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iHome iW2 AirPlay speaker
Saturday, May 12

iHome generally isn't known as a luxury brand when it comes to audio, but it is prolific -- the company's docks and speakers are everywhere, at least if online ads are to be believed. The iW2 is one of the company's higher-end speakers, based around Apple's AirPlay streaming technology. In our review, we'll see how the iW2 holds up versus other options in terms of convenience, design, and performance. Setup and ...

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover
Thursday, April 26

One of the iPad's main weaknesses has always been productivity. It's not a question of apps; while it has taken a little time for a native iPad library to develop, there's usually been some way of getting essential tasks done. It's that even with those apps, the iPad's technical limitations can make things unnecessarily difficult. Bluetooth keyboards can simplify writing, but options have so far been limited to eithe...

Logitech UE Air Speaker
Sunday, April 15

If maybe a little more slowly than Apple would like, AirPlay is becoming a staple of the wireless speaker market for iOS devices. The technology has a few advantages: Wi-Fi streaming allows for higher-quality audio than Bluetooth, in theory, and its integration into iOS and iTunes guarantees widespread support of options like broadcasting to multiple audio outputs in different rooms. Logitech's first entry into the...

STM Skinny 3 iPad case
Thursday, April 05

STM may be better known for its bags than its cases, but it is one of a select group of companies making upgraded -- rather than tweaked -- cases for the third-generation iPad. One of the two it's currently selling is the Skinny 3, a mostly straightforward folio design. In our review, we'll see if the case can compete with some of the other folio options on the market. Design On a superficial level at least t...

The World Clock app for iOS devices
Tuesday, March 27

Ok, we'll admit it. We're suckers for maps. We like looking at maps, figuring stuff out with maps, and learning new things by studying maps. That's one of the reasons that Andrei Kolev's The World Clock iOS application made us smile. The World Clock runs on all the iOS devices that we could lay our hands on: an iPod touch, an iPhone, and all three iPad models. It's nice on the smaller screens, but really shines on...

SwitchEasy Canvas iPad case (2012)
Monday, March 26

For the third-generation iPad, most case makers have been content to tweak existing designs to fit the thickness of the new tablet. The Canvas, by SwitchEasy, is the one of the few exceptions to the rule. Despite the popularity of the original case, SwitchEasy has decided to make some fundamental design changes this time around -- the question for this review, of course, is whether they've been for the better. D...

Apple iPad (2012)
Monday, March 19

Once having the tablet arena almost entirely to itself, Apple is now in the middle of a full-scale battle: everyone who could have a tablet does, and even Amazon's Kindle Fire is in the fray at a very low price. The new iPad, then, faces the challenge of not just being the best but of giving buyers a reason to spend more than $199. A record-setting display, new graphics and 4G go a long way, but we'll learn in our ...

Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter
Friday, March 16

Seagate has continued to expand its GoFlex hard drive system, which features interchangeable interfaces for interoperability between various connection types. The company's latest adapters enable users to upgrade their existing GoFlex drives with a Thunderbolt interface to take advantage of fast transfer speeds on Apple's latest Macs and a number of upcoming Windows machines. In our full review, we'll take a closer l...

Elgato Thunderbolt SSD
Sunday, March 11

Although Elgato is better known for its EyeTV tuners, the company has entered the storage market with several Thunderbolt solid-state drives. The external storage devices pair flash chips with a Thunderbolt connection to enable much faster data transfer speeds than traditional disk drives. In our full review, we take a close look at how the Elgato drives stack up against similar offerings from storage industry vetera...

Powerbag Business Class Bag
Thursday, February 16

Many companies currently offer battery packs and various accessories to keep smartphones and other gadgets charged when away from an outlet. Powerbag has taken this concept to the extreme, with products such as the Business Class Pack. The company aims to offer well-rounded backpacks and messenger bags that protect gear and keep batteries full at the same time. In our full review, we take a look at the Business Class...

Logitech Cube
Saturday, January 28

The world of mice could often be described charitably as stagnant: it's an endless sea of ergonomic shapes that assume you're sitting at a desk and have lots of room in your bag. Logitech's Cube is about as different as you can get, with a small, brick-like design that relies on touch and orientation to make it an ultraportable mouse and presenter. We'll gauge in our Logitech Cube review whether it's a welcome brea...

NewerTech and Targus USB Hubs For Gifts
Thursday, December 01

A useful holiday present to resolve an ongoing frustration is a multi-port hub. Whether as a stocking stuffer, Chanukah present, or another holiday gift, these useful devices make your life easier. They can be used daily or when traveling, to expand available storage and ease desktop frustration. If you know someone who makes regular backups on an external drive, or keeps their music, photos, or movies on an ex...

X-Rite ColorMunki Photo
Monday, November 28

Color calibration is the art of tweaking your monitor so that the colors represented on screen better match real life and your printer output. Mac system software includes a calibration tool in the Displays System Preference, but it just doesn't do a very good job and it doesn’t significantly affect the brightness of some iMac models. Colorimeters, the device used to measure your monitor and correct color are not che...

Epson WorkForce 840 Printer
Monday, November 21

Epson meets the needs of small businesses with a variety of printers in their Workforce line. The model I tested, the Workforce 840, includes scanner, FAX, automatic document feeder, two paper trays, and wireless capability. Features of this printer include two-sided printing, easy to see 3.5" LCD touch panel, memory card direct printing, USB, wireless, or Ethernet connectivity, and 2400 dpi scanning with scan-to PC,...

Iomega Mac Companion 2TB hard drive
Friday, November 18

Many of Iomega's Mac-oriented storage products merely ship pre-formatted for HFS+, but the new Mac Companion has been entirely designed with Apple's computers in mind. The housing is shaped to match the footprint of an iMac or Cinema/Thunderbolt display, while FireWire connections and a 2.1 Amp USB port complement Apple's computers and iOS devices. In our full review, we explore the Mac Companion's functionality as a...

Akitio SK-3501 Super-S3
Thursday, November 17

As you may know, when you need additional hard drive space, it is sometimes cheaper to buy the drive you want, and put it in an external case, purchased elsewhere. The Akitio SK-3501 Super-S3 is an external case for 3.5" hard drives. The case is 8.7" x 4.5" x 1.5", just barely wide enough for a hard disk inside. The Super-S3 has four connectors on the back: USB 3.0, eSATA, and two FireWire 800 ports. Power is suppli...

Fidelio Docking Speaker DS7700
Tuesday, November 15

If you seek a sound dock for your iOS device, the Philips Fidelio 7700 Docking Speaker is an attractive and compact dock that also plays music from 7,000 Internet radio stations. It features Bluetooth and charges your iPad, iPhone or iPod when docked. It works with just about any device with a 30-pin dock connector. When not plugged in, the Fidelio runs off an internal ten-hour lithium ion battery. Overview The...

Griffin Technology HELO TC
Saturday, November 12

If you seek an entertaining and reasonably priced iOS device for the holiday season, consider an indoor helicopter. The Griffin HELO TC is a small, battery powered, remote control helicopter. You fly it with the help of an application on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The HELO TC measures about 8" from nose to tail, and the rotors are about 7" across when flying. You charge it via a custom USB cable. It should...

Belkin kitchen gear for iPad and tablets
Sunday, October 30

The urge to use an iPad, a Galaxy Tab, or another tablet in the kitchen is undeniable: it's a live recipe book or a way to check if the ingredients you want are on sale. Belkin has acknowledged, though, that no one wants to touch a screen with flour-covered hands. We'll check in our review of Belkin's kitchen accessories -- the Chef Stand, Cabinet Mount, and Fridge Mount -- to see whether you'll be tossing your pap...

HandBrake Tutorial Review
Wednesday, October 26

HandBrake is an open source video conversion program. It can read from DVDs, video files, and other video sources. It also produces video files in a wide variety of formats. As an example, I own one of my kid’s favorite movies on DVD, “ The Great Race ” and I want to watch it on my iPad. I could download it from the iTunes store, but that would involve paying for it again. Instead, I fire up HandBrake, put the DVD in...

Wicked Helix Earphones
Tuesday, October 25

The Empire Brands Wicked Audio line targets their headphones to those with an active lifestyle. If you need earbuds made to stay in, no matter whether you’re skating, skiing, or racing, their Wicked Helix line is a good fit. I tested Model WI-2000, which are in-ear headsets with around-the-ear anchors. I’ve tried around the ear headsets before and could not stand them due to stiffness and rubbing on my ears. These ...

Soundmatters FoxLv2 Speaker
Monday, October 17

For the past few months, I've been using the FoxLv2 Bluetooth speaker from SoundMatters for listening to music and as a speakerphone with my iPhone 3G. The portable FoxL is a small speaker system, 5.6" wide, 2.2" high, and 1.4" deep, that delivers impressive sound - especially for its size. The FoxLv2 is surprisingly heavy (9.5oz), because there is very little plastic in the FoxL. It looks like metal, but is actually...

Apple iPhone 4S
Monday, October 17

Design It's the look of the iPhone 4S that has drawn the most flak: many were initially disappointed just because it looks like its ancestor, even if there's a lot of change on the inside. If you've read our original iPhone 4 review, you'll know most of what there is to know about the design. It's still worth exploring in the light of some key antenna changes, which we'll touch on later, and rivals that have app...

Level8 Atlas Backpack and iPad Sleeve
Friday, October 14

Level8 derives its name from its focus on eight points, notably protection, durability and warranty. Their products are designed exclusively for the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iPad. The backpack I tested and the iPad sleeve show that this isn’t just lip service from their parent company, Avenues in Leather. There is a fine attention to detail and a strong, albeit expensive, attention to the safety of the products you ...

BBEdit by Bare Bones Software
Wednesday, October 12

Bare Bones Software recently released version 10 of BBEdit their oddly misnamed ”Bare Bones“ text editor, BBEdit. I call BBEdit misnamed because it is chock-full of useful features that make working with text files easy. There’s nothing bare about it. Some of the features added to version 10 include OS X Lion (10.7) compatibility, new project and document editing windows with unified layouts, and an updated HTML...

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE for Verizon
Friday, September 16

Several months ago we took a close look at the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which represents Samsung's answer to the iPad 2. The device offered some of the best features among Android-based tablets, but without any particularly stellar capabilities compared to Apple's alternative. Samsung quickly followed up with an upgraded edition, however, taking advantage of the higher data speeds attainable from Verizon's 4G LTE network. In...

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac
Saturday, September 10

After giving Windows users a taste of what a solar keyboard is like, Logitech has swung its attention to Mac users with a native version of the Wireless Solar Keyboard K750. It still promises to forever eliminate charging, but it now has a new Mac-oriented design and a fresh look. We'll see in our K750 for Mac review how well it works on Apple computers, including apps, and whether some earlier quirks have been sor...

iPhone Telephoto Lens
Thursday, September 01

There are many photographers of varying degrees of sophistication that love using their iPhones to take pictures. If no other camera is available, it's nice to have that capability on your phone. There are even books devoted to iPhone camera photography, most notably, The Best Camera is the One That’s With You. (See end of review.) I'm not in that group. I didn't save up 5 years for a DSLR, so that I could take 5-meg...

iBank and CheckBook Pro Compared
Tuesday, August 30

Many of us have used Quicken for a number of years. I used it even after Intuit stopped updating the Mac version, out of inertia and the fact that it worked well enough. OS X Lion, however, is pushing all of us out of our comfort zone. Below I compare two very different financial tracking programs, to see if they can fill the hole left by Intuit’s abandonment of Quicken for Macintosh. iBank is a complete finan...

MacFamilyTree 6
Tuesday, August 30

MacFamilyTree is a genealogy program by Synium Software. Genealogy programs provide a way for you to record details on relatives and trace your family lineage. This 12-year old program now supports 15 languages. The first window in prompts you to Create, Open, or Import an existing Family Tree or open the tutorial. When you start a new Tree, you must enter a Reference Person, upon which all other family data re...

Kanex mLinq
Friday, August 26

The Kanex mLinq is a USB to HDMI-out video adapter that can be used easily to add a second, third, or even fourth display to a Mac. The HDMI output allows it to connect to modern LCD computer displays and LCD and Plasma television sets, as HDMI has become the primary audio-video connector in the consumer electronics industry. The mLinq also comes with an HDMI-DVI converter to connect to computer displays, where DVI i...

OWC Mercury Electra 6G 240GB SSD
Tuesday, August 23

Build quality and installation Replacing the stock 2.5-inch hard drive in a MacBook Pro is a straightforward process; the SSD fits comfortably in the bay. We were able to swap the drive and begin a fresh Mac OS X Snow Leopard install in just a few minutes. The SSD can be easily configured and formatted in the same way as a traditional disk drive. OWC houses the NAND flash chips in an attractive aluminum housing...

DxO Optics Pro
Monday, August 22

If you shoot RAW images with your camera, the first suggestion often made to convert images is the rather expensive Adobe Photoshop ($699) or Photoshop Lightroom ($299). Yet, there are many lesser-known products that offer extensive editing capabilities at more reasonable prices. Paris based, DxO Labs is one of those contenders, with their image editing software DxO Optics Pro 6.6, which was updated twice in August, ...

Mac mini 2011
Sunday, August 07

When the Mac mini first arrived on the scene, it was in many ways a tool for Apple to attract Windows users and get them to switch to Apple and Mac OS X. The thinking was that it was sold without a keyboard, mouse and display. Windows users already had these and this could give them a taste of the Apple world. It was also in many ways the spiritual successor to the Power Mac G4 Cube, with the critical difference bein...

XtremeMac InCharge Duo for iPad
Monday, August 01

If you have a bevy of useful gadgets that all vie for the one or two front-and-center outlets near your workspace, the XtremeMac InCharge Duo for iPad may meet your needs. I like to charge all my devices at once, so having a multi-dock simultaneous charger alleviates the stress of hunting for plugs and more importantly, hunting for desktop real estate to use while the devices charge. I like the sleek design of the In...

iPhone 4 Ballistic (HC) Series Case
Sunday, July 31

After I reviewed the excellent OtterBox Defender, which had some minor quibbles, I wondered if the AT&T iPhone 4 Ballistic Hard Core (HC) Series Case could match or surpass the OtterBox. For background, these cases are not like the basic ones you might to pop on quickly and offer a bit better grip or add a splash of color. These are serious cases that add to the bulk of your iPhone. They remove the sleek lines...

Verbatim Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard
Saturday, July 30

My thumbs don’t know QWERTY and I have long fingernails. This combination means that most devices without a real keyboard are a pain to use. I’m not a fan of on-screen keyboards either. Since I use my devices for work, the two most common uses I have for a phone and an iPad are to send and reply to emails. Fortunately, there are several new mobile keyboard entrants on the market and I think I have now found the one t...

WiebeTech RTX220-QR RAID
Thursday, July 28

In my search for a two-drive RAID box for storage at home, I opted to test the RTX-220-QR – Quad Interface External RAID from the nice people at WiebeTech. For those readers who are not up on the various kinds of RAID, here's a quick synopsis: RAID stands for ”Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks,” and is a set of techniques to group more than one disk together in a storage set in such a way that you can increa...

Canon ImageFORMULA P-150M Personal Document S
Wednesday, July 27

If you want to neatly manage years of papers that have filled up endless file folders and filing cabinets the Canon Image FORMULA P-150M duplex personal document scanner definitely deserves your consideration. It is an impressive piece of hardware that helped me trash over one hundred fat file folders of financial paperwork. The ImageFORMULA P-150M, also called the Scan-tini, is a compact USB powered scanner that...

Bento 4 for Mac
Monday, July 25

The fundamental question most people might ask about a database application is why do I need one at home? The next question most people ask is what would I possibly do with one if I had one? Logically, you might then ask why would I want to pay for something like that? The answers depend on how you organize your life. If you want to get a handle on your personal finances, have an inventory of all your personal p...

MacBook Air (13-inch, 2011)
Sunday, July 24

The redesigned MacBook Air in October 2010 sparked a minor revolution in notebooks; after years of ultraportables (even Apple's) being relegated to the margins, they were suddenly the future of computing. Intel went so far as to coin a new notebook concept, the "ultrabook," to spur Windows PC builders to do what Apple was doing. But with stiff competition emerging from Samsung, Sony, and even ASUS, Apple has had to...

Cardo Scala Rider G4 PowerSet Headset
Thursday, July 21

Opening the box Included in the kit is all hardware needed to install the communicators onto a helmet. The plastic attachment point for the communicator itself clamps onto the edge of the lid thanks to Allen screws, and two Allen keys are supplied. A more permanent option involves using the glue plate, which is also included, along with two alcohol prep pads. There are wired Velcro-backed speakers that attach to t...

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Tuesday, July 19

Getting started: the Mac App Store and the boot drive question It's very clear from the outset that Lion is a sharp break from any mainstream desktop OS just by how you get it on your system: if you haven't bought a Mac preloaded with the new OS from the start, you have to visit the Mac App Store. That's a mixed bag to us. For anyone already using Snow Leopard, it's certainly very convenient; you don't have to t...

HP TouchPad
Thursday, July 07

HP has made another attempt to establish itself in the tablet arena, transitioning webOS beyond smartphones in an attempt to compete with Android, iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS. Although HP suggests its TouchPad does not aim to displace the iPad, the company followed Apple's tablet strategy by choosing a 9.7-inch display with 1024x768 resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio. In our full review, we take a closer look at HP's...

Evoluent VerticalMouse 4
Thursday, June 30

I am not a fan of the mouse that came with my iMac, so I’ve tried a variety of mice with varying success. I have small hands, size 7 to be exact, so most mice feel too big for me. My favorite mouse is the simple Mini Pro from Contour Design, but I managed to break two of them over the past ten years. They don’t like to be tossed and stepped on, which happens when I travel. In my search for better ergonomics, I read a...

DiskRadar
Tuesday, June 28

One of the blessings of Mac OS X is that end-users do not need to do many maintenance tasks themselves. Most are auto scripts that either run on start up or shut down and take care of a user’s system. There are numerous utility applications for Mac OS X, but not all of them are really useful or even particularly easy to use. DiskRadar, from Binary Fruit joins a well-established category of hard disk maintenance tools...

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Friday, June 10

(Note: we've since tested the 3G version. The inclusion of 3G and TouchWiz doesn't revolutionize the overall verdict, but is worth reading if you're considering use on Bell, T-Mobile, or another 3G carrier.) Design Samsung initially unveiled its first-generation Galaxy Tab 10.1 early this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We liked the device, however Samsung appears to have been dissatisfied with its...

Camera Plus Pro for iPhone
Tuesday, May 31

Camera Plus Pro from Global Delight takes your photos to a new level of display. This 16.6 MB iPhone app lets you apply a variety of edits to your photos to enhance, colorize, or even make a mess of your shots. You can crop, rotate, flash your shots, plus use standard editing tools, such as change the brightness, saturation, hue, contrast, sharpness, tint, and temperature. An easy to use slider control lets you contr...

Mophie juice pack air for iPod touch (4G)
Saturday, May 28

For all of Apple's bragging about battery life, it's a fact that the company's handhelds don't always last as long as they should. An international flight or even a long workday can be enough to finish a battery off. Most complaints, though, are directed at the iPhone, which is constantly chewing through power thanks to different combinations of Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS, not to mention apps. iPods are relatively immune t...

iHome iD9
Friday, May 27

The iHome iD9 Portable Rechargeable Speaker System for iPad/iPhone/iPod is a simple, easy to use speaker system and charging station for your iOS devices. (For the balance of this review, I will refer to the iPad or iOS devices to cover all of them.) It charges your iOS device while you play music, and runs off batteries when you want to use it where a power outlet is not accessible. The Package The box cont...

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