15 May
Posted by scottc as Blackberry, PDA and Smartphone, Product Reviews, Security
Egrips non-slip strips are custom cut plastic strips that attach to your gadget(s). Why is this important? Because most gadgets nowadays are nice and shiny, and shiny = slippery. Take for example my BlackBerry 8800; it’s all nice and slick.

The egrips strips (they call them appliqués) are thin pieces of plastic with a bubbly like grip texture (as you can see in my close-up).
The egrips set for my Blackberry comes in 6 pieces; 2 for the back, 3 for the sides, and one for the front. Once applied you have non-slip protection all around the device.

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14 May
Posted by scottc as Kensington, Power It, Product Reviews

The Kensington "Travel Plug Adapter with USB Charger" is a foreign plug adapter with a USB device charger.
The device is packaged in a plastic blister container, but thankfully Kensington understand that most travelers won’t have a saw with them, so the rear of the package is perforated and I was able to open it in under 10 seconds (and without losing a thumb in the process).

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11 May
Posted by scottc as Entertainment, Product Reviews, iPod/iTunes
I’m pretty sure that there are now officially more iPod cases on the market than there are residents of Portugal. So it takes something quite special to catch my attention.
Today I’m going to show you the iFrogz audiowrapz case - it’s that "something quite special".
The audiowrapz case is a silcone wrap case for the 3rd generation iPod Nano. Unlike most silicone cases, this one has been treated with a special anti-dust protection, and it clearly shows, as even after a few days the case still looks nice and clean.
But what makes the audiowrapz case special, is the integrated speakers. These are passive speakers, so you don’t need extra batteries, and they don’t draw any power from your iPod.
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07 May
Posted by scottc as Mobile applications, Product Reviews
Today I’m going to show you 10 different applications that can help you out when on the road. They vary from basic mapping, to complete flight schedule databases.
Weatherbug
The Weatherbug network consists of 1000’s of weather stations; most of them within 2-3 miles of your location. This makes for a very reliable and accurate weather network.
The Weatherbug Mobile application offers the same features as the desktop version, including radar maps, forecasts and even snapshots of the Weatherbug webcam network.
Price: $14.95 (WindowsMobile, Lifetime), $39.99 (Blackberry, annual)
Available for: WindowsMobile, Blackberry
Trial available: yes (30 days) Download here.
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07 May
Posted by scottc as Blackberry, Entertainment, Product Reviews
Well whattayaknow… It really does work as promised. Imagine being able to access your entire iTunes library, right on your Blackberry, without having to actually move any of your music files onto the device!
The first step is sending nuTsie your iTunes .XML library file. That file contains all the information about your files (playlists, album names, ratings etc…).
Once you have sent them your library file, you can install the nuTsie client on your device, and you’ll have immediate access to all your playlists and songs. When I first read about it I simply didn’t believe it could be this easy. But they delivered on their promise, and after a couple of minutes I was listening to my own "top rated" playlist.
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06 May
Posted by scottc as Bluetooth, Communicate, Product Reviews
I may be a little late to the show (I think every other site in the world has already reviewed this product), but that isn’t going to stop me from giving my own opinion on the Aliph Jawbone Headset.

If you ask anywhere on the web "what is the best Bluetooth headset", 9 out of 10 people will probably answer "The Jawbone". I once tried this headset several years ago, but never actually sat down with it to put it through its paces.
The Aliph Jawbone does several things most other Bluetooth headphones do not do; it looks pretty, and it sounds great (on both ends of the call).
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29 Apr
Posted by scottc as Power It, Product Reviews, Proporta
When you are on the road, power can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Even the best gadget in the world becomes useless when it runs out of juice.
There is nothing more annoying than trying to make a phone call and not being able to turn your phone on because you forgot to turn it off and the battery died on you in the middle of a trip.
I have used some battery backup solutions in the past, including the APC USB battery pack I mentioned several months ago in my "Power it anywhere" kit, but the product I’ll show you today is the best I’ve ever come across.
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29 Apr
Posted by scottc as Apple, Entertainment, Product Reviews, iPod/iTunes
Last week I took a quick look at 3 products to make traveling with kids easier. One of those products was the iFrogz Tadpole case/headphone kit, and I promised I’d give you a review of it. The Tadpole case is a silicone rubber case for the iPod; it’ll fit the 30, 60, 80 and 160Gb video/Classic iPod versions.
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One of the comments in my "Proporta Gadget Bag" article asked how much all that stuff weighs…
Remember; that includes the gadget bag, 3 phones, a VOIP adapter, 2 headsets, sim cards, an iPod, all the chargers I could ever need, battery backup power, a camera, flashlight, a laser pointer, 2 mice, memory cards, a WiFi adapter and loads of cords.
Back when every one of my gadgets required its own charger I was probably carrying close to twice that much. Under 2 kilos for everything I need on a trip (not including whichever laptop I use that week) is really not that bad.
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28 Apr
Posted by scottc as Luggage, Product Reviews, Proporta
On an average trip, I carry along an obscene amount of stuff. Here are the contents of my current gadget bag:

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