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Showing posts from December, 2011

Gadget Review: Lightspeed iHelicopter

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Article first published as Gadget Review: Lightspeed iHelicopter on Blogcritics. I'm always intrigued by some of the displays and product demonstrations that I come across in indoor shopping malls. You know, the boomerangs, the magnetic bracelets and those pesky remote controlled helicopters. Well, the iHelicopter from Lightspeed fits right into this category of amazement, and I was privy to try one out this holiday season.  The iHelicopter is an actual working machine that can fly throughout your house or possibly outdoors on a calm day all while being controlled from an iPhone, iPad, or Android mobile device.

Photo Accessory Review: Eye-Fi Wireless Photo Storage

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Can you imagine a scenario where you would be able to take photos using your digital camera and when you got home, they were already organized in iPhoto, or even on your mobile device within minutes? Is this some Apple iOS magical update or a new cloud miracle from Google? Nope. Just a simple SD card that happens to have wireless capabilities built-in. What does this mean for all the wires and cables that you currently use to connect your camera to your computer? Keep them where they belong - in a drawer - and get ready to truly go wireless with the Eye-Fi Wireless Card.

Four Weeks of Giveaways - December Week #3: Case-Mate iPhone 4S Case and a 90-Day License for xtranormal (Teacher Edition)

Another week in December, another lucky winner.  This time, with only a few entries to choose from, Janet S. was the lucky one to pick up the iMainGo X speaker system. Congratulations! Your prize gets shipped this week. Thanks to the generosity of a few sponsors, we've got two giveaways this week - a free iPhone customizable case ( reviewed recently here ) and  a 90-day full license for xtranormal's education edition ( also reviewed here ). These giveaways are both New and don't require any shipping, so you'll get them as soon as you win.  Enter away, and as always, act fast - this giveaway will close in a week, and we'll unveil the final giveaway of 2011. Hit the jump for the raffle.  Good luck!

iPhone Accessory Review: Custom Case-Mate ID Case

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Article first published as iPhone Accessory Review: Custom Case-Mate ID Case on Blogcritics.   An iPhone case is often one of the first accessories that new owners purchase, and the selection for cases is quite extensive. Thus, searching for a unique case can be quite the challenge, and one that the folks at Zazzle.com  have decided to embrace by offering a completely customizable option. I was given a chance to design and review a case courtesy of Zazzle. Below is a quick review.

Review: xtraNormal for Education and Business

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Article first published as Review: xtraNormal for Education and Business on Blogcritics.  When I first discovered xtranormal , an online movie maker program, I was amazed by how easy the web 2.0 tool was to use and how full featured the program was. One can truly make some quality flicks with a reasonable learning curve, and they even have a chance to go viral (see  iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo , warning: inappropriate language is used). In education, teachers are constantly craving for more ways to engage their students and provide new opportunities to allow students to show what they know on something other than a paper test or a PowerPoint. xtranormal started as a completely free tool and then a short while back, converted to a somewhat pay for points format (previews are still free and can suffice for many classes). When this happened,  I offered some thoughts on the future as well as suggested possible alternatives. Recently, xtranormal has upped the ante by creating a robust teac

Four Weeks of Giveaways - December Week #2: iMainGo X Portable Speaker System

Congrats to our week one December raffle winner, Azslyn C, who picked up a portable speaker system from Portable Sound Laboratories. Week two brings the deluxe version of the iMainGo - the "X" version, also reviewed recently on this site. All giveaways are in Like New condition, opened just for review purposes and will be shipped to you for free!  Enter away, but act fast - this giveaway will close in a week, and we'll unveil yet another cool prize. Hit the jump for the raffle.  Good luck!

iPads in Education: Notes and Apps from the NICE Workshop

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This morning, I was treated to a smorgasbord of iPad discussion at the Northern Illinois Computer Educators' (NICE) iPad Workshop. Held at Loyola Academy, the workshop took the form of an "unconference" as 40+ attendees helped set the agenda and then broke out into small group sessions for lots of sharing and thoughts over how the iPad integrates into classroom instruction. Notes and a shared doc can be found via these links ( backchannel , shared doc ), and some of my favorite apps after the jump.

Four Weeks of Giveaways - December Week #1: iMainGo 2 Portable Speaker System

Congrats to our November raffle winners, Katrina J, Ashley R, and Clayton B, who each picked up an uber cool iPad case. With close to 30 entries last month, the competition increased, but so did the number of prizes. This month, we're going with quantity and quality, with a new giveaway each week! Just in time for the holidays. The first prize is going to be an iMainGo 2 Portable Speaker system. I reviewed this item recently, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the booming sound from this tiny little accessory. All giveaways are in Like New condition, opened just for review purposes and will be shipped to you for free!  Enter away, but act fast - this giveaway will close in a week, and we'll unveil cool prize #2. Hit the jump for the raffle.  Good luck!