PRODUCT REVIEW

Newer Technology NuGuard KX for iPAD Mini

On the March 15-21 issue of the ASIAN JOURNAL USA last year, I reviewed the NuGuard KX Case for iPhone 5.  I liked the product so much that I recommended readers to buy it.

This year, Newer Technology through Other World Computing (OWC) again sent me some of their new products for review. 

Let me just focus on the NuGuard KX Case or Cover for the IPAD Mini.

As described and tested by users and product reviewers like me, the KX Case guards your iPAD Mini from drops, bumps and scratches with extreme protection and lightweight design.  To reinforce this claim, the company even provides a Lifetime Manufacturer Warranty.

More specifically, it is certified as Military-Spec Drop Tested by Quanta Laboratories to Mil-STD-810 U.S. Military standard for elite protection.

“Its Edge Guard over-molding provides enhanced iPad screen edge protection without interfering edge-to-edge touch finger accessibility to ensure hassle-free touch keyboarding and ability to drag and organize app icons from screen to screen.

With its precision cutouts, the NuGuard KX allows for full access to all of the iPAD's ports and buttons. The KX features a unique cross hatch texture design on backside for added grip that won't make it hard to remove from pockets like other texturized cases. And installation and removal of your iPAD from the KX is easy, taking only seconds.”

The extreme protection as claimed is due to the patent pending Kinetic Energy X-Orbing technology that I also described last year.

My wife, Tina, who was gifted by our children with an IPAD Mini for her birthday, has been using this amazing product.  She is quite happy and satisfied for the protection and security that it provides for her iPAD.  She also likes the style and lightweight design.  The features complement those of the small and light iPAD that she uses.

As usual, to our readers who use an iPAD Mini and are planning to buy a case that could provide protection against accidental drops, impacts, and scratches, I recommend the Newer Technology NuGuard KX of iPAD Mini.

MAGNETYZE Case and Magnetic Charger

At the International CES I visited the booth of BuQu TechTM, manufacturer of the Magnetyze family of protective cases and magnetic charging systems. I failed to talk to their PR officer and/or Marketing Director.

A week after I came back from the CES (Las Vegas), I received an email from Shari Nakakura who heard that I visited her booth and she offered to send me a product sample for review. It is their latest Magnetyze protective case and charging system for iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c.  I gladly said yes.

Lucky for me, I received the sample before my trip to New York to attend the LegalTech 2014 Conference.

MAGNETYZE CASE and Magnetic Charger

I decided to use the sample as the protective case for my iPhone 5S and of course, also brought its magnetic charging system.

I did it because first, it was a sleek and stylist case.  Second, the protection seemed reliable against damage, shock and moisture.  Third, I needed speedy charging which was supposedly provided by its integrated magnetic connector.  And fourth, I wanted an easy connection instead of always inserting the cable to my iPhone’s port.

I was not disappointed.  Indeed, the Magnetyze charging cable really charged my phone from not only my portable power source but also from any other source.  The charging cable was easy to attach; just grab it and go.  This is because it speedily connects magnetically to the Magnetyze case.  It was very useful for me while traveling to New York.

The Magnetyze protective case is quite unique.  I have never seen anything like it before.  It is ultra-slim, sleek, and lightweight.  It is a two-piece design for easy on and off.  It is made to protect the phone against daily hazards. 

With the case in place, you can actually charge your phone via a micro USB cable which is included in the package.  In all other cases for the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c, I notice that you have to use only the unique cable provided by Apple for the devices.

The Magnetyze case is compatible with the Magnetyze desk charger, Magnetyze car charger, Magnetyze wall charger and Magnetyze external battery.

According to BuQu TechTM upgrading is also a breeze. “With Magnetyze, users need only replace the protective case – all of their charging accessories will continue to work with any smartphone outfitted with a Magnetyze case".

BuQu Tech is a subsidiary of Battery-Biz® Inc., the leading U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronic power accessories. The company was honored as an International CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree for its Magnetyze magnetic charging system. Products entered in this prestigious program are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, engineers and members of the media to honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting edge consumer electronics products across 29 product categories.

I like it!  I think you would too!

FLEKSY: A Promising Revolutionary App

My job used to bring me to Asia quite often but I never landed in the Philippines for political reasons.  The People Power Revolution changed all that as I started visiting the country renewing old networks and introducing new technologies.

Landing deals representing companies from the U.S.A, Canada, Europe, and Asia in the Philippines as well as representing the interests of the Philippine Government in Washington, D.C. required more presence for me in the Philippines.

Traveling and communicating more, cellular calling and texting became the major mode of communication.  Since texting was the cheaper way, most of the people who have cellphones do it.  Some were so skillful they could text either using the right hand or the left hand. I even witnessed some who could do both at the same time.

I guess if you do it quite often, you are bound to perfect it.  It was in the Philippines where l Iearned the art of texting. It was also there that I got to learn and use predictive texting.

When I closed my office in the Philippines and settled back in the U.S. for health reasons, I stopped using texting as my primary method of communicating because here, cellular calling was the cheaper way.  In fact, it was unlimited.  

Lately, my carrier changed its program to unlimited voice and text.  So, texting is again open to unlimited use requiring the usual skill and dexterity.

While attending the International CES, texting and emailing became the method of communicating with PR agents who invited me to meet and interview the inventors, CEOs or Product Managers of new products and technologies that were being launched.

One product or technology that caught my attention was an app called FLEKSY Keyboard.  Invited to meet the founding developers of the app, I arranged for a meeting and a demonstration at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.  The app is supposed to be the most advanced version of predictive texting that is available today.

Ioannis Verdellis is the founder of Syntellia, creator of FLEKSY Keyboard.  He says that the app was originally tested with blind users but he knew that it could also be helpful for most people who have been frustrated with autocorrect.  It has a feature that speaks words that you type.

Due to fumbling fingers, many of us have been guilty of typing inaccurately.  FLEKSY changes all that.   According to Syntellia, “FLEKSY is a state of the art text input system so powerful that you can type without even looking at the screen.”  This is actually true.  This was demonstrated to me in Las Vegas.  But of course, it would take some getting used to.

I love my iPhone 5s and my iPAD.  Their touch screen features have been amazingly good at so many tasks that I have relied on them more than my landline phones, pocket cameras, and printed maps.  But partly because of my big fingers, I usually have problems with my keyboard in the small handheld device.  But FLEKSY’s keyboard is changing the environment.

Based on my experience as I tested it, the keyboard really fixes your grievous typing errors.  It even speaks back the word to you so you know what it thinks you typed. There are gestures that you must learn to make it easier and faster to use.  You swipe right to make a space.  You swipe left to delete a word.

With FLEKSY, you can virtually throw accuracy out the window pretty much entirely.  Typing with it is a very effective way.  Of course, knowing how to spell is required for FLEKSY to be able to figure out what you really meant.  Good spellers would be good FLEKSY users.

Some experts and technology magazine reps who attended the International CES called FLEKSY “a revolutionary technology – a keyboard experience like no other.”

One expert said, “the app is a game-changer” while another stated with amazement, “it felt like it was reading your mind.”  FLEKSY makes happy typing!

Download and try it!  It is FREE!

VisualDx: A Miracle Medical Tool

I love attending conferences that involve technologies. I never miss the International CES conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada annually during winter and its Mid-Year Conference in New York every summer.

My goal was always to look for new products, apps, or technologies that fall under the description “Miracle, Magic, or Mind-Boggling Technologies”.  I gladly write what I discover and readers seem to look forward to reading about them whether the discovery is from the Sin City or the Big Apple.

For many years, Washington, D.C., (the nation’s capital) was a major source for my search for amazing technologies too.  First, because of the Federal Government-sponsored conferences like FOSE, GovSec, Mobile Government, and Cyber Security, which I also attend. Second, because of the mHealth Summit Conference that is also held here annually.

In the latest mHealth conference there was one app that I considered so amazing that I even called it a “miracle medical tool”.  While the app seems to be simple, it actually becomes magical and mind-boggling when applied - benefiting both the health providers or medical community and the patients.

The app is called “VisualDx”. It is a medical tool that provides “diagnostic information on a wide range of adult and pediatric conditions, including ophthalmology, oral medicine, radiology, infectious disease, pediatrics and many other specialties.” It also covers all ages and skin colors with more than 30,000 pictures.

Recognizing its significance as an effective medical tool and great source for diagnostic information, medical students from Harvard and UPenn voted it as one of the Top Five Apps.

It has also received several honors: As a Category Leader in the Clinical Decision Support – Referential category in the 2013, 2012 and 2011 Best in KLAS Awards and the Pride Institute’s “Best of Class” Dental Technology Award. Most recently, VisualDx was also one of the three winners of the AMIA/iHealth "Ideas That Work" competition in Orlando, Florida.  It was sponsored by the California Healthcare Foundation.

Licensed by more than half the nation’s medical schools and more than 1,500 hospitals, its pictures have generated 50 million image views from users in 2013 alone.  This validates its need and beneficial contribution to the users and also my assertion that it is a great app that should be known and shared.

I must admit that I am not really the best judge to rate the app itself.  I could only see and notice its wonders.  At the mHealth Summit Conference, I asked Dr. Noah Craft, MD, PhD, DTM&H, who is the Chief Medical Officer for Logical Images, maker of VisualDx, this question, “why should VisualDx be considered a Miracle, Magic, Mind-Boggling?”

               

Here is his answer:

“Surgical Robotics has extended the doctor's hands.  A stethoscope extends the ears.  Ultrasound, MRI, CT Scans, microscopes, and X-rays have all extended the eyes.  VisualDx is the first major extension of a doctor's brain to be in widespread use.  It helps doctors make more accurate diagnoses and is used to engage patients in the process.

“VisualDx is available as both an e-record integrated resource and a mobile app that works with the iPhone, Android and iPad. What makes VisualDx stand apart?  It treats every patient as a unique individual. Most other electronic medical resources are simply electronic textbooks and are used to look up a single disease or medication dose. VisualDx uniquely enables the user to maximize the search by entering multiple factors about a patient, including symptoms, medical history, travel, medications and lab results.  Based on that information, VisualDx searches across its proprietary medical knowledge database and then uses a patented process to quickly deliver “stacked visual knowledge” -- a highly specific list of potential diagnoses, a series of medical images to compare to the patient’s current conditions and the recommended treatments. Doctors then use VisualDx to arrive at the best diagnosis, explain the process to the patient using the images and decide on the right treatment for each unique patient.

“We know that our brains process visual information much faster than we process text-based information.  With VisualDx, we show doctors complex knowledge visually, rather than through text alone.  Imagine a paragraph of text describing Abraham Lincoln.  Now imagine a picture of him.  Which would help you recognize him faster?  That is the VisualDx difference. 

“We have been building the system for nearly 15 years, and we know it’s working because VisualDx is now used in more 1,500 hospitals and more than half of all medical schools, including Harvard, Yale, UCLA, NYU and many more.  VisualDx is truly changing how we learn and practice medicine.  The days of memorizing everything are now long gone. Like Epocrates is to medication dosing, VisualDx is the most important app that doctors need in their toolbelt for both diagnosis and therapy guidance.”

Dr. Noah Craft said it all.  A visit to the website of VisualDx (www.visualdx.com) shows the positive reviews of users and customers.  I realized how the app could be of great help to Professionals and Institutions. The Professionals could be in the field of Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Dermatology, Dentistry/Oral Medicine, Student/Resident, Medical Librarian or CMIO.

To be more effective and efficient, I see how VisualDx could be beneficial to institutions like Hospitals/Health Systems, Accountable Care Organizations, Clinics & Group Practices, Medical Schools, and Public Health & Government.

Diagnosis and judgments by medical professionals or institutions involve the intellectual process.  They are arrived at based on the quality and quantity of information that reaches them. 

“There is nothing in the intellect that is not first in the senses”, says a scholastic dictum.  Before a judgment is made, the senses are utilized to provide data and images.  VisualDx is an app and tool that helps medical professionals and institutions make better decisions.