News & Features

Apple’s September Event – Here’s the Latest

Apple’s September Event will arrive shortly. As it unfolds we will share as much of the news and as many images as possible. We’ll add some commentary along the way, but we invite and encourage you to comment on this post once the news starts to roll in. To get the latest news starting at 1pm EST, just refresh your browser. Photo Credit via The Verge The Event began with a welcome and a focus on the iTunes Festival. (I’ve watched a few concerts and they are pretty great!) Apple Retail Update: Big moves outside the US. More stores. Enlarged…


Would You Use an Amazon Phone?

The latest rumor from The Verge about Amazon’s mythical phone is that it will be free, or nearly free, even if you don’t have a phone contract. Is this enough to get people over the hump of Amazon’s legendary tracking and into their waiting arms of Amazon Prime and the Amazon App Store? Personally, I’m on the fence. I see two sides to this. On the one hand, this could be a very compelling extra phone or backup phone. For free, or nearly free, it makes for a good “what-if” device to keep in a drawer, or use as a…


IK Multimedia Unveils iRig Pro, an All-in-One Interface for iOS Devices!

Covering technology means never being surprised, except when you are. Today we get the surprising announcement of iRig Pro, an all-in-one interface that my son described as ‘every iRig interface you’re reviewed stuffed into one small box’. That is about right, and at $149.99 I think they have a real winner with iRig Pro shipping later this month! IK Multimedia is marketing iRig Pro based on three major strengths: Universal Inputs, Universal Compatibility, and Universal Apps. Universal Inputs: For me this is HUGE. In our house we have guitars, basses, multiple microphone types and a myriad of MIDI gear. Currently…


FL Studio Groove for Windows RT Announced

In a rather surprising move, music app maker FL Studio has launched a new app called ‘FL Studio Groove’ … and they launched it for Windows RT first! The app provides an easy interface for creating grooves and chaining them together to build songs. The app is on sale for $4.99, and will come to iOS and Android eventually. The folks at FL Studio made some other comments about the release, noting that it isn’t related to or compatible FL Studio Mobile, that there is no date yet for iOS or Android, and that Windows Phone is not planned. The…


A View from a Linux User on the Nokia Buyout

  Dan posted about the buyout of Nokia’s Mobile Device division by Microsoft this morning. I pretty much expected this to happen.  Nokia always had great hardware and a great OS in Maemo. Some say they should have went to Android, but I think they gave up on Maemo way to soon. Nokia had some of the best hardware just a few years ago before the iPhone and Android trounced them. The N series of Nokia phones had some of the most unique form factors. It’s the N series itself that led to 4 unique devices that had a lot of…


3.25 Million Reasons Lenovo’s Yang Yuanqing Is CEO-Awesomeness

Lenovo’s Yang Yuanqing just gave $3.25 million of his bonus to 10,000 Lenovo employees. That’s $250,000 more than he gave last year and comes to about a month’s extra pay for many benefitting from his generosity. Don’t hold a benefit for Yang though. Even after his gift he made over $11 million last year. Via The Verge


Malik & Pettite Promo Song in Advance of New EP Release!

Malik & Pettite are an acoustic duo from Coventry UK, and are releasing a 4-song EP October 7th, and have the lead song on YouTube to give fans a taste. What really struck me was how much this reminded me of great acts like The Lilac Time or The Railway Children. I’m definitely getting this EP, check it out! Here are the four original songs coming on the EP: 1. No More Love 2. Only You 3. Victoria 4. Rise Up Check out the band on Facebook or their web site.


Think Your Car is Old? Average Car is Now 11.4 Years Old!

For years we’ve had a routine – get a new car when we’ve exhausted the current one, donating that one to charity. Our oldest car was a 10 year-old Subaru we donated it and got my now 7 year-old Escape Hybrid. But apparently these cars are fairly young, as the average age of a car is now 11.4 years old. Hanging on to older cars has become a trend, with this year marking the highest average age since data collection started! The average age has increased nearly a year just over the last few years! And at the same time…


Hungry for Qooqi? The Cable Organization Solution

Bedtime.  You check your email one last time, remove your glasses, grab your phone charger and discover the wire has once fallen to the floor… again.  You just want to go to sleep, but instead, are blindly searching for the cable. Qooqi, a convenient cable organizer and holder is here to help. Back it on Kickstarter. Qooqi, pronounced “cookie”, is a small unibody aluminum disc designed to hold up to five cables, each 4mm thick, in one place. The metal disc is less than 2” in diameter and as thick as an iPhone 4/4S.  The bottom sports nano pad technology…


Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition Gets a Release Date and Pre-orders Open!

After finally untangling the legal web around Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition, Overhaul Games is getting ready to launch the sequel on November 15th. Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition includes Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal, offering over 120 hours of some of the best gaming of all time. Pre-order now: $24.95 for Mac/PC, iPad and Android come later. Here are some of the enhanced features: Four New Party Members – Bundled with the PC and Mac versions and available as DLC for iPad and Android, four new characters can join you on your journey. At the behest of his…


Thoughts on the Nintendo 2DS and Wii U Price Cut

Yesterday Nintendo announced a couple of major developments meant to bolster their sagging console business. The first is a price drop on the Wii U system to $299 to compete with the upcoming Sony & Microsoft consoles. They also launched the 2DS, a non-3D system that will play all DS and 3DS games for just $129.99. Mike S did a great job running down the details of the announcements and also the game line-ups for Fall release for Wii U and 3DS systems. So what I wanted to do was run down some thoughts on the Wii U price cut…


Jabra 510 UC and the Plantronics Calisto 620 UC Speakerphones Go Head to Head

A few months ago we reviewed the Jabra 510 UC and the Plantronics Calisto 620 UC speakerphones. Both come from companies with years of mobile audio experience and do a great job of instantly transforming a laptop or smartphone into a conferencing device. Both have an MSRP of $149 and go for less on Amazon. Which is right for you? I am impressed with both of them and can honestly say either is a good choice for someone in the market for such a device. Still, they are two different devices and you need only one. So lets run down…


Save Money with Republic Wireless’ Motorola DEFY XT

This post brought to you by Republic Wireless. All opinions are 100% mine. A few months ago we, reviewed Republic Wireless’ Motorola DEFY XT Smartphone. At just $199, the phone is inexpensive. At just $19 a month — about 60 cents a for unlimited data, talk and text the service is amazingly cost-effective. It is an inexpensive way to get all the smartphone goodness you could want. Check it out. Here’s a little factoid that’s worth keeping in mind: the average American’s monthly cellphone bill is more than their grocery or  health insurance expense. That’s. Just. Crazy. Republic Wireless decided to…


Nintendo 2DS Announcement and Wii U Deluxe Set Price Drop

Big news from Nintendoland! On September 20 the Wii U Deluxe Set will be discounted to $299.99 and a limited edition Wii U bundle with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will arrive along with several high-profile game releases and special offers. Then, on October 12, the Nintendo 2DS handheld console will arrive. Let the games begin. Yes, Nintendo clearly hopes to increase interest in their handheld Nintendo DS console and Wii U console with new offers, games, and special bundles. Let’s run them down! On October 12, Nintendo will debut the slate-styled Nintendo 2DS handheld console for a MSRP of $129.99,…


Mario Esposito Discusses Sensoria Fitness Game Development Projects

We recently talked with Heapsylon’s CTO Mario Esposito about impressive gear that can interface among the physical world and video. Esposito  also co-founded Heapsylon in 2009, which concentrates on wearable body sensing technology. Heapsylon, a Washington-based start-up, has launched Sensoria Fitness, which consists of mobile applications, the first e-textile pressure sensing smart sock, and Bluetooth anklet. The mobile application monitor and guide you through real-time audio cues. The smart sock, completely made of fabric, can be washed or dried like a regular sock. The anklet magnetically snaps on the cuff of the sock and sends commands. Sensoria Fitness recently completed two successful campaign on…


Lumia 925 Coming to AT&T

The Lumia 925 is, by all accounts, an excellent flagship Windows Phone. At least in the United States, it has been tied to T-Mobile since launch, but now that exclusivity has lifted, and it will be arriving on AT&T on August 28th, presumably to replace the Lumia 920! If you aren’t familiar with the Lumia 925, it is one of Nokia’s top-shelf Lumia devices. It has a 4.5in screen, a Carl Zeiss lens, and the latest update to Windows Phone, giving it access to amazing apps like Nokia Pro Cam. Unlike previous Lumias, the 925 also ditches the polycarbonate body…


Sugru Is the Grown-Up Play-Dough for DIY Projects

If you’ve ever dabbled in small home improvement projects, wanted to fix a damaged item or just mold something to a desired shape to hold something, Sugru might be just the thing for you. Perhaps falling somewhere between ubiquitous duct tape and super glue, Sugru is a moldable, self-curing rubber that can bond to a variety of surfaces and is electrically insulating, so clever techies can patch broken cable housings in sundry chargers, adapters and the like. Starting at $10 for a pack of 3 to $18 for a pack of 8, Sugru could be a MacGyver-wannabe’s new best friend. Check…


The NEX-5T Joins the Sony NEX Family of Interchangeable Lens Cameras

The brand new Sony NEX-5T is the newest member of the NEX family. It offers WiFi and now brings NFC connectivity for easy pairing with any NFC-enabled mobile device. Packed with features, it has a large, high-resolution 16.1 effective megapixel Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor similar in size to the sensors found in traditional DSLR cameras. Here’s a first look. The NEX-5T will look immediately familiar to any of us who have used Sony’s NEX line of interchangeable lens cameras. It is, in other words, an update to the NEX-5 line and will ship with the same compact SELP1650 motorized…


Back to School Time! Classrooms Have Definitely Changed

Summer is officially over in Texas! That’s right, back to school. The classroom you remember as a kid has greatly changed. An article at Edudemic discusses 5 big changes in the classroom. As a tech geek, I find the changes exciting, and I welcome new methods. These changes are coming slowly to my school, but the ball is rolling. The five items becoming outdated according to the author are: Paper Parent teacher conferences Impersonal professional development Attendance Traditional age based learning Today’s student will likely have a much different experience than most adults remember in their education. What are your…


Photo Sharing – An App that Makes Sharing Photos Simple

Looking for an easy way to send lots of pictures on your iPhone through email?  If so, Photo Sharing by Giacomo Guglielmi, is the perfect app for you.  It allows you to send as many pictures as you want, including full albums, directly from your phone to your friend’s inbox. If you’re anything like me, you’ve unofficially traded in your point and shoot digital camera for the camera on your iPhone.  With the quality of the smartphone camera increasing with each new phone, I almost never need to use my old digital camera, unless of course, I’m on my Honeymoon…


ProtectCELL Offers a New Kind of Cell Phone Insurance

Cell phone insurance usually covers the basics, like your phone taking a swim in a pint of beer. But ProtectCELL thinks insurance should be more comprehensive bang for your buck, with buyback offers and even identity theft protection plans! I keep a lot of information on my cell phone. Between banking apps, email, Facebook, and photos, you could recreate most of my life from my cell phone, and I am sure most people could say the same thing. I’ve always felt like cell phone insurance was a waste of money, but I am intrigued by the pitch I received from…