August 2009

Navigon MobileNavigator for iPhone Review

Reviews

Navigon MobileNavigator for iPhone Review

A few weeks back I got a chance to take a look at the “Lite” version of Navigon – a version without turn-by-turn routing.  Now I’m back to take a look at the full North American version of Navigon MobileNavigator. Navigon, as one of the world’s leading navigation software companies, has a leg-up that is perhaps only matched by a few competitors like iGo (especially in Europe) and Tom Tom (who have yet to relase their iPhone product).  In the past, I’ve worked with Navigon on Windows Mobile, so let’s take a closer look now at the iPhone version!

Resident Evil 4 for iPhone Review

Reviews

Resident Evil 4 for iPhone Review

Back in early 2005 Capcom released the latest iteration of the Resident Evil series. The franchise had lost much of its luster as ports of the beloved original PlayStation games seemed to be just milking the franchise for cash. Fortunately,Capcom not only remembered what the series great, they also kept up with the trend of making large changes in each new release. Subsequently, Resident Evil 4 is the highest rated game and the best selling since the original title. It was successfully ported to the PS2 and Wii consoles, and also got an atrociously lazy port to the PC. Now…

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 17: SplashID

Reviews

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 17: SplashID

We have taken a look at SplashID several times before.  This is one of the great apps coming out of SplashData, who seems to have now come full circle.  They started out developing for PalmOS, moved on to Windows Mobile, iPhone, Nokia, and even several desktop platforms.  Well, now they have come back to their roots with Palm and their WebOS.  This is SplashData’s second app on the Palm Pre, following Infopedia. Now, some of you may recall that last week I briefly mentioned how I had tested SplashID and found it to be terribly buggy.  Heck, it would not…

No Picture

Reviews

Color Claw For iPhone Review

From the Developer: Color Claw is an iPhone app that allows the user to adjust the color of a photo using another photo to provide the desired colors. Color Claw can be used to: Remove the effects of artificial lighting Add life and color to photos Give an exotic look to pictures There are 3 steps to using Color Claw. Step One: Select Your Photo Select the photo you want to process. Step Two: Select Coloring Photo The Coloring Photo provides the colors for your ColorClawed photo. Step Three: Color Claw It! Step 3 processes and displays the ColorClawed photo.

Civilization Revolution Comes to the iPhone Review

Reviews

Civilization Revolution Comes to the iPhone Review

A few weeks back, a big shot at Nintendo made comments on how he viewed the iPhone as serious competition for the Nintendo DS.  I really didn’t think much about it until I saw the iPhone implementation of Civilization Revolution, which had been very popular on the Nintendo DS.  He may have reason to be concerned after all. The Civilization Franchise is one of those, that has taken off in many directions since it’s original incarnations.  There is the mainline “Civilization” application, but there is also the Civilization Revolution game, which is a somewhat simplified form of the original game. …

Some Thoughts On the HTC Hero After a Few Days

Gear Bits

Some Thoughts On the HTC Hero After a Few Days

I have become increasingly disenchanted due to the nonsense being pulled by Apple and AT&T with regard to the iPhone and applications for it. Time and again they have actively limited the device reaching its potential by intentionally crippling or rejecting apps that make it more useful. When the Google Voice apps were pulled from the App Store — and Google’s own app rejected — I started looking around to see what other device options might be available. Ultimately, the HTC Hero seemed to be the best option. Sure, it lacks the US 3G but then again, I spend the…

Comics by Comixology (Iconology) for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Reviews

Comics by Comixology (Iconology) for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

When I was younger, my whole family was big into comic books.  We’d buy all sorts of titles.  Although we didn’t think about it much back then, today we recognize the work and effort and artistry that goes into comics.   The problem is, however, comic books have not translated well into electronic formats.  ebooks, in general, have had a difficult time making the transition (mostly due to the policy decisions of publishing houses, i think), but comics have an extra hurdle – the graphics.  Not only are they bigger, but you have difficulty deciding how to handle viewing them.  If you…

Track Your Trips in Real-Time with GPSed for iPhone

Reviews

Track Your Trips in Real-Time with GPSed for iPhone

If you have the travel bug and enjoy sharing your adventures with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, etc., then GPSed is definitely for you.   If you are a hiker, runner, or biker and just want to track your journeys in real-time, then GPSed is for you. In fact, just about anyone needing to show their location via GPS, archive their trips, or keep a log of their where they’ve been on GoogleMaps will likely find something useful with the many features in Shape Services‘ GPSed.

Chess Elite for iPhone Review

Reviews

Chess Elite for iPhone Review

Chess is one of those classic games I tend to always grab for whatever new device I get, so it was surprising to me that I hadn’t added anything since grabbing the original Chess game released soon after the App Store launched. That game served the basic needs of offering me a chess game on the go, but not much more. Since then there have been a load of new chess games added to the iTunes App Store, and the latest is Chess Elite. Let’s take a look at what the game has to offer and whether it is worth…

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 14: LinkedIn

Reviews

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 14: LinkedIn

I have to admit that I am not terribly interested in social networking.  Email is usually enough for me, though there are a few sites which I do find to be particularly enjoyable or useful.  One of those sites is LinkedIn, a social networking site for business connections.  As much as I enjoy LinkedIn however, I have always found their mobile versions to be a bit lacking.

Infiniti M reveal may be onto something

Vehicles & Gear

Infiniti M reveal may be onto something

The event takes place at the prestigious 2009 Concours dí Elegance event in Pebble Beach where Infiniti will become the first company to launch a car via a full-size virtual model. The sedan won’t actually be there as Infiniti will become the first automaker to use virtual technology mapping to project the car on a full-size clay model of Infiniti’s flagship sedan to simulate the effect. In-person attendees will feel like the car is actually in the room. “On August 14 at 6:30 PM PDT, be one of the first to see the unveiling of the all-new 2011 Infiniti M…

Comparing MacBooks - Mine is Better than Yours

Reviews

Comparing MacBooks – Mine is Better than Yours

I’ve had a Mac laptop since 2006.  I love my notebook and carry it just about everywhere I go.  That’s part of my problem. The contents of my Gear Bag My Gear Bag holds just about everything that I might need in my portable office.  I have my 13” Unibody MacBook, my MSI Wind, a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate Windows Vista Business, Office 2007 Ultimate, various other CD’s, miscellaneous paperwork, a 320GB USB hard drive and charging bricks and cables for all of the above. The bag weighs near 40 pounds. This weight is the major reason why, when I…

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 apps in 30 Days. Day 13: Open Table

Reviews

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 apps in 30 Days. Day 13: Open Table

Open Table is pretty similar to Good Food, which we looked at yesterday.  Like Good Food, just enter your current location (either by city name or using the GPS).  Open Table will then pinpoint affiliated restaurants in your area, which you can view either on a map, or in a list view.

Marble Blast for iPhone Review

Reviews

Marble Blast for iPhone Review

Marble Blast was one of those cool ideas that turns into a really great game. Initially created as more or less a demo to show that the Torque 3D engine could be used for more than the first-person shooters it had been associated with to date, but grew into a fully-formed physics-based puzzle action game. Many Mac users found it pre-installed on their Mac, and others were able to grab it from the software offers on iTools (remember that?!?). This classic game has become the latest to make the jump to the iPhone. Let’s take a look!

Sports Tap for iPhone/Touch App Review

Reviews

Sports Tap for iPhone/Touch App Review

For anyone who knows I am a coach, it is no surprise that I am a huge sports fan.  There are several good sports apps for the iPhone, each with its own positive and negative aspects.  I have finally settled on Sports Tap as my one stop score reference. Sports Tap provides stats and scores for the following sports:  MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, Formula One, Indy Car, AFL, CFL, PGA, LPGA, ATP, WTA, MLS, and major Futbol leagues worldwide. One of the first reasons I tried Sports Tap was due to including racing results.  Sportacular, which is also…

No Picture

Editorials

Is Rebel Scholar asking for negative reviews to be pulled?

Seems that Geardiary isn’t the only site to receive communication from Rebel Scholar concerning a case review. Below is the email Larry received concerning his review of the Rebel Scholar Door God. “Dear Larry,” Our legal team has closely monitored your post on: http://www.geardiary.com/2009/07/23/rebel-scholar-was-i-duped/ and has found your review unacceptable. In your post, you compare the product in the box to the picture on the site, and the title of your post further substantiates a malicious attempt to defame REBEL SCHOLAR without proper justification/replication of the lighting environment/equipment used to take the picture. We also back up our claim with…

How to get more than 11 pages of iPhone Apps

How to Do It Yourself!

How to get more than 11 pages of iPhone Apps

By default the iPhone limits the user to a total of 11 visible springboard aka home screen pages. Dayna from PHP-Princess has discovered a way around this limitation. Yes needing more than 11 pages of applications (180) is truly for the hardcore iPhone app user, but there are a lot of them floating around. This was a trick I discovered while moving around my icons. First, you have to be an app-aholic and have 11 pages of iPhone apps (and more hidden ones since they can’t be displayed). Then move some of the default apps you do not use like…

Palm Pre app Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 12: Good Food

Reviews

Palm Pre app Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 12: Good Food

We are going to quickly tackle two apps in one tonight.  I was planning to bring you a look at SplashData’s SplashID, the only secure information manager available for the Palm Pre.  Unfortunately, I had terrible problems with SplashID on the Palm Pre and could not get it to load at all.  Every time opened it, it froze.  I know others have had much more success with this program, and I have enjoyed it on other platforms, but it just would not work on my Palm Pre.  So, that is all I have to say about this one.  If you…

Seagate FreeAgent XTreme External Drive Review

Reviews

Seagate FreeAgent XTreme External Drive Review

I continue to be amazed by how much storage hard drive manufacturers cram into an extremely small space.  Not long ago, I looked at the MoreSpace drive, and was blown away by its full terabyte of storage.  So, you can imagine my delight when only a few months later, I was offered the chance to review a drive which uses half the space on my desk, but features double the storage…and it comes from Seagate, whom I already love.  The Seagate Freeagent Xtreme features a massive 2 terabytes of storage.  I think we are going to need a closer look…