November 2010

Gear Review: VTech LS6245 DECT 6.0 Touch-Sensitive Bluetooth Cordless Phone System

A home telephone is just a home telephone right? Of course not. That hasn’t been the case for years. While we used to rent our telephones from “Ma Bell” and could have our phone in any color and style so long as we liked black rotary phones we now have a wide range of options with regard to both look and functionality. Most recently many people have even gone so far as to get rid of their home phone entirely and rely only on their cell phone. We happen to have two lines coming into our house but both use…

Reviews

iPhone 4 Case Review: monCarbone HoverCoat Carbon Fiber Case for iPhone 4

Dan: I recently had the opportunity to review the monCarbone HoverCoat fiber Carbon case for the iPad, and I liked it a lot. I liked it so much in fact that I still use it daily, even when my iPad is in a case. I love the way it protects the back and sides of the iPad, feel more comfortable knowing that the iPad is easier to grip thanks to the texture of the material and appreciate the way it looks on my iPad. Recently monCarbone sent two of their iPhone 4 HoverCoats to us to review. The cases are…

Health and Fitness

Join a Virtual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving for Charity!

“Turkey trots” are a very popular Thanksgiving tradition. Usually, they’re organized events, with a large group of people and race volunteers, etc. But you don’t need to join a full race to run a Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving, just head right out your front door! Instead of just running your usual route, though, you can still make Thursday’s run special. The fine folks at Dailymile are spearheading the “Feed the Turkey” virtual run this Thursday to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. All it takes is pledging $1, $5, or $10, and then heading out for your run! So this Thursday,…

News

iPad Accessory News: ELEMENTS by Revena Product Line Looks Awesome and Flexible

I’ve had the chance to review a host of different ways to use your iPad hands free on a desk or attach it to a wall but the new ELEMENTS line from Revena looks to stand out from the pack thanks to its style and flexibility. As the company explains, This new system allows iPad users to experience and utilize their iPad in any room of their home, their garage, workshop, auto, plane, train, office, soccer field…. the options are endless! And this DOES indeed look to be the case. It starts with the AXIS, “an iPad case with a…

Reviews

iPhone 4 Case Review: ingear Flexi Grip Edge

ingear is an iPhone case company that I hadn’t heard of until they reached out to us at Gear Diary to see if we’d be interested in reviewing some of their cases. I happily accepted and in a short time a giant box filled with iPhone and iPad cases arrived on my doorstep. Based in Singapore, ingear manufacturers accessories for a variety of mobile devices throughout Asia. The company does so with a three-pronged approach. Their goal is to create a product which looks good, functions well and is affordable all at the same time. They were kind enough to…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Ford Edge Sport Fresher and Hipper

The Ford Edge crossover utility vehicle paved the way to a new segment for Big Blue Oval to compete. We recently got familiar with a 2011 Edge Sport model, aimed at customers who want a fresher, hipper crossover and this year Ford has updated styling AND technology. The Edge Sport rolls on up to 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, a first for this segment. The Edge Sport 22-inch wheel/tire handling package elevates the already “sporty” crossover to a new level of handling and control. It feels at home on a road course or twisty mountain road, but still delivers a ride…

News

iPad Accessory- InnoPocket AluPose Metal iPad

The hot gift this holiday season?? Why the iPad of course. That is a good thing for Apple who are solidly on track for world domination at this point. It is also a good thing for the many companies who create iPad accessories. It is pretty amazing to think about the fact that there are SO many accessories now available for a device that did not exist at this time last year. Among the most useful iPad accessories you can get is one of the number iPad stands that are now available. You can pay a lot for a heavy,…

Editorials

Guess Who Buys More LCD TVs Than The US? Nope … Try Again … Sorry …

It is Russia. That is right – the same Russia that was in economic ruins for the entirety of the 90’s and most of the new millennium. For contrast, in the US flat panel TV sales are stagnant in terms of numbers, and plummeting in terms of dollars according to recent reports: In terms of dollars, U.S. sales plunged 15.4 percent from the same month a year ago. That reflects the sharp price declines that are pushing prices of some low-end models below $200. October also saw the number of LCD TVs sold in the United States decline by 7…

Reviews

Gear Review: Mikey For iPod, Records Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

I was pretty excited when Blue Microphones announced the new version of their iPod microphone, the Mikey, at CES 2010. Unfortunately the product faced some considerable delays but as with many things good things come to those who wait. The all new Mikey 2 was released last week and I was lucky enough to receive one to review. Blue touts the Mikey 2 as the “perfect tool for mobile recording.” It features a 230-degree rotating design, two custom tuned Blue capsules which enable you to record in stereo and USB pass through. Perhaps most impressive is the Mikey’s three gain…

News

Netflix Unveils $7.99 Stream-Only Plan, Raises Prices on All Others!

My family dropped our $15 Netflix plan early this spring due to lack of use, but when offered a free month to come back, we jumped at the lowest-priced plan. Since then, the only thing we got in the mail from Netflix was a Wii disk … and even that is of no use anymore! So when I heard that Netflix was bringing a ‘streaming only’ plan to the US, I knew I’d sign up immediately. Today that plan arrived, with a $7.99 monthly rate (same as Hulu+). I got an added incentive to change plans quickly – Netflix simultaneously…

News

Wrap-A-Nap Lets You Sleep Anywhere, and I Do Mean Anywhere

I have long admired people who could nap anywhere, even when they weren’t sick and half-doped up on cough syrup. My problem is that if the room is too lighted, too noisy, too cold or too hot, or if I am thinking about all the other things I need to be doing, it doesn’t matter how sleepy I am, a nap isn’t happening. But let’s say that I am able to overcome all of that, perhaps because I’m the passenger on the world’s longest car ride … there is no comfortable position to get into, because no matter how far…

Reviews

Home Gear Review: Aluratek Internet Radio Alarm Clock with Built-in WiFi (v2)

I’ve had a chance to check out more than a few Internet radios in the past year or so and I am impressed with the growing feature-set and fidelity we are beginning to see. I have been checking out Aluratek’s current offering and can safely say that while it doesn’t stand out from an increasingly competitive market it does have some compelling features and a price point that make it a worthy contender. Here’s a closer look… From Aluratek: Aluratek’s new Internet Radio Alarm Clock with Built in WiFi allows you to easily access more than 11,000 radio stations in…

Reviews

Review: Everki Agile Slim Laptop Bag

I recently found my first laptop bag. The bag is from an era when laptops were big, bulky and weighed a ton. Simply being able to carry them made them mobile. The bag was huge, heavy and had no features. Today, mobile computing keeps getting smaller. Full screen laptops are much thinner and netbooks and MacBook Airs seem to be the best way to be on the move. As our devices shrink, so should the bags we carry them in. Thinner and lighter have become a must for my gear. Some of my favorite gear bags come from Everki. They…

News

Fone Sitter Makes Sure Grandma Hung up the Phone!

My dad gave me a ride home from work last night. During the drive, he went to call his mother (my grandmother) and her line was busy. So he tried her cell phone. No answer. This went on for a good ten minutes; we’d chat, he’d try both numbers, we’d chat again. Finally, he started to get really nervous, and he called my uncle to go check on her. As it turns out, she was just fine. Her phone was just off the hook. Again. She doesn’t keep her cell phone near her, and she can’t hear the faint, indignant…

News

Don’t Want The TSA Checking Out Your “Stuff”? This Underwear is for You!

SCOTTEVEST recently released, and we reviewed, new travel boxers that have a pocket built-in. Forget the pocket… they are just plain comfortable. Now there’s a new line of undergarments available. No, they aren’t for the tech-lover or the frequent traveler but rather these bras and underwear are intended to keep prying TSA eyes from checking out your “stuff”. Yes, lead-free, radiation shielding underwear is now available for this individuals who are outraged by the naked-body scanners the TSA is now using. Here’s the detail directly from the company… Rocky Flats Gear ™ is the US manufacture of a revolutionary flexible,…

Editorials

Android and Netflix: a Gear Chat

Was reading through the articles on Netflix late arrival to Android and came across this post over on ZDnet. The author’s headline sates that Netflix is not out for Android because of the dreaded platform fragmentation. We had a gear chat about it, but first let’s include a quote from the official Netflix blog post: We regard Android as an exciting technology that drives a range of great devices that our members could use to instantly watch TV shows and movies from Netflix. We are eager to launch on these devices and are disappointed that we haven’t been able to…

Editorials

Verizon to Customers- If You Don’t Read the Fine Print (and Read Our Minds) That’s YOUR Problem

Ever heard of the “bait and switch”? Of course you have. That’s the game in business that advertises one product and then, when it is not available, pushes you to buy something else. In almost every case the “something else” costs more and offers less. It is certainly not the most consumer-friendly approach… to say the least but it works for the bottom line. Well, Verizon might not be playing the “bait and switch” game but they certainly have found their own way to screw customers. Here’s the story- Our friend Joel Evans bought a Samsung Tab from Verizon and…

News

Tu Hablas Espanol? Dragon Dictation for iPhone Does!

It has been a while since we covered one of my most-used iPhone and iPad apps but there is some great news about Dragon Dictation that is worth sharing. First off, a big congrats to Nuance on the inclusion of the Dragon Dictation app in the iTunes “Hall of Fame”. That’s right, out of the hundreds of thousand apps in the App store Dragon Dictation was selected as one of the 50 to be included by Apple in the iTunes Hall of Fame. Personally I could not agree more. In fact, I would easily put it in the top dozen…

Reviews

iPhone 4 Case Review: Case-Mate Bounce with Pong Radiation Reducing Technology

While at CES last year I had to chance to chat with the team from Pong. The Pong case for the iPhone was the first case which was designed with the goal of blocking the iPhone’s potentially harmful radiation from reaching your brain. Then a few weeks ago at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular I ran into the gang from Case-Mate. They informed me that they had teamed up with Pong and were going to be releasing a new version of the Pong case very soon. Well the case has arrived and it’s called the Case-Mate Bounce. The Bounce case features…

News

Speck Product’s A-Line Bag for Netbooks May Be the Best Looking Gear Bag Yet!

This is going to sound jaded and awful, but I am going to say it anyway: One of the absolute best things about being a product reviewer is that sometimes companies surprise you with packages containing items you didn’t know existed and you certainly didn’t expect to receive … and that you can’t wait to try out. But on the other hand, one of the absolute worst things about being a product reviewer is that sometimes companies surprise you with packages containing items you didn’t know existed and you certainly didn’t expect to receive … and you don’t necessarily even…

Reviews

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 Movie Review

The Harry Potter series has a great tradition with my family. The first book exploded on the scene when my younger son was just 3, and as a result I was reading the books aloud to both boys and my wife, providing all of the voices. As the movies arrived alongside new books I modified my voices to more closely match the movie actors. And even when the last book arrived, in spite of the fact that my two boys tore through re-reads of the entire series in less than a week … they wanted me to read it aloud,…

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