2013



Pre-Order Skooba Design’s Upcoming iPad/Tablet Courier V.3 and Save!

Check out Skooba Design’s collection of bags, and you’ll quickly see their penchant for East/West cases and briefs (devices are oriented in landscape inside the bag). That changes with their awesome new iPad/Tablet Courier V.3. This North/South bag has all kinds of Skooba goodness. It will be $89.95 when it arrives, but if you pre-order you can save 25%!


Armorz Stealth Extreme Lite Tempered Glass Quick Review

I recently recounted my horror at dropping my iPhone 5S. I was relieved to realize that just the glass screen protector broke, and the iPhone was fine. The only bummer was the fact that I no longer had a pricey glass screen protector. Three days later the Armorz Stealth Extreme Lite Tempered Glass for Apple iPhone 5s arrived for review.


My #1 iPad Air Disappointment? 1GB of RAM

I love the iPad Air – after a year using the iPad Mini, I was ready for the 9.7″ screen, Retina resolution, the A7 processor power, and getting back to LTE. I was bumping up against the iPad Mini limitations, particularly for gaming and music production. But for all the iPad Air power, I’ve found a new limitation: 1GB RAM. To put it into context, a 2GB chip compared to a 1GB chip adds no more space, weight, heat, doesn’t change layout, and would cost less than $10. The functional role of RAM compared to flash storage is important. Apple…


What’s Black or White and Cleans Your Teeth? Philips Sonicare DiamondClean

Philips Sonicare is the #1 dentist recommended power toothbrush in the US, and now their DiamondClean comes in a sleek black color. Available for a limited time, it removes up to 7x more plaque compared to a manual toothbrush. It ships with an awesome inductive charging “glass” and a USB travel case. Judie and I will be going “teeth on” shortly.


Griffin WoodTones Headphones – Real Wood and Really Good

I didn’t know what to expect from a pair of headphones coming from Griffin. After all, we love their great accessories but never really thought of them as a source for headphones or speakers. Add in the fact that the Griffin WoodTones headphones are under $100 and you can understand my initial skepticism. Thankfully, I was delightfully surprised.


Farewell to Blockbuster Video

I haven’t set foot in a Blockbuster Video in at least six years. Yet when news broke this week that the final stores were closing, I felt a little bit sad. The experience of going to the video store was so much more than just clicking a button on a remote, and it made me realize how many great memories I have thanks to Blockbuster. When I think of Blockbuster, my first thought is the store I used to visit in Brighton, MA. I was working for Borders, and my schedule was always way off from my friends, so I…




Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Puts You in Charge of an 8-Bit Death Star in this Tiny Tower Remake

Developer NimbleBit has teamed up with Disney and LucasArts to bring you Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, where you take the helm of the Death Star in order to build, develop, and prepare the planet-sized Death Star.  The gameplay is extremely similar to NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower.  It’s available for free on the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Store. You hire outer space “bitizens” in order to build the commercial and residential floors of the Death Star.  Like many freemium games, Star Wars: Tiny Death Star employs the use of premium currency that help speed up certain in-game actions.  On…



Can You Spot the New Colors of the Soundfreaq Sound Spot?

Both the sound and the design of the Soundfreaq SoundStep Lightning impressed us. Now Soundfreaq is looking to take the audio market by storm with new colors of their Sound Spot Available in ten new color combinations, the $69 Sound Spot is just 5″ square. Use it at home or on the go, the Sound Spot even charges your phone.


IK Multimedia iLoud – Hands-On First Impressions

Earlier today I posted about IK Multimedia’s new iLoud Bluetooth speaker system. This is their entry into the portable speaker market, but with a twist – rather than just releasing yet-another Bluetooth speaker, they designed an audio system with musicians in mind. I have had a chance for a first look, and it is awesome. Check out my first-impressions video!


Contort Power Solves Two Powerful Travel Dilemmas

It seems like all the hotels I’ve stayed at in the past few months have only had one free electrical outlet near the bed. That would be fine if I didn’t have a phone, iPad, and sometimes a laptop that all needed to be charged from the same plug. The $24.99 Contort Power from Quirky might just be my solution.


IK Multimedia Launches iLoud Speaker – the Ideal Portable Speaker for Musicians and Audiophiles

Over the last few years the Bluetooth speaker market has gone from non-existent to absolutely amazing. At GearFest we listened to a number of speakers that were loud, paired easily, and sounded great. Today IK Multimedia released iLoud, another of the cool products revealed at CES. iLoud brings the musician’s sensibilities and needs to the world of Bluetooth speakers. Here are some of the features: Loud and Clear The iLoud speaker is indeed very loud. In fact, it’s 2 to 3 times louder than comparable size speakers — a blasting 40W RMS of power. But iLoud is extremely clear at…




The STM Cape Helps the 2013 Nexus 7 Stand Up and Stay Slim

Since the 2013 Nexus 7 has been out for a while, cases for it have started to become easier to find. I have been using the Waterfield Slip Case; one issue with that is how the device is naked when you remove it from the case to use it. The STM Cape does not have this issue, and it has a stand!


Toyota Avalon Finally Gets a Personality

Over the past couple of years there has been a great deal of news coming from the Toyota/Lexus camp, but one headline that may have gone unnoticed was the complete makeover of the flagship sedan Avalon. Not only is this the best (and most “American”) Avalon to date, but Toyota now offers a hybrid variant to consumers as well.


Duracell Powermat and PowerSnap Kit Review – Charging your Phone from the Future

Ever since I learned about the magic of wireless charging back when the Palm Pre and Touchstone charging device came out, I’ve wanted to try it out for myself.  Although the inductive charging experience with the Duracell Powermat isn’t perfect, it’s a pleasure to use.  The Duracell Powermat retails for $49.99 and the Powermat PowerSnap Kit retails for $99.99.