Have you ever tried using your iPhone or iPod Touch with longer fingernails?  It’s difficult isn’t it?  What about those days when your fingers are frozen and the capacitive touchscreen doesn’t register your touch and the end result is getting locked out of your phone due to failed SIM card unlock attempts.  I got locked out of my phone once and the irony is that once the SIM card is locked out, I can’t make any calls whatsoever to even get my phone reactivated unless I use I different phone to call AT&T.   Much of my problems could have been averted if I had the Ten One Design Pogo Stylus – an aluminum body with a spongy tip which works on the touchscreen.   The tip is soft and requires a good deal of pressure to use with some types of screen protectors.  In my case, I found that at times, I had to press so hard that the metallic portion of the stick came in contact with the screen.  This seems to be a catch 22 as the screen protector is supposed to protect the screen, yet, by using the stylus I am at risk of putting the screen protector to the test.  This is not exactly a situation I like to be in.

My primary use for the stylus is for better signature capture when processing payments through Square.  Try signing your name nicely using your finger – it is very difficult if not impossible (at least for me).  I can however sign a legible signature when I use the Pogo Stylus.

The Pogo Stylus also comes with a clip so you can attach the stylus to the side.  This is very useful in not losing the tiny little aluminum stick.  Granted there are times when the clip can get in the way of some apps that demand to be in a certain rotation.

The Pogo Stylus comes in several different colors and is quite inexpensive for the control that you get with your device.  Personally though, I am not a big fan of it due to the potential of scratching up my screen protected screen although I have seen it function superbly in a non-screen protected environment.  Seeking an additional opinion, I turned over my review sample to another iPod Touch user, Evelyn Wong, which has this to say about the stylus:

This stylus works okay but it is soft so some effort in pressing is needed.  This stylus does not have a rubber tip but rather a spongy one, so it glides across the screen easily.  Depending on how hard you press, the spongy tip does get flat.

Well, there you have it folks, the Ten One Pogo Stylus, a helpful tool that works ok.  It gets the job done and is perfect for those upcoming cold days that will soon be upon us as well as for signature captures.

Vital Statistics:

Product: Pogo Stylus for iPhone 3G / 3GS and iPod Touch 3G
Manufacturer: Ten One Design
Available Colors: Black, Gun Metal, Hot Pink, Silver
Available From: Micro Center, Amazon.com, Ten One Design
Retail Price: $14.95 USD

Not all flash drives are created the same.  Sure, you may get capacity….but what about speed?  In our latest benchmarks in the JAMM labs we looked at Micro Center’s 8GB (Green) flash drives.  The results?  The newest models are an actual setback compared to the proceeding model.  Let’s look at 3 generations of Micro Center flash drives from oldest to newest:

Read and Write 312.0k
Read 22.7M
Write 320.0k

Read and Write 6.4M 
Read 16.2M
Write 10.6M

Read and Write 3.5M
Read 14.9M
Write 5.5M

As you can see, there was a major performance differences between all 3 generations.  The oldest had the fastest read speeds but the slowest write speeds.  The 2nd generation had the fastest write speeds.  As such, get you hands on the 2nd generation while they last!  Newer doesn’t mean better – and supplies are limited before the mid generation gets phased out.  Tests were conducted using HD Speed.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day!  With the weather cooling off, it’s a better time than ever to go outdoors for some sunshine.  While you are enjoying the outdoors, how about grabbing some snapshots to record the good times?  Enter the new DXG-018 3D digital camera.  Yes, I did say 3D.  How in the world can something be 3D you may ask?  Simple, it has 2 lenses.  I remember the 3D View Master photo reels back when I was in grade school.  Surprisingly, 3D used to be a bigger buzz word – and then it just quietly slipped away…until recently.  Today, you’ll find 3D movies (without the need for blue and red filters), 3D TV, and now we finally have affordable 3D consumer point and shoot cameras!  DXG provided us with the DXG-018 camera.  This lightweight point and shoot camera is small and easy to use.  But how well does it perform?  Read on past the jump and find out!

Read More …

Do you like sword wielding anime characters?  What about gratuitous slice and dice action of zombie-like creatures?  If you answered yes to both, you are very likely to enjoy the Role Playing Game (RPG) Third Blade for iOS.  Getting this game during its free promotional period during July 7, 2011, this game had me stuck on my iPad for hours on end and made my trip from Houston to Dallas feel like a ride to the local Costco.  The opening sequence shows a long haired dude who has what appears to be his female friend getting abducted by evil forces.  You have three blades to choose from – each with its own unique method of fighting along with its own special abilities.   Read on past to jump to find out more about this addicting and amazingly fun game!

Read More …

There are some games that are just well made, but they go into the black morass.  Such is it with MonsterGila’s NovaRift: Arena.  Given away for free a number of months ago on FreeAppAlert, this little gem had me lost in the depth of space defending the galaxy from 5 different kinds of drone enemies in single player and human enemies in online multiplayer.  After many hours of play, suddenly the online game servers no longer worked.  The game seemed to fizzle out of MonsterGila existance, and the little software company in New Mexico could not be reached for comment as to what was happening.  You can still read the manual at http://www.novarift.com/manual.html or view the old teaser trailer still on YouTube.

So why bring up a dead game that seems to have been sucked into a blackhole? How about because of the countless hours spent playing which earns it one of the most addicting games that I’ve touched?  Yes, dear readers, this game was beautifully made.  (On a side note, do you backup your iPad?  If not, then it certainly is something that should be considered as this is the only way I can load NovaRift: Arena onto my devices now as it is no longer sold.  Stay tuned on an upcoming article on backing up your iOS device and having the ability to version your software.)

One of the best parts about this game was the ability to play multiplayer.  Even with the multiplayer component being disabled due to the missing NovaRift server, the offline arcade mode is loads of fun.  How many drones can you kill?  The game provides you with the choice of 4 different ships – each with its own style of play with different speeds, maneuverability, and weapons.  Your weapons include not just plasma guns, but also spreadfire cannons and proximity missiles.  The ships all have different weaknesses and realistic damage will be taken into consideration – you can fly a ship with damaged wings which affect your movement or even your weapons!

After choosing your ship, you’ll head into battle.  Your two main resources will be shield energy and gun energy.  Shields protect your ship – if they ever become depleted, try not to get hit for a duration of about 5 seconds (those sure seem like long seconds) and you’ll get an immediate 20% recharge of your shields.  Time your shots and make sure to keep moving – else you’ll be bantha fodder!  In the single player arcade mode, you’ll be faced with continuous waves of enemies which become stronger.  It becomes quite the challenge to dodge asteroids while taking out the baddies.  After blowing up the bad guys, there is a chance in getting some powerups.  6 powerups exist that range from refilling shield or gun energy, giving rapid fire, repairing your ship, getting an extra life, or getting invulnerability for a short while!

And hence, we’ve dug up a gem that seems to be gone.  I certainly hope that MonsterGila will bring back this wonderful game.  Until then, know that such a gem exists – and if you’ve downloaded but haven’t given this game a try and it’s sitting in your iTunes library – go ahead and install it…you’ll find this to be one of the best space shoot-em ups of all time which could have been developed into something like SubSpace (now Continuum), an equally exciting Windows 3rd person space shooter.  Until next time, game on!