I actually hesitated to post about this sweepstakes, because it’s a bit more girly than any we’ve done. But heck; if we can offer a trip to the NBA All-Star game (which one of our readers actually won!!), then we can certainly offer something which will appeal to our female readers – or to our male readers who want to really surprise a special woman. Here’s the deal: Maghound, the magazine subscription service that I wrote about trying and am currently thoroughly enjoying, is sponsoring a sweepstakes. The Grand Prize is round trip airfare for two to NYC, hotel accommodations for three days and two nights, a makeover for the winner, and a $1500 shopping spree with a People StyleWatch Editor. You’ve probably got better than usual odds for wining, because the sweeps will be exclusively promoted by the bloggers who participated in the recently concluded Maghound subscription giveaway. Can you think of a woman that would enjoy a gift like this for Christmas? Yeah…I thought so. Read on to see how YOU can either treat yourself to an amazing time, or be a total hero to someone special this year.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is one of those products that kind of snuck up on me. It looked like it was one of those electronic curiosities that catches your eye, leads to an impulse buy and then, within a week, is in a box collecting dust. As it turns out the Moshi Voice Response Alarm Clock works quite well, is remarkably useful and the review unit I was sent can will remain on my night table once this review is done. Lets take a look at this unusual, and useful, clock. A video demo follows…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

No sooner did my iPhone 3GS become my new electronic partner than I began to think about protection – for it. If history shows anything, it is that I am not very kind to external surfaces of electronic equipment. Enter Speck Products and the new SeeThru hard shell case line.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: Joseph Robertson If last week’s news is any indication, we’re all about to see an army of Droids to be released and hit the mobile scene — in a very big way. Even if you didn’t already pre-order through Best Buy, Big Red hopes you’ll be stopping by their stores this Friday to see what all the fuss is about.   Some good hardware from Motorola and a faster, much improved Android 2.0 should please quite a few Verizon customers by providing what could be argued as the carrier’s first eagerly anticipated smartphone.   But will it pose any real threat to the iPhone?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Rumor has it that the upcoming 10.6.2 build of Mac OS X has removed support for the Intel Atom CPU, which is the processor under the hood of many netbooks on the market today, including my beloved Dell Mini 9. This isn’t an issue for most Mac users, but if you’re like me and you’ve Hackintoshed your way to super-portable bliss, you might be a little worried.  See, Apple…this is why I wish you had your own official netbook!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you figured out Google Wave yet? If not, don’t despair (Need an invitation?). There are lots of people using Google Wave who haven’t figure it out. As one chapter in the new Complete Guide to Google Wave begins – “Wave’s Downfall: A Universally Confusing Initial User Experience“. One problem with Wave is that until you have lots of friends or business colleagues using the service there isn’t much to share or collaborate on. The other problem is that Google Wave is still very much a developer preview where users are expected to figure out how to use the service. Luckily Gina Trapani and Adam Pash (both of Lifehacker) have compiled a preview edition of The… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve been using various voice to text solutions for a number of years. I began using Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking when it was back in version 7 or 8. Unfortunately, back then it was often more proof of concept than useful tool. The process of transcribing text was slow and the accuracy was not all that good. Over the years two things have changed. First, the power of our devices has grown exponentially. My iPhone is, on many levels, as powerful or more powerful than the computer I was using just a few years ago. And my iMac and my MacBook Pro have power and speed that I couldn’t have dreamed about a few years ago. Second, the speech to text technology has improved significantly. It just works better. Often, so long as you’re speaking properly — meaning slowly and clearly — the process of speaking and having your words transcribed can now approach 100% accuracy. That’s what this new series is all about. “Look Ma no hands — Voice Recognition Technology Today” will be an opportunity for me to look at the various tools available on multiple platforms and how to make the best use of them. We’ll look at [...]

This Linksys wireless router offers simultaneous dual band Wi-Fi connections and is like having two wireless routers inside one box. Most computers (and many mobile devices) support Wi-Fi. Some make exclusive use of the 2.4 GHZ frequencies – however many devices now will allow use of the less crowded 5 GHZ (check your device specs first). This Linksys can support multiple devices with different frequency use. It lets you use the more common 2.4 GHZ connection for connecting to less speed intensive destinations like checking email and posting Halloween pictures to facebook. Use the less crowded and presumably faster 5 GHZ connection for music, gaming and high-definition video. There are also four Gigabit Ethernet ports for cabled connections as well… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Business users — and, let’s face it, anyone who uses MS Office for documents — should take note of DataViz’s Documents To Go for the iPhone platform.  Oh, don’t worry, you’ll still look hip and “with it” as the kiddies say while you carry your iPhone.  Now you’ll just be able to walk into your next meeting and whiz-pow-bang! pull up the latest sales figures or show your boss that new PowerPoint presentation straight from your iPhone.  Since Documents To Go for the iPhone features MS Exchange Sync, you will be able to keep those documents in sync on your desktop and iPhone.  Yes, that means you can edit/create documents and save ‘em and all those… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This might not be new but I certainly don’t recall seeing this message before… I went to watch something on my iPhone earlier and couldn’t. Turns out it was flash and, as you likely know, the iPhone doesn’t support flash. That’s nothing new. What was new, at least to me, was the way the screen presented the message about Flash not working. In the past I had gotten messages like- “To view this content upgrade your browser and flash plug-in.” Now the message was far more pointed. Roughly translated it would read– Listen up, you may want flash but you can’t have flash- at least not on this device. Why? Don’t blame us Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I don’t think I’ve ever owned a pair of earbuds. Instead it feels mostly like I have them on a very short term rental. Just when I find a pair that fit and perform to my liking one of my kids “borrows” them. I must have a dozen pair of earbuds scattered around my house – none of which I’m able to find. This deal on a pair of iPhone/iPod earbuds (with microphone) works out to about $4 per pair. These aren’t official Apple branded earbuds but at this price it’s worth picking up a few sets as spares for the next time your favorite’s get borrowed. iPhone / iPod earphones (2 pack) – $7.95 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We have technology for just about everything.  Need to catch up with a friend on the other side of the globe?  No problem, fire up Skype.   Need to find the closest restaurants?  There are apps for this right at your fingertips.  Want to capture every image, note, or voice reminder and never lose them again?  No problem.  When it comes to ensuring quality restorative sleep, however, there’s not too much technology out there for the consumer. Sure, there’s the Sleeptracker watch (which I do personally use, by the way) — which works as a wearable personal wake-up alarm — and does keep track of sleep patterns if you want to track that data on a computer.  Honestly, though, I’ve not done that once in the two years I’ve used the watch.  Now there is another tool aimed to really give you the gift of better sleep — without the use or dependency of pills or pharmaceuticals?  Where the Sleeptracker will wake you with either an audible or vibrating alarm when you are closest to a waking moment in a sleep cycle (using movement), the Zeo aims to actually coach you to permanently gain a better night’s sleep by revealing [...]

Shooting video directly from your mobile phone can be incredibly handy.  Even if the results do not equate to the quality of a dedicated camcorder, chances are you will have your mobile phone with you to capture the moment.  While many phones will let you record video, the thing that sets the iPhone so far apart from the pack is the wide variety of — you guessed it – apps.  These apps bring even more video recording features to your iPhone 3GS .… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The XM Radio Skydock for the iPhone is now available for a purchase price of $120.  The dock allows you to insert your iPhone and obtain the XM’s satellite signal via a magnetic antenna that must be mounted on the roof of your car and snaked through to connect to the dock. Once docked, in addition to being charged, your iPhone gives way to touch controls and a built in FM transmitter for getting the radio’s audio over your car’s stereo. You’ll also need the special version of the free XM Radio iPhone application from the App Store, and of course a subscription to the service… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the new weekly feature here at Gear Diary! As noted last week, I will highlight the major Windows Mobile software releases and updates from the previous week as well as a couple of featured software for the week. Hopefully, you will join the discussion! This week, I’m adding a new section, which will feature software of the week! Let’s get going!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …