The time I spend hacking away on my laptop at coffee shops, hotel lobbies and conference room floors I inevitably spot another MacBook user with a cooler-looking laptop than mine, filling me with envy.
Well, dbrand has the goods to make the other coffee shop patrons jealous.
Stellar Wanderer gets right into the action with space battles from the very first mission, which takes place in the full 360 degrees of your spaceship viewport.
You’ll take to the vastness of interstellar space, populated by huge space stations, rugged traders, and (obviously) hordes of space pirates to complete missions given to you by mysterious individuals and then taking the reward money to upgrade your craft and piloting skills.
There’s a lot of space in space, and you’ll feel every kilometer of it when you drop into Stellar Wanderer on your iPhone or iPad.
Check out the gorgeous launch trailer below.
One thing I do on my Mac more than anything else is write. On average I write about 10,000 words a week, and some weeks, I double that. And that isn’t even counting email and other kinds of communication. That’s why a great text editor app is imperative to my every day workflow. Without it, I couldn’t do my job.
With iOS 9, Apple introduced a whole slew of multitasking features including picture-in-picture, so I can watch a video while using another app. Even though this was technically already possible on the Mac, there hasn’t been an easy way to get a video to overlay another window so I can focus on both at the same time. Well the new Fluid Browser solves that problem, quite magnificently I might add.
Fluid is its own web browser, but it’s not meant to replace Safari or Chrome for my main usage. Instead, I open up Fluid and go to a website where I want to play video, like YouTube or Netflix. The video itself will enlarge to fit the width of the browser window. Then magically, if I click somewhere else on my desktop, Fluid will float above the other windows and even has adjustable opacity so I can make the video as prominent on screen as I want.
Super-elaborate, open-world games with stats, exploration, or an engrossing storyline are great, but sometimes you just want to put your foot in some ninjas’ faces. And that’s where Kick or Die really delivers.
This mobile title has been out for a couple months, but it’s just received an update that adds some new challenges and bosses. We didn’t play the earlier versions, but the new one is a fast-pased, dead-simple kickstravaganza that will keep your thumbs on their toes, even though that sounds completely stupid and impossible.
The game’s fun, though.
iPhones and iPads have become more than just media-consumption devices in so many ways. From using an iPad as a virtual cookbook to using it as a portable way to develop a website, the iPad and iPhone are extremely useful in everyday life. One of the biggest categories where these devices have made a huge difference is music.
Thanks to this cool little HomeKit gadget from Elgato, I know exactly how much energy my PlayStation 4 uses (79 watts). I also know how much energy is sucked away by my living room lamp (40 watts), my big HDTV (143 watts) and my Apple TV (8 watts).
All I did was plug each of these devices into Elgato’s new Eve Energy Switch and Power Meter, and then pull up the associated app on my iPhone to get instant information on the power being pulled through whatever I’ve plugged in.
The smartplug is also voice-activated, letting me turn on and off whatever device is attached to it.
Neat, huh?
If there’s a single iPhone and iPad accessory I consider myself to be the most picky about, it would be charging docks and stands. While there isn’t a shortage of options, let’s be honest, most of them aren’t that great. They either don’t dock securely or they’re obsolete when a new iPhone or iPad form factor comes out.
That’s why I’ve narrowed down my vote for best iPhone and iPad charging docks to only two candidates. Yep, just two. Here’s what they are and why I think they’re better than most:
I have a bit of an embarrassing problem: Part of my device-charging setup in my bedroom includes a power strip that sits on the floor next to my bed. It isn’t the worst thing ever, but it’s ugly, and sometimes I trip over it. But I may have found a solution in the 3-port iClever BoostCube. It will save my pride, and some space in my bag when I travel, and that’s just good news all around.
Plus, the ports glow an eerie blue when it’s plugged in, and that’s really cool-looking.
As important as it was for Apple to make the switch from 30-pin cables to Lightning cables alongside the release of the iPhone 5, there is one significant problem Apple has yet to address over the years: the durability of its charging cables. They bend, fray, tear and sometimes just stop working altogether even with only moderate use over time. Thankfully, third-party accessory makers have caught on to this, and have started offering solutions. One such offering is the MOS Spring Lightning Cable, which claims right on the packaging to be “the indestructible charge/sync cable.”
The iPhone and iPad are both great ways to consume news and RSS on the go, or while simply lounging around the house. No matter what service you use — Feedly, Feed Wrangler or something else — there are tons of RSS and news apps that support them. If you don’t need a news aggregator service, or don’t even know what that means, there are still news apps that can help you find interesting things to read.
These are currently the best of the best news apps available for iPhone and iPad — and why I think they’re so great.
You should never take a video projector camping — it completely defeats the object of the great outdoors. Unless you have kids. Then it’s handy to beam a movie onto the side of a tent to keep them quiet while you drink.
Perfect for the job is Sony’s $350 MP-CL1 — a small, battery-powered pico projector. Not much bigger than an iPhone 6+, it beams a surprisingly sharp and bright image that belies it’s small size.
Hook it up to your iPhone via a HDMI cable and adapter, and you’re off to the woods.
Every coffee fiend has a morning ritual. For me, it’s getting up before my wife and brewing a half-pot of strong black coffee that we can share. She usually gets up much later than me (lucky her), so a thermal carafe works wonders for us: I can drink mine as early as I like, and she can enjoy hers at a more leisurely hour.
That’s one key reason I’ve abandoned fancier coffee makers and set up shop with a Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus — among its other features, it boasts the best carafe I’ve ever used.
I waited for a GoPro-type video camera that won’t the break the bank, and happily discovered Vivitar’s DVR 786HD ActionCam fits the bill.
It’s tiny, capable and totally scratches my itch for an easy-to-use video camera to wean me off using up my iPhone’s battery to capture longer videos.
I found one of these ActionCams for around $75 or so on Amazon, and while it doesn’t offer all the extreme insanity of a GoPro, it’s a pretty nifty little camera on its own.
Do you frequently find yourself repeating the same blocks of text in emails? Or maybe you send certain sets of data, contact information or links on a regular basis. Text snippet and clipboard apps are lifesavers for anyone that finds themselves doing this. Many of them can not only capture and save from the clipboard, but make your most frequently used selections available in just a swipe.
These are currently my favorites when it comes to clipboard and text snippet apps, and why I’d recommend them.
This jacket delivers comfort, no matter the conditions.
They call it the “Classic Resort Jacket,” and if this means I can hit the frontside corduroy, and the backside snow bowl, and also sip hot toddies in the lodge without ever worrying about maintaining or regulating my temperature, then they nailed it.
Sitting, or standing, in the correct position while working behind a Mac, or any computer, is incredibly important to your overall health — and ergonomic accessories can help. As I’ve come to learn over the past year, incorrect posture and bad ergonomics can result in back, neck and even foot injuries.
When I started struggling with neck and shoulder tightness, I never thought how I was working could be to blame, but after some back and forth with my doctors, the root of the problem had everything to do with my posture and how I was sitting and standing, particularly while working on my iMac or MacBook.
Considering my Sony RX100 cost about 40 times more than a garden variety point-and-shoot camera, I’d expect it to come with a quality strap. But it does not. It comes with a shoelace attached to a string.
I wanted a strap I could securely attach to the tiny ring, let hang out from my bicycle jersey pocket, and slip my hand through for easy access.
While sifting through Sony camera internet forums, I discovered Gordy’s. And I’m ecstatic I did.
When it comes to bicycles I am profoundly inept. Riding is fine. Just don’t ask me to fix it when it breaks.
My assembly and maintenance skills are so bad, the last time I reviewed a bike I put a critical piece on the wrong side and didn’t realize my error for weeks until someone finally pointed it out in pics.
So when the folks at Priority Bicycles told me they have a bike that pretty much never ever needs repairs, I couldn’t wait to saddle up and see how well it rides.
Keeping track of my Apple Pencil is a royal pain. Either I’ve got to slip it into a bag like an actual writing implement, carry it around in my pocket, or get one of those cases for my iPad Pro that adds a ton of bulk just to include a fabric loop to strap the Pencil in.
Not so the CoverBuddy case, an ultra-thin plastic sheath for the rear of the iPad Pro that includes something I wouldn’t expect from such a thin, light case: a secure spot for the Apple Pencil.
It’s simply the best minimalist pencil-holding cover I’ve seen yet.
For many of us, the iPhones in our pockets have long since replaced the need to carry around a regular DSLR or point and shoot camera. While the iPhone itself is typically all you need to start capturing great photos, there are a few iPhone camera accessories that can help take your iPhone photography to the next level.
These are some of my current favorites, all of which are compatible with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus:
For nearly 20 years, watchmaker Eugene Ho has been making luxury timepieces for the likes of Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Ecko and Reebok. Now he’s branched out on his own. His startup, Juuk (pronounced “juke”), makes beautiful, high-end bracelets for Apple Watches.
Juuk’s wristbands rival Cupertino’s aesthetics and quality — but cost half the price.
This new 350-degree pan and tilt home security camera from Kodak is the most amazing video monitor I’ve used, ever.
I’ve helped friends set up a few security cameras over the years, usually to keep an eye on their kids or pets, and the CFH-V15 blows all of them away with its ease of use, simple setup, and high-end video quality.
I sure wish I had one of these when my kids were young.
When I travel with my Mac, there are a few accessories I refuse to leave home without. Depending on how and where I’m traveling to, what I decide to pack may change, except for a few items. From making sure I’m never without the right kind of outlet adapters, to drowning out plane noise, these are the travel accessories for Mac I could never live without.
I’m not a fan of abstract puzzle games, which makes it quite a surprise how much I’m enjoying twofold inc., a fairly abstract puzzle game that challenges you to match colors with a bit of math.
Did I mention I don’t like math games, either? What gives?