April 2013

Findables Cases for iPhone 5 and iPad mini Review

The more I review tech accessories, the more I find that I’m less inclined to use gadgets that rely on app-gimmicks than ever before. What I mean by that is, if there is something that lends itself to having a specialized application great. But if the inclusion of an app is a little more than a gimmick that differentiates the case from the other players in that space, I’m not interested. That’s why I wanted to check out some of the cases from Findables; Findables describes itself as offering the first cases that come with an app. Findables makes a…

Music Diary, Reviews

Craig Taborn Trio Chants Review

The piano trio format is one of the classic modes of jazz composition and improvisation, going all the way back to Jelly Roll Morton in the 1920s and becoming a mainstay of popular jazz starting with Errol Gardner and Bud Powell in the late 1940s. The modern piano trio space was defined by Bill Evans in the early 1960s, but there continue to be advancements in the form. The latest album that is worthy of consideration is Chants by the Craig Taborn Trio. Musical Genre: Jazz Where to buy: Amazon MP3 or iTunes Artist: Craig Taborn Trio Description: Craig Taborn…

Game Diary, Reviews

Injustice: Gods Among Us Review for Nintendo WiiU

Injustice: Gods Among Us presents the long-standing DC Comics franchise in a high quality fighting action game in the familiar arena format. The Hype Injustice: Gods Among Us is a fighting game that blends classic Arcade style gameplay mechanics with an intriguing storyline that pits classic DC Comics characters against each other in unique combinations (hero vs. hero, villain vs. villain, etc.). The game is developed by NetherRealm Studios, and Ed Boon, of Mortal Kombat fame. Players can expect over-the-top action that is suitable for players of most ages, and a single-player storyline that provides the background for the unique…

Editorials, Game Diary

Pizza Hut Delivery Application Released on Xbox 360 … Really?

I recently saw an article from USA Today on a new “Create Your Pizza App” Xbox 360 app that lets users order food from Pizza Hut right from this game console. This free app includes the full Pizza Hut menu. The app caught my interest while the justification for the app was laughable to me. A different way of doing the same thing. Each app element was socially constructed based on our experience…how we relate to the elements individually or collectively. There are many social factors working here. Overall, pizza delivery is something many people use it and I don’t…

Editorials

Do You Own a Car?

There were some amazing discussions at Telenav’s Waypoint conference a few weeks ago about GPS, mobile navigation, and how we approach our smartphones and integration location services into our lives. One offshoot of that discussion, though, was whether GPS navigation would matter in the future since car ownership is apparently on the decline. I was surprised how many people in the discussion knew teenagers who didn’t drive much since my experience living in the suburbs was that you needed a car if you wanted to get anywhere beyond your housing development. I did some googling, and apparently, it is a…

Events, Music Diary, News

Stream the International Jazz Day Concert Live Today!

For the second year, April 30th is International Jazz Day – and to celebrate there is a large celebration concert! With the success of last year the event has grown incredibly to be a major happening. This year the concert is taking place in Istanbul and you can actually live stream the event! The site is hosted on YouTube, and will be streaming beginning at 9pm/Istanbul, 7pm/London 2pm/New York and 4am(May 1) Sydney. For those who can’t make the event, it will repeat a few hours later. The spokesman of the event is UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Thelonious Monk Institute…

Music Diary, News

iTunes Music Store Turns 10, Look Back at the Launch Event!

Over the years, there have been Luddites like has-been rocker Jon Bon Jovi who claimed Steve Jobs was ‘personally responsible for killing the music business’, but there have been even more people — most of them with data and arguments that make sense — talk about how Jobs and Apple saved and even revolutionized the music business. Regardless of which way your opinion swings, there is one thing that is certain: Steve Jobs and Apple CHANGED the music business forever. And April 28th marked the Apple event that launched the iTunes Music Store. Throughout the second half of the last century,…

Reviews

PhoneSuit Lightplay Media Projector with Android Review, Part 2

Welcome to the second part of Gear Diary’s review of the PhoneSuit Lightplay Media Projector with Android. Here, we will review the user experience and actual functionality of the PhoneSuit Lightplay. Feel free to head over to Part One of this review, where Dan thoroughly reviewed the Lightplay’s hardware and included accessories. Before we get into the meat of this review, let’s quickly recap some of the highlights that Dan talked about in his hardware review. The PhoneSuit Lightplay is a pico projector, the size of your palm, that has Android built right in. It comes with a gyroscopic remote/keyboard…

Vehicles & Gear

2013 Cadillac XTS AWD

Cadillac, like so many automakers, has gone through a product transformation of late. Adding new models, discontinuing others, all the while attempting to reach new clientele without losing the base customers that got them here. Large, luxurious land yachts have always been the staple at Cadillac but to look at the current lineup one would be left scratching their head. Where have all the big cars gone? Yes, Lincoln and Cadillac have abandoned (at least for now) the “land yacht” stereotype and offer smaller, more fuel-efficient models across the board leaving not only consumers but commercial and livery customers wondering…

Reviews

HoodiePillow, a SharkTank Product Pitch Product Review

I was watching SharkTank a few months ago when I saw the HoodiePillow pitch. I laughed … out loud. In part because the product sounds so silly, but also because we were pitched this product or something like it quite some time ago, and I thought it was a joke. What’s a HoodiePillow you ask? The Sharks asked the same question, and they were more than amused by the answer. The HoodiePillow is exactly what it sounds like — a hoodie that is also a pillow case. Put the HoodiePillow on your pillow, and you now have a “pillow with…

Health and Fitness

Early Morning Running Safety Tips – The Monday Mile

For all of the years I lived in Massachusetts and was a morning runner, which I count as 18 or 19 – Patriots Day would mark the time when people would come out of hibernation and either start exercising or take the exercise routines outdoors. As I have noted, I keep running outdoors in pretty much any weather, this winter contending with wind chills around -25. But for those who mark the Boston Marathon as ‘oh crap I made a resolution and we are four months into the year I better get my butt outdoors’ time, there is a bit…

News

3 to 5 Hours of Streamed Music from the MiPow Boom mini? Not Even Close!

We brought an exclusive first look at the MiPow Boom mini (read the post), and then we shared the first ever review of the diminutive new speaker coming from MiPow. As you might recall, Judie and I met with MiPow in January when they were showing off their newest offerings at CES 2013. We were impressed by the company and its products and were glad that the company, unknown in the US but widely popular internationally, was finally bringing their products State-side. Here’s our unboxing of the MiPow Boom mini. So here’s the thing, the MiPow Boom mini sounds great,…

Outdoors

FRODO Brings Home Automation to Camper Trailers and Other Mobile Homes

You probably have a certain level of automation that you enjoy in your home already; perhaps you use a smart thermostat, or maybe you have a home alarm. The cool thing about home monitoring and automation is that it doesn’t matter how old your home is, there are products that can be added at any time which will modernize it, making it as self-regulating and automatic as you want it to be. People who own travel trailers and campers don’t necessarily have the same options. Sure, you could drop $500K on a new top of the line travel bus with…

Reviews

iLuv Neon Sound IEP336 Earphones Review

If you’re wondering what spring has to do with headphones, the answer is: nothing, really. However, to test the noise-isolation design of the iLuv IEP336 Earphones, I took them outside and mowed my lawn while listening to Pandora. Let me tell you something, these earphones fit so nicely inside my ear, that it really did remove a lot of the noise from my gas-powered lawn mower and allowed me to enjoy the music I was listening to. The iLuv IEP 336 High-Performance Earphones have a few nice features that set them apart from your everyday, run-of-the-mill earphones. These earphones…

Reviews

Just Mobile AluCup iPhone Accessory Review

Just Mobile has made some of our favorite iPhone and Mac accessory. We met with the company at CES 2013, and they showed us a few of their upcoming products. One of them, the AluCup, struck me as one of their less compelling products. Still, there was something about it that intrigued me, and I looked forward to using and reviewing it. They sent one to us, so let’s take a look at this cup-shaped iPhone and iPad stand. The Just Mobile AluCup is the result of a combination of an aluminium cup-shaped frame that provides rigidity and a rubber insert…

Gear Bits

Confessions of a Doctor Who Newbie

I am trying to rectify a big hole in my Sci-Fi viewing history, and finally giving “Doctor Who” a shot. I knew it had a huge cult following, I knew it was from the BBC and it involved a time machine, but otherwise, I was pretty much entirely in the dark about the show. A few friends on Facebook gave me some important tips, and I’ve learned a few things from the first six episodes, so I thought I would share my limited understanding with any other Doctor Who newbies out there! Things I have learned that have surprised me:…

Game Diary

Virtual Console Debuts on the Nintendo WiiU

The Wii U Virtual Console service allows Nintendo Wii U owners to download games from the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) consoles. Virtual Console appears after updating the WiiU system. New releases will arrive constantly plus future game additions will include popular titles from the Nintendo 64 console and handheld Game Boy Advance. Players can play Virtual Console games on the Wii U GamePad controller when someone else is watching TV. Each game has/will have an official community in Miiverse, customizable controller schemes, and special save files called restore points.

Reviews, Yum Log

Vejibags Keep Your Greens Greener

Now that April showers are giving way to May flowers, there are also plenty of wonderful greens coming up in farms and gardens. My family has been members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share for years. If you’ve never participated in a CSA, basically the deal is that you pay a farmer in advance of the growing season in return for a bushel or half bushel of vegetables every week. We love having lots of fresh veggies that we know exactly where they came from, but being a two-person household it’s hard to get through all those greens in…

Game Diary, Reviews

Fieldrunners 2 for Android Review – The King of Tower Defense Games!

When it comes to casual mobile games I love, Fieldrunners ranks at the top along with others such as Plants vs. Zombies and Civilization Revolution. All of those games allowed me to get an ‘on the go’ experience that still scratched my hardcore gamer itch. So I was wary when Fieldrunners 2 came to iOS devices last September – but as noted in my review of the iPad version, I was thrilled with the results. This week the game (finally) landed on Android devices and I took some time to check it out! Type of app: ‘Tower Defense’ game Platform/where…

Gear Bits

The Gear Diary Guide to Infographics

Spend enough time on the Internet, and you’ll find an infographic. These are “educational” graphics that distill bits of information into pretty pictures and at-a-glance factoids. As a concept, they aren’t terrible, but only if they’re used as a summary for a full report. Unfortunately, lately they’ve become flashy vehicles for marketers with an agenda. Here at Gear Diary, we want to make sure we properly educate our readers to understand infographics, and the best way to do this is clearly to fight fire with fire, so we’ve helpfully put together this “Anatomy of an Infographic”! What triggered us to…

Reviews

RokForm RokShield v3 Case Kit for iPad Mini

Some weeks ago we took a first look at the RokForm RokShield v3 Case Kit for iPad Mini. I was impressed with the RokForm RokShield V3 for iPad mini and excited by the various possibilities it offered thanks to the kickstand, good protection and the option to add on additional accessories. After all, the case ships with an “easy-stick RMS” (remote mounting system and a 6 position KickStand for viewing, typing and browsing the web and those are just the included accessories. I liked the case enough that I put it on my iPad before leaving on vacation and used…

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