Dan Cohen | Gear Diary

iPad Accessory Review: The Joy Factory’s PowerBullet-X

My brother-in-law Robert recently ordered an iPad. I never thought I would see the day when that would happen but order he did. The same goes for my friend Michael. He too finally hit the “Order” button and came into the new post-pc era. I predict that Robert and Michael will find themselves using their iPads even more than they expect. That means they’ll need some key accessories. Chief among them, a way to charge the iPad in the car. As you are likely aware, the iPad requires a 10W power source. That means you cannot use many, or all…

News & Features

Making a Pilgrimage? Apple’s 5th Ave Store is Destination for Many

The Huff Post recently published an article that “Apple Stimulates ‘Religious’ Reaction in Fans’ Brains”. That may sound like a ridiculous April Fools Day post, but neuroscience is neuroscience and clearly Apple has found a way to quite literally strike a nerve in many. It should come as no surprise then that, for many, Apple’s flagship store in Manhattan is a pilgrimage destination. Sure, that sounds even more wacky and fanboy hyperbole-ish than the religious thing, but just take a look at this heat map that was put together by developer Eric Fischer. Each red dot indicates where a photo was taken…

eBooks, News & Features

Zinio Magazine App Now Available in the Android Market

It took far longer than we hoped or expected but, as of this morning, Zinio’s app is live in the Android Market. That’s right, if you have a device running Android 2.2 or above Android Honeycomb you can now get hundreds (thousands actually) of magazines right on your Android device. Zinio is one of my favorite apps on my iPad, and it was one of the things most lacking for me each time I tried to make the move to Android. And there’s more good news. Thanks to Zinio’s commitment to being cross-platform, if you already have a Zinio account,…

How to Do It Yourself!

IPad Quick Tip: Want to Read Outside on Your iPad? Go Landscape

Now that summer is unofficially here you may be spending more time than ever outside. As great as the iPad is it leaves a good deal to be desired when you are in the sun. There is the glare. There is the overheating and subsequent shut down safety mechanism. And there is the fact that polarized sunglasses do a number on the iPad and can result in a screen that looks blank even on the highest brightness. One solution for getting some reading done is to pick up the least expensive Kindle or nook and use it for reading. But…

Editorials

Tablets Galore: A Quick Look at The iPad 2, HTC Flyer and Asus EEE Pad Transformer

I’ve been checking out a number of different tablets and, for a brief period, had more than usual at home at one time. Here’s a brief, biased look at three current offerings: one awesome, one quite impressive and one that did not impress at all. (Spoiler Alert/Disclaimer: the EEE Pad Transformer had not been updated to the Honeycomb 3.1 update that will be available tomorrow. It MAY improve some of the performance issues. No update, however, can fix the cheap plastic feel, the single microphone’s bad speech recognition performance and the tinny speakers.)

Reviews

Vivint Adds Security and Automation to a 1970s Era Deckhouse, Part One: The System

Eight years ago we moved into a thirty-five-year-old Deck House fixer-upper. Deck Houses are post and beam “kit” houses that are built like a barn, offer huge open space and because they have no joists or crawl spaces for running wires and plumbing present numerous challenges when renovating. It is for that reason (among others) that eight years later, we are still working on it. On the “wish list” of renovations was adding some home automation, but the cost and the unique challenges of the design made it less enticing than it might otherwise have been. At some point, I…

Reviews

Bluetooth Car Accessory Review: SuperTooth Buddy

I recently spent a week driving my father-in-law’s late-model Acura TL. I loved the power but the thing that really impressed me was the integrated Bluetooth. No, it wasn’t anything that you cannot find in most cars today but the combination of a super quiet ride and state-of-the-art Bluetooth was impressive for me as the not-so-proud driver of a 2003 Subaru Outback. The ability to get into the car and immediately have my phone re-pair with it was awesome. Even better was being able to seamlessly stream audio form the iPhone through the car’s audio system. I went back to…

Editorials

“The iPod touch Effect”, or Why RIM Could Have Been a Contender… but Isn’t

Yesterday a post on Cult of Mac related some bad news for the Canadian-based RIM. They noted, “Realizing its failure, the handset maker is ready to surrender to Apple in the consumer ring, and focus on its business roots… an arena which iPhone is also increasingly dominating.” Their comment was, in part, based on a report from Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Robison who reported, “We no longer anticipate Research in Motion recovering to participate in the mainstream of smartphone industry growth,” As a result Robison cut RIM’s target price from $76 to $46. I expect they are correct in their…

Reviews

Home Audio Review: Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin Air

As I have noted elsewhere on the site, I find myself listening to more music than ever these days. Much of the reason for this has to do with the fact that I’m always carrying at least one, if not two or three, devices that are able to stream a whole host of different types of music from a variety of different sources. A fair bit of the time is spent listening through headphones, but I much prefer listening to music coming from a set of speakers. The sound is richer, the music more all-encompassing — and I’m able to…

Reviews

iPhone Accessory Review: WOW-keys Keyboard for Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod touch

For the last few months my MacBook Air has been my main computer. It works quite well for me and, thanks to the large solid-state drive and the ability to connect it to a larger monitor, it serves as a desktop computing platform quite well. When I do connect it to a larger monitor, I like to have a separate keyboard and mouse so that I don’t have to worry about the placement of the laptop itself. Until now that is meant using a magic mouse and Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. I’ve been trying out something new, however, and it’s a…

Editorials

Bloomberg Businessweek: A More Nuanced Approach to Discussing Nuance Please

Let me begin by making it clear that I have no formal association to Nuance, the leader in voice recognition technology and innovation. I do not work for them, they do not directly advertise on Gear Diary, and I have personally paid for all of the Nuance software I have or currently use. I have, however, beta tested upcoming products for them, and I hope to continue to do so. Nuance “does” voice recognition, text-to-speech software, and much more. I have been using their products for years and, since encountering wrist issues associated to rheumatoid arthritis, have come to rely…

Editorials

Some Quick Thoughts on Judie’s Ongoing Internet Nightmare

As Judie shared last week in a post, she has been having a terrible time getting and staying connected thanks to the WildBlue, a company that makes AT&T Wireless look good! Well over a week after being throttled, Judie still has a connection speed that is at or below dial-up. Judie’s internet speeds as of 05/23/11 Because she is in a rural area that is not covered by 3G, and because she doesn’t have a phone line (and even if she did, DSL is not available), and because “beamed” broadband internet will not work due to her home’s location (she…

Gear Bits

Amtrak says, “Browse While You Ride, but No App Store for You!”

I’m on the Acela train from New Jersey to Washington DC, where I will be attending a conference for the next few days. The train is super comfortable, fairly quiet and it even has WiFi. The WiFi connection has been solid and, while not exactly speedy, it is more than fast enough. It certainly is impressive when you take onto account that I’m flying down the NorthEast Corridor, and have better connectivity that Judie does right now AT HER HOME!! I did find one thing a bit surprising though; I was able to do everything I wanted, until I went…

Editorials

The HTC Flyer: Mobile Computing Then and Now

The HTC Flyer has arrived. It is the latest device from HTC and their jump into the tablet market. This isn’t their first major move into the mobile computing world though. No, back when the UMPC was the big deal HTC brought out an innovative device that had the potential to take the world by storm. It didn’t but a quick look at the two of them together makes it clear: the Flyer is pretty much a direct descendant of… Oh just watch the video.

Reviews

McTiVio Streams Your Computer to Your TV Wirelessly

Over the past few months we have had the opportunity to look at a number of devices that are designed to stream content from your computer to you HDTV. One of them left me rather cold. A second worked fairly well but still didn’t rise to the level of wowing me. So when I was offered a chance to check out the McTiVia streaming system my interest was piqued. After all, the McTiVia did win Best of Show at this year’s Macworld. From the Company: McTiVia is the first device that can show all content of your Mac® as well…

Reviews

iPad 2 Case Review: Case-Mate Barely There

I love a minimalist case for my iPad and iPhone. I appreciate being able to add some protection to the somewhat delicate devices without losing the slim, light look and feel Apple has been able to achieve. It is the reason I have been a fan of Case-Mate’s Barely There series cases since they first appeared on the scene, and I have been lucky enough to review one for pretty much each of the devices I have owned since. The company has released the iPad 2 version of the Barely There and were kind enough to send a review sample…

Reviews

BlackBerry Playbook Case Review: Pop! for BlackBerry PlayBook

I cannot help but feel a bit bad for the BlackBerry PlayBook. After all, the device has a great form factor, excellent build quality, a responsive touchscreen, and two things that are lacking on most tablets: both the front and rear facing cameras are quite good and the forward facing stereo speakers don’t sound half bad. Still, weeks after the device was first introduced into the market, the number of high-quality applications for it is disgraceful low. The result is a device whose utility continues to be all but crippled as a result. I would not keep it hanging around…

News & Features

Slacker Launches Slacker Premium Radio with On-Demand Access to Music Library

I’m a huge fan of Slacker Radio but I have to admit, it has been a little long in the tooth lately. I mean, they still haven’t got an iPad app which means you need to use the Slacker iPhone app at 2X resolution on your iPad. Ugly!! Moreover, services like RDIO have made selective music streaming seamlessly ease while Slacker has kept to their same old model. Well, Slacker is hitting a milestone today with the release of a new iPad app AND Slacker Premium, a service for selectively streaming the music you want when you want it! So…

Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: miFrame Photo Frame Dock for iPad

Although I use my iPad 2 most of the time I kept a 16GB WiFi iPad 1 around for review purposes (as well as the convenience of keeping an iPad in the den full time). I’m glad I did keep the original iPad because I am still coming across some awesome accessories designed specifically for it. And since there is still a strong market for the original iPad (you can get a refurb unit in perfect condition on the cheap right now) there is still a good market for iPad 1 accessories. A good example of that is the miFrame…

Gear Bits, News & Features

iPad Insight Highlights Some of the Best Coffee Table Book Apps for iPad

We all know the iPad, and its smaller cousin the iPhone, have been able to replace a huge number of different items. Yes, with the right apps the iPad can replace our eReader, our remote control, our video camera and much more. Here’s one other area where the iPad can come in and take over: Coffee Table books. Patrick over on iPad Insight has a list of five coffee table books that are now available on the iPad. Here what he has to say- The iPad is an amazingly versatile device. It can entertain a small child as easily…

Reviews

iPad 2 Case Review: Noreve Saint-Tropez Traditional Leather Case for iPad 2

There are a handful of leather accessory manufacturers who just “get it”. They know that when it comes to protecting expensive electronic devices there are people who want simple designs, great materials and excellent craftsmanship and are will to pay for it. Among the companies on that short list is Noreve Saint-Tropez. Noreve knows how to make beautiful leather device cases that look great, add visual appeal AND protection and don’t add unneccessary bell and whistles. Sure, Noreve offers some fancier cases but they always make sure to have something simple, straight-forward and gorgeous available. That includes their new Traditional Leather…

Articles by Dan Cohen