2009 | Gear Diary

2009 Kia Borrego: Right truck, wrong time?

As fuel prices reached all-time highs late last summer, Kia found itself introducing its newest vehicle to the American market at the worst possible time. Another big SUV into a market already overcrowded, with consumer buying trends heading in different directions. Fast forward to spring 2009, and as the U.S. prepares for vacation season amidst much lower fuel prices – but an uncertain economy – Kia once again finds itself facing challenging issues selling the new truck.

Reviews

Flight Control for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to be an air traffic controller, without all the stress often associated with the frenetic position? Flight Control from Firemint puts you in the seat of air traffic controller responsible for landing planes at your own airport. Get each plane to its proper runaway without crashing into another plane and you earn points. The more points you earn, the harder the game becomes. Flight Control has been in the list of top 20 paid iTunes App Stores apps for weeks. It’s a highly addictive and very challenging game. Let’s take a look.

Reviews

Radius Atomic Bass Earphones for iPhone W/ Built-in Mic – Review

I’ve become spoiled. I have reviewed numerous excellent headsets over the past year and a half, and in the process I’ve got used to the high end sound of really good buds. It was in fact, the inability to use anything but the stock Apple earbuds that prompted me to return the new Shuffle I bought in exchange for a Nano. (Although as Larry pointed out, adapters that solve this issue are on the horizon.) As a result, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the Radius Atomic Bass Aluminum Earphones for iPhone W/ Built-in Mic that were sent…

Reviews

CoverBee Netbook Case Review

Netbook popularity continues to grow every day, but cute netbook cases are still pretty hard to come by. I love my tech toys, but I also love to accessorize them. I like cases that look fresh and feminine, something different than the traditional, boring flat black leather or neoprene. There is no reason that cases can’t be both functional and attractive! There are a few companies out there that understand the desire for a pretty laptop case, and CoverBee is one of them. CoverBee is a company from Holland that is dedicated to creating functional, fashionable cases for laptops of…

Editorials

Keyport Key Fob – Product Vaporware

Promises, promises, promises. At one time in my life I worked for a small, start up company. For the entire first year the company existed all we did was market. We had no product to sell, only a few working prototypes. We traveled the world displaying these prototypes at trade shows to very interested customers. We had the prettiest booth and the best brochures but nothing to sell. We even promised release dates. But these quickly came and went and eventually our potential customers became upset. They lost their patience. They wanted the product and they wanted it now. When…

Reviews

VR+ Voice Recording App for BlackBerry & iPhone Review

ShapeServices has been very busy lately, releasing a wide variety of new and updated mobile applications. You may have read Adrian’s recent review of ShapeServices’ Mobiola xPlayer, or Wayne’s coverage of their popular all-in-one instant messenger, IM+. This week I’ve been using their VR+ voice recording application, which is available for BlackBerry and iPhone/iPod Touch. VR+ lets you create voice recordings — or even entire podcasts — on the go, and share the recordings via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Blogger.com.

Reviews

Colgate Wisp – brush and freshen your teeth while on the go

Have you ever been caught away from home and wished there was a way after a big meal that you could stop and brush your teeth before going into an important client meeting? I know it’s happened to me more than once. Now there’s a way that you can freshen your breath without carrying an entire toothbrush and toothpaste in your purse or briefcase. Colgate Wisp’s claim to be able to freshen your breath while wiping the crud off your teeth – all without the use of any water. How well do they work?

Reviews

iSkin USB Power Charger Review

The iSkin USB power charger is a convenient way to charge all of your USB powered electronic devices. From your iPod to your iPhone to anything in between (providing it’s a low powered USB device with an input power rating of 5 Volts) The charger has a glossy black and gray look and it folds away for easy storage.

Reviews

Griffin Reflect Mirrored Case for iPhone 3G Review

Do you have a white iPhone and are sometimes jealous of the black? Do you have a black iPhone and want to protect it while maintaining a little bit of its original look and style. The combination of black and chrome is undeniably a sexy one and the Griffin Reflect Mirrored case from Griffin Technology puts the two together in a sleek and functional case for the iPhone 3G.

Reviews

Speck Fitted Case for iPod Touch and iPod Nano – Review

The day I got my new MacBook I immediately put a Speck SeeThru hard shell on it. At $49.95 it was expensive, but having now used it for a number of months, it was worth every penny. The case is clear, doesn’t add much thickness or weight and offers amazing protection for my MacBook. It gives me piece of mind knowing that I don’t have to “baby” my… baby. And I’m not the only one. Judie has a SeeThru on her MacBook Air and, “NEVER takes it off.” I/WE highly recommend it! Speck was kind enough to send us some…

Reviews

Review: iSkin Pro Touch for Apple Keyboard & Mouse

Do you share a computer at work? Are you kids constantly spilling things around your home computer? Do you simply want to make sure your home or work station stays clean? Do you love the Mighty Mouse but wish it had some color to it? The iSkin Pro Touch is a heavy duty silicone skin, made for the Apple Mighty Mouse, and Apple keyboards, which comes in a variety of colors. The skin protects your Mighty Mouse and Keyboard from life’s dangers while providing the user with a nice feel. I was recently sent a Pro Touch for the Apple…

Reviews

Qstarz BT-Q1000X GPS / Data Logger Review

While most people use either a car style GPS, a handheld style GPS or a phone with integrated GPS, this is a device that’s a little different. Like the Visiontac VGPS-900, the Qstar BT-Q1000X is a data logger device primarily, but can be used as a navigation device via bluetooth or USB. A data logger GPS primary function is to log where you have been. It is not as concerned with presenting data during your trip, but it’s more for creating a travel log of the places you have been.

How to Do It Yourself!

How to Run the Slingbox iPhone Application on 3G

When Mac Rumors first leaked the story that the Slingbox application for the iPhone was set to launch cries of joy rang out from iPhone users everywhere. That is until they read further and learned that the application would only run on a wifi connection. For fear of overloading their network AT&T apparently asked Apple to restrict use of the Slingbox application. Luckily for those users who running Jailbroken iPhones there’s a nifty utility called “VOIPover3G” which tricks applications into thinking there is a wifi connection present when in fact there’s only a 3G. This allows the Slingbox application to…

Reviews

Wi-Ex zBoost YX510 PCS-CEL Wireless Extender Review

I live as close to the middle of nowhere as possible, and that’s how I like it. For nearly as far as the eye can see my view consists of trees, hills…and more trees and hills. I can just make out the sound of the highway if I listen carefully, but there are days when I don’t even notice it anymore. Instead I enjoy the sounds of birds chirping, wind chimes, a visiting hummingbird’s wing thrum, and always a wind in the trees which sounds suspiciously like being at the ocean when I close my eyes. Our home in an…

Reviews

Facebook for Windows Mobile Review

I have a confession: I am not a big Facebook user. I know this can get me thrown out of being a late-term gen-Xer and/or banned from geekdom, but there it is. However, despite my best attempts, I can’t avoid using it entirely. Everyone I’ve ever met or ever will meet seems to have a Facebook profile, so I do my best to keep up on a semi-regular basis. I spend a great deal of time on my phone, so when Microsoft released a Facebook app for Windows Mobile I was very excited to review it. Will this make me…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

Ach du lieber! Give me back my Fahrvergnügen!

Quite often I am asked “What happens when you get a vehicle you don’t like”? Well, here goes. It has been very rare that I could not find it in my heart to enjoy something about the wide array of vehicles I have tested over the years. Each one of them seems to “speak” to me in a different way. Some through their luxury – others their fun factor. Lately, many have shone through the technological advancements in the marketplace. And then Volkswagen sends me the Routan minivan.

Reviews

Mophie Juice Pack Air Review

If you’re a hardcore iPhone user chances are you struggle with battery life sometime during your daily life. You get too involved with a game, see an extraordinary amount of e-mails, do some serious web surfing and before you know it your battery level has dropped to dangerously low levels before dinner time. There are several external battery choices in the iPhone accessory market. Some clip to the bottom and just charge the phone, others are more like cases, some even have lights and lasers. Out of all of them the Mophie Juice Pack Air is arguably the most functional…

Reviews

Otter Box Impact Case for Blackberry Curve Review

After purchasing a bright shiny phone, I don’t leave it naked too long. I receive as much pleasure from purchasing the case as I do from purchase of the phone. In my opinion, the case needs to protect the phone and maintain all the button functions; if it can add to the coolness of the phone, the case is a winner. Otter Box has just released a case for the BlackBerry Curve that does all three.

Editorials

It’s The Content… Stupid

We were over my in-laws’ house for Mother’s Day, and I did something rather unusual — I actually read a newspaper… from newsprint! Here’s what happened… I saw these quaint bundles of paper sitting on the counter and inquired as to what they were. My father-in-law said they are called “newspapers” and that, in his day, it was how they got the news. (I know I know… as shocking as it is, I learned that RSS feeds are actually relatively new.) I was surprised to find that the same information I read on my iPhone and Kindle could be found…

eBooks, Reviews

Big Ideas by Alex Hutchinson Book Review

One of my favorite parts of the movie “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is how the historical characters are both fascinated and frightened by the modern world. I’m a sucker for a good “Joan of Arc leads an aerobics class” gag. In all seriousness, we surround ourselves every day with inventions and innovations that we take for granted. The computer you are reading this review on, the clothes you are wearing, the medicine you’ve been given in your lifetime…how many of them didn’t exist 50 years ago? How many of them have changed the world? In this Gear Diary Book…

Reviews

Jabra SP700 – Review Redux

I reviewed the Jabra a few months ago for whatsoniphone and have been using it ever since. I love the sleek design, the ease of pairing, and most of all, the fact that the call quality is AWESOME!!!! When I first did the review however, there was a significant feature that thanks to the iPhone’s limitations I could not test. Well, the HTC S740 that was the subject of Judie and Doug’s recent fight review is currently residing with me in New Jersey. Thanks to Doug I’m (briefly) using a Windows Mobile phone for the first time in years. It…