2013

Munitio SV Mobile Performance Earphones Review

If earphones don’t sound good, I’m not interested. If earphones sound good but aren’t comfortable, I’m not interested. And if earphones sound good and are comfortable but don’t offer any style, I’m not interested either. Yes, my time here at Gear Diary has turned me into a bit of an earphone and headphone snob. I want it all and, thanks to the exploding headphone market, I can have it. When Judie and I passed by the Munitio table during CES their current and upcoming earphone and headphone offerings caught our eye. The Munitio Nines look like 9mm shells. They really…

Editorials, Events

Attack of the CES Booth Bimbos

My apologies for the rather sexist title of this post. I tried to find something more “PC” but could not come up with anything that was even close in its accuracy when trying to describe the situation we ran into time and time again during CES 2013. As is so often the case at trade shows, there were numerous attractive women in scantily clad outfits showing off the latest gear. In fact, in some cases, referring to them as “scantily clad” would be an overstatement. For example, on the first morning the show floor was open, I happened to pass…

News & Features

Quirky Ham Radio Gadgets from Yesteryear: The Wouff Hong and the Rettysnitch

Well, the Wouff-Hong is not so much a gadget, but it has been a part of Ham Radio lore since 1930’s. What is a Wouff Hong? According to 1930 edition of The Radio Amateur’s Handbook: The Wouff-Hong is amateur radio’s most sacred symbol and stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation. The story goes that T.O.M. ( The Old Man) wrote stories in the American Radio Relay League’s magazine, QST, titled Rotten Radio. It excoriated bad operating practices using caustic humor and satire. It was in one of these stories that the Wouff-Hong was born. It wasn’t…

News & Features

The Good and Bad of HDMI Switching

This holiday season was the season my family finally made the jump to HD TV. I absolutely love HD TV, and I am really looking forward to watching NASCAR and actually being able to read the tickers! As result of getting the TV, I ended up receiving or giving products that needed an HDMI connection to the TV. We got an Xbox 360 for Luke and I, plus I was given a Roku 2 XS and a Blu-ray player for Christmas. One of the things on my Amazon list was a Kinivo HDMI switch as I knew right away I…

Music Diary, Reviews

AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix for iPad Review

Type of app: Music app Platform/where to buy: iPad (iPhone version here); available in the App Store Developer: IK Multimedia Specifications: AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™ features: – Real-time guitar mobile multiFX + recording app with Jimi Hendrix tone – Jimi Hendrix™ gear models: 5 Stompboxes (Noise Filter, Fuzz Age, Octa-V, Uni-V, Wah 46) – 2 Amplifiers (JH Gold, JH Dual) and 2 cabinets (2×15″J, 4×12″J) – Complete Jimi Hendrix™ Discography Presets – Jimi Hendrix™ song links directly within the app for play-along – Single-track recorder expandable to 8-track studio with master effects (via in-app purchase) – Import and play songs as backing…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Random Cool Video – Mom in Da Hood!

Yeah, it ends up being a commercial, but who really cares?!? Check it out: Source: The Upworthiest

Events, Music Diary, News & Features

World’s First iOS Guitar/Bass Multi-FX System with Wireless Foot Switch Hardware

Last year from NAMM we got the iRig Stomp, which was able to control AmpliTube effects chains from a robust ‘stomp box’. It was clear that we would soon be getting a full effects board worth of controls, though I wouldn’t have expected the first one to be wireless! JamUp Pro XT and AirTurn have teamed up to power the first BlueTooth wireless multi-effects pedal system for iOS. Check out the demo video: I have not used JamUp’s app yet, but this looks intriguing – I will keep an eye on NAMM reports to get more hands-on details for this…

News & Features

The Tricorder Could Be Just Around the Corner

I love Star Trek. One of the things I like the best about Star Trek is the gadgets, and the gadget I have always thought was the coolest was the Tricorder. There were, of course, two different Tricorders. One was used to look at items in the environment to get away teams the info they needed to find people, to discover other objects and more. The other is the Medical Tricorder that Dr. McCoy, Dr. Crusher and Dr. Bashir used to determine the extent of a red shirt’s injuries and other medical uses. Now the Xprize foundation, with the help…

News & Features

Make Your Face Perfect With The GoateeSaver

Facial hair is becoming more the rage for today’s man. It seems that many men from their 20’s to 40’s are now growing beards and goatees. I grew my first goatee just out of high school and have had facial hair ever since. I currently sport a full beard, but for many years I had to groom and shape my goatee. Many think that having facial hair means less shaving, but that is far from true. While less area must be shaved, it takes great skill and diligence to keep a beard of any sort shaped and trimmed to perfection. There is nothing…

Gear Bits

Banana Slicer Is Good for Slicing Bananas and a Laugh

Normally I wouldn’t even look at the Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer on Amazon as I have seen these gadgets hanging on grocery shelves for about 20 years at LEAST. However, thanks to several friends who shared this on Facebook, I had a good laugh the other day. Why? The comments! It keeps getting funnier as time goes on. Check out some of these comments about this gadget that slices a banana all at once. click to enlarge This one is another favorite. click to enlarge Funny right? Have you seen any other things on Amazon with funny reviews? Share below!

Game Diary, News & Features

Former Atari CEO to Save U.S. Operations from Bankruptcy?

In the world of games there are always winners and losers … recently Atari’s U.S. operations lost the financial game to use one of their lives to win the possibly win the survival game later. After some nice anniversary celebrations last year for the 2600 and Pong, Atari made their Chapter 11 announcement on January 20, 2013. The reason? Separate from their French parent holding company Atari S.A. (formerly Infogrames). In 2010, Atari leveraged their popular game franchises to shift its work from retail game titles to digital games for Android and iOS and Android. The method worked as they saw…

Events, Reviews

MiPow Power Cube 8000M Backup Battery Review

In today’s world of power-sucking mobile devices carrying a backup battery is a must. A reliable, quality battery that will safely charge your devices is important. In fact, that’s the most important feature in a backup battery. But as the MiPow SP8000 proves, having a good quality battery doesn’t mean you need to compromise on style. The battery looks good, offers amazing capacity, has convenient features and has internal circuitry to protect the devices connected to it. It is currently Judie’s and my backup battery of choice. Let’s take a look. There are three styles of the SP8000 currently available. One…

Reviews

Not A Scratch Wooden iPhone Cases Review

Since writing my iPhone wooden case roundup back when I was using the iPhone 4, I have continued to search for other wooden cases that I thought were as good or better as those I had already tried. A small part of the reason that I like wooden cases is that they are usually lightweight, they can offer good back, side and corner protection without adding too much bulk, and they will not interfere with the iPhone’s reception. Then there is the way that they feel; wooden cases have a lovely organic way about them. They are cool to the touch, but…

Events, Music Diary, News & Features

Moog Releases Details of the ‘Sub Phatty’ for NAMM 2013

The NAMM Winter Show for 2013 runs from January 24-27 and will showcase the best in music technology. We won’t be there, but will try to cover the coolest tech-focused music production gear coming out of the show. The question in 1993 was ‘why would you want a two-oscillator analog synth’ … but in 2013 there isn’t even a question anymore, you simply NEED this sound! Regardless of advances in digital simulated, the Moog Filter sound has a depth that cannot be emulated as well as the original instrument. So when leaks came about Moog introducing a new affordable analog…

Gear Bits

Physicists Help Show Math Behind Growth of ‘Coffee Rings’

Have you ever left a cup of coffee sitting for a few hours and prior to dumping it out you notice a ring remains at the top-level of the fluid? That is the ‘coffee ring effect’, and recently physicists have helped to demonstrate the effect both theoretically and on the microscopic level. The studies looked at particle aggregation based on Poisson and Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) processes. KPZ is harder to study because any impurities in the experiment will impact the behavior of the system. The combined theoretical and practical study looked at a variety of particle types and shapes as drops…

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness, Outdoors

The Monday Mile – Too Sick to Exercise?

One of the keys to a fitness routine is … making it a routine. That means doing it on a regular basis, and for most people it means setting up a time pretty much every day when you can make it happen. For me it is 4AM runs, for others it is a post-work stop at the gym, and others have their own way of getting it done. But what if you are not feeling great? Should you still work out, or are you better taking a day off? Here are five quick thoughts: 1. If you have a fever,…

Reviews

Plantronics Blackwire C720 Headset Review

I’m always impressed by Plantronics headphone offerings. Time and again they are able to combine excellent functionality with comfort; they even mix in a bit of style in the process. The Plantronics Voyager Legend is an amazing headset, and you can read our review here. We have a review of the UC (Unified Communications) version coming soon. Plantronics doesn’t just do Bluetooth headsets of course. They have a long history of offering wired headsets for use with phone systems and computers. Their new Blackwire C720 headset falls into that category but takes things to an entirely new level by combining…

Events

Martian Watches Land at CES 2013

During CES, Judie and I had the opportunity to sit down with Martian Watches to chat about their product, the experience of going on Kickstarter in order to first promote and back it, and to gain some insight into their thoughts about the overall smart watch market. We both came away impressed by the product itself and the people who turned an idea into reality in an impressively short amount of time. What really stands out about the Martian Watch is that it actually works. The company took a different approach than the one we have seen other smart watch companies…

Crowdfunding, News & Features

GCW Zero – Open Source Gaming Handheld

Have you ever looked at the Playstation Vita or Nintendo 3DS and thought that they look great, but you would rather have a handheld gaming system that ran inexpensive open-source games but had physical control buttons? That is the concept behind the GCW-Zero: Open Source Gaming Handheld. Project Title: GCW-Zero: Open Source Gaming Handheld Status: Active Closing Date for Funding: 1/28/2013 URL of the Project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gcw/gcw-zero-open-source-gaming-handheld

Health and Fitness, Reviews

Garmin ForeRunner 10 Still Going Strong All Winter Long

Since I reviewed the Garmin ForeRunner 10 back in mid-October, the YouTube video has continued gathering comments. So I figured it was time for an update. You can see the Garmin peeking out above between my two thermal-tech layers and gloves. You can even glimpse the toll all of the salting and slush are taking on my beautiful new bright orange running shoes! Quick summary: the Garmin ForeRunner 10 is an amazing running watch that is precise and reliable, and only the 5-hour battery time is a drawback. What have I done since the review? Finished training for the Corning…

Crowdfunding

TabMount Tripod Adapter Will Take Your Tablet to New Heights

Project Title: tabMount – Tripod Adapter for iPad, iPad mini, & All Tablets Status: Active Closing Date for Funding: January 27, 2013 URL of the Project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ndrasheta/tabmount-tripod-adapter-for-ipad-ipad-mini-and-all From the Creatives: “Imagine being able to mount your iPad, iPad mini, or whatever tablet you are currently using to a standard tripod. That’s exactly what you’ll be able to do with the tabMount.” Why I Backed It: I backed this project because I have used and/or reviewed every other product this company has offered and I have been consistently impressed. I reviewed the iStabilizer Dolly. (Read the review.) I bought my father-in-law the iStabilizer Glass…

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