Sean Hollister

Why I’ll Probably Ditch My Carrier For Google’s Project Fi

One month ago, we tried Google’s experimental cell phone service. It was a disaster. But I guess the second time’s a charm. After spending two weeks with Project Fi in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’m just about ready to ditch my old carrier. What’s Project Fi? To recap, Project Fi is a new way…

Pebble Time Round Is a Smartwatch For People Who Don’t Like Smartwatches

“It looks like a watch!” my wife proclaimed, when I showed her the Pebble Time Round. She wasn’t stating the obvious. She meant that out of all the smartwatches she’d ever seen, it’s the first one that looks like something she would wear. In case you’re not familiar, Pebble is the tiny company that put…

The Best Nerf Gun for Every Kid (At Heart)

As a kid, I strapped a Nerf gun to my bicycle so I could dive bomb the neighborhood kids, while traveling—I imagined—at five times the speed of sound. As an adult, I’ve carried a foam-firing blaster to no fewer than three jobs. But a funny thing happened last year: I realized my old guns weren’t…

The Best Thing About Nerf’s Modular Dart Gun Is Buying Parts on Amazon

This is ridiculous. Nobody needs this much Nerf gun. But the nice thing about Nerf’s new Modulus blaster is you get to pick just how much you want. The $50 Nerf Modulus ECS-10 is actually a pretty decent blaster. It’s one of the quietest, furthest-shooting magazine-fed, battery-powered, flywheel-driven dart shooting designs you can get without…

We’ll Be Bringing You Google’s Marshmallows (and Nexi?) on September 29th

I don’t suppose you’ve heard the rumors that Google will announce its new Nexus phones on September 29th? That seems pretty damn likely—because we just got invited to a Google event that very day. While the invite doesn’t have any smoking guns like “come see our new Nexus phones,” it sure does sound like an…

Review: I’m So Bummed BOOMco’s Spinsanity 3X Isn’t a Better Dart Gun

Back in February, I got unreasonably excited about a dart gun: the BOOMco Spinsanity 3X. Firing 30 rounds of flying rubber up to 70 feet away, it looked like it could beat Nerf at its own game. You see, BOOMco has amazing darts that fly incredibly straight and magically stick to specially treated surfaces, but…

Review: BOOMco’s Halo Dart Guns Aren’t All a Gamer’s Dream Come True

Yes, that’s right—this is a working Halo Needler. It shoots amazing darts that magically stick to targets, just like in the game. (No, they don’t explode.) It’s part of an entire line of new Halo dart guns produced by BOOMco. And I just tried them all. Incidentally, BOOMco is the company that now makes the…

Amazon’s $50 Fire Tablet Is The Impulse Buy That Never Ends

Every product Amazon makes is designed to sell you something else. It’s an open secret. That’s why the company could lose money on the Kindle Fire—yet still reap a profit. Now, Amazon is introducing the most irresistable moneysuck yet: a $50 tablet. The new $50 Amazon Fire is just about as barebones as it gets.…

The New Amazon Fire TV Does 4K and Voice Commands For Just $100

“We decided not to mess with what’s working,” says Amazon devices VP Peter Larsen. That’s why his new Fire TV looks exactly the same. But inside this tiny box, you’ll find components powerful enough to stream 4K movies. It’s one more impulse buy from the kings of online shopping. Let’s dispose of the tech specs…

BOOMco Colossal Blitz: Now the Most Badass Dart Gun Doesn’t Come From Nerf

“It’s Nerf or nothing.” Remember that phrase? It’s no longer true. Now, it’s either Nerf or this giant honking Sylvester Stallone-in-Rambo machine gun that rains down 72 rounds of flying rubber. Behold: the BOOMco Colossal Blitz. What Is It? It’s a full-auto, battery-powered, motorized flywheel blaster that fires 72 shots without reloading—the most of any…

Nerf Rival Review: The Evolution Of Foam Warfare

You’ve never shot a Nerf gun like this before. And you should. Because Nerf’s new 70MPH Rival blasters are poised to change your backyard battles for good. The Backstory Once upon a time, Nerf guns fired all kinds of foam. Playground skirmishes were won with arrows, missiles, big darts, small darts, even golf-sized foam balls.…

Sony just announced that its virtual reality headset, formerly Project Morpheus, is now simply known as PlayStation VR. Just so you know.

Sony Secretly Fixed The PlayStation 4’s Annoying Hardware Quirks

What’s the most annoying thing about the PlayStation 4? Is it perhaps the jet-engine-like sound it makes, or the capacitive buttons that eject your disc at the slighest provocation? Sony’s latest PS4 solves those woes. Back in June, Sony announced a new version of the PlayStation 4 that would be lighter, slightly more power efficient,…

Sony Wants You To Conveniently Forget The Reason You’d Buy Its Handsets

The number one reason to buy a Sony phone? They’re waterproof. It’s pretty much the only thing that Sony consistently does better. And now, Sony wants to make sure you forget it. This week, the stalwart Xperia Blog noticed that Sony is significantly backtracking on its waterproofing claims. Simply put, Sony’s asking owners not to…

This Little Black Dog Isn’t Impressed By The Petzi Treat Cam

I vacationed in Europe last month. I don’t mean to rub it in—it just happened to be the perfect opportunity to test the Petzi Treat Cam. It’s a remote control treat dispenser with an internet connection and a camera, so you can play with your pet from anywhere in the world. And it works! But…

Watch Disney Artist Glen Keane Draw the Little Mermaid in Virtual Reality

Former Disney animator Glen Keane doesn’t need much of an introduction. He’s the man who drew The Little Mermaid’s Ariel. And Aladdin. And Pocahontas. And Beast. Now, he’s embracing the latest tool for digital artistry. Here, the legendary animator is using an HTC Vive virtual reality headset with Google’s amazing Tilt Brush software to draw…

How The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus Stack Up Against The Competition

Please never buy a phone on specs alone. In the grand scheme of things, most don’t matter. But if you’re looking to see how well Apple’s playing the specs game with its two new iPhones, you’ve come to the right place. Before we get to the competition, you should probably see how little the iPhones…

My Afternoon With James Bond’s Amazing Spy Vehicles

I grew up with James Bond. That’s not a huge exaggeration. I remember proudly telling my babysitter I’d been watching the films for years. My favorite parts: the chase scenes. So when I went to London last month and discovered Bond in Motion, a museum exhibit filled with actual Bond vehicles, I drooled a bit.…

Now You Can Stream Your Disney Movies to Amazon, Roku, Xbox, and Windows

With Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and a little dirge known as “Let It Go,” Disney controls your children. There’s no use resisting anymore. But at least you don’t have to worry about entertaining them, now that Disney can stream those movies to practically any device under the sun. That’s right: Disney Movies Anywhere—the service that…

Jawbone’s new fitness trackers aren’t the ones we’d recommend, but they’re getting a little better. The Up2, Up3, and Up4 can now automatically track your sleep with a free over-the-air update. The Up3 and Up4 also get passive heart rate tracking. [Jawbone]