2010 June

Archive | June, 2010

News June 28, 2010

Pocket Informant HD for iPad- A Gear Diary Sneak Peak

A friend recently asked me if I knew anything about the status of the iPad version of Pocket Informant. Granted, his particular verbiage was a bit stronger than what I’ve represented here. He is one of many friends who relies on PI for the iPhone and who is anxiously awaiting the iPad version. I told [...]

GearChat: Kindle Editions’ New Multimedia Functionality for the iPad, touch & iPhone Shows Another Way Kindle Hardware Is Seriously Lacking

Judie: Today TiPB posted an article entitled Amazon announces Kindle Editions with Audio/Video… for iPhone and iPad, which pointed out that Kindle is now not only offering media enhanced books, they are only available to users with iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. The list of currently available titles isn’t too extensive — yet, but if this [...]

Read More 3 Comments

Editorials June 28, 2010

by Dan Cohen

Larry and Dan Serve Up Gear Chat #12- All About the iPhone 4

Apple just announced that they sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days it was out. Larry, Judie and I have three of them, and in Gear Char #13 Larry and I talk all about our new phones. We’ll talk hardware, software, hits and misses. Here on Gear Chat #12 we’ll talk all about [...]

My iTunes Store Customer Service Interaction Was a Good One

I’ve done more than my share of complaining about Apple’s iTunes App approval process. And for good reason; they are, at times, far too heavy-handed and not nearly transparent enough. And I’ve done my share of complaining about Apple in general. And for good reason; while their products are awesome there are times when their [...]

Apple iTunes Will Not Take My Money but the Apple Store Will? It’s a Head-Scratcher For Sure

I ran into an issue the other day while using iTunes; I wanted to purchase a $50 gift card for a friend, but I couldn’t because the iTunes store said that I had “exceeded the maximum Gift certificate purchase amount for [my] account.” Confused, I took a look back at my recent purchases and found [...]

Attrition in the eBook Ranks!

It’s been an interesting week in ebook-land. We’ve seen the opening shots of a price war, and the beginnings of what may prove to be many players dropping from the ebook market. It’s an exciting time to be an ebook fan, so read on for more details and exciting news! First, in case you missed [...]

Is the Mystery White iPhone 4 Already Out?

Everyone, including me, was surprised on June 15th when the iPhone 4 became available for pre-ordering, and the absence of the White version of the device. First announced in two colors (black and white) at WWDC, Apple offered no explanation on the 15th only that the White version wasn’t available but the Black was. Sky [...]

Nanodots are Addicting Dots of Magnetic Fun

Magnetic spheres must be really becoming popular. There are at least three brands of them out on the market with Buckyballs, Neocube and Nanodots. I was received a set of Nanodots to play with. Nanodots look a lot like ball bearings. However, each of the 236 balls are very magnetic. I actually took one dot [...]

AG Findings Introduces Line of New Cases for the iPhone 4

AG Findings are rolling out a series of cases for the iPhone 4 that offer style and protection at a god price. Among their upcoming cases are… The iPhone 4 Beetle Case – As the company explains: Did you know beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species? Well AGF’s [...]

Ballistic Introduces the Ballistic HC (Hard Core) For iPhone 4

If you plan on bringing your iPhone 4 with you during serious activity you are going to need to give it some serious protection. Ballistic is looking to provide just tat with their new Ballistic HC. The Ballistic HC provides not one, not two, not three but four layers of protection. As the company explains… [...]

Read More 3 Comments

Editorials June 25, 2010

by Dan Cohen

Apple’s FaceTime Slight of Hand – It Isn’t About Video Chat

Two days into using Apple’s new FaceTime on the iPhone 4, and I’m coming to a realization… despite what Apple may say, FaceTime isn’t about video chat, it’s about Apple moving into yet another area of communications. Bear with me while I try to explain… With the arrival of over 600,000 new iPhone’s Apple has [...]

Do Kinect and Move Make PC Gaming Look Like a Bargain?

An interesting thought came up in some post-E3 discussions with friends: with the introduction of the new Kinect for the XBOX 360 and Move for the Playstation 3, has console gaming become more expensive than being a PC gamer? Common wisdom through the years has been that PC gaming is more expensive, that you need [...]

Huawei S7-A Non-Crappy Android Tablet?

It’s almost too good to be true. After months and months of mediocre tablets with resistive touchscreens and underpowered processors running outdated versions of Android, Huawei is potentially stepping up and saving us all. Supposedly, the S7 will have a speedy 728mhz Snapdragon, Android 2.1 and (drumroll please) a CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN!!! Finally, someone is releasing [...]

Read More 3 Comments

News June 25, 2010

by Carly Z

Digit-Eyes Announces iPhone App For The Visually Impaired

(image courtesy Digit-eyes) Smartphones really can change people’s lives. I’ve written before about the resources available if you are visually impaired and use a smartphone, but this is a constantly evolving experience. One of the newest resources is an app called “Digit-Eyes”. Essentially this app lets you scan your food and create large scannable labels [...]

Bust Bad Guys with IcePics (In Case of Emergency Pictures) for iPhone

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could just point your mobile phone’s camera at something or someone, press a single button, and without any further action on your part a picture — complete with GPS coördinates — would be snapped and instantly emailed to yourself, your spouse, a parent, your best friend, or … well, you [...]

Read More 3 Comments