipe and I did everything to take a photo of it but it was impossible. When you have a look at the bottle of Fan Di Fendi, you see nothing else than eau du Toilette in the colour of the Sun. And also, the bottle looks like a building thanks to its design. From the front, it is as elegant as a contemporary building. Just imagine the bottle like a building, it could be the head office of the Fendi. 
I know this has nothing to do with the experience of the scent but it is important to see experience this type of details with a fragrance. For my point of view, the bottle, the pump and the packaging of the fragrance is a part of the experience.
Anyway, how it smells? The first note of the scent is tangerine from Sicily, it is followed by bergamot from Calabria and basil. Rose hips and cardamom are followed by. Geranium is harmonised with cedar from Texas. And the base note comes from leather accord, tonka and drop of chic patchouli.
I highly recommend you to try the Fan Di Fendi!

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Cars

Pong Research Rugged Gold-Plate iPhone Case

Pong Research is well-known for the mobile cases that are designed to reduce the radiation and increase signal strength. And recently, I had chance to try the latest design of Pong Case, Gold-plated Rugged iPhone cases. You didn’t read wrong, there is a gold-plate placed inside the case to increase the reception and reduce the radiation generate by the mobile phone.

Like previous designed of Pong Case, you definitely benefit from the case, however this time, rugged case also protects your mobile phone from any damage. If you are planning to use your iPhone to throw concrete floors or walls. You should definitely get this case, not only increase the reception but also, keeps your iPhone in one piece.

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Lifestyle

How to Transfer Photos from DSLR to a Smart phone? Kingston MobileLite Wireless

How to transfer photos from DSLR to a smart phone to post at Instagram. This is the most important problem of social media. Why? Very simple, iPhone and other phones do not have a very good camera and everyone wants to have a higher quality photos on Instagram and other social media platforms. There is way to do it with iPad, you buy the memory card reader but it does not work with iPhone.
Kingston MobileLite Wireless has the solution. Kingston is well known for USB memory sticks but they are in a very business now! Wireless file transfer and mobile charger. MobileLite offers these features seamlessly. You can easily upload your photos from a DSLR camera through the wireless internet and you can charge your mobile phone. 
I found this device very useful. You don’t need to find a computer to transfer photos from the DSLR to iPhone. With MobileLite, you take a photo with a DSLR and upload to iPhone/Android and directly to Instagram!
And also, you can upload the content from your USB memory to your iPhone or Android devices. Hopefully there is an invisible bridge between the USB memory and your smart phone.

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Lifestyle

New Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens for iPhone 5 and 5S Review

New Olloclip 4-in-1 lens for iPhone 5 and 5S is new gadget. You may remember that, I already wrote about Olloclip during the summer, however that was 3-in-1 lens. This time, Olloclip adds an extra macro and this new lens enables to take photos at a very close range. Also, the wide-angle lens is improved. Now you have better photo quality with the wide-angle. As usual, you will have fish-eye lens with Olloclip 4-in-1. If you know how to use fish-eye lens, you will create great photos.

Definitely, Olloclip improve the quality of iPhone photos and in many cases you don’t need to carry an extra digital camera for wide-angle.

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Lifestyle

Product Review: New Apple iPad Mini Retina | Does It Worth to Buy?

New Apple iPad Mini Retina. Does it really worth to buy? Definitely, Yes! I wasn’t a fan of iPad Mini since the beginning, I was thinking the full size iPad would be the best experience but I was wrong. First of all, before iPad Air, iPads were heavy and not that small to fit everywhere. That’s why many people including me, started to use their iPads less and less. The weight of device was the major issue and it wasn’t smaller than a laptop. So, larger screen mobile phones and ultrabooks or Macbook Air started to replace the unique place of iPads. 
However, the new iPad Mini Retina changed everything. It offers the same level of pixel-per-inch level with iPhone 5S, 326 ppi! The screen of the iPad Mini Retina is very sharp, you can see every single detail so easily. Also, Mini Retina is way lighter than a full size iPad, only 330gr! And this makes it easier to carry around everywhere and you don’t need to sacrifice a huge space for the device.
The performance of the iPad Mini Retina is at the same level with iPad Air. The same processor, same graphics performance, the same amount of RAM. So, this makes the Mini Retina a very good alternative. Also, you can read newspapers, magazines, website without any problem. The Retina display gives you a very clear image.
If you wish to have a fresh start with iPad, Mini Retina should be the best option.

Categories
Lifestyle

olloclip Lens for iPhone | Product Review

olloclip lens solutions for iPhone. Sounds a bit interesting, you might be thinking iPhone camera has a lens so why I should buy another lens. Because, iPhone does not have a wide angle, fish eye and macro lens. And it is impossible to have them in a mobile camera. That’s why olloclip lenses take the action. Olloclip offers three types of lenses for the iPhone; wide angle, fish eye and macro. And they are engineered in a way that, you don’t have to carry then separate and avoid the risk of losing them.

Unfortunately, iPhone does not provide an adequate wide angle and it can be a problem some time. Especially, if you are taking the photos of cars or anything that is wide, you either need to walk away from the object or sacrifice the cropped out object. However, when you start using olloclip wide-angle lens, you don’t need to sacrifice any cropping or move further away from the object. You place the lens and take the photo, it is that simple. And the results are so good that, in many cases you will not use your digital camera to take photos.

Fish-eye is the second lens of the olloclip. Its function is very simple, it is fish eye. However, fish-eye always have some issues, regardless of what lens or camera you are using. You need to know where to use it. Otherwise the result will be really bad and you may blame this to lens or the camera. However, the fish-eye lens needs experience. You should see the picture and try to understand if fish-eye is suitable or not. And if it suitable, no one will ever understand that it is take with a fish-eye lens. The results from the olloclip fish-eye lens was fantastic and no one ever realised that it was taken with a fish-eye lens.

The last lens of the olloclip is the macro lens. Yes, iPhone has a macro function but it is limited. By screwing off the wide angle lens from the olloclip, you have the macro lens. And the results were amazing! Many people thought that, I used a DSLR to take those photos but I was only using an iPhone 5 and olloclip macro lens. The details on photos increased very dramatically and you will be shocked from the results.

Overall, the olloclip lens for iPhone is a perfect solution to improve the quality of the photos taken by the iPhone. Inside the package will have a dust case for the lens and it is very easy to carry with you. Moreover, the lens was engineering so precisely that, it is very easy to place to iPhone. I am very happy with the lens and took more than 400 photos with these lenses.

I took the photos in Birmingham, UK. The Cube, University of Birmingham, Bullring Shopping Centre and new Library of Birmingham.

Categories
Cars

New Mercedes ML 350 CDI Test Drive: The Stealth SUV

New Mercedes ML or M-Class the stealth SUV. I still don’t know why Mercedes calls M-Class instead of ML. Anyway let’s go back to subject, Mercedes ML always had a special place for me. I still remember the first day I saw the ML on a magazine in 1997. Mercedes ML was something out of this world! There was no other vehicle, which looks sportive and agile and capable of off road driving  like ML. Literally, Mercedes ML created the SUV segment. Before that, there was no vehicle called as an SUV!

Unfortunately, my emotions towards the ML changed during the years. In 2005, Mercedes revealed the second generation ML with more technology and higher quality in details and with a but. In terms of technology, it was better but in terms of design it was the icon for the boring Mercedes. I never felt anything about the second generation ML produced between 2005 and 2011. That ML was a good car and that was all. The design was not provocative!

Today we have the new Mercedes ML. It is a car where you can experience a very bold and strong front and definitely unattractive rear end with not very proportional rear wheel arches, which make the wheels look very tiny. When I saw the new Mercedes ML, I always felt confused. One end is very attractive like the first generation but on the other hand, the rear end was definitely the opposite. Thus, I was between love and hate condition.

Last week, I had opportunity to drive a brand new Mercedes ML 350 CDI thanks to Mercedes Benz Turk. I was excited to drive it, because it was my one of the favourite car in Mercedes range in 1990s.

Mercedes ML 350 is powered by a 3-lt turbo diesel engine with 255 HP and 619 Nm of torque. The engine is coupled with 7G-Tronic automatic transmission and capable of reaching 100 km/h in 7,4 seconds with the top speed of 224 km/h. And you will create 179 g/km CO2.

Anyway let’s skip the boring stuff and jump to test drive or living with Mercedes ML for 24 hours. I had the new Mercedes ML for 24 hours in Istanbul. Istanbul is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with a very bad reputation of traffic! Unfortunately, there are too many cars and this does not make the driving that motivating or easy or fun at all.

My journey started with the stop and go traffic. Unfortunately I did not have the Distronic Plus (radar guided cruise control with full breaking function) system, so the stop and go traffic was a bit painful. My first advice is, definitely order the Distronic Plus when you buy a ML. After the fun of stop and go for more than an hour, I had the best experience for an SUV, parking!

New ML is a bit large vehicle, 4,8 metres! And large vehicle means, harder to park. However, new ML does not feel like a large or huge vehicle, it is really nimble for its size and agile. Thus, ML is quite easy to park but still it is 4,8 metres. Try not to park into smaller spaces!

After the parking experience, I had the rush hour traffic with very high tempo. And I had chance to experience stop and go ECO mode. Basically, ML stops the engine whilst you wait in red light or traffic and runs the engine as soon as you lift off from the break pedal. Eighty-percentage of the time, the ECO stop and go system work brilliantly and very few times it was annoying. However, this does happen with every brand, not a problem of Mercedes. Moreover, you have chance to disengage the ECO mode by pressing a button on the dashboard. But I don’t recommend to turn off, because this system save fuel!

During the trying traffic I did not feel that tired. Thanks to sitting position and easy to see further distance than a family sedan, I had quite good time with the ML. Also, connecting my iPhone to ML’s entertainment system was a very big plus! Don’t worry Bluetooth system does delivery very good sound quality and very easy to operate the phone from the steering wheel. And if you want to charge your iPhone, you need to buy the Mercedes’s iPhone cable!

As I started to talk about the iPhone, I cannot ignore the clear and sharp quality of the navigation screen. It was very clear and easy to see the screen, also very easy to operate. I used the navigation system during my all journeys and never let me down. Also, you can operate it quite easily. However, I felt the lack of Google Maps and Google search service. I wish that Mercedes offered this technology.

Interior quality of the new ML is really good. Despite the same steering wheel, air condition controls and navigation screen with other models, I did not feel any problem with ergonomic and controls were very easy to operate. The extensive leather covered whole central console hindered the adverse conditions of steering wheel and buttons. ML offers Bentley style leather extension from window to foot well. And this does look fantastic, you should order this option as well. I really don’t like to see plastic parts in the upper and lower parts of the central console and leather extension covers all those areas.

Boots space is really big enough for anything, I don’t think you will struggle to fit your luggage or shopping bags. Rear seats do also offer more than enough legroom and headroom. The driving experience is improved with the AirMatic suspensions, which you can manipulate from sport to comfort and revise the handling and comfort level at any time. However, you still have feeling of higher central gravity like in any other SUV.

Another good thing with the ML was the hill descent control or DSR system. I used DSR system while parking under the shopping centres with step entrance. I set the down hill speed to 18 km/h and it quite fun. Unfortunately, new ML does not offer rear-locking differential and we all know that we will not use ML in any condition to demand rear-locking differential system. So don’t worry!

And lastly, Mercedes ML is a stealth luxury SUV. No one notices the ML and you don’t see people looking at you all the time. I think new ML is a very good undercover vehicle. You have the luxury, comfort, performance and no one notices you!

In general, new Mercedes ML does look good, drives very well and engaging for a Mercedes. I cannot say it is like a BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne but you will not miss those vehicles with ML. Interior quality is way improved, there are lots of safety and helpful systems (buy them, they all worth the money), ride is excellent, driving experience is not tiring at all. Mercedes really did a very good job with the new ML, it does worth a test drive. Don’t skip it.