iTunes

SRSLab’s New Audio Essentials Let’s Your Mac Pump Up the Volume and Quality

When Apple first announced the new MacBook Pro with retina display they stressed that it was the best notebook they have ever built AND it had the best speakers they have ever put into a Mac notebook. After almost two weeks I can confidently say that this is absolutely the best computer I have ever used. At the same time, if these are the best speakers they have ever put into a Mac it says a lot for just how bad things were previously but says little about the audio coming from the MBPr. To be fair, it isn’t just…

News

Join the Conversation During and After Apple’s WWDC Tomorrow

Apple’s WWDC 2012 kicks off tomorrow, and the keynote begins at 1pm EST. While we wish we were there, we’re going to do the next best thing — follow a number of the feeds simultaneously, and offer you the highlights on the day’s doings with a touch of colorful commentary and a full team conversation in the comments section. Of course, the rumors are flying but, as always, until the news is actually announced, it is nothing but rumor. One rumor that does seem likely to come true is that iOS 6 won’t support the original iPad. The rumor certainly…

Crowdfunding

Elevation Dock, the Best Dock for iPhone; Kickstart This!

I love the idea of having a set, stable place to drop my iPhone and charge it. The Element Case Vapor Dock (reviewed here) is a great dock. But it could be better. I mean, imagine something as solid and gorgeous as the Vapor Dock but also lets you dock and undock your iPhone in a millisecond. That’s what the Elevation Dock promises and… with luck… will soon deliver. Project Title: Elevation Dock: The Best Dock For iPhone Status: Funded Closing Date for Funding: Saturday, February 11, 2012 URL of the Project: Find it here. From the Creatives: If you…

Reviews

DEEP BASS Active Control Headphone Amplifier for iOS Devices Review

Last week we took a look at the latest iOS app from SRS labs. The app takes the audio coming from the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and enhances it in remarkable ways. The main downside with the app is that in order to get the audio enhancement you need to use the app for your music. Try to listen to music from any other source, for example Spotify, and you are out of luck. There is, however, a way to enhance ANY audio coming from your iOS device and it comes in the form of a new audio adapter…

News

Missing some Zzzs? Try zsnuz Nap App for iPad/iPhone

It’s a curious thing, perception of Time as a child as compared to that of an adult’s. As children, Time was a thing without meaning as we played and played, until our parents found us and compelled us to take a nap. Suddenly Time became a precious commodity, now subjugated by cruel Afternoon Nap rudely interrupting fun. As adults, however, Time can seem to be a slave under the domination of the twin temporal tyrants Responsibility and Obligation. Meeting deadlines, raising children, maintaining a home and so forth devours our time and more than a few beleaguered adults wish for…

Editorials

Game of Thrones on iTunes Introduces New Pricing Tiers for TV Shows?

Sean Bean of HBO’s hit “Game of Thrones”–today’s bone of contention! Last week, Carly put up a very interesting post that referred to a post by the folks at The AV Club. The AV Club post talked a lot about piracy and concluded that “Be Patient” was the best solution for one’s desire to pirate content in the face of the current gallimaufry of release and pricing variations and unpredictability for electronic content, but the discussion it spawned between Carly and myself was on a more proactive, “What the heck can big media companies do while their normal channel market share…

News

Apple Hits 25 Billion App Downloads, is the Most Admired Company

To say that Apple is on a roll seems a bit superfluous, as the company has spent much of the last dozen years as one of the most reported on and profitable companies in the world. And yet it seems like every time we turn around there is something new and amazing to discuss. First off, last week Fortune magazine reported that Apple was the most admired company in the world. This just after a number of reports tried to single out Apple as the singular cause of poor working conditions in China. Other reports noted that tech companies like…

Music Diary, News

The Beatles Allow Us to Once Again Pay Full Song Prices for Ringtones on iTunes!

I have frequently said that it feels like after Apple showed the potential for a new path in which the carrier worried about signal and the device maker worried about the phone, Android has ushered us back to the ‘bad old days’ in terms of carrier bloatware, handset makers skinning away the performance of their hardware to ‘differentiate’, no two handsets alike that kills accessories (thank goodness for the EU and required micro-USB chargers!), and so on. Apparently Apple felt left out and decided to bring us back to over-priced ringtones! While not as egregious as the ‘$12 5-pack bundle’…

Gear Bits

When It Comes to Streaming Movie Purchases; Measure Twice, Cut Once

My father-in-law Mark is a contractor (yup, he is a Jewish carpenter) and he lives by the maxim “Measure Twice, Cut Once”. After all, once you cut a board there is no going back so it makes sense to double-check the before you saw. It is good advice when cutting wood, but it also applies if you have a subscription to Hulu+ or Netflix. Here’s why …

Gear Bits, How to Do It Yourself!, Music Diary

A Few Cool iTunes Match and iTunes Cloud Things to Remember

Having used iTunes Match along with iTunes in the Cloud for the last few months, I have developed a few habits that I don’t even realize are new anymore! This weekend I gave my younger son my 4th gen iPod Touch to use as his own, as he was constantly pushing beyond the limits of his 8GB iPod Touch that was the pseudo 3rd gen that was really a 2nd gen model holdover. Since I almost never use it, I had no qualms since I’d rather it actually get used than sit idle. But while going through things with him…

Editorials

Remember that iTunes in the Cloud Doesn’t Cover Movies Yet!

Not too long ago, when you downloaded anything from the iTunes Store you were responsible for managing those files – if you lost your hard drive to a crash you were out of luck. When the iTunes App Store arrived, you were finally able to re-download apps you had already bought. iTunes in the Cloud changed things for music – suddenly you could just re-download anything you had purchased from the iTunes Music Store and Book Store as well as Apps. Most recently iTunes Match allows you to add ANYTHING to your music library to download anywhere. Back in August…

How to Do It Yourself!

WiFi Sync your iPhone and iPad using Personal Hotspot

One of the coolest features in iOS 5 WiFi syncing, which I now use far more often than USB syncing. Being able to hit “Sync” on my MacBook for my iPad while it’s still in my bag (it only needs charging every few days) makes me giggle every time I do it. It’s just so simple, and works so effectively every time. With it, new music, an updated playlist, and a few new apps are just a click away. Obviously this functionality is normally used over a WiFi connection at home or the office, but it turns out you can…

Music Diary, News

Music Diary Notes: Stream Nickelback’s New Album on iTunes for Free!

The pop-rock group Nickelback is one of those love/hate things for many – ‘hardcore’ rockers absolutely hate them on principal, yet they sell millions of records and there are people who either like them or – like my wife – consider them a ‘guilty pleasure’. If you are a fan of the group, or just curious to check out their upcoming release, here is your chance! For a limited time you can stream the entire album for free on iTunes! As with previous deals like this, you can’t skip songs or shuffle or otherwise control the playback – it is…

News

Apple Releases ‘iTunes Match’ to the Public – Your Music Library in the Cloud!

With the release of iTunes 10.5.1 Apple has finally brought iTunes Match to everyone rather then those of us who have been using it in beta. If you are not familiar with the service it isn’t the music streaming that had been long rumored but rather something far more powerful and, potentially usable. What the service does is scan your iTunes library and line up those songs that you have in it with those that are currently available on iTunes. Then, if there are songs that you have that are not available in iTunes, it will upload the remaining ones….

eBooks

Time Traveling with Macworld!

Here at Gear Diary, we try to keep you up to date on the latest news. We’ve managed to get our hands on the December issue of Macworld! What’s coming up this Fall/Winter for Apple? Read on to find out! First up, new OS! Yes, OS X 10.1 is finally here, and it promises to bring even the most faithful Classic users into the new OS X fold. Plus Microsoft Office V.X is being released, so productivity will skyrocket with your new 700mhz iMac! But Apple needs to keep their eyes on the competition, since Microsoft now has their big…

Music Diary

Music Diary Notes: Stream The Entire New Red Hot Chili Peppers Album for FREE on iTunes!

I have no idea how long this will last, so hop on it now! The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a new album coming out next week (August 30th). A tip from TUAW (via Dan) pointed to iTunes doing something unprecedented for the release – streaming the entire album for free! It is pretty basic – you click play and get the whole thing streaming without ability to choose songs or more back or forth: just play, pause and stop. Regardless, for fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers this is a great opportunity to check out the new release…

Editorials

Apple Moving into HDTV Market? Here’s a Great First Step

Last night I was a bit under the weather. I went in search of something to watch and came upon the new Starz/BBC series Strike Back on my iPad’s browser. A few taps of the screen and it was playing on my large Samsung HDTV. It was just another reminder of the way in which Apple’s technology can create a seamless ecosystem for work and entertainment. Then today Cult of Mac published a post entitled Could Apple Enter Sub-$1K Premium TV Market With A Real iTV? In it they write News that high-end TVs are nearing the sub $1,000 range…

Reviews

Review: Vonage Time to Call App for iOS

I used Vonage as my main home phone service for a bit of time a number of years ago. I’ve since moved on to other solutions (Ooma), but I took note when the company released their new iOS app the other day. I know what you are thinking, “Another phone app for iOS? Who needs it?” Well think again, because I just made a call to Coach using my iPod touch and a headset, and here is what he had to say: “Sounds better than when my wife calls me on her iPhone and you are using an iPod touch….

News

Bongiovi Acoustics DPS (Digital Power Station) for iOS Rocks Your World

Want richer bass, higher clarity and an all around enhanced audio experience? Bongiovi Acoustics: Bongiovi DPS (Digital Power Station) technology has it. The technology is currently available in iHome dock stations and select Toyota models and, for the first time, Bongiovi’s technology is available as an iOS app. The technology “re-masters your compressed digital audio files at the source and then, using device specific profiles, optimizes the output for your listening device (headphone, speaker, earbud, etc).” I tried the iOS app and was rather impressed with the enhanced audio pumped out by my iPod touch and my iPad. As the company…

Gear Bits

More Cool Tech from the Beach- Apple TV Edition

We just spent a couple of nice days at a small boutique hotel on the Jersey Shore. As I mentioned the other day the Bungalow Hotel has a few neat pieces of tech at play. There’s the RFID room-key I mentioned the other day as well as their use of an HP Touchscreen All-In-One computer at the front desk. And there’s this… The hotel information mentions that each room has a “DVD Library”. We checked in and found… no DVD’s. A closer look did reveal a movie “collection” but not in the manner we have all come to…

Editorials, Music Diary

Music Diary Notes: Quick Look at iTunes Match & iCloud In Context

At the WWDC Keynote, Apple talked quite a bit about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. Of the three, iCloud was the least known and newest reveal. Here is a bit about iCloud: iCloud is so much more than a hard drive in the sky. It’s the effortless way to access just about everything on all your devices. iCloud stores your content so it’s always accessible from your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.* It gives you instant access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more. And it keeps your email, contacts, and calendars up to…

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