For years I used a GPS in my car, but that’s been replaced by my smartphone. I miss having the GPS mounted to my dashboard, so I was very excited to check out the iBolt line of car mounts and their complementary “Dock ‘n Drive” apps. Does this turn the phone into the ultimate safe car accessory?
Over the weekend we finished season 2 of “Orange is the New Black“. Now my wife Sarah and I are going through withdrawal, which led to Sarah suggesting a brilliant opportunity for Netflix — a documentary with real life prisoners to tie into the popularity of the show.
Food allergies are stressful, but when you have an allergy that could lead to a severe reaction requiring epinephrin, they’re extremely scary. Remembering all the steps to administer medicine to yourself or someone you care for can be tough, which is why the Auvi-Q, a talking injector, is such a brilliant idea.
Amazon may come under fire for their dominant position in ebooks, but they are number one for more reasons than just price aggression. Not all retailers can leverage the various versions of books to their advantage like Amazon can, and they’re showcasing it with their new “Whispersync for Voice” upgrades program.
Looks like Barnes and Noble has hit upon a new way to keep their NOOK business relevant, while still getting out of the costly hardware space — they’re partnering with Samsung to make NOOK branded Galaxy Tablets! This looks like a win for everyone. B&N will continue to sell tablets, and Samsung has a new avenue to showcase their products.
There are all kinds of cases out there for tablets these days-rugged, leather, pleather, vinyl, rubber, folio-style…if it’s a material that can be tablet-sized, chances are someone’s made a case out of it. Papernomad has an interesting twist with cases made from brown paper and felt, allowing you to feel like your iPad is a childhood textbook.
After Apple’s iOS 8 preview at WWDC, I posed the following query to the Gear Diary Team: Carly: So for everyone who has used iOS and been using Android, or for those who have used both platforms…does iOS 8 make you want to jump back to iOS full time? Personally I think this looks like an awesome upgrade.
A huge swath of users jumped up and cheered during yesterday’s iOS 8 announcement when one simple option was mentioned: Swype. iOS 8 will be open to changing keyboards from the default Apple keyboard, much like Android has for years, and Swype is one of the best. If you aren’t excited about this, you probably haven’t used Swype yet.
Target has sold books and eBook readers in their stores for years, and now they are sticking a very tentative toe into the world of selling digital books. No, you won’t be heading to Target.com for your next eBook (yet), but they are partnering with new website Librify, which is a social network/eBook subscription service coming this summer.
Buzzfeed is reporting that Amazon is planning on expanding their Prime offerings to include music as well as books, movies, and free shipping. This has been speculated before, and the terms (no music newer than 6 months) fits with the backlist strategy of the rest of Prime. It also shows who Amazon Prime is truly aimed at: digital dilettantes.
The folks at Speck know how to protect your phone; the folks at Samsonite protect your clothes, electronics, and other gear when you’re on the go. Now they’re combining forces, as Samsonite is reportedly acquiring Speck for a whopping 85 million dollars! Sena, Lifeproof, and now Speck have all been acquired…the age of case manufacturer consolidation is clearly upon us!
I am a huge fan of writing via my iPad. Since I rarely sit at a desk or table except at work, I love the flexibility of writing on the go or from my couch. Basically, I’m the perfect candidate for something like the Griffin Slim Keyboard Folio for the iPad Mini. But will it dethrone my existing keyboard options?
We try not to let our 11 month old son play with our phones, but he loves all things iOS. Not because he loves Apple … just Siri. Our son has learned that holding down the home button brings up Siri, and he loves when she talks after he babbles at her. At last, we’ve found a purpose for Siri!
There are many milestones in a child’s life that as parents we want to save. We kept the bracelet our son had in the hospital, we kept his early doctor visit notes, etc. I draw the line, though, at an item I didn’t even know existed until this week: a baby tooth keeper.
The metal body of the HTC One M8 is a standout feature; it feels great, but it’s quite slippery. Covering such a gorgeous phone in any old case or skin seems like a travesty, but it needs something to give it grip. Toast has stepped up to the plate with their real wood Toast Cover; do metal and wood mix?
We have looked at a number of cases and skins for the HTC One M8, but most of them have been fairly pedestrian and plastic. A premium metal phone deserves a premium case, and that’s what Noreve aims to deliver with their Traditional Leather Case for the HTC One M8!
In my house, we joke that every case I review needs to meet the “destructo-dog and tiny terror” tests. Most cases are no match for a 100 pound labrador and a 10 month old boy, but my wife Sarah hasn’t worried once about her iPad since we started testing the new Griffin Survivor for iPad Air!
My HTC One M8 is a very tall phone. 90% of the time it doesn’t bother me, but sometimes if I am using it one-handed, hitting the top power button to lock it is a stretch. I resigned myself to just dealing with it, but then I discovered a simple utility, the aptly named Screen Off and Lock!
When I first encountered the Merrell AllOut Fuse, I was convinced they were the best sneakers I had worn in a long time. They are well constructed, comfortable, and attractive. Plus they can easily handle both pavement and trails. They were perfect … until I went for a run in them.
A recent article in the NY Times caught my eye: “As Parents Make Their Own Baby Food, Industry Tries to Adapt“. We make almost all of our son’s food, with a few exceptions, and I thought it would be an interesting read. That’s how I learned that Beech-Nut thinks our choice is downright sinister!
Ask a geek what makes the HTC One M8 a great phone, and you’ll get back a list ranging from build quality to internal specs to benchmarks and battery tests. Ask a non-tech person, and they’re likely to fall asleep discussing benchmarks. Toss an HTC Dot Case on the One and demo it, and suddenly you have everyone’s attention.