Mophie

What’s Coming with Us to CES, the 2013 Edition

Every year we make the trek to Las Vegas, and every year we try to strike the perfect balance between the gear that we’ll need and a few extra things that will make our lives easier; the trick is to not forget anything vital or to too seriously overpack. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we fail miserably. Here’s what’s coming along this time … Judie: I’ve been going to CES since 2002, and you would think that by now I’d have a perfect kit prepared … but technology keeps changing, and so does my gear. I think I…

Reviews

Mophie Juice Pack Pro for iPhone 4/S Review

Tough on your iPhone 4/S? Prone to drops and breaks, and your slim case just isn’t cutting it? Want longer power for your iPhone? If you said yes to any of these questions, you might want to consider taking a gander at the Mophie Juice Pack Pro. Designed to exceed the U.S. military’s MIL-STD 810G specifications, barring any full submersion in liquid, the Mophie Juice Pack Pro will keep your iPhone safe and secure under most conditions. While lacking complete immersion protection, the case will protect your device from rain and splashes, sand and dust, vibration and shocks, as well as drops…

Reviews

Ibattz Mojo Hi5 Powerbank Case Review

My first reaction when I received the ibattz mojo Hi5 Powerbank Case was underwhelming. Here you have a plastic shell that you slap on your phone like most cases, and a separate battery pack that clips onto the plastic shell that needs to be plugged into your iPhone with a lightning cable. Here’s the rub: You have to provide your own lightning cable, plus, you have to carry said lightning cable around with you if you plan on using the battery pack to charge your phone. The fault here can not lie solely on ibattz, however. A lot of the…

News, Reviews

Mophie Juice Pack for Samsung Galaxy SIII Hands-On Review

If there is one constant in life, it is that portable electronics don’t ever have enough battery life. With each new product we get new features that beg for more power, so regardless of what the manufacturers do to extend battery life … our usage always seems to keep up! Enter Mophie, a company that has had great success making iPhone battery cases for several years. Now they are branching out with their first non-iPhone case, for the hot-selling Samsung Galaxy SIII. Mophie sent me one to check out – let’s take a look! The Hype: Get the most out…

Outdoors

My Bag: Ham Radio Edition

Hurricane Sandy, the derecho and the upcoming winter season has had me thinking about what I carry on a daily basis. It also prompted me to consider what I might add to it to be better prepared. In HAM lingo, we refer to this as our GO bag– the bag that serves in an emergency preparedness capacity. Here’s a look at my Go bag. The Bag Itself My bag is a Swiss Gear Cobalt laptop bag. In fact, this is the same one I use as my daily driver laptop bag; it is available from Amazon for around $60 bucks. I…

Reviews

iLuv iMM377 MobiAir Bluetooth Stereo Speaker Dock for Smartphones review

I would be hard-pressed to recommend purchasing a dock that includes an iPhone or iPod adapter right now. The reason is quite simple. The next generation of the iPhone is only four months away and all indications point toward it having a new dock connector to replace the ubiquitous 30 pin connection. With such a significant change on the way it makes no sense for someone to purchase a dock that will, at a minimum, require the purchase and use of an adapter come the fall. Instead, I would encourage anyone looking for speakers to use with their mobile device…

Editorials

Mophie and Customer Service “Done Right”

I had a bad purchase experience recently that came to a conclusion this week. I purchased a Mophie Juice Pack Plus from a vendor on Amazon. I noticed that the build quality wasn’t quite as nicely done as other Mophie units I had, but I figured it was just a manufacturing variation or maybe it was just that this was a different model than the others I had. I didn’t think all that much about it. After a few weeks, the USB connector started to act up. I couldn’t get the cable to stay in and charge. Very annoying. Finally, it…

Reviews

The Z-Connector iPhone Case (with Chain!) Review

I’m a pocket watch kind of guy. I have asked for, received, and used nice pocket watches since I was a teen. In fact, I managed to initially catch the eye of one of my pre-marriage gas with a pocket watch: at a party, she spotted the gold chain attached to my pants, came over, and said, “Is there a watch attached to that chain?” (We dated for 3 years!) So yeah, I like pocket watches. The iPhone is small enough to fit in pretty much anyone’s pants pocket, of course, and I have long wondered why someone didn’t create…

Gear Bits

Why Do We Lose Power So Easily?

Ever lose power when the sky is blue? That happened to me this week at both my place of work and my home. While at home the answer was not clear, at work it was totally apparent. There is a pole in front of our building that has not once, not twice but at least 3 times since we moved in the building had at least one of the three wires break. For those who don’t know how power works in your home or business, it typically has 2 or 3 phases. Each phase requires a wire. In the case…

Reviews

Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4 Devices Review

The other day I wrote about one of the Brookstone iOS accessories Elana gave me for my birthday, the iConvert iPad scanner. Today we are going to look at an accessory that lets the iPhone or iPod touch become a home theater. The Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4 devices is pretty impressive. In fact, when Elana first saw it, she declared it to be “the coolest iPhone gadget ever!”. I don’t know about “THE coolest”, but it is pretty neat; let’s take a look. Here’s what Brookstone has to say about it: Easy to use—just dock your iPhone 4 device…

Events

What’s Coming to CES 2012 with Judie and Dan?

Well, it is that time of year again. That means CES and our annual “What’s Coming to CES” post. Last year was a bit tricky for me as I was doing CES as part of a SCOTTEVEST No Baggage Challenge for Charity. That meant any and everything I brought needed to be on my person. It was a challenge, but it was also rather fun. It didn’t hurt that, due to a mess up by the hotel, I ended up with a suite with a washer and dryer, but it doesn’t change the fact that everything I brought fit into…

Game Diary, Reviews

First Impressions of Infinity Blade 2 from the Gear Diary Team

While my personal preference of games released this week is the port of 2004’s ‘The Bard’s Tale’, there is no doubt that the big release of the week is Infinity Blade 2. Doug has been beside himself waiting for the game to arrive, Dan started the ball rolling with his thoughts on the graphics, and me being me I grabbed it immediately upon release. So what do we think after a short time playing? Read on and see!

News

Mophie and Rocketfish (Best Buy) Issue External Battery Pack Recalls

Two recalls just crossed my inbox; these may be products that you all own, so please check: The first item is the Mophie iPod Touch Rechargeable External Battery Case (shown above); it’s being recalled due to a burn hazard. If you have one of these, check to see if your serial number has the first five alphanumeric characters of TR113 through TR120. Cases that fall in between those numbers are affected by the recall. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should…

Reviews

Review: BodyGuardz Armor Carbon Fiber for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S

I have always been a huge fan of minimalist iPhone and iPad cases. After all, why hide such sweet, beautiful pieces of metal and glass in large, bulky cases if you don’t have to? The operative word here is, of course, “cases”. While I have always liked minimalist cases, I’ve never been a huge fan of carrying my iPhone or iPad with nothing on it but a scratch protective skin. That changed earlier in the week when BodyGuardz was kind enough to send me their BodyGuardz Armor Carbon Fiber for the iPhone 4S and and the iPad 2. Both kits…

Reviews

Mobile Device Accessory Review: Juice Pack Powerstation

It seems silly to refer to an external battery as “good-looking”, but mophie’s new juice pack power station is one good-looking battery. It is sleek, solid and feels great thanks to the combination of polished metal and soft touch material. And with a footprint that is a bit smaller than an iPhone, this 4000mAh battery is simple to carry around all the time. From mophie: juice pack powerstation: This powerful 4000mAh external battery can charge virtually any USB device in the world including the iPhone and iPad. With completely reengineered battery and electronics, the powerstation can charge your device at…

Reviews

iPhone 4 Power Gear Review: PhoneSuit Elite Battery + Case

I’m a big fan of iPhone battery cases that combine protection and extra battery life into a single package. Since the release of the original iPhone, we have looked at a number of these hybrid case-batteries, and today we’ll take a look at PhoneSuit’s latest offering: the PhoneSuit Elite iPhone Case. The company is not stranger to this kind of battery case, and their experience shows in both the Elite’s design and its functionality. From PhoneSuit: The PhoneSuit Elite iPhone Case extends the battery life of the iPhone by more than doubling its power capacity. Users can now experience up to two…

Reviews

Energizer Qi-Enabled 3 Position Inductive Charger Review

I love the idea of inductive charging whereby you can simply lay your device on a base-station and have it recharged without having to plug anything into it. I love the idea but, until now, not the execution. We’ve looked at a few systems and, while they all worked as promised, the requisite charging case or sleeve was too heavy and bulky for daily use. When Energizer offered to send us their newest system we jumped at the chance. Yes, we weren’t expecting too much but we were HOPING the improvements were enough to make it usable beyond the review….

Reviews

iPod touch Accessory Review: mophie juice pack air for iPod touch 4th Generation

When mophie first released their juice pack air for the iPhone it was a revelation. At least it was a revelation for me! For the first time I could wrap my iPhone in a case that brought with it both protection and far far better battery life. A short time later the company updated the juice pack to use a soft-touch material that even made holding the iPhone a pleasure. And that was a few iPhone’s ago! Since the first juice pack came out I have had one for every iPhone I have had. In fact, my juice pack air…

Reviews

Android Phone Accessory Review: PowerSkin Battery Case for MyTouch 4G

Battery life continues to be the bane of smartphones. The technology hasn’t significantly improved in quite some time, which is problematic because the power and functionality of the small devices has increased exponentially. This results in some state-of-the-art devices with battery life that can only be described as horrific. There are a few options for how one might address the current situation but none of them are particularly good. Manufacturers can slow down their devices so they use less power or they can increase the size of the battery. Neither is a particularly good solution. Users, on the other hand,…

Reviews

iPhone Accessory Review: QYG-Power iPhone 4 Power Pack from USB Fever

I’m taking a day trip to Florida today to visit some folks who spend the winter down there. It’s going to be a long day that begins with a 6am flight (the alarm will go off before 4am), and, if everything goes according to plan will end when I get home at about midnight. Among the items coming south are both my iPhone and the MyTouch 4G I’m reviewing. I wanted to have some extra juice with me since I’ll be using my iPhone as my camera. I have a number of other external power options that I could use…

Events, News

Gear Diary’s NoBC to CES for Haiti Plunge- the Packing Episode

Don’t forget: This challenge is benefiting The Haiti Plunge – They are building a road and a new medical clinic among other things in a rural part of Haiti. Please take a second and support them HERE. Today is the day when the SCOTTEVEST No Baggage Challenge for Charity becomes a reality and moves into high gear. Yes, tomorrow morning Larry and I both fly out for Las Vegas and the Consumer Electronics Show 2011. That means today, Sunday, January 2, 2011, is the day when we need to pack our clothes into our luggage. Scratch that, not into our…

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