News & Features

Rumor: iOS 4.3 to Solve 'Rotation Lock-Gate'?

News & Features January 12, 2011

Rumor: iOS 4.3 to Solve ‘Rotation Lock-Gate’?

About six weeks ago we had a GearChat on ‘Rotation LockGate’, which discussed the change Apple made in the behavior of the side switch from rotation lock to mute switch. I voiced my displeasure about the lack of ANY communication from Apple, and also the inefficiency of the ‘work-around’, saying: As for the difference in action, there are *FOUR* extra steps now: before you slid a switch and were done. Now: double tap home, slide at least one time to the left, tap the unlabeled orientation icon, and then click home again to get back to what you were doing….

Toe Salad, a Social and Review Site for Minimal Running!

News & Features January 12, 2011

Toe Salad, a Social and Review Site for Minimal Running!

It’s no secret that some of us at Gear Diary are big fans of shoes like Vibram Five Fingers. But VFFs are far from the only minimalist shoes available! These days it seems like every major running company has a minimal shoe in their lineup, and there are dozens of small shoemakers all trying to carve out a place in this new niche. Unfortunately, unless you’re lucky enough to live near a major city or a very progressive running store, you need to turn to the internet to figure out what shoe might work for your minimal running adventures. It…

CES 2011- Livescribe Smartpens Strike the Right Note

Events, News & Features January 12, 2011

CES 2011- Livescribe Smartpens Strike the Right Note

The most wasteful time Judie and I spent at CES was the hour and a half we had at the Casio Press Conference. They really had nothing of substance to show us yet they made it out to be a huge deal.Yes, it wasted our time but, more than that, the hyperbole they used in their ridiculous attempt to make it look like there WAS something to share was insulting. (At least we got a post out of it…) 🙂 When I had a chance to meet with Jody Farrar and Andy Van Scaack, some of the representatives from Livescribe,…

Tokyoflash Releases the Kisai Console Watch

News & Features January 12, 2011

Tokyoflash Releases the Kisai Console Watch

I’ve always admired Tokoflash watches from afar.  They have a look unlike any other watch I have ever worn and are just plain cool.  Well they now have released a watch that looks like it comes right from a 80s scifi movie. The watch is the Kisai Console Watch and it was selected in February 2010 on the Tokyoflash Design Blog as a watch that fans would like to have created.  Now it’s reality thanks to Tokyoflash! Kisai Console is a USB rechargeable watch design. The USB cap is fitted flush against the case and can be unscrewed with the…

CES: SanDisk Meeting

Events, News & Features January 11, 2011

CES: SanDisk Meeting

By now you have likely seen that at CES, SanDisk announced their amazing new 128GB Compact Flash Card, a size that still boggles my mind. Available later this quarter for a MSRP of $1499.99, this card isn’t for the feint-hearted. But when you consider that it wasn’t too long ago that a 5GB PCMCIA card retailed for $500 plus, the realization is staggering that this amount of memory is available in something so small. While meeting with SanDisk, I had the opportunity to take a look at their new CRUZER Slider which along with other features also has “error-proof insertion”,…

Amazon Releases 'Deals' App to Track Gold Box and Lightning Deals

News & Features January 11, 2011

Amazon Releases ‘Deals’ App to Track Gold Box and Lightning Deals

Do you check Amazon more or less daily for their great Gold Box or Lightning deals? Me too! But way too may times I have been away from my laptop when I knew a deal was going on and missed out. So I was thrilled when I saw today that Amazon had created a small app to help track their daily deals! Here is their description: Stay up-to-date with Amazon Gold Box Deals wherever you go and never miss another deal. Amazon Deals for iPhone lets you check availability of current offers, schedule reminders, and purchase Lightning Deals and Gold…

No Picture

Editorials, Events, News & Features January 11, 2011

CES: Nuance’s Technology Is EVERYWHERE! (And That’s a Good Thing)

A while we were at CES last week I had a chance to meet with a number of the people who I email and speak with regularly from Nuance. Nuance is the leading company developing voice to text technology; they’re the company that has given us of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Dragon Dictation for iOS devices and Dragon for Mac (the application I’m using to write this post). There were a few bits of important news that came out from Nuance over the course of the week. Nuance T9 Trace + Android = Happy Samsung Galaxy Tab User The first day we…

CES 2011: Sonos Wants to Give You Access to All the World's Music

Events, News & Features January 11, 2011

CES 2011: Sonos Wants to Give You Access to All the World’s Music

You make high-end, expensive audio components for household use and the world falls apart financially–what do you do? If you are a company like Sonos the answer is clear–you stay true to your mission and continue to make the best possible devices for in home music streaming. Clearly this approach worked. In the last year the company’s business doubled. Yes, the world is still in financial turmoil the company with relatively high-priced audio components was able to double their business. Clearly people like what they’re offering. I have long been an admirer of Sonos audio components. The high-end audio company…

Toyota Appears Near Top of Both Brand Perception Survey and 'Most Hated Company' List

News & Features January 10, 2011

Toyota Appears Near Top of Both Brand Perception Survey and ‘Most Hated Company’ List

David Goodspeed writes amazing articles about cars and the automotive industry for Gear Diary, and I love reading them. Personally I am fairly utilitarian in my auto pursuits, but my statistician avocation makes me sit up and take notice when what looks like inherently contradictory data comes along. In this case it is Toyota and their public image. First off they find themselves along BP, airlines and others on the ’15 most hated companies’ list. Toyota had what could be described as a ‘rough’ 2010 in terms of public relations, to the point where the former leader of product quality…

NAIAS 2011: Day One and Only, Dawn of a new Detroit Auto Show

News & Features, Vehicles & Gear January 10, 2011

NAIAS 2011: Day One and Only, Dawn of a new Detroit Auto Show

Day one of the 2011 North American International Auto Show is going to be a very busy one, mainly because it is the only day that automakers will host press conferences. Given the congested nature of the day’s schedule I will break it down into several parts with a few brands already taking stage before many have had the opportunity to down their first cup of joe. Porsche, Chevy, Ford and Volkswagen lead off the morning.

2011 North American Car and Truck of the Year winners announced

News & Features, Vehicles & Gear January 10, 2011

2011 North American Car and Truck of the Year winners announced

The 2011 Ford Explorer has been named North American Truck of the Year at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this morning. As a finalist it beat out the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango for top honors. In the North American Car of the Year competition, two of the three finalists are electric vehicles, although one does have a range extending gas engine on-board and this is what clinched it to make the Chevrolet Volt as the top car over the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Sonata.

Ilium Software Launches eWallet GO! - Their First App for WP7

News & Features January 10, 2011

Ilium Software Launches eWallet GO! – Their First App for WP7

Well established mobile software companies are slowly rolling out apps for Windows Phone 7.  Ilium Software, a long-standing mobile software company, has just released its first WP7 app, eWallet GO! (the ! is theirs – not [necessarily] an indication of my excitement). eWallet is a secure information manager (password protector, etc.) that has been around for quite a few years, expanding to new platforms as they are introduced.  It’s an old favorite of many – I myself have used eWallet on several different platforms in the past. eWallet GO! offers over 30 card templates, ranging from credit cards to website…

Contour GPS Adds Bluetooth to Hands-Free Video

News & Features January 9, 2011

Contour GPS Adds Bluetooth to Hands-Free Video

It’s an issue as old as Xtreme Sportz. You’ve strapped a video camera to your helmet, and you’re convinced it’s absolutely killer footage. Unfortunately, you taped the camera at the wrong angle, and instead of seeing your wicked skating set everyone sees the sky. Luckily, ContourGPS has a hands-free video camera that solves this issue by turning your phone into the viewfinder via Bluetooth. I can see where this would be helpful since without some sort of screen you don’t know that your camera is aimed properly. However, may I make a suggestion? If you’re going to be using this…

First Ever Demo- Motorola Atrix 4? Phone To 20? Desktop to… 24? iMac

Events, News & Features January 8, 2011

First Ever Demo- Motorola Atrix 4? Phone To 20? Desktop to… 24? iMac

Francis and I got to spend some intimate time with Motorola’s Xoom powerhouse tablet and Atrix smartphone and we came away impressed. Toward the end of the demo we asked for a chance to try something new; we asked to take over the Atrix while it was connected to a 20″ monitor, keyboard and mouse and use it, in conjunction with LogMeIn, to take over my 24″ iMac in New Jersey. The result… The smartphone took over and controlled my Mac seamlessly. We asked if anyone else had done this, and were told this was, at least in their experience,…

ProClip Makes Francis' Day

Events, News & Features January 8, 2011

ProClip Makes Francis’ Day

Francis doesn’t own a single Apple product. Yeah I know… some day he will come to his senses but for now he is committed to remaining unenlightened. His phone of choose right now… the Samsung Vibrant. The problem with that is that there are tons of accessors for iPhones but when it comes to phones like the Captivate there are few choices. Francis was sharing his tale of woe when we stumbled upon our friend Johan at his ProClip booth and… wouldn’t you know it, ProClip has a carholder that IA designed specifically for the Captivate and its top-positioned microUSB.

CES Garage, Day Four

News & Features, Vehicles & Gear January 8, 2011

CES Garage, Day Four

Day Four is all about the unveiling of the new Ford Focus Electric, an all-electric version of the next-generation Focus subcompact. The all-new Focus Electric is Ford’s first-ever all-electric passenger car. (OK, maybe its first-ever mass-produced electric car as Mrs. Henry Ford was reported to spin around the Dearborn countryside in an electric car in 1914.) The zero-CO2-emissions, gasoline-free version of Ford’s popular small car is the flagship of the company’s growing fleet of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles coming to North America and Europe by 2013.