Remembering Borders…

It’s official-Borders has filed for bankruptcy. They’re going through Chapter 11, which means they have the opportunity to renegotiate debts and restructure the company. Whether or not it works, the company that emerges from this process isn’t going to be the same Borders. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if it helps them survive long-term, but it does make me mourn the Borders I knew and loved. I’ve talked about this a few times before, but I worked for Borders on and off in college and in management after college. If you walked up to me seven years ago and…

Editorials, How to Do It Yourself!

With the Apples Rotting Maybe It’s Time to Back Up Your Apps

Talk about a one-sided love affair! Many of us, consumers that is, love Apple but does Apple love us in return? Heck no. Apple loves market share and money. Yes, once again the company that once called on us to “Think Different” is using its new moniker, “We’re Apple, we don’t care, we don’t have to… And by the way that will cost you 30%”. Truth be told it is a little (LOT) frustrating. And dumb. Just as Apple’s momentum seemed unstoppable they are on the verge or being their own worst enemy… And ours. We’re here to help. This…

Game Diary, Reviews

iPad Game Review: Treasure Seekers II: The Enchanted Canvases

Given how much I enjoyed the Mystery of the Crystal Portal games, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review Treasure Seekers II: The Enchanted Canvases. Like the Crystal Portal games, Treasure Seekers is a hidden object game with a story that keeps you engaged as you go along. But aside from that, how is the game? The Hype: Help Nelly find and save her brother from a mysterious Romanian castle! Dive into the castle’s magical pictures and discover the secrets of the Philosophers’ Stone. Use your Hidden Object skills in Treasure Seekers: The Enchanted Canvases to break the…

News

Twelve South Introduces the MagicWand for Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard

Twelve South makes some great Mac products. They make the Compass iPad stand and the BookBook iPad case, along with a host of other Mac accessories. Well today they are rolling out a new product that seamlessly connects Apple’s Magic Trackpad to the Apple Wireless Keyboard to create one, easy to use, accessory. Judie recently reviewed a somewhat similar item, the BulletTrain Express (she loves it!), but while that created an arrangement similar to what you will find on an Apple notebook, the MagicWand creates on long keyboard/trackpad combination. As the company explains, What is MagicWand? It’s a cool little…

News

Apple’s 30% Toll on App Store Content

Rumors have been rumbling since the Sony Reader app was rejected that Apple was planning on making changes to subscriptions and in-app purchases. Today, Apple fired the first shot across the bow with a press release making it clear that all subscription options must be offered as an option through iTunes (complete with a 30% cut to Apple). Engadget is reporting that Rhapsody has already weighed in with their response, and it’s a big fat no. According to Rhapsody, 30% is simply too high to be sustainable. What’s really interesting is that in their press release Rhapsody explains they are…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Mazda CX-9 Still a Winner

Mazda’s CX-9 is one of the automakers most award-winning vehicles, garnering North American Truck of the Year and the Motor Trend Sport Utility of the Year, amongst others.

Game Diary, Reviews

Dead Space 2 Limited Edition PlayStation 3 Game Review

This survival, sci-fi sequel creates paramount entertainment as Isaac Clarke awakens only to battle through horrifying memories…oh, and endless waves of human experiments gone bad called Necromorphs.

Reviews

TokyoFlash Kisai Console Watch Review

I have always admired Tokyoflash watches from afar. They have a look about them that just appeals to the geek in me. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Tokyoflash was able to send me one of the newest designs fresh from their site, the Kisai Console Watch. The first thing you will notice about the Kisai Console is that it’s face is entirely dark most of the time. The magic of the Kisai Console only happens once you press the button. Then the entire face lights up and certain lights flash to indicate the time. To tell the time, you just…

News

Drink Clean Water, Become a Solid Citizen with the Revolve Tap Water Filter Bottle

For the longest time I was a bad resident of Planet Earth. Yes, on any given day I might go through three, four, five or even six plastic water bottles. What a waste. What a complete and total waste. Some time ago I finally went out and I got an insulated, reusable water bottle. Now I don’t add to the growing number of bottles in landfills AND, because it is insulated, my water stays cold all day. Well it looks like my insulated water bottle is about to see a lot less use thanks to the Revolve Tap Water Filter…

Events

MWC: Hands-On with HTC’s Newest Devices

Helena and I were able to spend some time at the HTC VIP lounge this afternoon, time that was well spent fondling the six devices introduced by HTC earlier today. Of course the one that most captivated us was the 7″ Flyer, HTC’s new tablet device. It will be shipping with Gingerbread instead of the newer Honeycomb, which seemed odd given that all of the other tablets and the majority of new phones we’ve seen have featured the newer version of Android. If it means that we can get our hands on it sooner (and that there might be a…

Reviews

Deal With SWAGG for Deals, Gifts and a Lighter Wallet

Sometime ago I moved most of my credit cards over to an application that is stored on my iPhone and my iPad. The application is highly secured and encrypted, and it allows me to have all of my credit card information with me all the time without having to carry the credit cards themselves. I love using the app, and I see myself doing this more and more. This thing is, my credit cards aren’t the only cards that I carry. I also carry an assortment of different store cards and gift cards. For example, I was recently given a…

News

iOS App Update of Note: Kindle for iOS Gets Page Numbers and More…

I led a book group last week and, as always, I used my iPad for both reading the book and for sharing my thoughts about it. It worked great except for one thing; because there were no page numbers in the Kindle app I wasn’t able to refer to specific places in the book with ease. It was more than a bit frustrating. Well, Amazon just began to address that by releasing an update to their Kindle application for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The update brings a host of new features; among them, the addition of real page…

News

Amazon Video on Demand Comes to the Rescue!

I’ll be honest — I am not always on top of ordering gifts ahead of time. Even when I have a plan, or am told exactly what to purchase, I somehow always push it to the last minute. Luckily for me, I was ordering Sarah “Big Love: Season 4” for Valentine’s Day, and Amazon comes through like a champ by offering free “video on demand” rentals with purchase! See, without it I would have been without part of Sarah’s Valentine’s day present (bad Carly!) But thanks to the free rentals, we were able to start watching the show even though…

Music Diary

Music Diary Notes: Grammy Awards, Esperanza Spalding, and More … !

Photo courtesy of JAE C. HONG of the Associated Press The Grammy Awards, like most self-congratulatory industry events across the various media, are an interesting study in how they like to ‘tell a story’ framed by performances, themes, and the awards they give out. There is a mix of artists having major sweeps of categories, some years the awards are spread around, and there is even the occasional ‘surprise’ – which generally means the difference between two similar sounding pop stars from the same label and management team. Make no mistake on my opinion – I believe the ‘Awards’ at…

News

The Valentine’s Day Gift Arms Race

Let’s face it – by this time if you are still deciding on Valentine’s Day gifts you are pretty much in deep trouble with the object of your intentions. This isn’t meant as gift-giving advice. Nor is it a curmudgeonly rant about the ‘Hallmark Holiday’ – while the card-maker and your local florist certainly profit from February 14th, the celebration has historical ties. No … this is about the seeming ‘arms race’ in gift-giving. Initially I had started pooling loads of images from every email I had gotten over the last month touting the ‘perfect Valentine’s Day gift’, with the…

Reviews

Review: Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet: Go Paperless

When I saw the Boogie Board at CES 2011 I was intrigued. The device is small, thin and amazingly light. It is a touch-sensitive LCD screen that truly makes it possible for you to never use notepaper again. Since it is always on you simply pick it up, jot your note and go. When I saw one at Brookstone yesterday I knew I just had to have one so… I bought it. It is a neat device that does exactly what it saws. And yet it is going back. Why? Read on to find out. From Boogie Board- The next…

News

Check Out Larry Greenberg’s New RunAroundTech Site!

One of the great things about writing for a site like Gear Diary is the crew – I love reading all of the different insights and viewpoints and interests. Former editor Larry Greenberg contributed some really cool things – his Apple on TV, Smash or Trash, YouTube reviews, destructive reviews, and other fun things have always been a blast to watch & read! Larry has maintained his active YouTube site, and now Larry has a new tech site of his own Here is his welcome: Welcome to Run Around Tech. We’ve been chasing down the technology you crave behind the…

Editorials

iPads in Education: Some Thoughts on Pros and Cons

The new look of textbooks? The iPad app Solar System, by Touch Press The discussion started out because my daughter Maggie, who is a freshman at the local High School, spotted an opportunity to get herself a device that she covets . . . an iPad. Here’s the deal: Maggie’s school district is holding a vote on whether or not the parents think it’s a good idea to get the High School students iPads. The idea is that you get them an iPad as a freshman, they keep it for four years, using it for textbooks, note-taking, and whatever else,…

Events, News

MWC: AppUp, MeeGo, Open Source, and Tablets

The partnership between Nokia and Microsoft that was announced the other day has caused some speculation that the Intel powered AppUp store in general, and the MeeGo in particular might be the losers in this story. Helena and I spoke with Peter Biddle, General Manager to AppUp Products and Services, and he said that despite this partnership, AppUp and Meego will thrive. Proprietary systems have a place in the ecosystem, and so do open ones. Further scaling the development of flexible, open software platforms and applications for all mobile devices, Intel demonstrated a compelling new MeeGo tablet user experience to…

Events, Reviews

A Lifesaver in Barcelona, the Tru Enabled BlackBerry Bold 9700

I wanted to put in a quick mention for Tru, the service that offered to send me an international BlackBerry Bold 9700 to use for Mobile Congress Week along with their Tru SIM. The ultimate goal is that we’ll compare what I would have spent on the same amount of Tru usage versus AT&T’s best international rate (since they are my regular carrier) after Mobile World Congress is done. Here’s where it gets even better, though. DHL came through and got the BB Bold to me before I left. Because Tru was worried that it wouldn’t arrive in time, they…

Events

MWC: Hands-On Photos with Sony’s Three New Experias

CES saw the release of the new Sony Ericsson Experia Arc, but tonight we got to see three new Experias: the neo, the pro and the long-awaited PLAY — the Playstation phone. Oh my. I had a chance to attend the press conference where these were introduced, and a moment to fondle all three. The Experia neo: The phone I am most excited about personally is the neo; it has a beautiful screen and an amazing camera that works well in even the worst lighting situations. This phone is very media focused, and it comes equipped with HDMI support, an…

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