He rocks in the tree top all a day long Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ the song All the little birds on J-Bird Street Love to hear the robin goin’ tweet tweet tweet – Rockin’ Robin (Bobby Day) Here is a fun device that will open up a whole new world of nature?s best ? the symphony of birds singing in the morning. Vavolo sent along a Nature Observing Recording & Playback Device.
It never fails at the airport… I always observe some frantic person with their cell phone on life support status ? the familiar beep ? beep ? beep of a dying battery. While not as frustrasting as a dead battery in a car, having power to spare is a good thing. Of course there are disposable battery boosters conveniently for sale at a healthy markup (regularly $7.00 for $19.95) at the airport gift shop! Tekkeon has a solution for those in dire straits ? the myPower Go MP1500. Using four AA batteries, the MP1500 provides the emergency power needed for…
What smells like a vitamin supplement, sticks to you like glue, and may just keep you from becoming a human feast this summer? Well, the Don’t Bug Me Insect Repellent Patch – of course! 😉 According to their press release, the Don’t Bug Me Patch is “now available at major retailers nationwide, the effective and waterproof patch protects against bites from pesky, disease-carrying mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, chiggers, sand fleas and no seeums. The patch doesn’t contain DEET so it’s safe for children too.”
Here in the states with the change of seasons, there is always the possibility of inclement weather, power outages at home or being lost in the campgrounds with nightfall approaching. The Boy Scouts have a motto: Be Prepared. “Be prepared for what?” someone once asked Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the World Scout Movement. “Why, for any old thing.” he replied. While I don?t doubt that any Boy Scout can start a fire with two sticks, for guys like me, I need a little technology to give me a head start. Courtesy of Vavolo, here?s a very cool looking Handle…
It’s been five years since I helped review the WaterField Designs Cozmo bag, and two years since I reviewed the VertiGo. While I eventually grew out of both bags, to this day I still use the Gearpouch and SleeveCase (with flap and D-rings) that I received along with the Cozmo in late 2002. The Gearpouch goes with me every time I travel (I keep it loaded with Gomadic cables and tips, card readers and other assorted small items), and the SleeveCase still holds my aging Fujitsu P2110 – which I am always threatening to sell or give away, but will…
It didn’t seem that long ago that I visited a local users group regarding Bluetooth, the takeaway phrase was walking around with your own personal wireless network. Technology has surged ahead indeed reminiscent to first riding a bicycle in my youth: “Look Mom, no hands!” to “Look Mom, no wires!” So what is Bluetooth wireless technology? “Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range communications technology intended to replace the cables connecting portable and/or fixed devices while maintaining high levels of security. The key features of Bluetooth technology are robustness, low power, and low cost.” Plantronics earlier this month announced the U.S. introduction…
About 2 months ago the 802.11n Enabler for the latest Macs finally became available, releasing the hidden 802.11n capabilities. This is great for us Mac owners with Core 2 Duo Macs as we can jump onboard the .11n band wagon with some of the already available .11n draft equipment. When Belkin offered their new N1 Wireless Router and ExpressCard for review I was quite excited, as 54Mbit 802.11g is really starting to show its age with the high resolution and high bandwidth video streaming and file transfers. But does it live up to its claims? Read on to find out.
Here at GearDiary, Judie and the team simply love using and conversing with you as our participants, about the technology that we are blessed to come in contact with. We enjoy listening to our music to go, GPS that help us navigate over the roads and through the woods when we’re geo-caching, cameras and camcorders that capture our “WOW” moments that we can share on Flickr and You Tube, cell phones and smart phones that pull down our emails and allow us to tap into WiFi hotspots, laptops that are light and portable and don’t forget the DVD players and…
Spring is here and if you’re lucky to have a cubicle space that has a window view with authentic sunlight streaming in, it may still be frigid inside with the air conditioner running full blast. On such a nice day! Then again, I once worked at a start-up tech company where there was no heat during my winter of discontent. There were many nights of wearing my layered clothing under a down jacket. Although the old computer that was assigned to me was a wood-burning model, it emitted no heat to warm my freezing fingers. And we all know productivity…
It’s been almost five years since I reviewed the Soundbug, a suction cup-based “speaker” which would utilize whatever surface it was attached to in order to produce sound while hooked to an audio source. Today I am going to look at the i-mu Magic Audio Frequency Singer, a device that similarly uses whatever surface it is resting upon to produce sound. The suction cup is gone as is the slightly cheap and cheesy silver plastic body, but the parallels are still there. This is not a traditional speaker, the sound produced will depend upon the surface upon which the i-mu…
If you carry anything more than a pocket camera, PDA and mobile phone, then you might have decided that adding one more thing to your bat-belt will be all it takes to drag your pants down to your ankles. Well, there’s no need to scare little children while toting your gear, Proporta has come to the rescue with their new Gadget Bag. Smaller than a laptop bag, but larger than an accessory pouch, the Gadget Bag offers options for days when your gear load is heavier than usual, but you don’t want to be weighed down by a full size…
We all love our gear – MP3 players, cell phones, portable gaming consoles, PDA’s, cameras, laptops, which all demand the use of electricity accompanied by the associated wires, cords and chargers that supply the lifeline needed to power our gear. When I go to a concert and see miles of cable strung across the stage, it’s a wonder musicians don’t trip over them. Unfortunately, seeing a miniature version of cluttered wires strung out across my work surfaces and hanging over the backside of my desk like some ugly artsy waterfall of wires mentally trips me out. Digital Innovations has come…
Back in 1991, when the HP 95LX was my daily driver, I used to anticipate the day when handhelds would have color displays and be even closer to the laptop computers which they seemed to emulate. When color displays became available, I looked forward to the time when these handhelds would have more memory, better battery life, better connectivity, and a faster processor. As each item on my wish list was ticked off, I finally decided that what I might have wanted all along was a more robust operating system; a true mini PC. Now it’s 2007, and UMPCs are…
If you’ve been following my GPS reviews at pocketnow.com, you’ll remember that I can’t find my way out a wet paper bag with a fork and a flashlight.? I have a really horrible sense of direction.? Its shameful… it truly is.? But whaddya gonna do? It is what it is. A little while ago, I got a press release for a brand new GPS receiver, from a company called Axion.? The receiver, the AxionGeo 632, is a stand alone GPS receiver. Its not a PDA, which is new for me.? I’m used to reviewing devices that have a GPS receiver…
RC (radio controlled) vehicles are a very cool thing. I have owned many ready to drive RC cars, big ones to the tiny micro ones. Those RC cars are lots of fun, but when you’ve got an RC vehicle that can fly… it is an extreme world of difference, being much more cool and more fun.
Fingerprints and face grease are a fact of life when using a mobile phone; and unless you are a fan of cloudy screens, you probably spend quite a bit of time wiping yours with a shirt tail or microfiber cloth. As well as that may usually work, nothing can really take the place of a good cleaning. But what’s the best way to clean an electronic device that has an inherent dislike for water?? Well according to Digital Innovations, it’s with a cleanDR Refresh Wipes for Electronics. I guess it was only a matter of time before an electronics cleaner…
With the proliferation of iPods, we enjoy carrying our music, videos and photos that express our tastes. What?s lacking from the run of the mill white and black Apple iPod casings are designs that say, ?this is me!? Kiwali – pronounced Kee-Wah-Lee (the forgotten Hawaiian goddess of creativity and good design) is a company producing a line of unique skins for the iPod line.
Rounding off my list of the three personal media players (PMPs) that I plan to review–I’ve already done the Cowon A2 and the Creative Zen Vision W–it’s time for the Archos 604 WiFi. (I didn’t do an unboxing on this one, kids; sorry, I’ve just been too durn busy with “real” work.) The Archos has specs very similar to that of the Zen Vision and the Cowon A2: 10.23 oz (290g) 4.3″, 480×272 screen 133mm (wide) x 78mm (high) x 18mm (thick) 30 GB hard disk space 5 hours rated of battery time built-in mic built-in external speaker A/V port…
The Energizer “Energi To Go” emergency charger for mobile devices and cellular phones is a gadget falls into the “When I need it, I really need it!” category. The premise is simple: Load the device with two AA batteries (Energizer recommends their Lithium batteries, but it works with any type of AA), plug in their cable, then attach to your mobile phone or PDA, and voila! The LED lights up, and you’re charging. (The speed and quantity of power charging will depend on the type of AA battery used.)
Dear Frustrated Windows User, Want to make my blood boil? Just tell me that someday, in the not-too-distant future, my refrigerator will include a computer that alerts me when I’m low on milk. Just tell me that someday my microwave oven will feature a computer that “senses” what’s inside and cooks it accordingly. Just tell me that someday my car will include a computer that lets it repair itself by “downloading” some kind of software off the Internet. The crazy thing is that there are scientists and engineers actually working on these kinds of pie-in-the-sky ideas. Don’t these eggheads know…
In my day job as a computer technician… one of the things I work with is computer data, moving files from one place to another. Depending on the situation, there is more than one way to move said data.? It could involve using, USB flash drives, making DVD-R’s, USB external hard drives, taking apart the computer and removing the hard drive to connect to another computer as a secondary hard drive. All these methods vary in length of time needed to complete the transfer. And as always, a direct A to B is the quickest way to get it done….