Zek | Gear Diary

The Avalanche of 5S/5C Cases Cometh!

Did you preorder a new 5S or 5C? As always, all your favorite case companies are right there to make sure your new baby is properly coddled and swaddled … whether you’re looking for style or protection, the major players are happy to offer up the right accessory. Speck is quick to remind everyone on their website that many of their iPhone 5 cases will fit the 5S nicely, plus they have new cases just for the 5S coming soon as well. Case-Mate says the same thing, though some of the styles appear to be an acquired taste, including unusually…

Gear Bits

Businessweek Clarifies the Twitter IPO News So You’ll Sound Smarter Discussing It

Confused about the Twitter IPO? Don’t know an S-1 from a 5s? Trying to figure out how Twitter makes money? You’re not alone! Businessweek has a clear rundown on the broad details surrounding why Twitter waited to go public, why they’re filing confidentially, and when you can expect to get all the details on how the company makes money. We don’t know a whole lot beyond Twitter’s now-infamous tweet, but this article cuts through some of the conjecture and will make you sound smarter at this week’s quiz night.

Gear Bits

Jimmy Fallon Spoofs “Breaking Bad”

Are you watching this season of “Breaking Bad”? If not, you’re missing out on some great television. But if you are all caught up, and you need something to brighten your life before the resolution to last Sunday’s cliffhanger, check out this cameo-filled spoof called “Joking Bad” from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Warning: Multi-season spoilers are spoofed. Via Slate

Editorials

Reading the Tea Leaves on the 5c Launch

Why did Apple release the iPhone 5c? Was it to create a cheaper iPhone? Attract a different audience? Offer some diversity to the product line? And whatever combination of reasons might have been behind the move, why does it seem like there's a high expectation of failure? The specter of Apple's stumbles in the PC market and the rise of Android weigh heavily on the 5C/5S release. It's not a secret that many people were disappointed with the launch. Analysts and journalists who predicted a cheaper iPhone are pulling their hair out, and Apple-focused blogs are running in circles trying…

Reviews

Supertooth Disco Twin Speakers Review

Supertooth Disco Twin Bluetooth Speakers have a rich, deep sound, great battery life, and a sleek design. Looking for a powerful and portable system? The Supertooth Disco Twin set is only $199 and worth every penny. I owe the world of music an apology. See, for years I’ve blown off having good speakers around, because I hardly listen to music outside of my car. And my hearing isn’t the best, so I’ve always felt like I didn’t need decent speakers around. But now I’m testing the Supertooth Twin Speakers, and from the moment I fired them up to review I…

Gear Bits

Technogel Offers Better Sleep at a Steep Cost

Are you having a hard time finding the right pillow? Technogel thinks they have the right answer with their high-tech pillows, designed to keep you cool and support your body for a more restful sleep. The catch? They’re $169…each. Ouch, but if they work, it’s worth it, right? What sets Technogel apart is their technology. The pillows stay cooler than memory foam, and their density means they spread support better than foam as well. The idea is that the ergonomics and design make for a better night’s sleep than on ordinary pillows and memory foam, and a better night’s sleep is…

News & Features

Would You Use an Amazon Phone?

The latest rumor from The Verge about Amazon’s mythical phone is that it will be free, or nearly free, even if you don’t have a phone contract. Is this enough to get people over the hump of Amazon’s legendary tracking and into their waiting arms of Amazon Prime and the Amazon App Store? Personally, I’m on the fence. I see two sides to this. On the one hand, this could be a very compelling extra phone or backup phone. For free, or nearly free, it makes for a good “what-if” device to keep in a drawer, or use as a…

Gear Bits

Smart PJs Bring the Smartphone to Bedtime Stories

Kids love a good bedtime story, and as they get older they love smartphones too. The recently announced Smart PJs combine these loves with pajamas that rock scannable codes. Scan the code with a phone, get a bedtime story. Each code on the PJs is a different story! The concept is cool, but the website is sadly light on details. It isn’t clear if the stories are classics or new ones written for the PJs, or how the app displays the story. Still, at $29.99, clothes that combine with a story aren’t a bad deal, and it’s a company worth…

Gear Bits

Tapatalk Comes to Windows Phone!

Windows Phone is fast developing parity with other platforms, and while there’s a handful of top-tier names missing (cue the 10,000 “Instagram or bust” complaints), it is becoming easier to switch. Now that Tapatalk has hit Windows Phone, the platform can add one more in-demand service to its growing portfolio! If you’re a forums junkie, you probably know the name Tapatalk. For those who don’t, Tapatalk is a service that brings various discussion forums to mobile form via the Tapatalk app. You can see new posts, browse forums, answer private messages, etc, all from a phone-centric and comfortable interface. Tapatalk…

Editorials

How NOT to Sell a Car

We’re shopping for a new vehicle, and with just a very basic bit of research from Cars.com, I learned that a salesman lied to our faces today. Needless to say, we won’t be shopping there for this or any future vehicle… Sarah and I have a bit of a dilemma. We need a bigger car. See, if we want to go somewhere with just our son, no problem. Sarah’s Jetta is a bit tight but can hold us just fine, and my Prius is quite roomy for two adults and an infant. The problem is that when you add our…

Gear Bits

Revisiting the Awesome and Dangerous “Action Park”

If you are Facebook friends with anyone from northern New Jersey, you may have seen a recent link to a video about a place called “Action Park“. As a child of New Jersey who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, trust me: everything they say in the video is real. It really was that dangerously awesome. It has been well over 20 years since I last went to Action Park (I’m 32, so the last time I was there was probably when I was 11 or 12) but a few things stick out distinctly from the experience. One, I remember looking…

Editorials

The Tenacity of Cablevision Door to Door Salesmen

Door to door sales used to be a fairly common occurrence, but they are much rarer these days. So you'd think that a company using direct sales would make sure their salespeople were properly educated and respectful of people's space and time. You'd be wrong, if the company in question is Cablevision. How did I learn this? See, there's oblivious, and then there's Cablevision salesmen. Twice this month, they've rang our doorbell midday, setting off our (extremely large and loud) dog, which scares our 2-month old and triggers lots of screaming. None of this is a deterrent to the Cablevision…

Gear Bits

The Lumia 1020 Takes on School Plays in New Commercial

Microsoft’s “Wedding Crashers” video was a funny take on guests taking photos at weddings while arguing over operating systems. The sequel, “School Play”, still has some Android versus iPhone jokes, but focuses (no pun intended) on an area where the Lumia 1020 beats everyone: the camera. This commercial follows the same format-major event, smartphones out, fight fight fight, smug couple using a Lumia in the back laughing at the rest of the people. However, it’s a clearer commercial, highlighting a feature of the Lumia 1020 that no else has, rather than a “hey, we’re the alternative” vibe. And the camera…

News & Features

Lumia 925 Coming to AT&T

The Lumia 925 is, by all accounts, an excellent flagship Windows Phone. At least in the United States, it has been tied to T-Mobile since launch, but now that exclusivity has lifted, and it will be arriving on AT&T on August 28th, presumably to replace the Lumia 920! If you aren’t familiar with the Lumia 925, it is one of Nokia’s top-shelf Lumia devices. It has a 4.5in screen, a Carl Zeiss lens, and the latest update to Windows Phone, giving it access to amazing apps like Nokia Pro Cam. Unlike previous Lumias, the 925 also ditches the polycarbonate body…

News & Features

ProtectCELL Offers a New Kind of Cell Phone Insurance

Cell phone insurance usually covers the basics, like your phone taking a swim in a pint of beer. But ProtectCELL thinks insurance should be more comprehensive bang for your buck, with buyback offers and even identity theft protection plans! I keep a lot of information on my cell phone. Between banking apps, email, Facebook, and photos, you could recreate most of my life from my cell phone, and I am sure most people could say the same thing. I’ve always felt like cell phone insurance was a waste of money, but I am intrigued by the pitch I received from…

News & Features

Scout Comes to Windows 8!

I love my Lumia, but I will be honest — Nokia’s HERE Maps and HERE Drive are not my favorites. They are perfectly fine, but they lack many bells and whistles. It was hard giving up Scout when I left the iPhone, and I am thrilled that Scout is coming to Windows Phone 8! For those who aren’t familiar, Scout is an amazing navigation service powered by Telenav. It helps you map your routes, find points of interest, and monitor multiple choices for the best traffic flow. It also offers additional features like traffic alerts, voice commands, and voice guidance…

Editorials

Why Does Google Hate Windows Phone?

Whether or not you’re a fan of Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, there’s one issue both fans and detractors both recognize: there is a definite lack of Google support in the apps. It’s not just the lack of Google Maps, but also the lack of a Gmail app, a Google+ app, and worst of all, no official YouTube app. That last one has been the subject of a fair amount of drama as of late, with Microsoft creating an app, getting it blocked by Google, collaborating with Google, releasing a new YouTube app, and getting it blocked again. So what’s…

Editorials

Barnes and Noble Continues Their Confused Path

I’ll admit that I’ve done my fair share of kicking Barnes and Noble. I think they’ve let themselves be run in two contradictory directions (being a digital company versus being a bookstore) for too long, and their half-hearted attempts to bridge the two were too promotional and short-term to make a real difference. At this point, though, criticizing B&N feels almost mean — when so much is going so wrong, is it really helpful to pile on and point out how much worse things really look? What’s looking so scary? Well, for starters, it looks like the company has no…

News & Features

Windows Phone and Gmail Finally Learn to Play Better

Thanks to the latest Windows Phone update, Windows Phone finally syncs properly with Gmail — bringing along all of your shared calendars and properly formatted emails. No more shredded MIME-reformatted emails! One of the common objections to Windows Phone is the lack of Google services integration. There are some obvious areas where there’s a large Google-shaped hole (the drama around the official/not official/official youtube app is an excellent example), but the biggest sticking point for me as a user of both has been the Gmail experience. However, the latest Windows Phone update has completely revamped how Gmail syncs with Windows Phone…

News & Features

PetziConnect Lets You Send Your Dog Remote Treats and Praise

Petzila is rolling out the PetziConnect, a webcam and treat dispenser designed to let you interact with your pet, even when you’re not home. Hey, it beats dogTV! My dog routinely outsmarts us. He figured out long ago that he gets treats for two reasons: someone’s at the door, and we don’t want him to eat them, or we’re leaving, and we want him to go lay down on his bed and be a good boy. Bribing him when guests are over is easy since we can keep an eye on him, but the problem with the treats+leaving combo is…

Editorials

Is “Textspeak” Ruining Communication?

At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, I can’t help but rant about the creeping specter of textspeak in everyday communications. With smartphones and full keyboards, there’s no excuse to not spell out your words! I have a big fear about the future of the written word. No, I’m not about to give you an anti-eBook screed; you’ll never see me parting from my beloved Kindle. And I think Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post is very intriguing. Rather, I am terribly afraid for the literal words, as more and more textspeak is making its way into everyday and professional contexts….

Articles by Zek