Gear Patrol

Samsung Galaxy S4 with Stock Android Hardware fans prepared to be disappointed by the developer focus of Google’s 2013 I/O powwow received a welcomed surprise Wednesday. The search giant will be selling an unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 running stock Android for $649. They’re not officially calling it a “Nexus” yet, but it’s…

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock Santa wouldn’t be nearly as efficient had he but one tiny reindeer out front of the ole sleigh instead of the de rigeur eight. Belkin, taking a play out of Saint Nick’s book, hitches up eight ports for ultra-fast gadgets in one fell, 20x-faster-than-USB 2.0 swoop. $300 Jazz. New York in…

Foldable Japanese Rubber Boots These Japanese-made wellies are at home in rice fields and on puddled city streets alike. They fold up and buckle into a neat package — thanks to ultra-flexible rubber construction — for stowage in the most boot-austere locations. $129 (★) Icona Vulcano Supercar The mysterious Icona Vulcano supercar just debuted in…

Nothing sets the teeth to rattling like the task of gift buying for a style zealot (except maybe an in-law’s icy glare). Rolled or cuffed? four-in-hand or windsor? Double breasted or single? Brown or black? Personal style is, well, personal; a faux pas can have lasting consequences. That’s why we’re throwing you a life line:…

You’ve watched all the Bond movies — yes, even George Lazenby’s go at it. But the on-screen secret agent born from the extravagant wallet of Albert R. Broccoli bares only a fleeting resemblance to the card-carrying killer of Ian Fleming’s 14 seminal novels. The entire Bond book series has always been available in paperback form…

We bandy the title “hero” about to describe entertainers, sports figures, politicians, anyone who excels or surmounts significant adversity. The true definition, however, fits a much smaller number. No Easy Day ($16), the first-person account of the SEAL Team 6 raid on an Abbottabad compound that killed Osama bin Laden, breaks the traditional silence of…

While there are endless options for flexing your culinary muscles, making your own dry cured meats is one of the best ways of calling out those hacks on Iron Chef that we can think of. Using the secret ingredient? Try making it b$^&*$#s. Authors Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn know a thing or two about…

Remember the tedium of English Comp 101? Outline, rough draft, working draft, final draft, and final copy—all for a lousy B-. Now, imagine 47 rewrites. Papa admitted to revising the ending of A Farewell to Arms 39 times. His grandson, Sean Hemingway uncovered nine more attempts while perusing the Ernest Hemingway Collection at the John…

Five years ago, Mexicans who sold tacos out of the back of a van were targets of the health department. Now, kids from suburbs buy trucks, sell mashup tacos, and get their own TV shows. How did they do it? The inspiration they received from TED. Building on the millions who have absorbed the ideas…

If you’re considering sneaking some Adderall into your favorite kid’s midday snack, you should take a peek at the Sony Wonderbook first. Recently unveiled at E3, the educational tool is an augmented reality pad consisting of only 12 pages that leverage the PS3’s PlayStation Eye camera to create the ultimate version of the pop-up book…

Excited for this year’s upcoming election? Neither are we. Or we weren’t, that is, until we checked out Presidential Campaign Posters: 200 Years of Election Art ($27), an illustrated history of our country’s presidential election campaign propaganda. The Library of Congress-published tome features 100 removable, ready-to-frame campaign posters, each with a brief description of the…

There are men, and then there are men. As one of most prominent statesmen of the 20th century, Winston Churchill easily defines the second category. Churchill is well known for his contributions to British (and world) history as the Prime Minister who willed the Limeys through WWII. His life and contributions have been accordingly documented…

Writing a half-decent book on watches is no small feat, but authoring a history of time? That requires a level of prowess and dedication beyond the reach of most, but Dominique Fléchon, historian and expert in fine watches has done just that. His book, The Mastery of Time: A History of Timekeeping ($63) casts much…

Tailgating the Oscar-nominated film noir Drive; inspired by James Sallis’s dark novel of the same name; comes the sequel Driven. Sallis’s new novel picks up with the lead character, the enigmatic “Driver”, seven years later as he attempts to transform himself from part-time stunt driver and full-time getaway driver to upstanding citizen, Paul West. In…

With an eye towards enlightening night-time, dark hidey-holes and that closet Harry was stuffed into, Barnes and Noble has added LEDs to their Simple Touch eReader, to form the verbosely named Nook Simple Touch, with GlowLight. Hardware-wise, not much has changed outside of the patent-pending technology that provides light over the top of the screen,…

If you’re actively living your life, some kind of injury is inevitable. The trick is to find a happy medium between daily doctor appointments, and “toughing it out” until the injury gets nasty. That’s why we were happy to find The Athlete’s Guide to Home Remedies ($16) – a book by Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., a physician…

While we appreciate the growing craft beer movement and the art of a perfectly poured pint, we can’t ignore our do-it-yourself instincts. But before we turn the guest room into a rogue brewery, we’ll take some advice from avid home brewer, Matthew Schaefer. His new book, The Illustrated Guide to Brewing Beer ($15), is the…

Ahmet Ertegun isn’t a household name — let alone easy to say, but if you’re a music fan, you’ve probably benefitted from his life’s legacy. Despite being the son of the first Republic of Turkey ambassador to the US, Ahmet channeled his love of Blues and Jazz to found Atlantic records. Not up on your…

The internet meme Awkward Family Photos has certainly faded from its former glory days as the golden child of internet humor, but that hasn’t stopped authors Mike Bender and Dough Chernack from developing their next great wrinkle on the same embarrassing theme — Awkward Family Pet Photos ($10). As you’d expect from the title, the…

When go-to resources like Travelzoo and Jetsetter are just a click away, it’s tough not to let wanderlust get the better of you and your real world budget. Thankfully, there’s plenty of gems right in our own 9,400,000 sq mi backyard — and the Grey Lady can prove it. Filled with photography and gorgeous illustrations,…

The first thing you should know about Maphead ($15) is that it’s written by Ken Jennings. Yes, it’s the same Ken Jennings who won Jeopardy 74 times in a row, taking home $3,172,700 in winnings and claiming the title of all-time leading money winner on American game shows. The second point worth mentioning is the…

Does the name Kevin Mitnick mean anything to you? Unless you happen to work for the FBI or a prominent internet security firm, the answer is probably no. Still, long before groups like Anonymous were practicing their own brand of hacktivism Mr. Mitnick had earned the title as the most wanted computer criminal in the…

Henny Youngman once said, “when I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.” We like to channel the comedian’s wise words by only reading about books that champion drinking, like The Punch Bowl ($10) by Dan Searing. This veritable tome of punchy goodness celebrates the modern renaissance of this social concoction while…

Bleary-eyed and desperately tired, after countless bedtime stories, 1,765 sheep, seemingly gallons of warm milk, and teddy bears, trying to put the little one to sleep is an exercise in frustration and patience. When the former runs high and the latter runs thin, it’s time to pour yourself a double, grab the headphones and unwind…

After spending at least 10 hours a week across the sports media titan’s various TV channels, websites, mobile apps, and maybe even the magazine, you might assume you know what ESPN is all about. A quick read through Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN ($15) proves otherwise. Starting with the…

Even if you don’t have a clue about architecture, you know the name Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright: Complete Works, Vol. 1, 1885-1916 ($126) is the start of an upcoming three-volume study on Wright’s roughly 1100 designs, only about half of which ever came to fruition. Done in cooperation with the Frank Lloyd Archives…

It’s tough to appreciate the true beauty of a race car’s design, unless it’s standing still. We also focus so much on the “form follows function” mindset that we fail to see the artfulness of track-only vehicles, especially when they are adorned with every product logo known to mankind. A pictorial homage to the F1…

References from film and TV are what flash into most people’s memory today when the subject of boxing arises in conversation. There are just too many great, engaging examples to draw on, from both real and fictional stories (Rocky 45 and Tyson v. Holyfield being exceptions). Before technology padlocked our imagination, though, writing was the…

Bone up on your photog knowledge with this beautiful coffee table book from one of our favorite publishers, Taschen. Released this April, Photographers A-Z ($42) is filled with 400+ entries on the most influential shutterbugs of the last 100 years including monograph’s from Ansel Adams, Bill Brandy, Irving Penn and Andy Warhol to name a…

We don’t think graphic designers are somehow better equipped to produce more informative travel guides than other people, but they certainly know how to make them more visually appealing. Graphic USA ($20) is a different kind of travel guide covering 25 popular American cities. Graphic designers from each city were invited to share their own…