It's that time of year, and how better to help you make all your holiday cookie needs than an iPhone app? My first thought, of course, is with an iPad app. And that's the one thing wrong with this app - it's not a universal binary, so to use your iPad in the kitchen, you'll have to supersize it. Let's look at the basics of the app, which is quite nice, albeit somewhat limited. (Then again, while cookies is a broad category, cookies for Christmas is, in itself, limiting.) The main screen contains categories of recipes. You can choose which way you view or search them. Once you have found recipes...


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This app at first glance is just another sound board but actually it can sample your voice/sound and you can adjust playback so it may be fun. You vary the sound by moving the finger on the board. And then the board lights up in the place where you touch it. You produces laughing sounds that you can record and share. You can record your own samples (for "Custom" type of laughing synth) and it's easy to crop the sound recording. It is also possible to adjust the effect of laugh synth. The info screen of this app has funny text about controlling universe. While...


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Having recently purchased a refurbished iPad (1st generation), I naturally went hunting for a case to keep my device looking spiffy.  I found the SwitchEasy Reptile case.  The case comes in black, white, green, brown and purple.  Being a purple kind of gal, that’s the color I got.   The case has 2 pieces: a back that has semi-flexible edges that wrap around the front of the iPad, and a plastic frame that snaps over the edges of the back.  This provides protection for your entire device.  The case is lightweight, and adds minimal bulk – no small factor considering that the original...


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I kept seeing people in forums talk about the LifeProof case, and how much better it was than the Otterbox. What I hadn't seen, was a decent review on the LifeProof case. Hopefully, I'll be able to answer all the questions for you right now. I'm going to start with the obligatory comparison to the Otterbox. As most of us know, the two best known Otterbox cases are the Defender and the Commuter. The Defender is BIG. It makes your slender iPhone bulky. It never occurred to me to use one just for this reason. The Commuter, on the other hand, does not add considerable bulk, and with the available...


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I’m sure most people would agree that the stock Android messaging application is “adequate” – it gets the job done.  If you are looking for more, however, you have to find a third-party application.  GO SMS Pro is a fantastic alternative. In spite of what the “Pro” name implies, GO SMS Pro (like all the other applications from the GO Dev Team), is free.  And yet, the application is amazingly feature rich – and ad-free. One of the biggest advantages that GO SMS offers is the ability to backup and restore your SMS messages from within the application.  You can back up all messages,...


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Coming as I did from the Treo line of smart phones with their hardware keyboards, software keyboards were something of a learning curve.  For some individuals, this curve is steeper than for others.  Here I review a dozen keyboard alternatives which could make that transition easier. One of the biggest features of newer keyboards is their ability to predict what you are trying to type.  In some cases, this can be a good thing (changing “thr” to “the” for example).  In others, it can be a down-right annoyance.  An example of this was when I got my first Android phone, and was sending...


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I hate this app deeply and I have deleted it already. However, it has some interesting and innovative features, so if you need an alarm clock app, e.g. in iPad (that doesn't have alarm clock from Apple) or if you have problems waking up with standard apps, then this app may come in handy. The general idea of this app is to give you some puzzle/problem/game to solve in orde to stop the alarm sound. In this way you may be more certain that you have woken up. Over all this app isn't primitive and offers many options and customizations. Unfortunately, it has many annoying things too,...


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If you would like to use Gmail as native app for your smartphone then you should buy Android. Of course, Gmail for iPhone (and iPad) is now available. There is no Gmail for Windows Phone, so no luck there. When the app opens for the first time, I was surprised to see website-like user interface. So I was thinking, I'm not joking, that this whole "app" is just a wrapper around the web app and in fact not much... but I was wrong! It works offline, and it can send photos as attachments and it can handle iOS notifications, so it is a full app and not merely a wrapper around a web app or web service. Splash...


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 While surfing for new and possibly interesting accessories, I came across bluelounge.com. They are positively packed with novelties. I couldn't help but place an order. The focus of my order was something called the Nest. The Nest holds any tablet in two positions: raised at a slight angle, and almost perpendicular.   I must admit, I was mostly captured by this little gadget because of the variety of colors available. I ordered a pink one. So far, I have not been disappointed, and am already considering getting a second one so that I can keep one on my desk at school, and one on my night...


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I was recently given the opportunity to look at a new product from DigitalInnovations - LapGuard with Radiation Shielding Technology. What really sets LapGuard apart from standard lap desks, though, is its grounded metal plate, which, besides conducting laptop heat away from the user’s legs, is specially designed to reflect Wi-Fi radiation away from the sensitive reproductive area." DigitalInnovations has two versions, the wedge-shaped "LapGuard," and the skinny "Portable LapGuard." The wedge-shaped model measures about 15.5" diagonally and the portable model measures just over 16" diagonally....


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