Articles by Judie Lipsett Stanford

The Pebble Watch Press Conference

Are you one of the people who backed the Pebble watch on Kickstarter? Dan and I were, but unlike every other smartwatch that we have personally backed on the crowd funding site Kickstarter since the phenomenally successful Pebble was successfully funded, the Pebble still hasn’t shipped. We’ve been curious about the holdup; not alarmed, just curious. (Note: after the press conference we got an update with more info, scroll to the bottom to read!) So when I found out that they would be hosting a press conference at CES, I was completely interested — not only as a tech journalist…

Events

The Monster Products Press Conference

This morning Monster welcomed us with a list of speakers and special guests that ran the gamut of popular sports stars to other easily recognizable names. I heard a guy joke behind me, in the line as we waited to enter, that it seemed more like an awards show than a press conference. Perhaps… Noel Lee, the Head Monster, came out on a tricked out Segway (gold rims and a flame-job!), saying this was going to be the most exciting press conference we’d attend all day. With much enthusiasm, he said they’d be introducing a new line of mobility products,…

Events, Travel

What’s Coming with Us to CES, the 2013 Edition

Every year we make the trek to Las Vegas, and every year we try to strike the perfect balance between the gear that we’ll need and a few extra things that will make our lives easier; the trick is to not forget anything vital or to too seriously overpack. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we fail miserably. Here’s what’s coming along this time … Judie: I’ve been going to CES since 2002, and you would think that by now I’d have a perfect kit prepared … but technology keeps changing, and so does my gear. I think I…

News & Features

Wilson Electronics’ New Sleek 4G Signal Booster Will Keep Your Connection Solid

If you are on the road a lot, then you know all about what it’s like to have your cellular signal act in a less than reliable manner. Watching your 4G/LTE signal drop down to zilch, then slide over to EDGE, 3G and then ultimately climb back to 4G — depending upon where you area, even though the areas are shown to have 4G coverage — is just part of using a mobile phone these days. . The same thing can happen when you are in a car, truck, boat, or any other moving vehicle. One way to combat this…

Reviews

AT&T LG Optimus G Android Phone Review

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Android for some time; I’m not sure exactly when it started, but I think that it was around the time that I realized that just because an app was available, it didn’t mean I could necessarily install it on my phone. Lockdowns by carriers and various hardware limitations made Android apps non-universal across the platform, and that was a hard concept for me to accept. The very nature of Android being an open platform meant that the OS could be made to run on some rather unimpressive hardware, but it didn’t always run smoothly or offer a…

Crowdfunding, Gear Bits

Whooz? Are a Huge Hit at My House

On Christmas morning, as packages from under the tree were divided into piles and then opened, I got what would turn out to be one of my biggest Christmas surprises: the best gift was something I had stuck into the girls’ new Jon Hart bags, almost as an afterthought — Whooz iPhone and iPad Character Sets! Kev’s youngest daughter stopped everything to start installing a set on her iPad charger, and Kev’s oldest daughter was right there with her. Let me back up for just a moment. Everyone in my house has an iPhone or an iPad (or both), and…

Reviews

Oberon Design iPad mini Cover Review

I’ve been a fan of Oberon Design’s products for several years, and it seems to go without saying (at least in my home) that if you have a new iPad or Kindle, you’ll probably want an Oberon Design cover to go with it. Kev has the Celtic Hounds cover in wine on his iPad 3, and I have the Van Gogh Sky cover in sky blue on my Kindle touch. I have found that there is no better leather cover available if you want to keep your device a book-style case. I was sent the latest Oberon Design cover for…

Reviews

Kanex DoubleUp Dual USB Charger Review

Two years ago, I left for CES carrying my iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy Tab. I thought I was packing efficiently because instead of bringing each device’s USB wall charger, I brought a single wall charger that had dual USB ports. So of course it was on that trip, when I needed my gear the most, that I found out that just because a charger plugs into the wall and has two USB ports, it won’t necessarily be powerful enough to charge even one of your devices — especially when one of them is a tablet. To add insult to…

Crowdfunding

Home Aquaponics Kit: A Self-Cleaning Fish Tank that Grows Food

Project Title: Home Aquaponics Kit: Self-Cleaning Fish Tank That Grows Food Status: Funded, with only 37 hours left (at this posting) Closing Date for Funding: 1:59am CST December 15, 3012 URL of the Project: Home Aquaponics Kit From the Creatives: Grow fresh produce right in the comfort of your own home – beans, basil, thyme, baby greens, oregano, mint, parsley, spinach and so many other delicious foods! • So what’s happening inside? The fish, they poo and they pee, and all that waste-water gets broken down by beneficial bacteria into nutrients • The waste-water from the fish is then pumped up…

News & Features

Knomo’s iPad mini Folio Looks Lovely

Knomo, makers of some of the more sophisticated laptop bags I’ve seen, has just introduced their newest accessory, the iPad mini Folio. Available in black, cognac, and red (or rather — teaberry), the iPad mini Folio is composed of “full-grain leather and tough moulded plastic”. Some of its features, beyond being slim and protective, are that it “can be used in 3 ways: to protect your iPad on the move, opened into upright position for viewing movies, folded into raised position for typing.” The form-fitted rubberized case provides easy access to the iPad mini’s headphone jack and speaker, as well as…

Travel

Amazing Aruba!

Aruban Iguanas are everywhere! Dan and I just got back from a week in Aruba. This was our second year to enjoy a shared vacation there with our spouses; Dan and Elana have a Divi Village timeshare in Oranjestad, and they have been visiting the island for 20 years. This was Kev’s and my second time, so we are still learning about all that Aruba has to offer; we were really looking forward to exploring more of the island, enjoying the beaches, and trying some of the local tours. If you have ever considered visiting Aruba, then you might enjoy…

News & Features

Element Case Releases the Ronin FE for the iPhone 5

This is easily the most beautiful iPhone 5 case I’ve seen, and you know how I have a softness for wood. Element Case has just released their new limited edition Ronin, which uses a combination of aluminum and Zircote wood. They’ve based the design on the “clean lines of the “Katana,” or Samurai sword. The Ronin 5 sets new heights in iPhone case technology and style with never before seen details like proprietary micro machined volume/mute mechanism, and near impossible CNC machined details in exotic wood.” If you’ve never heard of Zircote wood, you’re not alone; I hadn’t, either….

Reviews

Oberon Design Large Smartphone Sleeve Review

It wasn’t so long ago that I reviewed the Oberon Design cellphone sleeve, and while that case was perfect for the iPhone and other similarly sized mobile devices, it isn’t quite big enough for all of the larger-screened mobile devices that are now so popular. I’ve got the new Nokia Lumia 920, which has a 4.5″ screen and measures 5.13″ tall x 2.79″ wide x 0.42″ thick; it is simply too large for the original sleeve. Luckily, I was soon to receive the new Oberon Design Large Smartphone Sleeve. This larger sleeve measures 6.25″ tall x 4″ wide; these measurements…

News & Features

Happy Thanksgiving from Gear Diary!

We all have so much to be thankful for; it’s good to take a day off to remind ourselves about what — and who — is most important to us. We wish everyone a day that is full of love, good memories, and a stress-free time spent with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

Reviews

AT&T HTC 8X Windows Phone Review

Earlier this year, Dan and I gave Windows Phone 7 a solid try. We put our iPhones away, and for the next two months we used only the HTC Titans that we had received at a CES event. You can read about our entire experience here, here, here, and here. As much as we both liked the Windows Phone OS and the Titan’s hardware, we each ultimately went back to our iPhones. Probably the biggest reason I couldn’t make things work with my Titan (or the Lumia 900 that I later bought in April) was that I missed the efficient app…

News & Features

Verizon Snags the HTC DROID DNA

Just in case you had any illusions that phones weren’t headed solidly into phablet territory, here comes the latest fully loaded 5″ device to challenge your phone-carrying pockets. note the spiffy red racing strip on the DNA’s side Today the DROID DNA by HTC was announced, and it will be available before the end of the month. The DROID DNA by HTC features a vibrant 5-inch Full HD 1080p super LCD 3 screen that rivals traditional HDTV’s. At 440 PPI, the screen packs the highest pixel density available on a smartphone. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core 1.5GHz processor…

News & Features

AT&T Will Have the Nokia Lumia 920 for $99.00 and the 820 for $49.99; Preorders Begin November 7th

After attending the Windows Phone launch event last Monday, I came away with an idea of which new devices I would most enjoy using, and my first choice was the Nokia Lumia 920. I’ve got an HTC 8X in hand (review coming soon), and now we have solid availability information from AT&T. Today, Nokia has announced that the “highly anticipated Lumia 920 flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone will be available exclusively through AT&T at a price of $99.99 with a new two-year contract, available on November 9th with preorders beginning November 7th. For a limited time and while supplies last, AT&T…

News & Features

Orbino Will Wrap Your iPhone 5 and iPad mini in Sumptuous Leather

Yeah … gaze on that amazing piece of leather art for just a moment. I’ll wait … One of the many reasons that I enjoy using iOS devices is because Apple’s hardware is so elegant; if that wasn’t reason enough to stay loyal, add in the fact that accessory manufacturers seem to love designing their goods for Apple products. And if there is one thing that you all should know about me by now, it’s that I do so love a good accessory. miniPadova in Pecan Dan and I have been pretty vocal about how much we love Orbino’s Padova line of…

News & Features

How We Can Help the Victims of Hurricane Sandy

We knew for at least a few days before Hurricane Sandy hit that it was going to be bad, but knowing something will be bad and living through it are two completely different things. On October 29th, at about 8pm ET, Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the southern coast of New Jersey. Before hitting the shore, Sandy had already whipped and bruised a wide swatch of communities with brutal rains and winds as far away as Ohio. It wasn’t enough that people were holed up suffering from the effects of a late August style hurricane, they also had to deal…

Gear Bits

How Bodyguardz Saved My iPhone 5

Ugh! So aggravating! I took my iPhone out of its case while traveling (I know, I know) because it was so bulky. At least I had purchased and installed a Bodyguardz skin on my phone last week; because of that, my iPhone 5 survived a horrific flying drop and slide at the airport. The only damage is my slightly smooshed upper right corner, which is way way better than the cracked screen I expected to see when I picked the phone up from the hard tile floor. If (like me) you prefer to not have a case on your device…

Events

Windows Phone 8 Launch Event

I’m at the Windows Phone 8 launch event this morning in San Francisco, waiting in the lobby of the Bill Graham Civic Center with roughly 150 other members of the media. There are probably fewer in attendance than originally intended, due to Hurricane Sandy’s grip on the Eastern states, but the mood here is upbeat and we are looking forward to seeing how Microsoft will (hopefully) wow us this morning. I’ll have more soon, we still have 15 minutes before the doors open … And we’re in and seated. Joe Belfiore is on the stage, welcoming us and saying that…

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