News & Features | Gear Diary

Dave Chisholm Releases ‘Bonus Track’ for Calligraphy

As 2011 ended I reviewed Dave Chisholm’s ‘Calligraphy’ and had this to say: ‘Calligraphy’ surprised me by how much I liked the entire thing. With Radioactive I enjoyed the album, but only truly fell in love with one song that has stuck with me for more than 18 months and countless new releases crossing my iPod. ‘Calligraphy’ has a uniform excellence in composition, playing, and overall execution that will keep it on my iPod and recommended listening list for a long time to come. I can’t wait to see what Dave comes up with next. The album impressed me enough…

News & Features

Twelve South’s BackPack Shelf for iMac and Apple Displays Gets Refresh and Redesign

Twelve South’s very first Apple-only accessory was the BackPack Shelf for the iMac and pole Display. It is one of those small, unassuming accessories that you might not necessarily NEED, but you can’t do without once you start using it. Now they have gone and made three different enhancements to it. As they note, Three years after Twelve South released BackPack, its very first product, the company unveils an elevated new version of the tiny shelf with three major enhancements. Designed exclusively for iMacs and Apple Displays, BackPack now features vertical support pegs, built-in cable management rails and the option…

News & Features

U.S. Cellular Adding Two Hot New Motorola Phones This Week!

Have you seen the recent U.S. Cellular campaign on Twitter? It is called #HelloBetter and it focuses on recent data showing how dissatisfied most people are with their carriers, and highlights how U.S. Cellular has the highest satisfaction ratings of any carrier. Unfortunately as a regional carrier, only certain folks have access to their service – but if you do, check this out! Recently it seems that smartphone makers are keen to get phones quickly into the hands of U.S. Cellular, as evidenced by the recent Samsung Galaxy SIII release, and now by two hot new phones coming from Motorola…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Amazon Instant Video Comes to the iPad!

Yesterday when we talked about Hulu coming to Apple TV, my comment was that if Amazon Instant Video was also available, I would no longer have a need for the Roku. Guess what? Amazon Instant Video is now available! Here is the description: Watch thousands of titles available from Prime Instant Video at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership and over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store by installing the Amazon Instant Video app. Download purchased and rented videos from Your Video Library for offline viewing on airplanes, road trips, or any time a WiFi…

Music Diary, News & Features

Amazon Launches ‘iTunes Match’ Like Update to Cloud Player!

Today on Twitter Amazon announced a significant update to its Cloud Player system, stating: We made some improvements to Amazon Cloud Player today. Have questions? Get them answered here: http://amzn.to/P53LPf Well … since it is Twitter there is little info provided. Here are the basics: Amazon Cloud Player is a service that enables customers to securely store music in the cloud and play it wherever they are on a Kindle Fire, Android phone, Android tablet, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, or PC. Amazon Cloud Player now has more benefits, including: •Faster music import for Cloud Player using scan and match…

Music Diary, News & Features

Spotify Brings Free Radio to Android!

Last month Spotify launched a free radio service for iOS devices, marking a departure for the company as previously only Premium users ($9.99/month) had access to the service on mobile devices. Today Spotify has launched the free radio for Android devices as well. Here are the details: Play everywhere ? Tap into millions of songs wherever. Just like the desktop, mobile radio has the entire Spotify catalog to choose from. Just create stations ? Create stations based on any artist, album or playlist, and Spotify brings users one great song after another. They can skip a song if they don’t…

News & Features

Hulu Plus Comes to Apple TV… Finally.

Both Mike and I use Hulu Plus… a lot. In fact, I find myself watching more and more of my shows through Hulu than through my cable box. Yes, so long as the shows are available through Hulu that is where I am watching them. I especially love the ability to watch pretty much anywhere, on my iPhone, on my iPad or on my TV through my Roku box. Well, as of today there is another option. Yes, Hulu Plus comes to Apple TV today. New subscribers get a week free trial when creating a Hulu Plus account. You can…

Music Diary, News & Features, Reviews

Griffin MIDIConnect for iPad Hands-On Review

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the release at Summer NAMM of the Griffin MIDIConnect, and that the great folks at Griffin sent me one to evaluate. I have had a chance to put it through its paces and found it did the job perfectly, and even offered some other reasons to check it out. Read on and find out! The Hype: Now you can plug your MIDI keyboards and other devices into your iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad. Use MIDIConnect’s MIDI IN port to play your MIDI-capable instruments and controllers into GarageBand or other MIDI apps. Download…

News & Features

Have a Nexus 7? Waterfield Design Has You Covered

If you got one of Google’s already-popular Nexus 7 tablets no doubt you want a way to keep it protected. Waterfield has options… lots of options. In fact, WaterField offers so many different options that they are calling it a “line of Nexus 7 cases“. What’s in the line? There the Nexus 7 Smart Case, the Nexus 7 Ultimate SleeveCase, the Nexus 7 Slip Case, the Nexus 7 Suede Jacket, and the Nexus 7 Travel Express. As WaterField Designs owner, Gary Waterfield put it, With the Google Nexus 7 flying off shelves and the 16GB version delayed, many eager early adopters…

News & Features

With Dragon 12 Voice Recognition Gets Smarter… and Faster

The global voice recognition in Apple’s new Mountain Lion operating system is already by far my favorite feature. It is incredibly fast, quite accurate (when I speak slowly and clearly in a quiet room), and it’s so easily accessed (you hit Fn twice) that it makes voice recognition something you don’t even need to think about before you start using it. No matter what you are doing it’s right there (so long as you have a data connection). It is not perfect, however, and if you need something more powerful than simple, small pieces of voice-to-text recognition, then you will…

Music Diary, News & Features, Reviews

If You Want to Get ‘Real’, Get SampleTank! My Hands-On Review

When I did my hands-on quickie review of the iRig MIDI hardware and software, my iPad was sitting on top of one of the classic powerhouse synthesizers of the 90s, the Kurzweil K2000R. Aside from the powerful synthesis capabilities in the VAST engine, the system also featured a tremendous sample-playback capability. It cost thousands of dollars 20 years ago, and will still set you back at least a few hundred dollars on eBay now. Now there is software on my iPad that can replicate the vast majority of that experience for a fraction of what I paid for the Analog…

News & Features

With Mountain Lion, Global Voice Recognition Comes to OS X and It Is Awesome

If you read the site you know how much I like, use and rely upon voice recognition. I use Siri on my iPhone more for voice recognition than for the actual “power” of Siri. I use global voice recognition on my iPad ALL THE TIME. And on my Mac I use Dragon Dictation and Dragon Express all the time. With Mountain Lion Apple is bringing global voice recognition to the Mac. Sure, it has some of the same limitation as iOS voice recognition in that is requires a data connection and there is a limitation on how long you can…

Music Diary, News & Features

American Public Media Launches New Interactive Stations on Slacker Radio

Back when I lived near Boston I had a long commute, and in the evenings I would occasionally end up stuck in traffic long enough to catch Marketplace on NPR radio. It was a mixed feeling – on the one hand I have always loved the show, on the other hand it meant I was late getting home. Today American Public Media (home of Marketplace and others) has teamed up with Slacker to launch public radio programming on all of Slacker’s clients. As I type this I am listening to Marketplace talk about the impact of Sally Ride on women…

News & Features

International Supply’s iCircle Puts a Ring on Your iPad

We’ve seen a plethora of iPad cases that have plastic ringed cutouts covering the Apple logo on the iPad’s back; they usually work so that the plastic ring rotates in the rear cover to allow the iPad to be propped up in either landscape or portrait mode. While I like the general idea and function behind this type system, I haven’t yet seen a rotating ring case that I liked enough to use. The International Products iCircle, however, looks pretty promising. Judging by the photo and the way the cutouts are placed, I’d still be able to use my Miniot…

Events, News & Features

“Sound Matters” As DTS Completes Acquisition of SRS Labs

Sound Matters! That was the central message offered by DTS CEO John Kirchner during a Press call on DTS completing the acquisition of SRS Labs. This deal paves the way to offer “best in class” audio solutions. As he put it, We are very well positioned through a combination of the technologies in pre and post-processing to deliver the solutions that our customers want and need. This positioning is especially true in the areas of mobile, connected TV and automotive audio as there are “significant opportunities to enhance audio in those areas”. It is difficult to get quality, convenience and…

News & Features

App Store Curation Means You Sometimes Need To… Wait

As much as possible, I get my apps through Apple’s Mac App Store. The free apps I got through a direct download have now been removed, and I have redownloaded the App Store versions through Apple. My reasoning is simple. Since I’m a Mac user, and expect that will not change, the Mac App Store lets me have all my apps in one place and gives me a simple way to download updates or redownload then whenever I move to a new computer. This does, however, put Apple in control of the process and that is not without its issues….

News & Features

At SemiCon Technical Conference, 450mm Silicon Gets REAL!

If you have never worked in the semiconductor industry, much of what goes on seems like intentionally obfuscated jargon and black magic. And for many years it was – or at least it seemed to be – as empirical knowledge outstripped theoretical understanding, and yields were more a factor of skilled process engineers at the knobs than of robust and thoroughly understood processes running in statistical control. When I got involved in the semiconductor industry, wafer size was 100mm (4 inches) with a ‘flat’ along one or both edges, and a rather ‘generous’ edge exclusion area and ‘kerf’ between device…

Editorials, News & Features, Travel

Full Body Scans, the TSA and the Law: The Legal Maneuvers Continue

I used to travel a lot — basically once a week. I had a job in California, but my family lives in Austin. (it was 2008–I took whatever I could find.) So I spent a lot of time in airports, eating, pulling luggage, searching for power outlets, unlacing and relacing my shoes, and getting scanned. Over that period, airports were transitioning from X-Ray-only to those “strip you naked” full-body scanners. To say that I am dubious about these devices, their use, the lack of privacy, and so on would be a massive understatement. The makers of the most popular machines…

News & Features

New Line of Harman Kardon Headphones “Bring Superior Sound, Comfort and Audio Innovation”

In Harman Kardon’s new line of headphones “modern design meets sophisticated acoustic performance”. And while we cannot vouch for the sound (yet!), the look and specs of the lineup are impressive. The collection includes a pair of in-ear headphones that cost under $100 and a soon-to-be-released pair of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones at the top of the pricing structure. Here’s a rundown of the collection. At the low-end of the pricing structure are the in-ear NI headphones. At just $99.95 these headphones feature 9mm drivers. Ultra-light for comfort, the headphones have a rectangular black housing that is “shaped like the back…

News & Features

AT&T Joins the Shared Data Game

So I’m working though my latest summer sinus headache and I see the news – AT&T has finally announced (as expected) that they are going to follow Verizon in offering shared data plans. And, like Verizon’s offering, the plans all include unlimited voice and texting plus a fixed amount of data. The primary difference you notice between the AT&T and Verizon offerings is that Verizon charges a fixed $40 per smartphone and AT&T lowers the per smartphone cost as you increase the amount of data you purchase. But Verizon’s “base” charges tend to be lower (per GB) as you get…

News & Features

Total ArKade Software Conjures Up Major Update for AbraWordabrA for iOS and Android

Back in the dim, dark past of the latter portion of the last century, learning math was a laborious, tedious job for me. It likely wasn’t all that exciting to my friends and classmates back in the day either. Improving our math skills consisted largely of poring over printed material and flash cards, with an occasional rare foray into a few educational programs on TV. For the most part, learning math was often BORING. The upshot is that we got to inhale the sweet odor of the blue mimeographed quiz/test papers, part of the educational rites of a bygone era….