News & Features

News & Features April 3, 2013

LifeProof Launches Total Water Protection Program for iPhone and iPad

I got my hands on a LifeProof case for the iPhone shortly after the line launched. I was impressed by how great the LifeProof case was at keeping my smartphone safe. In fact, shortly after I got the LifeProof case I was in a T-Mobile store buying a hotspot sim card. Someone asked me if it was one of those new LifeProof cases. I threw my iPhone across the store and while it was in mid air I said, “I certainly hope so.” I was THAT confident the phone would be fine. It was. At the time, however, I was…

News & Features April 3, 2013

Pelican ProGear Cases for the iPhone 5 Now Shipping

Judie and I spent time at the Pelican Booth during CES 2013 back in January. While there we saw their assortment of heavy-duty coolers, their line of Pelican ProGear backpacks and their upcoming Pelican ProGear Cases for the iPhone 5. The Pelican ProGear Cases are now shipping and offer a great addition to the growing number of tough cases available for Apple’s current smartphone offering. The first of the Pelican ProGear Cases for the iPhone 5 is the Pelican ProGear Vault. The ProGear Vault is super-tough and adds great protection from the elements. In addition it offers “insulating elastomeric shock…

News & Features April 3, 2013

PhotoCal with Event for iOS Puts Photos in Timely Context

Yunasoft Inc.’s PhotoCal for iOS Remember those peanut butter and chocolate “Two great tastes that taste great together” commercials of yore? I wonder if Yunasoft had that in mind when they created PhotoCal with Event for iOS. By combining the date and time users have taken pictures using their iOS device with events existing in their calendar, PhotoCal puts images and events in an easy-to-use calendar layout that makes locating and arranging photos as easy as pie. Best of all, PhotoCal autoarranges the images and inserts them into the day they were downloaded/taken, right down to the minute the pictures…

News & Features April 3, 2013

Wacky Wine Bottle Wine Glass from Gadgets and Gear

Gadgets and Gear’s Wine Bottle Wine Glass in action If you are a sophisticated oenophile, or at least pretend you are, avert your eyes! If you don’t give a rat’s posterior about the niceties of wine drinking decorum and want a super-sized libation serving, have I got the glass for you. Gadgets and Gear now offers for the non-discriminating wine drinker the Wine Bottle Wine Glass, a wine glass fused to a standard-sized 750ml bottle. Such a utilitarian design is doubtless causing the 18th century founders of Riedel glassware to spin in their graves. Top-tier wine glasses, and let’s face…

Game Diary, News & Features April 2, 2013

Popcornflix Digital Movie Application Releases on Xbox 360

Popcornflix, an online digital movie platform, has released their Xbox 360® application which allows users to navigate with their voice or a hand wave. That’s right. The Kinect controller, the “hands-free” motion sensing input device offers yet another fun, interactive interface experience. Access is free for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers. Xbox 360 users can use this app to view and pick new arrivals, the most popular selection or browse all movies. Users can also use the app to search movies by genre, title, actor or director. Popcornflix offers several eclectic movies from a wide range of genres that include action/thriller,…

News & Features March 30, 2013

Just Mobile AluCup and AluFrame for iPhone 5

We’re fans of Just Mobiles iPhone, iPad and Mac accessories and enjoyed spending time with them during CES 2013. During that meeting the company was kind enough to give us a look at some of their upcoming products- the Just Mobile AluCup and AluFrame. The Just Mobile AluCup and the AluFrame have now been formally released and are currently shipping. Let’s take a quick look at them. The Just Mobile AluCup is described as a multi-purpose desktop stand for iPhone and iPad Mini. As is the case with almost all of Just Mobile’s products, the AluCup is made from a single…

News & Features March 29, 2013

ChargeDr USB Charge Booster Makes the Most of Charging Opportunities

How many times have you tried to charge your iPad off of a laptop’s USB port, only to not see the charging symbol, because the USB port was underpowered? Or even worse — have you ever plugged your iPad in to a spare wall charger only to find out (hours) later that your iPad had barely charged because you were using an iPhone’s lower-powered wall charger? Urgh. Digital innovations has just come out with a powerful tool that can help with situations like these; the ChargeDr. USB Charge Booster. It may not look much different from the average thumb drive, but the…

News & Features March 29, 2013

Martian Watch Gets Smarter with iOS App

For us, one of the CES 2013 hits was the rapidly emerging smart watch category. During the Electronics Show Judie attended a media event from the makers of the Pebble smart watch, we saw many wearing the I’m Watch as the company tried to stealth promote their (mostly disappointing) offering, and we spent over an hour in a private meeting with the key players at Martian Watch. (Read the post.) Judie and I both walked away with watches, and I’m glad we did. You see, for my money, the Martian Watch is currently at the top of the smart watch…

eBooks, News & Features March 28, 2013

Amazon Buys Goodreads, but Is It a Good Deal?

Amazon announced today that they’re buying Goodreads, a social book site that lets you review books you’ve read, and look for recommendations based on your reading list and the books your friends are reading. Needless to say, this is a slam dunk match for Amazon and Goodreads, as they really can complement each other nicely. There are a lot of reasons why this is good for everyone (Amazon, the Goodreads team, Goodreads users and Amazon Kindle users), but it does strike me that Goodreads being off the market is a potential loss for a few other big ebook players…let’s look a little…

Music Diary, News & Features March 28, 2013

Experience Rock and Roll Filtered Through Luna Lee’s Korean Sensibilities on Her Gayageum

I never really understood all the fuss over the Gangnam Style videos. Seemed a bit too much like the Lambada craze of the late 90s for my taste, honestly. I’m more of a rock kind of guy. (We will diplomatically ignore my love of Tom Lehrer songs, show tunes, and classical and jazz piano music for the purposes of this post.) And so when a friend of mine on Facebook posted a link to Luna Lee’s, a Korean gayageum player’s, YouTube video I was skeptical. Until I watched it, anyway: C’mon, you’ve got to admit it: Luna Lee totally rocks!…

News & Features March 28, 2013

Gomadic SunVolt Portable Solar Power Station Review

Last year my congregation became the first Reform synagogue in the country to attain certification in environmental leadership from GreenFaith, a nationally recognized interfaith environmental coalition. This winter our Pre-School completed a nationally certified outdoor classroom. The goal is to help kids, and parents, better balance “screen time” and “green time”. It should be no surprise then, that I love the idea of using the sun to charge and run my many mobile devices. After all, if the sun can fuel plants, then why not have it fuel my iPhone, iPod touch and various accessories? That’s where the Gomadic SunVolt…

News & Features March 27, 2013

Jabra Revo Wired Headphones Review

Jabra has finally released their Jabra Music line of headphones. As the company explains, the headphones combine “state-of-the-art design with excellence in sound quality and ultimate durability”. I am loving the $249.99 Jabra Revo Wireless Headphones, and they have been going everywhere with me. The sound, durability, comfort and overall execution of the wireless headphones is a home run. Now, however, the Jabra Revo Wireless Headphones have some competition in the form of the Jabra Revo Wired Headphones. The Jabra Revo Wired Headphones are the corded version of the line, and they come in at $50 less. Is the savings of…

Game Diary, News & Features March 27, 2013

Games Portal Premium Service Offers Mobile Social Gaming on Verizon Android

Games Portal will be preloaded on millions of Verizon Android devices beginning in the second quarter of 2013. PlayPhone has announced a major new tier-one carrier partnership with Verizon for its mobile social gaming platform. Verizon did not disclose which device(s) would be first to come with Games Portal pre-installed. In 2010, Verizon launches their own V Cast Apps store, which closed about a year later. Games Portal continues Playphone’s cross platform social game service with the latest free and premium games. Games Portal also includes various activities including achievements, friend invites, leaderboards, real-time updates, and recommendations. Friends lists can…

Game Diary, News & Features March 26, 2013

XCOM Enemy Unknown Coming to iOS Devices This Summer

Last October I reviewed the excellent PC game XCOM Enemy Unknown, noting that the game offered an incredible depth of gameplay and strategic options. So I am thrilled to learn that XCOM Enemy Unknown coming to iOS devices this summer. In an article at Polygon, lead developer Jake Solomon talks about how the game released for PC and consoles makes a perfect fit for iOS devices – and in particular the iPad. You will also be able to play on your iPhone and iPod Touch, though I am sure there will be limits to which generations of devices will be…

News & Features, Vehicles & Gear March 26, 2013

Survey Says Japanese Motorcycles More Reliable Than American and German Bikes

Consumer Reports has just released its first-ever motorcycle reliability survey and – as if mimicking recent automotive surveys – Japanese motorcycles ranked better than American and German models. The survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, says about one in four Harley-Davidson owners reported a major problem in the first four years of ownership, and that BMW motorcycles had even more problems reported than that. By comparison, the study showed only one in ten Yamaha owners had issues, followed closely by Kawasaki and Honda. Despite experiencing a higher rate of problems with their motorcycles, Harley and BMW owners…

News & Features March 25, 2013

Jabra Motion Bluetooth Headset Review

The Jabra Motion Bluetooth Headset is the latest and greatest Bluetooth headset from one of the true pioneers in wireless accessories. Using it for this review made me remember my very first Bluetooth headset; it also came from Jabra and, like the Jabra Motion Bluetooth Headset, it also wrapped around my ear with the microphone extending toward my mouth. This first Bluetooth headset required a dongle connected to the phone’s 3.5mm headphone jack. Why? Because my Motorola flip phone didn’t have Bluetooth built into it! Yes, it was the dark ages, and in order to get Bluetooth functionality I had…

News & Features March 25, 2013

Genius Takes the Guesswork out of Deciphering Lyrics

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard either the NSFW or the terrestrial-radio-friendly clean version of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s hit song, Thrift Shop. But unless you’ve got a finely tuned rap vocabulary, there are probably some lyrics in that song (and every other rap song, for that matter) that have left you scratching your head.

News & Features March 24, 2013

Careful, Google Is Listening

I had two very odd encounters with Google ads yesterday. It’s common for Google to push ads based on emails, as Microsoft helpfully pointed out in their “Scroogled” campaign. But usually those ads appear because of something in your email or search history. That doesn’t explain the ads I saw yesterday, as they were dead-on accurate to conversations I had held over iMessage and in person … not through Google. First, Sarah went out of town this weekend and left me a list of to-dos around the house. One of them was to straighten the large area rug in the…

News & Features March 24, 2013

Ventev Chargesync Cables and USB Chargers Review

I found out about Ventev shortly before CES. The original plan was that their PR company would send some cables and chargers direct to our hotel, but that box got lost somewhere along the way. After returning home, a new shipment was arranged, and what was inside the box was quite impressive — not only because Ventev sent me such a generous assortment of items to try, but because of the quality of the items I was sent. Let’s jump right in and start with the Ventev Chargesync Cables … Have you ever paid attention to the quality of the cables…

News & Features March 22, 2013

MightyMega Launches to Share All the Best in Sci Fi and Geekery

I am a self-professed sci-fi geek. Sarah is … not. She tries for my sake to be supportive of my favorite shows, but she just doesn’t understand it. And there have been many road trips where I’ve droned on and on about Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek, and Sarah has nearly driven off the road in frustration and boredom. So I need an outlet for all my geekery. Luckily for me, MightyMega has launched as a repository of all things awesome and sci-fi on the Internet! MightyMega is from the same folks that bring you The Awesomer and Technabob, so…

Editorials, Gear Bits, News & Features March 21, 2013

Another Way iPhone Beats Android – Battery Life in the Dungeon!

We all know that it is an Apple & Samsung world – and pretty much everywhere I go I carry both my Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3. They are both excellent phones, and I highly recommend both of them to anyone looking for a phone – each has strengths and weaknesses, just like any other device. Don’t believe the hype whenever someone tells you one is ‘far superior’ to the other: it simply meets their personal needs better. Recently my work has required me to be at a remote manufacturing facility where there is no cell phone signal…

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