If you are scared to ruin your precious Motorola Droid/Milestone you should seriously consider an Otterbox case: you won’t regret it.

Introduction and Installation

This Motorola Droid case is part of the Otterbox Commuter Series, will give your device added protection against bump and shock without an excess bulk (please note it is not protective against water).

Here is the review of its usage during a two weeks summer holiday, on the beach or inside the bag of a woman.

The case itself is made of three part:

• the frame to protect the sliding screen;
• the screen protector film;
• the keyboard case.

Package content from left to right: sliding screen frame, screen protector, keyboard case

Both the frame and the case are made of silicone skin wrapped in a polycarbonate shell and can be mounted on the device following the easy to follow instructions found in the box and reported below. The frame and case attach to the smartphone thanks to “teeth” which grab the sliding screen and the device body.

Mounting instructions: clear and easy to follow

Inserting the Droid into the case is easy

Examples of the “teeth” holding the case to the smartphone

Overview

The case has cuts on the shell to allow the usage of the camera and flash, as well as the proper functioning of the mic and speaker you find on the back of the device.

Details of the rear part of the case with the holes for the camera lens and audio

The case allows easy and full access to all the buttons and ports of the device: buttons are pressed thanks to the soft rubber surrounding the case, and the ports are protected against dust via the same rubber, which covers and elongates inside them for higher protection.

Camera (left) and volume (right) buttons are under a soft protective rubber

Charging port (left) and power button and headphone jack (right) find their place under safe rubber

To change the battery you will have to remove the keyboard case, which turned to be an easy to do operation.

Front view

Rear view

As you may expect, the case will not allow you to use the Droid’s docking solution. When tried with a compatible Droid’s desktop dock removing the keyboard case was enough to charge and sync the Droid, while it was also needed to leave the phone flip open to properly use the Motorola car mounter dock.

Conclusions

In the end, the Otterbox Commuter Series Motorola Droid case proved to be easy to install and well designed, with no dust found after two weeks summer holidays. The case feels well made and engineered, and guarantees full access to buttons and ports.

Docks compatibility can be regained simply removing the keyboard protection part of the case.

Finally, even if this is more about personal taste, I like the look and feel of the Droid, and the case is following its style thus I found the case nice looking, too!

Thus, if you are not “docks obsessed” at $34.95 this case surely deserves your attention.

The case protects without adding much weight or bulk

Pros

• well made and engineered
• all buttons and ports accessible
• rubber prevents dust
• in line with the Droid design

Cons

• must be partly removed to be used with docks (this is something you should expect, though)

Link: Otterbox

For all you Apple gear owner, this week new arrivals at USBFever feature a sync and charge controller adapter for iPhone, iPad and iPod, to allow you the choice between two main operating modes, i.e. either block iTunes to charge, or connect to iTunes to sync and charge.

Here is what you get for $9.99:

Introductions
If you are at home, you naturally will sync (and also charge your iPod / iPhone / iPad with your PC, however, if were out or at your office, you may just want to charge your iPhone / iPod / iPad , if you plug your iPhone / iPod / iPad with other computer, of course, it has no problems, just that it may have some little disturbances to you to ask if you would like to sync your device with your computer.

Here we have this adapter for you to manage your iPhone / iPod / iPad.  This adapter is designed to have 1 button on the Dock connector, one side is as any other ordinary Dock cable for iPhone / iPod / iPad.  To hotsync with and charge your iPhone / iPod / iPad; if you just want to charge your iPad / iPhone / iPod, you may push the button to another side, then no matter which PC / laptop that you connected with, it will just drag power from the computer to charge your iPhone / iPod, will not hotsync with.

This is specially useful for travelers.

Features

• Every iPod / iPhone / iPad user needs one to ease their worries and problems with charging and / or syncing with their iTunes library
• Portable and easy to take along
• Safely charge your iPod / iPhone / iPad from any computer without the hassles
• Protects your music from being overwritten and erased
• Plug and Play with no more warning messages
• Works with iPod / iPhone / iPad power adapters, so this cable is the solution
• 2 Modes: either Block iTunes to charge, or Connect to iTunes to sync & charge
• Light Weight, compact, stylish, convenience
• No need to bring AC Adapter and cradle during travel
• 1 Sync-Charger for 2 separate functions, save space for your home and office
• Dock female to dock male adapter
• Compact and lightweight

Compatibility

• Apple iPad
• iPhone 4 (or 4G)
• iPhone 3Gs
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 1st Gen
• iPod Touch 3rd Gen
• iPod Touch 2nd Gen
• iPod Touch 1st Gen
• iPod Classic 120G
• iPod 5th Gen (Video)
• iPod Nano 5th
• iPod Nano 4th
• iPod Nano 3rd

Dimensions

23mm (width) x 29mm (height)

Color

Black

Package Contents

Sync and Charging Controller Adapter for iPhone / iPad / iPod x 1

In case this is not what you are looking for, here are some other new USBFever products:

• USB Dual Charging Cable for iPhone / iPod / iPad
• Holster case for iPhone 4
• Sync and Charging Controller Adapter for iPhone / iPad / iPod
• Soft Back Cover Case for iPhone 4 (Butterfly 1)
• Soft Back Cover Case for iPhone 4 (Turtle)
• Soft Back Cover Case for iPhone 4 (Butterfly & Flower)
• USB 10-Port Hub (White)
• Golf Bag / Sun Visor Clip Holder for iPhone / iPhone 4
• Custom-Made RearView Mirror Holder for iPhone 4
• Basic USB SD & Micro SD(TF) Card Reader
• Twine Leather (Carbon Look) Case For Apple iPad

Via: USBFever

Here we are at the end of another week at JAMM. Below you find the highlights from the past 7 days in case you missed them.

Opinions and Random Thoughts

• NEXT????

Reviews

• Review: Use GogTasks To Sync Your Google Tasks With Your Windows Mobile Device

Tips and Tricks

• Evernote Update….with Webcam Notes
• Cool Your Jets, People
• Extending the Battery Life of your [Android] Smartphone
• More Mobile Capacity—Less Bulk

News

• Shine Case for iPhone 4
• Internet Explorer 9 Technology Preview 4 Released
• Office 2011 Technology Guarantee
• Goggle Wave…RIP
• Microsoft Readies Windows 7 Service Pack 1
• iPad Alternatives – Coming Soon!
• Sprint Gets The Jump On Everyone…Announces Froyo Update For HTC EVO 4G
• Vito Technologies Announces Star Walk Update for all iOS Devices
• BLACKBERRY TORCH Released into the Wild
• MobiForms Advanced Edition Adds Android Support!
• Readdle Turns 3 In Style. Giving Away Three Free iPads!

I admit I was skeptical about using Google services different from GMail. I could not understand using GCalendar when I already have a smartphone with a calendar app, and a dedicated sync app on the PC. Things changed when I abandoned my Palm OS device and I started a different job, obliging me to use different PCs.

With the new usage scenario I couldn’t install my sync software on every PC I use, and having a 27/7 connection both on PCs and on my smartphone, a cloud based way to manage my personal information was making sense.

Luckily enough the email, contact and calendar applications on my Windows Mobile 6.5 device are well integrated with Google services, thanks to the Microsoft Direct Push feature of WM 6.5 and Google support for Microsoft Exchange.

However, the task application is not supported by Google and I was starting to abandon my task-centric way of organizing things, until I recently found GogTasks.

Introduction

The app started as a commercial software, but due to restrictions from Microsoft on allowing Marketplace apps to use unsupported third-party APIs, i.e. Goggle’s ones, the developer decided to release it for free.

While the newest version is “GogTasks for Windows Mobile 2.2″, I will consider here a previous version, i.e. “GogTasks for Windows Mobile 1.1″, as the higher version seems to suffer of a redirection problem preventing it to work in some cases. In any case, you can download both versions from here.

As always, before going through the steps detailed below, remember to make a backup of your data before proceeding, just in case.

Once accepted the license agreement you will have a new icon in your program list with the classical checked task graphics.

Configuring GogTasks

At the first launch of GogTasks you will have to configure it to access your Google account selecting the “Authenticate” button.

GogTasks Settings

Configure your Google account 

Checking the “Autosync on startup” option you will have the tasks synced between GTasks and your Windows Mobile device when you launch the app. Regrettably there is no option to sync tasks automatically and you have to make this manually. The “Wipe tasks on device” button will delete all tasks on your smartphone, to allow you to import your existing Google tasks on a clean device, so be careful.

The “Check boxes to the…” option will allow you to choose where to put the tasks check boxes. Actually GogTasks also provides a user interface for administrating the tasks with a UI is designed to allow finger control instead of the use of a stylus.

Touch friendly tasks management

Thus, once finished the configuration, you will be able to use the clean and touch friendly interface provided by GogTasks to view and manage your tasks.

In the upper part you will find a pop up menu with the list of the tasks categories (the same you would find on your GTasks, of course), while the tasks will be shown in the center of the window.

At the bottom you will find, from left to right:

• a pencil or asterisk icon to edit an existing or to insert a new task, respectively;
• a set of arrows to indent and move your tasks;
• a button to show the menu.

The main window shows the tasks (left) and has a pop up menu with categories (right)

GogTasks menu

The menu will allow you to:

• exit the program;
• sync the tasks and exit the app;
• sync tasks without closing GogTasks;
• open the settings window (the one where you configure your Google account);
• add a new task;
• delete an existing task.

To edit an existing task is enough to highlight it and select the pencil button at the bottom left.

The fields you can enter are the task object, its due date (if any) and some notes. These are quite basic settings for a task, but together with the option to indent and order them, are the only things allowed in GTasks.

One month experience

In the last month I have been using GogTasks regularly with PCs and HTC Touch Pro2, and things have worked smoothly, with no problems due to duplicate or disappeared tasks.

I am regularly using Pocket Informant and I use tasks alarms, something which is not allowed by GTasks and GogTasks, but I have had no conflicts or problems between the two programs. For your information the tasks managed by GogTasks have never been more than 50.

You can set or edit the task object, its due date and some notes

Conclusion

Apart for some sync failures on startup, which oblige me to sync manually twice, and some ghosts tasks appearing in the list (this is due by the way GTasks allows you to enter new tasks, though) I have no real complain with GogTasks.

We are talking about a free app, which allows you to bless your Windows Mobile device with Google tasks syncing and a simple, touch friendly tasks management interface. Sure, autosync would be very welcome, but this is not a deal breaker, in my opinion. I prefer to have to push the “Sync” menu item twice a day rather than to copy and paste all new or modified tasks.

You can follow the official GogTasks thread at XDA, and visit the developer site. Remember we reviewed version 1.1, but a newer version is already available and could fit you better.

Pros

• Free
• Does what it says
• Simple
• Touch friendly interface to manage tasks is really handy if you don’t have a dedicated app

Cons

• Sometime you have to sync twice
• No autosync feature
• Google could change things and render this software useless

Link: GogTasks

XDA Thread: GogTasks at XDA

Here we are at the end of another week at JAMM. Below you find the highlights from the past 7 days in case you missed them.

Opinions and Random Thoughts

• Amazon Kindle 3 vs Apple iPad – Worth it or Not?
• Random Thoughts: The Importance of Backups
• Mobile Bank Robbery – Why I Don’t Use ATMs
• PhoneFactor – Security Authentication
• Now or Later

Reviews

• Quick Look: Graffiti Ball
• Review: AViiQ Portable Laptop Stand

News

• DXG Announces 3D Pocket Camcorder and 3D Media Player Bundle
• Facebook Info Free for the Taking
• SplashData Announces SplashMoney for iPad
• WritePad for iPad 4.1 with a Twitter Client released
• BlackBerry New Model Announced
• New PhatNotes for iPhone OS4
• Apple Releases Safari v5.01 – Extensions Unleashed!
• Does your Blackberry uffer from signal issues ala iPhone 4? Maybe this app can tell you!

Tips and Tricks

• Editable PDF & Evernote