Mobile Phones

Scott's company is shifting to using the iPhone from laptops and needs a keyboard for it. Rich says any Bluetooth keyboard will work, and he recommends the Logitech K480 ($50) or the Logitech Keys to Go. Is there a wired option? Rich says it's possible that you could get a wired to Bluetooth adapter. But if your company locks down the Bluetooth, you may be out of luck.

Max has an iPhone SE, and he recently upgraded to iOS 13. He bought a second one to keep, just in case. Will it work when he needs it? Rich suggests unboxing the phone and keeping it up to date as new updates occur. He doesn't know what may happen in the future. But the update runway may not be all that long. Still, if he waits to update it, the phone may not be able to connect to the update servers a year or two from now. So keep it updated. 

Ann complains that her iPhone won't charge in her car anymore. She gets a message saying "accessory not supported." Rich suspects that the port in her mobile device could be a bit dirty and blowing it out could help improve the connection. But it could also be time to get a new cable. They do stop working after a while and that message usually indicates a degrading connection. For the fastest, go with a USB-C to Lightning cable.

Dr. Bird spends a lot of time in remote areas photographing birds. Dr. Bird wants to know how he can attach an antenna to his Samsung Galaxy S7 so he can make a better cellular connection. Rich suggests looking at products from WeBoost. They can work for extending the cellular range. But if he's out in the middle of nowhere, he won't be guaranteed a signal where cellular coverage doesn't exist. That's where satellite phones come into play.