OLLOCLIP iPHONE LENS

Stylize your iPhone photos the old-school way

Whether it's a spur-of-the-moment family road trip to Disneyland or a random get-together with friends, your iPhone 4 is probably a camera you often grab to capture the moment. After all, it's always close at hand. Unfortunately, the iPhone's fixed lens doesn't give you much creative control, but with an Olloclip in your pocket, you practically have a camera bag full of lenses at your disposal—without having to carry around a bunch of heavy glass.

NOTEPAL INFINITE EVO LAPTOP COOLER

It's really not very cool...

When it comes to computers, heat is a bad thing. An overheated CPU will shut down, which sucks for obvious reasons. Operating at high temps can also lead to a shorter lifespan, which is equally bad, if not quite as obvious. Fortunately, the aluminum unibodies of Apple's MacBooks are pretty good at dissipating heat. But that doesn't stop snake-oil salesmen from trying to convince you that your trusty MacBook is really a fiery inferno just a few clock cycles away from melting into an expensive puddle of goo.

HD HOMERUN NETWORK TV TUNER

Tune in; in tune; two tuners are better than one

There's so much content available on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, and others, that we only miss those 400 channels occasionally— mostly for sports and news. Reclaim live sports and news, and cut streaming service costs with the HD HomeRun. It tunes in over-the-air broadcasts or unencrypted (Clear QAM) cable channels, if you're not ready to end that service.

BIGSTREAM iOS VIDEO STREAMER

Static in the stream

When Apple announced the video-out feature for the iPhone, we rejoiced. Finally, we could watch YouTube cat videos on the big screen from our iPhones—albeit with the addition of an expensive cable. Okay, so maybe we didn't rejoice that much. Cables are a pain. Grabbing one so you can watch something on the TV...and then only being able to stand a few feet away from said TV is pretty much a bummer all around.

SONOS PLAY:3 WIRELESS SPEAKER

The Play:3 is the most affordable entry point into Sonos' wireless audio Utopia. While $300 might seem a bit steep, especially considering that a $99 Airport Express can give practically any speaker AirPlay capability—what you're paying for is quality. The Play:3 sounds better than most other speakers this size, and setting up a Sonos network is so simple that you'll be playing music in less time than it took to get everything out of the box. Sonos devices talk to each other over their own mesh network, so your streaming music won't tax your existing Wi-Fi. At least one Sonos unit will need to be hard-wired to your network—if there's no Ethernet handy where you want to place your Play:3, a $49 Sonos Bridge connected to your router will let your other Sonos gear go cable-free.

STARFRONT: COLLISION

Call the exterminator; this one's got bugs!

Gameloft's slick-looking real-time strategy game Starfront: Collision sure was a hit in the iOS App Store—the majority of user reviews are for the full five stars. But when we played the Mac App Store port, it was full of bugs and hampered by a weak Al, though the solid multiplayer mode redeems it at least a little.

FORTIX 2

Turns tower defense on its head

You, Sir Fortix, the lone knight of the kingdom, are called upon to save the land of Artalom from the clutches of the evil mage Xitrof—alone. Without any help whatsoever. That's the gist of Fortix 2, an unexpectedly nifty puzzle title—think of it as a "reverse tower defense" game. You have to control all the units on the map (gates, keys, towers, power-ups, catapults, and so on) by boxing off terrain, which captures anything within it. What's more, you have to box off the units without disrupting the lines you're creating—any interruptions will immediately kill your character.

VENOM 12-VOICE VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

Unlike the internet, analog synthesizers really are made of tubes. Well, not all of them, but the really nice ones do contain vacuum tubes. They range from ugly green metal boxes to incredibly beautiful pieces of art with wood cases. Someone looking to buy one of these instruments better be willing to pay a pretty penny—analog gear is not cheap. So while we'd all like a Moog, it's hard to justify the premium price unless you're a rock star. That's why we're impressed that M-Audio's Venom brings the warmth of analog into the digital age at a price even enthusiast players can afford—and frankly, it does an incredible job.

BOOKBOOK FOR iPHONE

Two Books don't make a right

I've been looking for a functional wallet/iPhone case hybrid for years. The allure of carrying—and keeping track of—one fewer item would simplify my life, and putting some decent protection on my phone wouldn't suck. At first glance, the BookBook by Twelve South seemed like the answer to my prayers. However, after using it for a month straight, I really wish I'd prayed just a little bit harder.

TABLET OR NOTEBOOK?

Turn your iPad 2 into a mini-notebook with a Bluetooth keyboard case

The iPad 2 is great for simple daily tasks like checking email, web browsing, and casual gaming. But iOS's onscreen keyboard can be frustrating when you need to do some serious typing. Even with loads of practice, virtual keys will never replace the flow of a real keyboard. Fortunately, the latest trend in iPad acessories is Bluetooth-enabled keyboard cases that do double duty, transforming your iPad 2 into a tiny laptop computer and protecting your tablet while they're at it.

SHADOW CITIES/virtual turf war

Part RPG, part location-based team strategy game, and all-addictive time sink. Shadow Cities throws you into sorcerous showdowns that put your surroundings in a different light—the light of magic! You'll join one of two academies fighting to control your city, neighborhood by neighborhood. Brief missions gradually teach you the game; most involve snaring computer-controlled earth, fire, and water spirits (the game's wandering monsters) to gain experience you can use to improve your abilities.

NOTESY FOR DROPBOX

It syncs to Dropbox so you don't have to

You can customize the screen colors, but the flies all wind up as plain text.

FLIPBOARD VS. AOL EDITIONS

Newspapers and magazines aren't dying; they're just changing venues. As news shifts online and goes mobile, we still love those gorgeous magazine spreads. Two free iPad apps, Flipboard and Editions by AOL, aim to give us exactly what we want, but which one does it best?

Flipboard. This app came out last year, and already it feels like an institution. Originally focused mainly on your Facebook and Twitter feeds, Flipboard has added much more content. It's now a personalized magazine of news and articles you like, mixed with Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Google Reader, Instagram, and Flickr.

Acer H7531D

Acer's H7531D delivers crisp, clear images from a Mac without hassles. As a standard-throw projector, I placed the H7531D about 1.5m from my screen. This delivered an image that was about 1.2m (47in) from corner to corner.

ViewSonic PJD7383i

On the spec sheet, the ViewSonic PJD7383i looks to lick most of the required boxes. It's a shorl-throw projector that delivers a clear, bright image that's over 1m (39in) from corner to corner from a distance of just 60cm from the screen.

BenQ W1100

The biggest challenge facing the BenQ W1100 is that it's playing in a very crowded market. However, with a great complement of connectivity options including two HDMI inputs, VGA, S-Video and component, plus a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, it's a great value option for the home theatre - a market that BenQ is specifically targeting with this model.

Optoma Neo-i DV20A

I was intrigued by the number of different products Optoma offers. As well as traditional-style projectors, it also offers pico (ultra-small) projectors and the Neo-i DV20A, which includes an iPhone/iPod dock as well as VGA and HDMI inputs.

NEC PA500U

 

NEC's PA500U is clearly made for serious users. Designed for permanent mounting in a theatre or boardroom, the PA500U comes as a separate projector and lens combination.

SteelSeries Siberia V2

Headset for iPod, iPhone and iPad.

SteelSeries is best known for its innovative and all-round great gaming peripherals, but this brand is often an afterthought when it comes to headsets. Not anymore.

Samson Meteor Mic

USB-powered iPad microphone.

One of the iPad's great strengths is its ability to be used as a recording device - but it's not just for musicians who use it for instruments and vocals. Among its many other uses are recording podcasts, presentations, interviews and voice memos, and chatting via FaceTime and Skype.