SHARKK Apple iPad Mini Keyboard Bluetooth Case Cover Stand

This is a very nice keyboard and case in every respect except that it is difficult to take off.



This keyboard is not only a bluetooth keyboard it can also serve as a stand and a case. It keeps the tablet very firmly in both horizontal and vertical orientation. In fact so firmly that I have had trouble removing it from my iPad Mini, I had to take it to work where a male co-worker with strong fingers was able to remove it after a bit of a struggle. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I have failed in my attempts to remove the case, but figured I have to confess for an honest review.



Sharkk keyboard is 8" long and 5.5" wide. Alone the keyboard case weighs 9.1 oz. Together with the iPad Mini it weighs 1 lb 3.9 oz. Each keyboard key is 1/2" by 1/2" in size. The size of the keys is very comfortable, I did not feel I had to adjust my hand position much. Both the individual keys and the case are made out of hard plastic. The keyboard has nice feedback, I felt confident that I was making good contact.



This keyboard case fit both my iPad Mini and my Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet. These two tablets are almost identical in size so the case fit them both, but Galaxy did not snap in the same way iPad Mini did. I tried Galaxy first and was able to remove it. Then came the iPad Mini test and now they have become very attached to each other.



I have used several other blue tooth keyboards in the past and here are some of the major comparison points:

1. This keyboard has good balance between key size and comfortable typing

2. It has nice feedback and the accuracy of my typing was good

3. This keyboard has no back lighting, so I needed external light to use it in the dark

4. I encountered issues with removing the case



I found that I type much faster using this keyboard than on screen keyboard, especially when I have to mix letters and numbers in the text. Pairing is remembered from previous sessions even when I turn off the keyboard and the device.



I am attaching a video which shows pairing the keyboard and using it with iPad Mini. What is particularly nice is that some application do not display on screen keyboard, so you get the benefit of the entire screen containing the information without being covered by on screen keyboard. Some applications still display on screen keyboard even when the keyboard paired with the device, so it depends if the application developer anticipated bluetooth keyboard use or not.



I received the Sharkk keyboard for testing and review (be it positive or negative) from the manufacturer. I hope the video will help you set your expectations.



I liked everything about it except for trouble with removing the case. However the case fits is so nicely that the tablet feels like a super-duper netbook computer where the keyboard is part of the device, not just a tablet with a separate keyboard.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Food review: Gourmet salts from San Francisco Salt Company

I have to confess that I have not been aware of how many different flavors of gourmet salts existed prior to the offer from San Francisco Salt Company to review some of their gourmet salts. I was intrigued and agreed to review several samples. I received 5 samples and I was amazed by the variety of beautiful colors of these salts.



I decided that the best way to review them is to compare the five salt samples in appearance and flavor. I invited a friend to help me sample the salts, so we can both agree if we could tell the difference between different salts. They definitely looked different... but do they taste different? Here are the results of of our taste comparison. I am also attaching a video that I shot during our taste comparison, the numbers I am using below match the numbers in the video.



#1 Black Hawaiian Lava salt - smokey black in color,we thought it had the lightest (least salty) salt flavor of the 5 samples. This salt is harvested from pacific waters using traditional methods of solar evaporation, allowing the salt crystals to form with the much desired trace minerals intact. The salt obtains its coloring from activated coconut shell charcoal. San Francisco Salt Chef recommends it for use with desserts, and I can see why: it has a light salty flavor so it would work well for example with chocolates sprinkled with salt as I see in gourmet chocolate shops.



#2 Smoked Cherrywood Salt - rich brown in color. This salt has the strongest flavor, it was definitely very smokey. It is slightly saltier than Hawaiian, but not as salty as the other three salts that I tasted. Smoked Cherrywood Sea Salt is made with pure sea salt that has been slowly smoked above a Maine Cherrywood fire. The result is a smooth salty smokey flavor. San Francisco Salt Chef recommends recommends it for meat, poultry, and fish.



#3 Himalayan Salt - pretty pink in color and quite salty. The color does not add any flavor, just looks pretty. It could be use for any culinary use, but because it is so pretty I think using it as table salt in a shaker is how I plan to use it.



#4 Alaea Hawaiian Red Sea Salt - rich brick color, quite salty. This salt is harvested from pacific waters using traditional methods of solar evaporation, allowing the salt crystals to form with the much desired trace minerals intact. The salt is infused with Hawaiian volcanic clay called “alae", which gives it an extraordinary red color. The alae clay also adds nutritional value by providing a source of digestible dietary iron and other trace minerals. The color does not add any flavor, so it could work in any culinary use, but because the color is dramatic I think it would work best when you need to sprinkle it on something. It is widely used in Hawaii as a key seasoning for many of their native dishes including the kalua pig, poke, and Hawaiian jerky. This salt also goes well with pasta, stir-fry, poultry, eggs, seafood and grilled vegetables. It’s also used commonly for preserving.



#5 French Grey Salt - light grey color, the saltiest of the 5 salts I have sampled. French Grey Salt is formed as the sea water flows into the Guerande Marshes, in France, during high tides. The salt obtains its natural grey coloring from the salt crystallizing on clay. San Francisco Salt Company's French Grey Salt is 100% natural and carries the ‘Nature & Progrès’ certification label from France. It suits any culinary use. It is commonly used by French chefs... and who can argue with their results?



All San Francisco Salt Company salts are Kosher certified. Each of the salts is available in either coarse or fine grain. Each salt flavor came in a sealed sturdy plastic bags. The salts have a 10 year shelf live when they remained sealed in the original packaging. Once you open the package, each one has a zip lock closure so you can reseal the bag. These salts are top quality products.

Foind Hawaiian Black Lava Finishing Salt on Amazon





Find Sherpa Pink Gourmet salt on Amazon





Find Cherrywood Smoked Sea Salton Amazon





You can find Alaea Hawaiian Salt on Amazon by following this link

Find French Grey Sea Salt on Amazon







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Recycled Rubber Coasters

These coasters are 3.875" in diameter and 0.25" thick. Each coaster is pretty substantial, each weighs 1.7 oz. They are made of recycled rubber, one side has a printed design.  The coasters look rugged and sturdy (i.e. not pretty and dainty).  This is a masculine looking coaster if there is such a thing.  Since they are made out of rubber they are not slippery and make a really good coaster.



The coasters have a fairy strong rubber scent.  The scent might air out in a while, but in one week that I have had them the scent has not disappeared.



The coasters are made from 100% recycled rubber and they are made in the USA.  I received the coasters from the manufacturer who asked for an honest review be it positive or negative.



I am attaching a video of the coasters to give you a good idea what to expect.



You can find "Flox 'Moroccanometry in Orange' Rubber Coasters" on Amazon via this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Vibe Essentials iPad Mini Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard Case & Stand

Vibe Essentials keyboard is 8 1/8" wide and 5 1/2" deep and 3/8" high. It weighs 7.1 oz on my digital postal scale. Each key is 1/2" wide and 1/2" tall.  The keys have a comfortable size, I did not feel I had to adjust my hand position much. The individual keys are made out of hard plastic.  The keyboard tray is made out of aluminium. The keys have very good feedback, I felt confident that I was making good contact. The keyboard is good overall.  There is one small thing I don't like about it.  There is a raised latch near the space bar (see video) and I find that it got in my way when I hit the space bar. I wish the front was totally flat. I am able to work around it, but if it was not there I would have been happier.



I am using this keyboard with my two tablets, iPad Mini and Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet. These two tablets are almost identical in size and the keyboard's stand mechanism worked well with both tablets in both horizontal and vertical orientation.  In order to fit the stand, I had to remove the case from both tablets. The design is such that neither the skin nor the leather case would fit into the keyboard stand.  The keyboard can also be used as "case" cover for iPad Mini by snapping to the tablet (thus that little latch near the space bar).  I prefer a bit more cushioning providing by the leather case, so I don't think I will be using this particular aspect of the keyboard.  When I tried snapping the keyboard case to the tablet, it seemed to need a bit of force and I did not proceed any further as it did not go in easily.



I have used several other blue tooth keyboards and here are some of the major comparison points:

1. This keyboard has a very good balance between key size to typing comfort. It is small enough to be portable yet comfortable for typing

2. It has very good feedback which aided in good accuracy

3. This keyboard has no back lighting, so I needed external light to use it in the dark

4. The front of the key board is not flat, I felt the latch with my thumbs when I was hitting the space bar



I found that I type much faster using this keyboard than the on-screen keyboard, especially when I have to mix letters and numbers in the text. Pairing is remembered from previous sessions even when I turn off the keyboard and the device.



I am attaching a video which shows Vibe keyboard in use with both tablets.  What is particularly nice is that some application do not display on-screen keyboard, so you get the benefit of the entire screen containing the information without being covered by on screen keyboard. Some applications still display on screen keyboard even when the keyboard paired with the device, so it depends if the application developer anticipated bluetooth keyboard use or not.



I received Vibe Essentials  keyboard for testing and review (be it positive or negative) from the manufacturer. I hope the video will help get a better idea of what to expect from this keyboard.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Toddy Gear WIY-W03 Universal Wedge Stand and Screen Cleaning Cloth

As a stand for a phone or a tablet it is bulky and cannot be adjusted. It can hold a phone, although it does not provide it good stability like a rigid stand. It cannot be used with a tablet, the lip is slippery and too shallow to hold the weight of a tablet. Both my Galaxy 7.7 and iPad Mini just slipped out. Just about any other stand works better.



The bottom is microfiber cloth which was intended to be use for cleaning, but it is the part that rests on the surface and thus will pick up dirt and grit because microfiber grips dirt so well.  This is not what I want to apply to my screen.  It is also cumbersome to hold. Just about any other cleaning cloth works better.



The wedge is 3.5" tall, 5" wide. The sides are 5.5", 5.5" and 4" wide.  I am attaching a photo collage which shows the wedge on 1 inch gridded mat for size reference. 



I received a sample wedge from the manufacturer to share my experience with it whether positive or negative.



I try to be balanced in my reviews and try to include both positives and negatives.  I can say this item is well made, the stitching is even and did NOT have a bad smell (some cloth items pick up warehouse scent, but this is not the case here).  I cannot recommend it however, based on functionality either as a stand or as a cleaning cloth.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★☆☆☆

Bolse® 3.1A 15W Dual USB Port High Output Wall/Travel/AC Charger

I tested Bolse 3.1A 15W Dual USB Port Wall Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet (JellyBean 4.2.2), Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet (ICS 4.0.4), and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone (JellyBean 4.2.2), and iPad Mini.



I own several wall chargers and power bricks and run the same set on tests on each of them, so they can be compared to each other using "apples to apples" comparison. This set of tests allows me to provide unbiased results as the numbers speak for the performance of each unit. These comparison tests reveal that this charger does not work as well as other chargers I have tested, including other Bolse wall chargers. The charger works, but does not charge as fast as other chargers. I am giving it OK rating of 3 stars.



My methodology is to charge each mobile device on each port of the unit for 10 minutes and measuring how much each unit was charge in that 10 minute period. Each line in the table below represents a separate 10 minute test, 16 tests in total.



I use Battery App by Elvison to determine how each device recognized the charging source. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.



I am attaching a collage with 3 photos that to illustrate this review.  They show the charger during the test with various devices. In the photos can also see a close up of the charger itself. It is 2 3/5" long, 1 1/2" tall, and 1 1/4" wide. If you use it on the old fashioned power strips this charger would cover 2 slots. Bolse wall charger has re-tractable prongs which is very handy for travel.



The two ports of the charger are marked as 1.0A and 2.1A and this is how I will refer to them in the tables below.



The table below shows the results of my tests. The manufacture offers the identical USB chargers in two colors "white" and "black". I received both for testing and evaluation. I tested both and both chargers performed similarly. I am including the results for both chargers, as seeing consistency in results increases the likelihood that others chargers will behave in a similar way.



✔ Nexus 7 Tablet (black charger)

--------------

2.1A -- AC ............. -1% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- AC ............. 0% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ Nexus 7 Tablet (white charger)

--------------

2.1A -- AC ............. 0% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- AC ............. 0% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone (black charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- USB ............. 0% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- USB ............. 2% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone (white charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- USB ............. 0% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- USB ............. 1% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (black charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- AC ............. 3% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- discharging .... 0% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (white charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- AC ............. 2% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- discharging .... -1% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ iPad Mini (black charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- AC ............. 2% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- AC ............. 2% change in charge in 10 minutes



✔ iPad Mini (white charger)

--------------------------

2.1A -- AC ............. 4% change in charge in 10 minutes

1.0A -- AC ............. 2% change in charge in 10 minutes



➨ Key findings:

------------------

This charger works, but does not charge as fast as other wall chargers, including other Bolse wall chargers, for example (ASIN: B00BFQ9R0W) Bolse® 4 Port Premium High Output USB Wall/Travel/AC Rapid Charger) For iPhone, iPad, Samsung Android Smartphones , which in the same test showed 7% charge rather than 0%/2%. This charger showed the best behavior with Apple products on both ports, so if you have two Apple products this charger would be a good fit.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link



AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

Kinivo BTX270 Wireless Bluetooth Portable Speaker

I am very impressed with this speaker. In the attached video I used several pieces of music to test this speaker, including Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor which is a stress test for the bass. Some speakers crackle and can't handle the bass, but Kinivo Speaker handled it exceptionally well. This small speaker has a big sound.

In the video I start with the music playing through the built-in speakers of the tablet, turn on bluetooth and then the sound switches to the speakers. You can see how much richer, fuller, and louder the sound is when the speakers are used. Then I repeat the same sequence for the second piece of music which shows how the speaker handles base. There is no cracking even in the most challenging parts of the Bach Toccata.

I am attaching a collage of 4 photos for reference in this review. Photo #1 shows the speaker and an optional audio cable. The speaker is 6"L x 1 7/8"W x 2 1/4"H. Photo #4 shows the speaker on the digital scale, and it weighs in at 9.7 oz.



Pairing of the speaker to my tablet was easy. The speakers are in the pairing mode when the light on the front flickers red and blue.



I received this speaker from the manufacture for an honest review be it positive or negative. One of the benefits of being requested to test different speakers is that it gives me an opportunity to compare them to each other using the same music test, so I can compare them using "apples to apples" comparison. I would say this has been the best small speaker I have tested in the last year. I am very impressed with this speaker, especially how it handled the bass! I hope the video will help you see what to expect.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★