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…

Reviews

Review: Kensington PowerLift Back-Up Battery, Dock and Stand

One of the small, but impressive, accessories we say at CES was the Kensington PowerLift Back-Up Battery, Dock and Stand. The diminutive accessory serves a dual purpose by letting you use your iPhone (or iPod touch) hands free AND giving you just enough extra battery power to help you avoid running out of juice mid-day. Here’s a look… From Kensington: Converts for in-hand use The Kensington PowerLift™ Back-Up Battery, Dock and Stand gives your iPhone hours of extra power, converts for in-hand use and offers a hands-free stand. The 1200 mAh battery pack provides rapid charging while the kickstand flips…

Reviews

Gear vs Gear- Flip Camcorder vs… Flip Camcorder

When the iPhone first gained the ability to shoot video I thought it was all over for the Flip camcorder. When the iPhone began shooting HD video I knew it was all over. I was wrong on both counts. Turns out there is still a huge market for relatively inexpensive dedicated camcorders. They often do a better job recording sound, they are specifically designed to shoot video and, in a world where battery technology is still way behind, they let you shoot video without burning through your phone’s charge. Flip recently updated a number of their camcorders. They can now…

Reviews

The Wilson Electronics SignalBoost DB Pro Cell Phone Signal Amplifier Review

I live in a rural area which is fantastic for wide open spaces and natural beauty … yet not so great for timely FedEx deliveries or wireless service. We have much better GSM (AT&T & T-Mobile) coverage than CDMA (Sprint & Verizon); 3G is not here yet, so we must be content with EDGE. The nearest tower is several miles away from our home, and our area is hilly, so although we do get a cellular signal, it can be weak.

Reviews

Review: i.Sound Portable Power Max 16000 mAh External Battery

Our mobile devices have become more powerful. The screens have become brighter and crisper. Our reliance on such devices has exploded. And battery technology seems to have hardly improved. Often times the best you can do to get longer battery life is to just increase the size and capacity of the battery. It is not a great option but it is what it is. Battery life was a huge issue at CES once again this year. As a result, since getting home we have gone in search of large, high-capacity batteries that would have kept our devices juiced with ease….

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid Boring, and Boring Is a Good Thing

“Boring.” That is how my spouse described the 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid I tested recently. “The interior is boring, the ride is boring … it’s just boring.” It is also based on one of the best-selling cars in America for more than a decade. I guess boring is what REALLY sells when it comes to passenger cars here. The Toyota Camry has also garnered quite a few automotive accolades as well including, for the second year in a row, being ranked No. 1 on the “American-Made Index” as compiled by the editors at Cars.com. The 2010 Camry was also rated…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Quickie: Billy Franks – Euphoria

As I have said, one cool thing about doing Music Diary Reviews is the contacts with various music folks, from established artists to young upcoming players. But one item came in a round-about way through Judie the other day that simply screamed out for me to check it out. If that sounds ambiguous, it is intentional – we had no idea if it was going to be good or crap! Here is the message Judie got: Free Billy Franks (Your FourSquare Friend) Compilation Album Download As I am relatively new to FourSquare, I thought I would offer all my new…

News & Features, Reviews

Gear vs Gear: iPod nano Watchbands

No less than Steve Jobs himself quipped that the new iPod nano would make a great watch. From that moment, people have been thinking about way to use the recently shrunk iPod as a piece of wearable jewelry. Well, since the beginning of January I have gone from having zero iPod nano watch bands to having a choice of three different ones. Each take a slightly different approach to making the nano wearable and each brings with it its own sense of style, or lack there-of. So let’s take a look at each of them and ask, “Which nano watch band…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Reviews: Haven’t I Heard You Before?

Welcome to another edition of Music Diary Reviews! In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a tear since the new year, converting all of those hours listening and taking notes into actual music reviews! 2010 was an interesting year for music, because while there were a number of very good releases, the sales numbers were awful and folks were talking about reissues that put the new releases to shame. And that is my focus this time – reissues. While I have stated that my reviews would be rank-ordered from now on, that is only partially true…

Game Diary, Reviews

muBlip for iPhone Review

This week was time for something new for the Blue Plate. I wanted something entertaining, yet entirely different. My search brought me to muBlip. It caught my eye since it was a memory game that used musical principles. As a musician, I enjoy games with a music theme but as a guitarist I have never been into guitar hero type games. muBlip uses beeps and soothing music combined with shapes to deliver an entertaining and addictive game. Let’s take a look. muBlip is a memory game that combines musical beats and shapes. Music from para9 and Duchess Says set the…

News & Features, Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: Amzer Foldo Stand Up

There are a ton of different stands now available for the iPad. They come in different shapes, sizes and materials and all make using the tablet an even better experience. Some of the stands we have reviewed have been a bit pricy. For example, the Jadu Skadoosh stand has an MSRP of $69.99, and the ElementCase Joule has an MSRP that STARTS at over $100. Both are fantastic but both are pricy. So what are you to do if you want a good stand for your iPad but are on a tight budget? That’s where the Amzer Foldo Stand Up…

Game Diary, Reviews

GearGames Retrospective: Dungeon Lords (2005, RPG)

As I recently announced, I have started switching my Netbook Gamer series to a more broad-based look at games called ‘GearGames Retrospectives’. I have already done a couple before making the transition official, including the ongoing ’50 Games That Defined The Decade’ series and the look back at Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. But for now let’s start the series officially a little closer to home with a game that I have already written on rather prolifically: Dungeon Lords. You can read my review, my review of the Collector’s Edition (required to get the final patch), my original review, a lamentation,…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Buick Regal, Part Deux

“I never quite thought of the Regal as a sports sedan myself, but the GNX from 1987 did get close and the new car will offer a turbo motor once more to tempt eager drivers.” That is what I wrote last summer after my first experience with the new 2011 Regal from Buick. Recently I took delivery of the turbocharged CXL T-type model and well, not much has changed. My hope is that Buick will soon regale us with a GNX knock-off as this car did little to up its ante in the sport sedan game. Sure, there is a…

Reviews

iPad App Review: Interruption

I usually only get to use my iPad at home when I have a WiFi connection. My first order of business is to check all of my news feeds, from Mac and tech blogs to actual world news. My number one problem with most readers is they are just too messy for me. There are several popular apps that have corrected that problem, but I just cannot get into using them. I have a lot of feeds I check and it just seems overwhelming most days. The developer of The Chalkpad contacted me about Interruption and it looked promising. Let’s…

Reviews

HanDBase for Android Review

HanDBase is one of those mobile app titles that anyone who has been around mobile devices for a while will surely recognize. HanDBase, by DDH Software, was introduced for Palm OS initially, eventually migrating to Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iOS, and now Android. While I don’t use database programs extensively, I have used one program or another for a long while to track media collections or other forms of inventories. If you’re new to HanDBase, it is a relational database program with cross-platform availability, including Mac and PC desktop versions with a sync conduit. The desktop software has the ability to import…

Reviews

Review: Tom Bihn Ristretto Bag for 11″ MacBook Air

When I got my iPad last spring I began carrying it with me pretty much everywhere. But I had a problem. Most of the laptop bags I had were just too big for the diminutive tablet. Sure they worked just fine but they were overkill. Moreover, the compartments designed for the laptop were often so big that the iPad often flopped around inside. I was happy to see Tom Bihn release one of their Ristretto bags that was perfectly sized for the iPad and had the pleasure of reviewing it for the site. I still use the bag constantly when…

Reviews

Amplicom Alarm Clock Review

Every morning it’s the same routine. You’re sound asleep, and then your iPhone/Droid/alarm clock/dog starts going off and announcing WAKE UP TIME! Basically, something blares in or around your head and you start moving. What if you were hearing impaired, though? How do you make sure the alarm wakes you up? That’s where the Amplicom alarm clock comes in. Amplicom makes a number of accessibility devices, and they sent me the TCL200 to test. This is an alarm clock that offers a number of hearing and visually impaired aids, including a vibrating pad (for the hearing impaired), a speaker that…

Gear Bits, Reviews

Checking out the ASUS Eee PC 1008P Seashell Karim Rashid Collection Netbook

I was selected to be one of a group of bloggers who’ll get the use of an ASUS Eee PC 1008 netbook for a year. This isn’t quite the typical netbook though, as this is a “Seashell Karim Rashid Edition” … and before you ask, no — I had never heard of Karim Rashid until I saw his name attached to this netbook. With that said, this is easily one of the most intriguing case designs I’ve ever seen. The entire surface of the netbook is covered in Karim Rashid’s soft-touch “Techno-chic Digi-wave design”, and instead of being the type…

Gear Bits, Reviews

The BulletTrain Express Keyboard Platform; Thankfully Someone Was Listening

I have been using a Mac laptop of some kind for a relatively short amount of time — only since March 2008, but since then there has always been a MacBook nearby, whether it was the 15″ MacBook Pro, a first generation MacBook Air, a second generation MacBook Air, a 17″ MacBook Pro, or more recently an 11″ MacBook Air. I’ve been pretty vocal stating my opinion that Mac makes some of the best hardware available, even if I am pretty agnostic about whether their operating system is better than Windows or not. Beyond the all metal bodies and slimmer…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

iCarBlackBox: Like Having a Lawyer Riding Shotgun?

A new little app called iCarBlackBox caught my eye this week. It was introduced by a company of the same name and the press release from its spokesperson even included a YouTube video link. Now, besides the fact that the movie clip includes what appears to be bootlegged copyrighted crash scenes, the information provided delivers some of the bad news about this product. First, one must activate the app on the smartphone each time you prepare to hit the road. And the only thing that will be recorded on video is what is in view of the lens. If you…

Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: Inno Pocket Transformer Case for iPad

I know that there are tens of thousands of new iPad owners since early this morning for each and every new iPad app or accessory will bring a sense of wonder. And for good reason. There are so many applications and so many accessories available for the iPad and so many of them have their own unique way of bringing more functionality to the wonder device. We’ve reviewed a lot of iPad cases here on the site so there are many from which to choose but this particular case surprised me. While it has familiar features, it has a unique…

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