October 2006

The Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro Earphones Review

**While at Mobius, Jenneth and I were both presented with a set of Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro Earphones. It seemed redundant to write separate reviews about the same product, so we decided to combine forces and write a dually to post on both our sites – we’re trying something new! For reference: My remarks will be in the regular page colors, and Jenneth’s will be in blue and italicized.** Just because you have the finest digital music player that money can buy doesn’t mean that it will sound all that better if you are still using the basic earbuds…

Editorials

An Interview With Nandini of Instablogs Network

Nandini Maheshwari is the managing Editor and Publisher of a truly entertaining blog, BornRich. Launched on October 5th, 2005, it has quickly become a place where visitors can come and be amazed at what more than a few dollars will buy. Whether it be the Multi-Media Bed with RUF Cinema, the Chrome Robot TV Stand, the Solarjo Solar Power Purse, or the Sharp Refrigerator with Thawing Mechanism, Nandini scours the web to find interesting and generally quite pricey items that we all might enjoy using if they were more easily obtainable; and always, Nandini will spike her posts with a…

Reviews

The Datexx Sentina Outback Rechargeable PowerBank Review

I’m always looking for alternative sources of power for my electronic devices, which is why the Datexx Sentina Outback Rechargeable PowerBank caught my eye. Billed as a super bright LED flashlight, a motion detector / emergency light, a USB charger for electronic gadgets, a power generator, and an SOS siren, the Outback almost sounds like it tries to take on too many properties, a “jack of all trades” if you will. Let’s take a look and see if this device lives up to its billing, or if as the famous other half of the “jack of all trades” saying goes,…

Reviews

The Gomadic Double Chargers With Tip Exchange Technology Review

Over the last year I have grown incredibly spoiled when I travel because I no longer need to pack a tangle of “spaghetti”; instead, I bring along a set of Gomadic Charging Cables. The same single cable charges my PDA, mobile phone and digital music player. It can charge Sarah’s phone and Sarah’s digital music player, too; all it takes is the proper tip for each particular device. For those unfamiliar with Gomadic, I’ll state the premise in a nutshell: They sell cables with plugs on their ends which will accept their specially made tips; these tips fit many of…

Reviews

Unboxing the Universal — O2 Exec Version

The HTC Universal is the device-of-a-thousand-names: i-mate JasJar, O2 XDA Exec, QTek 9000, SPV M5000, and HAL 9000 for all I know. It’s a hefty (10.2 oz/290 g), big (5.2″ x 3.1″ x 0.93″), hi-res (640×480 VGA), versatile (3G/GRPS, wifi, bluetooth, 1.3 Mp camera, Window Mobile 5), expensive ($1000 retail–go to eBay!) SmartPhone/PDA/convergent device with a clamshell design that hides a decent-sized keyboard and an interesting open, spin, and fold screen that converts it from a sort of micro-laptop form factor to that of a regular PDA. Judie has already reviewed the Universal at The Gadgeteer, but poor Judie got…

Reviews

Double the DualCor = Double the Fun!

I just received a brand new DualCor cPC with updated hardware and software. I believe that this is considered version 0.9, which means that the release model should follow shortly. I’ll share the unboxing with you now, and post some of the new features later.

Reviews

The Vaja Motorola Q Classic MO111 Case Review

The Motorola Q is a very thin, yet wider than usual Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone which was designed to be held to the user’s face when making calls. It also sports a full QWERTY keyboard for thumb-typing and a bright 2″ wide x 1.5″ tall screen. Making a case that would keep the screen from being unnecessarily scratched, protect the majority of the device’s plastic body, and yet allow unfettered access to the keyboard and other ports was the challenge. If anyone could rise to the occasion it would be Vaja; read on to see how they did… There are…

Reviews

The HTC Hermes / Dopod 838Pro Review

Many of you by now will recognize the name HTC as the abbreviation for the Taiwanese based company High Tech Computer. They are the world’s largest manufacturer of Pocket PC and Smartphone OS based PDAs, and as such they are responsible for many of the more recognizable devices which are rebranded by companies including Hewlett-Packard, i-mate, Audiovox, and Dopod – to name a few. The device we’ll be looking at today is known by several names including the O2 XDA Trion, the MDA Vario II, Orange SPV M3100, and the Dopod 838Pro. This review will specifically cover the HTC Hermes…

Reviews

The Vaja HTC Horizontal Pouch Review

One of the treats we received at Mobius Thailand this year was a Vaja case for the HTC Hermes / Dopod 838Pro. You would have thought it was Christmas! John Starkweather had no sooner announced that Vaja had made custom cases for our new Windows Mobile 5 Phones, when the room erupted with “oooooooohs” and our eyes grew wide; there was a good reason for this. Vaja has been around since 2000, and in that time they have managed to revolutionize the case making industry. No longer the new guys on the block, they are now the leather craft company…

Reviews

BeNetSafe Internet Security Software Review

As parents we like to think that we know our kids, that we know they would never do or say certain things. But the fact is that we can never be too sure; all we can do is educate them, hope that they are being careful, and trust that they are being smart. If I were to be completely honest with myself, I’d recall doing and saying plenty of things when I was Sarah’s age that might have seemed harmless at the time, but would either be considered risky or embarrassing today. Thankfully we didn’t have digital cameras, chat rooms,…

Reviews

SeV Performance T-Shirt Review

It wasn’t?so long ago that I reviewed the SCOTTeVEST SeV Performance T-Shirt. Since then Scott, never one to rest upon his laurels, has already come out with an updated version. Now before any of you start to wonder why I am reviewing “work-out” clothes, let me assure you that there is more to this shirt than meets the eye. The Performance T-Shirt is not just a piece of athletic clothing, it is also a Personal Area Network enabled gear holder perfect for a hands-free workout session or a day outdoors. Those that loved the original sport shirt’s design and material…

Reviews

The RoadWired Pod Review

It’s so easy to get caught up in the “bigger is better” trap, and nowhere does this trend become more evident than when taking a look at what passes for some people’s gear bags. I’ll be the first to say that it is easy to understand this phenomenon, because as geeks one of our inherent traits is that we never want to be caught without the right tool. But if it’s just going to be a day spent at the zoo with the kids or hiking along a nature trail, is it really necessary to bring along everything but the…