Editorials | Gear Diary

iTunes Takes Me Down Memory Lane

One of the benefits to reentering the iOS ecosystem is easy access to the music I have in iTunes. Yes, I could drag and drop albums onto the SD card in my Droid, and I did have a few albums on it, but one thing that iOS does far better is music sync. I’ve been enjoying just listening to tracks on random, especially things I haven’t listened to in some time. It made me realize there’s some stuff I still love from my high school days, as well as things I like but not nearly as much as I did…

Editorials

Farewell, Android

As regular readers of Gear Diary may know, I used an original Droid for almost two years. In fact, up until a few months ago, I was totally convinced my next phone would be an Android device. But Android and I had a falling out, and I picked up an iPhone 4s on Friday. Why? And is the learning curve tough? Read on for my thoughts! First, there’s the “why”. A few things dragged me away from my little robot friends. One, Android is becoming increasingly fractured. It seems as though the only way to guarantee timely updates and continued…

Editorials

Is the New Vertu Constellation Just a Gussied Up and Dumbed Down Nokia C7?

Vertu is now taking reservations for the newest Constellation, their first touch-screen model, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Nokia C7. Okay, the uncanny resemblance is actually an intentional resemblance, as I have it on direct authority from a Vertu rep that this is the phone the Constellation is “most like”. Now obviously it is nothing new for Vertu to offer a phone with many similarities to currently available Nokias (witness the Vertu Constellation Quest), but in my ownership experience there are always a few disparities between the Nokia version and the Vertu version, and it bothers me. Let’s start with the…

Editorials

Enough Fun and Games; Tips and Tricks for Using Siri for Productivity

Siri is a lot of fun to play with, but it is time to get down to business. After all, with a little bit of patience and a few (many?) tweaks, Siri can become an amazingly useful productivity service. Truth be told, for the first few hours I was trying Siri I thought it was a big fat fail. After making some of the changes I want to share with all of you however, I already can’t see having to go without it. So let’s jump right on in. Home Button? You don’t need no stinkin’ Home Button Yes, you…

Editorials, Game Diary

Gear Games Guest Viewpoint: Jeff Vogel on Why “You Can’t Have Every Game for a Dollar”

Today we have a special treat: Jeff Vogel is providing a guest editorial on game pricing. Vogel is the founder, CEO, and primary developer of Spiderweb Software – a company that was making ‘old school’ RPGs before it was hip to do so, and from the very start using the ‘shareware’ model of a generous demo with paid unlocking that we see so often now under the guise of ‘in-app purchases’. Many of the games Mac & PC RPG fans love now – such as “Eschalon Book 1 & 2” from Basilisk Games, “Depths of Peril” and “Din’s Curse” from…

Editorials

iPhone 4S First Impressions

Carly got her iPhone 4S first thing in the morning. If my recollection is correct, by 8:30am she was on her way to work with a newly activated handset. Her first “Siri-enabled” email came just moments later. I was less fortunate. UPS didn’t arrive until much later in the day and, once the phone arrived, it still didn’t work for hours thanks to AT&T forgetting that there would be a number of phones needing to be activated.Their system choked and my iPhone was, at least for the first few hours, a brick. It was a beautiful brick but it was…

Editorials

Let the iPhone 6 Rumors Begin… WE Already Have the “Proof”

I was reading through my feeds today and a story on Droid Life cropped up about some pictures appearing on Picasa that were tagged as being taken by a Droid RAZR and the Galaxy Nexus. Both phones are all but confirmed, with tons of evidence throughout the web, but these pics are being labeled as evidence as the phone being out real soon now. They may actually be out, but posting pictures that purportedly came from the devices is hardly evidence. Why do I say that? I will show you. The above picture was taken with my Droid 2. Yeah…

Editorials, News & Features

Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0: Pre-Order Priced for Certain Death

Today GalaxyTabLife is reporting that J&R has the new Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0 available for pre-order in 16 and 32GB configurations. That is great news – the original Galaxy Tab had a number of fans at Gear Diary, even if overall sales were extremely lackluster (especially since Samsung dumped 1 – 2 million into the channel and only sold <10% of them). The new ‘reboot’ version ups the specs to pretty standard levels for late 2011, with 1.2GHz dual core processor, Honeycomb OS, 1GB RAM, and updated cameras. Unfortunately it looks like Samsung either missed what has happened in…

eBooks, Editorials

B&N Pulls 100 DC Comics Titles in Protest of Kindle Fire

I want to root for B&N. They’re fighting for survival, and facing off against a seriously tough market. But their behavior this week makes me think the wheels are coming off a bit at B&N HQ, and that fear and stress, not strategy, are running the show right now. They’ve pulled 100 DC Comics titles from their physical stores (the titles are still available online), all over anger regarding DC’s exclusive deal with Amazon to bring the same 100 titles to the Kindle (Fire and tablet apps). Teleread picked up this report from Bleeding Cool about Amazon’s exclusivity: Well now…

Editorials

Jobs Remembered: Low Tech Tributes to the Man Who Made Tech Mainstream

This picture from an El Paso, Texas Apple Store says it all. Post Its used as a tribute to the Thomas Edison of our times… an irony El Jobso himself would probably appreciate. Thanks for the picture, Sarah!!

Editorials

OS X Lion Quick Tip: Reorder Windows in Mission Control

UPDATE (With apologies): Turns out this is only in the current Lion Beta, something I never would have imagined. Thanks to Rodney for pointing it out. We’ll let you know when it makes its way into a full release since it is quite useful! The more I use OS X Lion the more I like the features it brought to the Mac and, although it can be a bit inconsistent, I am really learning to appreciate fullscreen apps. I’m liking Mission Control more and more too. The only issue I have had has been the fact that when I…

Editorials

Which iPhone 4S to Buy?

It is a strange irony that is not lost on any of us. The iPhone 4S is announced mid-day on Tuesday, word of Steve Job’s death comes the following evening, and the new iPhone starts pre-orders start at 12:01 AM PST. No doubt some people will suggest it should be delayed. I never had the honor of meeting Jobs, but my guess is he wouldn’t even dignify that with a response, well — maybe a two-word email like “Plans stays…” but not an actual response. So which iPhone 4S to get? What Color? This is an issue of personal taste, but…

eBooks, Editorials

Why Amazon Cares More About Content Than Apple

If you’re looking for proof that Amazon and Apple are very different in their approaches to hardware/software, look no further than how they handle library books. Or, more specifically, how Amazon handles ebooks and Apple handles audiobooks. Let’s look at the process to download an ebook to my Kindle from my local library. I head to the library website, select the book I want, check out, choose “Get for Kindle”, and then Amazon handles sending the book over WiFi to my Kindle. If I’m not near WiFi, I can download the title and use USB to transfer it to my…

eBooks, Editorials

State of the eBook: It’s a Post-Kindle Fire World!

In case you missed it, Amazon debuted not one (or even two) but FOUR new Kindle models this week. Even more shocking, only one of them was rumored! Apparently, Amazon has hired Apple’s rumor crackdown team; either that or everyone was so excited for an Amazon tablet we didn’t see the signs of new Kindles right under our noses. So here’s the new Kindle family: -Kindle: $79 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi: $99 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi+3G: $149 [eInk] -Kindle Fire (Android tablet: $199 [color] Note that the three eInk Kindle prices are the “special offers” versions. Non-subsidized Kindles are available…

Editorials, Game Diary

Android Fragmentation: Some Perspective from the Developers of ‘Magic Defenders’

The other day I wrote about my frustration about the state of fragmentation in the Android ecosystem, citing my inability to buy the game Magic Defenders for my Acer Iconia A100 7″ Honeycomb-based tablet. I have been fortunate in the two of the developers from Clueless Ideas, the company making the game, have reached out to me – and one even commented on my post! His reply was thoughtful and insightful – and I thought it warranted being highlighted. When I saw in my email that someone from the developing company was commenting, my initial concern was that they didn’t…

Editorials

Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ Arrives but Will It Be Enough?

I recently wrote about my initial experiences with the HTC 7 Pro from U.S. Cellular and commented on some early concerns about Windows Phone 7.5, aka the ‘Mango’ update that some are touting as what will save Windows Phone and enable Microsoft to lead the smartphone market. Despite early concerns and more recent issues with Windows Phone Marketplace ‘spam’, most early reports indicated that Mango is what Windows Phone 7 SHOULD have been a year ago. No one really knows exactly what the mobile market will look like five years from now – and certainly any analysts in 2006 making…

Editorials, Game Diary

Android Fragmentation: Alive and Devastating Android Gaming Efforts

I love Tower Defense games such as Plants vs. Zombies and Fieldrunners, so when I saw a link on Google+ for a great new tablet / Honeycomb based TD game I got excited! When I heard it was a magic-based variant on the genre, I was intrigued and based on a couple of comments I was pretty well sold! Here is the description of Magic Defenders HD: Ready for magic circles, spells and an endless army of orcs? Be the hero and defend your village from the evil orcs in three different invasion episodes. You will fight in the forest,…

Editorials

No, Facebook is NOT Going to Be Charging for Service!

Last night my son came to me with a message some of his Facebook friends had been circulating. He knew that there was a big Facebook announcement last week, but didn’t know if it involved instituting paid service levels. I told him ‘no’ and thought no more. Until this morning, when a post at the Consumerist told me that this message was much more widespread than a bunch of eighth graders. The image above is from the IT security blog at Sophos, and you can see it refers to ‘this summer’, as this message already got passed around earlier this…

Great Depression Bread Line, FDR Memorial, Washington D.C., photo taken by Flickr user Damon Green

Editorials

Dear Politicians, It Is Time to Fix This!

photo taken at the FDR Memorial in Washington D.C., by Flickr user Damon Green Let us be perfectly upfront here: this post is overtly political, and we don’t apologize for that fact. It is not Conservative or Liberal or even a Libertarian post. It is overtly political, but it calls out Democrats and Republicans alike. Yes, this post is political, but it is a “people post” because it is talking about our lives, our livelihood, and the American economy. Okay, enough disclaimer. Dan is reading a book called Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. The book starts…

Editorials

Are We Suffering Through An Anti-Intellectualism Backlash?

A few months ago I had started writing up an article called “Study: ‘Being Green’ Isn’t About Saving the Planet, But Pushing an Elitist Agenda” which I will get to shortly … but today there was an article about the “10 Things That Are Killing Indie Music in 2011”. And #1? “Suspicion of intellectualism”. The basis of the argument is that we are at a point where something that seems ‘smart’ shouldn’t be trusted, and should be rejected for being elitist: any semblance of intellectualism — or any divergence from popular opinion, for that matter — tends to get you…

Editorials, Game Diary

Video Games and Marriage: Game Related Divorce Rampant in Real and Virtual Worlds!

I have no intent to make light of divorce or marriage or anything else related to human relationships – they are tough enough as it is. But recently there have been a couple of reports related to video games and divorce that I found interesting. So let’s dive right in! While just about any hobby involving a significant singular time commitment can cause strain in a marriage – my father and a couple of his friends called themselves ‘quilting widows’, and there are people I work with who go on fishing/hunting/camping weekends, and on and on – it seems that…