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Articles
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Want to be a smuggler? Cargo Noir is for you. |
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Written by Ryan Lange
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Tuesday, 08 March 2011 07:54 |
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 So you want to be a sailor, smuggler, and pirate? Do you want to compete against your friends for getting the most goods? I would recommend picking up the board game Cargo Noir from Days of Wonder.
The game is an open bidding game, you can bid on different cargo trying to make as many matches with the cargo that you currently have. The game does seem to favor the last person to play and this is a game that is hard to come from behind. Once you have the lead, it seems that you have a serious advantage over you competition. This is readily apparent when you are playing with 2 players. I would only play this type of game with 3 or more people as it is harder for one person to control the board.
Like all of Days of Wonder products that I have had the pleasure of reviewing the graphics and quality of the pieces are of the highest quality. The game comes with a pouch that you can put all the cargo game pieces in. It’s of great quality however if you use the pouch you can’t the the cover to reclose on the box all the way. The solution that we came up with at TechToysMag was to take out the plastic insert for the pieces and actually position the pouch in the box just right so that you can put the plastic insert on top of the pouch.
Besides the drawback with the box and storing the pieces, the game is fun to play and after the first few turns the game goes pretty quickly. We generally put a timer of one minute to take your turn because if you have a waffler in the house the game turns could take some time. The play of the game is pretty straight forward but there is quite a bit of depth to the strategy and the amount of risk that you can take in the game. Because of the straight forward play this is a game that I can play with my 6 year old son and he is able to understand and use the mechanics of the game. This game will be a family favorite for some time.
Cargo Noir retails for about 40 USD. It is available on amazon.com |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 March 2011 07:26 |
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Fun and Function–Sunglasses with Stealth Video Recording |
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Written by Gary M Kaye
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Wednesday, 02 March 2011 07:39 |
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Active-I Sunglasses from Interactive Group by Gary M. Kaye One of the problems with most so called action-cams – the ones that go on a helmet, goggles, or handlebars is that you generally can’t see what you’re recording until you’re done. The Active-I Sunglasses from Interactive group solves the problem. They look like sunglasses but have a stealthy camera built right on the bridge of the nosepiece. It comes with a removable viewer that will show you what you are recording, and you can view playback as well. It has a roughly 2GB internal memory as well as a somewhat difficult to access micro-SD slot. You can also connect it to a laptop or PC by means of a sub-micro USB connector, or to a TV with the included A/V cable. The internal memory is advertised as holding 55 minutes worth of video. Obviously you can get a lot more on a (not included) micro SD card.  Control buttons are right on the earpieces of the glasses, including on/off, playback/record viewing, and still photo mode. The glasses come with a set of lightly tinted lenses for use on a less than sunny day.
At 157 USD (at QVC) this is a little expensive for a toy. Video and audio quality are only fair. And there’s no diopter to adjust the view screen, so unless you have great vision or wear contacts, you may not be able to see a sharp image of what’s you’re recording. The camera is particularly sensitive to changing light conditions, more so indoors than outdoors. In short the Active-I Sunglasses may be a fun gift for an active teenager, but may not meet the needs of the video enthusiast. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 March 2011 07:47 |
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Written by Gary M Kaye
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Wednesday, 16 February 2011 21:47 |
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Powermat introduces a lineup of devices A year after spending millions to advertise its wireless charging devices on huge airport billboards and on television, Powermat is back with a new, broader lineup of devices that makes their chargers even less dependent on wires. The original Powermat suite included a mat, either flat or foldable, on which you could place a device to charge it as we talked about in a previous article. But the mat itself needed to be plugged in. And in the first incarnation, the only customized device that was supported was the iPhone 3Gs and some Blackberry products. Now that’s changed. Among the offerings in the new lineup: Two portable power cubes that have both Apple and micro USB plugs. The Power! Dual 1850 mAh has an MSRP of $59.99 and promises to double the battery life of your smartphone. The 1200 mAh version has an MSRP of $39.99 . Both can charge two devices simultaneously. The Power! Duals can both be recharged on any Powermat mat. There’s now a wireless charging case for the iPhone4 – MSRP $59.99 and also a wireless charging replacement back for the Droid - MSRP $39.99 Again, all you need to do is position either on any Powermat charging mat. For the first time, the company has introduced a charging mat that has its own rechargeable battery – The 2X portable mat has a 7800 mAh battery built in that will deliver multiple charges to your devices. It can charge two devices simultaneously and folds up to fit in your carry bag. MSRP for this one is a hefty $129.99 In addition Powermat is bringing out a range of other wired charging mats with one, two, and three places for devices. As with original Powermat, the company supplies a universal cub with a range of adapters for lots of gadgets. So even if yours doesn’t have customized Powermat case, or charging back, you can still use the system. I have been using the original three position folding Powermat for more than a year now and have found it incredibly useful on the road, since few hotel rooms have the number of outlets I need to charge all my road gear. And even if they did, who wants to carry all those chargers. I’ve been using the Dual 1850 for about two months now and find it fully charges both my iPhone 4 and my Droid X in about an hour. Even better, the Power! Dual’s Apple connector pops out with click when you need it, and the micro USB connector fits snugly into a slot in the case. Bottom line, if you carry lots of gadgets on the road and don’t want to carry a lot of chargers, this is a great solution. 
Powermat 2X with PowerCube Powermat Power! Dual 1850 |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 February 2011 21:46 |
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Written by Ryan Lange
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Sunday, 13 February 2011 07:50 |
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  If you love Axis & Allies currently published by Milton Bradley Company I implore you to check out the board game Memoir 44 made by a another great gaming studio Days Of Wonder. Imagine that instead of taking over the world in a World War 2 type of scenario, you just play out some of the best battles of the war on a smaller board. One of the things that I love about the game is that it’s for two players and only two players. This means that when your best bud and you want to have a great time you do not have to worry about getting four other people in the same room. Also this game will not take 4 hours to play out.
The game comes with a booklet that details out some of the scenarios that you can setup on the board. This includes where your units are and where the hills, bunkers, water, hills, and barbed wire will go on the board. You then play the game until you fulfill the victory conditions for the scenario, these would include things like taking two bridges, or holding a town. This is normally done by gaining victory points through the match. The setup of the game is not nearly involved as some of the other games of this type, and found that setup took about 15 minutes to get all of the pieces of the scenarios in place. The pieces that come with the game are well constructed, however I found that the plastic containers that the pieces came in left something to be desired as when you put them back they didn’t really sit well. I ended up using plastic bags for most of the pieces. Playing the game was pretty easy to follow, you get certain cards that only let you command units on one of three sections of the board and only let your units do certain actions such as move or attack. This aspect of the game doesn’t change even with the different expansions. One of the coolest features of this game is how many expansion that there are for it. There are some expansions that include the Eastern Front and you can play with the Russians. There is even an online scenario builder. With the scenario builder you can make any scenario you wish and also share them on the Days Of Wonder site with others. You can even print off the scenarios so transferring them to the game board is very simple. Memoir 44 is available on the www.daysofwonder.com and found on Amazon.com for 39 USD. If you’re a fan of board game war games, this game should be on the short list to add to your collection. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 February 2011 07:55 |
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Raising the Bar–Two Bar Style Speaker Systems to Take on the Road |
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Written by Gary M Kaye
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Wednesday, 09 February 2011 07:09 |
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By Gary M. Kaye  If you are passionate about the sound of your music, but you’d rather use speakers than headphones, you may be frustrated by the limitations of many built-in laptop speakers. Same thing applies if you have limited desk space and need to rely on the built-in speakers in your PC.
There are a couple of new solutions on the market that will let you take a relatively compact speaker bar on the road with you to generate some solid, if not necessarily awesome sound. The “Sound To Go” speaker bar by Edifier is an attractive brushed aluminum speaker system powered by a USB connector. The speaker also comes with a standard stereo jack to plug in an MP3 player. Sound quality is solid, though not overwhelming, offering enough volume to thump the desk. Sound To Go is available through http://www.edifier.ca/eshop/ with an MSRP of 49.99 USD. One problem with this attractive package is where to put it. It fits nicely under the monitor of an all-in-one PC, but you would need to put it to the side or behind if you’re using most laptops. I have been using it with my bedside Sony Dash, where it does fit nicely in front of the unit. Another solution comes from Logitech. Its Z305 Laptop speaker system is also bar shaped, but uses speakers pointed outward from each side of the bar. The unit clips onto a laptop and offers full range bass and treble, though volume was limited even at the highest setting. We found the Z305’s online for prices ranging from 37 USD to more than 87.00 SD. The unit can make a thin screen laptop a little top heavy. If you’re using a MacBook with either speaker, you’ll need to change the sound output preferences to disconnect the built-in speakers. Both units come with soft carry pouches, and would fit comfortably in the side pocket of most roll aboard bags. Logitech Z305 speaker clipped to a laptop 
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 February 2011 07:09 |
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