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Reviews May 8, 2009

Emergency Radio for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Currently number 2 on the list of the iTunes App Store’s top paid applications, Emergency Radio allows you easily follow the action of over 900 police, fire, EMS and other emergency frequencies. Whether you want to keep tabs on what’s going on in your own backyard or listen in to the happenings on the other side of the country Emergency Radio streams a a variety of emergency services feeds right to your iPhone. Time to put that old Radio Shack scanner on Ebay.

Reviews May 7, 2009

JAVOScreen Review: Ultra-Clear Screen Protector for Amazon Kindle 2

Chances are if you own a device with a LCD screen you fall into one of two camps: Those who protect and those who don’t. It only takes one scuff or scrape to forever scar the beautiful screen of that new device. A good quality screen protector can go a long way in helping to keep your screen looking like it did the day you unboxed it. If you don’t currently use a screen protector on your phone or PDA you might want to think about adding one. JAVOedge makes a variety of accessories for a variety of devices. One…

Reviews May 5, 2009

Memopal Online Backup and Storage Review

I reviewed Diino last week and while I thought that it had potential, I couldn’t really recommend using it as a primary online backup solution. I was trying out two other services at the same time, so here’s Part II of the trilogy. Memopal is a year-old start up based in Italy, providing online backup and storage services. They have two plans for consumers: a $49 plan with 150 GBs of combined space for backups and file storage, and a $99 plan with 250 GBs.

Reviews May 5, 2009

JAVOedge Lumberjack Back Cover for iPhone 3G Review

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the making of this case. Really! Although it might look like wood from the outside, the Lumberjack Back Cover from JAVOedge is actually made from pressed cork. Looking for an eco-friendly and stylish case for your iPhone 3G that doesn’t add much bulk? This might be the one for you.

Reviews May 4, 2009

Patek Philippe has Arrived!

“You never really own a Patek Philippe, you merely take care of it for the next generation,” or so we are meant to believe. Rubbish! Buy one for yourself and if you are lucky enough to have a son who understands and appreciates it, you can then not concern yourself to its whereabouts beyond your earthly presence.

Reviews May 4, 2009

The HTC S740 (Rose) Windows Mobile Standard Phone Review

[This is a joint review between Doug Goldring of JAMM and Judie Lipsett of Gear Diary; it will appear simultaneously on both sites. Doug’s comments are in black, and Judie’s are blue italics] The last time I used a non-touch screen version of Windows Mobile was the Motorola Q. It ran Windows Mobile 5, and I quickly learned that the interface was nothing short of terrible. That phone lasted about a week before I declared the phone completely unusable and gave it away to a friend. That was then. This is now: Windows Mobile 6.1. And a lot has changed….

Reviews May 3, 2009

Philips Norelco arcitec 1090 Electric Shaver Review

Wet or dry? That’s the question men have faced since the invention of the electric shaver. For years, I used Braun electric shavers, but they weren’t waterproof and I got tired of buying refills for the cleaning base, so I switched to the vibrating Gillettes a year ago. They’re good, reliable shavers – but they’re also a little… boring. I thought about getting a new, waterproof Braun, or a Panasonic, but I saw the Philips Norelco RQ1090 in the Virgin Atlantic inflight catalogue, and made yet another impulse purchase.

Reviews May 1, 2009

JAVOedge Fiber Cases for the Amazon Kindle 2 Review

It’s a common occurrence. One of shock and disbelief. One experienced by many first time Kindle 2 owners. Here’s how it goes…. They open the package. Unpack all the included items. And then, scratching their head in shock and wonder, they begin rifling through the contents of the box once again looking for it. What is it they’re looking for you ask? The included case of course. It’s only then that they realize that the Amazon Kindle 2 comes with no case. Although perhaps surprising to some, probably not necessarily a bad thing. After all, how many of us actually…

News & Features May 1, 2009

Soothe Your Colossal Sweet Tooth with Prezzybox Giant Cupcake Tins

Do you crave something really sweet? Forget those wimpy pre-made cakes in your local grocer’s aisle — you want one of the extreme Giant Cupcake Tins from Prezzybox at your next party.

Editorials May 1, 2009

Earphone Specifications Explained

Many people buy some sort of portable hearing device. By this I am referring to earbuds (like the iPods have bundled), in-ear earphones (like Apple’s In-Ear), over-the-ear headphones (like Sennheiser’s PX series) or large cans (something like the Sennheiser HD series). For the sake of simplicity, I’ll just refer to these as “earpieces.” When you’re buying a new one, whether you’ve lost your iPod earbuds or you’ve frayed your last pair, you will almost always see, technical specifications. Most of you will gloss over these, ignore them, or — at best — glance at them and shrug your shoulders because…

Reviews May 1, 2009

The Goatee Saver Review

If you have a goatee, chances are it has happened to you. You wake up from a less than stellar night of slumber, drag yourself in front in front of the mirror, lather your face up with shaving cream and begin to shave. Then it happens. You notice a slight irregularity in the shape of your goatee and decide it needs fixing. Except when you try to even it out it just becomes worse. Now you decide you’ll have to fix the other side. The process repeats itself until you end up with a freshly shaven face because you were…

Reviews April 30, 2009

Tiger Woods PGA Tour for iPhone/iPod Touch Review

I like sports games. I’ve tried the most of the current golf games currently available in the iTunes App. Store. Of them “Let’s Golf” is my favorite. However that all could change now that EA Sports has just released the next in their line up of much anticipated titles, Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the iPhone and iPod Touch. EA calls the Tiger Woods series of the world’s number one selling golf franchise game. Does the game live up to the hype? Read on to find out.

Reviews April 30, 2009

Shape Service’s Mobiola xPlayer Review

I tend to think of myself as an “on the go” type of guy with a sedentary lifestyle…not sure if that makes any sense to you but it does to me. I have some travel for work, coach high school baseball, volunteer with the local Board of Education, and have a 15-month old that we are always taking to the zoo. But as you can see from those activities a lot of my time is spent sitting around….enter Shape Service’s Mobiola xPlayer for the Blackberry Curve 83XX series.

Reviews April 29, 2009

Spb Mobile Shell 3 Review

[Note: This is a three-way, multi-site review. Chris Spera (italics), Clinton Fitch (bold), and Doug Goldring (plain text)have all teamed up to review Mobile Shell 3 together. It is being simultaneously posted on Gear Diary, and Just Another Mobile Monday.] It is hard to believe that it has been only a little over two years (February 2007) since Spb Software House revolutionized the way we use our Windows Mobile devices. Since that time, dozens of other software developers and OEMs such as HTC, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson have adopted this same technique of replacing the user interface entirely. Through all of…

Reviews April 29, 2009

Dell Remote Access Review

At first glance Dell Remote Access looks like any other remote access product on the market. You open a portal Page, my.dellremoteaccess.com, login and you will see a list of the devices on the same network as the computer running Dell Remote Access.

Reviews April 27, 2009

Diino Online Backup and Storage Review

Over a year ago, whilst working feverishly on an overdue college paper, I spilled a large glass of water over my laptop. Cue panic attack as the MacBook Pro sizzled. I had a backup of that document on my Fujitsu tablet, but it was several days old, and so was the previous SuperDuper backup of the MacBook. Fortunately, the MacBook was fine after several hours by a heater (with the battery out, of course). I got round to looking at online backup services after that. I evaluated SugarSync (pricey), Diino (no Mac client) and settled on Mozy. After the initial…

Outdoors, Reviews April 26, 2009

Weber EP-310 Gas Grill Review

In a former life, I was a classically trained chef. I went to culinary school, worked in the restaurant business for a number of years and lived and breathed all things food and cooking. Although that seems like a lifetime away (I’ve since moved on to another career) I still enjoy cooking and do it often. I do a lot of my cooking on a grill. I use my grill all year long. Winter, spring, summer and fall. I’ve been known to grill in the snow or under an umbrella in the rain. My last grill wasn’t the latest or…

Reviews April 26, 2009

Twitter Desktop Clients for Mac, Dual Review

By now most of us are aware of Twitter. If you’re not Twitter is a “service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” Twitter is popular. The service doubled its user base in March alone (See this link). And as a result, there is no shortage of desktop Twitter clients out there available to download. In this comparison review Larry (Nambu and Tweetie) and Wayne (TweetDeck and Seesmic) take a look at four of the more popular Twitter desktop clients available for the…

Reviews April 24, 2009

Speck Candy Shell Case for iPhone 3G Review

Speck has been making accessories for handheld devices since 2001. One of their latest products is the Candy Shell case for the iPhone 3G. The Candy Shell features the protection of a hard exterior, but has the cushioning of a softer interior to help buffer the iPhone if it’s dropped – hence, the “candy shell” name.

Gear Bits April 21, 2009

Give her the Sun with the Sun Jar

If choosing a gift can be a problem, for sure choosing one for your mother can be a demanding task: you would like something useful, but it should be also feminine, maybe original and possibly not too expensive. Stop thinking, why not giving her something simply… natural? Why not giving her the sun?

Reviews April 20, 2009

No More Excuses! Back Up Your Data the Easy Way with the Clickfree Transformer

Sure, we say we’re going to diligently backup our data. Heck, sometimes we even actually do it. It starts out with the very best of intentions. You backup all those files daily. Then weekly. Then, monthly. Soon enough, though, you’ve fallen off the cart. You’re going to softball games, soccer games, working on…One. Last. Deadline. Then two, maybe three months go by since your last backup. We are all guilty of neglecting our poor data. Usually around that time is when — gasp! — everything is lost. We become victims a file corruption. A dead hard drive spun into oblivion. …

Articles by Gear Diary Staff