KuaiFit K Sport Headphones With In-Ear Personal Trainer – Unboxing and Initial Impressions

KuaiFit is a maker of personal trainer apps and sport headsets. A couple of weeks ago a representative from KuaiFit reached out to ask if I would be interested in a set of their new wireless earbuds in exchange for publishing my thoughts on the new product. Even though this is a “paid review” of sorts (just a free headset), you’ll get my honest impressions of the product.

The K Sport Headphones With In-Ear Personal Trainer just launched as a Kickstarter campaign this week. The super early bird is currently still available at approx. $20 U.S. Each set of these includes a free 3-month training plan on their mobile app. Being sweat and rain proof (IPX5), they ought to be perfect for working out.

I plan to use these headphones over the next several days for music, audiobooks and workouts, and will publish more detailed thoughts in a week or so. For now, I will provide my initial impressions after using them briefly last night. Let’s start with some unboxing pictures.

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Pic 1- Front shot in the box

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Pic 2 – Back shot in the box

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Pic 3 – What’s in the box

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Pic 4 – Dual charging cable

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Pic 5 – Small and light

The contents of the box include:

  • Two wireless earbuds
  • A dual charging cable to charge both simultaneously from one USB port
  • Larger and smaller cushions to get a perfect fit
  • A sheet with some basic instructions and the training plan activation code

Setup and pair was simple and painless for me. After charging the set during dinner, I got them ready to go in about a minute. You press the ‘K’ button on each earbud until the LED flashes red & blue to indicate it’s in pairing mode. Then open your phone’s Bluetooth settings and pair them like any other device. Whether one or both earbuds are on, they appear and act as a single device with your phone. (My phone is an Android – Moto Z2 Force.)

So far, I used the set with Audible and Spotify, listening to a few songs to check out the range. They sound crisp and clear with Hotel California, but could use a little more bass on Enter Sandman. At this size, weight and price point, I’m definitely willing to cut them a little slack on the lack of a more powerful, booming bass. The other thing I need to figure out is whether there is an option to configure the language on them. When pairing, the voice in the earphones sounds like some East Asian language. I’m no expert, and won’t assume which language I’m hearing. It may be that these early review units are not customized for the consumer’s country. I will clarify this before my full review is published.

I am sometimes a little hesitant to back a technology-based Kickstarter campaign, not knowing if the group can or will deliver on the product. I’ve been burned by a couple of smart watch campaigns in the past. However, I can assure that these earphones are not vapor. They’re already producing enough of them to sent out these early review units. At this price, they seem like a great option, but stay tuned for my full review in a couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to publish it well before the end of the campaign in 27 days.

Stay tuned!

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Morning Dew Lightning Review – Syncfusion Essential Studio for WPF

It has been a hectic fourth quarter of 2013 for me, but I want to write up my thoughts on the Syncfusion Essential Studio for WPF before the holidays are upon us. I have been trying different WPF controls throughout the year and all of them provide great value to the modern desktop and enterprise app developers.

What’s New

I have been using Studio 2013v3 for the past several weeks, but 2013v4 was just released, so I will just quickly touch on what’s new in the latest release first. Here’s a rundown of the latest features for WPF:

  • 3D Charts
  • Localization Support in Report Viewer and Report Designer
  • Customized Fast Bitmap Lines Series & Some New Types of Trend Lines in Charts

Most of my WPF apps focus more on data capture, so I won’t be touching these new features in my day-to-day work.

GridData Control

I have been spending much of my time working with the GridData control. It is a powerful control with extensive support for binding, filtering/grouping/sorting, import/export and working with unbound data. The performance on filtering and sorting is great. Under the covers it is using PLINQ to optimize the performance with multiple CPUs/cores. The grid designer provides a simple way to create a great looking grid that does exactly what you need for your data.

Docking Manager

I also worked with the Docking Manager for WPF in Essential Studio. If there is anything in Visual Studio’s UI that you wish you could build into your app, the Docking Manager can probably help you get it done. It supports docked panels, floating panels, auto-hiding/pinning and docked tabs. The tabbed document UI that Visual Studio uses can also be created with Docking Manager via an MDI Child Mode.

To style the docked panels, there is support for 10 different themes or you can customize any of them to create your own to match existing application standards in your company.

Rich-Text Box and Ribbon

The best summary of what the Rich Text control can do is on Syncfusion’s site:

The RichTextBox control is a Microsoft Word-like word processor control that lets users view and edit rich content like formatted text, images, lists, and tables. It can also import and export .doc, .docx, HTML, XAML, and .txt file formats.

It’s like having Word in your app without the Office runtime dependency. Combine it with the ribbon control and you can create your very own word processing experience with all of these features:

  • Text formatting
  • Paragraph alignment and indentation features
  • Insert an image or any UIElement
  • Tables support
  • Page layout
  • Import and export to .doc, .docx, HTML, XAML, .txt
  • Printing and zooming
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Undo and redo support
  • Command support
  • Clipboard support
  • Read only mode

Summary

The WPF tools are really easy learn and are easy to customize and extend with styles and templates. The design experience is equally rich in Visual Studio and Blend (I was using VS 2013).

Go check them out, and happy coding!

The Dew Review – ’The Snugg’ Case for Nexus 7

It must be review season around here or something…

Last week I received a new case for my first generation Nexus 7 tablet. It is an orange leather case and flip stand from The Snugg. There are Snugg cases available for most popular smartphones and tablets (iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Surface, etc.) Here are a few unboxing shots.

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So far, I have been very impressed with the case. It doesn’t make the tablet feel noticeably heavier, and I worry less about dropping it than I did with the standard rubbery case from Google. The Nexus 7 fits snugly inside the Snugg, and there are openings to reach all of the important buttons, ports, etc. The case is very well built. I don’t feel like it is going to fall apart of from opening and closing the case the way some cases do over time.

The case functions well whether holding open like a book, holding in one hand with the cover folded around back (there is actually  a strap to slip your hand into for extra security – you can see it in the fourth picture above), or propped open on a tabletop with the flip lip tucked into the tab on the back of the case.

Here is a picture of the case with the Nexus 7 inside. My kids love the Toy Story Andy’s Room active background from the Google Play store.

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If you are in the market for a case for your smartphone or tablet, you should put The Snugg on your list of cases to consider. They are prices competitively compared to other well-made cases.

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.