News & Features

State of the 'Obese-itude': CalorieLab Releases the 2009 State-by-State Obesity Map

News & Features

State of the ‘Obese-itude’: CalorieLab Releases the 2009 State-by-State Obesity Map

While the numbers displayed are staggering, that map only tells part of the story: – It is only about adults. – It displays obesity, not % overweight. CalorieLab has been tracking obesity in states for several years, and has been tweaking their methods over time, now depending on a three-year rolling average to smooth out spikes and look at long-term issues. Somewhat disturbing is that they have had to change their scales (pun intended) because the obesity trends just keep getting worse: because of the overall increase in obesity, CalorieLab this year again shifted the color coding used in its…

Something New Coming from Evernote Tomorrow... You'll Know What It is When We Do...

News & Features

Something New Coming from Evernote Tomorrow… You’ll Know What It is When We Do…

I love Evernote. I live in Evernote. Evernote is killing me… Evernote has been teasing about something new coming for some time. They have blog posts up about it, are running a contest about it, and have reached out directly about it. But try as I might (and I HAVE TRIED) I can’t get a clue about what they are about to unveil. The only thing I do know is that it must be something pretty major. How do I know that? Simple… I’ve been following the company and using Evernote since the current iteration of the service was in…

iLuv iMM190 App Station Dock for iPhone Review

News & Features

iLuv iMM190 App Station Dock for iPhone Review

From iLuv- With its stylish oval design and alarm clock functionality, the iLuv App Station Alarm Clock Stereo Speaker Dock for iPhone 3G and 3GS or iPod is the ideal desktop sound system. The speaker dock stands horizontally or vertically, thus accommodating your device’s touch-screen view. The App Station’s key feature is its sophisticated alarm clock functionality with the iLuv App Clock for iPhone–available from the Apple iTunes Store. With the excellent speaker chambers, the App Station is powerful enough to deliver rich dynamic sound, while it charges your iPhone or iPod as you listen. The App Station shows great…

Uh Oh... There's Trouble In the Apple Orchard- Consumer Reports "Can't Recommend the iPhone 4 "

News & Features

Uh Oh… There’s Trouble In the Apple Orchard- Consumer Reports “Can’t Recommend the iPhone 4 “

The summer’s not the only thing turning up the heat on Apple right now as Consumer Reports states, “we can’t recommend the iPhone 4”. Talk about reversing positions… When the iPhone 4 first came out CR took a look and determined that “There’s no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns.” Phew… sigh of relief. Not so fast however… After being able to replicate reception issues out in the real world CR has changed their tune. Actually it is a complete reversal as today CR emailed us and said– Consumer Reports engineers have…

Case-Mate Launches New Venture Case/Stand for iPad

News & Features

Case-Mate Launches New Venture Case/Stand for iPad

Case-Mate is just releasing their newest case for the Apple iPad. Well to be more accurate, they are releasing their newest case AND their newest stand for the iPad and it is a single product, the Venture. Understanding that iPad users are clamoring for a good case that also converts into a stand the company has produced the Venture to “…answer the demand for a better iPad stand”. The case is crafted out of a black polyurethane material with green accent piping. The iPad slips easily into the case which can then be used to protect the device and make…

Substrata's Wooden iPad Boxes are Closer to Reality

News & Features

Substrata’s Wooden iPad Boxes are Closer to Reality

Substrata Creative Studios, the Portland Oregon based makers of fine wooden cabinets, countertops, furniture and cutting boards have been creating distinctive iPod touch and iPhone 3G/3GS cases for some time, but they have now upped their game with the introduction of the Substrata iPad Box (Hinged Lid). Each of these custom cases are made to order, with a shipping wait time of 2 – 3 weeks. These cases feature: • an integrated wood hinge with contrasting inlays • a micro suede lining of lid and base • wooden latches (with magnetic stops in the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ positions) • functions…

Fring + iPhone 3GS + Mirror??? = Two-Way Video Chat

News & Features

Fring + iPhone 3GS + Mirror??? = Two-Way Video Chat

Yes it is a bit buggy, but Fring’s iPhone app does let you make video calls over 3G, and that’s something you just can’t do with FaceTime. No, the quality isn’t nearly as good, but it DOES WORK! How do I know? Because Larry and I just video chatted, and there isn’t a stitch of WiFi where he is at the beach. After making a video call iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 over 3G we decided to see what would happen if he installed Fring on the 3GS. He did… and it worked. There was just one problem… because the…

Would You Eat a Canned Sandwich? How About Investing Your Retirement in Them?

News & Features

Would You Eat a Canned Sandwich? How About Investing Your Retirement in Them?

How would you feel if you and a group of other investors had contributed a total of $145 million into what you thought were real estate investments, only to later find out that instead a huge portion of that money had been put into the development of “Candwiches” and other equally odd and questionable products? That’s exactly what happened to a group of investors in Utah after Travis L. Wright offered them returns of up to 24% on real estate investments. Obviously promised returns that high should have been their first clue that something was fishy, but evidently Utah investors are known to be näive…

Suffering 'Product Recall Overload'? There's An App For That!

News & Features

Suffering ‘Product Recall Overload’? There’s An App For That!

The other day we were watching the news and there were three product recalls in a row and my wife mentioned hearing on the radio a report about ‘recall overload’, how so much stuff is being recalled so frequently that we become numb to it all. In fact, this week there are reports on various news sources about the issue. Well, apparently the government agencies issuing these recalls are aware of this, and have launched a mobile app called ‘Recall.gov’. It brings together data from the relevant agencies – Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Food and…

Prince Sez No Digital Tunes 4 U!

Music Diary, News & Features

Prince Sez No Digital Tunes 4 U!

For many people, digital music stopped being a revolution – or even something to debate – a long time ago. Apple’s iTunes is the largest music retailer, and more and more sites seek a piece of the ever-growing digital music pie. But not THIS guy: Prince, in an interview with the UK paper the Daily Mirror said: “The internet’s completely over,” Prince told the paper. “I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.” Ah ……

Speakal's New iPom Brings Apples, Flowers and Speakers Together In A Unique Package

News & Features

Speakal’s New iPom Brings Apples, Flowers and Speakers Together In A Unique Package

Tired of your iPod speakers looking like speakers? Want something that looks a bit different but still delivers great sound? If so the iPom might be just the thing you are looking for. The iPom is– a floral themed speaker solution boasts a apple-shaped subwoofer with two removable flower speakers. It plays music from USB drives, SD cards, and any other sound source with a 3.5mm output. The specs of the iPom include… • 2.1 Stereo Speaker System • Plays music from USB Memory stick or SD card or any other music device that has a 3.5mm output, such as…

Beware of Counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers!

News & Features

Beware of Counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers!

Image courtesy Birthday Shoes It isn’t just ebook scammers you have to watch for on the internet! If you’ve been paying attention to Judie and Larry’s Couch to 5k Series, you may have caught that Judie runs in Vibram Five Finger Sprints. Recently I picked up a pair of Vibram Five Finger KSO’s at my local EMS, and I think Larry has a pair too…so we’re clearly big fans of toe-shoes here at Gear Diary. Now, if you’ve looked into ordering VFF’s recently, you may have noticed many sizes and styles are backordered. Vibram has had a hard time keeping…

Palm's Legacy

News & Features

Palm’s Legacy

By now you’ve probably heard the news that PALM is officially part of Hewlett-Packard. If you, like many of us, started with a Palm OS device before moving on to smartphones, it’s a bittersweet ending. On the one hand, no one wanted to see Palm die, even after their slow circling of the drain for years. On the other hand, it’s an open question how Palm will do as part of HP, and whether WebOS will resurface or be absorbed into an HP Printer. One of the original Palm-people, Donna Dubinsky, wants to remind people there’s always been something special…

Falling eBook Reader Prices!

eBooks, News & Features

Falling eBook Reader Prices!

Think Amazon and Barnes and Noble are the only ones slashing prices? Well, it looks like a few players in the ebook market have caught up with the new paradigm, though it’s debatable what changes will actually help them. Here are a few of the big drops we’ve seen so far: Sony Readers: Pocket Edition: From $169 to $149 Touch Edition: From $199 to $169 Daily Edition: From $349 to $299 Pocketbook Series: Pocketbook 360: From $239 to $199 Pocketbook 301: From $279 to $219 Pocketbook 302: From $339 to $279 Just for comparison, again, here are the prices on…

A Declaration on Independence Discovery

News & Features

A Declaration on Independence Discovery

In a fascinating use of modern technology, a high-resolution camera has revealed what can only be described as the use of “white-out” correction fluid on the Declaration of Independence. According to a post on BoingBoing a draft of the Declaration originally used the word “subjects” to refer to those living in the emerging nation. Thomas Jefferson Thought twice about using the word, scratched it out and changed it to “citizens”. My grandpa Alex came to America in 1917. He was so proud to be here that he promptly changed his birthday to July 4th. Jefferson’s word-smithing of the Declaration is…

Woot- Sells TiVo HD, Takes Shot At Apple

News & Features

Woot- Sells TiVo HD, Takes Shot At Apple

Woot, newly acquired by Amazon, has a TiVo HD DVR for sale today. As an owner of this same model, I can attest to the fact that it is a nice unit. It will certainly do the trick… At least until Apple’s revamped Apple TV comes out. And speaking of Apple, the description of the DVR offered by Woot takes a little shot at the iPhone maker’s recent press release. It is rather amusing… Dear Wooters: The TiVo HDXL 150 Hour THX Certified DVR has been the most successful product in the history of the world. Ever. Okay, that’s a…

USBCELL Batteries Make You Wonder Why You Didn't Think of This First

News & Features

USBCELL Batteries Make You Wonder Why You Didn’t Think of This First

Do you remember those old rechargeable AA batteries that first emerged in the 1980s?  You had to charge them overnight just so you could get about 2.4 hours of use in your Sony Walkman cassette player? Yeah, these aren’t those. USBCELL AA batteries are unique in that they have a built-in USB connector hidden under a cap at the + end of the battery.  Open the cap, insert the battery into an open USB port on your computer, and let the charging begin!  You’ll achieve a 90% charge in just 5 hours and – for use in a pinch –…

iPhone 4 Reception Issue Solved? Signal Reporting Not Hardware to Blame?

News & Features

iPhone 4 Reception Issue Solved? Signal Reporting Not Hardware to Blame?

Apple has finally broken their apparent silence on the iPhone 4’s signal-gate and admit that they were surprised when they uncovered the cause of the issue. The full text of the letter is below but here are the highlights… …we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them… …gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones… We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars,…

Cambridge SoundWorks i525 iPod/AM/FM Clock Radio System - Review

News & Features

Cambridge SoundWorks i525 iPod/AM/FM Clock Radio System – Review

If you’re an audiophile you still want to have a fancy powerful stereo system home. But for many of us, the sound coming out of our iPhones, iPods, or iPads is good enough when they’re connected to some sort of a speaker system. Since I am not an audiophile I’m perfectly happy having a dock in my home office, in the bedroom, and in my study at work so I can listen to music whenever I want. Over the next few days, I’m going to take a look at a number of different docks that are currently available. Some have…

IDAPT i4 Universal Charging Solution Now Compatible with iPad and iPhone 4

News & Features

IDAPT i4 Universal Charging Solution Now Compatible with iPad and iPhone 4

A few weeks ago we gave away an IDAPT i3 Universal Charging Solution. It is a fantastic solution for anyone who has more than one gadget in daily use. (And if you are reading GD it is a pretty good bet that means YOU!) We got word yesterday that the new IDAPT i4 is compatible with the iPad and iPhone 4. That means you can now charge your iPhone AND iPad AND 2 other devices at the same time. Awesome! The IDAPT i4 is available in black, white or silver for $59.99 MSRP at www.idaptweb.com. The packaging includes 6 tips…