Apple iPad

BoxWave Type Runner Bluetooth Keyboard Review

Using my iPad as my primary option is still fairly new for me. We all know that the iPad is an amazing user experience for numerous tasks, but while it is easy to use and I can actually type pretty well on it, there are times that using the onscreen keyboard are not optimal. When I am completing work tasks or especially Gear Diary posts (which is not often enough during football season), it is much faster and less tiring to type on a physical keyboard. The only problem with this need is having to carry a full-size keyboard while…

Gear Bits

Libratone Zipp Wireless AirPlay Speaker, First Look

Every now and then a product comes along that not only meets your expectations but actually exceeds them. That’s the case so far with the Libratone Zipp AirPlay Wireless Speaker. Sure, it has a cool, unique look. And sure, the fact that you can change the wool covers then, in seconds, have a speaker that looks completely different is very cool. And sure, it has AirPlay. All that is true, but what really makes this speaker stand out is its Play Direct and its awesome sound. Play Direct means you can stream great audio wirelessly even when you don’t have an…

Gear Bits

All-In With the New iPad

Mike and Carly have discussed the fact that the iPad is their 80% Plus computer. Mike even went so far as to try to use the iPad exclusively for a few days. (You can read about it here.) Well, I am embarking on my iPad-only experiment although I do so out of necessity. You see, prior to the MacBook ProR I had at least two computers. Usually that meant a desktop and a laptop but, for a time it meant a 11″ and a 13″ MacBook Air. That meant I always has a “spare” Mac available to me. Not…

Reviews

iEraser Screen Cleaner Review

Nearly every device most of us use today involve some type of touch screen. Phones, tablets, GPS units…you name it and we are smudging the screens. In fact, laptops and desktop monitors somehow seem to get greasy after just a couple of days use. There is not a day that passes that a smudged up screen is not annoying me. Anyone who is a parent of young children like myself know that anytime a kid gets near one of the screens it seems to get grungy. Our devices seem to be magnets for fingerprints and smudges. I recently had the…

Editorials

Week Number 1 of My iPad-Only Challenge!

Welcome to the first weekly report on my quest for the 99% computer! As noted my plan was to use my iPad for as much as I possibly could, and note whatever functions required me to use a ‘real’ computer. So let’s get to it! Setup Perhaps not surprisingly, there wasn’t much for me to do. I have had my iPad loaded up with email, web, productivity, statistics, music, games, utilities and so on … so there wasn’t much to do. And in fact, I decided NOT to do anything in specific – I really wanted to know how much…

Editorials

My Quest for the 99% Computer

I have often stated that my iPad is my ‘80% computer’, meaning that I do (or can do) about 80% of my stuff on it. However, my goal has always been to find an ultraportable device to handle 99% of my non-gaming activities. This quest started with the HP200LX, where I could run Lotus 1-2-3, a great HP Calc, word processing, and so on; then the Newton MessagePad (my first was the MP2000); then Psions and HP Jornadas; then on to the Toshiba Libretto and eventually the Sony C1 Picturebook and finally netbooks … but nothing has approached the universal…

Editorials

New iPhone and iPods Next Week? Or Perhaps iOS 6 Will Be the Biggest Star

Apple’s Special Event is scheduled for next Wednesday. At it, we assume, we will see the new iPhone (or whatever it’s called) and won’t be surprised if we see a new iPod lineup. We’re still hopeful we will see the iPad mini, but all indications are that Apple will wait a bit. After all, why would they announce two much-anticipated devices at the same time and, in the process, compete with themselves for attention. The iPhone 5, new iPod touch and nano etc are not, however, the reason for this post. No, this post is about the three features I’m…

Reviews

iShower Bluetooth Water Resistant Speaker Review

I’m a guy who needs constant input. Whether it’s sport talk on the radio or music from Spotify while I’m working or a television droning in the background while I’m fixing supper, I always want something to entertain me. So the five minutes I spend in the shower every morning is problematic. I do have one of those old shower radios that had a television tuner as well so I could keep up with the Today Show while I completed my morning ablutions. But once digital tv pretty much killed over the air transmission, that eliminated the usefulness of that…

Editorials

iPad for College Instead of Laptop? Bad Advice

You know what they say about free advice… you get what you pay for. And, if you read the site regularly, you know hoe much both Judie and I love and rely upon our iPads. And you likely also know that Mike considers the iPad his “80% computer” while Carly goes as high as it being her 90% computer. That being the case you might be surprised that I find Cult of Macs post entitles Why You Should Buy An iPad Instead Of A MacBook For College [Back To School] to be lousy advice and simply wrong. The author’s points…

Reviews

Here I Go Again: An iPad User Tries a Google Nexus 7

A short time ago I tried swapping my iPhone for a Windows Phone 7. If you read my posts on the subject, then you know I learned a lot of interesting things, good and bad, about the platform. This time I’m focused on my tablet. I’m back to try one of the most heavily discussed gadgets this year, the Google Nexus 7. A Little Perspective… I have always loved playing with new gadgets. That’s why I was interested in the Nexus 7. But understand this: I come into this as a die-hard iPad user. I have been one ever since…

Gear Bits, News

Court Documents Bring to Light Dismal Samsung Tablet Sales Numbers

For nearly two years I have been like a broken record: I simply never believed the numbers Samsung was supposedly selling in terms of tablets. Worse still, having put out a single unofficial number before switching to ‘percent improvement in shipments’, groups like the IDC and Gartner grabbed the initial number and then just applied the percent increase. This played out again last week in the numbers reported by the IDC showing that Samsung held the #2 tablet slot with 9.6% market share with ~2.4 million units sold. I like the Samsung tablets pretty well and they have created a…

Gear Bits, News

Apple’s New ‘All on the iPad’ Commercial Reminds Us Again It Is an iPad World

Depending on what market you are looking at, Apple controls ~68 – 72% of the tablet market. That is a level of singular dominance well beyond the monopoly of Google Search, as a comparison. And the funny thing is, I STILL don’t trust the Samsung numbers, so the iPad share might be higher! Of course, with the successful launch of the Google Nexus 7 (and countless tales of difficulties trying to return or exchange same), we can expect to see the numbers shift somewhat – though it is pretty clear that sales of the Nexus 7 will obliterate the Kindle…

Gear Bits

iPad Mini Oh My Aching Wrists, Let It Be REAL!

I’m sitting outside reading and checking the site on my new iPad. (Okay, and I’m also playing through Kingdom Rush for the third time. They really NEED to come out with Kingdom Rush 2 already!!) And while I’m really loving my iPad, I am hoping the rumors about the iPad-mini are actually true. Sure, as we noted here, the smaller iPad makes sense from a market perspective. It would fill the gap that currently sits between the $199 iPod touch and the $399 iPad 2. And sure, it would let Apple compete with the likes of the Google Nexus 7…

Reviews

Catapult King for iPhone Review; It Brings Tons of Fun

Many iPhone users have spent countless hours tossing birds at various structures in an attempt to defeat the pigs. While I do fall into this group, I have also taken a hiatus from the game series and have been searching for something fresh. Despite the change, the idea of tossing items to knock down things is still an enjoyable task. I recently found a new game that requires structures to be destroyed by flying objects and I am totally addicted. Catapult King allows users to go medieval on some castles in a fun, destructive game. Let’s take a look. Become…

Editorials

In an Apple and Everything Else Funk

Lately I’ve been in a funk. I thought, at first, it was an Apple funk. I thought it might be about the fact that Apple today doesn’t seem to have the same excitement and vision as it did under Steve Jobs. I thought it might be about a sequence of products that is becoming very evolutionary instead of revolutionary. I thought it was about Apple and where it might be heading. But it’s more than that. It’s about where the mobile industry as a whole is heading. It’s about what kinds of things we think are important (and it’s not…

Gear Bits

Mountain Lion Roars 3 Million Times, and Now It Is Time to “Read” the Manual

OS X Mountain Lion, the Apple’s updated desktop operating system, is already a big hit. Downloaded over 3 million times in less than a week, the OS looks pretty much the same as OS X Lion, but it adds some great features. Mountain Lion is, according to Apple’s Phil Schiller, “the most successful [operating system] release ever”. What Mountain Lion does is key for any of us who use an iPhone and/or an iPad; it gives Mac desktops and laptops the same tools already been available to us on mobile devices.In other words, it integrates the Apple-experience. iMessage, Notifications, Notes…

Reviews

Get Addicted with Flow Free for iPhone Review

I do agree that iOS has become a wonderful mobile gaming platform, but not in the way I would have first imagined. For me it is not about high quality graphics and blockbuster titles. Simplicity and the ability for quick play is far more important. My phone is always with me and there are many times during the day I am waiting or taking a break. These times are usually only a few minutes long and are fun to fill with a quick game. Puzzle games are perfect for these situations because the are fun, fresh and often quit addictive….

Gear Bits

Why Cable Companies Should Be Afraid of Airplay

Despite the fact that the operating system was released just a few days ago and there have been some issues with getting redemption codes and downloads, an amazing number of Mac users have already upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion. Having used it since shortly after the OS was released I can honestly say that it is, by far, the best update I’ve seen to OS X. I love the integration with iOS, the features of the new Safari and, of course, I am thrilled to have the, admittedly limited, ability to globally use voice recognition by simply pressing the…

Editorials

If It Arrives, the iPad Mini Won’t Be $199

We have gone on record that we don’t do rumor and innuendo here in Gear Diary. How then is it possible that we are writing a post about our opinion that Apple’s supposed upcoming miniature iPad will not cost $199? Simple, this post is not based on any of the rumors swirling about, nor is it based on any supposedly special information we heard from our second cousin’s neighbor’s dry cleaner. No, this post is purely speculation on our part, and we are okay with that. In fact we are so okay with that, that we are going to put our…

Gear Bits

The Nexus 7 Challenge, a Gear Diary Video Chat

iPad-junkies Mike and Dan both purchased 8GB Nexus 7s. Mike took one for the team. He put away his iPad and is in the midst of a week-long Nexus Challenge. In other words, he is going full in with the Nexus 7 for a few more days. Dan also got a Nexus 7 so the two jumped on video to talk about the tablet, Mike’s challenge and how two devoted iPad-users are finding the newest Android tablet. As mentioned, this was the third attempt to get our first video-podcast put together, and as such there were a few things that…

Events, Gear Bits

GearFest GearChat Part 3, iPad Apps, Judie’s Question and More…

In part 3 of our GearFest Gear Chat Judie asks “What is your one favorite iPad app?” A ridiculous question? Yup. But she wasn’t going to be satisfied until she got an answer from each of us. We then took a look at how many apps we currently have on our iPads. And, how many books, how many songs etc. In all, during this chat we dug a bit more deeply into exactly how we each use our iPads. And, yeah, the bickering got a bit more intense this time through. 🙂

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