mobile

The Making of FrankeNexus: Repairing Stella’s Nexus 4

Google-Nexus-4A couple of weeks ago Stella’s beloved Nexus 4 had an unfortunate meeting with asphalt.  It fell from an outside pocket of her purse as she was getting out of the family vehicle. The upshot of the event was a broken front glass and loss of touch functionality. Everything about the phone worked, but she could not even answer a call without touch capability.

Happily, her phone was still covered by insurance, which I had more than once thought to cancel. The insurance would not replace the Nexus 4 with the same model as just days before they had become unavailable. In the run-up to the October launch of the Nexus 5 Google has let inventory lapse so replacements were not to be found.

The insurance company offered a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S3 in white. While this might have been acceptable to most people it presented Stella with a certain problem. Her company-issued cell phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 and she’s not especially happy with it. She prefers her Nexus 4.

A quick look online revealed that there are some places that could repair the broken Nexus 4. Gophermods was once such service, quoting $170 for the job. At the present time they report “out of stock” on the screen replacement. I wonder if parts will start becoming hard to get as the phone fades from the front line?

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PLT Labs: Plantronics New Skunk Works

plantronics-voyager-legend-bluetooth-headset-300Plantronics has recently opened PLT Labs, a skunk works intended to help developers access the functions of the new generation of wearable technology. They propose to offer access to the new APIs exposed by prototype devices.

One of the more magical feature of the Plantronics Voyager Legend is the way it knows when you’re wearing it. If the headset is paired to my cell phone and I’m wearing the headset it will answer an incoming call.

If I’m not wearing the headset and I answer the phone using the handset itself, the headset knows to not involve itself in the media handling. It remains paired but switches the phone out of headset mode.

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Shields Up! New Protection For Our Androids

True to his offer last month, Ed Tyson of Expert Shield sent us a sample set of his companies protective garb for mobile devices. Last week we received a package with kits for each of our Nexus 4 cell phones and my Nexus 7 tablet. My devices are now cloaked in these new wares, but I have to to take Stella’s Nexus 4 captive for long enough to dress it in a similar fashion.

Applying any screen protector requires a certain amount of skill and care. There’s not much opportunity to lift and reposition the clear and somewhat wobbly layer once it’s been applied. One must take care that it’s not applied in a skewed manner.

In some regards application of the screen protector is easier on the larger tablet than the cell phone. First, the tablet is larger, making it easier to align the item to the face of the device. Secondly, the tablets doesn’t have as many little openings and sensors that must align with irregularities in the perimeter of the screen protector.

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New Protection For Our Androids

nexus-7-nexus-4Not long ago Ed Tyson of Expert Shield contacted me with an offer of his companies screen protection for our Android devices. As our various phones (Nexus 4) & tablets (Nexus 7) are presently naked(!) I decided to take him up on his offer. We’re just awaiting arrival of the goods.

In the past I have used Skinomi Techskin and found them quite good. I once again reached for their products when I shattered the glass back on my Nexus 4 some weeks ago. The carbon wrap is still working great to hold the broken back together.

That said, I found that the clear protective layer for the front of the phone was a bit on the thick side. While it worked well enough as protection I found that it felt a little gummy to the touch. It subtly changed the feel of the phone in use, something that I’d like to avoid if possible.

Stella and I were initially using the Poetic Borderline Bumper case for Google Nexus 4 but we both stopped using them in recent weeks. Stella found that it made the power and volume buttons awkward to access. Mine simply tore near the power connection, then started to come apart.

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