diving

Episode 41: Underwater iPhones and rugged cameras

Most of you are probably just gearing up for your summer vacations, but we here at Always On have already had ours. It's all for you, dear viewers; it's all for you. On this week's episode, we visited Hawaii's Big Island to road-test gadgets meant for sun and water fun. And not to be all lowest-common-denominator, but that last sentence basically translates to an entire episode filmed in swimsuits. Just saying.

First up, we went snorkeling with three underwater cases for the iPhone: the $20 Proporta BeachBuoy, the $89 Hitcase, and the $329 iGills SE-35, to … Read more

Finally, an iOS app that promises to take you to 'Flavortown USA'

I have always been a big fan of the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. In the show, Guy Fieri travels around the U.S. looking for small restaurants with a flavorful menu. After getting hooked on the show, each time I travel I try to look up local spots featured on the show, but navigating the Food Network site can be a chore (especially on a mobile device).

Over the weekend the Fan App for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for iOS was brought to my attention. This app is exactly what I have always wanted. At one point … Read more

The 404 1,177: Where we get our Grinch on (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Nokia hires orchestra to create new ringtones.

- Here is the first official snap of Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

- Social networks responsible for lines in the restroom.

- "Ghostbusters 3" is a go as Billy Murray signs on.… Read more

The 404 1,140: Where 99 problems is still a lot of problems (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Artist encourages Apple to "Think Different" with Steve Jobs action figure sculpture.

- Man mistakenly sexts entire contact list, lands in jail.

- Jay-Z helms star-studded Barclays Center opening.

- Today is the 30th anniversary of the first CD sale in Japan...Steve Guttenberg reflects.

- Key set available for $150 on eBay provides an all-access pass to NYC.… Read more

WD ships ultrabook-friendly Scorpio Blue hard drive

When it comes to ultrabooks, you have to pick between a solid-state drive (SSD) or a hard drive as the main storage drive. The former is generally limited in terms of capacity, expensive but very fast, while the latter offers much more storage space for a much lower cost.

If you're willing to go with a hard drive, WD now offers another option.

The company announced today the availability of the new single-platter WD Scorpio Blue hard drive. The drive still uses the 2.5-inch standard but is just 7mm thick, as opposed to 9.5mm in regular laptop hard drives. … Read more

The 404 1,028: Where we go Dumpster diving (podcast)

Richard, our studio engineer, is the inspiration for today's show title that goes along with a story about his old Dumpster-diving days, when he'd raid the Hostess factory at the end of the night to recover "old" Twinkies and Ho Hos.

Jeff faced childhood memories of his own this weekend while cleaning out his old closet, unearthing treasures like Palm Pilots, two Sega Dreamcasts, and a box of old CD jewel cases. If you don't know what those things are, you're too young to be listening to The 404.… Read more

Stickman games that shine on iOS

Sometimes the bare essentials are all it takes to make a great video game. In this collection, our hero is the stickman.

Everyone knows that in today's hottest games (for any platform), high-quality graphics are at a premium. Whether it's a first-person shooter, an MMORPG, or even a console golf game, realism and fancy graphics seem to be key to getting people to buy the product. But if you've played games for a while, you know that graphics aren't everything.

A whole slew of games in the iTunes App Store have enjoyed a ton of success by completely ignoring fancy graphics and instead focusing on the gameplay aspect. Some developers have even distilled graphic concepts down to the most basic level--stick figures--to prove that it's not about antialiasing and bloom, and more about having fun using clever game mechanics.… Read more

Movers and shakers in mobile computing (roundup)

The D: Dive into Mobile conference offers a look at how things are revving up on portable devices, with appearances by honchos from Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and elsewhere.

RIM's Playbook the linchpin of a 10-year plan The QNX software at the heart of Research In Motion's Playbook tablet represents its plan for the next decade, according to the company's co-CEO. (Posted in Relevant Results by Tom Krazit) December 7, 2010 7:00 p.m. PT

Rubenstein: Palm's ceiling limited without HP Former Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein is proud of what they accomplished at Palm, but the … Read more

Iomega intros SSD-based USB 3.0 portable drive

Iomega today announced its--and possibly the world's--first portable storage solution that's based on a solid-state drive (SSD), the Iomega External USB 3.0 SSD Flash Drive.

Traditionally, most portable drives are based on internal laptop (2.5-inch) hard drives. As the name suggests, the new drive also supports USB 3.0, which offers a ceiling speed of up to 5Gbps.

According to Iomega, the new SSD Flash Drive features built-in 256-bit hardware encryption and rugged housing, and is bus-powered, meaning it uses only one USB cable for both data and power connections.

Iomega claims that the new drive'… Read more

Heated wetsuit warms you sans the smelly mess

Diving is a great sport. But once you go deeper than 65 feet, it can get really cold even in tropical waters. Wearing a thicker wetsuit may help, but this causes buoyancy adjustments and, frankly, isn't really all that effective. One trick I learned from experienced divers (and which I stumbled upon purely by accident and a lack of bladder control) is that pee is a great way to instantly warm yourself. Sure, you stink when you get out of the water, but think of all that nitrogen you are returning to the underwater ecosystem. Just be sure not … Read more