Nintendo DS & Wii Game Review: SimAnimals Africa

Early this year EA released SimAnimals, a game that allowed you to engage animals in their natural surroundings rather than in a zoo. You managed and guided their interactions and environments as you progressed further and further into a forest in a game that followed the typical ‘god game’ protocols. Unfortunately SimAnimals for the Wii was torn to shreds by reviewers for being ugly, clunky and boring. The DS version did slightly better, being seen as a fun but limited forest life simulator for kids. Now EA has taken the simulation to Africa on the DS and Wii once again,…

Reviews

Socialize for iPhone OS Review

If you’re into social networking chances are you visit several of the more popular sites. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and more. On your computer at home it’s easy to do on your web browser. On your iPhone it can be done as well but most of us choose to have an individual application installed on our phone for each of the social networking sites we’re subscribed to. Socialize, from Anthony Geranio, seeks to combine multiple social networking sites into one compact, easy to navigate iPhone application.

Reviews

WW2 Beachhead for iPhone OS Review

Sunstorm Interactive is quickly becoming one of my favorite developer of game applications for the iPhone OS. I recently reviewed their Real Deer Hunting application and found it to be quite entertaining. Now Sunstorm is back with a new title, WW2 Beachhead. Here’s how they describe the game play…… Buried in a beachhead bunker, players must demonstrate courage, quick reflexes and decision making ability to stand their ground against the attacking enemy. You play as the last units remaining at the critical line of defense where you fight against ever growing hordes of soldiers, shattering tank fire, and strafing gunfire…

Reviews

Sony Dream Machine ICF-CL75iP Alarm Clock for iPhone and iPod Touch – Unboxed

Sony just released their Dream Machine ICF-CL75iP Alarm Clock for iPhone and iPod Touch. It is a pretty impressive unit that works well as an alarm clock but has the special quality of working with your iPhone, iPod touch and just about any other iPod with a dock connector. At an MSRP of $149.95 is is not cheap.At the same time it offers a huge amount of functionality including a gorgeous screen that makes watching video from your iPhone or touch a pleasure. We unboxed one. Here’s a look…

Events

Please Help Me Wish Wayne Schulz Bon Voyage

On November 20, 2007, Wayne Schulz wrote his very first Gear Diary review on the Bose In-Ear Headphones. This post gave absolutely no hint that the same man who could write such a mainstream piece would also be the guy who would hit his stride posting about Crayon Sports Drinks, $110,000 New York toilets, how to research urban legends, how to get yourself fired, and so many other offbeat things. In fact, we had to create an Offbeat tag simply because there was no other way to define so many of Wayne’s postings. But more than just the offbeat, Wayne…

Reviews

A-DATA sh93 Waterproof Hard Drive Review

A-DATA recently announced the release of a waterproof and shock resistant hard drive. The sh93 Incorporates rubber and plastic along with special cushion materials that allow it to withstand a 1M waterproof test for 30 minutes and military standard MIL-STD-810F drop test. The SH93 comes in two colors : racing car yellow and chili pepper red. With capacity up to 640GB, it is designed for users to conveniently carry around massive documents without the fear of damaging files stored in the drive in the incident of accidental drop or water spills. I’m quite familiar putting hard drives to the “test”…

eBooks

The Brave New Digital World: An Interview with K.C. Blake

Welcome to another State of the eBook! This week we’re bringing in an expert to share some thoughts on eBooks, music, and movies, and where the future is taking digital media. Read on for Gear Diary’s interview with K.C. Blake of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California.

Reviews

Spore Hero, Nintendo Wii Game Review

Will Wright’s 2008 PC game Spore was hyped to the point where anything that was actually released couldn’t help but disappoint. The publishers also made some arrogant claims regarding their DRM that led to the game being quickly cracked and becoming one of the most pirated games of the year. The game offered an amazingly deep creation system but the ‘anything is possible’ shine quickly wore off as gamers worked through the chapters. Yet after all of the hype and backlash … what we were left with was a very good game that offered loads of fun. Similarly there were…

Reviews

Toshl Expense Tracker for Android Review

Sometimes it’s the simple apps that really make a difference. That is what Toshl for Android does. Toshl is a simple expense tracker. It doesn’t have a tone of options and it’s not really designed for putting a expense report together for a business. However, what it is good for is tracking personal expenses. There are basically only two tabs. First is the Timeline. This shows your expenses you have already entered in descending order. The most current expense is at the top. At the bottom you have a add expense button. Tapping that gets you into entry mode.

Reviews

Getting Started With Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10

In this, the second edition of “Look Ma No Hands, Voice Recognition Technology Today” we’ll take a look at getting started with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10 Professional. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard has an MSRP of $99. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred has an MSRP of $199.

Reviews

Spore Hero Arena Nintendo DS Game Review

The Hype: Create your Spore hero and prepare fight to become the galactic champion. An arena style fighter, Spore Hero Arena allows players for the first time to build fully 3D Spore creatures on your Nintendo DS and take them into battle. In addition, you can explore planets all over the galaxy, fight creatures, and gather parts to customize and enhance your mighty hero. Join the fight and compete in a variety of arena battles against dangerous enemies in your quest to become the galactic champion and save the galaxy. Story and Gameplay Stranded on an alien planet after you…

Game Diary, Reviews

Sudoku (Free) for iPhone/Touch App Review

Sudoku is a terribly addictive number puzzle game. The object is to fill in 9×9 grid using numbers 1 through 9 as well as filling them into a 3×3 region with no numbers repeating in rows or columns. Before the iPhone days, I was hooked on sudoku playing the puzzles on with pencil and paper. I even used to carry around a little sudoku puzzle book in my bag so I could play when there was a spare moment. My sudoku play tends to attempt to work quickly and I rarely stop before finishing a puzzle. The iPhone has changed…

Editorials

RoadID Shows Customer Service Isn’t Dead

I had to share this example of fantastic customer service. A friend of mine is an avid runner, and for her birthday I bought her a RoadID gift certificate, to be delivered electronically to Gmail account.

Reviews

Dexim P-Flip for iPhone & iPod Touch Review

If you follow me here on Gear Diary you probably know I’m quite fond of convergence devices. I really like when manufacturers release new, innovative products that complete more than one task. Maybe it’s the fact that these devices lighten the load in my gear bag, maybe it’s the fact that as I get older I prefer to have to remember to pack less things. Either way I appreciate these multi-function gadgets. Dexim has a variety of convergence devices for the iPhone & iPod Touch and they were kind enough to give my one of their newest to review. The…

eBooks, Reviews

Amazon Kindle for PC Review

(courtesy of Amazon.com) Just a few short weeks ago Amazon announced the Kindle was coming to PCs, and today it landed! Windows-only for now, with Mac OS X support promised “shortly”, Kindle for PC represents Amazon’s first attempt to strike back against Barnes and Noble’s eBook expansion. Does it succeed? I’ve been playing with it all day, read on for my review and thoughts!

Reviews

An iPhone/iPod cable that withstands a beating

From what I understand it’s a fairly common problem with the iPhone & iPod charge and sync cable. It’s also a problem that causes both costly and aggravating results. After pulling it out from the dock connector of your device countless times, the wire that connects to the dock plug becomes damaged. It’s simply not built all that heavy duty and the stress from pulling and pushing on the cord over and over again breaks it down.

Reviews

Unboxing – Seagate’s FreeAgent Go and DockStar

Seagate was kind enough to send me both the FreeAgent Go and the FreeAgent DockStar to review and the continue using. I’m quite impressed with the combination which now allows me to access over 600GB of content from anywhere in the world. Here is a quick unboxing video…

Reviews

Archos 5 Internet Tablet: A Tale Of Woe In Two Parts…

I love tablets. I used a Windows Tablet PC for years and have been chomping at the bit for the Apple tablet. The iPhone and iPod touch have been and are awesome, but I have been longing for something a bit larger. When the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android came along, I thought it just might be the ticket. Here was a slick slate tablet with a 4.8“ touchscreen with 800*480 resolution. The 32GB model is just thin and light and… it runs Android. I bit. It is an impressive device. But is it a “keeper”?

Music Diary, Reviews

Vijay Iyer – Historicity (Jazz CD, 2009) Review

Because of – or perhaps in spite of – the fact that my musical tastes fall well outside of the mainstream, I have always been suspicious of something that has become the ‘latest critical darling’, even when it is from an artist I love. In recent years I remember buying ‘River: The Joni Letters’ on release because of the artist making the recording (Herbie Hancock), his guests (Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Roy Hargrove and vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner), and of course the subject of the tribute (Joni Mitchell). I played it a few times, since nothing really ‘stuck’ the…

Reviews

iSkin Vibes and Vibes FX for Blackberry 8900 and 9000 – Review

Shock One- Elana agreed to give up her Palm Centro and try a Blackberry Shock Two- She “loves it”!! and would not go back to the Centro now Shock Three- My wife who hates using a case has found one she LOVES thanks to iSkin. She seriously loves the iSkin Vibes case I was sent for her to try and review so here’s a look at the iSkin Vibes for Blackberry Curve 8900 and Bold.

Editorials

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: The Stark Reality for PC Gamers

The hype has been building for months, and Tuesday we get what some are calling “the most powerful entertainment industry launch of the year, outshining even Hollywood blockbusters.” The launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. But while millions of console gamers are eagerly awaiting the release, many PC gamers are mourning what they see as the loss of the core elements that has made the franchise great since it launched on the PC several years ago. Rather than detail all of them, here is a nice chart that shows the changes since the last Modern Warfare game: