August 2012

Rokform Rokbed v3 mountable protective iPhone 4/4s Case Review

When is an iPhone case not an iPhone case? When it is the Rokform Rokbed v3 mountable protective iPhone 4/4s case. You see, the Rokform Rokbed v3 isn’t a case… it is a system. Oh, and it is an awesome one at that. In addition to the Rokstand we reviewed last week (read the review) Apex Carbon was kind enough to send us a review sample of the case and… more. Here’s a quick look and a chance to win the review sample. Even better, we’re looking at the Rokbed v3 AND the Rokmeister clip/bottle opener and… giving both away as…

Reviews

Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle/Dock for EVO 4G LTE, HTC One S and X Review

If you have a HTC EVO 4G LTE, HTC One S or HTC One X this sync/charge dock and cradle is for you. Seidio’s newest dock, the Desktop Charging Cradle/Dock lets you easily dock your smartphone in landscape and, for example, become a bedside alarm clock. Here’s a quick look and then your chance to win the review sample. From Seidio: Our newest Desktop Cradle combines familiar elements from our classic Innodock Jr. and convenient Desktop Cradle. The matte finish on this Desktop Cradle provides elegance to your desk or nightstand, while the sleek LED light indicates that the cradle…

Reviews

Catapult King for iPhone Review; It Brings Tons of Fun

Many iPhone users have spent countless hours tossing birds at various structures in an attempt to defeat the pigs. While I do fall into this group, I have also taken a hiatus from the game series and have been searching for something fresh. Despite the change, the idea of tossing items to knock down things is still an enjoyable task. I recently found a new game that requires structures to be destroyed by flying objects and I am totally addicted. Catapult King allows users to go medieval on some castles in a fun, destructive game. Let’s take a look. Become…

Crowdfunding

TOUCH TIME Digital Watch with Touch Screen Gets Kickstarted

Project Title: TOUCH TIME: Digital Watch with Touch Screen Status: Open Closing Date for Funding: Funding runs until Sept 30th URL of the Project: Find it here. From the Creatives: INSPIRATION: Next generation digital watch with a touch screen, Smartphone-like watch apps, “always on” display, and you never need to charge it. Today’s mobile phones and other electronic devices don’t look and function like they did in the 1980’s, but that can’t be said for digital watches. Wouldn’t it be nice to change the appearance of your watch’s time display and set an alarm with a swipe of a finger?…

News

With Nuance’s Nina “When in Doubt, Just Ask Your Phone”

Between Siri, OS X Mountain Lion’s global voice recognition and Google’s voice to text not stinking on Android any longer, the days of tapping out your messages are rapidly coming to an end. Yes, voice recognition is becoming commonplace, accurate and fast. And more and more people are finding that it’s a great way to create text. (Hell, even Elana is using voice recognition on her iPhone.) But there’s more going on here than simple voice recognition. Siri, for example, is intelligent voice recognition – voice recognition that actually does more than simply create text from the words you speak….

Vehicles & Gear

Raptor vs. Rover: Ford Puts the Mars Curiosity Rover in Perspective

In playful commemoration of the successful Mars Rover Curiosity program, Ford decided to pit its best off-roader, the F-150 SVT Raptor pickup, in a side-by-side comparison with the unique machine that is now on the surface of our neighboring planet. Ford released an infographic showing each vehicle’s key features and specifications as well as a comparison in powertrains, prowess, and pricing. For me personally, I’ll take the Mars Rover as our last outing in the Raptor found us needing assistance in getting out of some ordinary East Texas mud. Sure, the Ford has air conditioning and, well, a driver’s seat,…

Reviews

The Miniot iPhone 4 Pouch Review

It’s no secret that I love to cover my gear in wood; I’ve written about wooden iPhone cases before, and recently I shared how much I love the Miniot Cover Mk2 for iPad. Not long after finishing the Mk2 review, I ordered and received Miniot’s Pouch. I knew going into this purchase that I wasn’t going to be receiving a “play-through” case, and I knew that functionality would be a bit limited with what basically amounted to a gorgeous, albeit glorified sheath. Did that stop me from ordering? Obviously not. Here’s a quick video from GearFest, where Dan puts me on the…

Editorials

In an Apple and Everything Else Funk

Lately I’ve been in a funk. I thought, at first, it was an Apple funk. I thought it might be about the fact that Apple today doesn’t seem to have the same excitement and vision as it did under Steve Jobs. I thought it might be about a sequence of products that is becoming very evolutionary instead of revolutionary. I thought it was about Apple and where it might be heading. But it’s more than that. It’s about where the mobile industry as a whole is heading. It’s about what kinds of things we think are important (and it’s not…

Gear Bits, Outdoors

Fun Facts About the Olympic Marathons in History

It is track and field time at the Olympics, and that means it’s time for the men’s and women’s marathons! All of the running events are fun to watch if you are a runner, but the Olympic marathon is special. Since the women’s marathon is Sunday, Runners World has an awesome list of nine big moments in Olympic history. All of these will come in handy at your next quiz night, but my personal favorite is the story of Emil Zatopek: As the 1952 helsinki olympics drew to a close, Czech-oslovakia’s Emil Zatopek, 29, had already won the 5000 meters…

Crowdfunding, Reviews

Elevation Dock Review; How Some Kickstarter Projects Overdeliver

Backing a Kickstarter Project is, as Judie and I have discovered, a roll of the dice. There is no guarantee the project will get funded and, if it does, no guarantee it will deliver on time. In fact, just yesterday I received to emails about projects that are “significantly delayed”. Then, even if the project does get funded, created and arrive there is no guarantee it will live up to its promise. Then there are projects like the Elevation Dock. It. Is. Awesome. The Elevation Dock was a Kickstarter project that sought to deliver what Apple never has — a good,…

Editorials, Game Diary

Failure of Playstation Vita is Lowlight of Dismal Sony Earnings Report

Sony was another business to report quarterly earnings, and once again the results were pretty dismal for the Playstation division. Here are the basics as noted at GI.biz: Sony’s Game division posted an operating loss of $45 million as sales of its PlayStation hardware line continue to fall. In the first fiscal quarter – ending June 30 2012 – the company’s Game segment posted revenues of ¥118 billion ($1.49b/£967m), down 14.5 per cent year-on-year. The decline was partially aggravated by the strength of the Yen, but overall sales were still down 10 per cent on a constant currency basis. The…

News

Goal Zero’s Two New Solar Recharging Kits Shine at Outdoor Retailer

It seems like the recent coverage of “preppers” has brought alternative power sources into the mainstream. I have been extremely interested in solar power lately, but not because of some impending zombie apocalypse. With the upcoming hurricane season approaching, most gulf coast residents at least think of their plans if a storm does arrive. While I am usually far enough inland to be able to ride out these storms, one major concern is electricity. Solar power with batteries can allow my family some comforts and even save some food if we are without power for a few days. I also…

Editorials, Gear Bits

NBC’s Olympic Coverage Punishes Broadcast TV Watchers

There’s been plenty of ink spilled about how NBC is mishandling the Olympics. But Sarah and I are watching them tonight, and she just went on quite the rant that I hadn’t considered. See, NBC ran a whole special on the 1996 Women’s Gymnastics game, and Kerri Strug’s inspirational vault to seal the gold medal. It was followed up by an interview with Bela Karolyi. Both were nice to watch, but they highlighted a huge fail of NBC’s coverage: for so-called “prime time” Olympics, it was 8:30 before any current sports were shown! Yes, NBC has apps. And there are…

Gear Bits, News

Instant Business Card to Contacts Conversion with INTSIG’s CamCard App

If you’re a member of the professional world, you’re probably used to pocketing business cards like a pro. You slide them right into your pocket, only to fumble them out later for the information you need. It’s not a terrible system. If you’re a smart phone owner, however, you’ll know how time-consuming it is to manually enter business card information into your contacts. INTSIG’s CamCard app makes that process a lot faster and easier. Using your smartphone’s camera as a rudimentary scanner, the app targets the necessary information from the photo and converts it into your address book. The app,…

Events, Music Diary

Experience the Newport Jazz Festival Live Via Streaming Video!

Two years ago it was a big deal when the revered Newport Jazz Festival gave listeners worldwide a chance to feel a part of things by streaming some of the audio from the festival. This weekend they are taking it a step further, with a full 16 hours of live streaming video from the festival! This weekend, NPR Music and our partners WBGO and WGBH are presenting 16 hours of live video webcasting from the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival. For your convenience, here’s a breakdown of what you’ll see online and hear on WBGO. Everything is subject to change, as…

News

Why We Will Probably NEVER Know the Whole Truth About ‘Fracking’

Is Fracking – the nickname for the process of releasing natural gas by using water, salt, and sand to fracture rocks – safe? I don’t know … and I am beginning to think we will NEVER know for sure. There are three main reasons for this: – What constitutes ‘fracking’ varies according to who you ask. For some it is the entire end-to-end process involved in getting natural gas from deep in the shale layer, while for others it is strictly the part of the process in which water and chemicals are used to free the gas. In local ‘town…

Game Diary, Reviews

Sinister City Vampire Adventure HD for iPad Review

Between the latest Twilight movie and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the vampire craze shows no sign of slowing. And that is a good thing, as the mythos provides plenty of room to explore in all realms of entertainment. The most recent addition is a new hidden object game called Sinister City: Vampire Adventure HD for the iPhone and iPad. The big news – aside from the focus on vampires – is that this is a first person game, so let’s take a look at how all of it works! The Hype: Travel to the astral plane and save your love…

Reviews

Blurex Google Nexus 7 Folio Case Review

Image courtesy of Amazon Android devices are usually pretty slow to adopt cases and accessories compared to the mind numbing amount available for Apple devices. If you picked up a shiny new Nexus 7 tablet, and are on the hunt for quality case without breaking the bank, then the Blurex Folio Slim might be the answer. There was nothing available for immediate purchase when the tablet came out, so I picked up a standard pleather folio case off of Amazon for a about $6 to my door. While this case has served me well the poor fit has been pretty…

Reviews

TP-Link AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter Starter Kit Review

WiFi, 3G, and 4G connections to our devices have frequently spoiled us with almost universal access to data. Nine times out of ten, if I am connecting to the internet it is in a wireless fashion. However, there’s always that one old desktop that you want to run Linux on or an old non-connected game system. Or maybe you just want to set up another wireless access point on the second floor of your home, but you don’t have a wire or a way to run a wire through your wall. That’s all changed with devices like TP-Link’s AV500 Gigabit Powerline…

News

Flipside Sport 10LAW Camera Backpack Review

This review is a continuation of our series of camera bag reviews. Thus far we’ve taken a look at two bags from Think Tank Photo (the Streetwalker Backpack and the Retrospective 7), one from Lowepro (the Urban Sling), and another from Tenba (the Photo/Laptop Messenger). This time out we are looking at the Lowepro Flipside Sport 10L AW. This backpack-style camera case is one of the more “activity-specific” bags we have seen. It is intended for photographers who lead an active life and are looking for a bag that is good for carrying just enough camera gear, a water bottle…

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