Reviews | Gear Diary

Go800 Connects SMS to 800 Numbers.

Ok I am still trying to figure out why this is a good idea. Go800corp.com has started a service that is kind of neat, but then kind of makes me ask why. What it does is supposedly makes it easier to contact companies with 800 numbers on your cellphone. You basically text a keyword to 46800 and then your phone will ring and be connected to the 800 number the keyword belongs too. They call this a Voice Keyword, and yet you can’t just call them and use your voice to establish the call? Plus since smart phones are becoming…

Reviews

Review: Speck Products Kindle 2 Cases

Speck Products was kind enough to send me one of each of the new cases that they just released for the Kindle 2. While I have heard of Speck from Dan’s review and Judie sharing her thoughts on some of Speck’s line, this is my first hands on experience with a Speck case. Will the cases match up to what I have been using? Since I received a Tom Bihn pouch from Judie, I have been using it to hold my Kindle 2 while commuting to work. While the pouch is perfect in size in most every way, it does nothing to…

Reviews

HTC Desire with HTC Sense and Android 2.1 Review

While the Google Nexus One has been on the market for a few months now, its HTC-branded brother has only just started to make it out. I’ve been using the HTC Desire for the last week or so, and it has surprised me just how good it really is. HTC have been a bit presumptuous from the get-go, calling the phone the Desire. While it looks quite different from it’s Google branded sibling, the two phones are very similar underneath. Both share the same 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 3.7” 800×480 AMOLED capacitive display, and run Android 2.1. There are a few…

Game Diary, Reviews

Mass Effect 2 (RPG, 2010): PC/XBOX360 Game Review

Way back in late 2007 (early 2008 on PC), Bioware released a game that was unique and interesting in several ways: it was their second game featuring all-new intellectual property (Jade Empire was first), a game designed from the start (or so we were told) as a trilogy, and the gameplay mechanic was a third-person squad-based shooter similar in some ways to Gears of War. The game was a tremendous commercial and critical success, thereby ensuring that the remainder of the trilogy would be produced, but there were some significant criticisms (even in the early 10/10 ‘bestest gaem EVAR’ reviews):…

Reviews

ReaddleDocs For iPad Review

There are a number of different ways to get PDF documents onto the iPad and then view them wherever you are. One of the best is ReaddleDocs. The developer describe the application adds, “a revolutionary PDF reader, file manager, and attachment savor for iPad. Let’s take a look. From the company, This is a revolutionary document viewer, file manager and attachment saver for the iPad. You can catch documents from any source you can imagine: PC or Mac computers, websites, e-mail, attachments, iDisk, Dropbox and any other online file storages, even iPhones. All files are saved to your iPad locally…

Reviews

A Quick Look at the Verizon HTC Droid Incredible Android Phone

Just a few days ago we announced the new Verizon HTC Incredible, and tonight they just went live in the Verizon Wireless store. I happen to have one here, so let’s take a look inside the box, shall we? Look at all of that shiny black plastic on the front, just waiting for you to breathe on it, smudge it up, and allow dust to land on its pristine surface. The Droid Incredible measures roughly 4.6″ tall x 2.3″ wide x 0.5″ thick; it’s slightly thinner than an iPhone, with a screen that puts the iPhone’s to shame … even…

Reviews

FoodEssentials Scanner for iPhone Review

About six years ago I made the decision to change my life. Being an athlete all of my life, I was pushed to get bigger and had always consumed a lot of calories since I burned so many. When I began coaching, I spent all of my time teaching others how to be athletes, and there was no time to do my own sports. I tried many dieting options with no luck until I tried the Atkins plan. Long story short, I lost 100 pounds and got back into shape. I now live a low-carb lifestyle and have maintained my…

Reviews

Waterfield Ultimate SleeveCase for iPad and iPad Suede Jacket – Reviews

Back in February we shared news that Waterfield was rolling out a number of different ways to protect your newest Apple device thanks to their Ultimate SleeveCase and Suede Jacket for Apple iPad. Well both are shipping and we’ve had a chance to check them out. Are they a good way to protect your iPad in a rough and tumble world? Read on and find out… First up is the iPad Ultimate SleeveCase. According to Waterfield… Ultimate iPad Sleeve Protection. Safeguard your iPad with a properly fitted SleeveCase. Cushioned with high-grade neoprene and wrapped in a nearly indestructible ballistic nylon…

Reviews

Multitasking for iPad Review

When the iPad was first announced, the one missing feature which bothered me more than any other was the lack of multitasking. However, for me multitasking is the wrong word. What I want on the iPad is what I like to call “multiviewing.” I could honestly care less about being able to listen to Pandora Radio while browsing the web. The iPad has a big, beautiful screen and what I want is to be able to open up a few applications and be able to view them side by side, all at the same time. With all the cool multi-touch…

Game Diary, Reviews

Tron 2.0 (2003, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

As a long-time techno-geek I loved the Tron movie back in the early 80’s and pumped loads of quarters into both the Tron and particularly Discs of Tron arcade game a few years later. I have watched the movie on a couple of occasions over the decades, but never owned or rented a copy until late last year. Sharing it with my kids, I found that they enjoyed it – though some of the ‘inside the computer’ references were terribly antiquated and the kids had no frame of reference to get the jokes. More recently we’ve seen the Tron Legacy…

Reviews

Review: Basketball Coach’s Clipboard For iPhone/Touch/iPad

The clipboard is a tool of the trade for basketball coaches that has been used for decades. I never coach a game without my trusty board sitting under my chair. The basketball clipboard is simple. A white dry erase clipboard with a basketball court diagram and a dry erase marker. The come in many sizes and configurations but all have the same function. Not high-tech by any means, but extremely useful. In fact, the only change in this technology is the switch from chalk boards to dry erase. Watch any game and you will see the boards come out at…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2010 Jeep Liberty offers bit of freedom from the day-to-day

Photos courtesy Jeep While Jeep heritage has been going strong for more than half a century, most of its product lineup is still in its infancy. Compass and Patriot are actually more like adopted children – loved by their new parents but not sharing any DNA. Then there is Liberty. The Jeep Liberty was first introduced as a 2002 model but was quickly relegated to popularity around college campuses and sorority houses. Seeking to get back to its roots, Jeep gave Liberty a complete redux for the latest model. All-new from the ground up, the (Gen-II) Liberty returns to Jeep’s…

Reviews

Review: Altec Lansing IMT320 inMotion Compact

I love Altec Lansing products. I have the inMotion Classic iPod Dock and I use it quite a bit. However, sometimes you need a speaker dock that is a little more compact and simpler to use than the inMotion Classic. That’s where the inMotion Compact comes in. The inMotion Compact looks a lot like the Classic, but it lacks the FM Radio, the integrated battery, remote and integrated display. The only controls on it are power and volume; all controls are on the top near the center of the dock. The rear of the dock hides the power cord’s port,…

Reviews

SurvivalStrap Review: Always There When You Need It

As a firefighter, I’m always looking for “gear” that keeps me safe. It’s especially nice to find a piece of equipment that I can carry both at work and at home. My rescue tool, for example, never leaves my pocket. It’s a versatile piece of hardware that I use almost every day, sometime to free an injured patient from their seat belt, other times to cut the blister pack off of one of my daughter’s newest toys. When I saw the SurvivalStraps web site I immediate thought, “now there’s something that might come in handy no matter where I am.”…

News & Features, Reviews

Quick Look: SPB TV for iPhone

SPB has had their SPB TV product out for WIndows Mobile devices for a long time, and it’s always been considered an excellent app. Recently they released it for the iPhone – something many people were eagerly anticipating. Let’s take a quick look at this latest release for the iPhone!

Reviews

Follow Friday App for iPhone

If you use Twitter, chances are you’re familiar with the tradition that is #Follow Friday. For those of you who aren’t, every Friday Twitter users compose a Tweet to their followers which consists of a list of the “cool” people they follow, and it serves to suggest that they follow them too. While I do like the concept it, can become taxing to compose these weekly Tweets, trying to remember who you shouted out the week before, who did for you, etc. The Follow Friday application, available in the iTunes App Store for 99 cents takes all the guess-work out…

Reviews

Kidz Gear Wireless Car Headphones Review

Inside this bag resides the key to peaceful car trips with the kids. Seriously. If you’ve ever crammed the family into your personal vehicle and driven hundreds of miles you know that the addition of an in-car entertainment system makes all the difference. Something about watching a DVD makes kids able to sit, comfortably. But unless your kids have headphones with which to listen to their movie, you, the driver, is forced to endure hours upon hours of High School Musical, One, Two and yes, even Three. Travis recently reviewed the Kidz Gear Wired Headphones. Kidz Gear was kind enough…

Game Diary, Reviews

Ragdoll Blaster 2 Lite for iPhone/Touch/iPad App Review

The iPhone has become a great puzzle gaming platform. A style of game I have come to enjoy are physics puzzles. There are many different versions of the genre, but each of them use the amazing physics possibilities on the iPhone to create a unique game. So to carry on the idea of uniqueness, how about firing rag dolls out of a canon to solve the puzzle? Well, that is exactly how Ragdoll Blaster 2 is played. The idea of the game was strange to me at first also. Once you play the game though, the addictiveness of shooting rag…

Reviews

Native Union Moshi Moshi 02 Review

I enjoy reviewing gear. I enjoy it even more when the product I’m reviewing just makes sense. Such is the case with the Native Union Moshi Moshi 02. I still have a land line at home, but I know many people do not. With today’s unlimited long distance mobile plans and even more companies offering unlimited everything, more and more people are choosing to rely on their mobile phone’s at home and well as on the road. If’ there’s one thing I’ve always struggled with when using my mobile phone at home for extended periods of time, it’s the comfort…

eBooks, Reviews

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs

PDF. ePub. Kindle. iBooks. eBooks. Nook. eInk. Web Browser. Laptop. Audiobooks. For over 10 years, I have been trying to move to an all-electronic workflow for reading and consuming books, especially technical books. It started when I was a consultant traveling in planes to a variety of locations all over the US and internationally. Even when I was working locally, I had a 3+ hour commute daily for a number of years. One of the first things I did was switch to listening to audiobooks (via Audible) for my long daily commute via car. It not only kept me more…

Game Diary, Reviews

Vampire The Masquerade – Bloodlines: GearGames Retrospective

Hello, L.A., you’re up way past your bedtime, aren’t you? That is the line that greets you when you arrive at your apartment ‘haven’ in Santa Monica after a poorly done cutscene and wonderful tutorial, coming from a radio show that is just one of the many delicious undercurrents that make Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines one of the absolute best role-playing games of the past decade. It is hard to think that a mere five years ago releasing a product based on vampires would be considered a commercial liability, and that there hadn’t been a game released based on the…