BoxWave vs. BookBook

BookBook

The next geeky and book-related gadget I'd like to discuss is this vintage bookcase cover for iPhone.
I first bought a BookBook case (by TwelveSouth) for a low price on eBay, and was really happy with the design. The iPhone just slid in and was held in place by the red bookmark tab. There were neat little holes on the side and bottom to reach the volume control and charge/sync function. The book case also functions as a wallet, with four slots to insert cards and credit cards.

The only, and biggest, downside I experienced was that it didn't have a camera hole. I soon discovered that sliding the phone in and out of its case to take a picture each time, was a little too much trouble and also created more risk of dropping my precious and overpriced smartphone. So with great fear of completely destroying my beautiful phone cover, I punched a hole in the back of the case with a belt punch tool. It did the job, but not that well, as the flash function refused to work properly, and the hole I made was slightly too narrow, so that when the phone shifted in its case, edges would show up on pictures. Which, admittedly, oftentimes created a pretty vignette effect.

BoxWave

After carrying around the BookBook for 2 years, I noticed it was getting pretty worn and decided to look for a newer edition - preferably one with a professionally added camerahole. I soon found one which turned out to be a tad cheaper than the TwelveSouth edition: the BoxWave Classic Book iPhone 4s case. As this one was made specifically for iPhone 4s (instead of for both 4/4s), it was a better fit immediately. The iPhone just clicks into the black hard plastic holder, and even though I've now lost the cute red bookmark tab, the phone is held in place more tightly. After a year of daily use and sliding the phone in and out of the BookBook, the leather holster had loosened and my phone ended up sliding out unintentionally, which is not a very fun feature. BoxWave has a much more secure system, and the camera-hole is a great added bonus.

Both have four card slots and a similar vintage leather design. While the BookBook case looks a bit more realistic, the BoxWave cover is just as qualitative. For its better holster and camerahole, the BoxWave wins the battle in my book (see what I did there?). As for the slightly less pretty design: as the leather gets worn, the case will look more authentic over time, fooling more and more people that you're just carrying around a pocket-size book. One that can take pictures, film video, and play music. Books these days...

Bookmark Dictionary

Yes. I'm a literature nerd. I guess that explains why I studied Literature and Linguistics, and why I wanted a second Master's degree in Literary Studies. But, honestly, there is no real excuse for how far my nerdiness goes... Hopefully, some of you kindred spirits will geek out about this as much as I did!

Reading for me has always been an intense experience, and it only intensified with my studies. Having to write papers on prize winning novels and analysing the genesis of manuscripts has made me adopt an even more scrutinizing and eager-to-learn approach to reading. During the first years of university, I wanted to expand my English vocabulary as best I could, seeing as how it would always be hard as a second-language learner to get my writing up to par with that of native English speakers. So whenever I encountered a word, while reading, that I had not heard of before, I would underline it with pencil or pen and make sure to look it up afterwards. But the more books we were required to read, the harder it was for me to keep up with this somewhat obsessive habit of mine. Not to mention, inefficient: I would usually interrupt my reading to look up a word, or wait until I had finished reading and then go through my notes and try to rediscover the context of the underlined words before looking up their definitions.

Last year I discovered a practical application to help save time and effort. This handy little gadget is an electronic dictionary as well as a bookmark. Its creators have used the Collins English Dictionary and inserted 38000 definitions in this tiny, flat device. It's extremely easy to look up a word, or even use the arrows if you simply want to browse through the rest of the dictionary. Not surprising that it won the prize "Gift of the Year" in 2011. Very surprising however, that it has not reached Belgium in the form of a translation dictionary. But perhaps, this will soon come. Since recently other languages have also become available:
Spanish
English-French
English-Italian
English-German

It's extremely cheap, especially considering the high priced dictionary volumes you'd otherwise be getting, and very compact.
The only downside I find is that the plastic back of the gadget can cause it to slide out from between the pages. But I'm pretty sure that's only a problem for women like me, who carry around their books in bags that are way too big for the amount of stuff they need to carry around - causing the books to move around too much.

You can buy it directly from That Company Called If or try to find one through an ebay seller that ships to your area. It's available in international English as well as US English for only £24,99 (USD 38,41 / EUR 29). But I got mine on ebay for £14 (€16 / $21), so definitely look around the great interwebz for the cheapest way to get yours.

ZeBracelet

Instead of spending huge amounts of money on a Pebble smartwatch, I decided to go for the cheaper (but also slightly prettier) version. Granted, a watch with half as many functions as the Pebble (if that).

But still all in all, a handy little gadget! This watch comes in the shape of a bracelet for women (in white, black and gold) and in the shape of a normal watch for men. 

The downside of the male version, the ZeWatch, seems to be that the numbers are displayed sideways, making it a tad more difficult to tell time quickly. I'm not sure if I'd be wanting to turn my head to the side each time I wanted to check my watch..

Pros

The design of the ZeBracelet is more appealing, but clearly more feminine. I chose a black bracelet, as the display screen is more integrated in black-on-black, instead of in black-on-white or black-on-gold. The watch is easily paired to your smartphone, and connects to your phone through bluetooth. The green and red side buttons allow you to pick up or hang up calls. You can also use these buttons to turn up or turn down the volume. The watch has a little speaker and microphone, making it easy to conduct calls with your watch. Very Knight Rider 2.0.

When a call comes through, your watch will display the number first and quickly change to the name associated with it. As for the watch function; the display is only visible when you click one of the buttons and is shown for about 10 seconds before disappearing again. For girls, this will more easily give the illusion that you're wearing a black bracelet instead of a watch.

Cons

The downsides are few, but definitely present. The first one being an obvious one, namely that if you answer calls through your watch, your environment will be able to listen in on your conversations. The second downside being that the volume cannot go extremely high, which can force you to hold your watch close to your ear in a noisy space. The microphone also picks up your voice more easily if your watch is a bit closer to your mouth. This is of course very practical when driving, where you (preferably) keep your hands on the steering wheel, holding them in the perfect position for a clear conversation. There is a slight delay, but I guess even Knight Rider experienced some lagging issues.

The other downside, I find, is that there is no stereo jack. This would have been very practical, allowing you to listen to your calls and your music privately. It would have been a handy feature while jogging. 

While you also have to recharge your watch regularly, it is easily done. The watch comes with a USB cable and an extra option to plug it into a socket for recharging as well.

The last but biggest con, to me, is that your watch always needs to be within a 10 meter range of your phone. For all you non-metric system peoples, that's about 32 feet. Not the biggest range, I admit, and what they promote as a handy "lost-phone alert", making the watch vibrate when your phone is out of range, is oftentimes more annoying than helpful. I tend to move about a lot during the day, and I don't always have my phone on me. I do, however, keep my watch on. Resulting in a vibrating alert about 10 times a day. But I'm sure it can function as a useful anti-theft-notification. 

While it's not the best in its genre, it definitely offers an esthetically pleasing design and a cheap alternative to the higher-priced smartwatches. It does the job for only €69 (or 90 USD).

Tech Specs

• Bluetooth ® Version: V2.1
• Voltage: 3.6V - 4.2V
• Current: 45mA
• Frequency: 2.4GHZ
• Talk time : 2-3 hours
• Standby time: 72 hours
• Battery Type: Li-ion 150mAh
• Size: 38.5 * 80 * 12.5 mm
• Weight: 45 grams
• Screen: 128 * 32 OLED
• Operating temperature: -20°C to +60°C
• Warranty: 24 months