2010

All In For Web Based Apps: A Desktop Clean In Progress

Simplifying one’s desktop. For me it’s an ongoing, ever-changing process.  I’m constantly tinkering with new applications for my iMac, trying for that seemingly unobtainable perfect set up.  One of the biggest issues I struggle with is managing multiple windows.  I generally use five or six “main” applications on a daily basis.  These usually consist of Safari, Apple Mail, Tweetie, Net News Wire, Skype and Adium.  I’ll use other things throughout the day such as Mars Edit or iTunes, but the “main” 6 are always open and running on my desktop. Managing six windows at once on a 24″ iMac is…


Alexandra Knight May Have the Most Gorgeous iPad Case of All

Just in case you haven’t yet seen an iPad cover that was worthy of you and your favorite gadget, Alexandra Knight has one which is sure to please, in gorgeous alligator no less. Usually priced at $2995, you can get yours today only for $1595. There’s no doubt that Alexandra Knight’s wares are better made than just about anything you’ll find elsewhere, and I have long been a fan. But $1600 for an iPad cover, even if on sale? I won’t think less of you if you need a moment to think about it. Don’t take too long to decide…


Need an iPhone Grip That Won’t Slip? Order a ProClip!

Among the drawbacks of being an early adopter is the wait for accessories to become available.  The iPhone 4G is no exception.  Waiting for just the right case. Waiting for your favorite screen protector.  Waiting for a car mount so you can use your iPhone’s GPS software while you’re out and about. Well, you don’t need to wait for a car mount anymore. If you’re looking for a way to mount your new iPhone 4G in your auto, take a gander at ProClip’s new offerings, now available for pre-order.  Designed for an iPhone without a case or in an adjustable…


The Kindle’s Killer Wireless Feature: Google Maps?!?

One of the major advantages Amazon’s Kindle has over the nook is that the wireless feature is not limited to just downloading books. Unlike the nook, the Kindle can browse the web over its free built-in wireless. While it may not be the world’s greatest browsing experience, it’s still better than nothing at all! A Kindle World Blog has found ways to take it one step further than just Wikipedia on the fly…they have detailed instructions on how to access Google Maps mobile on your Kindle! While this wouldn’t take the place of GPS, it’s a pretty cool feature to…


Men, Women and Cars- New Survey Reveals What’s Similar and What’s Not

 photo credit: PDXdj New national survey data gives an interesting, and at times frightening, picture of the driving habits of the genders. On the good side of things, 89% of women and 83% of men report having a clean driving record for the past two years. On a more neutral front while 25% of women report not trusting their sense of direction only 9% of men do. Interestingly less women use GPS to find their way (58% of men vs 48% of women). Then there is the truly frightening statistic. While both sexes agree that texting while driving should be…


Case-Mate Venture Case/Stand for iPad – Review

The other day we brought word that Case-Mate was rolling out a new case/stand for the iPad. The $89.99 case looks to combine real protection, style and function. The case was just announced last Friday but is already shipping. We now have one in hand so let’s take a look… From Case-Mate: Introducing the Venture case, where form meets function. The beautiful Venture case comes with stand built into it. Simply unsnap the cover and it folds back under itself to create a stand that will prop your iPad up. So you no longer have to awkwardly try to hold…


RadTech I-Sight Review: Let There Be Light

If you have significant other and you sleep in the same bed chances are it’s happened to you at least once. It’s nearing bedtime but one of you just isn’t ready to go to sleep yet. Do you like to read in bed? A lot of us do, it’s probably where I do most of my reading. But does your partner get frustrated when your bedtime reading because it means leaving lights on so you can see? Enter the RadTech I-Sight. When I do early morning running in the winter/fall it’s sometimes still dark outside. What do I do to…


State of the ‘Obese-itude’: CalorieLab Releases the 2009 State-by-State Obesity Map

While the numbers displayed are staggering, that map only tells part of the story: – It is only about adults. – It displays obesity, not % overweight. CalorieLab has been tracking obesity in states for several years, and has been tweaking their methods over time, now depending on a three-year rolling average to smooth out spikes and look at long-term issues. Somewhat disturbing is that they have had to change their scales (pun intended) because the obesity trends just keep getting worse: because of the overall increase in obesity, CalorieLab this year again shifted the color coding used in its…


Apple Picking iPhone Reception Issues- A Gear Chat

Dan: The drama surrounding iPhone 4 reception issues moved up a few notches yesterday when Consumer Reports announced that they were reversing position and announced that they could not recommend the iPhone 4 due to a design flaw in their external antenna. Bear in mind that they seem to love every other aspect of the phone and give it a score of 76 out of 100 with the next highest ranked phones, the iPhone 3GS and the HTC Sprint Evo each getting a 74, but the particular antenna issue is, for them, a deal breaker. As the day went on,…


Daniusoft Media Converter Ultimate Converter and Ripper Review

In case I haven’t bored you enough by mentioning it, I do a lot of travel.  Three-four times per month, I fly between my family in Austin, and my job in Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I’m not complaining–at least I’ve got a job!–but it does leave me with a lot of time on my own waiting.  Waiting for planes to board, planes to get where they’re going, trains to arrive, trains to get where they’re going, etc.  And so I spend a lot of time watching movies and TV shows on my iPhone and laptop. Which is…


Photography in the iPhone world, part II

Images are recorded every moment of every day from a multitude (plethora, if you will) of recording devices ranging from cellphones to traffic cameras to the Hubble telescope spacecraft. Photography, in form or another, is all around us. Given the basic definition of the process, photography can be accomplished with any device made for the purpose of recording images – moving or still. Video cameras are basically just still cameras with very, very fast motor drives and longer record times. Most cinematic features are shot at 24 fps or frames per second. That is 24 images each second, repeated until…


Something New Coming from Evernote Tomorrow… You’ll Know What It is When We Do…

I love Evernote. I live in Evernote. Evernote is killing me… Evernote has been teasing about something new coming for some time. They have blog posts up about it, are running a contest about it, and have reached out directly about it. But try as I might (and I HAVE TRIED) I can’t get a clue about what they are about to unveil. The only thing I do know is that it must be something pretty major. How do I know that? Simple… I’ve been following the company and using Evernote since the current iteration of the service was in…


The Speck PixelSkin for iPhone 4 Review

There’s no question the iPhone 4 needs a case most of the time. The glass is more delicate than we were initially led to believe, and then there is the antenna issue that continues to dominate online tech chatting. Thankfully a host of cases for the newest iPhone have been rolling out. One of the latest is a new version of an old favorite, Speck’s PixelSkin. Let’s take a look. From Speck: The tactile pixel texture and perfect amount of “squish” is what makes this rubberized iPhone 4 case so grippy in-hand and famously protective. There are rubberized touch-thru button…


iAngle Review: Won’t Stand for Serving Just One Purpose

In the ever-expanding world of “i” accessories, there are plenty of single purpose items.  Versed General seems to have said “pshaw!”  to that and are offering up their iAngle for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  It’s a stand!  It’s an earbud accessory!  It comes in black or white and it’s $9.99!  One side of the iAngle works as an earbud wrapper, but turn it over and it will act as a stand, holding your iDevice at a good viewing angle. Versed General was nice enough to send us a black iAngle for review.  I have to say, it’s just as…


iLuv iMM190 App Station Dock for iPhone Review

From iLuv- With its stylish oval design and alarm clock functionality, the iLuv App Station Alarm Clock Stereo Speaker Dock for iPhone 3G and 3GS or iPod is the ideal desktop sound system. The speaker dock stands horizontally or vertically, thus accommodating your device’s touch-screen view. The App Station’s key feature is its sophisticated alarm clock functionality with the iLuv App Clock for iPhone–available from the Apple iTunes Store. With the excellent speaker chambers, the App Station is powerful enough to deliver rich dynamic sound, while it charges your iPhone or iPod as you listen. The App Station shows great…


Uh Oh… There’s Trouble In the Apple Orchard- Consumer Reports “Can’t Recommend the iPhone 4 “

The summer’s not the only thing turning up the heat on Apple right now as Consumer Reports states, “we can’t recommend the iPhone 4”. Talk about reversing positions… When the iPhone 4 first came out CR took a look and determined that “There’s no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns.” Phew… sigh of relief. Not so fast however… After being able to replicate reception issues out in the real world CR has changed their tune. Actually it is a complete reversal as today CR emailed us and said– Consumer Reports engineers have…


State of the eBook: Fight!

For this week’s “State of the eBook” I thought we should look at potential winners and losers in the ebook world. With competition and price wars getting fiercer, there’s a few major battles shaping up that may change the competitive landscape. One is (at this point) a slam dunk, while the others are subject to many variables. Without further ado, here are the matchups! Borders vs B&N B&N vs Amazon Amazon vs B&N and Spring Design Spring Design vs B&N Amazon, B&N, Spring Design and Borders vs the iPad Borders vs B&N Let’s start with what I think is just…


Review: iLuv iMM178 Vibe Plus- Dual Alarm Clock w/Bed Speaker Shaker for iPhone

iPhone/iPod speaker docks are multiplying around my home and at the office. And for good reason. Since I’m not an audiophile the music that is pumped out of a relatively inexpensive speaker dock is usually just fine for me. But while a simple speaker dock is fine for my office (I use a bluetooth system that I love… more on that another time) in my bedroom I want something that also includes an alarm clock. The other day I took a look at one that offers good sound. It costs $150, sounds good but isn’t compatible with iPhone due to…


Case-Mate Launches New Venture Case/Stand for iPad

Case-Mate is just releasing their newest case for the Apple iPad. Well to be more accurate, they are releasing their newest case AND their newest stand for the iPad and it is a single product, the Venture. Understanding that iPad users are clamoring for a good case that also converts into a stand the company has produced the Venture to “…answer the demand for a better iPad stand”. The case is crafted out of a black polyurethane material with green accent piping. The iPad slips easily into the case which can then be used to protect the device and make…


Breaking the TV Habit

My fiancée and I watch a fair amount of television. It’s not the ONLY thing we do, but we tend to leave it on a great deal in the background during the evenings. In the summer, there’s not much we really follow, but somehow the TV still ends up on around 7:30, 8pm and stays on until around 10. So we’ve decided to go cold turkey. Just for one week, to see if we’re more productive if we’re not being distracted by reality TV and bad sitcoms. It also means we’re going to force ourselves avoid crashing out on our…


Substrata’s Wooden iPad Boxes are Closer to Reality

Substrata Creative Studios, the Portland Oregon based makers of fine wooden cabinets, countertops, furniture and cutting boards have been creating distinctive iPod touch and iPhone 3G/3GS cases for some time, but they have now upped their game with the introduction of the Substrata iPad Box (Hinged Lid). Each of these custom cases are made to order, with a shipping wait time of 2 – 3 weeks. These cases feature: • an integrated wood hinge with contrasting inlays • a micro suede lining of lid and base • wooden latches (with magnetic stops in the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ positions) • functions…