One of the things I like to do when attending shows like CES is collect flash memory press kit thumbdrives to use again once I get home. In years past, it was considered a huge score if I was given a drive larger than 1GB, and this year I actually got several which were 2GB – along with a single 4GB drive, but alas … the thrill was almost gone, because at home I had a 16GB flash drive which was smaller and cuter than anything I was handed at CES.
All photos by Kevin In the Central Hall of CES they’ve set up an eReader Zone, and many eReaders and old and new are represented. One of the ones that I’ve been eager to spend some hands-on time with is the Plastic Logic QUE, and for about 30 minutes, that’s exactly what I did. Carly posted some of the quick iPhone snaps that I took along with the latest press release; here are some better pictures along with a bit of video from Plastic Logic …
I’ve got no word yet on how they sound, or whether it’s even practical, but Klipsch has come out with a way to wirelessly stream music to a dimmable LED bulb which also functions as a speaker. Their aptly named LightSpeaker screws into an existing light fixture, and when you attach a digital music player to the included transmitter, sound ensues. You can “connect two different music sources to the setup and separate the different music to play in two different zones. For example, if you’re throwing a party, you can play certain playlist on your iPod in the kitchen…
Do you have more money than sense? If you do, then the new mPower Emergency Illuminator will likely be your flashlight of choice. What does $289 get you — other than an LED flashlight that vaguely resembles the SS Enterprise? The mPower Emergency Illuminator™ is a personal illumination tool that offers Power On Command™. In addition to primary standard lithium batteries, the illuminator also features a groundbreaking reserve lithium battery with a shelf life of at least 20 years. Upon activation, via the simple twist of a knob, the reserve battery will provide power to light a high intensity LED…
Judie: As you may recall, I received my Camangi WebStation yesterday afternoon. Other than downloading some of my eReader library to it, I wasn’t able to spend as much time with the tablet as I might have liked before previously made plans drew me away. This morning I was greeted with tweets and links pointing to Michael Smith’s review, where he calls the Camangi a “total fail” because (among other reasons) it isn’t as fast as his first gen iPhone and because it doesn’t browse the internet as quickly as the Hackintosh he likes to couch surf from. Michael has…
It seems like it took forever, but my Camangi WebStation finally showed up today. Dan’s is out for delivery, so in the meantime, he is processing the raw video I’ve uploaded of my unboxing. While we wait for that, here are some pictures. I haven’t done anything other than unbox the Camangi, turn it on … and marvel at it before plugging it in So without further ado, here are some pictures. Video and more impressions from Dan and me will be up shortly. 🙂
After moving this year, Kevin and I realized we were a bit light on Christmas tree decorations; but instead of going out and buying a bunch of them, his girls and I spent a day making salt dough ornaments. This is something that my mom used to do with my brother and me when we were kids. Mom thinks it’s because play-dough wasn’t easily available living overseas, but it could just as easily be because we were on an enlisted military man’s budget and she was a stay-at-home-mom. Whatever the reason, salt dough is very similar to play-dough, and the…
Of all the laptop bags that I have reviewed over the years, and I can’t even tell you how many dozens there have been (possibly hundreds?), I can only remember having a perfect stranger approach me to compliment my bag twice: once for the ACME Made Courier, and the other time for this bag – the Waterfield Muzetto.
I got a $100 Amazon gift certificate from Kerry for Christmas (thank you Kerry!!), and for half a second I was tempted to blow it immediately on Kindle titles from authors I already follow. After thinking about it, I instead sent out a tweet asking for suggestions. One of them came from @Merecal … “Weird name” I thought to myself, but I didn’t yet understand. I went to the site and saw a full list of books – many by authors that I follow, and many of them not yet available. I looked at the titles and saw ‘bindings” specified…
My friend Steven showed up with his latest “toy” a couple of days ago — the a 2010 Polaris 4×4 Ranger EV. I’ve got a tricked out red 2009 Ranger XP 700 EFI (complete with CD player and Sirius Satellite radio, heh). Mine may beat his in a race, but his has a feature that leaves mine in the dust – it’s electric and nearly noiseless. I thought his buggy was neat enough that I should share.
Go ahead … give the Fuse’s rubbery-looking case a squeeze as you prepare to experience its multiple interface technologies, namely “multi-touch capacitive sensing, haptic feedback, 3-D graphics, and force, grip, and proximity sensing.” I think that it’s amazing how you can tilt the Fuse to scroll, squeeze it to stop, and do other touch-based actions to make it respond. Bear in mind that this isn’t a retail item yet, but it shows the technology that is coming to retail devices … maybe sooner than you think! The best way to get a sense of it is to watch the video,…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hSLR4LV949E In conjunction with Headsets Direct, we recently gave away a Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset (reviewed here) to Gear Diary reader synapticapple. Michelle (that’s her real name) has just posted an unboxing video of the headset, and I thought it was good enough to share. Enjoy! 🙂
The Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader has been touted by some as a Kindle-killer, and after what seemed like a ridiculously long wait, when mine finally showed up today I was ready to be wowed. It’s not that I don’t already enjoy reading eBooks on my Kindle DX (Kevin is using the Kindle2) and on my iPhone, it’s just that the nook was the “next new big thing”, and I allowed myself to be caught up in the excitement. I was perhaps a week later ordering mine than many were, because I found out that American Express Rewards offers…
Oh don’t be shocked; we’ve all read it for the articles, and now you can do so from the privacy of your iPhone. You won’t find full nudity (although it is still rated 17+), but you will find “iconic monthly features” including the Playboy Interview, Playboy Advisor, 20 Questions, Party Jokes, Celebrities Hangin’ with Hef, and Fashion. Along with those items, you’ll also get some extra goodies… The new Playboy iphone app gives fans of the magazine a glimpse of the latest issue, along with exclusive content such as free Rabbit Head and Playmate wallpapers, and a Playmate video clip….
You can stop staring now. Sure, the UMID mbook Pink Edition is only a little bit larger than a Nintendo DS, but this dainty morsel is running full Windows XP! I am completely intrigued by the Handheld PC form factor, and I can’t help but be interested. Starting at $449 (including a storage pouch and 4GB microSD), you get five hours of “actual (not theoretical)” use for surfing, editing, emailing, chatting …whatever. This would be the a perfect complement to the MiFi that I received as an early Christmas gift (thanks mom!), to boot! If the pink is too girly…
What an amazing thing! The Imaging Source has introduced a line of low-noise astronomy cameras that provide amateur photographers with the necessary tools to take amazing photographs using their telescopes. Priced from $390 to $640, the monochrome and color camera models are available “with and without an IR cut filter in three resolutions: 640×480, 1024×768 and 1280×960. The astronomy cameras deploy low noise CCD chips from Sony, which have an exposure time of up to 60 minutes and a maximum frame rate of up to 60 fps.” Granted, the quality of your pictures will also depend upon the strength of…
Laws are continuously evolving to deal with technology and the potential hazards of using it while driving. As a consequence, it is now considered unsafe in many states – or it has been made illegal – to drive without some kind of hands-free solution when using a mobile phone. Many people are wearing headsets, but there is another option if you aren’t yet ready to embrace your inner Borg – a Bluetooth speaker system for your automobile. Say hello to the Motorola T215 Bluetooth Car Kit Speakerphone; let’s take a look at the hardware, and then I’ll tell you how…
While at Mobius I had the opportunity to take a look at some of the cool phones other members were carrying. The iPhone 3G and 3GS were popular with many of us (that’s Alex‘s lovely wife gracing his iPhone’s screen), and the Motorola Droid (that’s Vincent with his beautiful wife Lynnsie, on his) was popular with quite a few others — even if nearly all of them were complaining about its keyboard. But the phone that every one of us was salivating to hold was the new HTC HD2; John Starkweather was kind enough to allow us all a little…
photos by Kevin It never fails – no matter what precautions I take, I still need more juice for my various gadgets. Whether it’s my iPhone showing the red battery meter of doom, or a “battery is low” ping on my Bluetooth Headset, there is nothing more aggravating that realizing that I’ll need to make a charging pitstop soon; being able to quickly recharge on the go is much more preferable. When I was on my recent trip to New York, I found that even the Mophie Air wasn’t enough to keep my iPhone going on the day we traveled…
I’m on my way to another Microsoft-sponsored Mobius Session this morning, this time in Seattle Washington. There won’t be much for me to post about today, but on Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll share info from sessions attended as I am able. As usual, I’ll be updating on Twitter regularly, so if you haven’t already, then you might want to follow me. 🙂
On November 20, 2007, Wayne Schulz wrote his very first Gear Diary review on the Bose In-Ear Headphones. This post gave absolutely no hint that the same man who could write such a mainstream piece would also be the guy who would hit his stride posting about Crayon Sports Drinks, $110,000 New York toilets, how to research urban legends, how to get yourself fired, and so many other offbeat things. In fact, we had to create an Offbeat tag simply because there was no other way to define so many of Wayne’s postings. But more than just the offbeat, Wayne…