News & Features | Gear Diary

PropellerHead Releases ‘Figure’ Music Making Tool for iOS!

If you have been making music on computers for any amount of time, you shoud definitely know the company name PropellerHead. They make software such as Rebirth, Traktor, Reason, Thor and many others that have amassed a huge following amongst musicians. They have already brought Rebirth to iOS … and now they are bringing Figure, a tool for ‘instant musical inspiration’. Here is the description: Create an addictive beat before the next bus stop or lay down a beefy bass line while waiting in line at the bank. Figure will have you making music within seconds yet is deep enough…

News & Features

Amazon Instant Video Lands on the Playstation 3!

One of the best things about the Kindle Fire and Roku for me is the Amazon Instant Video service tied in with my Amazon Prime membership. I love all of the available movies and shows, and made frequent use of them. Now Amazon is extending the reach of the service – to the Playstation 3! Here are some details: Good news — Prime Instant Video is now available on PlayStation 3. Since launching a year ago, we’ve more than tripled our library, including titles such as Sons of Anarchy, Downton Abbey, Lost, Glee, 24, Deadliest Catch, SpongeBob SquarePants, Office Space,…

News & Features, Travel

Skooba Design’s New Security Brief Laptop Bags Works for All Travelers

If you travel a lot… or even a little, then you will want to check out Skooba Design’s new Checkthrough Security Brief bags. The bags are the next generation in Skooba’s line of Checkpoint-Friendly bags. Checkpoint-Friendly bags, something Skooba helped introduce to the marketplace, comply with TSA requirements and let you send the bag through airport screening without having to first remove the laptop. As Skooba Design explains, Aside from the obvious convenience of not having to remove the laptop, Checkpoint-Friendly bags help prevent damage, and minimize the chances that the laptop will be one of the tens of thousands lost…

Music Diary, News & Features

IK Multimedia Ships iKlip Studio for iPad

At CES and NAMM (and beyond), IK Multimedia introduced a number of cool new products. Some – such as DJ Rig – have already been released (and I am finishing up my review now), while we are still waiting for others such as iStomp and iRig Mix. But now we have shipping news for another cool product – the iKlip Studio stand for the iPad! Here are some details: iKlip Studio is constructed of lightweight, shock-resistant, durable thermoplastic material that reliably supports the iPad in both horizontal and vertical positions. Rubber foot pads grip the desktop surface and prevent unwanted…

News & Features

Love Bacon? Now You Can Take Your Love to the Grave!

You are born. You live. You die. And now … you can be buried in a BACON coffin! According to a local NBC news story, a Seattle company named J & D’s Foods – the guys behind products such as Baconaisse and BaconLube – have just introduced the Bacon Coffin. Here is their description: Is there a better way to show your love of bacon forever than to be buried wrapped in it? We don’t think so. This genuine bacon casket is made of 18 Gauge Gasketed Steel with Premium Bacon Exterior/Interior, and includes a Memorial and Record Tube, Adjustable…

News & Features

Twitter Meets Toilet Humor with Sh-tter

Before I get into Sh-tter, the Twitter Toilet Paper (and yes, it is a real product!), I need to share a quick story. You see, this is not my first experience with novelty toilet paper. After college my friend made extra money by advertising moving services on Craigslist, and somehow a bunch of us got sucked into helping. One of our jobs was to pack a U-Haul for a grad student who was moving, and his biggest concern was packing the room full of “Sh*t-Be-Gone” toilet paper he was selling. It is the only time in my life someone has…

News & Features

Bluetooth Earrings Let You Walk, Talk AND Look Stylish

Here’s a piece of ear-wear that you aren’t going to want to miss. We already KNOW that everything goes better with Bluetooth. Still, who wants to walk about with something stuck in their ear? It look funky, it feels funky and preferring the sound being injected into your ear canal, it blocks out the sound that is right around you. Well Judie has been Beta-testing a new approach for some time now and it is ready to be shared with the world. Yes, you would never know that Judie was wearing a Bluetooth headset… she is. In fact, you can…

News & Features

500 iPads Purchased for Most Unlikely Use, Entertaining Cows

A mid-western dairy is reportedly purchasing 500 iPads for use in a most unusual way. They have found that having an iPad at eye-level, playing music and showing slides of other cows, while milking takes place yields up to 50% more milk and the milk that results is sweeter than normal. “I just stumbled upon this by accident after my wife Jane purchased me an iPad for Valentines Day.” said the owner of the farm. (He requested that he not be identified.) Now here is the funny thing- it seems that different cows like different types of music and imagery…

News & Features

Gevey Ultra S Carrier Unlock – Multiple Versions and Multiple Confusion

About a month ago the iPhone 4s unlocks started to appear. This is an excellent thing if you want to use your locked iPhone 4s (especially AT&T users!) outside of your normal carrier. Since AT&T fees overseas are astronomical and don’t even work in all countries (even when the GSM radios support connection) this is one of the only ways to handle traveling if you have an AT&T iPhone 4S. Among the recent entries into this arena is Gevey, long known to be the “high quality” player in the unlock world. Well this time I think they made a mistake and…

News & Features

StarTech’s New USB 3.0 HDD Docking Station

If you build computers or do any maintenance on computers or just want a quick way to offload the data off of an old hard drive, then StarTech.com has a new solution for you. Their new HDD docking station supports 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch SATA or IDE hard disks and connects to your computer with the faster USB 3.0 standard. It’s supported on pretty much every OS out there as well. The dock will allow you to: Connect a SATA and IDE hard drive at the same time or separately, through a single USB 3.0 connection at up to…

News & Features

Nokia Lumia 900 Now Available for Pre-Order from AT&T

For those chomping at the bit for the Nokia Lumia 900, AT&T is now offering the phone up for pre-order on their website. Retailing off-contract for $449.99 or $99.00 with contract, this has been a heavily anticipated phone in Windows Phone circles. For me, this device will mark my departure from the Android realm for the first time in nearly two years, so I am very excited to give the Lumia 900 a whirl. Sporting a 4G LTE, a 4.3″AMOLED screen, Carl Zeiss optics with an 8 MP primary camera with dual LED flash, autofocus, a 1 MP front camera…

News & Features

Missing some Zzzs? Try zsnuz Nap App for iPad/iPhone

It’s a curious thing, perception of Time as a child as compared to that of an adult’s. As children, Time was a thing without meaning as we played and played, until our parents found us and compelled us to take a nap. Suddenly Time became a precious commodity, now subjugated by cruel Afternoon Nap rudely interrupting fun. As adults, however, Time can seem to be a slave under the domination of the twin temporal tyrants Responsibility and Obligation. Meeting deadlines, raising children, maintaining a home and so forth devours our time and more than a few beleaguered adults wish for…

News & Features

Reflection for Mac Puts Your iOS Device on the Big Screen

It is rare for an application to make me go “Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” but the Mac app Reflections just had me do exactly that. Seriously, this small utility is one of the best things to come along in quite some time. Be aware that it is only useful if you use a Mac and an iOS device but if that IS your current gear set-up… Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! You see, I’ve always wanted a way to have my iPhone or iPad running on my Mac AND still have the ability to use the Mac. Think about how…

News & Features

Just Mobile AluCube Mini Joins the Tangled Cable War

Just Mobile makes some great accessories that always combine style and function. They have just rolled out their latest offering and it brings simplicity of style to the fight against tangled, loose and lost cables. At first pass the Just Mobile AluCube Mini is an accessory in search of a purpose. The more I thought about it, however, the more I thought this might be a useful accessory. Then I sat down at the kitchen island, saw the jumble of iPhone, iPad and MacBook air cables and realized that this is a great little accessory. Here’s what they have to…

News & Features

Jabra SUPREME UC, Calls At Your Desk and On the Go

We reviewed the Jabra SUPREME last year. It is the first non-stereo headset that includes Active Noise Cancellation. It is a bit bigger than I usually like but it sounds great and is a good choice if you are in the market for a new BT headset. Here’s what we had to say at the time I’m really impressed with the Jabra Supreme. It is comfortable, sounds good and offers all of the features that I want and need in a headset. The active noise cancellation is an interesting new feature. It works quite well and allows for good…

News & Features

Is This the End of Privacy?

Privacy on the Internet is a very slippery idea. We share information voluntarily, through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media. Information gets shared involuntarily through hacking, or by companies tracking our purchases and browsing habits to glean clues about how to make us their ideal customer. But Slate has an article today on a new way to learn about people online that is passive, technologically advanced, and nearly impossible to avoid: eye tracking using front-facing cameras. It sounds like the stuff out of paranoid science fiction, and right now it is. However, as Slate astutely points out, more and…

Music Diary, News & Features

Metallica Releases a New Song from their Live DVD

Back in 2009 Metallica played in Mexico in front of 150,000 fans, and released the show on the DVD called Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México. Be sure to check out the stunning DVD of Metallica performing live in front of 150,000 fans at three sold out shows in Mexico City. Filmed during the World Magnetic Tour, Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and as a Deluxe Box Set in the MetStore at Metallica.com Now they are preparing to play an epic set at the…

News & Features

Your Ferret Doesn’t Want to Run!

Okay, maybe the headline is a bit misleading. You see, it is not that “your ferret doesn’t want to run!” as much as it is the fact that your ferret “won’t enjoy running”. Yes, researchers have determined that ferrets do not get the same “runners high” that humans and dogs get when they run. Now, this leads to a few questions: -Why did the researchers choose ferrets? Were ordinary house cats so disinterested in running that they didn’t even show up for the study? -How did researchers measure this? Did the ferrets run on little ferret-sized treadmills or normal human sized…

News & Features

Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates

When Judie was in New York last month we had the opportunity to attend a special Nokia event and spent some hands-on time with the Nokia Lumia 710, 800 and 900 Windows Phones. We were, and are, impressed. And we left the event with our own shiny new Lumia 710s courtesy of Nokia! They are nice phones that, on contract, can be had for no more than a song. (You can read Judie’s full review here.) They look quite nice and feel good in the hand. Yes, there is something to be said about smaller phones that actually fit IN…

News & Features

The Stark Contrast Between iOS and Android Platform Adoption

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, look at the picture above – it shows the iOS 5.1 adoption rate since the new version was made available on March 6th alongside the announcement of the new iPad, as compiled by developer David Smith. After two weeks … 63% of the total userbase had switched. And that percentage includes folks who have iOS 3 limited devices like my first-gen iPod Touch (or first gen iPhone), or iOS 4 limited devices like anything before the iPhone 3GS. If you were looking just at ‘opportunities’, the percentage would be even…

News & Features

Is Microsoft Going to Get Smoked by Their Own Challenge?

When your platform is at a very delicate time, you really cannot afford having negative press about a promotion get more viral attention than the promotion itself. This is a problem facing Microsoft today based on some stories related to the latest version of their ‘Smoked by Windows Phone’ challenge. The challenge started out simply enough – timed simple tasks with a $100 prize. The tasks required user interaction, and were obviously designed to favor Windows Phone. But last week Microsoft upped the ante to a custom Hunger Games PC worth $1000! That obviously brought in more challengers. Of course,…