News

Turn Your iPhone/iPad Into a Grandfather Clock; SBSH Launches Cuckoo for iOS

SBSH Mobile Software has released Cuckoo. Cuckoo has been available for S60 phones and now it is available for iOS devices. In fact, in the first few months it was available on the S60 platform it was downloaded by more than half a million people. The idea of Cuckoo is rather simple – it gets your iPhone/iPad to chime hourly. It runs in the background and, like a grandfather clock, lets you know when another hour has passed. Here’s the App Store description… Keep track of time with Cuckoo! Turn your iPhone or iPad into a grandfather clock or electronic…

News

Guns Don’t Save Lives; Skin Guns Save Lives

Now THIS is an amazing use of technology for good. Did you know that the current method of helping burn victims through skin grafts takes weeks or months to heal but that can be brought down to literally an hour? It’s true and a National Geographic program will focus on the innovation that makes it possible. The “Skin Gun” takes stem cells from a burn victim’s healthy skin (not the controversial kind) and mixes them with a solution that then allows doctors to literally spray new skin on. Apparently it is LITERALLY like spray painting but with a far more…

News

This Chair is More Comfortable Than a Barrel of Monkeys

What do you do when an old whiskey barrel has served it’s purpose and come to the end of life? Why, give it a new life of course. And that’s what the wine barrel chair. Over 99% of the chair comes from recycled/reused wine barrels. In fact, they even use the barrel straps in construction. How cool is that? As the designers explain, a work of art, each piece of the planet rooth barrelly made it line of furnishings is made by hand, by working artisians. every work of art is signed and numbered. Yes, for just $985 this chair CAN…

eBooks, News

Gatekeeper’s Post – the Huffington Post for Books?

There’s ample evidence that we’re at a crossroads in book history. Borders is struggling to survive, and publishers, editors, authors, and consumers are working to find their place in the brave new world of ebooks. Luckily, they don’t have to do it alone, thanks to the launch of Gatekeeper’s Post! I had the opportunity to speak with Jeff Rivera, Editor in Chief of Gatekeeper’s Post, about the launch of the site and what he hopes to accomplish with it. Effectively, they’re looking to create a place where everyone from librarians to authors to agents to readers can keep up on…

News

GD Quickie: Why Fax When You Can iPad?

Last week was my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary. We wanted to send them into Manhattan for a weekend filled with the symphony, good food and a great hotel with a view of Central Park. It all came together at the last minute and we ran into a bit of a problem trying to prepay everything that they would be doing. The hotel and both restaurants (one for dinner and one for brunch) required us to sign a number of papers and fax them back so that our credit card could be charged. The problem was, we were up in the…

eBooks, News

Otterbox Jumps into the eBook Case Market

So you’re rocking a new Kindle, Sony Reader, or B&N NOOK. It rides shotgun in your bag, hangs out by your bedside, etc. But what about when you take it to the beach? Or need to bring it in a bag full of gear? Protect it with new Otterbox eBook Reader Cases! For the Kindle 3: For the Kindle DX: For the Sony Reader Touch: For the B&N NOOK (Original, not NOOKcolor): All these cases can be purchased directly from Otterbox. The Kindle 3, NOOK and Sony Reader cases are all $49.95, while the Kindle DX runs slightly more expensive…

News

GD Quickie: Take a Moment to Remember the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Disaster

Generally speaking, having ‘do you remember where you were when ___ ‘ moments tend to mark tragedies rather than triumphs. And that is certainly true today. I remember that I was completing a Master’s project and contemplating whether to head to work or become a permanent student and living in the fraternity house in January of 2006. We had moved the big TV to the living room in anticipation of the Super Bowl, and a bunch of us were huddled around to watch the Challenger launch. It was a light scene, quickly becoming confused and then quiet when it became…

News, Reviews

Gear vs Gear: iPod nano Watchbands

No less than Steve Jobs himself quipped that the new iPod nano would make a great watch. From that moment, people have been thinking about way to use the recently shrunk iPod as a piece of wearable jewelry. Well, since the beginning of January I have gone from having zero iPod nano watch bands to having a choice of three different ones. Each take a slightly different approach to making the nano wearable and each brings with it its own sense of style, or lack there-of. So let’s take a look at each of them and ask, “Which nano watch band…

Music Diary, News

Music Diary Notes: Spotify Signs With Sony; the Economics of ‘Music Monetization’ and Their Likely US Move

I recently wrote about my hands-on time with music streaming service Spotify, and had previously written about the contract wrangling that has so far kept the service EU-only. Now we have some news that points to the possibility of a US launch sooner than later … and also some sobering reality about the financial aspects of streaming media in general. Spotify Edging Closer to US Launch On the ‘good news’ side, Spotify has just signed a deal with Sony to allow Spotify to work in the US. How big a deal is this? Well, all you have to do is…

News

Boom Your Music and Bam! Your Mac’s Sound Will Be Awesome!

Just yesterday I was speaking with a friend who commented that she was continually surprised by the weak volume coming from most MacBooks. “Sure,” she said, “the sound isn’t all that great to begin with but what’s worse is that they just don’t get very loud.” Well that’s not longer an issue thanks to a small utility called Boom. As the product page explains, Boom is a simple volume booster that lets you boost the volume of your Mac and your music files. Using Boom is simple. You know the ways to change the volume of your Mac. Boom provides…

News

Updating Your Home’s Furnishings? AUTUM Designs Has a Couch That Is “To Die For”

Apparently Dracula didn’t get the memo… Sleeping in a coffin is passe; it is old school and looks a bit silly. Seriously, in 2011 no self-respecting vampire would be caught alive sleeping in a coffin. Sitting in a coffin while you read, watch TV or chat with company however … now THAT is an entirely different story. Our friends at AUTUM, yes the same design outlet that brought us the AUTUM Straight Jacket sleeve for the iPad and the new MacBook Air, are doing a limited production run of what has to be the most unusual couch we have ever…

News

Speck Introduces CandyShell Wrap for iPad

Any of you who own an iPad know there are two main issues. Protection and how to hold it. Of course we want to carry the gorgeous device with us, but all of that screen real estate leaves plenty of room for mishaps and broken glass. There are probably thousands of options for both protection as well as stands, but few combines both. The problem with all of these options is finding good quality and well thought design. As you have seen with many of our reviews, the Gear Diary Team and editors love the design and quality of Speck…

News, Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: Amzer Foldo Stand Up

There are a ton of different stands now available for the iPad. They come in different shapes, sizes and materials and all make using the tablet an even better experience. Some of the stands we have reviewed have been a bit pricy. For example, the Jadu Skadoosh stand has an MSRP of $69.99, and the ElementCase Joule has an MSRP that STARTS at over $100. Both are fantastic but both are pricy. So what are you to do if you want a good stand for your iPad but are on a tight budget? That’s where the Amzer Foldo Stand Up…

News

Valentine’s Day Gift Idea: Stylish Flip Video CamCorder

Even in a sea of sea of HD-recording smartphones the Flip line of video cameras still reigns supreme as the easy-to-use, affordable pocket camcorder. The cameras shoot high quality video, make editing easy and, perhaps best of all, let you capture memories without running down your phone’s battery. Over the last few years the Flip line of cameras has added something else: STYLE. You can now get the cameras with a variety of designs… All of which makes them a great gift for the person you love this coming Valentines Day. It gets even better though. You can now give…

Gear Bits, News

Kickstarter Project Focus- The Vere Sandal Company

I’m really digging this whole Kickstarter concept. If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors,ranging from indie film and music to journalism and food-related projects. One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed “crowdfunding”, Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment. Project owners choose a deadline and a target minimum of funds to raise. If the chosen target is not gathered by the deadline, no funds are collected (this is…

News

Arctic Releases Land Rider 300 RC Racing Car Series

Arctic has developed into a company who primarily made cooling solutions for computers to a company who releases high quality products of everything from speakers and keyboards to now hobby items. I have reviewed many items from Arctic and have yet to find something that was not high quality while staying affordable. Their newest line of RC toys. As you can see in a post here, the first offerings were all service related vehicles. They are now announcing a new line of Land Riders for those with faster tastes. Take a look at the full release and product line. These…

News

WaterField Introduces the Muzetto Man Bag; Call Me Useful, Just Don’t Call Me a Murse

When I got my iPad one of the first high-end bags for carrying that I got to review was the Waterfield Muzetto. I had wanted one ever since I had read Judie’s review of the laptop version of the bag. Her conclusion at the time: I have always been a fan of Vertical bags, in fact one of my favorite purses is the Louis Vuitton Musette, which this bag’s style greatly resembles. I really enjoyed carrying the Muzetto when I traveled to Seattle, and perhaps even more than that — I enjoyed all the comments I got from the other…

News

The Ethics of Steve Jobs’ Medical Leave

By now you’ve probably seen every blog post out there about Steve Jobs and his medical leave. It’s been a complicated situation since being CEO brings with it obligations that a private individual doesn’t have. On the other hand, Steve Jobs is a private man and deserves the chance to hopefully recover in peace. We could debate this all day, but Businessweek’s resident ethics expert has stepped into the fray with a fantastic and clearly outlined explanation of both sets of obligations (that of a private individual as well as that of the leader of a major corporation who answers…

News

Microsoft Released OneNote for iPhone, Free for Now!

When I heard that Microsoft was rumored to be working on OneNote for the iPhone I was intrigued but skeptical. I was skeptical because I have found most of the stuff Microsoft has released on iOS to be garbage, and with their own phone to support I had very low expectations. But since I use Hotmail, have data on SkyDrive with several of the Office Online apps, I was interested in how it would work. And then I saw on BGR that it was available … and for FREE, so it was time to check it out! Here are the…

News

iDOS Back in the iTunes App Store With Important Changes

Remember iDOS from last October? It was a full DOS shell that even allowed you to load Windows and old games and programs you had lying around on 5.25″ floppies! Of course, due to that, it lasted mere hours on the iTunes App Store before getting pulled! Now it is back as version 2.01, with important differences. According to the developer: The biggest change from iDOS 1.0: iTunes file sharing is now turned off. That means you will not be able to install windows nor games from your old disc collection. However, it has quite a lot of new features…

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