August 2009

Where GPS for Android OS Review

Where GPS for Android OS Review

I reviewed Sherpa yesterday. While it was very good, it was slow as molasses. Where GPS, or what most of my friends just call Where, is an app that does a lot of what Sherpa does and more. It does it very fast. At the core, Where utilities your phone’s GPS in almost every aspect of its operation. You can manually change to any location by entering in a Zip code, so you can use this for trip planning as well. When you first launch Where, it asks if you are still where you were the last time you ran…

Only read this book if you are interested in your universe!

eBooks, Reviews

Only read this book if you are interested in your universe!

Ever tried to understand Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? Or even just wondered if time travel was possible? How about if the ever wonderful warp speed in Star Trek was feasible? These and many other questions have a serious grounding in the new book Why Does E=MC2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

Audible BlackBerry App Review

Audible BlackBerry App Review

Audible provides audio books. Customers can download the audio books to their computers or mobile devices — including iPhone/iPod, a variety of MP3 players, and BlackBerry devices. Last week, the Audible team released an upgrade to their BlackBerry application (version 1.4.2). It is no secret that I was less than thrilled with the first release of the Audible application. Performance was painfully slow (when it worked), and the process proved — for me — to be more cumbersome than simply plugging the BlackBerry up via USB and dragging the audio book over manually via Mass Storage Mode and playing the…

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 11: Classic!

One of the complaints I heard (and voiced) about the Palm Pre before its release was the lack of support for PalmOS apps and games. It felt like Palm was missing an opportunity to feature an enormous, ready-made library of apps. Additionally, with the large (but admittedly shrinking) army of devoted Palm users, it seemed like there was an almost built in path to an automatic upgrade. By not supporting those apps, it seemed as though many users might choose to stick with their current devices rather than risk giving up significant functionality with an unknown operating system. Apparently, Palm…

Tobias Batton’s Proto iPhone Game Review

Tobias Batton’s Proto iPhone Game Review

What do you get for around a dollar? A donut or some candies and change? Maybe a drink? For around a dollar you won’t get much that lasts long. Except maybe an iPhone app, and even that is not guaranteed to last very long or be useful. Proto from Tobias Batton’s Game Studio costs around a dollar, and I think it is worth every cent.

iNews for iPhone Review

Getting back to work has created a minor problem for me. Since almost every waking hour is spent either in the coaches’ office or on the practice field for two more weeks, I have a really hard time keeping up with daily news. Having all day computer access in the summers has spoiled me by allowing for a daily information overload of world and tech news. There are several news apps that I like on my iPhone, but they are not customizable. I need news the way I want it. Some world, some sports, and lots of tech. These needs…

Cable Jive iStubz & Dock Extender Review

Cable Jive iStubz & Dock Extender Review

Cable Jive makes some really simple but very ingenious products for the iPhone and iPod. They were kind enough to send along their iStubz charge and sync cable as well as their Dock Extender Cable for review. These two cables serve different purposes and both provide a great solution for your iPhone or iPod charge and sync as well as overall daily needs.

Sungale ID800WT 8" Digital Photo Frame Review

Sungale ID800WT 8″ Digital Photo Frame Review

I first spotted the Sungale ID800WT back in May when the company issued a press release to announce the frame’s arrival in the marketplace. What intrigued me is that for about $230 you’d be able to have both a digital picture frame as well as a Wi-Fi enabled monitor that displayed news, weather, Gmail and Picasa photo albums. How do the features of the ID800WT measure up in real life?

AblePlanet PSM500 Gaming Headset Review

AblePlanet PSM500 Gaming Headset Review

As someone who is a gamer but also has a busy family and work schedule, I often find my video game time late at night when the house is quiet and most everyone else is asleep. This gives me two options – mute the sound or use headphones. Sometimes it is a hybrid of these, as I leave my headphones sitting my desk as low-volume speakers. For the past several years I have used fairly cheap headphones, starting with a pair from an older Sony portable CD player, moving on to a pair of cheap headphones I bought for my…

Sherpa for Android OS Review

Sherpa for Android OS Review

One of the most touted apps on the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G is Sherpa. Sherpa gives you a unique way to discover things near your current location. Geodelic, the company behind Sherpa has put a lot of work into its interface, and it’s a very beautiful app for Android based phones. It is also now available on the Android Marketplace, so I installed it on my G1 and gave it a spin.

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 10: Sudoku!

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 10: Sudoku!

I think it is no secret around here that I am a pretty big fan of Sudoku. I have explored many Sudoku options for various mobile platforms, and even a number of alternate variations on the theme. For those of you who are new here, Sudoku is a classic Japanese puzzle game, in which you are faced with a grid of 81 squares arranged in nine rows of nine blocks each. Scattered across the grid are numbers from 1-9. Your job is to fill in the remainder of the grid by placing each number, 1-9, into each row, column, and…

Quick App - Short Hand

Quick App – Short Hand

If you send a lot of emails from your iPhone or iPod touch this app is for you. Short Hand is a small utility that let’s you create and use macros in the same way that you with an application such as TextExpander on a Mac. While it takes a bit of time to set it up the time is well worth it considering the time and effort it can save. Let’s take a quick look…

Protect Your Gear With BodyGuardz: iPhone 3GS Review

Unlike our Gear Diary friend Larry Greenberg, I only have one case for my iPhone 3GS, and am not sure how much I like carrying it with a case. The case for me has been primarily for protection. Yes, I found a case that I think looks cool, but I do not care for the added size of my phone. There are many cheap clear films to protect your gadget, but few work very well. I carry my iPhone in my front pocket and love to use it in the size and shape in which it was produced. I recently…

Palm Pre App Catalog: 30 Apps in 30 Days. Part 8: Flixster

Palm Pre App Catalog: 30 Apps in 30 Days. Part 8: Flixster

Yesterday, we started our two part look at movie listing apps on the Palm Pre with Fandango. Today, we will wrap that up with a look at Flixster. To be honest, Flixster and Fandango are pretty similar apps, with one giant difference. With Fandango, you can actually purchase tickets straight from your phone. Flixster does not have that option, it only allows you to view information about the movies and listings.

Moving Back to Windows from Mac: Why I made the Move to Mac

Moving Back to Windows from Mac: Why I made the Move to Mac

I bought my first modern Mac in February, 2008, a 15″ MacBook Pro. At the time I was frustrated with the laptop I owned – a 17″ Toshiba X205 – which was running Windows Vista Ultimate in what seemed like a most underpowered way. I was tired of being told that there were no drivers yet available for my gear, I was tired of seeing notifications pop up asking me constantly if I was sure that I wanted to do something, and I was basically ready for a change. It didn’t help that I had already seen Mitchell and Vincent‘s…

2009 Chevy Aveo5: no movie star but worth a look

Vehicles & Gear

2009 Chevy Aveo5: no movie star but worth a look

Chevrolet Aveo has been the anchor at the entry level for Chevrolet for quite some time now and is a carry over of GMs relationship with Korean automaker Daewoo. For 2009, Aveo receives a good deal more attention that began on the sedan model last year. This little econo-cruiser gets a more powerful engine, the 1.6L Gen 3 Ecotec, as standard in all models, delivering more horsepower but with the same fuel efficiency found previously.

CASECROWN Classic Slim Case Review

CASECROWN Classic Slim Case Review

CASECROWN is a southern California based company founded by self described gadget lovers. They make some of the most affordable cases around, and they were kind enough to send me one of their Classic Slim Cases for laptops to review. Here’s a quick overview of the case from the CASECROWN web site: – Perfect Fit For Your Notebooks – Premium Quality Shock-Absorbing Double Memory Foam Interior – Water & Wear Resistant; Zipper Scratch-Free Exterior Material – Light & Thin Compact Design – Internal Supporting Bands To Secure Your Gadgets How does this laptop case match up? Read on to find…

CASECROWN iPhone Polycarbonate Slim Case Review

CASECROWN iPhone Polycarbonate Slim Case Review

CASECROWN is a southern California based company founded by self described gadget lovers. They were kind enough to send me one of their polycarbonate cases for the iPhone 3G/3gS to review. An extremely simplistic case, the polycarbonate slim case is one of the most affordable snap on back covers I’ve seen.

Bluebird Pidion BM-150R from SDG Systems Review

Bluebird Pidion BM-150R from SDG Systems Review

It has been a while since I have heard from SDG Systems. Brian Fuller from SDG Systems contacted me about the Bluebird line and offered to send me one to give the once over. I chose the BM-150R which is the closest to what Gear Diary readers may want to carry. Let me say this up front: the Bluebird line from SDG is all targeted at enterprise users. They are not your typical consumer device.

Belkin Headphone Adapter for iPod Shuffle

Belkin Headphone Adapter for iPod Shuffle

When Apple first released its current generation iPod shuffle, I complained about the impact of its design on the ability to use third-party earbuds. Sure, the shuffle has a sleek design and the voiceover feature is really neat, but the fact that it lacks physical controls ties the user to the stock earbuds. After using high quality buds such as those from Etymotic it was a bitter pill… too bitter in fact and I initially returned my shuffle to Apple. Well it’s a few months later and Belkin has released an adapter that lets you use any headphones with the…

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