My MacBook Pro is feeling a bit left out since I got the iPad last week. It’s not that the iPad is a MacBook Pro replacement, it isn’t. It is, however, quite proficient at many of the more common tasks I traditionally did on my MacBook Pro. And since the iPad’s battery life is amazing and it runs both silent and cool, I find myself grabbing in many of the situations where a notebook would have been my device of choice. The result is that my needs in a notebook have changed. Gone are the simple mundane tasks. Bigger, more processor-demanding tasks Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apple and Google love each other… or they don’t. Where the “relationship” stands is anyone’s guess right now and two events yesterday didn’t bring much clarity as the two companies appear to continue on their collision course. Just a quick recap… Apple and Google were close. Google was represented on Apple’s board and instead of “Search” the iPhone indicated “Google”. Then Google stepped into Apple’s realm by introducing a smartphone operating system that directly competes with Apple’s baby. Google’s representation on Apple’s board came to an end. Then Apple sent Google Voice into purgatory. It continues to languish there. Last week Apple decided to step into Google’s realm (or more accurately onto their cash cow) and announced iAds… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

After my relatively brief flirtation with using BlackBerry, it became clear to me that I am an iPhone guy through and through. That noted, my friends who have used an N900 swear by it. Judie has been using one for a long-term use review,  and she too loves it. (And as you know she has used a whole lot of different phones. It takes a lot to impress her, and the N900 has.) A device like the N900 doesn’t come cheap. It has an MSRP of $599. Ouch. Then again, considering what you get for that amount it is far from unreasonable. Better still, however is the deal our Gear… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the biggest games this year has been Mass Effect 2, Bioware’s excellent shooter-RPG hybrid for the XBOX360 and PC. Obviously it is a sequel, and back a couple of years ago Mass Effect 1 wowed fans. However, many folks are getting in on the franchise for the first time this year – and for them, ImpulseDriven has a great deal – between now and April 16th, grab the Digital Download version of the original Mass Effect for only $9.98. Personally I love the Mass Effect games – they are more about the characters and action than actual role-playing, but they both have wonderful stories and are very immersive and fun. If you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Google docs is a pretty solid online based documents suite that offers a robust feature set. Recently Google added free and paid storage to this suite, and is continually adding new services and features to their MS Office alternative. Yesterday Google announced the new Google Docs foundation, including a new preview of the new Google Docs editor, Spreadsheet editor, and an all new Drawings editor. The new foundation promises greater flexibility, performance, and an overall better platform for development. These new features are now available on the documents site by clicking the “new version” link in spreadsheets and for documents by changing to the “new… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

What does Jeff Beck have in common with fellow British Invasion veterans like Paul McCartney of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who? Well, he is British, was a huge force in music more than 45 years ago, and is easily old enough to be the grandparent of the average teenager listening to rock music. How is he different? He still makes music that MATTERS. If the Super Bowl ‘oldies revival’ by The Who (the same guys who proclaimed they hoped they died before they got old) shows anything, it is a reminder that pretty much everyone from that generation has dried up creatively and is happy trotting out their old hits to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back when I was a young buck fresh out of college, devices that looked like the Aleratek Cruiser (above) were 500 Megabyte hard drives that sounded like 737s taking off, heated up the whole room, and were about as reliable as political promises during election season.   One of my jobs was to back those suckers up onto floppy diskettes.  Boy, was that fun or what? We’ve come a long way, baby.  Now, that device from Aleratek duplicates and sanitizes your hard disk simultaneously.  Aleratek say: HDD Cruiser is an affordable professional hard drive duplicator that can quickly create perfect clone hard drives, as well as give access to two hard drives through Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Wired The worst part about ordering a new gadget is waiting for it to come in the mail. All the excitement comes to a halt after you click the submit button and get the confirmation email that you new product is on the way. iPad’s have been selling like hotcakes since their release earlier this month, and I would imagine hundreds are still being ordered every day. Hardware Geeks blogger Michael Reyes finally broke down and purchased an iPad. Apple sent his tracking info and the waiting game began. Using FedEx desktop, he tracked his new package coming in from its origin in China. Using the Master Tracking number he got a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

My wife recently had to replace her car and bought our first real family vehicle.  My 5-year-old son said he did not care what kind of car she got as long as it had a DVD player.  Well, the vehicle she purchased did not have an installed player, so we bought a portable unit that includes a screen for each seat (one for each boy).  We were all really happy!  They can now watch movies when we travel, while keeping the chances of fights and “are we there yet” questions to a minimum.  So we set out on a trip into San Antonio and grabbed a couple of Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I take my phone everywhere. During work and everyday life I don’t worry much about it; I work in an office and live in suburban New Jersey. It’s not really a rough life for a smartphone. I do, however, take it when I go hiking, biking and running as a GPS tracker, plus it rides along in my pocket when I walk the dog, rain or shine. So I’m always on the lookout for a solid case that can protect my phone during outdoors-y times, and still look good for everyday use. Needless to say, I was VERY excited when Otterbox announced their Commuter Case for the Droid… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Apple announced the iPad, I immediately imagined that it would be a superior way to read PDF books in a tablet-style format. On the Apple iPad Specs page, there is a single mention of PDF support for the iPad – in the Mail application as an attachment. However, there must be a way to view PDF files on the iPad natively, right? Let’s walk through two main ways currently available to view PDF files on the iPad. Built-In PDF Viewing Mail Application – The iPad supports viewing PDF files that are sent as attachments via email in the Mail application. Simply download the attachment, click to launch, and you can view the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This has certainly got to be one of the most elegant iPad stands I’ve yet seen! Element Case has just released news and images on their new Joule iPad Stand, and it’s a stunner. Crafted from solid aluminum, the Joule “has an adjustable tilt angle with three settings and provides one of the most solid bases for an unsheathed iPad in the home, office or at work.” Designed With Both Landscape and Portrait Modes in mind. Introducing the new “Joule” work stand for your iPad. It’s stable solid base has a simple, clean, and elegant design that enhances your iPad and makes it easier to use. Unlike most stands, the Joule Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: Ian Hayhurst I got made fun of on the radio last night. I probably deserved it. Let me explain. For the second time in a week Elana called me to tell me that there was a radio program talking about the iPad, and they were taking callers. She suggested I might pick up the phone to see if I could get on since I own one, especially since the DJ was seriously down on the iPad. I called. I got on. The DJ asked if I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dan and Larry take enough time away from their iPads to prepare Gear Chat #7- today’s topic… the iPad, iPhone OS 4.0 and assorted other goodies… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today Microsoft has finally answered the question of “what is Pink?” with their announcement of the Kin One and the Kin Two, a pair of always connected, extremely social mobile phones aimed at the sub-20-year-old set, that will be available exclusively on Verizon & Vodaphone. With KIN, social networking is built into the fabric of the phone. KIN has a fun, simple interface, which is designed to help people publish the magazine of their life by making the people and stuff they love the focus rather than menus and icons. The unique hardware design was developed in partnership with Sharp to create a new kind of social phone. There are two models called KIN ONE Continue reading on Gear Diary …