It’s been a problem since the first winter post-iPhone release: How do you use your smartphone with a capacitive screen during freezing cold weather? There’s always your nose, or a quick “yank glove, interact with the phone, throw gloves back on, pray there’s no frostbite.” Etre believes they have a different solution with their Etre Touchy Gloves. I’ve been using them for a few days: do they solve the glove dilemma? Read on to find out!
Red alert, red alert. Now hear this, now hear this….. The Apple online store is down! Yes, Apple’s web store is currently down for maintenance. Now we’ve seen this happen on Sunday before and it has turned out to be nothing more than behind the scenes work. But with the recent announcement of the iPad perhaps this time it’s something more. Sunday maintenance, iPad pre-order prep. or something else entirely? Stay tuned….. UPDATE: 5:30 PM EST – it’s back up and so far nothing new noticed. Sigh…
Well, it’s time for another State of the eBook. Of course, this week was under the iPad shadow, but-gasp!-there’s other news out there too! Plus, with Apple landing smack in the ebook game, plus the final “Google Books” settlement, it has led to some interesting discussion about the nature of ebook digital rights management and how we, as consumers, can either accept or challenge the status quo. Not to mention the argument between Amazon and Macmillan books! All of these really touch upon many of the issues surrounding ebooks; as their popularity increases, questions about how they should be treated…
Since debuting in 2005, ZAGG’s “invisibleSHIELD” has been a very popular protective skin for the wide range of devices for which it is made. The invisibleSHIELD’s military grade film offers good protection from scrapes, dings, and scratches without adding a lot of bulk to the device on which it’s used. Building on the success of the invisibleSHIELD, ZAGG recently introduced customizable ZAGGskins. The ZAGGskin line is a range of wrap-around adhesive skins featuring decorative designs. The skins are only 0.3 mm thick, but strong. While there is a range of pre-made designs, including some newly released designs for upcoming Valentine’s…
When we heard that the Nexus One Desktop Dock was finally available, I knew that I would have to order one for home and the office. Read on for some thoughts on the dock’s unique features, as well as comparisons to the BlackBerry 9700 and iPhone docks.
One of the devices that I most enjoyed seeing demonstrated at CES was the Nokia N900. This pocket computer’s impressive specifications, its solid build, its multitasking capabilities, a web browser that looked like it could take on the iPhone’s, and yes, I’ll admit it — the cool little widgets on its personalized desktops had me intrigued. But what I really wanted was to spend a bit of time getting to know one on my own. My contact at Nokia promised that she would send a review unit, and two days ago “mine” arrived. There was a bit of a FedEx…
(photo courtesy lifehacker) If you’re like me, you probably set up the Mail application on your Mac at first. And it’s a perfectly fine email program if you want your mail stored locally. I set mine up when I bought my iBook (the last of the G3 models…what a great little computer!), using my Comcast email address. Then GMail came along and changed everything. I had always hated web-based email, preferring to use Outlook on my PCs and Mail on my Mac. But the Gmail interface was so much better than what the desktop options offered, I immediately jumped ship…
On January 26th, one of the most anticipated games of 2009 (before it was delayed) arrived – Bioware’s Mass Effect 2. The original was released for the XBOX360 in late 2007 and for the PC in early 2008, and was met with huge critical and commercial success. Before it was released the game was already planned as a trilogy, so gamers have been eagerly awaiting this sequel. I’ve been playing for several hours and wanted to give some first impressions. Oh, and if you are wondering about the image above, suffice it to say that it is seldom a good…
Image courtesy of TechShout So I have written about the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (GTA:CW fro now on) arriving on the App Store, and of the issues running it on the first-gen iPod Touch. Now I’ve played it, and am ready to review it and let you know how it plays!
It seems to be a never-ending issue for me, having more devices that need charging than I have outlets available. The Callpod Chargepod touts itself as a “charging device that allows you to charge multiple cell phones, PDAs, headsets, and most other mobile electronics with a single power cord.” Without tripping a breaker or messing something up? This I’ve got to see …
I tend to be a huge fan of notebook bags and cases. I carry my MacBook Pro with me most days and, as result, having a good, usable bag is important to me. Having a usable, well organized, high-quality bag that is also good looking is a bonus. And, thanks to my work here on Gear Diary, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of superb companies and their products. One of my favorites is booq. Their cases are stylish, superbly designed and great to use. I have been using one of their newest — the booq…
Having a lost child is never good. The amber alerts that now go out can save precious time in the recovery of a child, be it a child who is just lost or a child who is abducted by strangers or people who know the child. Part of what makes this work is accurate information given to law enforcement agencies. One way for parents to make sure this information is with them is by carrying a My Child ID from AmberAlert.com.
Custom accessories are uber-popular right now. We’ve seen several of our favorite accessory manufacturers bring custom offerings into their collections over the last few months. One of the best of the bunch, iFrogz, has several items in its inventory which the company allows you to custom build to create your very own, one of a kind, item. Before I left for CES 2010 iFrogz allowed me to custom build my very own pair of their Fallout headphones which I picked up while at the show. I’ve had a chance to uses them for a while now and wanted to share…
Image courtesy of Hummels at a Discount I remember as a kid when my father bought my mom her first Hummel. At the time they were treasured and very expensive – and the type of expense my parents really couldn’t afford at the time. Through the years they added to the collection, eventually getting a nice little wall display case for them all. The one in the image – Sensitive Hunter – is how my mom always saw me, and therefore was the one she wanted to represent me in her little menagerie. But today an article at WalletPop talks…
(photo courtesy Engadget) Weeks of rumors and fevered speculation are finally over, and the iPad has been released. You can check out Gear Diary’s liveblog, and listen in as Judie, Dan, Larry and I discuss the iPad in our podcast. Of course, there was one area of the iPad announcement that, while rumored, is still a bit shocking: Apple will be opening an iBookstore on the iPad. But what does this mean for ebooks? Should Amazon be sweating bullets? Has the whole ebook market changed with the sweep of a keynote slide? Read on to find out!
Image Courtesy of PocketNow Tired of your WinMo OS or want to give Android a try? Pocketnow has a nice video of a simple linux bootloader that allows you to choose between Android or WinMo as a bootup option on your Windows Mobile phone. I don’t know what phones this is compatible with, but I’m gonna assume you can use any phone that has an Android Rom ported for it, or maybe just try out a vanilla Android Rom on your device. See it in action after the break. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nvj4ObHmxCI Ultimately I hope to see a working Android Rom for the HTC HD2….
The gold connectors on the bottom of the Google Nexus One are to be used for dock accessories, including a Desktop Dock and a Car Dock, but those accessories were nowhere to be found. Today, the Desktop dock is now available for order.
Across the blogosphere, millions watched with bated breath today as Apple unveiled their latest — the obviously (yet unfortunately) named iPad — to a crowd who seemed to be enthusiastic and yet instantly critical of the ~10″ tablet. Gorgeous UI, large vivid screen, the ability to run existing iPhone apps, and a new iBook store are huge selling points for some. The absence of a camera and multi-tasking are among the possible deal-breakers for others. Not immediately obvious are exactly who the iPad’s intended customers might be — other than users who don’t mind carrying yet another device. Join Dan,…
Puzzlings first came on my radar as it quickly rose to the top of the app list. I heard several podcasters proclaim their addiction to the game so figured I better check it out. To my surprise, the game had become free when I decided to download. As my reviews have shown, I am a sucker for a good puzzle game. Puzzlings is what I would call a strange game with a great puzzle aspect. Read more after the break…
Being the gadget freak that I am, I like to have gadgets in the kitchen almost as much as I do in the office or on the go. I am a big fan of drinking tea (both hot and cold), but often I only want one mug of tea at a time, not a whole pot. I was looking around at tea flavors I wanted to try when I happened upon the Perfect Teamaker from Teavana. It seemed like the perfect solution, so I promptly added it to my Christmas list.
Almost a year ago I was sent a Nintendo Wii as a birthday present by a good friend. About a month later my then six-year-old niece and nephew heard about it and were excited to send me, via their mom, my sister, a Nintendo Wiifit pack. Some time ago I was sent the “Wii Thrustmaster Motion Plus Elite Fitness Pack”. It contained a number of accessories to work with the Wii fit system. Here is the confession — I played with the Wii for a few weeks and then didn’t touch it again for quite some time. I opened up…