News & Features

No More Windows Phone App Shopping from Zune PC Suite

Well, it had to come sooner or later. As many users discovered the other day when Zune launched on their PCs, a message appeared asking users to restart the app to update the Zune client with new changes, Microsoft has officially nixed buying software apps for Windows Phone from the desktop PC Zune client. In his Windows Phone blog posting, Mazhar Mohammed stated Until today you could shop for Windows Phone apps and games in three places: on your phone, on the web, and via the Zune software on your PC. But we know—probably not a huge surprise here—that most…

News & Features

Striiv Fitness Motivating Pedometer Gets Smart, Gets Social

Back in January Judie and I found ourselves in an unplanned competition of sorts. Judie was using the FitBit fitness device and I was using the Striiv Smart Pedometer. The devices could not have been more different. The FitBit was black and the Striiv white. The FitBit clipped to your cloths and has a small LED readout to let you know what was what. The Striiv has a large, touchscreen face reminiscent of a tiny smartphone. The FitBit had a USB dock that, when the device was synced to your computer, tracked your progress and even offered the ability to…

Editorials, News & Features

Monsanto, Already ‘Most Evil Company of 2011’, Buys Bee Research Company to Hide Ills

There are few insects as critical to just about every part of the ecological cycle as the bee. Some estimates say that one-third of naturally grown food requires pollination by bees, including most fruits, vegetables and nuts. Coffee, soy beans and cotton are all dependent on pollination by bees to increase yields. It is the start of a food chain that also sustains wild birds and animals. And yet in recent years the bee population has been in freefall, with reports stating that a decline of 90% or more has occurred over the last few decades. The reports are not…

News & Features

Skype Now Available for Windows Phone 7.5 Devices

Windows Phone users rejoice! Microsoft has at long last released Skype v1.0 into the Windows Marketplace for supported devices. So now owners of Windows Phone 7.5 devices sporting at least 512MB RAM can now make and receive Skype calls as well as chat with contacts/friends on their handsets over 3G and 4G and of course Wi-Fi. A few important caveats, however: As previously mentioned, currently only 7.5 devices with 512MB of RAM are supported** Skype calls cannot be received if the Skype app isn’t running in the foreground (i.e., Skype must be the “active” task) Skype currently does not support…

Game Diary, Gear Bits, News & Features

Summer Release Set for Hybrid – XBLA Tactical Shooting Game

The creative team behind Scribblenauts, Run Roo Run, and Drawn to Life just released a developer walkthrough video for their new third-person tactical shooter, Hybrid.

News & Features

Want Better Sound From Your iPad? Foco-ize It! Kickstarter Project

I love my new iPad but I’m not a huge fan of the sound coming from it. Honestly, it is a bit too anemic for my taste. Sure, it gets the job done, but it could be so much better. And, in fact, it can be. Need proof? Just play something on your iPad and then cup your hand behind the speaker with the open part of your hand pointing toward you. The difference is… Amazing. By simply redirecting the sound that would otherwise go FROM you toward to the sound increases in both volume and quality. That’s the idea…

News & Features

Boston’s Fenway Park Celebrates 100 Years of Baseball Traditions

Even as the world was still reeling from the sinking of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic, a new era dawned in Boston, and in sports history. On April 20, 1912 Fenway Park opened to the public with a capacity of 35,000 seats … and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders in an extra-innings thriller to launch the storied baseball stadium. At this point, Fenway Park is the oldest professional baseball stadium. Chicago’s Wrigley Field is the only other ‘classic’ park remaining. It is also one of the most famous venues in all of sports, with many legendary moments transpiring…

Music Diary, News & Features

Rush Streams New Song in Advance of New Album Release!

Rush is no stranger to … well, just about anything at this point. Releasing their first album nearly 40 years ago, they have spent the decades remaining faithful to fans, providing some of the best prog-rock accompanied by impressive musicianship that complements without overtaking the songs. Now they are preparing a new album, ‘Clockwork Angels’ due out on June 12th. To build anticipation, they are streaming “Headlong Flight” for free in a variety of places, including an official version with lyrics streaming on YouTube. The song will be instantly recognizable to anyone with even passing familiarity with the band: Geddy Lee…

News & Features

Alienware Discontinues the m11x ‘Gaming Netbook’

Just over two years ago, I wrote my first impressions of the initial Alienware m11x ‘gaming netbook’. I found the build quality and processor a bit lacking but the design and graphics performance were excellent. About six months later, Dell released the R2 version, this time with a low-power Core i7 processor, and I absolutely adored the updated laptop. Well, except that the Optimus graphics switching system was nearly useless at launch and took some time to get correct. I always preferred the manual switching of the original system (and the Sony Vaio S-series) as it gave better battery life and…

Music Diary, News & Features

Music as Art … Sheet Music Art, That Is!

An artistic duo called ‘People Too’ from Novabrinsk in Russia are known for their amazing papercraft that seeks to bring small scenes to life, but apparently they can also bring sheet music to life as well! We all know that music is art, and therefore sheet music contains art … but it is amazing when the sheet music ITSELF becomes art! The site linked below has more than a dozen examples of great art done in between the stanzas – definitely check it out. Take a look at this one! Head to the site and check out all of them!…

Editorials, News & Features

What to Do When You Lose 800k Customers? Change Your Spokesmodel’s Wardrobe!

Or at least that seems to be the approach T-Mobile is taking! After reporting that they managed to bleed more than 800,000 customers in the US alone during the fourth quarter of last year, T-Mobile is calling 2012 a ‘building year’, meaning they will continue to lose money and bleed customers, and that hopefully someone will care when they get a REAL LTE network in 2013. And apparently part of the building strategy is playing ‘dress up’ with spokesmodel Carly Foulkes. Check out the new commercial from T-Mobile: Here is the text: Time To Set The Record Straight. What do you…

Editorials, Music Diary, News & Features

Musical Necrophilia Hits the Rap Era

It was only a matter of time before rap music started resorting to ‘Natalie Cole Syndrome’. Older performers such as the caricature ‘Snoop Doggy Dog’, the has-been Dr. Dre, and the self-parody Eminem who are seeking to show that they are hip and relevant — rather than out of touch middle-aged millionaires without a clue — have taken the EXACT SAME tactics as Cole when she sang ‘Unforgettable’ with her (late) father. I’m sure rap fans will deny it … but that is all just posturing. Sure, in typical rap fashion they inject language that shows their limited intellect and…

News & Features

Pre-Order the Sena Florence Portfolio for iPad and Save

I love Sena’s cases, and one of my favorites is their Florence for the iPad. It took some refinement to get it just right, but they did get it “just right”, and it has been one of my all time favorite iPad cases. Sadly, I can no longer use it as that is the case my wife Elana chose for HER iPad; the good news is that there is a new version of the Florence on the way. And, of course, it would not be a problem regardless, since I am more than happy to feed Elana’s gadget needs in…

News & Features, Travel

AViiQ’s Ready Clips Let You Charge and Sync Without the Mess

There is no way around it, if you use a mobile device you need to have a charge/sync cable handy. The only problem is, most cables are far linger than you usually need and, if you have more than one in a bag, they quickly become a jumble of spaghetti. That’s where AViiQ’s new Ready Clips come in. Ready Clips are small, bendable, clipable cables that go anywhere, stay mess-free and do the job. At just 19.99 to $29.99 (2 miniUSB Ready Clips are $19.99 while the 2 Apple connectors are the full $29.99) they are the perfect stocking stuffer……

Editorials, News & Features

New iPad Giving You ‘Could Not Activate Cellular Network’ Error? You’re Not Alone!

I’ve had the new iPad since launch day, and until last Monday it was the poster child for perfection – no cosmetic defects, no performance issues or problems with setup or flaky behavior. Just a great screen, excellent battery life, tremendous performance, and solid 3G connectivity (most of my home and work life puts me outside of 4G/LTE connectivity). Well … until yesterday. Since I use WiFi at home I never end up using cellular data at home unless I am out and about shuffling the kids from activity to activity. But I only use the cellular network at work,…

Editorials, News & Features

Komen Races Feeling Consequences of Planned Parenthood Gaffe

This weekend I signed my family up for the local ‘Race for the Cure’, I’ll be running the 5k and my wife and boys will be walking it. I covered the firestorm related to the Komen Foundation suddenly pulling funding for Planned Parenthood efforts in Cancer screening and health care for needy women a few months ago, so I was obviously aware of THAT dimension … but we decided to participate despite of the political mischief of the Komen leadership. Nevertheless, it definitely played into our willingness to fund-raise for the event (and my reluctance to spread links for the…

News & Features

ODOC for iPhone and iPod touch, Another Awesome Kickstarter Project I Backed!

Now that we are a two iPhone and two iPad household it makes more sense than ever to have a number of spots for charging our iOS devices. For example, I can see having a dock in the kitchen, another in the master bath and yet another in the bedroom. That way, whenever we are in one room or another we can simply drop our phones into the dock and top off the charge. I recently reviewed Element Cases’ Vapor Dock and came away impressed. Similarly, I am looking forward to getting the Elevation Dock I backed on Kickstarter a…

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

Journey Sing-Along Created in Movie Clips

Take a classic song from more than 30 years ago that gets more airplay today than most pop music, and mix it up with snips from decades of classic movies, and what do you get? Something absolutely brilliant! Check it out! Source: Buzzfeed

News & Features

Buying an iPhone, Despite Verizon’s Best Efforts!

Dan’s wife Elana was not the only Gear Diary spouse to give in to the iPhone pressure this weekend-Sarah replaced her HTC Incredible with a 16GB 4S! However, the Verizon salesman betrayed his Android fanboy colors during our sales experience. You see, the salesman approached us and asked Sarah what she was looking to purchase. She said she was looking to replace her phone with an iPhone, and when he found out she was moving from Android to iOS, he proceeded to give her the hard sell. First, he informed her in a very condescending tone that “Android is different…

News & Features

Something Tells Me Microsoft and Nokia are Smiling as Lumia 900 Sells Out

When Apple ran into issues with the iPhone 4 and “Antennagate”, even Consumer Reports refusal to recommend the phone didn’t slow down the adoption rate of the device. It sold, and it sold well. Now it looks like Nokia and Microsoft may be having the same bit of luck. Sure there were some initial issues with the Lumia 900 and connectivity. Issues like… For some, it just would not connect*. However that doesn’t seem to have slowed the popularity of the phone. A quick look at AT&T Wireless’ smartphone offerings shows the device out of stock. I can only imagine…

News & Features

In Every Language the Message is the Same- Congratulations Judie!!!!!

To Judie, Kevin, Sarah and the entire family from all of us at Gear Diary… Congratulations on the Birth of Kathleen Rebecca! Judie, may your granddaughter have years of health, happiness and… of course… GEAR!! (Like that was even a question)

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