In April, my wife approached me about doing a mud race. For those who aren’t familiar with a mud race, it’s basically a 5K with roughly 20 obstacles throughout the course, most of them ending with the participant getting soaked, in mud, from head to toe. There are mud pits you have to run through, and there are mud pits you have to army-crawl through.
I had never attempted to run a 5K, let alone one full of basic training-like obstacles. Actually, I haven’t ran consistently (actually that should read “ran at all”) in the last 8 years. But against my better judgement, I decided to do it. Why not? “It will be a fun experience” I told myself.
Back in March, my wife had completed her first 5K/mud race, and I was there along the entire course with my camera documenting her and her team’s triumphs and joy as each obstacle was overcame. But with the race we were about to embark upon, the camera man (me) was going to be getting down and dirty, leaving us picture-less.
Luckily, I was presented with the opportunity to review the ATC Chameleon, a dual-lens action camera made by Oregon Scientific. The camera can be mounted to your body, allowing you to capture 340-degree video of your current activity.
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When I got a hold of a Toshiba U925t Ultrabook with Windows 8, one of the first things I looked to do was upgrade its memory from 4GB to 8GB. When I upgraded laptop memory in the past, I typically looked at density and frequency. If given the choice, I also went with a lower CAS latency. What I’d never considered before was the voltage. Since Ultrabooks typically use low-voltage processors, it makes sense to pair them with low-voltage memory. Patriot was one of the first to market with a memory upgrade specifically designed for Ultrabooks. I received a sample of the 8GB PC3-12800 SODIMM (PSD38G1600L2S) for testing and have been very pleased with the results.
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When Apple first introduced a bumper along with the iPhone 4, there was no shortage of confused reactions. It’s a case, but not a case. It will protect the sides, but not the front or back. What’s the point? Well, as we later found out, Apple likely had a good idea there were issues with the antenna and it needed a solution. Enter the bumper.
Fast forward to today and bumpers are all but commonplace when it comes to an accessory lineup for a new device, except the iPhone 5. Well, there are bumpers for the iPhone 5, but you won’t find them being made by Apple anymore. A few weeks ago I was sent a bumper, made entirely of aluminum, called the AL13. Here’s what I think about it.
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The TYLT Energi is a case for your smartphone with a built-in battery. Instead of carrying an external battery pack or a spare internal battery, you can supplement your phone’s battery life with the Energi. It’s currently available for the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III. We took a look at the Galaxy S III version and for the most part, liked the design and extra power.
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Recording video with a smartphone capable of HD recording is a real thing. In fact, if a smartphone doesn’t come with HD recording, I’d suggest you pass on it and just go right on to the next device. So, with this high-quality recording capabilities becoming the norm, it’s only a given those same users are going to want to get fancy with the video they record.
Enter a four-wheeled, smartphone hugging contraption better known as the iStabilizer Dolly. So what does it do, and how well does it do it? Well, you’re going to have to keep reading to find out.
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Sharing media files and content with mobile devices isn’t always an easy task. The Kingston MobileLite Wireless is a compact Wi-Fi device that aims to simplify file sharing while on the go and provide additional storage for devices with limited memory. Basically a Wi-Fi enabled card reader, the MobileLite Wireless comes without any on-board storage. Instead, it has a USB port and a built-in SD card reader that allows the user to plug in their own USB flash drives and microSD/SD memory cards. It also doubles as an external battery pack, capable of charging your mobile devices. Could the MobileLite Wireless be an ideal mobile travel companion? Read on to find out.
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The Netgear Centria (WNDR4720) is a dual-band N900 router with an internal hard drive. The WNDR4720 houses a full-sized internal 2TB mechanical hard disk that provides instant network storage for backups, file sharing, and streaming media. The Centria is an all-in-one solution that might appeal to those users who want a no-fuss router and storage device, without having to deal with external drives or NAS devices. The Centria performed very well in my tests and was easy to set up, but there were some design quirks that I wasn’t a big fan of.
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