June 2011

Logitech Alert Review: Makes Your iPad a Home Security Solution

Now  that summer is here, you’re probably gearing up to enjoy some much-needed vacation time.   Before packing up and hitting the road, one thing none of us likes to stop and really think about is how to keep watch over our home or business while away.   Luckily, Logitech has come to the rescue with an easy and portable solution that doesn’t require us to own a private jet to maintain digital home security. Does it do the trick?  Can Logitech Al turn an iPad into your private watch dog?  Let’s jump right in and see.


New Story/Study: iPhone Owning Parents & Social Media

I’m not one of those parents who is totally panicked by the idea of all the kinds of scary things that are made available by new tech like cell phones, social media, and the like.  Yes, there are a lot of scary things kids can access or be sucked into via new technology.  But as a guy who spent his childhood in the late 60s and 70s, it’s not like it was a non-stop, safe party for us, either.   Yup, you can get talked into stuff by strangers over your cell phone, or via Facebook, or Yahoo IM, or…


The Next Innovation in Photography Could be Just Around the Corner Thanks to Lytro.

Image from Lytro Digital photography seems to be stagnating a little.   Yeah there is High Dynamic Range photography, but that requires either an iPhone or some photo editing skills that are above the skills of most people.  Other than that, little has changed other than megapixel ratings.  Lytro aims to change that soon with their new light field camera. What makes Lytro’s camera so special?  Well imaging taking a picture and not being concerned about having to actually focus?  That sounds like it may make for a bad picture.  So when do you focus?  You focus after.  That’s right I…


iPad Accessory Review: Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage

Storing information in the cloud is all good and well but with tiered data plans becoming the norm the idea of constantly streaming music and video becomes a bit problematic. After all, depending upon your plan, streaming just a couple of movies could all but do in your monthly allotment. That leaves just three possibilities. You can either constantly juggle the content stored on your mobile device (a royal pain), you can buy the largest capacity device possible And be selective about what goes on it (expensive and the iPad tops out at 64GB) or you can find some way to access…


HEX Vision Metal Watch Band for iPod nano Gen 6 Review

We’ve looked at a number of different offerings that help turn your iPod nano into a wrist watch. Some of those “nano-bands” include the iWatchz, the Speck TimeToRock and the TikToc, a product that emerged from the KickStarter product incubator. All of them serve the same function- they turn the diminutive MP3 player into a watch. All work well enough but none can match the style and class of HEX’s Vision Metal Watch Band for iPod nano Gen 6. With all metal construction and a strong clasp, the Vision stands out as a quality way to wear your nano. Here’s…


2011 Jaguar XJL Hopes ‘The Road Goes On Forever’

Jaguar is celebrating 75 years of luxury automaking. Sure there have been some bumps in the road along the way, but they have also turned out some of the most sought-after road warriors in the industry. And have you seen Jaguar lately? Heralding their three quarters of a century is an all-new flagship XJ sedan lineup, with my driveway seeing the new XJL saloon recently. For 2011 the XJ has been given a new face, a new body and a new heart – all of which work in harmony to deliver one of the best Jags yet. My favorite time…



Hitchai G-Connect Wireless Storage for iPad

Last month we brought word of Seagate’s new GoFlex Satellite portable storage. The Satellite provides 500GB of storage that can be accessed from a computer, iPad, iPhone or other connected device on the go without a physical connection and even when there is no WiFi network accessible thanks to built-in wireless connectivity. (We will have a full review shortly.) Today Hitachi is announcing their entry into this wireless storage market. The new G-CONNECT offers wireless storage and allows up to five people to access data on the drive simultaneously. As the company explains: Wireless storage for on-the-go access to content…


ARCHOS Unveils Fastest Tablets with G9 Tablet Range

Archos pulled a bit of a stunner today with the announcement of new tablets that feature a huge amount of both raw speed and storage capacity. The speed comes from OMAP 4 processors with an ARM® Cortex™ dual-core A9 running at an impressive 1.5 GHz. The large storage comes from a Seagate Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with 250GB of capacity. According to the release: The 8” ARCHOS 80 G9 and 10” ARCHOS 101 G9 are powered by AndroidTM 3.1 “Honeycomb,’’* the latest Android version. ARCHOS G9 tablets come with Google’s full suite of mobile applications and Android MarketTM, giving users…


iPad Game Review: Avadon: The Black Fortress

Avadon: The Black Fortress is an ‘old school’ role playing game (RPG) from ‘indie’ developer Spiderweb Software. I have already reviewed the Mac and PC versions of the game in detail, and since the core game is identical, much of this review will go over the same stuff. The main focus is to detail the ‘iPad experience’ – how the controls work, the graphics, and so on. In other words, I have already established that Avadon is worth buying for the Mac or PC, but is it worth a purchase for the iPad? The Hype: Spiderweb Software brings you Avadon:…


Word Scramble Challenge Edition

From time to time my wife mentions apps she has found or heard about that might be good for the Blue Plate Special. The other night as we watched the news in bed she said, “You should make that word game you always play the Blue Plate.” At this moment I realized, I had a problem with playing Word Scramble Challenge Edition. For some time I have played the game some before bed and just about any other moment I had time to kill. A while back I reviewed the game before it was in its current form which you…


Random Statistic: Married Households No Longer a Majority

I remember when I first heard about the so-called Defense of Marriage Act back in the early 90’s my first thoughts were naively that there was actually an effort being made to help prevent so many misguided kids get married and thereby decrease the divorce rate and number of so-called ‘broken’ homes, or in some other way try to bolster the institution of marriage as the core of the family unit. Nope … it was a buzzword laden title that the neocons really meant ‘we find homosexuality abhorrent, but since we can’t make it illegal we have to at least…


Random Cool Technology: Charge Your Cell Phone Battery By Typing!

Yesterday my cell phone battery was dead just after lunch – poor signal combined with heavy use killed it quickly. That is a tale all-too familiar to many. But imagine if walking could help recharge your devices, or typing on your phone screen? That is exactly the technology being described in the new edition of the technical journal Advanced Functional Materials. Here are some details: This ANU article quotes lead co-author Dr. Madhu Bhaskaran from RMIT: This is the first time we have been able to say that applying a particular amount of pressure will create specific values of voltage…


My Heart Bleeds as Much as the Screen on My LG G2X; Warranty Phone #1 Is on the Way

LG recently brought all their IPS goodness to Android with the Introduction of the T-Mobile G2X. Before getting this phone I was happily running a HD2 that still holds a spot on my shelf as my number one backup phone. With more dual core superphones launching by the minute, LG really had not dropped a flagship into the Android Community. The specs on the phone are at  the top of most lists with a 4″ IPS screen, Dual Core Nvidia Tegra, and TMO AWS bands topping 14.1 Mbps. The phone shipped with a *stock version of Android 2.2 with a…


Review: emWave 2 Portable Stress Relief Device

A while back I tried the emWave Desktop software for stress relief.  There were and are still many things that I did not like about the emWave Desktop, but my major discouraging issue with the product was that I had to be tethered to a computer during the session.  Jim from HeartMath send me the new emWave 2 Portable Stress Relief Device, which alleviates my biggest pet peeve.  Will it help me to be more diligent about using the device?  Maybe.  Did it enhance my prayer and meditation, and did it really work?  Let’s find out. The emWave 2 is…


iPad 2 Case/Accessory Review: Joby gorillamobile Yogi

Back in February we reviewed Joby’s gorilla mobile Yogi for iPad 1. It is one of the most flexible and functional cases ever and is the case that is on my iPad 1 the majority of the time. I was happy to see Joby release an updated version for the iPad 2, and I liked the original version so much that I ordered the new one as soon as I could. The case came the other day, and I am loving it. Because the iPad 2 is thinner than its predecessor, the new Yogi feels even better in the hand when used…


Sports Gadget Review: Finis XtreaMP3 Wayerproof MP3 Player

Active lives and MP3 players don’t always mix. After all, the iPod touch wasn’t exactly designed to be a ruggedized device was it? That’s where the Finis XtreaMP3 comes in. The XtreaMP3 is a waterproof digital music player that is specifically designed to be worn and used during physical activity. It is waterproof, holds up to 250 songs and comes with an arm band. Let’s take a look. From Finis: Whether you?re surfing, kayaking, or even snowboarding, the XtreaMP3 waterproof MP3 player keeps up with your lifestyle. With a neoprene band that securely straps to the arm, the XtreaMP3 supplies music during…


Coming Soon: Lenovo’s Video Docking Station with DisplayLink Technology

After a brief flirtation with using a Mac Mini desktop system in addition to my 13″ MacBook Air, I’m back to “laptop-only living”; it works well thanks to high-resolution screens, great battery life and enough power to handle just about anything that is thrown at it. One of the things that make laptop-only living easier is a good docking station that makes it possible to connect and disconnect peripherals with ease. This is especially the case with laptops like the MBA which only have two USB ports. Well, we got word that Lenovo is once again employing DisplayLink’s technology, and…



Pop Goes The Music Diary: Mixed Messages and the Spaghetti Factor

Have you heard the analogy ‘throw it all against the wall and see what sticks’ as used to see what works from a bunch of ideas without using critical thinking? It is based on the cooking test for pasta – you throw a piece against the wall and if it sticks it is done. You see it all the time in entertainment – movies that try to appeal simultaneously to all demographics by dumping in elements they assume will appeal to those groups without considering the greater context. That approach is fairly typical in music videos, where the goal is…


eBooks Are Not the Same as Music and Movies

Forbes today had a blog post that made me smack my face in consternation. First of all, it was clearly written by someone who has zero grasp of the publishing world, but more importantly, it ignored several more realistic issues in ebooks that need to be addressed first. What was the author’s argument that had me foaming at the mouth? Read on… Last December, Iwrote about an ebook killer app waiting to be built, and that I wanted for Christmas. I didn’t get it. But, with Apple’s introduction of iTunes Match, there’s a glimmer of hope that Apple (or Amazon or Google) could build my…