Dan Cohen | Gear Diary

If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em: Nuance Buying Vlingo

Last May we published a post entitled Bloomberg Businessweek: A More Nuanced Approach to Discussing Nuance Please. In it I wrote Yesterday Bloomberg Businessweek published a rather scathing article about Nuance and its approach to business; it was heavy-handed and one might say once-sided. I went on to say that The article highlights the back and forth between Nuance/Ricci and Vlingo and it is, at times, a bit unpleasant to read. It notes that Ricci offered significant monetary incentives to Vlingo’s co-founders if they could persuade the Vlingo board to sell to Nuance and, if that did not happen, would…

News & Features

This Holiday Season Let Slacker Radio Be Your Soundtrack with 4 Great Countdowns

Some music countdowns are based on so-called experts picks. Others are created by fan votes. Slacker Radio took a different approach to determining the Top 50 Songs of 2011- they looked at what Slacker listeners actually LISTENED to, shared and “hearted”. In other words, their list of the top 50 songs of 2011 consists of the top 50 songs people actually listened to in 2011. How unique! They also have released Top 50 Indie Songs of 2011, Top 50 Country Songs of 2011 and the Top 50 Alt/Rock Songs of 2011. I’m enjoying the Top 50 Alt/Rock Songs of 2011…

Reviews

Give Your Amazon Kindle Touch a BodyGuard

A few weeks ago we took a look at the BodyGuardz Armor Carbon Fiber for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. While it doesn’t guard from drops or bumps, the Armor does protect the entire back of my iPad from scratches. I like that and now use my iPad sans case more often than ever. On Cyber Monday the company offered some steep discounts on other products so I ordered a few, including a pre-order for protecting the Amazon Kindle touch. It came in the other day and I just put it on my Kindle. Here’s quick look. From Boduguardz: BodyGuardz…

Gear Bits

Things That Make You Go “HMMMMM” Apple Store App Edition

Apple’s iOS app for the Apple Store is pretty neat. It loads quickly, it lets you browse and order some of the best gear around. It even lets you check your order status and find stores. It is a rich app but it leaves me with a question …

Reviews

HTC EVO Design 4G for Sprint Review

As smartphones continue their march into the mainstream the challenge of choosing the right phone for you grows ever-more challenging. This challenge is compounded by the fact that so many of HTC’s phones seems to be a slight variation on the same theme over and over and over again. (The same holds true for Samsung’s phones which all offer slight changes in screen size, features etc while remaining largely the same.) As Judie wrote in her review of the HTC Rhyme a few weeks ago, I like items that have their own personality and that aren’t similar to every one else’s, but…

News & Features

Evernote Essentials Extra: Howdy Neighbor

As much as I “harshed” on Evernote last week after they released two ridiculous iPhone apps the service remains a key part of every aspect of my life. I’ve also turned countless people onto Evernote, and many find it invaluable as well. Others however, underutilize the service and, as a result, don’t see what the big deal is. That’s where Evernote Essentials: The Definitive Getting Started Guide for Evernote by Brett Kelly comes in. As Brett explains: The amount of information we want and need to keep track of today is, frankly, ridiculous. Not long ago, my desk was covered with…

Reviews

Native Union MM 03i Bluetooth iPhone Accessory Review

Point 1: As much as I love my iPhone using it as a phone isn’t all that comfortable. As a result, even when I’m not on the go, I will often use a headset, wired or Bluetooth, when using my iPhone for a call. In other words, if I use my iPhone a headset is a must. Point 2: iOS 5 .0 isn’t giving me the battery life that I am used to and need. That may change with the next iOS update but for the time being it is an issue with which I need to deal. That means…

Gear Bits

The Voices of JAMBOX…

I love the JawBone Jambox that I purchased a few weeks ago. It came on vacation with me and was quite handy to have around. I like it even more now that I discovered Jawbone’s MyTalk portal. It let me set up the button on the device to activate Siri, and it also let me change the voice used for notifications on the device. Here’s a look at some of the options …

Reviews

iOS Apps for Hanukkah

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festical of Lights, begins next week. In preparation for this I put together a roundup of Hanukkah apps for our local New Jersey Jewish News. A version of what follows was published today… History of Hanukkah If you are looking for an iPhone app that explains what Hanukkah is and why we celebrate, this is for you. The text itself is drawn from Wikipedia but the app does a nice job of gathering the information, organizing it and adding some nice images as well. I especially appreciate the fact that it is clear about the origins of…

News & Features

Roku Gets Even Better with FREE iOS Remote App

I’ve been a fan of the Roku streaming media set-top box since pretty much the beginning. The company tends to fly a bit under the radar but offers a great series of devices that have only gotten better over time. I have the original device (two actually) and just recently got the current, top of the line, device, the Roku 2 XS. (It not only streams tons of media but it also plays games.) Seriously, the selection of media the Roku brings to your TV is awesome- from Netflix to Amazon Instant Video to Hulu Plus and Pandora… the list goes…

Reviews

SCOTTEVEST Camp Shirt Review

When I was getting ready for last week’s vacation, I knew I needed a few more shirts to lounge around in. T-shirts are great, but when you are going out to dinner or stopping by a local hotspot for fried fish, french fries, fried plantains and beer (seriously the place was AWESOME), you want something a little nicer. I have had my eye on the new SCOTTEVEST Camp Shirt for some time, so before our recent trip to Aruba I went ahead and ordered myself two of them. I have a new favorite warm-weather shirt! The SeV Hype: You’ll be cool,…

News & Features

Parker Ingenuity Collection Introduces 5th Technology for the Best of Both Worlds

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Parker Pens. All opinions are 100% mine. An innovative new writing system is set to revolutionize the look and feel of putting pen to paper. Parker aims to gain a new generations interest in fine writing by creating a one of a kind pen that is as beautiful as it is to look at. The innovation consists of a cutting edge refill tip and an engraved metallic hood that, together, constitute the newest technology in pens. In 1939 the Parker Pen company developed a pen whose technology was entirely…

Reviews

Pelican i1075 HardBack Case for iPad and iPad 2 Review

Some reports suggest that the vast majority of iPads and other assorted tablets spend the majority of time at home. That may be the case for some, even many, iPads but it is certainly not true for mine. No, my iPad goes pretty much everywhere these days, and that means I need a good way to carry it. And when I am going on a trip I need a good way to protect the iPad AND carry some assorted accessories such as the charger, headphones and, at times, a wireless keyboard. That is why I was so curious about Pelican’s…

Reviews

iMenorah iOS App Review

When the iTunes App Store first opened I owned and ran one of, if not the, first iPhone app review sites. It was a fun gig although, I must admit, being here on Gear Diary with Judie and the rest of the crew far surpasses that experience. In December of 2008 I reviewed a number of apps that would be good for Hanukkah. This year I did a similar roundup for a local newspaper. (I’ll be sharing it as soon as the article is published later this week.) One of the apps I reviewed in 2008 was iMenorah, which is a…

Editorials

Evernote, There is a Better Way to Add Functionality than Releasing crApps

This post had a different working title of “‘Evernote Food’ Not So Tasty but We Can Spice it Up” but I settled on the more descriptive “Evernote, There is a Better Way to Add Functionality than Releasing crApps”. Regardless, here’s what led to the post and what I want to suggest to remedy the company’s current trend of releasing all-but-useless-apps.

Gear Bits

eReader Critical Mass and Other Vacation Tech Tidbits

During my week away I noticed that eReaders seem to have hit critical mass. Yes, this year, more than any other, saw Kindle’s, nook’s and iPads in use on the beach and at the pool. (Interestingly, I did not see a single Kindle fire!) I have seen an uptick in the use of devices over the past few years but this year seemed to show a huge jump in their presence. In fact, a cursory look this past Saturday saw MORE electronic devices than dead-tree reading material at the pool. But that was only a small part of the tech…

Editorials

Evernote Hello? Uhm, No.

I’m a big fan of Evernote and use it all the time to save information, images, notes and other data that I want to keep safe,secure and easily accessible. The company has expanded their base of users in a huge way since coming out of beta and was profitable until they began a hiring and development phase six months ago. In addition to continually building upon its main apps, Evernote is platform agnostic so there is an Evernote app for just about very platform. They have also begun releasing their own apps that use Evernote as the “engine” to keep…

Reviews

Kammock Roo, a Kickstarter Project Quick Look

Gear Diary is a big fan of Kickstarter, and we have supported a number of different projects in the last year or so. One of them was the Kammock Roo, a new take on the hammock. The project was fully funded and our “rewards” came a few weeks ago. Judie is waiting to give the two she bought as gifts, but I brought mine with me on vacation. Here’s a quick video overview and some pictures. Here’s Judie and her ever-present Diet Coke… a video look follows after the break. The Kammock Roo is great for both sitting and laying…

eBooks, News & Features

iBooks Grows Up, Is It Enough to Make it Your eReading App?

The iBooks apps for iOS, that means iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, just made the leap to version 1.5. It is a nice update that includes a new arrangement of annotations, full screen reading mode, new fonts and an awesome new nighttime reading mode. I used the nighttime reading mode last night for a bit and it worked great. It is nice to see iBooks maturing but it also reminded me that, when it comes to something like eBooks, it isn’t the app that ultimately matters but rather the ecosystem one has decided to use. I decided some time back…

Editorials

TV or Not TV? That is the Question

Okay, I admit it, the title of this post is stupid. Then again the working title, “I Haven’t Turned on My TV Since September but I’m Enjoying the Fall Television Season Anyway” was no bargain either. So let me just get to the post. This past September I got an offer on the TiVo Premier that I couldn’t pass up. The company had recently released their iPad app and the only way to access the full set of features was by upgrading my TiVo. The offer made it easy and, a few days later the box arrived. Little did I…

Reviews, Yum Log

Starbucks + K-Cups = Coffee Nirvana

I know it may sound like heresy but I’m not a fan of Starbuck’s coffee. That’s right, I’m more a Dunking’ Donuts kind of guy. Lately, however, I’ve been drinking a lot of Starbuck’s coffee and really enjoying it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me step back a bit and explain. If you are going to take blogging seriously, especially if, as is the case with all of us here on Gear Diary, you actually do it IN ADDITION to ones vocation, there are a few key things you are going to need. You need a good computer…

Articles by Dan Cohen