Startup founders are apparently still holding out hope for the social recommendations space, and today, yet another app has launched with its own take on mobile opinion sharing. After three months in private beta, Knotch has officially opened its doors to the public. → Read More
Instead of anxiously searching Google or WebMD, people would rather turn to a real human being for answers to their pressing health questions — preferably one who’s been to school for 10 years. The problem is, of course, that visits to the doctor’s office cost money. Plus, you need an appointment and you’ll probably sit in a waiting room. Wellsphere’s Ron Gutman founded HealthTap in 2010 to give… → Read More
When you visit a review on Google Play for an app, book, song or movie, you won’t have to worry as much about whether someone is sheepishly hiding behind a computer firing off nasty words, as Google has now flipped on the switch to display your Google+ name and profile picture with all reviews you add to the store.
I’m not so sure this is the best thing in the world, 100%, as you don’t have an… → Read More
For beginning shooters or experienced DSLR users interested in a street-style camera on a budget, Olympus micro 4/3 offerings like the new E-PL5 are an excellent choice. This particular model was just a bit too small and had a few weird quirks for my liking, but overall it’s an excellent update to an excellent line of cameras. If small size and a unique, tilting touchscreen seal the deal, this is… → Read More
The founders of LitPick have known each other since birth. Seth Cassel and his dad Gary founded their first company, FlamingNet in 2002 when Seth was in fourth grade. Designed as a book review site, Seth and his dad Gary built the site themselves and began taking a profit. → Read More
Robin Sloan is the kind of guy who could write a book like this one. He’s a writer and “media inventor” which seems to be a lofty term for “cool guy who gets the Internet and understands that discourse needs to be both intelligent and entertaining to effect any sort of meaningful social change.” He also writes a damn good intellectual thriller, if you’re into that sort of thing. → Read More
Plenty of startups still believe there’s room in the social recommendations space, and now, another new contender heads into battle. Chicago-based Mouthee is today officially debuting its website and iOS application, which allow users to quickly share reviews of local restaurants and hotels, as well as movies, music and books. → Read More
Some interesting new stats from a study shared with us by Russian consulting firm Empatika provide a picture of how some of the most popular apps in Apple’s App Store are reviewed, and what strategies seem to work best in securing positive feedback. App reviewers rating the top apps seem to want to share only positive things, and often, a review’s words don’t match its star rating. → Read More
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: most of the reviews you read online are performed in a manner that you, as an intelligent consumer, would find abhorrent. I’m not naming names nor am I pointing fingers, but aside from a few very specific cases, your vision of a highly-experienced tech journalist sitting down at a workbench next to a Faraday cage and a drop test station is pretty much… → Read More
We’ve covered Dyson fans and vacuums for years now, being constantly amazed at the utility and wild designs that come out of James Dyson’s wee English workshop. He makes things that suck and blow and his latest, the DC44 “digital” vacuum sucks with the best of them.
The DC44 is a hand-held vacuum that essentially replaces the DC31 and adds a few tricks to the hand-held magic show. The DC44 has… → Read More
Short Version: Want the Microsoft Surface without the Microsoft? Archos may have the device for you. This unique tablet/keyboard combo turns itself from traditional slate into an Android-powered ultralight in a few simple steps. Best of all, it’s going to get Jelly Bean in Q4 2012 so your investment, at least for a few months, will be sound.
The cons? It’s a little chintzy, a little… → Read More
I’m starting Bag Week off with two bags from one of my favorite manufacturers, Nomadic. This Japanese seller of quality bags makes their rucksacks out of rip-stop fabric and offers a certain stark, compact design that is as far from your typical JanSport as a kimono is from an Ed Hardy shirt.
Most of Nomadic’s bags are quite small and the the WT-18 Wise-Walker Toto is no exception. It is about… → Read More
If you’ve been following my weekend watch reviews, you’ll note that I tend to like bigger watches. But even this monster – the Graham Oversize GMT – is too big for me.
Graham is a British manufacturer of haute horology. Named after famed clockmaker George Graham, the company manufactures mostly in Switzerland and uses combination of bespoke movements as well as some modified ETA pieces. The… → Read More
While the name may be a bit unruly, TalkFavorites.me is a rating system for the best stuff near you. There are no reviews to AstroTurf, no business details to mess up, and no horribly-written screeds against unfairly-judged businesses. Instead, you vote for the best stuff in your area and then consult those lists as you look for, say, the best pizza in West Chester, Penn.
We spoke with… → Read More
NAS drives are getting smarter and smarter, and the Iomega ix2 is no exception. Priced at $400 for 1TB, this compact drive is actually more of a mini-computer and features “apps” that allow it to become more than just a storage dump.
I installed the drive on my home network and found it obviously quite easy to install and run. The version I test, a disk-less case that costs about $185, had… → Read More
As a big watch nerd, I love sharing cool watches with you guys in hopes that my obsession, as unseemly as it is, will be passed from writer to reader like an STD. This time I was lucky enough to be able to handle the new Ernst Benz Officer ChronoLunar, a huge “officer-style” chronograph with day-date-lunar cycle registers and a 24-hour dial.
To be clear, this watch uses the Valjoux 7751… → Read More
Like a line of hard-marching Lemmings (or a swarm of Patapons), Sony’s countless, niggling enemies would like nothing better than to distract and steal the company’s hard-won fan base. The Playstation has long been the gold standard in console gaming, despite the Xbox’s recent challenges to the throne. And Sony does a good job. Graphics are better, gameplay is or can be more immersive, and in the… → Read More
Following five months of work, location-based Q&A platform Localmind is launching its biggest release today since its original debut with the arrival of Localmind 2.0. The newly revamped platform represents a shift for the company, which, as you may remember, sits on top of Foursquare, allowing you to pose questions in real-time to those checked in at local venues.
Today, the company is… → Read More
I rarely like to put my own little fetishistic watch reviews up here unless the watch is something amazingly unique or unless I think you, dear reader, will get a kick out of the quality or styling of a particular piece. That’s why I chose to write up this Benarus Megalodon Diving Watch, a huge monster of a timepiece that is water resistant to 2,500 meters or about 8,000 feet. Considering the… → Read More
Short version: A powerful little device, significantly brighter than others of its size, with decent battery life and a good picture. Too bad it’s so damn loud, and not the most user-friendly thing of all time either. → Read More
Short version: A stylish and fun alternative to the likes of the Canon G12 and Nikon P7000. It’s not the quickest on the draw, and the build quality is obviously a step down from its elder brother, the X100, but image quality is good and operation is straightforward. It’s got a great lens and after a little familiarization could be quite versatile. While it compares decently with the competition… → Read More
Iomega’s Mac Companion hard drive is a 2TB ($349, 3TB model is $449) desktop drive with a few features that make it interesting to the average Mac (or PC) owner. While it doesn’t have the bells, whistles, and network access of many NAS and home storage devices, it does look good next to your iMac.
The drive is clad in brushed aluminum with a black glossy top panel and a two-port USB hub in… → Read More
Short version: While Skyrim does almost nothing to address the weaknesses of its predecessors, it expands on the strengths to such an extent that even its most substantial flaws seem microscopic. You may not lose yourself in the unimaginative combat and story, but the world Bethesda has created is so huge and so beautifully realized that you won’t care.
An enormous game like this demands an… → Read More
An attractive and comfortable phone with a nice camera and enough speed for most users. The qHD screen is sharp and the design is understated. It’s just too bad Motorola had to ruin the UI with a few ugly effects.
It’s not a major update to the original Atrix, but it has some welcome changes and stands on its own as a good choice for non-iPhone AT&T users. Read on for the full review. → Read More
Short version: Battlefield 3 plays it safe and focuses on maximizing player engagement, but falls prey to a lack of variety, a shabby UI that’s clearly a holdover from consoles, plus of course the inevitable bugs, lag, and rocket spam. There’s a good game in here, but only if you’re willing to overlook some real flaws. But as it has been for years with big multiplayer games like this, the bugs… → Read More
The pedometer – those little things you wear to measure your steps – has always been a weight loss gimmick. Only recently, however, have pedometers gotten smart enough to do more than just vaguely shame us into walking a little further. Take Striiv, for example. This keychain-sized device measures steps walked and stairs climbed and includes a unique set of cute little games that should, in… → Read More
Short version: Probably the best-looking game I’ve ever played, despite a general lack of imagination. The gameplay itself, though, is (without exaggeration) probably less sophisticated than Doom.
But is this ditzy game worth your money? → Read More
The Aspire S3 is Acer’s first ultrabook. The notebook is almost unabashedly a MacBook Air clone with straight lines and a clean design but it’s also $400 less. There are some trade-offs when comparing this to the Air, sure, but for the most part the Aspire S3 is a fine ultraportible for the Windows crowd.
What Acer and all the rest of the ultrabook makers are building are by all accounts fine… → Read More
I love analog tech and I love analog sound. That’s why I wrote up these two basic reviews of two Empress analog pedals for guitarists sick of bleeps and bloops and color LCD read-outs. I added a few video demos, as well, but I was able to play with this gear for a while in my own home studio and came away quite pleased.
Empress Phaser Pedal
Empress’ phaser pedal packs a lot of features in a… → Read More
Short version: Absolutely worth a play, but there are a number of flaws that cause DEHR to fall short of greatness. The bosses, the “domestic” environments, and certain je ne sais quois mais ce n’est pas bien about the level design. It’s far from perfect, but the core gameplay, second by second, is fun and exciting. → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
