Anker 25W 5 Port USB Wall Charger.

This is a pretty nifty USB 5 port charger currently selling for $20 at Amazon.

Made by Anker, it is fairly compact (3.8" long, 2.4" wide, 1" high). What is cool about this device is it can charge multiple high power USB devices like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tabs simultaneously.   A single iPad or TAB  normally require more juice than your normal USB chargers yet this device can power 3 high AMP USB devices and 2 normal devices all from the same box. In fact, it is even labelled for each device. 

There are two iPad 2.1 Amps (highest output) ports, one single Samsung Tab 1.3 Amps ports, and two 1 Amp ports for iPhones, other Android phones, or any other regular USB accessory.

It is important to remember, this is rated at 5V/5A. The combine number of devices cannot exceed 5A . With two iPads, the most you can connect is probably 2 more normal devices like another two iPhones.

Here it is next to a Logitech mouse.

The real test, an iPad, 7" Samsung Tab and a Galaxy Nexus are all charging from the same charger.

It is strange that they call it a Wall charger when it is actually a brick with a small AC cable. However, that isn't a big deal for me. 

Overall, I really like this and this is ultra convenient for multiple devices. $20 isn't bad considering many 2.1 AMP USB chargers go for that much.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/RELEASE-Family-Sized-Charger-Samsung-Devices/dp/B00DVH62J2/ref=pd_sim_cps_2

Galaxy Tab 2 7"

People ask why I didn't get a Nexus 7. Well, I already own a Galaxy Tab 2 7" and I saw no need to get another small tablet. I got the Tab 2 at launch and have been using it ever since. I decided to keep my Tab 2 for the reasons below.

I use it primary as a video player.  I started to use my Tab more during the winter when I wore coats with larger pockets. I'll be using it a bit more until warmer weather comes along.

The Tab 2 is a nice little device. It pretty much plays any video I throw at it ( WMV/MKV/AVI) with the default player. Sure, there are other players on the market but it is nice to know the default player handles them.

USB OTG works out of the box; without rooting. I normally have 64GB on my internal SD card slot and I can add more. I often have up to 256GB of portable storage (bus powered) . Sure, you can dock a 3TB external desktop drive but it is nice to know you can use a cheap OTG adapter and a few USB sticks for days of video playback.

Galaxy Tab 2 vs Nexus 7? Well, 64GB on board (via microSDHC) is hard to beat. Nexus 7 has a better screen and faster processor. It also has the ability to use cellular connectivity on the $300 model.

This particular OTG dongle has 3 USB ports and various flash card inputs. I often use my TAB 2 as a remote console with a USB keyboard.

There is one major drawback. The tablet only supports FAT and FAT32 through external storage. This means you can only store video files smaller than 4GB. There are a few other tablets that support NTFS or EXT3 which overcomes this limitation. Ultimately, this means you cant store a 6-10GB mkv file on a SD card.

The TAB 2s are currently being discounted right now and I've seen them go as low as $180 at CostCo. 

If you are looking for an alternative to the Nexus 7, take a look at the TAB. It also has another nice feature that is unique to itself; an infrared sensor that makes the tablet a large universal remote control.

Galaxy Tab 2 Android running Mac OS

As you can see there is a common theme here. Retro goodness and 80s nostalgia. Here we have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 running a classic operating system, Mac OS 7.5.

All you need is a a Mac Classic or Plus ROM, a disk image of the OS and minivmac  emulator at the Google Play Store.

If I have some time, I'll pull up a copy of Basilisk running Mac OS 8 on a HP Touchpad running WebOS.

Adventures in USB OTG

One of the greatest feature of “certain” Android devices is the ability to connect to USB devices via OTG (On-the-Go). Your phone or tablet is no longer the device but the host. You have the ability to connect USB drives as mass storage or the ability to plug in a mouse or keyboard.

For me, the coolest thing is the ability to use a phone or tablet as a vt100/hyperterminal/minicom terminal. For years, in data centers, I used a IBM Workpad Z50 (Windows CE) or a Windows laptop running hyperterm to connect to switches, routers, firewalls, UPS and the likes.

For less than $2 (Amazon Link )

you can get an OTG cable to work with your Android device.

I was able to successfully connect a Galaxy Nexus and a Galaxy Tab 2 7” (using a different 30-pin to OTG cable) to various switches and firewalls.

That was a geek epiphany moment