Reviews

Bump for iPhone Review

Bump for the iPhone & iPod Touch has a lot going for it.  It happens to have the honor of being the 1 Billionth iPhone App downloaded.   It  is F-R-E-E.   The application actually makes what used to be a chore of swapping contact information with friends and colleages — gasp! — fun, and easy. I know, I know.  It’s not Tap Tap Revenge Fun.  It won’t entertain you like Peggle will, either.  Bump will, however, help you rid yourself of of a pocket full of business cards and keep you from manually typing in numerous fields of emails,…


Seagate Replica Complete PC Backup Solution Review

Wow!  Where was this when I was in high school?  One of the cool things about being so involved with computers and technology is watching the pace of change.  Dan mentioned that the other day with his look at an old 32 MB card vs his 32 GB iPhone. This change is most apparent in how we keep finding new and improved solutions for old problems.  And the oldest, biggest problem for me is losing data. Almost as long as I have had a computer, I have managed to find new and creative ways to lose my data.  As a…


Moovida Media Center Review

Last month while searching for some media player software for Linux, I came across a program called Elisa.   Elisa was a full screen media player similar to Apple’s Front Row.  It had an interface that looked a lot like Apple’s Front Row, with a twist.  I installed it on both my Eee PC 701 and initially on my 1000HE and would use it whenever I wanted some music playing in the background. Flash forward to today.  The Elisa project has revamped itself and renamed itself into the media center called Moovida.  It is available for both Linux and WindowsXP/Vista with…


Squibs Arcade for iPhone/iPod Touch Review

Remember those fun little “keychain” LCD games  that you probably played as a kid?  Maybe one was even your first taste of the “gaming” experience. Squibs Arcade, from Chillingo, for the iPhone and iPod Touch lets you relive the games you remember all over again. The application features seven games that each takes you back to a time when games were simple, addictive and most of all fun.


Plantronics Voyager Pro Review: A New Flagship for the Voyager Fleet

I’ve used a Plantronics 510 series for about 2 years now.  It’s been a nice, steady workhorse for me.  It isn’t the flashiest, or the loudest, but it has always been rock solid.  Now along comes the new Voyager Pro.  It offers a host of new features and technologies – a whole host of improvements.  Let’s see if it lives up to the “Pro” moniker…


HTC Magic Review Part 1: First Impressions

A few months ago I had the opportunity to test out a HTC Dream (unlocked version of the T-Mobile G1), and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like it at all. The software wasn’t that great, the battery life was poor and whoever thought of that design should be locked away forever. When I was offered an HTC Magic for a few weeks, I was eager to see if HTC’s latest Android attempt had address many of the issues I had with the original. Straight out of the box the Magic makes a much better impression than the Dream. With…


The Useful Things Herb Scissors Review

I love to cook, and I love to use fresh herbs from my little garden, but I don’t particularly enjoy the monotony of chopping fresh herbs into uniform bits. That’s why I am especially enjoying the set of Herb Scissors that Useful Things sent me.


Case-Mate Fuel Battery For iPhone 3G (And Now iPhone 3G S)

Among the good news with the upcoming iPhone 3GS is the additional battery life of anywhere between 10 and 20%. That will be a welcome addition as the iPhone 3G was, at best, problematic with regard to battery life.  At the same time, however, even with 10 to 20% of additional run-time there is no question I’ll be burning through my iPhone’s battery long before the day is through. (Yes, I use it that much.) Thankfully, there are a host of extra battery options available and every one, while designed for the iPhone 3G, will continue to work with the…


The Useful Things Clothespin Chopsticks Review

Some of you may recall me talking about living in Taiwan when I was a child. One of the necessary skills that I learned, that I can still recall, was how to eat with chopsticks. This has come in quite handy as an adult, because I’ve grown very fond of eating sushi. 😉 Those who haven’t mastered fashioning two pointy sticks into their fork and spoon – whether because they don’t have the patience or they don’t have the dexterity – will understandably get a huge kick out of the Clothespin Chopsticks from Useful Things.


Auto Stitch for iPhone Review

Remember those old point and shoot cameras that had the selector on the back allowing you to snap panoramic images whenever you wanted? With the newly released application Auto Stitch from Cloudburst Research, taking quality panoramic images on your iPhone is just as easy. photo courtesy of Auto Stitch


Wuggle for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

4J Studios wants to know, do you Wuggle? Wuggle is a new tactile word game from 4J Studios.  The goal of the game is to make words by piecing together floating tiles. When you’ve got a word you want you smash the tiles together to submit then for score. You earn points based on the word’s length and each individual tile’s value. The game features two different game modes, colorful screens and funky background tunes.


Hexistentialism Review

It is not every day that you come across a truly creative and unique game.  Especially one that can be found deep within the recesses of the iTunes App Store.  Let’s be honest, a lot of the games here, regardless of how good or bad they may be, are derivative or even direct ports and copies of previously developed games.  So. I was pretty excited when I got an email from the folks behind the new game Hexistentialism.


The Useful Things Magnetic Rotary Kitchen Timer Review

For years I kept a kitchen timer on the back of my stove. Yes, the stove had a built-in timer, but it never failed that I would be cooking multiple dishes that each needed timing; hence the extra gadget. Now that I no longer have a stove with a back on it, I no longer have an out of the way place to keep my extra timer. Why not on the side of the refrigerator? Say hello to the Magnetic Rotary Kitchen Timer, available from Useful Things.


Snaztech Epic for iPhone 3G Review

A few weeks ago I wrote a Diary Entry about a new company selling cases for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch.  Unltd. Case has added another case line to their online catalogue. The Snaztech Epic case, named after Unltd Case’s founder, YouTube reviewer thatsnazzyiphoneguy, is a simplistic back cover for the iPhone 3G but it has unique feature. No matter the color, and the Epic comes in 13 different color varieties, the back of the case looks exactly like the back of the iPhone 3G, including the Apple logo.


Real Racing for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Firemint’s first offering, Flight Control, quickly became one of the hottest applications in the iTunes App Store.  Now the developer has released their second game for the iPhone and iPod Touch and it’s sure to rise to the top just as fast. Real Racing puts you behind the wheel, literally, of a race car and pits you against other drivers in a track style race that’s both realistic and downright fun.


Initial Thoughts on the HTC Touch Pro2

Judie: When HTC first sent news of their upcoming Touch Pro2 back in February, the personal note from my HTC contact said “PS: Know you have been waiting for the next Universal for awhile now…” Heck yeah I have, and that was a bit of a tease if there ever was one! Sure the radios, memory, processors, screen types – almost everything imaginable have been updated in newer HTC models, but as feature rich and highly spec’d as PDA phones may have been since 2005, I haven’t been able to keep myself from comparing all of them to the form…



USB Fever Borescope Review

Have you ever dropped something in your PC case, and then could not find it amongst the chips, resistors, capacitors and other various nooks and crannies?  Next time, you can use this nifty USB Fever Borescope to find it.


Dakim Brain Fitness Review

I taught my grandmother how to use a computer when she was well into her 80’s. She saw that my parents and brother had computers at home, and I had one at college…so she wanted to get in on all the fun. I taught her to use AOL, how to play various games (Spider Solitaire was her favorite), and generally how to be self-sufficient and keep herself “sharp” through her games. Not everyone has a granddaughter with nothing to do for a summer but write a thesis-size set of instructions on how to use a computer (It was Windows ME,…


Blue Eyeball Web Cam Review

Blue has been well known for their microphones.  They are of exceptional quality, they look good, and they are very well built.  Well Blue has taken one of their most portable microphones, the Snowflake, and made it into a webcam called the Eyeball.


Revisiting the CellRanger Cell Signal Booster

We often do initial reviews of hardware here on the site. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and, as gadget lovers, we enjoy bringing to all of you our thoughts on the newest technology. At the same time, what really matters about a product aren’t just the initial impressions or even the first review, but rather how things work in the long run and whether an item we really like during a review is something we still use a number of months later. Along those lines I thought we might go back and take a second look at item that both Wayne…