Articles by Joel McLaughlin

Nanodots Adds Even More Fun to the Cool Magnetic Dots of Fun

Nanodots are fun all by themselves. I love playing with these. It’s almost relaxing. It’s hard to believe that they have figured out yet another way to make them fun with a new product that makes it more fun to build with Nanodots. The Nanopad with FeWeave technology is a nice pad to use when you are building with Nanodots that also let’s you play a game with your Nanodots. Available in 16 inch for $19.99 and 26 inch for $29.99. For more on the Nanopad, head over to the product page on thenanodots.com. They are expected to show up…

Reviews

TokyoFlash Kisai Sensai Pure Watch Review

The other day I reviewed TokyoFlash’s Console watch. (We will also be giving it away soon!) Today I have the opportunity to review another watch from TokyoFlash- the Kisai Sensai Pure. The Kisai Sensai Pure watch is not only unique in its design and features multicolored LED’s for telling the time. It looks more than a bit unusual and I like that! The face of the Sensai Pure has 3 different sets of LED’s and each has its own purpose. Like the Kisai Console, the Sensai Pure’s face is totally dark until you press the button to activate it. Unlike the Kisai Console,…

Reviews

TokyoFlash Kisai Console Watch Review

I have always admired Tokyoflash watches from afar. They have a look about them that just appeals to the geek in me. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Tokyoflash was able to send me one of the newest designs fresh from their site, the Kisai Console Watch. The first thing you will notice about the Kisai Console is that it’s face is entirely dark most of the time. The magic of the Kisai Console only happens once you press the button. Then the entire face lights up and certain lights flash to indicate the time. To tell the time, you just…

Reviews

Bluetooth Vibrating Bracelet Buzzband MB20 Review

Sometimes you might have your phone in a pocket or in your gear bag. That’s not too bad if you have the phone’s ringer on, but what if you forgot to turn it on? That’s where the Buzzband MB20 comes in. The Buzzband MB20 looks like a fairly simple device that can help you keep that ringer off but still be notified when you get a call. To get started, the first thing you have to do is pair it up. To do that, all you have to do is press the only button on the band until its LED…

Reviews

Review: H2OAudio’s Surge 2G Headphones

As a frequent headphone wearer, I go through a lot of headphones. Nothing kills headphones faster than water and sweat. I have headphones literally fall apart because sweat and moisture caused the glue that held them together to weaken and they fell apart. H2O Audio has a full line of headphones that do not have this issue. They were kind enough to send me a set of their new Surge 2G Headphones. The Surge headphones not only are water-resistant, they are waterproof. They are designed not only to be rinsed in water after a workout, but to actually use in…

News

Tokyoflash Releases the Kisai Console Watch

I’ve always admired Tokoflash watches from afar. They have a look unlike any other watch I have ever worn and are just plain cool. Well they now have released a watch that looks like it comes right from a 80s scifi movie. The watch is the Kisai Console Watch and it was selected in February 2010 on the Tokyoflash Design Blog as a watch that fans would like to have created. Now it’s reality thanks to Tokyoflash! Kisai Console is a USB rechargeable watch design. The USB cap is fitted flush against the case and can be unscrewed with the…

Reviews, Travel

VinniBag Review

I am not a wine connoisseur at all. However, back in the day I was into drinking good beers. I remember one trip where I visited a Rock Bottom Brewery restaurant where I had some of the best beer I have ever tasted. They had beer that I could have taken home in bottles, but because I flew into Denver and was flying out the next day, I could not take any home with me. If I had the VinniBag it would have been a piece of cake! VinniBag is a wine bottle-shaped bag that has a few interesting features. First, it…

Reviews

MeeGo 1.1 Review

It’s been a little while since Intel and Nokia came together to merge Moblin and Maemo together to create the MeeGo project. Moblin started out as a project by Intel and the Linux Foundation to produce a Linux-based OS, interface and application stack for mobile internet devices. In February of 2009, they merged with the Maemo project that was used by Nokia in the Nseries tablets like the N770, N800, N810 and the N900 smartphone. Intel was nice enough to send me a Lenovo S10-3t convertible netbook with MeeGo preloaded so I could get a look at the state of MeeGo in version 1.1….

Reviews

Review: The Wikireader

A while back the OpenMoko project created the goal of bringing out a Linux based smartphone called the Freerunner. Then Google brought out what became the most successful Linux based operating system of all time, Android. Well, needless to say, the writing was on the wall. The clunky OpenMoko OS, with the behind the times hardware, was enough to make OpenMoko irrelevant in the smartphone arena. Well, it seemed to be such a waste to throw out the work they did on the OS, so the next choice was to bring out another device. This time, they didn’t even try…

Events, News

CES: Handsets and Tablets, Oh MY! All from Motorola!

Today at CES Verizon had their day in the sun! During that announcement they officially announced what looks like a great handset in the new Droid Bionic, plus the new Xoom Tablet. Both are due to hit Verizon early this year. The Droid Bionic boasts from the press release: Packing a dual core processor with each core running at 1GHz, delivering up to two GHz of processing power, and 512 MB RAM, the sleekly designed DROID BIONIC smartphone with 4G LTE delivers a mobile Internet experience that’s up to 10 times faster than 3G. This means consumers can stream their favorite…

Events, News

Lenovo Reveals the New IdeaPad U1 with LePad Slate

We’ve been hearing about the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 since CES 2010. Well Lenovo is finally ready to reveal and demo the IdeaPad U1 with LePad slate at CES 2011 at the Venetian. The U1 is a ultramobile laptop uses a slate running Android 2.2, called LePad as it’s screen. Specs for the tablet include a Snapdragon processor and the laptop portion will be a 1.3 GHz CULV Core i5 chip with 2 Gig of Ram running the 64 bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. It will be available first in China in the first quarter of 2011 with no…

News

Gear Diary 2010 Gear of the Year and Predictions for 2011

The past year has seen interesting developments in the gear we all use: the term iOS replaced iPhone OS as the OS that started on iPhone was also on the new iPad when it took the world and Gear Diary writers by storm, Android phones blossomed and became real competitors to the iPhone, and the iPad got its first real competition in the Samsung Galaxy Tab just a few months before 2010 drew to a close. While there’s much more that happened in the past year, I thought let’s ask the following questions of the Gear Diary Team. 1. What was your…

Reviews

Review: Aluratek Bump AMS01F MP3/FM Radio Boombox

Aluratek has brought out a cool little boom box that might just come in handy on your next camping trip. Aluratek sent me one so I could play with it and see what makes it tick. Initially when I opened the box, I was expecting their AWS01F which includes a wireless speaker as well. However when I opened it, the instruction book indicated it was the AMS01F. The only difference between the two packages is the wireless speaker. Otherwise the rest of it is the same. The first thing you have to do is charge the radio up. You simply…

Reviews

Review: emWave Desktop

Christmas time can be an incredibly stressful time of year. Some of the reasons for this stree may be seeing family you haven’t seen in a year. Or perhaps facing a long drive with a car full of kids. Or even the stress of finding the perfect gift for that hard to buy for loved one. We all need a way to de-stress. Emwave sent me their desktop software to test. Will it help? HeartMath’s emWave Desktop is a desktop version of the portable heart math tool. Heart Math or heart coherence is a technique that many have proclaimed helps reduce stress…

eBooks, Editorials

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Amazon Kindle Support

The Kindle 2 was my Christmas present in 2009 from my family. I have spent most of the last year with nary an issue with my Kindle and I love it to death. It’s how I prefer to read now. I’ve read more books in the last year than in any year past. However, on my trip down to Knoxville, TN for the holidays this year, I was reading along and then all of a sudden my Kindle developed a spot that would not go away; time to call support. So I will cover the good and the bad of…

Reviews

Review: iFrogz Mogul DJ Style Headphones

Larry has reviewed iFrogz products many times in the past. So when these new DJ Style headphones came up for a review I thought I would try them out. Will I be happy using these headphones for my needs? Let’s find out. The 50mm drivers are housed in some pretty thick plastic. The housing feels really nice and a step above the 2XL headphones I also use. They are connected by a black padded band with the ends of that band being spring-loaded. Since these are DJ style headphones, you can flip the arm and other driver to one side and…

Reviews

Review: Caseable Customizable Laptop Sleeves

Have you ever found a sleeve that suited you 100 percent? Well with Caseables, you finally can with their customizable sleeves. I was not sent a custom sleeve, but a sample of one of the sleeves that they currently make. Every stitch on this one is done with the same care and quality as any custom that you can order from Caseable. The inside of the sleeve is covered in very soft white fleece which should protect your laptop from scratches just fine. I am not too sure about the color inside this one. With all of the other color choices for the rest…

Reviews

Neuros Control Tablet 1002

Joe Born at Neuros Technology has always been a supporter of Linux and Open Source technology since I’ve known him. Well Joe came up with a great idea. How about using a cheap Android Tablet to control the Neuros Link? Sounds like a good idea, but did it work? The Control Tablet 1002 is very similar to the Eken M002 tablet. In face, it will run the same builds of Android that the Eken M002 will. Let’s take a look at the specs: • Slatedroid firmware based off of Google Android OS 1.6 • VIA MW8505 350-400MHz • 128MB DDR2…

Reviews

Five Minutes Hands-On with the Archos 70 Android Tablet

Archos has been experimenting with Android for a while now. Dan did not like the Archos 5 and from what I have read from across the internet that was universal. A friend of mine purchased a Archos 70 to use as an adjunct to his Sprint Hero since he still has a year on contract. I was able to play with it for a few minutes, and what follows are some of the impressions I got while using it. The thing that most impressed me was how thin this thing is. It’s thinner than an iPad and a lot…

Reviews

Review: Mobile Edge Sumo Messenger Bag

We’ve been looking for a good bag for my wife’s new laptop. Her new laptop would not fit into her old bag since she was using a netbook. When Mobile Edge’s Sumo Messenger Bag came up for review, I jumped at the chance. Will my wife be happy with this new bag? I was sent the Sumo Messenger bag in red. Chalk up one point for Mobile Edge picking a color my wife likes with red being a favorite! This bag has a ton of pockets on it. On the exterior there is one on the flap. two on the…

News

Caseable Brings out Custom Laptop Sleeves

Let’s face it, laptop sleeves can be boring. Well if you just can’t find the pattern or design that fits for your taste, then check out Caseable. Available in two different styles, the sleeves can be made with images that you provide or you can just pic a color, add text and even add handles to your design. The prices also seem pretty reasonable at only $69.99. That may sound expensive, but when you think that your case will be handmade in Brooklyn, NY and only with images and colors you approve it’s not bad. Oh and they even make…

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