Product Review- PhoneJoy

Last week we at the Mobile Phone Tips and Tricks Head Office in sunny England got a nice large box sent to us from “PhoneJoy Solutions” the people behind the “PhoneJoy” controller. The control which resembles the Dual Shock control from the Playstation line of home gaming consoles is one of a handful of Bluetooth based gaming controls that can be used to play games on Android phones, though how good is it?

Firstly we had to set the control up for the phone, to do this we followed the very straightforward guide on the PhoneJoy website (click here to read that guide) and with in 10 minutes the phone and control were paired by bluetooth and we were ready to go. Next we had to find something we could test the control on, for us it was obvious, we were going to use the emulators we had on the phone which allowed us to test a lot of the control such as it's flexibility and it's re-activeness.

After booting up N64oid we quickly mapped the N64 controller to the “PhoneJoy” and we were ready to go with games such as Goldeneye, F Zero X, Diddy Kong Racing and Banjo Kazooie. It didn't take long at all (30 minutes tops) to get used to the control and it soon became second nature. As soon as we got the hang of the control the racing games were a real joy to play, it was smooth, responsive and incredibly easy. F Zero X had become the game we'd all loved from the 1990's, Diddy Kong Racing was the same ludicrous fun that we all knew and loved...and then we got to Goldeneye and this was where we had one of the few niggles we had. The analogue stick just seemed a little bit too jumpy for the accurate shooting sections in the game and instead of allowing us to get clear head shots we were really having to rely on the auto-aim far too much for our liking. We've read that this is actually down to the software or the emulator rather than the control though it is incredibly irritating who-ever we are to blame. I'm willing to give the control the benefit of the doubt (due to how well it works with the other N64 games) though it is still worth noting for people who are big FPS fans. We've also had issues using the “Analog” setting of the control though at the moment I'm still putting this down to the software more than the actual controller, hopefully we will see this sorted out in the future as this is really the only issue regarding how it works.

The second, much bigger issue we have with the control is it's portability. We know it's based very blatantly on the Dual Shock controllers used by Sony in their Playstation consoles though whilst it's a good design and it's very easy to hold and use...it's also rather large. The control won't easily fit in your average pocket and for something that is trying to make gaming portable that's not a good thing. What also doesn't help is that the control can't be “bracketed” or physically “connected” to the phone like a number of the other devices on the market. Instead the control comes with a stand that the phone can sit on whilst you use the control and in some environments this is fantastic (at home, at a friends or even on a train) in other environments however this is difficult (think sitting in a car or a bus). It's a sort of weird pay off, you get a very usable and natural controller that you'll be used to using though it's not the most mobile or one you can use in every situation.

Now we've gotten the big issues out of the way we'll be honest we really like it. We think it helps you get a lot more out of emulators and some Android games (though we mainly used it on emulators). It has got it's issues and it's not perfect though we're not going to have a “perfect” control for a while yet and this does what it needs to do wonderfully well, the battery is incredibly long lasting and easy to charge the stand has a number of uses outside of just gaming and the control is a joy to use. It's made playing games from my our childhood much more enjoyable than using the poor on screen controls and really brought to life what the Android can do with the right kind of accessories.

At around $35.00 each they are worth the price if you play emulators on your phone (we advise using a top phone though such as the Samsung Galaxy S2 or HTC Sensation XE, as most others will struggle with the better emulators). The pros certainly outweigh the cons and when you think of all the games you really open up as a result of the control it's easily the worth. If you want to think of it in another way a working N64 alone costs about the same price as the control and the control can play a lot more games than just an N64.

Official website:
http://www.phonejoy.net/

Pros-
Very affordable
Easy to use
Easy to set up
Long lasting battery
Useful Stand
Bring Android Gaming to a whole new level

Cons-
Does seem to have some issues with accuracy*
Analog doesn't seem to have been perfected*
Not the most portable of devices
No "bracket" fitting

*We think these are software issues

First Impressions- PhoneJoy

With our review of the PhoneJoy planned for early next week we thought we'd write about out early impressions of the device which are mixed so far. Whilst we have had some difficulty connecting the device at times (we can't put our finger on why it can sometimes connect first time and yet at other times take 3 or 4 tries) and we've not really viewed it as being incredibly portable we've also really found that it is very easy to use, feels solid and sits in the hands well.

Also we've found (rather surprisingly) that the little stand that came with the device is nothing short of brilliant, it's not only made the PhoneJoy more usable but it's actually improved the phone's ability to do things like watching movies or live sport on the phone as it holds the phone incredibly well.

Perhaps most amazingly is just how easy it's been to map the buttons to the keys on the applications we've been using. For example using the right analogue stick as the "C buttons" on N64oid. Whilst they keys aren't necessarily "perfect" for us to map to certain consoles that's not stopping us from finding good layouts when we need them due to the huge versatility of the control.

Our next mention of the PhoneJoy will be a review which will be followed with a number of useful guides for people that have decided to be buy one.

What is a "PhoneJoy"?

 Over the next week or so we will be putting up a number of guides and even a review of the "PhoneJoy", but what is the "PhoneJoy"?

The "PhoneJoy" is one of a number of bluetooth gaming controllers which is aimed at the phone market, specifically in this case the Android operating system (and phones running versions 2.2 or above). The control has taken more than just a bit of inspiration from the very popular "Dual Shock" Playstation controller (as you can see in the picture to the left) which straight away gives it  familiar look and feel though it actually serves a second purpose, it's perfect for emulators (especially things like FPSE which is built on being a PS1 emulator).

Whilst on the face of it it looks like a PS2 controller you will notice a number of difference, mainly on the top of the control which features a switch, two lights and the charging slot for the inbuilt batteries. Despite everything, including an internal battery the control is remarkably light and easy to hold.

Whilst the control has a growing number of rivals this has the classic look that we all know and love. Whilst it perhaps isn't the most mobile of the controls on the market it does have very good build quality and a very good team behind it who are easy to contact.

Whilst we will be reviewing the product next week, we do advise that you check out the "PhoneJoy" website at http://www.phonejoy.net/ which features many more images, instructions and the ability to buy the control.

So you lot can check that out and I'll get on with playing games and testing it for the review!

How to to share multiple files from a Samsung Galaxy S2 via bluetooth

 As is the case through everything we do, we want to share experiences and what we feel is good. Whether music is what drives us or photography we will always want to share things. This guide will show you how to share a number of files via bluetooth from your Samsung Galaxy S2. The examples we are using in the images will be for music, though you can share any type of file from pictures (photographs, screen captures), videos (downloaded or shot by yourself), music (MP3, own recordings) or even office files (Polaris files).

First thing you will need to do is find the "My files" application, it should be in the application drawer (as you can see to the image on the right, below Voice Search). You need to click this then find the files you want to share.

 Although you may have problems finding the files the explorer style interface is easy to negotiate and I quickly found my "Music" folder (going into the Samsung folder and then Music sub folder). When you have found the list of files which include the file (or files) you wish to share you need to press the phones "Menu" button. You will see a menu appear at the bottom of the screen, from here click on "Share" then find "Bluetooth".

When you you've done that you will be taken back to the list of your songs though this time they will have a tick back next to them allowing you to select which files in particular you are wanting to select. Select which ever files you are wanting to share. In the image to the right you can see I've ticked 4 musical tracks from my Music folder.

When you've selected all the files you want to send click on the "OK" at the bottom of the screen. You will then get a prompt screen like the image on the left here asking if you want to turn on bluetooth. Click the "Turn on" option and your phone will scan for the devices in the local area.

When it's completed the search click on the device you're wanting to send the files to. You may be required to input some form of security at this stage before it will start to send (you will be guided on one or both devices on exact instructions and then the files will send.

If you pull down the screen from the top you will be able to watch the transfer of the files as they go through. Just remember at this stage not to turn bluetooth off as it will cancel the sharing process.

Somethings to remember:
Please do no illegally share copyrighted material, although it's possible, it is breaking the law.

Remember that Bluetooth can run your battery down so don't try sharing 100's of songs at once.
Neither the send or recipient can turn off bluetooth during the process.

How to connect your Samsung Galaxy S2 to your Laptop/PC by Bluetooth

 Bluetooth is one of the great technological advances over the past few years and no modern phone would be complete with out out. Whether you want to connect to another phone or a laptop Bluetooth is one of the best technologies you can use. In this guide we are just going to cover the method in which you connect the phone to a laptop (in this case running Windows 7).

Firstly you will need to turn on Bluetooth on your Samsung Galaxy S2. To do this you need to press "Menu" then "Settings". At the settings menu you need to click on "Wireless and network" and then "Bluetooth settings". This will take you to the screen on the right, at this point put a tick in the "Bluetooth" box to activate the Bluetooth and do a scan of the local area.

When you've located your laptop click on it and you'll get a screen similar to the one on the left. At the same time you're laptop will display a screen similar to the on the
right. If the codes correspond with each other click Accept on the phone and "Yes" then "Next" on the laptop. After a few seconds they should pair up and the laptop will install a number of drivers.

This will allow you to do a number of things, most notably play music from the phone through the laptop and move files. If you've downloaded a number of apps you really can add to what you can do and it's likely that there will be a remote control app (though I can't confirm this for sure sadly).

Time saving tricks for the Samsung Wave

We all like to save time so now I'm going to show you a few quick tricks to save a few seconds whilst using the Samsung Wave, many of the tricks are also possible on other Samsung mobiles. None of these are particularly amazing though they will help you save a small amount of time which can add up if you use the phone a lot.

We start by looking at the quick method of opening the task manager. If you want to open the task manager the "normal" way you need to go through a number of menu screens which can take quite a while and is incredibly fiddly. If you just go to the home screen and hold the "menu key" for a few seconds you jump straight to the task managed saving yourself the time and effort of going through the settings screens. In fact this takes about 3 seconds and is very direct.

The other method of finding the task manager is following this small guide:
Menu>Setting>About Phone>System info>CPU>Task Manager
So as you can see this short cut is much better.

This is a trick most users should already be well aware of but if not it's worth sharing. This little menu you can see is just a drag down menu from the top of the screen and by dragging it down you can turn on, or off, the Wi-Fi, the Bluetooth and Silent mode. This is great for when you just need to turn off something like Wi-Fi to save the battery or turn the volumne off to go into a meeting. 

Each of these 3 settings can be turned on or off through the various menu's though the fact you can do them all here is much quicker and easier than fiddling with a host of multiple screens.



 This final time saving trick takes a little while to set up so I've broken it into the steps you need to use for it to work. It's a trick that some folks will find of more use than others, though if you use the phone for one thing a lot it will be a good trick to learn. Firstly you need to open the "Menu" then click settings and "General" which puts you on this screen here. The you need to select "Gestures" from this screen.



In "Gestures" you will see a screen like this. The option you want to set it "Double tapping" and make sure that a little light is showing next to it as this is what we are wanting to use. After you click on the dot to put the light on you need to click where it says "Double tapping" to open a long list of options.

 The options screen should look something like this (though it has a lot more options than were caught on this screen shot) you need to select the option you want to use. In the case of this example it's going to be "Music" as I like to use my phone to listen to music so it's a good short cut for myself. Others may want to use it to skip to the camera, or the games or soemthing else.

By double tapping the screen on the homepage I'm now zoomed straight to my music and ready to listen to all my tracks with out needing to go through the menu screens. This is a great little trick though one that you need to really use the phone a fair bit to make the most of.

Although this trick does take a little whilst to set up it's pay off in the long run is great and really is a trick you should be using if you want to use the phone for all it's worth.




Of course the phone will have more time saving tricks though these are some of the best ones and easiest ones so are worth using and knowing that they are all there to use.