Imagine a speaker that can go anywhere, play anything, and do it all without wires. Now, give it a fun shape and some wireless controls. There you go, now you have the Cyfi, which is a fantastic portable wireless speaker. This is exactly what I need for activities like camping, hiking, or even just sitting on the deck enjoying the day. Sound good? I thought it might. let’s take a closer look.
I am pretty happily married, and have been since before dating sites like Match.com became all the rage. So, needless to say, I do not have an account at Match.com or any other similar sites. That being said, I can certainly see the value they might offer the modern connected single. In fact, my sister-in-law met her husband that way. In the interest of making sure this series is complete, therefore, I wanted to mention this app and make sure that interested individuals know that they can access their Match.com accounts from anywhere using their Palm Pre. That being said,…
I have always wanted to learn a foreign language, to be able to converse fluently with people from other cultures, and to basically not feel like a total tool tourist when traveling. I’ve also always heard that the best time to easily learn a second (or third) language is during one’s formative years, and that even by high-school or college it gets much more difficult. It’s no exaggeration to say that I am well past formative, and I’ve been out of high school for 24 years. While I have never believed that one could ever reach a point where learning…
There is a fine line somewhere between homage and outright copying, and also a line between recreating the best elements of a classic in a modern setting and bringing something that was shackled by its’ time into the future warts and all. Black Sigil is a game that captures much of the magic from the 16-bit era of jRPG’s such as Chrono Trigger, Vay (recently released for the iPhone), the Lunar series and so on, but it also brings along a load of things many gamers might have hoped would have stayed back in the 1990’s. If you can’t tell…
Here is a great little accessory to make using your iPhone and iPod touch and even better experience. Agent18’s StandHere is a compact holder that let’s you go handsfree while watching video. Small enough to throw in your gadget bag, it allows you to choose the right viewing angle. In addition, a 3.5mm headphone jack lets you plug in your favorite set of speaker for an even better experience. At $24.95 it is a great accessory to keep with you all the time. I know I will…
iFrogz has quickly become one of the leading accessory manufacturers for Apple’s iPhone. From cases to headphones and charger and speakers their products are both functional and extremely stylish. I recently received one of their Wrapz cases for the iPhone 3G & 3GS to review. This silicone case comes in a variety of color choices and at a price of only $14.99 it’s worth a look. The Wrapz case is available in seven color variations: (Thick Black, White, Royal Blue, Red Ruby, Gun Metal Grey, Pink Panther and Clear. I received the Clear version. Inside the case you’ll find iFrogz…
The iPhone has continually proven it’s worth as a game platform. Many games ported from other platforms have done well while the iPhone interface has given a rise to totally new ideas. Some of these ideas are so inventive, putting the game down becomes next to impossible! Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is imaginative, beautiful and addictive!!
Ever since I graduated from college with a degree in Journalism, I have tried to keep track of which newspapers have the best writing. Consistently near the top of that list has been The New York Times (for the record, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, CNN, and the AP Newswire round out my personal top five). So, I was pretty excited to find the New York Times app on my Palm Pre.
Every year my family takes a week long vacation to visit my mother at her cabin in Maine. We make it a habit of passing through Freeport, Maine on the way up to her house each year. Freeport is not only is the home of L.L. Bean but it’s also the home to one of my favorite knife shops, the Freeport Knife Co. I am a collector of pocket knives and I carry one almost all the time either in my pants pocket or my turnout gear. It’s a tool I end up using several times a day be it…
Tonight is Friday, which means it is the start of the Jewish holiday Shabbat, which is the Sabbath. It begins at sundown on Friday and runs through sundown on Saturday. Shabbat can be a very ritualistic holiday, with certain prayers and other activities which occur at specified times. Of course, since nothing can ever be too easy, these times change based upon when sundown occurs.
Netbooks are all the rage, and while Linux did start out on netbooks, it seems Microsoft has been getting the lion share of the shipments. Well, if you have a netbook and are tired of Windows XP, but your hardware is too anemic Windows Vista or you don’t think you are geek enough for Linux, maybe you should try Jolicloud. Jolicloud is based on Ubuntu Linux, the Linux OS that is considered the easiest Linux distribution to use. It has been getting a lot of love from such sites as Lifehacker, PC Magazine and Cranky Geeks. How good is it?…
It is like a shared ritual. We have all been there. Your friend, mother, mother-in-law, or another random visitor is coming into town for a visit. Your job is to meet them at the airport. Unless you live across the street from the airport, this requires an incredible feat of timing and coordination. Otherwise, your friend ends up standing outside baggage claim for half an hour…or you are driving around the terminal in endless circles (don’t even think about pulling over to catch your breath). What you need is some app which will give you the status of any flight. …
This quick tip may be obvious to many but it is easy to forget (as I did) so I thought I might share it with everyone. It is especially useful for iPhone 3G and 3GS users but really applies to anyone using a data connected phone and living on the edge… of a 3G signal. Here’s the story…
I am a huge fan of the Joby Gorillapod, a fantastically flexible mini tripod. It is one of my favorite gadgets for my camera. Well, now the good folks at Joby have brought the latest in the Gorilla line, the Gorillatorch. This is an ultra-bright light, mounted atop the same three flexible legs as the Gorillapod. At the end of those legs are magnetic feet, which allow you to position the light wherever you need it most. This would be the perfect solution for workshops, autoshops, and even camping. Hit the jump for the full press release.
This is the Olympus E-P1 , the digital camera that set a million tongues wagging when it was announced. The first Olympus camera to be based on the Micro Four-Thirds standard co-developed with Panasonic, the E-P1 is supposed to be able to capture close to professional DSLR (digital SLR) quality photographs, in a form-factor barely larger than a compact point and shoot camera. The E-P1 is also one of the smallest digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. I’m not a professional photographer, and my experience with digital cameras has thus far been limited to point and shoots, so bear in mind…
Speck Products has been making cases and protective products for a wide range of laptops, mp3 players, and smartphones since 2001. Earlier this spring we took a look at one of Speck’s newest cases, the CandyShell for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The CandyShell is an interesting concept with a hard plastic outer shell that slides nicely into and out of pockets and a softer interior that is intended to provide cushioning in the event of a drop or hard bump. Speck recently updated the CandyShell line with five new color combinations: BubbleMaker Pink, BatWing Black, AquaBerry Blue, WaxStick White,…
I discovered PhotoFunia on my morning AppMiner hunt the day it was released. Being a big fan of photo apps, it was easy to choose to download since it was free. I usually shy away from web-based apps, but this one looked interesting enough to try out. PhotoFunia is an iPhone port of an online photo editing application that can be found at photofunia.com. This app is simple and straight forward. There is a list of photo templates to choose from. Any new templates are at the top and labeled as new. The number of styles and options is quite…
I’m originally from Detroit. Recently, the city’s main newspapers stopped most home delivery of the paper. My mother was devastated. Why? Because she loved doing the daily crossword puzzle and doing it on the computer just wasn’t as convenient as sitting in your most comfortable chair with the paper folded up and a pen in your hand. So I mentioned that I was considering buying the NY Times Crossword puzzle app for my iPhone (she has an iPhone too). I told her it might be a reasonable replacement for her lost daily puzzles. So we both decided to check it…
all pictures are thumbnails; click them to enlarge Right before I finished up the HP Pavilion dv2 laptop review, I was sent a couple of boxes containing an HP Pavilion dv6z-1299lx and an HP Mini 110-1036NR. Even though I knew the purpose of the experiment which was about to happen, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone in the world would need two laptops? The answer to that question is actually quite simple…
Since late May, my main phone has been a Nokia E71x. It is my first Symbian phone, but I owned Nokia feature phones before and had good memories of them, so I was quite excited to get to know a smarter, fancier Nokia. I’d read good things about Symbian as well as bad ones. Universally, the hardware was praised, but the software reception was a good more lukewarm. My E71x and I have good days and bad days; last week I was ready to sing its praises to the world, this week I’m a bit more annoyed and seem to…
The single biggest problem my wife and other family members have is making sure that their data is backed up. The HP Mediasmart LX195 will help you make sure that data is safe and a while lot more. This server is based on Microsoft’s Windows Home Server. It’s not my normal operating system of choice, but I think that Microsoft and HP have done a good thing here. They have done something that is difficult with Linux. They have made it extremely easy to setup a media server and a backup server all in the same tidy package. Try as…