An article this morning mentions a service which blocks annoying robocalls. These calls are mostly illegal and advertise dubious services. I regularly receive robocalls to create or enhance a web site that I could have done myself for free. Why hasn’t Google Voice implemented a solution blocking these? Is it because Google Voice is (all but) dead?
We received a marketing email from Case-Mate this morning that’s left me scratching my head. No, it’s not that they’re still pushing overpriced bedazzled cases, nor is it that they think the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift is an iPhone case; it’s that they imply case choices are very clearly gendered: men need rugged cases, but women want sparkly ones.
It’s important to have goals. The new year is an excellent time for new goals, and I thought I would share them here on Gear Diary, as they are oriented around emergency preparedness as well as new radio gear. This year I am planning 2 radio purchases with the second helping me to better serve the community.
Apple announced its earnings yesterday, which featured loads of record-setting device sales numbers and revenue and profit figures so high they are hard to fathom. Even Mac sales saw a significant boost while the rest of the PC industry marked another double-digit declines. The one area not even mentioned? iPod sales, which continue their decline in a no-update year.
If any company wants to go right for the jugular with Google, they should focus on the poor experience of using multiple Google accounts. Google has struggled since inception to get this right. Multiple accounts kinda work — but only intermittently and awkwardly; add the desperate prompt to create a Google+ account for every email, and it’s chaos.
It seems everyone who reviews Windows Phone 8 loves it, they just “aren’t in love with it”. And Nokia Q4 2013 sales figures show a product category limping so badly it couldn’t eek out a sales gain during the recent holiday quarter. No doubt Microsoft will keep pushing Windows Phone, but is that enough?
The other day Dan shared a video on the Gear Diary ‘back channel’ that is really amazing. It shows a music video in French with the singer slowly being photoshopped over the course of a song. It is an amazing video – but what I didn’t know at first was it came from The Verge, because the link said ‘Feedly’.
I noticed the smell before I saw the smoke: I looked to my right, and that’s where I saw the problem — tiny sparks and a rapidly melting sheath near the end of the Apple cable that was charging my iPhone 5S. I immediately unplugged it before flames took over; crisis averted, but why did it happen?
I do a great deal of my blogging for Gear Diary on my iPad. It’s partly a convenience thing, as I can work on posts from wherever I am, and it’s partly that I have my system down so well with iOS that anything else just throws a wrench in my workflow.
Our friends at Skooba Design and Saddlebck Leather both go the extra mile to create bags that last and last. Creating durable, long-lasting products isn’t necessarily great for business since it cuts down on repeat and replacement purchases. Knockoffs however, that’s where the real money is. In this video Saddleback Leather shows you how to get started.
I recently purchased a new case with a bluetooth keyboard for my Nexus 7. After a while, I really started to like using the keyboard. There will be a full review of the case coming but I wondered: Could I use it to write posts here on Gear Diary? The answer is yes! However, it does have some quirks.
I was at Staples the other day and saw some of the new Windows 8 based tablets that have recently been released. Specifically, the Dell Venue 8 Pro. It is based on the new quad core Atom chip and uses a whole lot less power than the chips they used in netbooks. The question is: Will it run Linux? The answer is complicated.
Technology Predictions for 2014 are here and it’s a predictable theme – new ways to offer the most popular tech. We put a lot of value in technology and media, so we don’t feel important unless we’re doing something with it…and quickly. Here are some predictions for tech trends in 2014.
If someone suggested to me a year ago we would be looking back at data showing that more than 21% of laptops sold last year were Chromebooks … I would have laughed heartily in their face. I mean, to me these were pretty much netbooks that only run a browser. Yet that is the reality at the end of 2013.
Barnes and Noble tried to bury some very bad news by releasing it during CES-NOOK sales for the holiday season were dreadful. Plenty were quick to blame Amazon’s lower prices, but while that’s no doubt a factor there are some bigger issues here than prices on a few bestsellers…like marketing, and whether B&N plans to maintain the NOOK another year!
The Governor of New Jersey is in a bit of hot water and currently trying to do damage control. I won’t comment on him or his staff’s behavior but one thing became clear as he spoke. We warn young people that anything they post on social media “is forever” and, as the Governor and his staff have just learned, email is too. Yes, their callous emails about traffic jam payback were there for the taking and, once found by reporters, made public. It was, as the governor put it, “abject stupidity”. Even more stupid was outing their “abject stupidity” into…
This week Apple released the ‘best of 2013’ list, which had what they called ‘the best’ apps in different categories. But the list also had the top paid and free iPhone and iPad games and apps, and the results are not surprising, but tell us much about the trends in the gaming audience on mobile devices. I won’t repeat the entire list, you can check it out here. At the risk of spoiling my own point, can you guess what the Top 10 Grossing (i.e. the 10 apps that made the most money) apps for 2013 on iPhone and iPad…
There is a whole niche of iPhone cases designed to protect your precious phone. Otterbox, Lifeproof, Survivor, the list goes on and on. A very different type of protective niche has begun to appear, where your iPhone case is designed to protect YOU, not the phone. Would you be willing to hold a can of mace to your head? How about a stungun?
You’ve got to hand it to my friend and fellow gadget magpie, Drew Guttadore! He knows how curious I’ve been about the new ~$6,000 Android-based Vertu Constellation; because he’s also been curious about it, he recently went hands-on with one so that he could share his initial impressions … on everything but the actual Android/Vertu experience. Curious? Read on!
The other day I was at Target, and a notification sounded – it wasn’t email, or text, or Game Center or ESPN. In fact I didn’t recognize it at all – so I looked at my phone. It was Foursquare, as shown above. This was a surprise because I couldn’t recall the last time I’d even opened the app!
My wife and I have been trying in vain to keep her dying iPhone 4S alive. Last night, 1/3 of the 4S touchscreen gave up on us, and we conceded defeat and headed to the Verizon store to get her a 5C. Getting the new phone was fun, but it was even more entertaining to listen in on the various conversations and transactions around the store!