Dan Cohen | Gear Diary

Things That Make You Go “Hmmm”: iPads on Airplanes Edition

I just landed in Boston on my way to Martha’s Vineyard for a wedding tomorrow. Of course I brought my iPad with me. (It’s how I took this picture and wrote this post during a flight that was shorter than the time it took for me to get to the airport and through security.) It was a 38 minute flight. For the first ten minutes I could not use the iPad. For the last ten minutes I was told to turn it off as well. That left 18 minutes or so that the iPad was “legit” and usable. This has…

News & Features

Using a Tablet as In-Car Entertainment? Make Sure It Is Crash Tested with ProClip USA

I made a strategic error a few months ago. My iPad-loving father-in-law was looking for a new stand for his iPad, and I let him try the ProClip MultiStand I reviewed here. I never got it back. ProClip [affiliate link] makes some of the most impressive stands and mounts for a host of devices. Among the tablets they design for: the Apple iPad 1 & 2, the Motorola Xoom, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and more. Now they just got better. If you are thinking about using an iPad for in-car ProClip USA has a new product for you,…

News & Features

Belkin’s Cooking with iPad Kitchen Accessories

I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again, the iPhone and the iPad are like eRorschachs; the device and what it can do changes depending upon what app you are using. Want a school device? It is one. Want a good GPS? It can handle it. And the list goes on and on. And as the iPad becomes useful in more and more settings the accessories that make it even better matter more and more. Belkin understands that the iPad is a great device for the kitchen at Pepcom’s Holiday Extravaganza I got a first hand look at three…

Reviews

Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Instant PDF Document Scanner

As I have moved further and further away from using paper and pen and more and more into eEverything having a good, high-speed scanner has become increasingly important. My Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is my workhorse. It handles up to 50 sheets of paper at a time and does duplex scanning. When I am “covering” a book to an eVersion (a laborious process that starts with me cutting the binding off of it) this is the tool for the job. The NeatDesk Desktop Scanner (reviewed here) is perfect when I have a few pages or receipts to scan. When I am…

News & Features

Ooma Updates and Gets Even Better

One of the standout piece of consumer electronics I have discovered over the past few years is the Ooma phone system. The system brings an unusual business model to the business of phone service. Instead of charging a monthly fee Ooma sells the hardware that connects to your high-speed internet service and then lets you have your phone service for free. Sure they sell a number of useful accessories and there are some value-adding services to which you can subscribe (Ooma Premier is one of them and is totally worth the price) but you don’t HAVE to do so to…

News & Features

Lenovo Gets Down to Business with the ThinkPad Tablet

One of the big surprises for me tonight at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular! (we’ll have much more from this event over the next few days) was the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet. The ThinkPad Tablet is the first tablet specifically designed for business settings. It has some great features, feels great in the hand and it has one more KILLER FEATURE that I’ll reveal at the end of the post. First, here’s what Lenovo has to say about their latest and greatest offering. ThinkPad Tablet Brings Android to Business: The ThinkPad Tablet combines the superior media and entertainment experience of the IdeaPad Tablet…

Reviews

iPad and Tablet Accessory Review: AluPen and AluCube

Last year Judie reviewed JustMobile’s AluPen. She liked it a lot. Then, last spring, Just Mobile introduced a stand for the AluPen. The AluCube was just that, an aluminum cube that serves as a perfect stand for the AluPen. To my mind it didn’t make all that much sense to buy a separate stand for a tablet stylus but when I heard they had created a deluxe package and were selling the AluPen and AluCube together I was interested. Just Mobile was kind enough to send a review sample so lets take a closer look. From Just Mobile: AluPen and…

Editorials

The “Other” Reason the BlackBerry PlayBook Got No Play

I attended RIM’s rollout of the BlackBerry PlayBook and they were kind enough to give each of us in attendee one to take home and use. Since that time I have taken the device out of its box every week or so to play with it a bit. Unfortunately, after using it for a brief time back into the box it goes. Time and again this is what happens.

Reviews

Magellan RoadMate 9055-LM GPS Review

Smartphones and tablets are “category killers” that have decimated numerous standalone products. As I have written previously, from one perspective the iPhone and the iPad are like “Rorschach devices”. They are “blank slates” (pun totally intentional) that can take the form and function of a wide range of devices depending on whatever software they are currently running. That means that, with the right apps, they can double as a camera and do photo and video editing on the fly. The result has been the demise of the Flip camera and some serious “hurt” on the point-and-shoot camera market. (Once the…

Editorials

On September 11, 2011

In each of our lives there are events that are so powerful, for good or for bad, that they leave an indelible mark on us as individuals. The same holds true in our national memory. The assassination of President Kennedy, the Challenger disaster and now, the event that took place ten years ago today, are among the those moments when the question “Where were you when you first heard about or saw what was taking place?” is easily answered. I remember EXACTLY where I was, what I was doing and how I responded that morning and I suspect many of…

Reviews

iPad Accessory Video Review: The ZaggFolio and ZaggKeys Solo

ZAGG makes some great accessories and I was intrigued when they released a keyboard folio case for the iPad 2. I was even more intrigued when I heard that they would be releasing the ZAGGkeys Solo, the keyboard folio minus the folio since it meant you could buy a standalone iPad keyboard that has specialized shortcuts just for the iPad AND a built-in stand. When I reached out to Zagg I was told the ZAGGkeys solo would ship in a short while OR I could take a closer look at the ZAGGfolio and just focus more on the keyboard since…

Editorials

Blinded by the Bling You CAN Have Too Much Swarovski Crystal!

BLINDED BY THE BLING Wallis Simpson once said, “You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Swarovski Crystal bling on your mobile device.” Ok, Simpson didn’t say that last part and for good reason- you CAN have too much Swarovski Crystal bling on your mobile device. We’ve got the proof! Seriously, look at this… Now I’m all for the cute concept of a handset that plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack on your mobile device. It is silly, fun, an attention grabber and, oh yeah, it keeps your phone’s proximity sensor from acting wonky. NativeUnion sells…

Yum Log

Yum Log: Looks Like Candy Grandma Gave You, Tastes Like… Bacon

Have you ever put something in your mouth expecting one flavor and, instead, you get something totally different? Even if the actual flavor isn’t BAD the fact that you were expecting something else results in the taste being, at the minimum, jarring. Well Halloween isn’t THAT far off and these could be part of the fun this year. Here’s the deal with this delicious LOOKING bacon-flavored candy. These red and white striped hard candies look just like the ones that grandma used to put in her fancy candy dish for the holidays. But, my oh my, would grandma be in for…

News & Features

Hey Judie, Your Next Phone Just Called…

Judie, forget about the Vertu you reviewed last June and are using as your daily-driver. Serously, THIS phone makes THAT phone look like… like… a Moto Razr. Behold the Æ+Y PHONE. With a price STARTING at $10,425 it is sure to impress and make pretty much every other phone feel inadequate. No, it doesn’t have the cool concierge service the Vertu offers but hey, with such fine materials, and handcrafted artistry they had to cut corners somewhere. The phone is on pre-order with a gold option also available. As the site explains, Æsir is currently taking pre-orders for the first production quantity…

Editorials

Change is in the Air, and it is Not Just the Coming of Fall

Let’s face it, the iPad is eating everyone else’s lunch and that not only goes for other tablets but for traditional computers as well. MG Siegler has a rather interesting and excellent post over on TechCrunch the other day that makes this point rather well. In it he argues that the iPad represents a Clear and Present Danger to the traditional PC market. The reason? Unlike those of us who write for a living (whether as bloggers or… say… clergy) and need something that we can use to write hundreds or thousands of words, the vast majority of people can…

Reviews

iPad 2 Case Review: Griffin IntelliCase

How many different cases can there possibly be for the iPad 2 before reaching the saturation point? That’s one of the questions that needs to be asked at this point as the iPad 2 reaches the six month mark. The short answer, of course, is plenty since there seems to be no slowdown in sales of Apple’s second-generation tablet. Griffin has a nice assortment of cases available for the iPad and I’ve been checking one of them, the Griffin IntelliCase, out for the past week or so. How intelligent IS the $59.99 case? Let’s take a look and you can…

News & Features

Free Accounts Evernote Can Now Handle a Variety of File Types

One of the things have has differentiated free Evernote accounts from paid accounts has been the ability to upload a variety of file types. With paid accounts you could upload a wide range of file types… with free accounts you could only upload text, image, audio and PDF files. As of today Evernote has removed that restriction. As a blog post on the Evernote site explains, The reason we lifted our file restriction is that we want to allow our users to store everything related to an experience or memory in a single, visual, searchable place. Note size and monthly…

News & Features

Evernote for Android Updated: “Skitch-ified” and Better Than Ever

Want to get the most out of Evernote? The other day we brought word of the downloadable book, Evernote Essentials. It is a good resource for anyone who is new to Evernote or wants to maximize their Evernote usage. Evernote has been on a roll lately. They bought Skitch, rolled out new versions of their software and are opening a presence in Texas. Now word comes that Evernote has updated their Android app and included some neat new trick including even tighter integration with Skitch. We’ll let the Evernote blog post explain… Today’s Evernote for Android update (3.2) gets a bunch of really…

Editorials

iOS 5.0 Voice-to-Text Cometh??

As a general rule we don’t cover rumors here on the site. Every now and then however there is a bit of juicy information that is so deeply rooted in fact that taking the leap toward believing the rumor is pretty easy. This is one of those cases and, truth be told, I have a hard time seeing this NOT come to pass. We’ve all been hearing about ongoing negotiations between Apple and Nuance with regard to incorporating Nuance’s voice-to-text technology deeply in the next version of iOS. We’ve even see screen shots of the keyboard trigger for it. Now…

Reviews

Sennheiser MM450 Bluetooth Headphones Review

As I have been reviewing more and more audio equipment one thing has become clear to me: you get what you pay for in the sound department. True, every now and then a lower-end audio product may surprise you but, as a general rule, the more you pay the more features and audio-quality you are going to find. Sure, this holds true in most areas, but I tend to find it is more apparent in the audio department than in other places. That noted, I never imagine I would lust after a pair of headphones that cost just south of…

Reviews

SigNote Adds Interest and Personalization to Your Pics Review

It has been a while since an iOS photo app caught my attention but SigNote did just that! It is a relatively simple app that lets you add personalization to your photos in just a few simple steps. It takes seconds to learn and can be tons of fun. Let’s take a quick look via a walk-through of editing a picture and then tell you how you can enter to win a free promo code. Here’s what it says about the app in the iTunes Apps Store: Ever thought about turning your photos into a piece of art? SigNote arms…

Articles by Dan Cohen