2013 | Gear Diary

Pocket Adds iOS 7 Capabilities Including Instant Sync to Offline Reader App

Pocket has been around iOS users for quite a while (previously as ‘Read it Later’), and it provides excellent offline reading capabilities that integrate with several other apps to let you read what you want, when you want. For iOS 7, Pocket has gotten better in several important ways including speed and responsiveness, updated design, and background capabilities. Here are the main things included in the newly released Pocket 4.6: Fresh New Design – Changes to every screen in Pocket, as well as a new app icon to complement the look and feel of the new version of iOS. Instant…

Gear Bits

Phiaton’s Fusion MS 430 Brings Audio Quality and Style Together

Phiaton‘s latest over-ear headphones are the new Fusion MS 430. “Every detail in the Fusion MS 430 Headphones was skillfully combined, fusing brilliant materials and sound technology to deliver a powerful, aesthetic and resilient headphone.” The Fusion MS 430s bring aluminum and red accents to Phiaton’s signature carbon graphite fiber design. Lightweight and durable, the 40mm drivers and oversized Neodymium magnets help create beautiful music. We’ll have links and a closer look soon.

Gear Bits

Cut the Cords and the Noise with Phiaton’s New Chord MS 530 Headphones

Phiaton has been adding depth to their headphone lineup and their latest, the Phiaton Chord MS 530 Headphones, is set to impress. These headphones offer “incredible sound, active noise-cancellation, the flexibility of wireless Bluetooth and an unrivaled design that stands apart from competitors.” With 18-30 hours of talk and listening time these $349 headphones do it all. Check them out.

How to Do It Yourself!

First Things First – What to Do After Updating to iOS 7

Installing a new operating system to your iPhone or iPad almost feels like getting a new phone. It looks completely different and has a bunch of cool new features. An upgraded operating system can breathe life into an older phone. iOS 7 is treating me very well so far, but there are a few things I recommend doing first. Turn on Automatic App Updates. This will automatically update your apps as the updates become available. There’s no need to worry about burning through your cellular data because there’s an option to turn off automatic updating while using cellular data. This…

2013 Ram 3500 HD Laramie Longhorn Crew Cab 4x4 Pickup

Vehicles & Gear

2013 Ram 3500 HD Laramie Longhorn Crew Cab 4×4 Pickup

Competition in the pickup world does not end at the light duty segment, far from it. Truck makers constantly work to improve their heavy-duty consumer models as well and for 2013 the Chrysler Group has made significant improvements in the HD lineup of Ram trucks in the areas of powertrains, suspensions, technology and content. Ram, the truck division over at the Chrysler Group (formerly known as Dodge Ram), has been busy making improvements to its consumer pickup models for 2013. Highlighting the upgrades in the Heavy Duty lineup is the power bump in the Cummins turbodiesel engines that now has…

Game Diary, News & Features

Teens Design Fun ‘Pic It’ App as a Summer Challenge from Parents!

What did your kids do this summer? One family challenged their kids to come up with an app idea that their iOS developer father would help them make real. The result? Pic It! With tagline ‘A word is worth a thousand pictures!’, Pic It is a multiplayer game where you submit a picture based on a word to get points. Pic It reminds me of a variation of Apples to Apples – one person starts a round and chooses a word. The others in the game submit pictures based on that word, and the person who started the round chooses…

News & Features

A Monster of a Tablet for Under $150 Comes to Walmart.com

Monster, best known for their headphone lineup, just jumped into the low-price tablet market. The Monster M7 tablet will be available exclusively at Walmart.com for just $149. The M10 tablet will come later this fall. Available in a variety of colors, the M7 is optimized for sound and actually has some decent specs for the price. Check it out. The Monster M7 tablet has a unique non-skid surface. It comes in eight custom “candy” colors that match the Monster N-Tune headphone line. You can choose from Candy Blueberry, Candy Tangerine Orange, Candy Grape Purple, Candy Apple Red, Candy Lime Green, Cotton Candy…

Editorials, Music Diary

10 Reasons to Get Twerkin’ With iTunes Radio on iOS7!

Along with a rather anemic product announcement keynote, Tim Cook reiterated the upcoming release of iOS 7, and with it iTunes Radio. While some have called Apple ‘late to market’ with iTunes Radio, I would say they are launching at the perfect time. Some of the reasons include the established user base of iTunes, and profit struggles of streaming services. Here are ten reasons to get excited for iTunes Radio: iTunes Integration: If I am listening to something in iTunes and want to go to Slacker, I have to stop, exit, flip pages and launch. With iTunes Radio you just…

News & Features

Want OS X or Windows 8 On Your iPad? Check Out Parallels Access

I just got a subscription to Parallels Access, and although I will be doing a full review I had to share a quick post because… “It is all kinds of awesome!” Minutes after creating an account, I had full access to my Mac from my iPad. The gestures are amazing. There’s no lag time. It just works. Check it out. I’ve used LogMeIn Ignition for some time. I like it a good deal and didn’t think I needed or even wanted Parallels Access. But after trying out my reviewer’s access to the service, I’m blown away. The biggest difference? In…

Gear Bits

When to Expect the iOS 7 Update on Your iDevice

Heads-up iPhone and iPad users! Before you rabidly start checking your phone for the iOS 7 update, keep in mind that Apple has typically released big iOS updates around 10:00 am Pacific Time. This means for those on the East Coast, iOS 7 should be ready for installing around 1:00pm. This has been a public service announcement. In the meantime, to help feed your iOS hunger, you can check out all the upgrades and enhancements that iOS 7 will bring on Apple’s website.

Gear Bits

Apple Now Lets You Get the Version That Works on Your Crappy Old iOS Device

While Apple is really good at upgrading operating systems on older devices, eventually they ‘sunset’ devices based on capabilities. This typically means you can no longer get an app that has been upgraded to require a newer OS version, but now Apple is allowing users who are looking for apps with an older OS to download the ‘last compatible version’. There seem to be limits on devices and apps, and some potential issues about non-working older versions – and nothing has been made official by Apple. But for now it works, and it is awesome.

Gear Bits

Be Sure Your Apps Are Ready Before You Rush to Upgrade to iOS 7!

After Carly posted about B&N’s iOS7 ‘warning’, I got several emails from app developers warning me about potential issues with apps and iOS7 that would be resolved with updates released soon. Getting these is a reminder that it is critical that you fully assess the potential impact of updating on the apps that are critical to your daily life. So … unless you know your apps are all updated, or you only use Apple apps and basic functionality, then it might make sense to hold off for a bit. Also, be sure to (always) back up before updating the OS…

Gear Bits

The Hidden Linux of the Week Is a Vending Kiosk

Today’s hidden Linux system is one you probably never think about. Have you ever seen a kiosk like at the airport quick check in counter or running a vending area? Well my friend Dan Frey did at his office and he found out that the kiosk that Avanti Markets uses runs Linux. Dan, who is one my fellow co-hosts of The Linux Link Tech Show found this out when the vendor that runs his cafeteria at work was installing them. They needed help setting up the network connections as the installers were primarily familiar with Windows networking. They asked him…

Gear Bits

Don’t Be an iFool, Set Up iCloud for Your New iPhone!

The iPhone is great, so is iCloud ability to automatically upload photos. It is great for viewing and sharing photos across devices, but most importantly it provides a backup in case something happens to your phone. My mother recently got her first iPhone and quickly regretted not setting up iCloud when her phone died and took two months of pictures! She got the phone through Verizon after a succession of Motorola Droid devices, and was looking forward to the whole family being on iMessage together across the country. But the Verizon folks didn’t prompt her to set up iCloud or…

Gear Bits

The Rise and Fall of My Lumia 928

I know … you opened this to hear how I’ve given up on Windows Phone, regretted jumping ship, and am moving to more mainstream phones. Sorry, but the rise and fall here is far more literal: my phone took a spectacular triple flip dive out of my pocket today, and the results were right about what you’d expect when phone meets concrete. It started out as a pretty typical walk with my dog. I had my Lumia 928 in the pocket of my workout pants, a pocket that was deep enough to hold the phone easily. My dog was feeling…

Gear Bits

Found- The World’s Most Advanced Beer ‘Koozie’!

I’m an American. That means I eat french fries not chips, take the subway not the tube and like my beer cold. That last one is a challenge on a warm day but, thanks to the BottleCamo, keeping beer ice cold just got a whole lot easier and stylish. Made with quality stainless steel, and neoprene, you can pre-order now.

eBooks

Barnes and Noble Is SHOCKED That iOS 7 Is Almost Ready

The release of iOS 7 is hardly a surprise…unless, of course, you’re Barnes and Noble. They’ve apparently wasted so much time updating their NOOK app that it won’t be up to date for iOS 7’s release. So, if you’re an iOS fan who uses NOOK, you have to choose-your books or your phone? Sadly, this is not a joke. Barnes and Noble released an email today explaining you shouldn’t upgrade to iOS 7 if you use your NOOK app regularly. See, they’re not sure if you can read your books. Maybe it will work for you, or maybe you’ll get…

Gear Bits

Time Gets Some Style With Tokyoflash’s Kisai Maru Wood

Tokyoflash is offering a very limited edition Kisai Maru Wood watch for $99 until Thursday September 19th. After that it will be $129. Kisai Maru Wood is “a combination of edges and circles”. It features an intuitive time display in mirrored LCD, framed by a custom designed natural wood case.

Gear Bits

High Praise for Grand Theft Auto V Starts Rolling In

The highly-anticipated open world epic drops tomorrow, 9/17, but it has already received some mighty praise today. With a video game as hyped and extremely controversial as GTA V, you might think that it may be hard to blow reviewers away, but you’d be wrong! GTA V hits stores tomorrow for $59.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3. IGN has rated Grand Theft Auto V a 10 out of 10, and call it a “Masterpiece.” The Verge calls GTA V the “best game in the series to date” in their highly praising review. Joystiq gave the fifth installment in the Grand…

Travel

The Nokia Lumia 1020 Is the Only Camera You’ll Need When Traveling

I use an HTC One, but its camera is subpar, and I take a lot of pictures. When the Nokia Lumia 1020 was released, who wasn’t intrigued by its camera? I sure was, and so I bought one. But could the 1020 function as my only camera while on a dream vacation in Paris and Dubrovnik? I would soon find out. From the moment we arrived in Paris, I started snapping pictures predominantly with the Lumia’s Pro Cam app set to 5 megapixels, which is oversampled for lossless zoom. About midway through the trip (or about the time we moved on to Dubrovnik),…

Gear Bits

The Avalanche of 5S/5C Cases Cometh!

Did you preorder a new 5S or 5C? As always, all your favorite case companies are right there to make sure your new baby is properly coddled and swaddled … whether you’re looking for style or protection, the major players are happy to offer up the right accessory. Speck is quick to remind everyone on their website that many of their iPhone 5 cases will fit the 5S nicely, plus they have new cases just for the 5S coming soon as well. Case-Mate says the same thing, though some of the styles appear to be an acquired taste, including unusually…