For quite some time now, the most popular brand of over-the-ear headphones has been Beats by Dre, a brand built mainly on the reputation of hip-hop legend Dr. Dre. They have been called the best headphones in the world. They have worn the tagline "Listen to music as the artist intended". However much like BOSE in the home speaker world, there have been many who have claimed that Beats are over hyped and severely over rated. I decided to put them to the test, so I compared them to headphones significantly cheaper but well rated in two different categories: Skullcandy Crushers, respected as great headphones by those who love strong bass; and V-Moda's crossfade LP2 Voice limited edition headphones, highly rated as among the most durable and best sounding headphones in the world. Both are more than $100 less than the Beats Studio Over-Ear Headphones I compared them to, with the V-Moda's coming in at $199.99 and the Skullcandy's coming in at just $99.99 compared to the Beats at $299.99.
Read moreReview: Amazon FireTV
Amazon delivered my FireTV today, and I just have had a chance to hook it up and run through the welcome before watching a show I left off watching on my ROKU a few minutes ago.
The first thing you will notice when you inbox the unit is how basic it looks. Much like the other network streaming boxes on the market there is not much to connect. Since I am on a wireless network and not hooking up to surround sound on this TV it was two cables, power and HDMI.
Once connected to the wireless network the FireTV wanted to update it's software, which took 3 minutes and then the system restarted. Boot up was amazingly quick. It shows the benefits of the quad-core 1.7GHz processor right away.
Playback is smooth and quick, and the voice search which seemed to be just a gimmick actually works very well. The system just like all other Amazon electronic products shipped linked to my account, so there was no need to sign in to Amazon for access to Amazon instant video and Prime video content.
I'll have more after I try more apps and the interaction with the Fire HDX tablet as a second screen.
Review: Dungeons and Dragons Premium Deluxe Edition - Original White Books
The Classic Edition arrives in a beautiful carved wooden box.In December of last year Wizards of the Coast announced a Premium reissue of the Original Dungeons and Dragons set that started a revolution in gaming for it's 40th Anniversary. It has been hard to come by due to limited release, but they finally got mine to me today, and it is just as I hoped it would be.
For those of you too young to remember the original Dungeons and Dragons, before there was AD&D with it's modified rules, and even before the simplified "Red Book" set came out was the original "White Book" set released by TSR Games in 1974. It consisted of seven rules booklets, a booklet of reference sheets, and a set of five dice that literally changed the world. I know many games and books have made this claim, but there is not a gamer, movie, or TV fan alive that does not owe a part of their entertainment for the last 40 years to this game.
D & D was the first game that taught our youth that creating stories was just as valuable as retelling them. It is fitting that it was released by TSR, a company founded as a way for some friends to make money from their hobby of war reenactment gaming. They had speant hours and hours gaming and at conventions retelling stories of battles throughout history. Now they had come up with a game that allowed them to write their own stories, and make worlds up out of whole cloth for their friends and family to play their way through; creating new stories for them to retell their friends.
The Box Set is beautiful, and quite frankly the books are printed on better quality paper than the originals. The set is a fitting tribute to the history of the game, and a great way to bring a new generation of gamers into the world of fantasy role playing.
Review: Typo Keyboard
Today I received the Typo Keyboard, made famous by way of Ryan Seacrest's investment in the company and the lawsuit they face from Blackberry over the layout of their keyboard.
Right off the bat, the fact that the keyboard needs to be plugged in separately from the phone is a killer. The second thing you notice is that typing here isn't nearly as easy as it should be. At least for my thumbs, typing is cramped and difficult to get up to speed even after 20 minutes of practice.
The good news is it adds very little bulk or size to the unit. It feels good in the hand, and is responsive to touch.
If you really need a full time keyboard on your iphone it might be a good try, but for me the short comings make the $100 price tag far too high.
Update on 2014-03-29 18:29 by Drew Fleisher
A Judge ruled late yesterday that there was sufficient cause to believe Typo would lose their lawsuit brought by Blackberry, and therefore ordered an injunction against marketing and sales of the product. More details can be found on Engadget here.
Photo Review: Paper - FaceBook has never looked better
Today FaceBook released a new way for iPhone users to interact with their network, a stunning app simply called Paper. The design team, led by former Apple designer Mike Matas and the team he brought to FaceBook with him in 2011 when his digital publishing company Push Pop Press was aquired.
Paper is a free download from the App store, and signals a completely new way to interact with FaceBook, bridging the gap between news sources and your news feed.
When you first launch the app you are greater by a short video into showing off the application with the simple title screen shown here.
You are then guided through the process of adding additional news sections to your "Paper"
The tutorial guides you through the process explaining how the sections relate to each other.
There are plenty of preconfigured sections available, and I would guess more will be coming as the application grows.
Once you finish adding sections, you are taken to your news feed. As you use the app, blue pop-over dialogs guide you through using the program.
Adding a post has the same elegance of the rest of the app. They did this thing right, and it shows they didn't miss a trick.
News sections are just as clean and easy to navigate. Swiping up takes you deeper, swiping down takes you back out closer to your timeline.
Once you've tapped on an article to bring it up, swiping up "unfolds it", taking you to the website that is the source of the original article.
Photos on your timeline display full screen, and pan when you turn your phone if they are wider than the phone.
Re-posting a photo looks just as clean as anything else in the app. These guys really did a great job.
Conclusion
The folks on the Paper team have done what they were asked to do - try and disrupt FaceBook from the inside before someone outside had the chance to. Drawing on every design element Apple gave them to play with in iOS 7 this team has put together a smooth application that after just a few hours has replaced the regular FaceBook app on my iPhone, and I'm sure it will on yours as well. Trust me, once you spend a little time with it you will never go back.
Review/Preview: Beats Music
Beats Music, LLC. - the company that has built a huge name for itself with it's Beats by Dre line of headphones today launched it's own online streaming music service. While similar to those already offered by Apple, RDIO, and Spotify, Beats has a few unique features that may help launch it to the front of the pack.
The biggest asset is the group of music industry insiders that run Beats. Jimmy Iovine is not only chairman of the board of Beats, LLC he is also Chairman of Universal Music Groups Interscope/Geffen/A&M record company. This gives him access to new artists, industry trend data, and perhaps a huge advantage in negotiating deals for licensing of music for the service. Add to that the fact that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Dr. Dre are also on the board of directors and you have some huge name recognition backing this service that none besides Apple's iTunes Radio can come close to.
Beats also has already worked deals with AT&T to provide family plan subscribers with direct billing for up to five members of the family to sign up for the service with a 90 day free trial and family membership price of $14.99/mo versus the normal individual rate of $9.99/mo. This is a huge advantage out of the starting gate for a new service, as it looks like this service will be sold as an add-on in AT&T's retail locations as well as online.
One of the unique features Beats brings to the table is a playlist generator it calls "the Sentence".
You set variables including music genre, where you are, what you are doing, and who you are with; Beats generates a playlist from those variables to match the occasion.
After setting the sentence that applies, Beats Music starts playing a new playlist it thinks fits your criteria.
Add to all this curated playlists ranging from The Academy of Country Music and Grand Ole Opry to Ellen DeGeneres and Rolling Stone Magazine, and you have the makings of a pretty great launch of a new service. Only time will tell if all of this will be enough, but so far I'm impressed with what they have brought to the table.
Review: The Brick from Binatone
When one of the first press releases I saw from CES this year was the announcement from Binatone that they were bringing back the old Brick cell phone form factor from the late '80s/ early '90s I was sceptical. When I read further and saw that it could not only work as a 2G cell phone but could also function as a bluetooth handset for my iPhone, I get a little more intrgued.
While the exterior dimensions are familiar to anyone who grew up with these phones, the first thing you will notice is the weight being greatly reduced. Modern electronics are a lot smaller and lighter, and it is noticeable. The Brick will support an optional XXL battery that will provide up to 6 months of standy time(!), but ships with a battery that provided me with about 3 days during normal use connected via bluetooth to my iPhone.
In addition to it's bluetooth functionality it also has a built-in FM radio, calendar, everyones favorite cell phone game snake, an alarm clock, and will access your address book via bluetooth from your smartphone so that you don't need to program numbers into it to dial.
In all, it works as designed, and has that old school charm that will bring back those early days of technology for a lot of us. Sound quality is very good, and volume is surprisingly loud from the speaker.
I must not be the only one intrigued, as their inventory is completely sold out and backordered for several weeks. I'd pre-order now, as they are likely to stay sold out for a while. The device can be ordered for $69.99 from their website.
Review: Jerseys from Geeky Jerseys.com
A few months ago I came across a hockey jersey design by an artist named Dave Deslisle, and in looking at his website found that he had worked with the folks at Geeky Jerseys to bring some of his designs for hockey jerseys to market. That led me to contact them about some of the other great designs they had currently and previously.
They will typically offer a design for 2-4 weeks (until they reach a minimum number for production) and then it takes 4-6 weeks for production before they ship to buyers. It seems like a long time in the internet age, but once you get your hands on one of these jerseys and see the quality that goes into custom making every patch and then sewing the entire jersey together you will understand the time it takes to make these jerseys appear on your doorstep.
I can tell you that this jersey is of a higher quality material and better stitching than the official NFL jerseys I have from Nike and Reebok. Sizing is accurate and a little roomy, running about a half-size big. While these jerseys are not cheap, you will not be sorry that you spent the $99 for this purchase.
I have a couple more on their way over the next week or so, so we'll see if all of their product has this same level of quality, but unless proven otherwise I strongly recommend the quality and workmanship of their product.
Update on 2014-01-19 00:07 by Drew Fleisher
Tonight I recieved my second jersey from the folks at Geeky Jerseys, and am once again impressed with the quality of the construction this company puts into their product.
One of things I love is that when they do a new design, they not only are changing the designs colors and making new patches, but everything changes, from the piece work of the sleeves to the collar. Everything works together to make the design an extension of the franchise they are trying to emulate.
Review: FitBit Force Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband
FitBit's newest activity tracker, the ForceA few years ago a company called FitBit decided to take old school pedometers to the next level by connecting them to web services to make exercise social. Several different devices have followed, and this year it has all culminated in the release of their best product yet, the FitBit Force.
The original FitBit was about the size of a pack of gum, and clipped onto your pocket, or with an optional holder your belt to track the steps you take and the number of calories burned by measuring the periods of higher activity in conjunction with motion. That device required a base station which connected via USB to your computer, sending your data to their web portal whenever you were in range of the antenna, allowing for a "gamification" of your workouts. You could link up via social networks with other friends using the device, and compare your activity with theirs. While the portal remains largely unchanged over the years, the device has evolved from a large clip-on device that needed nightly charging and it's own base station to the Force, which connects via your smart phone's bluetooth connection, and is worn like a bracelet.
Last year they released the Flex, which was a bracelet with just five lights showing you your progress towards your step goal for the day. The flex which began shipping this week now has the OLED display from the FitBit One in the Flex's easy to wear form factor, and I think they have finally nailed the design here.
I have had mine for a few days, and have worn it constantly with no irritation, often times even forgetting it is there unless my jacket tugs at it. At night I hold down the button on the side to tell it I am going to bed, and it tracks how well I sleep, the number of times I wake up, and several other metrics.
Through the iOS app I can log food intake, water intake, and track my step totals. I can also input types of exercises done to further help it determine the number of calories burned for the day, giving me a good snapshot of how I am doing along the way.
If you are in need of, or simply want this type of tracker, FitBit has been in this space the longest and really has their product down. I have used every version they have released, and this is by far their best offering yet.
Update on 2014-01-14 17:14 by Drew Fleisher
While I stated in my review that I had worn the device for several days without any iritation, two days later my wife experienced a severe iritation on her wrist under the tracker. Sever skin redness and swelling, including broken skin developed, and took several days to heal. I have not as of yet recieved a response from FitBit.
Update on 2014-01-14 17:18 by Drew Fleisher
Aparently my wife was not the only one to experience issues with the FitBit Force. An article posted yesterday on the Huffington Post's website has pictures and quotes from several people who had similar experiences. FitBit is now offering refunds and exchanges for other trackers to those affected, but don't seem to know what is causing the issue in some individuals. You can read the full article from Huffington Post here.
Review: SkyDog Smart Family Wi-Fi Router
When SkyDog launched a KickStarter campaign in April, it struck a cord with families. A Web-controlled router giving you very targeted control of al devices and people accessing your wireless network. They raised 162% of their requested funding in just over a month, and their product just released to the public this week. I got a-hold of their Skydog Web App and Smart Family Wi-Fi Router
Powercloud Systems, the company behind SkyDog has built a very well thought out and functional product. I get a text alert and email any time an unknown device connects to the router. I can then ban it if it is unknown, leave it with the default security access on the router, or assign it to a known user so that it receives the limits I have set for that person.
While that may not make sense to all of you, here is an example that will: My son connects to the wireless network with his Xbox to play a game. I have already set his access to limit use to certain times of day, and to further limit his access to appropriate sites during the time he has access. As soon as the xbox connects it gets the default access level (family safe browsing/streaming) for the network he is attached to, and as soon as I tell the router it is the boy, his access increases during allowed hours, and is turned off during limited time slots. If he wants to stay up a little later than usual because there is no school tomorrow, I can override his turnoff time for just tonight by hitting the override button and setting a time limit. Here is what his access profile looks like:
What makes this even better is that I can set up multiple virtual networks and limit the ammount of our internet bandwidth each network can access. In real world application the network is set up like this:
So my wife and I connect to the main network with 75% of the bandwidth. All of the streaming boxes except for the sons XBox connect to the main network as well. The kids are sequestered to their own virtual network, where I can make sure that their usage doesn't interfere with anyone's TV watching.
In all there is much more control than this, and we may dial things down even more in time. The big thing is how easy it is to use this system, and being able to put so much control into anyone's hands to limit access to their home networks.
I highly recomend this router to anyone wanting to make sure they know what and when their kids are on the internet.
Review: iPad Air
Ok, after six day of waiting for the iPad that I was supposed to have on launch day it is finally in my hands. The first thing that strikes you when it comes out of the box is how light it is in compared to the previous model. The Air weighs in at just 1 pound, and the previous generation was 1.35 pounds. That 5.5 ounces doesn't sound like much, but the reality of it losing almost a quarter of it's weight is astounding. I ran PerformanceTest on both the iPad Mini and iPad Air, and here are the results:
Benchmark Results for iPad Mini
Benchmark results for the iPad Air
As you can see, the new A7 processor blows the A5X of the iPad Mini out of the water. Not a surprise, but this just shows how far performance has gained in the year since the Mini was released. The display is crisp and clear, and so much more responsive than I ever could have believed with the number of pixels it is pushing.
In all this is an amazing upgrade to anyoe with a previous iPad, and one that really has to be held and sued to be appreciated. If it had not been such a long struggle to get my order processed I would be comepletely thrilled with everything involved in this process, but even with the troubles getting the device I can't see myself letting this thing out of my hands...at least until the next one arrives.
Product review: Kevo Bluetooth Deadbolt for iPhone from Kwikset
Today I recieved the Kevo Bluetooth Enabled Deadbolt for iPhone
The Kevo system runs on four AA batteries, and it says they should last a year or more. The system also includes a keyless entry fob that when calibrated can stay in your pocket and identify itself just as the phone does for those folks you have that need access but do not have an iPhone. It also includes two standard keys in case batterries die or something goes wrong with the programing.
I was able to send electronic keys to my whole family in about 5 minutes so that they have them on their iPhones, and programming the two extra keyless entry fobs they sent took seconds each.
In all this is a very simple to use system that brings my door lock into the 21st century quite simply and easily. Highly recomended.
Product Review: Senta Ally Bluetooth Speaker from C. Crane
The Senta Ally from the C. Crane Company is an amazing speaker at a great priceA few weeks ago I recieved the Senta Ally Bluetooth Portable Stereo Speaker
I use it via bluetooth only, but it has quite a few other features. Like others in this category it has a microphone which allows it to be used as a speaker phone, but also includes an FM tuner with 99 presets, the ability to listen to MP3 files from either an SD card or via USB, and an aux in jack to connect your MP3 player. All of these are great, but it is the sound quality that makes this the best on the market.
C. Crane Company has been in business for a lot of years, and are known throughout the amateur radio community as the go-to place for electronics gear. This speaker is no different. Room filling clean sound, loud enough to be heard over the shower, and yet enough battery life to last all night when falling asleep to your favorite music.
Trust me, if you are in the market for a bluetooth speaker avoid the Bose hype and Jawbone or Beats prices. For $69.95 this is the one to buy.
Product Review: ANKI Drive
The Anki Drive Starter KitI have had the privilege for the last several weeks to be a Beta tester for one of the most eagerly awaited iOS games in a long time, Anki Drive. For those of you who missed the great demo at WWDC in June, Anki Drive is a racing game brought to the real world in the form of the cars and racetrack included in the $199 Starter Pack, along with two additional cars available at an additional charge of $59.99 each.
Game play is fast paced and a TON of fun for the whole family. Whether playing against the computer AI characters of the cars or family members, this was a huge hit in our house. Most of our testing was done by my son and myself, but even my daughter who isn't really into games LOVED her time playing Drive.
Basic game play involves a dog-fight between you and the other cars in your race. As you win races with other players or the computer you gain points which can then be used to upgrade your cars. Better weapons, higher gear ratios, and faster engines all reward your success by increasing the abilities of your car. What makes this better than most racing games on iOS is that these upgrades stay with the cars no matter who is controlling them, so if I upgrade Boson (one of the car characters), then start playing as another car, Boson still has his upgrades when controlled by another player or the AI, making my game play all the more challenging.
Replay is very high, especially when playing against other human players, and changes based on the number of cars in the race. What this means is even if you get your strategy down against one AI opponent, adding another optional car to the set changes game play radically even if only competing versus the AI.
At $199 the Anki Drive set is a bit spendy, but well worth the time and money if you enjoy racing and friendly competition. I can't wait to let my friends play now that the NDA is lifted and see how much fun they have. I'm guessing Anki will sell a few more sets just from those matches.
First Look: Kindle Fire 7" HDX
The newest version of the Kindle Fire from Amazon.com started arriving at homes across the country today, and mine has been here for a few hours now. First thing you notice is that Amazon put some time into packaging this time around. Previous Kindle units have arived in a brown cardboard box with very few frills. This time around we have stamped foil and full color graphics. This is not critical, but it signals that Amazon is taking the fire far more seriously now than they have in the past. A lot of that may be their sales in other retail stores, but I think with the HDX and all of the innovation it brings Amazon is finally where Jeff Bezos and his team always envisioned the Kindle would be: a single digital portal to everything the company offers in terms of entertainment and service.
The Fire HD that we saw last year was a decent Android tablet, but the Fire HDX is lightyears beyond. The polish in this the third version of the KindleOS (now dubbed Mojito) is clear. Add to this the hardware improvements and you start to see just how important this device can be.
The Welcome screen guides you through using the KindleWhen you power the kindle on you are guided through the setup process. This is simplified if you have bought it online from Amazon as the device has already been registered to your Amazon account. As you can see in the background of the picture above, my most recent book downloads are already there waiting for me to start reading once I complete orientation. The wide range of entertainment options available through Amazon's cloud services is very comprehensive, and anything you have ever purchased is available to be downloaded or streamed immediately. With the included PRIME membership you also gain access to free ebook rentals, streaming TV, and movies. If you have never had the PRIME treatment before, this is a wake up call that you do NOT want to let the subscription lapse.
Now the important thing, use. i obviously haven't had it long enough for a comprehensive review, but the speeed and elegance of this tablet is not to be ignored. Sound is crisp, clear, and much louder than before. The enhanced resolution of this model (1920x1200) means it has one of the crispest displays you will find in a tablet of this size. In all there is no way to be disapointed in the hardware.
Many have been critical of the fact that Kindle devices do not have access to the Google Play store, but unless you have already invested money in Google's store I don't think you will miss the "Official" android marketplace. Amazon has built their own OS from the skeleton of Android, it will not resemble any version of the "Official" AndroidOS you have ever seen. However I think that Amazon does one thing better than any other player in this game: they know what their customers want. For the vast majority of Kindle buyers what is wanted (and needed) is something that is easy to use and understand. Add the new live concierge support that the "MayDay" button brings and you have a recipe for great customer experience.
I'll have a full review in a few days, but right now I can't think of anything that I will find that could possibly change my take on this device. If you've been waiting for a new tablet and aren't waiting to see what Apple announces next week, get this one before supply is limited.
Things they sent me to review
OK, this has been a crazy summer filled with construction dust and contractors while we remodeled our kitchen. normally each of these products would have their own post, but I am buried under review units and need to catch up, so we will do quick hits on everything.
Atari Arcade Duo
The Atari Arcade for iPad
The Atari Arcade is very cool if you love classic gaming and still have an iPad 2/3 laying around. It is powered by the 30-pin connector on your iPad, so no batteries are wasted. Would have been better if they had added a USB or 30-pin port to the back to charge through though. In all it works nicely and gives you that satisfying arcade joystick feel to bring games like Pac-Man back to their visceral glory. Can be found cheap online.
HP X2 Windows 8 Convertable Tablet/Laptop
The HP X2 windows 8 Tablet with Laptop Dock
The X2 is the first Windows laptop/tablet I have liked in a long time. Light weight and sturdy, the X2 is decently powered and makes great use of the Windows 8 Modern UI with it's responsive touchscreen and above average spec sheet. I love that the keyboard dock doubles battery life (up to 16 hours of moderate use) without adding too much weight. If I wanted to go back to windows, this would get me there.
Rymdkapsel - iOS Game
Rymdkapsel, an interesting new iOS RTS game
Rymdkapsel is short on graphics, but long on re-play ability and challenging. You need to manage resources and workers to defend your outpost while trying to complete various missions and defending yourself against waves of attacking enemies. This game has me turning my back on casual games for hours at a time.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8" Tablet
The Samsung Galaxy Note has done the impossible....it is an Android device I could see myself using every day. I haven't had a lot of love for Android in the past, but this combination of form factor and the pressure-sensitive stylus has me warming to the idea. The Galaxy Tab 8.0 has 1.5GB RAM, 16GB Storage, and a SnapDragon 800 1.5Ghz processor, giving it plenty of power to run any application. When combined with the ChromeCast it becomes an easy home entertainment center as well. The thing that I love the most is the stylus and how easily it adapts to drawing and note taking. If you miss the days of your Palm Pilot and decent handwriting recognition, but want a display large enough to comfortably read book and watch video, this is the tablet to get for now.
Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Center
The Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player
A handheld that knows what it is and does itself proud, I love having 80 Genesis classics at my finger tips for some retro gaming on demand. It's downfall is that it doesn't save game progress, so RPG mainstays like Phantasy Star would be pointless. If you are looking to re-gain some of your youth and are OK with only having the platform and arcade titles to draw from, you can do a lot worse than this $59 wonder.
Sega Genesis Arcade Nano - Virtua Fighter Edition
The Sega Genesis Arcade Nano
This little wonder serves to illustrate just how far computing and video games have come in my lifetime. This little keychain has as much computing power as the Sega Genesis console, and includes the contents of 10 game cartidges besides. Easily hooks up to any TV and provides quick easy gaming fun for you or your kids. For $19.99 you can't go wrong. Also available in a puzzle games version with Columns and 9 other titles.
Credit Card Lightbulb
The Credit Card Light Bulb
Not much surprise here. Flip up the bulb and it turns on. Fairly bright and super reliable. Would be great for emergency kits and cars, or to carry in your gear bag just in case.
Impossible Instant Lab
The Impossible Instant Lab
This was one of the first really big KickStarter campaigns to draw wide-spread attention, and there is good reason. With photo applications like Instagram and Hipstamatic taking over the camera phone market with their oddly retro photo effects, bringing back physical old school poloroids isn't a huge jump. Being able to attach your iPhone to the device and transfer your instagram greatness in physical form is pretty cool, but can get expensive due to hard-to-find film cartidges. Impossible thought this through though, and they have supplies available to keep you in instamatic film for as long as you would like. The film is still a bit pricey (a 10 shot cartridge still runs about $25), but the novelty makes it a huge hit. Available from Impossible for $299.00
iPhone 5S Launch day
OK, I've had a chance to rest a bit after leaving at 2am to line up for the iPhone 5S release, and was fortunate to come away with a new phone!
As major news sites have reported, supplies are severely limited for this thing at launch, with internet sales being pushed out 7-21 days within hours of its availability.
At the AT&T store I picked again this year, supplies were very low. Silver and Gold versions, as well as the largest 64GB variants were not available at all.
New shipments should be coming in regularly from now on, but don't expect to walk into a store and find one this weekend.
So far I have been very impressed by the speed if the new A7 processor, and have had no problems with the fingerprint reader used to unlock the new phone.
Benchmark tests have been run by all of the major Tech blogs, with the most thorough testing as always done by anandtech. This phone is faster than any other phone on the market, easily blowing away the competition from the Android set, including the former leader, Samsung's international G IV.
If you already have an iPhone 5 you will notice the speed immediately, and if you are still using a 4 or 4S, run to the nearest store that has this phone in stock.
New Product - Minecraft Micro-worlds
Following up on the amazing success of their first Minecraft Lego project last year, the films at Mojang have worked with Lego to release two new sets this year: The Village and The Nether.
Minecraft goods are huge, and gaining in popularity every day, so these should be a big hit if they can keep them in stock this holiday season.
Each set contains 488 pieces and instructions. The benefit of these sets is they include blocks not in the original set which will allow Minecraft pros to re-create areas of their own worlds more easily.
If your kid (or significant other) is hooked on Minecraft, snatch these up before they are gone.
Review: iSteve
Let me start by saying that in the first 10 minutes this movie revealed itself to be the dumbest telling of the Steve Jobs story it is possible to make. While boasting an all-star cast( Justin Long, Jorge Garcia), the writing is attrocious, and liberties were taken with the story that will have all of geekdom up in arms.
From Wozniak being an overweight outcast who could barely talk to Steve Jobs and was constantly the third-wheel in every conversation, to Bill Gates opening MicroSoft in Palo Alto across the street from Apple there is not a historically acurate detail to be found. While I respect the time honored tradition of parody in the american ethos, to be called a parody I think humor is required and if this is supposed to be funny it falls woefully short of it's mark.
Let's hope the world fails to recognize this movies coming
Review: Fila's Skele-toes Virtuous Running Shoes
A few years ago Vibram released a line of what they coined "Finger Shoes", lightweight minimalist shoes that allow for total freedom of movement including seperation of your toes. They feel like you are barefoot, and people who wear them swear by them.
Enter Fila, who in 2011 released their Skele-Toes. They successfully countered a lawsuit from Vibram by pointing out that by using their four toe "Easy Slide" design they were not in violation of Vibrams patent for "FiveFinger" articulating shoes.
Now Fila is trying to inovate again, combining the four toed "Easy Slide" design with a traditional running shoe sole. Called the Men's Fila Skele-toes Virtuous Running Shoes
I didn't mind the fit, and the extra cushion was comfortable for an extended day on my feet at my high school reunion this weekend. However I found myself wishing I had worn my earlier model light-weight skele-toes.
Some might prefer the extra cushion and support, but I am going back to the originals.