SD10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset – Review

21 Replies Christopher Roberts

Previously I have reviewed the Pocket Boom, a cool little device which can turn virtually any device into a speaker. Recently the same people asked if I wanted to review a SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset, so here I go!

Please note, like with the Pocket Boom Review, all the opinions in this article are mine, and are completely honest – I am not being paid to write this review.

The SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset is a device which provides wireless headphones, which can synchronise with almost any Bluetooth device. This means that when you are out and about, you can take calls, and listen to music, without the limits of wires.

SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Headset in packaging

Ergonomics

The headset very cleverly folds away quite neatly, which does mean that they can fit into your pocket without much of a problem, meaning they are portable, like you need them to be.


SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Headset folded away

The headphones when they are folded up would fit in your pocket

So, are the headphones comfortable to wear? My answer would be it depends who you are. I have tried them on, and I have got other members of the team and some of my friends to try them on, and the responses you get are mixed. Some people have no trouble whatsoever, the headset fits snugly onto their head, and are very comfortable to ware. Other people have tried them on, and they do fit, they are just a bit more awkward. Maybe that’s something you might want to consider – especially as they are not retractable/adjustable.

Ease of Use

Like with the Pocket Boom, if you don’t read the instructions, you aren’t going anywhere very fast! Read what the small A5 (ish) sheet of paper tells you, and things become pretty simple.

With some phones you need to fiddle with some settings either with Bluetooth, or on audio tracks to get them to work properly with calls and music, but it does work!

Sound Quality

Obviously one of the most important things with all headphones is the sound quality. You can get the most amazing headset, but if it has poor sound quality, then there is little point to it.

So what about the quality of the audio stream produced by the SD10 Bluetooth headset? Well it is actually very good! The headphones fit very snugly around your ears, reducing any noise interference, and the audio quality is very respectable.

Obviously noise cancelling headphones, or recording studio ones would be better, but the quality is very respectable, especially as it is coming from a wireless stream. For the average music listener, I don’t think there is any need to worry about poor sound quality.

Instructions

The headphones do come with instructions, which are clear, and just require a small amount of common sense and logic to use. They are helpful, but could contain a little more info – possibly room for an FAQ’s section.

The SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Headset packaging, instructions USB cable and headphones

The headset, along with packaging, instructions and USB lead

Power

From what I have seen of the headset, it seems to last a reasonable amount of time between charges. You don’t start listening to a tune, and then a call comes in, by which time the headset has given up and is needing a charge. The battery life seems to be pretty good, so no need to worry about that.

The issue I have with power is the way you charge the headset – via USB. You can only charge it via USB, and there is no alternative, no batteries you can replace etc. This can be a little inconvenient, especially as it doesn’t come with a USB plug adaptor, but I am sure it will work okay with the one I use for my iPod, or the one I use for my camera. Don’t take my word for that, I wouldn’t want to blow your headset – if you have one or are getting one!

Value for Money?

Here comes the killer question: is the SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset value for money? I try to evaluate every product I review using value for money, so it is a good test. The headset retails at £24.99, which is reasonable, but I think it depends what you need it for. If you are going to be making calls wireless and listening to music, go for it. If you just want to listen to music (like me) then I am not so sure. There are different headphones more suited to music listeners, but this set does give you the added bonus of being able to make calls.

SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth HeadphonesInterested in buying a set, or just want to read a bit more? Check out the SoundWear SD10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset on Mobile Fun’s website.

As I said at the beginning of the article, this product has been sent to Technology Bloggers to review. Our thanks to Mobile Fun who provided us with the headset.

Could You Benefit From An iPhone VPN?

Leave a reply Iphone VPN Guru

If you need a secure connection on your iPhone, then you may find an  need an iPhone VPN.

It is important that you sign up with a trusted VPN provider. With a trusted iPhone VPN provider, you will get the best service and most reliable connections. The best VPN providers write all of their own software and can therefore offer the fastest service worldwide.

What Does an iPhone VPN Do?

Simply put, an iPhone VPN protects your privacy. When you have a VPN for your smartphone, you have access to four primary advantages over standard internet browsing:

  • Stop ISP Inspections. Prevent your internet service provider from throttling, prioritizing, and inspecting the data that goes in and out of your iPhone.
  • Protect the Activities That You Do Online. A VPN is a secure “tunnel” that takes you to the internet. With a VPN, you get to cruise the internet your way, not someone else’s way.
  • Protect Your IP Address. With an iPhone VPN, the only thing websites will see is the server’s communications.
  • Prevent Location Identification. With a VPN, your IP address is substituted for one that is not based on your location. This prevents location-based ads from affecting your internet experience.

An iPhone VPN Allows Access to Country Specific Sites

Some people feel that an iPhone VPN is actually very limiting. With a VPN tunnel, you can access country specific sites, but not sites outside that country.

If you have a US VPN, for example, you would be able to visit US sites, but not Canadian sites. The same rules apply for every country’s VPN connections.

Though limiting, this type of connection provides the greatest amount of security for the end user. That is why you should use a global VPN provider for your iPhone VPN needs. Global VPN providers have servers located around the world and allow you to access your favorite websites from anywhere. If you need to access a secure site in France, but you live in Canada, you can log into the French VPN and have a high speed connection.

An iPhone VPN Provider Should Provide You Many IP Addresses

One of the difficulties that VPN providers face is limited resources and a reliance on third parties. If you are choosing an iPhone VPN provider, you should look for one that can provide you with many IP addresses. For the most reliable connections the provider should write their own server software, own their own hardware, and manage their own network.

Why Is A 256 Bit Encryption Better?

A 128 bit encryption module is not as secure as it used to be. That’s why the best iPhone VPN providers utilize 256 bit encryption to provide highest level of security possible. You should have access to multiple protocols like PPTP, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPsec to secure all of your devices.

Encripted data

VPN can offer safer surfing, thanks to network encryption

Summary of Benefits

An iPhone VPN is not a substitute for your mobile provider, as you need internet in order to access the VPN server. Once you have logged into your secure tunnel, however, you get the added security benefits that a VPN provides.

When you want a secure solution to browse the internet from your iPhone, then a VPN is often safer. Bypass location based IP blocking, avoid geographical restrictions, and access your favorite websites from home or abroad.

A Bad Memory Erasing Pill

6 Replies Jonny Hankins

The February issue of Wired magazine contained an article about an interesting medical breakthrough related to memory. Scientists working on the development of a pill that can erase bad memories have achieved success in laboratory rats.

memory erasing pill

Bad memories, a thing of the past?

It is a long and detailed article, but I will try to summarize it in a few sentences. Memories are stored in different parts of the brian, emotions in one part, visuals in another etc. In order to remember something a sort of chain must be formed that link the separate parts of the memory, a chain formed by protein. If you can block the protein you can block access to the memory.

Scientists have been experimenting for decades to try and find a compound that can do this, and recently seem to have found one that works on rats. The experiment is relatively simple, the rats are exposed to series that they learn to recognize, an example might be a series of musical notes followed by a painful electric shock. As soon as the rats hear the first note in the series they get scared and agitated. Administer the compound and the association is lost, you can play the series and the rats no longer remember the consequences until BANG, the shock arrives.

Cruel but bearing important consequences, if the links in the chain can be broken then the memory is not cancelled but the individual no longer has access to it.

As I said above different parts of the memory are stored in different places, so the hope is that different compounds will be able to delete different aspects of painful memories. One might close access to the memory of the scent of an ex girlfriend who left you for your best mate, or the pain experienced in an accident, or the vision of your dog jumping out of your third floor bedroom window while chasing a ball that you accidentally threw too hard for him to catch, or other such traumas.

Talk is of selected memory loss by pill, but of course this is far in the future if ever at all, but the very prospect raises some interesting ethical dilemmas. We are who we are by experience. I don’t play with knives; I have a scar with 7 stitches in my hand to remind me why, but even without it the memory of a Christmas Eve trip to Wythenshawe Hospital lingers on.

And having seen various governments conduct more than questionable research on their own populations (and others) and I am not just talking about despot regimes but the very birth states of democracy themselves as this apology given by President Obama demonstrates, I sincerely question the ethics behind such a development.

So the question is this, are we seeing a great medical and technological breakthrough, a leap in human advancement, or the creation of another dangerous tool once it gets into the wrong hands?