Reviews

Game Diary, Reviews December 4, 2010

PC Game Review: Call of Duty Black Ops

Since the second game in the series, Treyarch and Infinity Ward have alternated development duties for Call of Duty games: Infinity Ward did the excellent first two games as well as Modern Warfare 1 & 2. Treyarch, on the other hand, did the worst-in-franchise Call of Duty 3 and the underwhelming World at War … and has now returned for Call of Duty: Black Ops! Have they finally abandoned their bottom-feeder ways? Read on and find out! The Hype: Call of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter with stealth and tactical play aspect that puts players in the role…

Reviews December 4, 2010

Bright Night StrideLight Lighted Jacket Review

One of the best things about running is the simplicity. Get up, tie your shoes and go! That works when it’s summertime, but lately it seems I need to load down with more and more gear just to get out the door. Shoes, running tights, long-sleeved shirt, jacket, wool hat, gloves…and since I run early in the mornings, a headlamp too. I’ve been testing a new piece of gear for my runs, one that combines warmth AND safety…but how well does the Bright Night StrideLight Lighted Jacket hold up against my runs? Read on to find out! My first impression…

Reviews December 3, 2010

Ingear Jazzy Case iPhone 4 Case Review

The Jazzy Case from ingear is a stylish TPU (thermoplastic) style case for the iPhone that combines a good amount of shock and impact protection along with a sophisticated pattern printed on the back. Roll all that into a price tag that’s under $15 and you’ve got another WIN from ingear. The Jazzy Case comes packaged with a front screen shield for your iPhone. It also includes a small cleaning cloth and a card to help you install the screen shield. The case is available in four color variations. Black: Blue: Pink: Orange: The TPU material allows the case to…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear December 3, 2010

Chevy Volt: Out of the Box

Buck fifty a day. According to the automaker, that is all it will cost you to operate your new Chevy Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle when used in EV mode only. The car that GM is calling the “game-changer” is arriving in select markets this month. We spent some quality time with the Volt and its team members on a recent jaunt in the Texas Hill Country north and west of Austin. The event provided a few eye openers, some educational opportunities and at least one typical situation faced by drivers in semi-rural areas. Much has been written about Volt…

Reviews December 3, 2010

App Update: Amplitube 2 For iPhone

I recently reviewed the Amplitube application along with the iRig hardware. Check out the full review here. The Amplitube app is a robust guitar effects studio used on IOS devices. Version 2 has just been released and adds some exciting functionality to an already great app. The ability to use my iPhone or iPad while playing the guitar has been a wonderful experience. I can play privately in my home without annoying my family with the loud music and am totally mobile. If I wanted to play silently in the past, I had to connect headphones to my amplifier which…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear December 3, 2010

2011 Ford Fiesta Walk-Thru Video

UPDATED! Now with Review! Here is a video I put together using my Nikon D-SLR camera shooting several thousand still images and combining them for a pseudo-motion video highlighting the all-new Ford Fiesta. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WKJpOvIhiF4 How will automakers counter the predictions for five-dollar-a-gallon-gas this year? Ford wants you to celebrate – with a Fiesta! Yes, the car you simply could not get enough of during last season’s American Idol is in dealer showrooms giving consumers ample time to secure one as fuel prices begin the roller coaster ride back northward. While the nameplate is not new to our shores, this gen-forward…

Game Diary, Reviews December 3, 2010

PC Game Review: Star Wars The Force Unleashed II

Just like the natural universe, the Star Wars universe seems to keep expanding ever since the Big Bang of 1977. Some of the expansions – such as Splinter of the Mind’s Eye – have been trashed by the ‘canon’ of the films, while others like the Thrawn trilogy have spawned ideas and characters that have carried through into the movies, games, and even further into book releases through the years. Most recently the end of the prequels has thrown open the era of conflict between Episodes II and III (Clone Wars) and III and IV (Jedi Purge, Imperial Control), and…

Reviews December 3, 2010

Review: Mobile Edge Sumo Messenger Bag

We’ve been looking for a good bag for my wife’s new laptop. Her new laptop would not fit into her old bag since she was using a netbook. When Mobile Edge’s Sumo Messenger Bag came up for review, I jumped at the chance. Will my wife be happy with this new bag? I was sent the Sumo Messenger bag in red. Chalk up one point for Mobile Edge picking a color my wife likes with red being a favorite! This bag has a ton of pockets on it. On the exterior there is one on the flap. two on the…

Reviews December 2, 2010

Fusionwerkz RAW iPhone 4 Case Review

When Fusionwerkz reached out to us at Gear Diary to see if we’d be interested in reviewing their RAW case for the iPhone 4 I was admittedly a little hesitant. After our experience with the Element Vapor Case I was worried about how the RAW, which is also an all aluminum case, would affect the iPhone 4’s reception. The case arrived a few days ago and I’ve been using it ever since. The RAW is made completely in the USA and crafted from 6061 T4 aluminum. That’s “Greek” to me but I do know this – it’s super light weight…

Game Diary, Reviews December 2, 2010

Flight Control for iPhone/Touch Review

The addition of GameCenter on my iPhone has definitely sold me on several games. Casual and puzzle games seem to be much more enjoyable when I get to compare my friend’s scores and talk a little trash (or hear some). It seems like the most enjoyable of these games are puzzle style games that can be open ended. The latest games my friends and I have been locking horns with is Flight Control. The game is super addictive and will become surprisingly competitive. Flight Control is a line drawing game that is simple to play, but will prove to be…

Music Diary, Reviews December 2, 2010

Music Diary Review: eMusic Changes Pricing Structure in Face of Fourth Year with No Subscriber Growth

I have to admit – I USED eMusic more than once. And by ‘used’ I don’t just mean ‘make use of the service’ … I mean that I grabbed one of those ‘get 50 tracks free’ offers, canceled after the first month, and wait for the next email with another offer or 50 or 75 tracks for free. But a few months ago I had used up all of my free tracks, and had more I wanted to grab … so I let my membership charge persist. And again, and again this past month. Then a week or so ago…

Game Diary, Reviews November 30, 2010

PC Game Review: Civilization V

Welcome back to the revenge of the sequels! The fall gaming season is always filled up with a myriad of games seeking to repeat the success of earlier franchise entries. Civilization V is definitely in line with that trend, attempting to capture sales based on the commercial and critical success of 2005’s Civilization IV while also taking the franchise in some new directions. So how did they do? Read on and find out! The Hype: Sid Meier’s Civilization V is the fifth offering in the multi-award winning Civilization turn-based PC strategy game series. As with earlier installments in the series,…

Game Diary, Reviews November 30, 2010

iPad Game Review: Virtual City HD

A couple of months ago I reviewed the iPhone version of Virtual City, noting that my only real complaint was the lack of a sandbox mode. The game already took advantage of the high resolution Retina display, so my assumption was that there would be a minimal difference in the move to the iPad. Turns out I was right … and wrong. Read on to find out what I mean. The Hype: Build a city of your dream – a residential paradise or an industrial center. Build dwelling houses and industrial buildings. Produce goods and deliver them to the shopping…

Reviews November 29, 2010

iPad Accessory Review: AUTUM Straight Jacket for Apple iPad

Let’s face it, you can tell a lot about a designer’s aesthetics within seconds of looking at a single product they have designed. That being the case, it is clear that the designers over at AUTUM, a company I had never before heard of, have AMAZING taste. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Judie recently reviewed a leather iPad pouch and was rather impressed. It is beautiful, heavy-duty, rugged leather that, to paraphrase her, holds the iPad in the same manner that a holster hold a gun … and there you have the difference between the frames of reference a…

eBooks, Reviews November 29, 2010

The Kobo WiFi eReader Review

Earlier this fall we had the opportunity to review the original Kobo Reader, a simple ebook reader sold through Kobo and Borders. They recently updated the original design to include WiFi connectivity, and the good folks at Kobo sent a unit over for review! In many ways the WiFi Reader is just like it’s unconnected sibling; the reading experience is essentially the same. I don’t have an original Kobo Reader handy, but from what I remember the menus look similar. Two changes did jump out at me. One, there’s a dictionary option now, powered by Miriam-Webster, and the second is…

Reviews November 28, 2010

SCOTTEVEST Carry-On Coat Review and Giveaway

SCOTTEVEST recently rolled out another neat travel product. In this case, it is a coat specifically designed for travel. The SeV CARRY-ON COAT has 33 pockets (33!!!!!) and can actually replace a carry-on. Here’s how Scott describes the jacket on the site. Sometimes when going on a trip, people choose to “pack light,” and this usually means carrying a small bag or two. The Carry-On Coat redefines packing light by allowing you to replace the contents of a typical carry-on bag with a precisely engineered structure of pockets and compartments built into the coat. No more extra bag fees, carry-on…

Reviews November 28, 2010

NOX Audio’s Scout Headset

When I last looked at a product from NOX it was their gamer oriented Specialist set of headphones which I liked really well. However, most of the time I have been preferring earbuds. Well NOX sent me a set of their new Scout earbuds to check out. Are they as good as the Specialist? Let’s find out. The Scout headset is of the type that fits in your ears with adjustable silicon cushions. While some might not like this style I really like how they feel in my ears plus with the different cushion sizes they tend to stay put in your ears when…

Reviews November 27, 2010

iPad Accessory Review: ViewSticks iPad Car Mounting System

There are a growing number of us who want to use our iPads pretty much everywhere. And one of those places is in… the car. The iPad makes a great car entertainments system for kids in the backseat. The only thing is… you need a good, secure way to hold the iPad in place. ViewSticks offers one system for doing just that. Priced at just $19.95, the ViewSticks are a convenient, low profile way to hold your iPad in place behind the drivers or passenger seat for easy viewing. Here’s a look at them in action… From the Company: Compatible…

Reviews November 27, 2010

Review: Roll-able Bluetooth Keyboard from EFO Gadget Shop

Sometimes I would love to just travel with my Droid 2 or a small tablet sized device but the built in keyboard on my Droid 2 isn’t that conducive to typing big e-mails. So when I saw this keyboard, I thought let’s try this as a way to make a extremely mobile setup for blogging or e-mailing. EFO Gadget Shop sent one to me to review. Will it be as useful as I thought? Well today we will find out. This keyboard is an extremely portable bluetooth keyboard. It is many times smaller than a Apple Bluetooth keyboard and even…

Reviews November 26, 2010

Review: Monsoon Vulkano Deluxe Pro

I spent a large portion of the summer building a nice deck just outside my back door. Once it was finished we would sit out there under the bright Texas stars and I would tell my wife I needed a way to watch sports out there. My WiFi is full strength on the deck, but I could rarely watch live sporting events. If only I could watch on my iPad or iPhone or even laptop. Enter the Monsoon Vulkano to grant my wish! The Vulkano sports technology for TV placeshifting, digital video recording, internet video playback, universal plug and play…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear November 26, 2010

2011 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon all hat, no rodeo

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Poetic words meant for lovers and lyricists. In the real world things don’t always go accordingly. My situation refers to the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon that I recently spent a week with. Here are the words I penned last year during my first experience with the new Caddy: “The vehicle we enjoyed at this stopover (of the Cadillac Culinary Tour) was the new wagon from Cadillac, the CTS Sport Wagon. Wagons have not gotten much love over the past few decades and Chevy Chase did not do them any favors in his vacation movie….

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