October 2010

Windows Phone 7: Too Little Too Late? Or Just In the Nick of Time?

Francis: Monday’s press conference marked the official announcement of Microsoft’s highly anticipated Windows Phone 7. Microsoft has officially been tooting their own horn in the past months about their new phone OS and hardware, claiming that this is the new vision of Microsoft Mobile devices. Judie: The dust is finally starting to settle, and now we’ve had a chance to digest the information which came … as well as a chance to formulate some questions. Make no mistake about it, Microsoft needed a new vision for their mobile devices. The company, which for a time enjoyed their position as a…

Reviews

Flick Fishing for iPhone/Touch Review

I recently took my oldest son fishing with a buddy and his daughter. This was not his first time fishing, but it was definitely our most fruitful adventure. The kids were catching perch and bass as fast as we could get the bait wet and they were having a blast. Luckily, we hooked onto a couple of larger bass and Peyton had to learn to fight and real a fish that could really fight. Being the geek that I have made him, he asked if there was a fishing game on the iPhone on our way home. We decided to…

Reviews

Review: Sandisk Sansa Fuze+ Media Player

Sandisk has long produced the Fuze line of mp3 players and while they aren’t nearly as popular as Apple’s products, they do indeed have a following within certain communities. Since Sandisk has long had compatibility with open codecs such as Ogg Vorbis , the Linux and Open Source community loves them. Many of my friends have them and I purchased the last generation Fuze for my wife. I was impressed with what Sandisk had done with the device as well as with its price. Sandisk was nice enough to send me the new Fuze+ to review. Did it improve upon the…

Reviews

6X Telescope with Crystal Case for iPhone 4 Review

The addition of zoom functionality to the iPhone’s camera was welcomed when it was finally released. Although it’s now possible to zoom in on your subject when shooting pictures with the iPhone’s camera the distance you can close is somewhat limited. This 6X telescope with case for the iPhone 4 from USBfever.com solves that problem big time. With a 6 times zoom you’ll be able to shoot subjects that you can barely see with your naked eye. It’s literally like sticking a pair of binoculars on the end of your iPhone. Inside the box you’ll find the case, lens, cleaning…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Kia Sportage: I like you fine, thanks

I really don’t know much about those sock puppets featured in the new Kia Sportage commercials and I am no expert in marketing but I do know a good thing when I see one, and the completely new-for-2011 Sportage compact CUV is a good thing. I recognize the Kia marketing team’s efforts and believe they have done wonders for the brand. That is not to take away from designers and engineers at the automaker, though, far from it. A clever commercial or two on national television is still not going to insure corporate success if the product does not stand…

Editorials, Game Diary

Is Gaming REALLY Cheaper Than Ever?

Image courtesy of ArsTechnica Many times I have mentioned that games today are relatively cheap – especially in light of my memory of paying $60 for a Sega Genesis game for my brother-in-law nearly 25 years ago! And that is exactly the point of a new article at ArsTechnica, which calls it an ‘inconvenient truth’ that game prices have actually fallen over time. From the article: During one of our discussions on the issue of game pricing, we tracked down a press release putting the suggested retail price of both Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 at $69.99. Halpin says that…

News

App Update Alert: TabToolkit For iPhone/Touch/iPad

One of my favorite and most used guitar apps is TabToolkit from Agile Partners. I love the ability to search, download and read guitar tabs on my iPhone and iPad. The application actually knows when a tab is available on the page and will download and store it with a simple tap. As great as this app is, a huge update just went live in the app store. This is a considerable update to an already amazing app. Click here to read a full review of TabToolkit. Some of the new features: Guitar Pro 6 file format: Many TabToolkit customers…

Reviews

Campus Quilt Review: All I Got From Running 50+ Races Was This Lousy T-Shirt? Not Anymore!

Over the last three years I’ve run over 50 road races. From local 5-Ks to finishing 12 full marathons and every other distance in between. If there’s on thing that all of the races have in common, besides the running, it’s the “race-shirt.” For as long as I can remember road races have always rewarded their participants with a t-shirt which not only commemorated the event but also allowed for sponsors to get their names out to the public too. As you can probably imagine with all the running I’ve done I’ve accumulated a lot of t-shirts. For a long…

Reviews

iPhone 4 Case Review- iSkin Solo

When my wife Elana finally let go of her Palm Centro and made the move to BlackBerry she grabbed an iSkin case I had lying around to protect the handset. More than a year later I can’t get her to try another case. She loves it. She loves the simplicity, the great protection it offers and the way it feels in her hand. I can’t disagree. iSkin’s cases tend to be high quality, rather simple affairs that get the job done and, in the process, add a bit of style and color. I’ve been checking out a few of iSkins…

Reviews

Review: Philips Notebook SoundBar

Like many of you, I rely heavily on my laptop. Even with an iPad, I use my MacBook Pro all day and every evening. As much as I love this computer, one thing that totally annoys me is the speakers. It is not that I expect theater sound and booming bass, but half of the time I just cannot hear. When I am watching Hulu or Netflix I want to know what is being said and not strain to be able to pay attention. I have tried many laptop speaker solutions, but the Philips Notebook SoundBar is a clever and…

News

Random Cool Gadget: Earos Cell Phone Ear Cushions

A few months ago I had a prolonged layover coming home from a business trip, and coincidentally my wife had an afternoon class she was teaching canceled so she was home. As a result, we took the opportunity to chat for quite a while and catch up on the stuff we never got to talk about during the week. By the time I hung up my ears were quite uncomfortable from pressing my Droid against my head for so long! Now Yanko Design has a solution for just that type of problem: Earos! These ear cushions easily slide over most…

News

Random Cool Gadget: Double Barreled Marshmallow Shooter

My younger son bought my older son a cool Nerf gun with easy-load clips for his recent birthday … my younger son already has a chain-load Nerf blaster he got for his birthday earlier this year. The result? A weekend filled with Nerf darts flying everywhere! And – especially with the new one – those things can still hurt when they hit! Last summer our kids had built PVC-pipe marshmallow launchers, neither of which worked well, but they looked cool and still get used as guns and other weapons on a regular basis. It was against this backdrop that I…

Game Diary, Reviews

iPhone Game Review: Virtual City

The game SimCity came out in 1989, but its presence is still felt in every corner of the gaming industry. From new incarnations on consoles and PDAs and phones to new versions for PC and other platforms to influenced games for a variety of platforms, it is clear that Will Wright had SOMETHING right! The iPhone and iPad have been home to a number of games in this style, and I have just found my new favorite – Virtual City from G5 Entertainment! The Hype: Build a city of your dream – a residential paradise or an industrial center. Build…

Reviews

iPad Case Review- Hard Candy Candy Convertible

So you have an iPad and you love the design, feel and functionality of the Apple Case. The only problem is… you aren’t a huge fan of black. No, your style leans more toward something brighter. You know, you want a case in something like… say… red. Well you are in luck! The Hard Candy Candy Convertible has the feel and function of the Apple Case for iPad but it comes in bright red! (Oh, and it comes in black too!) Let’s take a look. From Hard Candy- The Candy Convertible iPad case combines the practicality of a flip folio…

News

Random Cool Video: Airplane With No Jokes …

And surprisingly enough, it is pretty good! Of course, it is also only 15 minutes long! When you think about it, the core story of airplane is a classic – literally! The production team bought the rights to the 50’s drama Zero Hour!, which allowed them to use anything they wanted from the script. Check this summary out: Ted Stryker is an ex-World War II squadron leader and fighter pilot who, 10 years after the end of the war, is still haunted by a decision he made that resulted in the death of several of his men. He’s been unable…

Editorials, Game Diary

Lord of the Rings Online Doubles User Base, Revenue With ‘Free to Play’ Model

I have written about Lord of the Rings Online when it was announced that it would be free-to-play, when it actually launched, and included it in a review round-up as well. It is an excellent MMORPG … and apparently it has done extremely well in the transition from subscription to free-to-play. Turbine, the developer, noted at GDC Online that the game has doubled both the subscriber base and revenue since the game became free to play. The game’s Executive Producer, Kate Paiz, noted that the revenue had doubled in spite of removing the subscription fee. But there is even more…

eBooks, News

Yet Another Reason to Switch to eBooks: Airline Fees!

We told you a few weeks ago about Scottevest’s ad rejection by Delta. Of course, Delta is far from the only airline with restrictive baggage fees. It seems like every company has extra charges for heavier bags, less room for carry-ons, etc. So what do you do if you’re a voracious reader? John Naughton of the Guardian UK stumbled on this particular issue. He was looking to bring books on vacation but realized his reading list would have eaten up a big chunk of the weight restrictions on his Ryanair flight. So he broke down and bought a Kindle, despite…

News

Love Is In the Air at Gear Diary!

This has been a celebratory two weeks for Gear Diary, as we have just seen two of our writers get married! Dan is officiating Carly and Sarah’s wedding today … probably right as you are reading this! And David and Tish were married on October 1. Please join us in wishing Carly & Sarah, and David & Tish a very happy, very wonderful, and very much loved rest of their lives!

Music Diary, News

Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of John Lennon’s Birth With A Live Concert Recording

Today John Lennon would have turned 70, had he not been shot in December of 1980. In November of 1980 he released his last record, Double Fantasy, after 5 years on hiatus from music recording. This week on iTunes they have a massive collection of his newly remastered work, including a free version of Starting Over from Double Fantasy. There is even a 11-CD ‘signature box’ with loads and loads of extras. If you want to listen to some great live Lennon, head on over to Wolfgang’s Vault John Lennon Tribute, where they are featuring a 1972 John Lennon concert…

eBooks, News

Random House Loves eBooks, but Not iBooks

(image courtesy psdgraphics) Random House was the only major publisher last year to hold out and refuse to work with Apple on an “agency pricing” system. They basically said setting prices was not their job, but that of the retailer, and if Apple wanted to sell books they could set the prices too. Apple refused, and Random House has famously been absent from iBooks. As it turns out, it doesn’t seem to be hurting Random House much in the ebook department. Markus Dohle, their CEO, recently stated ebooks are currently 8% of their revenue stream, and it looks like it…

Reviews

The All In One Nest Case for iPod Touch & iPhone Review

There are plenty of solutions out there for propping your iPhone or iPod Touch up when it comes time to watch a video. Or how about when you want to use your iPhone or iPod as your bed side alarm clock? Yep, plenty of things for that too. However, most of these come in the form of a stand and that makes for one more item which you’ve got to store in your gear bag or tote around in your pocket. The Nest Case solves this problem by incorporating a stand, which allows for your iDevice to be displayed in…

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