News & Features | Gear Diary

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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features, 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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

CardMunch Is Now Part of LinkedIn, and It’s Free

One of the tools Judie and I made big use of during CES was the iPhone app CardMunch. CardMunch let us quickly snap images of business cards and then added all the pertinent information to either its own address book or the iPhone’s built-in one. The transcription accuracy of the returned information was amazing thanks to the “human factor”. That’s right, the service employed people to help in the process and, as a result, CardMunch was not only quick but also reliable. It also, as a result, was a bit more expensive than the totally automated approaches. Well CardMunch shared…

News & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features, 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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

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 & Features

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…

News & Features

iWatchz; Why Just Listen to Your Nano When You Can Wear It?

I wasn’t initially sold on the “nano as watch” concept until I tried on at CES. Now I’m a fan. In fact, I’m a fan who is excited to see a number of options finally becoming available. One company that has bands available in the Apple Store already is iWatchz. Their Q collection is just $24.95 and is available in a number of colors. The bands have style… And so does their promo video. (See if you can figure out what other company might do this kind of ad …) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PcrY1q8fn_s In addition, the company is expanding their line. At…

News & Features

iKit Launches iPad Exec Leather Case for iPad

I love the thin protection of a folio-style case for the iPad but there are times when even that is too much. Then again, you still want to protect your iPad from life’s bumps and scratches. That’s where a form-fitting back shell can come in rather handy. iKit has released a new one, the iPad Exec Case, and it looks like a good value. As the company explains, The new iPad exec case combines a carved hard shell with an embedded brushed leather that gives you a stylish and sophisticated look and feel. Provides secure protection for your iPad. The…

News & Features

Nuance Gives Devs Ability to Voice-Enable iOS/Android Apps Through Dragon Mobile SDK

How amazing would it be if your favorite iOS app no longer required you to type in information in order to use it? Imagine something like Google Voice Search, but in any number of apps and with the precision of something like Nuance’s voice-to-text technology instead of Google’s hit-or-miss version. Well that just became possible with Nuance’s announcement that they will be providing access to the Dragon Mobile SDK for iOS AND Android. This will be accomplished through a new self-service website that is part of the new Nuance Mobile Developer Program. This new program will make the same voice-to-text…

Events, News & Features

Victorinox Cuts Into the Digital World in a BIG Way

Just before I left for CES Elana got an 11″ MacBook Air and made it her main computer. I encouraged her to upgrade from the stock 64GB of storage but she said not to, after all, she does little to nothing with movies and music on her Mac so she really doesn’t need the space. I dutifully ordered the computer she said she wanted but INSISTED that she at least upgrade to 4GB of RAM. After all, with the MBA you can’t easily upgrade ANY of the components and the 4GB upgrade makes a HUGE difference. The MBA was a…