Articles by Dan Cohen

GD Quickie: With Apple It Is All in the Timing Redux

If we have learned one thing about Apple in recent years, it’s that they don’t do anything by accident. Every move Apple makes is the result of a well thought out, calculated decision. It may be the wrong decision (think the MobileMe launch, iPhone 4 antennagate and a few others), but even those were the result of calculated choices the company made. So when Apple decided that they would launch the iPad2 next Friday at 5 PM we can assume there is some reasoned decision behind it. In a conversation with Elana last night, those reasons became abundantly clear to…

News & Features

Skooba Design Launches Harmony Women’s Bag Collection

Skooba Design makes some great bags for carrying your gear. Actually, that’s not quite right. They make great bags for carrying just about anything you need to carry with you. And now there is a whole new way that Skooba is making it possible for women to carry their stuff in style! Skooba’s new Harmony collection “blend the look, fashion and quality of a high-end tote or handbag with the capacity and protection of a laptop bag”. Sure they are designed with laptops in mind but they will work well for just about anything you need to take with you….

Reviews

Android Mobile Phone Review: T-Mobile MyTouch 4G

I have wanted to like Android for quite some time. I really did. I kept trying device after device hoping that the next device would be “the one”. Sadly, that never seemed to happen. Even with those devices that I initially liked I found myself growing tired of both the device and the operating system within a relatively short period of time. As a result, the Android handsets I purchased ended up on eBay within a relatively short period, and those that I had received as loaner review units went back without any remorse on my part. Yes, I wanted…

Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: ProClip’s MultiStand

In just a few days Apple is expected to announce the iPad 2 (or whatever they end up calling it). Yes, Apple’s runaway success with its first entry into the tablet market is nearing its first anniversary. Along the way I’ve had the opportunity to look at a wide variety of different mounting solutions for the first-generation iPad. Some have been exceptionally simple while others have been more complex. Some have been highly refined, have an aesthetic that stands out and carry a price tag to match. There is, however, a good deal to be said for accessories which are rather…

News & Features

Altec Lansing Takes Us Behind the Scenes: Creating a Speaker Prototype

When I visited Altec Lansing’s headquarters back in January I was able to spend some time in the back area of the complex where the company develops their speakers. I didn’t write a great deal about it at the time because I had signed an NDA, and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t mistakenly share anything that I shouldn’t have. [That’s how we do things here at Gear Diary] Well, I can now share with you a good deal of what I was able to see in January because a video of Dave Burke, an Altec Lansing acoustics…

Editorials

The Story is Ancient: a Work in Progress; Build Your Own Passover Haggadah

For the past few years I have used a different Passover Haggadah each time I led the family seder. I realize that I may have just spoken Greek – or rather Hebrew – to some of you, so let me explain. The Haggadah is the service or story book used at Passover to retell the Israelites journey from slavery to redemption as told in the book of Exodus. It is read during the seder, the the festive meal that starts the week long festival. There are a tremendous number of different versions of the haggadah available from publishers. Each has a…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Gear Tie 18″ Tie Your Gear

Seriously, how could I NOT post on this??? After all, the product name is Gear Tie. (And we’re Gear Diary… Get the tie-in??) So what’s the deal with these Gear Ties? Simple- The 18″ Nite Ize Gear Tie is the perfect size to wrap and organize medium-to-large appliance cords and wires. Keep your jumper cables, extension cords, dog leashes, and larger electric cords neat and untangled with a quick simple twist. The 18″ Gear Tie is also great for looping and hanging lightweight tools and lanterns—and reusable nature makes it easy to reposition and adjust conveniently. Available in packs of…

News & Features

Amazon to Prime Members: Get Streaming

It was rumored to be coming, Michael posted on it the other day and this morning Amazon sent a blast of emails to announce that the switch had been flipped on video streaming for its Amazon Prime members. The streaming service launches with just 5000 television shows and movies, but since it is absolutely free to Amazon Prime members I’m not complaining. For those who already pay for Amazon Prime service, it is a nice value-added feature. For those who do not have Amazon Prime, it is another reason to consider it. For those people who have a Netflix subscription…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie- iPhone Explains the Big Bang Theory

It will come as no surprise that the iPhone played central role on tonight’s episode of the Big Bang theory. In fact, an entire scene took place over Facetime! Yes, Apple had over 30% of the product placement in movies last year and that percentage is much higher on geek-centered sitcoms such BBT.

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: You Get What You Pay For

Meet my cousin Jamie. (Okay, so that’s Jamie’s cat and not Jamie himself, but you get the idea.) Jamie loves his toys. Jamie also loves a deal. That’s what led Jamie to this MID running OS Android. Yes, Jaimie wanted an iPad but didn’t feel like dropping the coin he would have to spend on one so he went out and bought this Android Tablet instead. On one side of the box you find the word MID in block letters. There’s nothing else on that side. Come to think of it, there’s nothing on the other sides except the word…

Reviews, Travel

SCOTTEVEST SeV Sport Coat Review

When I first heard that SCOTTEVEST was releasing a sport coat, I didn’t know what to think. I did, however, know that I wanted one. There’s no big surprise there, considering the fact that I wear something from the company pretty much each and every day. I’m grateful to SeV’s Scott Jordan for giving me the opportunity to review one of their new SeV sport coats! I have worn the review sample at various times for the last 2 1/2 weeks. I’ve worn it with jeans and boots one day and with dress pants and a tie another. I did…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Can You Clean Me Now?

If you can’t stand bring without your smartphone for even a second a vendor on Etsy has a way you can now bring it into the shower with you. That’s right, the vendor twoeggplants.com was selling a bar of soap sculpted to look like the original Moto Droid. Stocks of the shea butter and vegetable oil soap were quickly cleaned out (I know, I know, that’s not punny, sorry about that) but if you are willing to accept apple-martini scented bar of iPhone soap you just might be in luck. Via Laptop Magazine Dec. 2010

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Adventures in iPad Adoption; Retail Edition

Via janchipchase.com Last week Elana was at the Short Hills Mall with her friend Melissa. They went to look for something at Restoration Hardware and found that their salesperson was walking around with his MacBook. He was, quite effectively she added, using it to show customers pictures of additional products as well as various material options for some items. Well apparently this method is already old school. This morning Elana was listening to CBS 880AM radio and heard a report that some Nordstrom and Burberry stores are already experimenting with giving employees iPads so they can they can walk around…

Reviews

iPhone Accessory Review: QYG-Power iPhone 4 Power Pack from USB Fever

I’m taking a day trip to Florida today to visit some folks who spend the winter down there. It’s going to be a long day that begins with a 6am flight (the alarm will go off before 4am), and, if everything goes according to plan will end when I get home at about midnight. Among the items coming south are both my iPhone and the MyTouch 4G I’m reviewing. I wanted to have some extra juice with me since I’ll be using my iPhone as my camera. I have a number of other external power options that I could use…

News & Features

GD Quickie: iPad’s Hidden Benefit to Business

An article in the New York Times this morning entitled “After iPad’s Head Start, Rival Tablets Are Poised to Flood Offices” does a nice job of discussing the impact tablets have already had on the world of computing. It also goes on the describe the changing landscape as real iPad alternatives finally begin to enter the market. While the article notes that Apple’s unchallenged run into the tablet market is about to end it also does a good job of describing the impact Cupertino’s device has already had and its rapid, and somewhat surprising penetration, into business. The article notes…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Joby Yogi for iPad- “I Reviewed It and Still Use It”

I spent the morning trying to catch up on phone calls. That meant I didn’t get out of my chair once. At a certain point, however, I got to feeling quite antsy and knew I needed to do something. I haven’t run in quite a while due to an ankle strain but it was feeling better and I NEEDED to run. I also needed some loud music to motivate me. My treadmill has speakers and an iPod dock but it doesn’t get quite loud enough. On the other hand, the speakers I recently attached to an Airport Express for streaming…

Editorials

Steve Jobs Health and Our “Right” to Know

If you take a close look at the site over any given period of time you’ll notice that there are some types of content you see elsewhere that is rare here are Gear Diary. You won’t find a lot of posts having to do with the latest rumor coming from the blogosphere; after all these are simply rumors, and more often than not they end up being false in the end anyway. This is particularly the case with Apple, although I’ll admit that when it’s a day or two before a key press announcement, if the overwhelming consensus is that…

Reviews

iPhone Accessory Review: id America Gasket Brushed Aluminum Case

It is pretty amazing to consider the variety and range of styles of iPhone cases that you can find.. There are simple silicone cases, leather cases that double as a wallet, and metal frames that suspend the iPhone in the midst of what looks like an exoskeleton. Today we’re going to take a quick look at one of the more unusual cases we’ve seen, The Gasket Brushed Aluminum Case from id America. From the Company: Conceptual inspiration: Inspired by the shape of a head gasket on a performance engine, our Gasket Brushed Aluminum Case transcends technology with its unique design…

Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: The Kensington KeyFolio Wireless Keyboard Case

When the iPad was first released Apple make sure to immediately offer a keyboard dock so that people who wanted to use the device for productivity would be able to type on it with great speed and accuracy. The dock was rather expensive and because of its size, shape and weight it wasn’t the most mobile accessory. I purchased one immediately I found myself not using it all that much. This was in part because, when my iPad was in a case which is 99% of the time, the dock was unusable. It assumed the iPad was entirely naked and…

Reviews

The Mili Power King P18 External Battery Review

Word spread yesterday that Apple might be looking to radically change the makeup of the batteries they use and, if this rumor bears fruit, have batteries in their devices that last much much longer. Just imagine how great it would be to have an iPhone that gets a few DAYS of runtime!? Unfortunately it is just a rumor. Moreover, while such advances would be great they do nothing for us as we sit her using the current devices available to us. For that we need external batteries and, as the saying goes, bigger is better. We’ve looked at a few…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: What in the World is this Crazy Old Man Doing??

What is this crazy old man in the nightgown doing? Is he- A. Playing the bongos on his head B. Pretending to be Carnac the Magnificent C. Taking his temperature without anything having to actually touch him? If you said C you are absolutely right. Elana took her dad to the hospital for a follow-up on some surgery he had a few weeks back and saw this new way of taking temperatures for the first time. The Exergen Coproration‘s mission is to “Change the way the world takes temperature”. Yup, without even having to touch Mark’s forehead the nurses were…

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