The summer travel season is fast coming upon us. In fact, here in Columbus we have a day in the 80’s predicted already! While it’s still not warm enough to go swimming, when you do finally take the plunge you may want to take this with you.
If you own an iPhone, you’ve probably discovered the incredible number of games available on the app store. Some of the best are the sort you can fire up, play for a few minutes, stop and pretend you are working when your boss walks by, then keep playing when the coast is clear. I had the opportunity to review one of these games, Amoebas by SDGames …is it worth playing or will it get lost in the deluge of options?
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Truth be told, my favorite style of game in the handheld genre is puzzle. At any given time I have at least five puzzle games loaded onto my iPhone. Astro Sphere is a challenging puzzle style game that’s available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game takes place in space and the goal is to guide your “ship” through a series of levels. To advance to the next level you must teleport your ship through a portal. You do this by bouncing the spherical ship of certain obstacles, each of which has a different effect, all the while trying…
In my lighter moments and more adolescent male times, in other words all the time; I play games on my iPhone! Currently I have two games, Bejeweled 2 and Zombie Invasion. By far its more fun to play Zombie Invasion and watch the zombies bite the dust! Zombie Invasion is a classic shooter game with one shooter standing at the bottom of the screen shooting at the approaching zombies. As the level increases there are more zombies and more weapons.
Google has launched a brand new Gmail mobile web engine for the iPhone and Android devices. The change incorporates HTML5 and Google Gears for Mobile, which will allow you to access your Gmail and other gear-enabled applications offline (not that anyone ever loses their 3G data connection…right?…right? *cough*).
Dan posted earlier today over at Whatsoniphone about my discovery that if you enable Advanced IMAP controls in GMAIL Labs (look under settings) and remove the check marks from your folders so that only the INBOX is checked – your iPhone will retrieve email at a blistering pace as opposed to the 3 to 5 minutes that it previously took. Almost from the day that I bought the first generation iPhone I have been bothered by slow retrieval of my Gmail. Since I have a large number of folders, it makes perfect sense that this tip to stop synchronizing the…
I usually put into context how long I’ve been a gamer by saying that I was anticipating the release of Wolfenstein 3D in 1993 and was already a fan of the franchise. Huh? You didn’t realize there was a Castle Wolfenstein franchise before the release of the seminal first person shooter (FPS)? And wait, how does this all relate to the ‘modern gaming’ promised in the title? Don’t worry … I’ll get there!
I’ve always been a planner kind of girl. When I was in school, my day planner was always bursting at the seams with dates to remember, assignments, lists, post-its, and notes. I really liked having a central place for all the important “stuff” in my life that I needed to keep track of. However, as technology advanced into the 21st century, I turned to digital organization…and I discovered Pocket Informant. Over the years, I have used Pocket Informant on almost every mobile device I’ve owned, from my Casio EM-500 to my Dell Axim to my i-mate JAQ3 (won in a…
When I’m barreling down the highway meeting and greeting folks, it can be a challenge (but NOT always safe) to call whoever is deserving of a return call at that moment. I have an iPhone that allows my fingers to flip through the spinning wheel of contacts, but dialing and driving are frowned upon. Some places even have laws against such behavior. The other time tested alternative is to wear a Bluetooth earpiece. I have a favorite reviewed here, but in some places there are fashion laws displaying such behavior. So what’s a road warrior to do? Kensington has introduced…
Judging from the quantity of Twitter questions asking for purchasing advice on the “BlackBerry Storm vs iPhone” – it looks like plenty of people still are undecided between both these devices. While I typically have a one sentence response of “If you want email buy a BlackBerry otherwise buy an iPhone” – I realize that the analysis isn’t always so cut and dry. There’s the touchy issue of AT&T’s signal quality, the ability to capture video, ease of on-screen keyboard use, integration with iTunes. James at JKOnTheRun has done an excellent job with comparing and contrasting the iPhone and Storm….
I’ve been looking at a number of iPhone games lately. Some of these games take excellent advantage of the iPhone hardware and some don’t. Some are excellent ports of web games or Windows Mobile games, and some are not. Killer Pool is a title unique to the iPhone, it’s not a port, so I would expect it to take good advantage of the iPhone hardware. Let’s take a look in more detail…
My biggest complaint about the iPhone 3G is its battery life. Sure, the lack of being able to run 3rd part apps in the background stinks and the crippled Bluetooth unnecessarily limits the device, but the battery life is a CONSTANT struggle since I use my iPhone so much during the day. Thankfully there are a host of options available for juicing up the device on the go. This week I’ve been using one of the newest- the Mili Power Pack from PhoneSuit – and I’m more than a bit impressed. Let’s take a look-
Wi-Gear has upgraded the iMuffs for compatibility and optimization with the iPhone. Previously reviewed October 2007 here at GearDiary, the wireless headphone consistently delivers good performance and comfort for extended wearing periods whether sitting on your duff, driving, walking or exercising. Last year’s model had some initial compatibility issues with the 1st edition of the iPhone, but has been resolved with both iPhone models (3G) with an improved range and less susceptiblily to radio interference The iMuffs use Bluetooth 2.0 and Advance Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) via the dongle that plugs into the base of your iPod or iPhone. iMuffs work…
A while back the good folks over at Case-mate were kind enough to send me one of their Vroom cases for the iPhone 3G. To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed upon opening. Its description explains why. “Kick it into high gear with this new tire-tread pattern iPhone 3G case” “Hooray,” I thought to myself “an iPhone case that looks like a car tire. What could be more exciting.” Fact is, I ask you find myself using it quite often now. Here’s why…
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at the iPhone 3G as a business tool. It’s been an interesting time. I’ve gotten quite a large number of comments on the iPhone OS and its advantages and challenges in the Enterprise and in a business environment. Last week’s comments on Calendaring, also in the Enterprise and in a business environment, created quite the off line discussion among the Gear Diary Team. Some of those comments have required me to go back and readdress some issues in this week’s commentary. If you remember, I said that I was going to tackle…
The Sierra Sound iN Studio 5.0 speakers are one of many iPod speakers available on the market today. I recently spent some time with them and I have to say I like them a lot, but there are some oddities. Read on to see what they are…
[This is a joint review between Dan and Doug. Dan’s comments are in normal font and Doug’s are in bold italics.] I’m liking a whole lot about the iPhone 3G I picked up the other day. It feels good in my hand and, even though it is a bit thicker, the curved sides make it feel smaller and lighter. I am liking the 3g speed a lot more than I expected. While home and work have WiFi, the 3G speeds make a much bigger difference than I expected when I am out and about. I’m pleasantly surprised how common 3G…
I’ve been using the iHome IP99 as a clock radio for the past week. This $149 device claims to filter out the annoying “buzz buzz” that is commonly heard when the iPhone receives or sends data. With other standard radios you can get around this issue by putting your iPhone into “Airplane” mode. However that means you won’t receive any calls or data. The iHome claims to fix this by filtering out the buzzing. Does it work? Sorta kinda. Keep reading for the details.
There isn’t an easier way to get your iPod’s sound out to a car stereo than using an FM transmitter. No wires, no cassette adapters, just plug it in, tune your radio to the right station and out comes your music. Problem is at lot of the time they are rubbish. I have tried several over the years and none of them could produce a clear signal at any time, it was constantly crackly and awful. A few days ago when I received the USB Fever FM Transmitter I was expecting more of the same, but I was pleasantly surprised.
On Friday I transferred my Blackberry phone number from T-Mobile over to my Apple iPhone, effectively terminating my contract with T-Mobile and ending a 15+ year practice of taking a Blackberry with me everywhere I went. In January I’d purchased an iPhone (“just to try it out”). Like many iPhone owners, I’d been hauling two phones with me. The Blackberry was my main email phone. The iPhone the web browser, Twitter client, music/video player, and picture taker phone. During the past week I was out at the Sage Software Insights Reseller Conference where they’d asked me to speak about Social…