News & Features

Happy Owl Studio iPad Cases are Now Available for Order

It’s not every day that someone successfully reinvents the wheel, but when it happens it can be a sight to behold … and that is essentially what Happy Owl Studios has attempted to do when it comes to iPad cases. Rather than coming out with a simple sleeve or even a back-covering shell, Happy Owl has created three fully protective cases which not only look fabulous, two of them are also folios. Let’s take a look … I’ll cover the most simple case first — the $49.99 Wallet Lite. This book cover style is available in the very businesslike black…


DeluxeComfort.com Girlfriend Body Pillow $9.95 at Sears!

Back in August of 2009 the Consumerist featured a New York Times article about a growing Japanese trend of single men carrying ‘2-D Girlfriends’ around everywhere with them. The rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life. According to a government survey, more than a quarter of unmarried men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan said they were not “going out with anybody”. Now Sears.com is getting in on this new trend, featuring the…


1Password for Windows Beta Now Available

(Image courtesy of Agile Web Solutions) With more people creating a variety of online accounts and putting more information online and with the increase in the number of hacks trying to get into accounts, having a password manager is worth looking into. One of my favorite password managers, 1Password, has been available on the Mac platform for years and works seamlessly with a variety of browsers. 1Password is also available on the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. Well, imagine my surprise to see that Agile Web Solutions has released a beta of 1Password for Windows! While it does not yet have…


Avatar DRM Make Blu-Ray Watching Na’vi Cry

Image courtesy of ActFourScreenplays The big DVD news this week – well aside from watching Peter Jackson continue his spiral into mediocrity with The Lovely Bones – is the mega-release of the wonderful but over-hyped Avatar on DVD & Blu-Ray. This should be a good thing – I know my kids are looking forward to seeing the amazing visual spectacle again in our home theater. But – there was a problem! According to a post at the Consumerist, many folks are unable to watch the Blu-Ray version due to DRM that Fox has on the disc. They reference an animated…


Popular Science Puts Entire Archive Online … for Free!

Apparently this happened last month, but since there is 137 YEARS of content … I don’t think it will get old for a while! For my first search I looked up an area of interest in my current work: Multivariate. Here is what I found: I really hadn’t expected much, as multivariate statistical analysis isn’t exactly in PopSci’s wheelhouse … but the reference to the Journal of Irreproducible Results was priceless – and a complete time-sink! In fact, there was something linked off the front page that I just have to share:   Anyway … Check out the Popular Science…


Newer Technology Releases iFolio for iPad

This one practically comes from my backyard.  Well, McHenry County isn’t exactly in Chicago’s backyard, but Woodstock is a neat town and it’s cool that someone in the greater Chicago region is directly involved in making iPad accessories. Newer Technology, from Woodstock, Illinois, has just released the iFolio case for the iPad.  Available in black or red Brazilian leather and featuring a zippered enclosure, the iFolio can be carried by either the attached leather handle or a removable leather shoulder strap. Inside the iFolio, the left side of the case includes pockets for documents, passports, and business cards.  The right side includes four…


So … Even The Government Accounting Office Can’t Estimate the Impact of Piracy?!?

Image courtesy of BoyGeniusReport If you even peripherally follow any news about media piracy – music, movies, video games, TV shows, ebooks, and so on – you would have likely been confused. The media industry would have you believe that the amount of piracy is so massive and devastating that if they could recoup, the taxes would be enough to pay off the deficit, solve world hunger, wipe out disease, and give every child a cute little hypoallergenic kitten. If you believe the pirates, they are actually increasing sales for media and are misunderstood innovators breaking ground with a new…


Quick Look: SPB TV for iPhone

SPB has had their SPB TV product out for WIndows Mobile devices for a long time, and it’s always been considered an excellent app.  Recently they released it for the iPhone – something many people were eagerly anticipating.  Let’s take a quick look at this latest release for the iPhone!


The ‘5 Second Rule’ Meets Corporate Decision Analysis

If you have spent any time on a project team in a corporation of any size, you have likely used tools such as decision analysis (or DA in Kepner-Tregoe speak), fault-tree, DMAIC, and so on … now you can apply some of those tools to figuring out whether to eat that cupcake that just fell on the floor. Of course, those of you with kids, pets or both know that there are multiple dynamics involved – more than are captured on this diagram, so that perhaps using a PPA (Potential Problem Analysis) or doing a ‘5 Whys’ exercise or filling…


BugMe! Receives Keyboard Support for iPhone and iPad

A few weeks ago, I reviewed BugMe! for the iPhone. Then, last week, Doug posted about the release of BugMe! for the iPad.  In my review of BugMe!, one of the items that I noted needed improvement was the ability to use the keyboard for input. Using a finger to write on the iPhone’s small screen just didn’t allow me to write more than a few words.  Fortunately, the folks at Electric Pocket, the makers of BugMe! were ahead of me.  They have now updated BugMe! for both the iPhone and iPad with support for keyboard text entry, which definitely adds…


Vaja’s iPad Cases are Exactly as Expected: Gorgeous and Pricey

ivolution Stripes starting at $ 220 No listing of available iPad cases could ever be complete without showing those offered from the premiere Argentinean leather company, Vaja. Not only have they released four new iPad cases, there is even a leather bag for those of you who aren’t yet sure how to carry the iPad in style. As expected, you’ll pay a premium for all that Vaja goodness, but we’ve grown to expect that and accept it as part of the price for carrying the best, right? ivolution Crystal 2 starting at $ 350 ivolution GT starting at $ 190…


Element Case Introduces the Joule for iPad

This has certainly got to be one of the most elegant iPad stands I’ve yet seen! Element Case has just released news and images on their new Joule iPad Stand, and it’s a stunner. Crafted from solid aluminum, the Joule “has an adjustable tilt angle with three settings and provides one of the most solid bases for an unsheathed iPad in the home, office or at work.” Designed With Both Landscape and Portrait Modes in mind. Introducing the new “Joule” work stand for your iPad. It’s stable solid base has a simple, clean, and elegant design that enhances your iPad…


Vertu Constellation Ayxta Update! It’s Broken!

Vertu Constellation Ayxta If you noticed last week, we did an unboxing on the Vertu Constellation Ayxta.  A gorgeous new flip phone that costs oodles and oodles..  Well this week its broken! I put one of my 3 SIMs in it to start using it and absorbing it into my daily repertoire.  And then it started happening! I had synched the phone to my PC (Ok Mac Book Pro running Windows XP) and loaded my contacts and a few pertinent pics and was very excited to get started! I turned it on and the screen clock on the inside started…


Morning Chicness Bags … Making Vomiting Stylish!

My wife always says that stuff available for pregnant women these days is much more stylish than when she was pregnant. Now I’m not a pregnant woman, nor do I play one on TV, but after the many difficult pregnancies that eventually resulted in our two wonderful boys … I can’t think of anything that would making the vomiting associated with morning sickness stylish. Less Nasty? Perhaps … and in that case, these bags just might do the trick! Check out the amazing selection of bags: So what do you think – is the next big trend just waiting to…


An Amazing iPad Video Unboxing

No, there aren’t any Ninjas as we saw with the Nexus One unboxing posted not too long ago; instead there is sthttp://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/05/found-footage-self-unboxing-ipad/ark simplicity, great music, and amazing animation as the iPad sheds itself of its retail confines … seemingly without any human assistance. Enjoy! iPad – Unboxing Video from Brian Stark on Vimeo via TUAW.


Got A New iPad? Sock It.

Remember those funny colored socks that Apple sold for older iPod models?  Remember how they did a good job of protecting your device from scratches without adding bulk?  Remember how for $30 you could get 6 of them, but at least 3 of them were in colors you wouldn’t use? Well, now there is a similar option for your new iPad from iPadSock.net.  Like their smaller cousins, these will protect your iPad from scratches without adding bulk. Even better, you get to pick from a range of color combinations, so you will get a color that you’ll actually use. Order them…


Can You Hear Me Now? Dan’s NPR Debut

Dan got a chance to call into NPR today; the discussion was quite lively, and he had a good time explaining why he disagreed with their “expert”. Watch for him at the 6:50 mark. Dan and Gear Diary on NPR Some notes that Dan sent after the fact … In all seriousness I’m a little bit surprised to hear so-called experts still making claims that the iPad is simply a media consumption device. The whole point of the iPad is that it’s pretty much a blank slate (sorry for the pun). The device is going to be what you make…


Who Says The iPad Cannot Be Used As A Phone?!?

A great deal has been made about the inability to use the iPad as a phone. The argument is, who wants to use something this big as a phone? Well to be honest, me. The fact of the matter is to be able to make a phone call using the iPad as a speakerphone would be a great thing so I decided that I would try it out. First I loaded the Skype application. It’s currently only available in the iPhone version but, as you know, iPhone applications work on the iPad. I tried it out and discovered that it…


The iPad Makes For A Busy UPS Saturday

When I was with Elana yesterday expressing my exuberance over my anticipated arrival of the iPad, she suggested that I spend some time with the UPS driver since, according to all reports, there was an amazing amount of logistics involved in getting all the iPads out. I thought it was a good idea. So when my iPad finally arrived late this afternoon — okay actually it was early this afternoon but it felt like late this afternoon — I asked the UPS driver if he could spend a few minutes talking with me. He responded that he would be happy…


uGive iPhone App Makes Mobile Giving Easier

Giving to a charity is something that has probably been on the minds of a lot of folks recently, whether due to natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti, or the general state of the economy and the desire to help others who may be less fortunate.  MobileCause, whose staff consists of non-profit and mobile industry professionals, is on a mission to help make charitable giving easier and raise awareness for non-profit organizations.  They have just released a new iPhone app, uGive, that allows participating charities to use the iPhone as a means to solicit support.  By registering with MobileCause, charities…


Windows Phone 7 Series Is Now Simply Windows Phone 7

It’s not major news, but it is good news: Microsoft is simplifying their “Windows Phone 7 Series” to the less cumbersome “Windows Phone 7”.  An obvious explanation for the “Series” moniker is that it was meant to “indicate that there would be a range of phones providing choice of hardware and operator.” Microsoft must have realized that the name was a bit too cumbersome and in the interest of simplifying things, shortened it to Windows Phone 7. Good move, since that’s what we were calling it anyway! 😉 Tis the season for Series finales. We’ve got one too – dropping…