Zagg offers excellent guarantees on their products, but do they actually live up to it? Yes! The cable on my awesome ZR-SIX headphones recently split at one of the junction points. I got on the company website, arranged a replacement, and had one on the way in minutes. I sent back the originals and … That’s great customer service!
To date, I am aware of only one dock for Android and that was the Sonr Symphony. I reviewed an early version of the dock here on Gear Diary. Hale Devices is Joe Born’s new name for Sonr Labs, and the Hale Dreamer picks up where the Symphony left off. Today they are kickstarting the Hale Dreamer Alarm Dock on Kickstarter. The Hale Dreamer combines both a physical dock with software to help control the phone while it’s in the dock. The software enables the hardware features of the dock like a real snooze button and more. It also includes…
Red Crow Mysteries: Legion is yet another excellent hidden object puzzle adventure game from Cateia Games and G5 Entertainment. I loved it on the iPad as well as the Mac, and now G5 has put the game on sale for 70% off ($1.99) for this week only, removing any excuse for genre fans not to go buy it now! Red Crow Mysteries: Legion for Mac Red Crow Mysteries: Legion (Full) for Mac Here is the trailer:
One of the overlooked features in iOS 7 is the new Inter-App Audio routing system. While not as powerful as AudioBus, Apple’s system provides yet another set of Core services that ensure system-level capability and functionality. Today IK Multimedia announced that their flagship AmpliTube app us iOS 7 compatible and adds Inter-App Audio routing system support. Here are some specifics about the iOS 7 support from the press release: Inter-App audio allows audio apps to communicate with each other and stream the audio output from one app to another. This feature is extremely handy for adding effects, and processing the…
I am not sure how I will contain my excitement/fear in the buildup to Sunday’s “Breaking Bad” finale, but I am insanely grateful to the Internet for generating content that eases the wait with humor. I cannot fathom the amount of work that went into this fan video that remixes clips from Breaking Bad into a spoken word version of “My Way”, but it is worth watching and rewatching! Fair warning: While the video does not show specific plot lines, many of the clips may be spoilers for events and scenes through the first half of Season 5.
Most so-called hardcore RPG fans who have been around for more than a few years mark the Fallout games (1 & 2, anyway) as near the pinnacle of the genre, with only occasional post-apocalyptic fare like Arcanum being released to satisfy that itch. Now StygSoft’s intriguing Underrail has been released on Steam Early Access for $9.99. Underrail is a post-apocalyptic turn-based RPG that has been developed with loads of input from the community since it hit pre-Alpha. Now it is further along, and has been included in a couple of ‘indie bundles’ and on Desura and GamersGate. But the release…
In an adaptation of an infamous truism, if it exists there is a dubstep for it. The latest example comes in the form of a challenge to Andrew Huang from one of his YouTube followers. Huang created a dubstep based on the opening to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and the video here. So what do you think – cool or crap? You can get the MP3 version of the track using ‘Pay with a Tweet/ Facebook Share’ download. Here is the video:
Pet tracking devices have been something of a mixed bag in my house. We tested the Spotlite, which worked well even if it was a little bulky, and the Tagg, which single-handedly gave me as many gray hairs in one malfunctioning afternoon as three months of parenthood has managed. Still, the concept is a good one, and more companies are entering the growing pet tracking market. eTrak, which has a great deal of experience in GPS tracking, is debuting their PetTrak product today! It looks and functions similar to the other devices we have tested, a small device attaches to…
Today, Valve announced its SteamOS, which is built for computer gamers who want to bring their gaming experience into the living room. The free Linux-powered operating system will have a user interface that was built for use on a big screen HDTV and for viewing from the couch. Valve tells us to stay tuned for a release date, soon. One of the highlighted features of SteamOS is its in-home streaming, which promises to be able to stream any of your games from any computer in your house to your HDTV over your home network. This means that you will not…
When the news came of ‘record lines’ at Apple’s NYC store, it felt like a contrived move for headlines – and it probably was. But while that seemed like a desperation move, Apple’s press release today is a triumph of the continued consumer demand for the iPhone. The iPhone 5c and 5s sold over 9 million units in the opening weekend! In the press release, Apple highlights a few interesting numbers from the last several days: – The 9 million sales are just the iPhone 5s and 5c, and happened in spite of constrained supply, particularly of the coveted Gold 5s….
In non-Grand Theft Auto V related gaming news, a new browser-based shooting game is creating some buzz. Superhot is a first-person shooter where time only moves when you do. Therefore, if you’re standing still, time moves extremely slowly. This brings a very cool sneaking aspect into the game. Superhot has been greenlit for addition to Steam by the Steam community. Be on the lookout for upcoming news as to Superhot’s release, but in the meantime, check out the trailer below and click this link to play the short teaser game now! Superhot has become the fastest game ever to be…
Every time there’s a tragic school shooting or mass killing, we hear about video games. We hear that they’re ‘killing trainers’ and need to be regulated and controlled because they are dangerous and poisoning the minds of our youth. Studies show all violent media consumption desensitizes us, but that is very different than making us killers, as the image shows. Image Source – QuickMeme
Laggy Android touchscreen response has been covered so much it’s practically a meme; we’ve heard with each device and OS version they’ve solved it ‘this time for sure’. But here is the blunt and simple reality – the flagship Samsung Galaxy S4 is even slower to respond than the iPhone 4S, let alone the iPhone 5 or the newest devices! And before Windows Phone folks start feeling smug, the Nokia Lumia 928 from Verizon falls in just behind the Galaxy S4. Check out all the results here.
I went hands-on time with Neat’s new NeatConnect Direct-to-the-Cloud Touchscreen Scanner this evening. It really does, “Introduce a whole new way to get organized!” The NeatConnect sends scans straight to NeatCloud, Skydrive, Evernote, Box, Dropbox and Google Drive without a computer.. You can also send to email, an SD card or to Neat’s Desktop Software. Shipping in October for $499. We can’t wait to spend more time with it! Find the Full Press Release here.
The JBL Spark Wireless Stereo Speaker System is one of the funnest (yeah I know it is not a word) speakers we’ve seen. Offering “legendary JBL sound in a funky, fun shape” it has two high-performance 40 mm JBL drivers and offers wireless Bluetooth streaming from your smartphone or table. Just $129 each! Check it out.
You might have heard of the Grand Theft Auto games, which are either the cause of all evil or just a video game depending on your perspective. The fifth entry (or 7th counting Vice City and San Andreas) was just released – and has already sold over $800 million during its first 24 hours of retail and digital sales. Wow. By comparison, GTA4 sold 3.6 million copies for $310 million on launch day – 2K games isn’t telling how many units of GTA5 were sold. And in the UK GTA5 replaced Call of Duty: Black Ops as the fastest selling…
In June of 2012, Google picked up Quick Office and for the longest time, didn’t do anything with it. Today Google has pushed out a brand new version of Quick Office completing the assimilation of this office suite. They have added the ability to save work to Google Drive as well; it’s also now free to download for all. Google has made some significant changes to the mobile office suite they picked up over a year ago. Namely, a brand new look for the application and the ability to use your Google Drive storage. You can also view Google Drive…
Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, and once again Facebook is getting on the action. Last year they introduced the option to change your language to ‘Pirate’ – and they have brought back the option this year! Go to Settings, then Account Settings, and Language. Once you’re done and ready to go back, access ‘Ye Ship’s Rigging’ to change!
I love the under-served genre of dungeon defense games, such as the 90’s Dungeon Keeper games. In these games rather than playing the dungeon-raiding hero you are the master of the dungeon, warding off adventurers! A great looking new entry to the genre ‘Evil Master Overlord’ is coming to iOS and Android soon. Check out the trailer! From the developers: Evil Master Overlord (EMO) is an exciting dungeon defense game with a recognizable tile-matching puzzle style mechanic that will soon be available on the iOS and Android platforms. It will appeal to gamers who cannot get enough of the dungeon…
We all know both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4 are excellent phones. But since the iPhone 5 is now ‘obsolete’ and the S4 is just a few months old, it might surprise you that in ‘real world’ tests the iPhone 5 is considerably faster than the S4. The tests were intended for the iPhone 5s, which is insanely fast. You can see all results here, but I do realize that these sorts of tests are seldom an indication of exactly the experience someone will have. For some it is all about app-switching, others are data-throttled, and so on. Personally…
Pocket has been around iOS users for quite a while (previously as ‘Read it Later’), and it provides excellent offline reading capabilities that integrate with several other apps to let you read what you want, when you want. For iOS 7, Pocket has gotten better in several important ways including speed and responsiveness, updated design, and background capabilities. Here are the main things included in the newly released Pocket 4.6: Fresh New Design – Changes to every screen in Pocket, as well as a new app icon to complement the look and feel of the new version of iOS. Instant…