CES

Jabra Reveals New Audio Offerings at CES 2013

Jabra has just announced a new suite of corded and wireless stereo headphones said to “elevate music and multimedia experiences to a new dimension of sound performance”. The headphones, new Jabra Revo Wireless, Jabra Revo corded and Jabra Vox in-ear earphones, are designed for “hard-wearing, every day use and portability”. Jabra’s headphones aren’t designed to be eye-candy. Rather, they are intended for real wear, real use and, in the process, real abuse. To achieve this, the Jabra Revo Wireless and Jabra Revo headphones are constructed using an aluminium frame, steel hinges and a shatter-proof, flexible headband. Similarly, the Jabra Vox…


Thanks to Our Meeting with MiPow, CES 2013 Is off to a Great Start!

It is not uncommon for CES to take some time to ramp up. In the past few years, surprises have been rare and products that grabbed our attention have been few and far between. That isn’t the case this year since, just minutes after checking into the Gear Diary suite here at the MGM Signature in Las Vegas, we had the chance to sit down with Brian Holmes, VP and General Manager of MiPow. We walked away impressed. Not familiar with MiPow? You will be, since the four-year old company is making its US debut here at CES 2013. We,…


CES News From Seagate

for 4pm One of our first meetings tomorrow is with Seagate. Each year for the past few years at CES they have had something new to share and this year looks to be no different. In fact, their announcements just went live and we wanted to give you a quick look prior to tomorrow’s hands-on. First up, the company has just announced their Seagate Wireless Plus. The Wireless Plus provides mobile storage for smart phones and tablets without the need for wires or access to the web. The Wireless Plus creates its own WiFi network and up to eight mobile…


Forks Go Connected with HAPILABS HAPIfork

CES 2013 is ready to kick into gear. Judie and Kevin arrive late today. Carly will be here Tuesday. This is my 4th CES and we’ll be busier than I can ever recall. That’s a good thing. I’m especially looking forward to wandering the show floor as there are always some unexpected treasures. I do not, however, expect this to be one of them. The HAPILABS team will be showing their new HAPIfork, the world’s first connected fork that helps you lose weight by eating at the right time and at the right pace. Yes, the world’s first ever connected…


Toshiba Portege Z930 Ultrabook First Impressions

I am off to CES in just a few short days, and had originally planned to bring my long-in-the-tooth-but-still-going-strong Chromebook as a laptop solution. Then Gear Diary was invited to review the  Toshiba Portege Z930 Ultrabook.  The result? I will be blogging with a great deal more power and features during the show! We’ll have a full review soon, but I wanted to make sure to share my first impressions, and not just the “OH WOW” I had when I pulled it out of the box! Let’s start with the hardware. This thing is beautiful. It’s not metal like a Macbook Air, but a brushed metallic looking plastic. It…


Nighthawk Bluetooth Microphone Combo System Overview

As we prepare to head off to CES 2013, we are taking the time to think through the gear we are bringing along. One piece of unplanned kit that will be making the trip to Las Vegas comes from BlueWi, a subsidiary of The Earphone Connection. The Nighthawk Bluetooth Microphone Combo is a Bluetooth adapter system that has been used by law enforcement, but it is now making its way into the consumer market thanks to its sturdy build and flexible convenience. The company describes the Nighthawk Bluetooth Microphone Combo as “the ideal tool to meet the demands of the…


Bracketron Accessories Get You and Your Gear Mobile in 2013

If you resolved  to “get outside more often”, Bracketron can help. At CES 2013 the company will be revealing a line of Outdoor Sports Mobile Accessories that includes the latest line of water-resistant sport cases. Among the new offerings are a Sport Case with Belt Clip that “shields your device from sweat, rain and the elements and allows full touchscreen control for phone calls, texts and emails”. The case comes in black and camouflage, and it will make for a great review as part of Coach’s Gear Diary Outdoors series! The company is also offering a Sport Case with Strap Mount….


Just Mobile Gum Max Backup Battery Review

In the first post of this two-part series, we looked at the Just Mobile Gum Plus backup battery. (Read the review, here.) It provides 5200 mAh of battery life and lets you charge your iPhone a number of times. The Gum Plus is small and light enough for you to easily throw the battery into your gadget bag and carry it all the time. But what if you REALLY need extra battery life? What if you have an iPhone and an iPad you need to keep charged? What if you can’t be sure you’ll be near an outlet at all…


PowerStick+ Backup Battery with 4GB of storage and Gear Diary Branding Review

CES is coming up quickly, and we’re making lists of the gear we’ll be bringing. When PowerStick reached out and told us about some of their upcoming products, we knew we wanted to spend some time with them in Las Vegas. And when they offered to brand a couple of their PowerStick+ backup batteries with the Gear Diary logo … well, that was an offer we couldn’t refuse. After all, the PowerStick+ packs in a 2300mAh battery AND 4, 8 or 16GB of storage into a small package that easily slips into a pocket or gear bag. Let’s take a look….


Libratone Zipp Named a CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award Honoree

The Libratone Zipp a CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award Honoree In that arena of “cool gear”, one of the biggest surprises for me this year has been the Libratone Zipp. When it arrived, I was struck by its unusual appearance; it is a cylindrical column. I was also taken by its design flexibility thanks to the interchangeable wool covers. Yes, the Zipp can be “dressed” to match pretty much any decor. But it wasn’t until I went to listen to the Zipp, that I was blown away. The speaker is rather small, but it pumps out huge, excellent…


Ten One Design Pogo Connect is a CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award Honoree

Ten One Design Named CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award Honoree For Pogo Connect If a product adds functionality to my iPad I’m interested. That’s exactly what Ten One Design’s Pogo Connect promises. It is …the world’s first pressure-sensitive Bluetooth 4.0 stylus for the new iPad. Currently supported by numerous compatible apps, Pogo Connect offers full pressure sensitivity, palm rejection capabilities and more. The stylus’s Crescendo Sensor technology makes the tip highly responsive to pressure, recognizes even the slightest touch and works at any angle. While I’m not all too interested in the pressure-sensitive aspect of this pen —…


ioSafe Shocks Us Again at CES 2012

  ioSafe is known for keeping your data SAFE. How safe? Well, first we took the initiative to burn and water-soak a drive, and the data was still recoverable. Then, starting with CES 2010, ioSafe decided to show everyone that their drives are capable of withstanding burning, soaking, dropping, and crushing. In 2011, we upped the ante again and took shots (yes, using a gun) at an ioSafe drive, and the data saved on the ioSafe drive came out unscathed. Well, we wondered what they would do next and, at CES 2012,  we found out. Honestly, what we saw shocked us…


Make Your iPhone 4S Case mykase with Bodyguardz New Case Offering

Bodyguardz has come up with a great way to change-up and/or customize your iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S case in seconds. The mykase line offers a base case in black or white as well as interchangeable back plates that can reflect your mood or dress. They’ll even be rolling out an easy-to-use engine for making your own customized back plate. It is pretty ingenious and definitely worth a look. So here’s what Bodyguardz has to say about it. Three piece case with interchangeable sides, bottom and back. Base available in gloss white and matte black. Multiple colors and designs available…


Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter Speed Comparison with USB 2.0

We told you about Seagate’s new Thunderbolt adapters last week. Yes, we are finally seeing products come to market that take advantage of the speed increases offered by Thunderbolt. But how fast IS Thunderbolt? Sure you can see lab testing but that doesn’t necessarily tell you about using it at home or work. We shot a video of moving 2.5GB of data from a MacBook air to an external drive using both USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt. This is a normal use-scenario for something like this so the speeds you see here are what you might expect if you get one…


The Droid Motorola RAZR MAXX and Droid 4 Were Worth a Look, but They Didn’t Steal the Show

Motorola stole the show last year at CES 2011. The Moto Xoom and the Atrix with its web top keyboard dock… oh my! They were pretty amazing to see. Francis and I even had a chance to remote log into my iMac in New Jersey using the Atrix smartphone as the “computer” powering the remote access. Sadly, the actual experience of using the Xoom and the Atrix left a good deal to be desired. Judie, Thomas and I all bought one; we all returned them. Judie and I visited Motorola again this year at CES 2012, and while they didn’t…


A Visit with Gear4, and a Look at Their Current and Upcoming Prodcuts

Judie and I had a chance to visit with Gear4 in their suite at the Wynn. We’ve seen some of the company’s products in the past, but I don’t think that either of us realized how extensive their portfolio is. And it is going to get even larger in 2012. Needless to say, we came away impressed. Here’s a rundown on the company and their current lineup … Gear4 wants to “make things that are simple, enhance your life and are a pleasure to use.” While all of that is highly subjective from what we saw they are doing everything…


Sony Bloggie Live at Hoover Dam, a Video Demo

Image taken with the Bloggie Live Judie received a Bloggie Live video recorder last week at CES and we brought it along with us to take some images and video while at Hoover Dam. As the video demonstrates, this diminutive Bloggie Live takes some amazing video and is incredibly easy to use.



Thomas Takes On the Wrapsol Non-Slip Grip Pad

  Every now and then you come across a product that, despite liking the company that produces it, you cannot help but wonder, “Why?” That’s certainly the case with the Wrapsol non-slip grip pad. The product is designed for large tablets and adheres to the back of a tablet. From there its sole purpose is to allow the tablet to stay in position more easily when rested on, for example, your thigh. Don’t get us wrong…. the product actually works as promised but we cannot help but think it is an idea searching for an application. I don’t know of…


iOS, Android and Windows Phone – Where is the Market Headed? An Open Discussion

Judie and I both got HTC Titans the other day and have jumped into using them. Our initial thoughts? We both like them… a lot! We’ve been discussing a great deal of this behind the scenes. One discussion began with my posting So I really have to say that I am loving the hell out of the HTC Titan (even with its now slightly dented corners):-] I’m still learning how to get around but it is polished, tight, and a pleasure to use. Best onscreen keyboard ever! No matter how good the hardware o do t think I would like an Android…


A Quick Hands-On with the PlayStation Vita

  I simply could not leave CES without getting some hands-on with the new Sony PlayStation Vita. Having abandoned Sony’s PSP after the original device, I was hoping to get a feel of what the Vita had to offer. Gaming on a mobile device is coming along quite well, but I still feel the need to have a dedicated portable gaming device rather than a smartphone with gaming capabilities. We found a representative to give us a short demo of the device which highlights some of the features of the Vita and the new OS Sony put together. Sony Rep…