If you haven’t already discovered how awesome it can be to have all of your magazine subscriptions delivered to your iPad or mobile phone digitally via Zinio, then perhaps this is the deal that will convince you to give it a try: Zinio has just opened up their new Z-Pass service, where customers can choose three magazines for just $5 a month from over 200 of Zinio’s most popular titles. All you have to do is make your selection and provide a credit card, and then each month your magazines will automatically be added to your Zinio library.

If you decide you made a mistake and want to swap out your magazine selections, you can do that, too! You can even add additional titles for $1.50 per month.  Zinio is offering the first month for free, so there is definitely an incentive to give it a try. To sign up, just go to www.zpass.zinio.com.

Here’s the main reason that I love Zinio: For years, I had subscriptions to many print magazines, but I noticed that over and over I was stacking up unread titles to take to the recycling center in San Angelo (or to our hunting lodge, depending upon the titles), because I simply didn’t have time to read an older issue before a newer one would show up. Unlike my eBooks, which were always with me, magazines would end up in a stack by the couch or by the bed … where they would languish. I would look at the pile, feel overwhelmed, then feel guilty, and then feel the need to get rid of them! The whole process was wasteful and demoralizing — but I started with the best intentions, and these were magazines on subjects that interested me!

Having my magazines on my laptop, iPad, iPhone, Android phones,  and now on my Windows Phone (finally! yay!) means that if I have free time when waiting in a line, or sitting on a beach, or while traveling, I can simply select one of the magazines from my library and start reading. The best part is that I have issues going back as far as the start of my digital subscription (several years worth on several titles), which means that if I remember an article in a past magazine that I want to read again or show someone, I can simply look for it in my library, download it, and it’s there! No problem! Even better, the magazines are searchable, bookmarkable, and many of them are interactive with videos, hotlinks, and other features that print readers don’t have access to!

There are only a couple of magazines that I can’t yet get on Zinio (Skeptic, Departures, and InStyle), but I have found workarounds for all but one. Of the two different methods I use to get digital magazines, I can say without hesitation that Zinio is my favorite. So if you have been thinking about going digital, but you weren’t sure if you would like it, and if you didn’t want to disrupt your regular subscription or get into some major subscription commitment, Z-Pass could be your answer.

Don’t be afraid to try digital magazines … you may find that you prefer this format. I sure do! =)

Zinio Z-Pass

Wizardry 8

When you look back at many of the classic moments and structures in gaming, the name Wizardry comes up all the time. It is the basis of all western RPGs from Ultima to Mass Effect, and its impact in Japan was key in the development of the Final Fantasy franchise. In short, all RPG roads lead to Wizardry. Now GoG.com has updated these classics (Wizardry VI came out in 1990, Wizardry VII in 1992, remade for Windows in 1996, and Wizardry 8 arrived in 2001)

Here are some details on Wizardry VI and VII:
- Includes Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge and Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant which also comes as the improved Wizardry Gold on top of the classic DOS version.
- Both Wizardry games offer classic hard-core turn-based role-playing with 14 ranked professions and 11 unique races.
- Tons and tons of treasure to find, elaborate dungeons to explore, tough tactical battles to win, and that’s just the start of the adventure of up to 500 hours of playtime.

These games are some of the most massive, well written, detailed, and HARD games ever created – and much of it stems from legendary game designer D.W. Bradley. Bradley’s masterwork is clearly Wizardry VII, and sadly at this point his legacy rests as much with the awful Dungeon Lords as with these gems.

Here are some details on Wizardry 8:
- Continue the adventure with the group of adventurers that braved through Wizardry 7, or create a new custom party from a plethora of races and classes.
- Choose a custom personality for each character and hear them speak over 100 lines of dialogue. Kindly or chaotic, burly or surly – how your characters act is completely up to you.
- Talk with intelligent characters who react to how you treat them and become your allies or enemies in your quest of 200 hours of gameplay or more.

Wizardry 8 is a sad tale of a game that struggled due to lack of publisher support. It was eventually released on a limited basis and slowly built a following. It is a great and epic conclusion to the franchise (though not a finale) and really didn’t deserve to come out with a whimper. Of this whole set, I would definitely recommend grabbing Wizardry 8 – it is rare, hard to get installed and running correctly (I haven’t played in more than 5 years due to issues getting my copy to either install or run on various laptops) … so now that GoG.com has cleaned up those issues this gem deserves to get even wider recognition!

Head to GoG.com and grab the Wizardry VI and VII bundle for #5.99 and Wizardry 8 for $9.99! You might lose the weekend … but you won’t regret it!

G5 Entertainment Windows Store

G5 Entertainment is one of the premier casual game companies for iOS, and has made quite a splash on Android, Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook. Now they have launched two of their popular games – Supermarket Mania® 2 and Stand O’Food® 3 – on the Windows Store. This is just the start for G5, as they hope to expand their reach to what looks to be the ‘third mobile OS’ going forward.

You can download the games from the Windows Store for free, and use an in-app purchase to unlock the full games for Stand O’Food® 3 and $6.99 for Supermarket Mania® 2. As noted, these games are already available on iOS, Mac, Google Play, Kindle Fire and Nook.

Here are the game trailers:
Supermarket Mania® 2 for Windows Store -

Stand O’Food® 3 for Windows Store -

To download the games head to the Windows Store:
Supermarket Mania® 2 for Windows 8 and Windows RT
Stand O’Food® 3 for Windows 8 and Windows RT

There are a million ways to shop by price online. You can sort lowest to highest, seek sale items, look for free shipping, and head to sites like eBay to try to get a better deal. There’s also plenty of places that will tell you how eco-friendly a device is, or will be over its lifetime. Enervee is looking to combine those metrics into one website that gives you a price, features, and environmental impact breakdown on major household appliances, so you can see what the true price of an item will be over its lifetime, and whether you need to feel guilty about the carbon footprint.

I pulled up an LG washer that’s very similar to the one we own, and it had a score of 67, which is deemed “Pretty good” by the site. They look at the carbon footprint (equivalent to two gallons of gas), they estimate it will cost approximately $400 over its lifetime to run, and then added in the purchase price to ballpark cost over 11 years. They seem to focus more heavily on energy, and I couldn’t find a metric that took into account water cost, but since this formula is being applied to dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, and other household items, I can see why they focused on electricity as the biggest target. You can also see Amazon reviews on select items (television only for now but more will be rolled out), as well as multiple places to buy.

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This morning Evernote brought word they were adding a key functionality that many have long requested. Yes, as of today Evernote’s Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Web applications let you set reminders for specific notes. It is a small addition to Evernote’s functionality that will make a big difference for many of us. As the Evernote blogpost notes,

Reminders are here; our three most requested features rolled into one small package:

In-app and email Alarms

Quick to-do lists

Pinning notes to the top of your note list

The Reminders feature is being rolled out for Mac, iOS and Web but if history is any indication the feature will soon appear on Evernote’s other applications. That’s good news for people like Carly who just jumped over to a new Windows Phone 8 device.

I’ve been using the Evernote Reminders functionality for a few days and I am impressed with how easy and useful it is.

To add a reminder to a note you simply tap the new alarm clock icon at the top of the note on Mac and Web. (This clock icon will be at the bottom of the note if you are using iOS.) If you want the note to come up as a reminder on a specific date and time you can add those as well.

When the time comes for the reminder to… hum remind you… an in-app alarm will go off. It can also be set to shoot off an email with the Reminder if that better fits into your workflow. On the Mac you will see a list of all your reminders. Changing the order is as simple as dragging them into a different position. And when the task is completed you can tap or swipe the note to remove it from the reminders list. It is as simple as that. Best of all, a Reminder set on one platform will sync across all platforms that support the feature. (Translation, a Reminder created on the Mac will show up on an iOS device once it is updated to support Reminders but will not currently show on Android.)

One of the challenges with most task and reminder programs is their complexity. Too often, rather than making life easier and more organized reminder and task apps make things more cumbersome and difficult. Evernote intentionally kept the process of creating and receiving Reminders simple.

In addition, Reminders notebook-based. That means adding a Reminder to a note will cause that note to appear in the Reminders section of that notebook. It is a great way to keep Reminders organized into different projects or areas of interest.

There is another way Reminders will come in quite handy- Shared Reminders. Much of what goes on here on Gear Diary is a collaborative effort. Often times we will email documents that are “in process” back and forth. Now, by associating Reminders with a shared notebook,
anyone with access to that notebook will also be notified when the note come due. In addition, since Reminders appear at the top of any given notebook, it can help highlight the most important or current item/s in that shared notebook.

Best of all this is just a first step. As the folks at Evernote note,

It’s not often that we get to unveil such a highly-requested, powerful feature, which is why we’re so excited to hear your reaction. We’re far from finished. We have big plans to expand the functionality, and to bring it to more platforms in the very (very) near future. Go on, create some reminders and let us know what you think.

Just a few days with the feature and I’m already sold on it. Check out the full release and get ready to update Evernote on your Apple devices.

Anyone who reads my posts knows I love to hunt and love to shoot. In fact, I just received my first custom rifle built by my best friend. My next firearm goal is to have a tactical rifle built. Since tactical rifles have rails, many accessories and other items can be added making each firearm unique to the owner. Of course, there are plenty of scope options, lights and lasers and other cool stuff to add to the rails, but what about for a geek like me? For those of us who love technology and gadgets added to everything we use, InteliScope has the perfect product.

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The popcorn keeps expanding at the Popcornflix movie streaming service, as Unicorn Media, a leading Internet video solutions provider, announced partnerships with Cypress and Screen Media Ventures, LLC for expanding the free Popcornflix app on Xbox LIVE (gold subscribers).  Popcornflix also owns and distributes its own content via iOS and Android apps, Roku, connected TVs and online for free.

Screen Media Ventures, LLC developed and owns Popcornflix. Cypress, in conjunction with Screen Media Ventures, developed the Popcornflix Xbox LIVE app using CypressX, Cypress is a digital agency that creates apps that provide interactive experiences across mobile platforms and gaming consoles.

Unicorn Media enables Screen Media to ingest one video file, one time and deliver that content to the Xbox 360 via a single URL- with no SDK or plug-in required via its patented Unicorn Once™ technology. Unicorn Once™ optimizes a single mezzanine file, detects network conditions and re-packages the file on-the-fly to deliver the most efficient format for delivery to Xbox360.

Users can use the Popcornflix app to view and pick new arrivals, the most popular selection or browse all movies. Users can also use the app to search movies by genre, title, actor or director.

Xbox 360 users can navigate and interact in the Popcornflix app using their voice or a hand wave using the unique, hands-free Kinect controller.

Popcornflix, a free ad-supported free Movie App, is the only independent film distributor with long-form feature-length videos. I recently interviewed Gary Delfiner, President, Screen Media Digital and creator of Popcornflix, who said he relates to my personal Gear Diary mantra of ‘complex items in simple terms’. “We provide a simple streaming video solution,” says Gary.

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With the advent of such things as Google Wallet and Apple’s Passbook there is a growing interest in virtual wallets. At the same time the need for a physical wallets is as great as ever. We looked at high-tech options like the Flipside Wallet and minimalist options like Vέος llc CNC Aluminum Wallet. Flipside has even jumped into the super-minimalist waters with their STRATA wallet. Waterfield’s new Finn Leather Wallets look like a great addition to the growing number of options currently available. As Waterfield puts it, the Finn Wallets offer “a good balance between functionality and minimalism”.

The wallet comes in two sizes.

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We talk up the folks at Eton quite a bit for their excellent emergency radios and lights. If your home and camping kits don’t have at least an Eton radio, stop what you’re doing and go shop for one. I’ll be right here waiting. They’re versatile, offer multiple features, and will last a long time. However, maybe you don’t want to tote your awesome emergency radio to a day at the beach, you just want a solid speaker to play some music. Eton has ideas for that too, and like their radios and lights, their new Rugged rukus speaker is far from a one-trick pony.

Sure, the Rugged rukus offers Bluetooth streaming, so your smartphone can stay snuggled safe in your bag while you enjoy some Pandora. And it’s splash-proof, so if high tide or a water fight sneak up on you the worst that happens is a soggy towel, not a broken speaker. But there’s more, of course. It’s got a solar panel for easy charging outdoors, PLUS it will charge your smartphone via USB. You’re powered and entertained, no matter what you need or where you’re camping/sunbathing/communing with nature.

Pair this with a Lifeproof case (or, if you’re cheap/simple, a Ziploc bag), and you really will be set for a day at the beach! Just, seriously — watch out for high tide. My parents have lost two cell phones and a Kindle to sneak wave attacks, so we take splash-proof gear very seriously in my family … I’m thinking this may need to be slipped into their beach bags this summer to avoid further electronic carnage in the ongoing battle against the water!

Rugged Rukus is available now from Rei, Amazon, and Apple for $99.99…be sure to check out!

“The beginning of truly intelligent TV”…

“A huge day for all entertainment”…

These are some of the memorable quotes from today’s Microsoft Xbox announcement presentation, which included two female media executives sharing the stage, military dogs in the next Call of Duty game, Steven Spielberg, exclusive sport partnerships, and, mostly importantly, the “All in One” Xbox One system – technology that will step behind the curtain and let you take center stage.

I felt this presentation was about smart media integration and expanding consumer offerings more than actual information beyond improved computer power/processing. The big hardware setup innovation was having HDMI cables from the TV to the Xbox One (releasing “later this year”) and the cable box to the Xbox One, which will eliminate the manual switching and hardware headaches. Other hardware specs included USB 3.0, 8-core processors, WiFi Direct and 8 gigabytes of RAM.

The presentation began on the Xbox One home screen including trending, games TV/movies, music. Users could access all areas and “switch like a TV flip” on the system. All presenters were able to change inputs to watch live TV and instantly switch among different areas using voice commands beginning with “watch”, and “show”. Universal gestures like grab & pan and swipe up were also used. Multi-taskers were treated with the Snap mode (multiple windows), Skype group video call options, and interactive TV options for award shows, political debates and more.

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For you tennis aficionados out there, the 2013 French Open is nearly upon us, and if you are gainfully employed (read: busy working away from the TV) you might have some difficulty keeping abreast of the latest match developments while at work. You know the routine: if you are an office type, IT (folks like me) are doing their darned best to keep employees from being distracted by fun and keeping their productive noses to the grindstone. If you are working on the go, it’s a bit of a herculean effort to find a place to sit down and keep up with the latest in tennis news and scores. Tennis lovers want a tool to keep them in the loop, and the faster, the better.

Luckily for iPhone users, Live Score Tennis is now available in the iTunes App Store to cater to such informational cravings. Best of all, it’s free! Free, nada, zilch, zip as in Tennis “Love” score values. Live Score Tennis boasts lightning fast notifications, coverage of more than 5,000 players, information on the big tournaments like the French Open, ATP, Challenger or WTA, plus detailed info on single players. Video highlights, rankings, statistics and more via live feed and push notifications are at your fingertips, no matter where you are.

So tennis junkies everywhere, hop on over to the iTunes App Store and give the FREE Live Score Tennis app a spin. Just remember to put your phone down from time to time, as we don’t want to be responsible for any monkeys on your backs making a racket! If you try it, let us know what you think in the comments below!

team & marke launches fläzbag tablet pillow stand

I don’t know about you, but when I think of “products from Germany”, I think of severe stuff, by and large.  BMW and Audi cars.  Fine engineering, expensive, heavy-duty.  When I think of Germany, I don’t think of goofy stuff.  Germany makes you think of wars and Bauhaus design elements and Autobahns and such.  Germans with a playful sense of humor?  It’s hard to believe.

But it’s true.  In fact, my favorite 90s show “Northern Exposure” played on this very expectation, when Maurice ordered a rare Ausberg clock which came with a German engineer to install and tune it.  Expecting some slender, black turtleneck and round glasses wearing German nerd, he instead got a loud, funny, offbeat bohemian (much to his dismay).  An important reminder that Germans, and German engineering, like Americans come in all shapes and sizes and types.  They don’t just make high-end autos, they also make things like the fläzbag, a tablet (iPad, Kindle, Nook, what have you) pillow stand. Want a soft, goofy pillowy think to hold up your tablet?  Well, maybe this time you should trust the Germans!

So if you’ve been wanting an unusual stand for you iPad or Kindle or nook or whatever, something that will stand up not just on your desk, but also on your bed or your couch or heck, even on your stomach, maybe this is what you’ve been needing.  Surf on over to the team and marke (would that be “team und marke”?) web site, where it’s available for and MSRP of between €34.80 and €54.80.  And if you get yourself one, be sure to let us know what you think below!

Zact Debuts Industry’s First Smart Mobile Service with “Never Overpay Guarantee”

As far as I’m concerned, the more choices there are out there among cell phone service providers the better.  Yes, I have AT&T and I’m okay with that, but I would be more than happy to move to another service that offers a bit more flexibility.  For example, when I was traveling, I used my data download a lot; a lot a lot.  Not every airport I went to had WiFi, and of those that did, their connectivity was, shall we say, spotty.  So I was dependent on the cell network.  With our family plan, that meant I was soaking up most of the data usage, and the family had little.  Now I’m at home, and the reverse is true.  Unfortunately, the plans that are available through AT&T are somewhat limited, and customizing them is basically impossible.  (And don’t get me started on how silly I found it that I was required to have all the phones in our family plan be in the same physical “region”, i.e. I couldn’t have a 408 number with my family living in the 512 “region”, even though my 408 number was also with AT&T  — and we’re talking about mobile phones here.)

So I was pleased to read about Zact’s “smart mobile service”.  I may not move to Zact – I’m damn lazy — but it’s good to know there are options out there.  Zact offers you a cloud-based software platform for creating your own mix of talk, text and data details, and you can even forgo buying a data plan altogether and  instead buy an app-specific data plan for maximum savings.

For complete details, I suggest you surf on over to Zact’s web site; if you’re thinking of changing your plans, this is definitely something you at least want to look at.  And of course if you do end up signing up with them, please be sure to let us know all about it below!

Google Games Center

At Google I/O last week we got to see a number of new things, including the music service we already reported on as well as the ‘-1′ to Google’s myriad chat options with ‘Hangouts’ combining chat and talk. But as a gamer who has enjoyed more and more games coming to Google Play in a reasonable time, I was interested in Google Play Game Services, the awkwardly named game center for Android games. After playing around with a couple of games that utilize the service, I was underwhelmed with what is essentially a mashup of Open Feint and Game Center that seems to offer much more to Google than to gamers — with one key exception.

Since I am certain to get some ‘Apple fanboy’ emails, let me step back. All roads in gaming lead back more than 30 years to either the PC or arcade. Early consoles were an unsatisfying attempt to bring the arcade into the home, and for many, many years pretty much any non-arcade effort on a console needed the caveat ‘for a console’ attached. GoldenEye was a pretty good shooter … for a console. XBOX Live was a decent service … for a console. And so on. They needed those caveats, because each was barely on par with what was available on the PC for several years.

So when Apple introduced Game Center, there were few who would have called the service ‘innovative’ in any way – it simply brought matchmaking and achievements and friends lists, all staples of PC and console multiplayer, to the iOS universe. It wasn’t even the first; Open Feint had already done a decent job of bringing some of these to the platform, but required the developer to code the interface to the platform into their game.

So now Google has Google Play Game Services. YAWN.

What is it? Basically, it’s an Open Feint clone that also includes several ideas from Game Center and also provides yet another non-optional way for Google to stuff their abysmal Google+ ‘social’ service down our throats.

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Dale Carnegie Training Offers Eight Smartphone Apps for Free!

“Industrialist” Dale Carnegie started a training course to help people learn to success in a capitalist system, and he did it 100 years ago.  By American standards, that’s almost unbelievable.  (If you’re in Europe or most parts of Asia, where you can see businesses that have not only been around but even in the same family for hundreds of years, probably not so much.)  And partly to show that their keeping up with the times, they’re offering eight of their smartphone apps for free.As an American, I’m surrounded by things that are short-term and new.  ”Established 1985!”  ”Serving Austin since 2002!”  Etc.  Stuff in the U.S. is new; even the oldest of the old–in the North East primarily–is only a few hundred years old.  So for me, as a typical American, anything that lasts, I dunno, 25 years or more, is really doing well.

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Oh No Fractions! 2.0 for iOS is now available

As a guy who, for a while, actually majored in math (or “maths”, for you British folks) in college, that most people “hate math” is something that always kind of baffled me.  To me, it was a always a game, and unlike writing stuff in English–where the “rules” were arbitrary, and were broken almost as often as honored–math was a game where things were consistent.  In English, i comes before e except after c . . . except that there are lots of words in which that’s not true.  In math, 2+2 always equals 4, period.  I found it comforting.

But having raised three kids who all struggled with math, I totally get that it’s not everyone who feels that way.  And its for those folks–and their parents–who are trying to learn fractions that Oh No Fractions! was created.  And now it’s been updated to include four new fraction operations so that, on any pair of fractions, you can compare, add, subtract, multiply, and divide.   The app keeps statistics for each successful and unsuccessful attempt to solve the problems, which helps you track progress.

So if you’re someone who needs to work on your fractions, or if you’re the parent of a kid who is struggling with learning them, maybe this app is something that can help you out.  Oh No Fractions 2.0 is available on the iTunes app store for an MSRP of $0.99.  And if you get it and try it out, be sure to let us know what you think below!

Magic Paint with Math: Funny Math Tutor for Kids for Android and iOS

Okay, I don’t know why but for some reason we’ve gotten not one but two different notices about new math apps this week.  (And no, they’re not from the same company.)   Given that school is just about to let out for the summer–at least it is here in Austin, anyway–this seems like kinda odd timing to me.  I mean, wouldn’t the fall be better?  Maybe they’re thinking that these will be good during the summer vacation to prep kids for school?  I dunno; with my three kids, the last thing they want to do during the summer is anything that is remotely schooly, if you know what I mean.

But be that as it may, Artem Kotov, who created the games  Defense Zone and Defense Zone II, has come up with a new painting and math combo app for your little ones to help get them going with math:  Magic Paint with Math:

The app is optimized for preschoolers and elementary school kids.  It was created for the developer’s own kid, and contains three modes:  Triplets, Training, and Colouring.

So if you’ve got yourself a little one that you need to introduce to the wonders and glories of math, and want to sneak up on it a bit, maybe this is the app for you.  It’s available through the iTunes app store and via Google Play in both a “lite” (i.e. free) version and a full paid version for an MSRP of $1.99.  And if you get it and give it a try, be sure to let us know what you think below!

Lenovo’s Yoga 11S Ultrabook convertible laptop captured a good bit of attention at CES 2013. Now it is available directly from Lenovo or for pre-order at Best Buy. If you are not familiar with the Yoga 11S Ultrabook convertible it is a thin, 11.6” ultrabook that will ship with a Core i3, i5 or i7 third generation Intel processor. That means those purchasing the Yoga 11S can configure the machine that will best serve their needs.

What makes the Yoga 11S special is its ability to quickly and easily convert into four different modes. That means the device can serve various needs as they arise. It, “offers a new way to experience mobile computing, letting people define which mode works best for them in their environments, from the park and the coffee shop to in transit, at home or at the office”.

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I’m loving the Monster DNA headphones I reviewed last month. (Read the review.) They look good, sound good and are comfortable. and now that Monster is lending support to High School Nation more people than ever will have the chance to experience them. If you are not familiar with High School Nation, it is a performing arts program that has worked with over 5,000 public high schools and middle schools over the past ten years to provide fun and free lunchtime entertainment for students. High School Nation isn’t just about providing free lunchtime concerts though. No, it goes one step further and also works with students and educators to help develop their musical talents. This is accomplished, in part, by giving them the chance to learn firsthand from established artists in performance, digital and fine arts.

So what will Monster’s role with High School Nation be? Monster will offer a specially designed booth in the Guitar Center Music Experience Zone. In it students will be able to try out products like the Monster DNA headphones, and learn about how the special MusicShare feature allows groups of friends to enjoy their music simultaneously. (As I noted in my review, I love the idea of the MusicShare feature but have not had occasion to use it… yet.) The company will also be providing Monster DNA headphones at Jam Hub music demo stations. At these stations students will be able to experiment with electronic drum kits and keyboards. It is great marketing for Monster but also gives kids a chance to try out some of the best music accessories on the market today.

And the students won’t just be trying out the headphones and other Monster accessories. No, they’ll have a chance to enter daily raffles where they can win Monster DNA headphones, hats and T-shirts. As Monster’s Noel Lee explains, “High School Nation is a great way for young people to not only enjoy fun lunchtime concerts from terrific artists, but get involved in the arts themselves and express their passion for music, art and life. With so many public school arts programs either diminished due to budget cuts or shut down completely, High School Nation provides a valuable service, and Monster is proud to get on the bandwagon.”

You can learn more here.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see some of HP’s upcoming product offerings. Among the items to catch my eye were the just-announced HP SlateBook x2 and HP Slit x2. The HP SlateBook x2 and Split x2 join the HP ENVY x2, and they expand HP’s offerings of detachable PCs (tablet computers with a keyboard dock that converts them into more traditional laptops) by a factor of three. And while the HP ENVY x2 will remain in HP’s product line, I expect these new offerings will better fit both power and mobile workers. (We’ll have a review of the HP ENVY x2 shortly.)

The first thing you will notice when looking at the three different detachable PCs at the same time is the range of color options. Time and again I was struck by the way in which HP is trying to listen to customers and deliver the products they really want.

The variety of screen sizes also makes an impression, and while the jump from the 10.1″ SlateBook x2 to the 13.3″ Split x2 doesn’t sound like much, when you look at all three computers at the same time the difference is rather impactful.

The HP Split x2

The HP Split x2 is a response to consumers who liked the HP ENVY x2 but want something a bit larger and more powerful. The result is a tablet/laptop combination powered by Microsoft Windows 8 that features a 13.3” diagonal display. The HP Split X2 is powered by a 3rd generation Intel Core  processors. Offering up HP Connected Music and Beats Audio, HP sought to create a system that would offer great sound on the go.

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Timbuk2 has a brand new bag that is ready to go with you on your next adventure. The Timbuk2 Aviator Travel Backpack is a soft sided bag and backpack in one. Carry it like a suitcase, or wear it like a backpack — the choice is yours. And because the Aviator Travel Backpack comes from Timbuk2, you know it works well when serving either purpose!

The bag/pack weighs just 4.4 pounds empty, and it offers a whopping 28.5L capacity. The Timbuk2 Aviator Travel Backpack features a laptop pocket that fits up to a 17” MacBook Pro and quickly and easily converts from a suitcase to a backpack. Padded stowaway straps and a removable hip belt make this pack as flexible as they come. And how’s this for marketing? According to Timbuk2 the bag, “…even has a place to quarantine the stinky stuff when your trip is coming to a close”.

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Shure’s new SE846 Sound Isolating Earphones are a pricey proposition. Shipping in June, they will have a price tag of $1250. That makes them more than a bit pricey. For that price however you get a Quad High-Definition MicroDriver with a three-way system configuration for dedicated low, mid, and high frequency distribution. The SE846 feature a patent-pending design includes a groundbreaking low-pass filter, a true subwoofer that enables deep low-end performance without sacrificing clarity or detail. Sound quality, noise isolation, and a design that includes an optimized nozzle angle that’s designed to rest comfortably in the ear, combine to make the SE846 Sound Isolating Earphones comfortable for long periods of use. This is aided by a lightweight design with a low profile shape. A detachable cable makes for easy replacement, something that is rather important since these headphones are anything but disposable.

The earphones also features a customizable frequency response that allows for adjustable sound signatures. Options include balanced, warm, and bright options. This is a first for Shure. And in keeping with their premium price tag the Shure SE846 Sound Isolating Earphones include sleeves in multiple shapes and sizes, an additional detachable cable, and two carrying cases. Are they worth the price? We’ll wait to see what the hands-on (or is it ears-on?) reviews have to say! You can learn more here on the Shure website.

The Huawei W1, Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 handset, has a 4” IPS LCD touch screen made of Gorilla Glass, a speedy 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 1950mAh battery, a 5MP auto-focus camera with LED Flash and a 0.3MP front-facing camera with a Single LED flash. And while these specs may not be the bleeding- or even bruised- edge of current phone technology they will certainly hold their own. Judie and I met with Huawei representatives and saw the phone back at CES 2013 in January. And while it wasn’t the most amazingly powerful handset on display in Las Vegas, it did look like a solid entry into the Windows Phone 8 market. Best of all, beginning on May 20, the Huawei W1 will be available at Walmart for just $229 on an Unlimited 30-Day No-Contract Plan. As Todd Greenberg, General Manager, US Windows Phone Sales at Microsoft observed,

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It is common practice for people to leave a key or garage door opener hidden somewhere near their house. Maybe this just happens while on a trip so someone can feed the pets and water the plants, or maybe there is always one hidden. Either situation brings plenty of security issues. Whether the keys are under the door mat or hidden under a rock, someone could get access to the keys and burglarize or vandalize your home; I refuse to hide keys at my house for that very reason. A recent Crowd Supply project strives to solve this issue with their Stor-More Key Safe. No more keys under the door mat!

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If you have an iPhone 5, then you already know that there are times when the battery can be just a little bit lacking. Mophie has long been one of our preferred ways to keep our iPhones going, and with this latest addition to their power arsenal — the mophie juice pack plus — things just got a little bit better for us iPhone users. How so? It packs enough juice to double the iPhone 5′s battery life with one charge, and there is no need to slip your phone in and out of its case to charge, because the mophie juice pack plus *is* your phone’s case.

“We’ve been pushing our engineering and design process to release a family of battery solutions for the iPhone 5 with solid protection and sleek design,” said Ross Howe, vice president, marketing at mophie. “We know mophie fans use their iPhone for every aspect of their life, from business and entertainment to travel and social media and mophie offers solutions for every level of demand that users put on their device.”

If you have an insane schedule that keeps you out and about for hours on end, then you’ll definitely benefit from the mophie juice pack plus’s 2100mAh battery — which adds 120% extra battery life. We can all use that. right?

You can get yours on the mophie.com site for $119.95 starting today (right now, go!), and it is available in monochromatic soft touch black, glossy white and metallic red (in collaboration with Product (RED)).

Here are the features that should make your purchase decision much easier …

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Google Play Music All Access

For a couple of years or more, there has been constant speculation about when we would see an ‘iRadio’ service from Apple, with some more reasonable speculation that by capitulating to streaming price demands they might have something by this June. Google has also been rumored to be working on a similar service, though more of an ‘on demand’ service like Rdio or Spotify than the Pandora-alike service Apple is reportedly working on. Well, today at Google I/O, they announced Google Play Music All Access.

The service is pretty much identical to Spotify and Rdio, but is unique in one way: for the first time your music library is seamlessly integrated with the streaming cloud library. Well, so long as you upload your music to the cloud (a process that is better than before but still pretty awful). There are also the typical ‘radio’ stations found in pretty much every service.

Google also makes big claims about the recommendation and discovery engine, but I have been playing around with the service for a little while and found the library a little sparse for my particular tastes, meaning that the likelihood of getting a useful recommendation is close to zero. But I am a rarity in that my tastes are far from the mainstream. For most, time will tell if the discovery platform here is better or worse than others. One thing I will definitely bet on – just like search rankings, there will be ways to buy access and game the system … just like on the other platforms, where regardless of how much I only listen to jazz, I still get pop music recommendations! No, listening to Anthony Braxton does NOT mean I am likely to enjoy the new Beyoncé.

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The ability to type by voice can be an incredibly powerful productivity tool. That is why I always use a version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my Windows computers, and why I quickly found a voice-to-text transcription application when I moved over to Mac. Unfortunately, at the time, voice recognition on the Mac was, at best, mediocre. It has gotten better over the years, and it took a huge leap forward when Nuance purchase Mac Speech and rebuilt the application with their Dragon speech engine under the hood. More recently we’ve seen Dragon on iOS and Mac OS X, and Apple has baked their own form of voice recognition into both their computer and their mobile operating systems. It makes a huge difference. The same goes on Google’s Android, where transcription accuracy has improved with each iteration of the OS. The voice recognition still isn’t 100%, but it is getting better and better.

Now Nuance, the leader in voice recognition technology, has released Dragon Notes, a new app location for Windows 8. Dragon Notes that lets you speak notes, to-do lists, reminders, status updates, web searches and emails quickly and easily. Optimized for Microsoft Windows 8 touchscreen tablets, including the Microsoft Surface Pro, the software lets you quickly capture and organize notes and ideas.

As Matt Revis, vice president and general manager, Dragon Devices, Nuance Mobile observes,

Dragon Notes is the perfect app for quickly creating notes, to-dos, lists and reminders while keeping you connected to the people and social networks that matter most – all by using your voice. Dragon Notes was designed with the Windows 8 touchscreen in mind, providing a great voice experience that helps juggle life and work, and makes it fun to share ideas.

Better still, thanks to the power of Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers, Dragon Notes can run even when there is no active data connection available. That means you can write with your voice anywhere, anytime. Dragon Notes isn’t the same full-blown, incredibly powerful voice recognition offered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but it doesn’t try to be. Instead, Dragon Notes offers quick access to simple voice-to-text transcription for just $19.99. Available today, May 15, 2013, Dragon Notes runs on Windows 8 tablets, as well as for PCs supporting Windows 8 and Windows 7. And if you need additional languages, language packs supporting Spanish and French are available as an add-on for $9.99. You can learn more here.

How many ways can you say goodbye?  Just waving or saying goodbye is one of the first things we learn as we’re growing up.  There’s almost no wrong way to do it.  We’ve all done it.  However not many of us have said goodbye to the ISS and it’s crew.  International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield did a cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity before he left the ISS, and he posted it to Youtube; it’s one of those videos you just watch in awe the whole time.

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One by one, Google added services that all involved storage.  It used to be 10 GB for Gmail, 5 GB for Google Drive and Google+ photos.  Now it’s 15 GB total for free accounts and 30GB total for Google Apps accounts.  Gmail, Drive or Google+ photos all count to the unified pool of storage.  Not a surprise that this has happened, as it just seemed to be the right way to go.  Some people use more for Gmail storage.  Some use more storage for documents.   Some upload a lot of pictures to Google+.  With a unified pool of storage, you can use the storage as you see fit across the three services.

What if you need more?  Google’s there for that too.  For $4.99 a month, you get 100 GB storage.  For $9.99 you can get 200 GB.

These changes will gradually be rolling out to accounts over the next couple weeks.

This is a good move for Google, and it makes it much easier to remember how much of your data you have in Google’s hands.

For more on this, check out the post on Google’s Gmail blog for free accounts and this post on the Google Enterprise blog for Google Apps accounts.

My sons will be super excited to learn that Amazon has provided their Kindle accounts with 500 free Amazon Coins which is basically worth $5. The company just announced the coins which can be used to buy apps, games and in app purchases from the Amazon App Store and on the Kindle Fire. While it sounds like each is worth a penny, it is actually an even better deal since there are discounts when users buy additional coins in bulk. Savings of up to 10% can be attained buying the coins, so if/when you stock up, go big!

I can see these being a great way to provide an allowance for kids to make purchases on their Kindle Fires. We have two Fires in our household, and the boys are totally restricted on what they can download. This will give them an option to pick a few things that are not free while saving us a bit of money.

Amazon Coins are available to purchase just like any other item from the website. As you can see there are five denominations of coins each with a different discount. Read more about the coins here, or just go purchase some here.