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Gadgets! Camera bag crafters know that, these days, if you’re carrying photo stuffs, you’re likely also bringing some kind of computer, and other electronic knick-knacks, along for the ride.

A lot of bags concede that means a small Macbook Pro or Air will need a lift, but Lowepro’s Event Messenger 150 bag knows true technorati stroll with only the essentials: a lens or two, a camera body, and an iPad. So that’s what the sleek-looking Event Messenger 150 (EM 150) was built to transport. I took it for a spin to see how it performs.

This is the first part of a two-part review. When you see the case I’m writing about, the reason will be obvious. It’s the Castello Davarg Kanam, and it’s a wraparound case fashioned from full grain leather in the good old U.S of A. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that it was thrown together by unionized slackers with one eye on the time-clock: The case is clearly put together with some care.

Why the tow-parter? Because this is a chunk of cow, and as such it’s meant to age gracefully, getting better over time. So today is more of a first look, with a long-term write-up to follow.

There would be but one way to make the mŌna iPad stand seem more like an adult toy, and that’d to make it in pink. As it is. The suggestive-looking stand comes in black, white and red. I have been using one on and off for a few months (strictly for iPad support purposes) and found it to be excellent in some aspects and silly in others. Would you like to know more?

With an urban, brushed-metal look, premium construction, and space for your camera and Macbook Air or 13″ Pro, Acme Made’s Montgomery Street Backpack is no doubt a great day pack for city walkers. Its side-sitting camera pouch is the standout feature of this bag, though, allowing quick retrieval of your mirrorless cam or DLSR without having to take the bag off.

The Montgomery however, while well suited for those with petite electronics and a taste for the more hipster things in life, mightn’t perform as well for those with a larger Mac, a full size DSLR, or a fear of wearing a pack so cute the girlfriend might want to borrow it.

The Hidden Radio was an early Kickstarter success, blowing past its original $125,000 goal to hit almost a million bucks. I was, apparently, the first gadget writer to post about it, and a the end of last summer — shortly after the speakers started shipping, I met John and Vitor here in Barcelona.

So I figured it was about time I reviewed it.

Ballistic’s new Aspira iPhone cases are a little different from your usual ruggedized case. First, they’re not ugly. Second, they’re pretty slim. And third, you can keep them in your pocket.

I have been testing out a box of the things for a little while now and I kinda like them. My friends’ opinions might differ, though.

I was going to ditch the standard review format for this post and instead make a gallery of different objects hung on my belt Using the neat little Spider Monkey accessory holster.

That was until I discovered that the adhesive tab that helps hold the Monkey’s Tab onto the target accessory is not reusable. Well, that might not be strictly true. It might well be reusable, but I will never find out because it is almost certainly unremovable.

I have fond memories of the cassette tape. The first album I ever bought was on cassette — I won’t tell you what it was — and I used to spend hours taping songs off the radio so that I could listen to them on my cheap Bush walkman, which had just three buttons and a volume control.

The cassette’s pretty much dead now, of course, but you can help it live on with this cool cassette case for iPhone 5 from Rocket Cases. Priced at just $14.99, it’s made from a sturdy TPU plastic that provides your device with all-over protection from drops and scratches.

I’ve been testing it for a few weeks to find out whether it is worth its price tag, or whether it’s as useful as an actual cassette tape.

Don’t you hate it when your earbud cable gets tangled? I know I do (but not as much as I hate Apple’s stupid earbuds themselves). Luckily, Dotan Saguy has come up with the Smarter Stand for the iPhone, a pliable plastic widget which not only acts as a place to wrap your earbud cable, but also as a handy-dandy stand for the iPhone.

I have been using one for a little while now and it turns out to be a pretty useful little gadget.

Do you ever worry that your beloved MacBook’s sleek aluminum shell will get damaged when it’s packed inside your bag with the rest of your gadgets and gizmos. This handmade, wool felt sleeve from MyBanana aims to give your notebook a home of its own, away from sharp keys, USB cables, chargers, and all the other things you might need to pack into your bag when you’re on the road.

Its slimline design holds your MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro — depending on which size you go for — plus smaller items in a pocket on its front. This is ideal for carrying Lightning cables, an iPhone, or even an iPad mini.

Anything you stick inside the sleeve is secured by two vegatable tanned leather traps with snap fasteners.

Pricing starts at £48 ($56) for the 11-inch MacBook Air sleeve, then rises to £54 ($63) for the 13-inch MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro models. If you have a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, it’ll cost you £58 ($68).

Let’s find out if it’s worth it.

As one who aims to have a daily shred session, I have a love-hate relationship with guitar amps. I love the way they look and sound, especially the vintage ones, but they’re so big and unruly, I often find I’d rather practice without one than head to the lonely room in my house where they reside.

Vox’s amPhones ($99) aim to give you the best of both worlds; the portable headphones plug right into any guitar, amplifying its sound, and include effects like reverb, chorus, and delay. And though they’re built to emulate the sounds of some of Vox’s most popular boxes, they can also be used as regular headphones.

Sounds likes a winning combo, right? I plugged a pair into my best electric guitar to find out.

I’m a big fan of Loop Attachment’s Mummy cases for the iPhone — they’re probably the best silicone cases you can get — so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Mummy case for iPad mini when it was announced at CES back in January.

Just like its smaller siblings, it’s made almost entirely from a soft, coated silicone that provides impact protection from those inevitable dings and drops. It’s also the first envoloping silicone case that’s designed to be compatible with the iPad mini’s Smart Cover, and the Mummy’s built-in magnets will keep your Smart Cover pinned back while your device is in use.

The Mummy has been carefully designed to show off the Apple logo on the back of your device, as well as provide access to all of your buttons, ports, and speakers while still protecting your iPad mini from head to toe. It’s available now in black, blue, graphite, red, and teal, with a white model available for pre-order.

I’ve been testing the Mummy for around a month to find out whether it’s worth its $30 price tag.

My pre gym ritual, aside from beating my chest with my bare fists and grunting, always seems to include 2-3 minutes of loathsome headphone detangling. How those confounded white wires always weave themselves into a tangled ball, I do not know, but now there might be hope.

Kordl is a little clip that secures the pod and plug ends of your headphones together, thus, theoretically speaking, making annoying detangling sessions a thing of the past. Kordl’s founders, now trying to fund their product, go so far as to promise Kordl will make your headphones tangle proof.

Bold claim! So I decided to clip a preproduction Kordl to my Earpods and find out how well it really works.

As you already know, I swing more or less caseless when it comes to iPhones and iPads. I cover the iPad’s screen with a Smart Cover, and have a dedicated jeans pocket for the iPhone. But once in a while eI need something more rugged, and that’s when I reach for X-Doria’s Shield, a multi-layer case which adds minimal weight and bulk but quite a good bit of protection:

It’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that any time we review a bag or case by Waterfield Designs, we’re going to love them. The San Francisco based company is such a maestro at stripping a cow to its bones then stitching the tanned hide up into a premier laptop or tablet case that dishing out an enthusiastic review of yet another one is starting to feel like a matter of course.

So it’s with a profound sense of relief that I can report that Waterfield Design’s CitySlicker MacBook case is the worst thing anyone’s ever made, ever. That includes the Fred series of movies. Scotch-taped together from what appears to be a beef jerky flavored Fruit Roll-Up, the City Slicker….

*snicker*

Sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face. Just kidding! The CitySlicker is an awesomely stylish protective case for your MacBook Air that can double as a very streamlined laptop bag or attache case. Oh, and it also makes a pretty awesome lap desk. It’s just as good a product as any that Waterfield has ever made. But it’s definitely not for everyone.

Regular readers will know how much I dislike iPad cases, and that I only ever subject my iPhone to the confines of a miniature straitjacket. They’ll also know that I’m a big fan of Skech cases in general. So what happened when Skech sent me some leathery iPhone covers to try out?

Surprise! I (quite) liked them.

If you’ve ever had a party with people in various rooms of your house, maybe even outside, Bem’s Wireless Speaker Trio was made just for you.

The Trio is a neat idea: connect your music source (iPhone, iPad, iPod) via Bluetooth to its base station, then move any of its three rechargeable satellite speakers anywhere in your home, up to 120 feet from the base, and they’ll fill that room with music from your iDevice or Mac.

But while Bem’s Wireless Trio is a great idea and was awesome when it worked, my tests brought to light some problems I just couldn’t ignore.

The Rocksteady XS is meant to be a tough, loud outdoor speaker. And it is. But how does it stack up, sound and feature-wise, against some rather stiff competition?

The PopLock is a new iPhone 5 case from NutKase that does more than just protect your beloved smartphone from scratches and scrapes. Its built-in, pressure sensitive kickstand pops out with just a push, allowing you to stand your iPhone for FaceTime calls and watching movies.

The stand is also designed to be a clip, which lets you fix your iPhone 5 to almost anything that’s sturdy enough to hold it, such as a computer monitor or an air vent in the car. The PopLock is made from a durable polycarbonate that promises to absorb shock, and it provides you with access to all of your ports, buttons, and cameras.

The case is available in grey and black, and it’s priced at $22.99. Here’s what I think of it after testing it for a few weeks.

With features like Bluetooth 4 connectivity, hundreds of levels of pressure sensitivity, and a built-in undo button, the Pogo Connect Pen (currently about $79 $62 on Amazon) sounds like an amazing drawing and painting tool for your iPad or iPhone.

Question is, how’s it perform in real life? I took it for a test drive to find out.

For the longest time, there were no Lightning docks available for iPhones or iPads, and it looks like Apple will never make one. I have some thoughts on why that might be, but we’ll get to that in a bit. For now, we’re going to take a quick look at the seemingly crappy dock I picked up from Amazon last month. It’s called the “White Wave Lightning Dock Docking Charge Station for Apple iPad Mini/ iPad 4G/ iPhone 5/ iPod Touch 5G/ iPod Nano 7G,” which should give you some idea of the kind of SEO-mad company behind it.

The Beamhaus Pocket is a premium leather sleeve for the iPhone 5 that’s “inspired by old baseball mitts, broken-in leather jackets, and long-loved boots.” It’s made from hand-selected leather from the Horween Leather Company, the oldest tannery in the United States, and it’s built to provide your iPhone with complete protection from everyday scratches and scrapes.

On the front of the Pocket, there’s a little pouch that’ll hold up to three credit cards — according to Beamhaus — plus a large cutout at the bottom that allows you to access your Lightning connector and hear your speaker. The Pocket is also lined with suede, which aims to prevent your shiny iPhone 5 from getting damaged as you slip it in and out of the case.

The Pocket is available in black and tan, and it’s priced at $59.99. Read on to find out whether it’s worth it.

TC Electronic’s Flashback guitar pedal ($169) is a multitalented piece of gear. Its robust set of delay and loop features make it easy to get lost in hours of guitar playing, but when paired with a Mac or iOS device, it does something no other pedals can do.

Amen! A charging case designed for the iPhone 5. Mophie’s new Juice Pack Helium ($79) is one of the first of its kind that work with longer iDevice, so if you find your i5’s often running in the red battery zone by noon each day, read on for the full review. This sleek and slim charging case might just be exactly what you need.

Lioncase’s Folio Shield might be the best case I’ve yet tried for the iPad mini – apart from the Smart Cover that is. I’ll admit that I had trouble testing it because I love to fondle and caress the mini’s naked curves so much, but I forced myself, and I found out that – in the end – I quite enjoyed it.