One of the things that has been an ongoing frustration with the iPhone is the fact that there isn’t really a good way to blog on it. Sure there are a number of blogging applications available, but none of them get the job done. Add to that the fact that typing on the iPhone is not as easy as it is on a MacBook or an iMac (or… An iPad), and you’ll get a situation in which the iPhone can step in when you need to post something in an emergency, but not something you want to use on a regular basis. Fast forward to… April 3rd and… Blogging on the go is a reality. In fact, even… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Probably the most important application for me on my iPhone and now on my iPad is Dragon dictation. It allows me to do a great bit of writing without having to actually use my fingers and wrists. So the first thing that I did when I got my iPad up and running was to give it a try. It’s pretty amazing and even without a headset the accuracy remains close to 100% so long as you speak quickly. Here’s a quick video demonstration of it. This is the first time I’m trying to use Dragon dictation on the iPad. On my hope is that this application will make it quite Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A great deal has been made about the inability to use the iPad as a phone. The argument is, who wants to use something this big as a phone? Well to be honest, me. The fact of the matter is to be able to make a phone call using the iPad as a speakerphone would be a great thing so I decided that I would try it out. First I loaded the Skype application. It’s currently only available in the iPhone version but, as you know, iPhone applications work on the iPad. I tried it out and discovered that it works quite well. The phone quality is actually excellent. The only difficulty was that it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Backing your data up to the cloud and living out of the cloud is all the rage.  SpiderOak cloud backup has a lot of features that I have been looking for in an online backup solution. First, to get started with SpiderOak, you need to download the software for Windows, Mac or Linux and install it.  The version delivered for Ubuntu works on pretty much any version of Ubuntu.  You can install it with standard dpkg commands or double-click on it and us the graphical package manager, GDebi package installer.  Click on install, enter your system password and it installs. Once the package is installed, you just start the SpiderOak client and sign up… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I was with Elana yesterday expressing my exuberance over my anticipated arrival of the iPad, she suggested that I spend some time with the UPS driver since, according to all reports, there was an amazing amount of logistics involved in getting all the iPads out. I thought it was a good idea. So when my iPad finally arrived late this afternoon — okay actually it was early this afternoon but it felt like late this afternoon — I asked the UPS driver if he could spend a few minutes talking with me. He responded that he would be happy to do so but only had a few minutes since it’s a rather busy day. This is what… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The default music widget for Android is, well, not so great. It’s actually downright terrible. Luckily, there’s a far better alternative: Pure Music Widget. Like the Pure Calendar Widget, Pure Music offers a huge number of sizes, so you can cram music controls onto your screen no matter how much room you have (or don’t have). What’s really nice is that you also get album art, so you can admire your taste in music right on your homescreen. Most importantly, you also get rewind AND fast forward buttons, a woeful omission on the stock widget. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Someone at CBS is a big Droid fanboy. But my guess is that their technology reporters are about to get in big trouble for that one.  It is silly bordering on preposterous to compare the iPad to a smartphone. An iPad to a Kindle, sure. An iPad to a netbook, absolutely. But saying it’s a choice between the iPad and the Droid is like saying it’s a choice between a bicycle and a car. They have overlapping uses, but the reality is that one does not replace the other for the vast majority of users. Since CBS tech writers don’t seem to get that, I’d be happy to help explain it. I’ll even bring my own Droid, netbook and Kindle along for the comparison! via… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Giving to a charity is something that has probably been on the minds of a lot of folks recently, whether due to natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti, or the general state of the economy and the desire to help others who may be less fortunate.  MobileCause, whose staff consists of non-profit and mobile industry professionals, is on a mission to help make charitable giving easier and raise awareness for non-profit organizations.  They have just released a new iPhone app, uGive, that allows participating charities to use the iPhone as a means to solicit support.  By registering with MobileCause, charities add their name to the database of organizations shown in the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The mindmapping app Instaviz was recently updated to work with the iPhone, the iPod touch AND the iPad. The $9.99 app is a powerful way to map out thoughts, plans and others activities. When I first saw it I was amazed at how well it worked on such a small screen and can’t wait to see what it can do on a bigger screen like the iPad. Well we have copies to give away. The first three go to… Llordrv Shill79 MiKen If each will send their emails addresses to us HERE we’ll get copies right over. We have a few more to randomly give out today. For a chance to win one… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

TabToolkit from Agile Partners is one of my favorite iPhone applications.  I have introduced the app to several of my guitar playing buddies and they all rave about it.  I reviewed the app here in its first version.  TabToolkit is almost a magical way to find and save guitar tabs.  Using the in-app browser, tabs are automatically detected and downloaded with one simple click.  PDF tabs are scrollable and can be scaled while rich tabs can be played with advanced options.  If you play the guitar and have an iPhone, Touch or now iPad, then it is a must have application.  Version 1.1.1 brings iPad compatibility and it looks beautiful.  My only complaint… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Having a will is important.  A will is a device that lets you tell the world whom you want to get your assets. Die without one, and the state decides who gets what, without regard to your wishes or your heirs’ needs.  Wills generally cover your personal property, investments, cash and other assets.  But what happens to your digital assets when you die? I realize it’s not the most pleasant thought in the world, but if you’re like me then you probably have a ton of media and other information stored in the “cloud” at one or more online service sites.  These sites all require a personal user name and password for access… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It looks like the Amazon iPhone app is now proclaiming it is “iPad Ready”! This is great news for a few reasons! 1) Everyone, let out that tension you’ve been holding in; Apple IS approving other ebook stores on the iPad! 2) Now that the Kindle app is live, this means B&N, Kobo, and others won’t be far behind. Start shopping around! Look, again, some more: iBooks is a raw deal. Buy from where you have flexibility and selection. The Amazon Kindle app is going to let you read your books on your Mac, a PC, your iPhone, a Blackberry, and keep it all in sync. Pick one of the other ones if you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I really can’t even remember how I came across Nox at first, but I know it was in late 2004 when I bought the European release of Kult: Heretic Kingdoms. At the time I remarked that the games were similar – somewhat small in scope, but very successful in accomplishing what they try to do. Nox is an isometric action-RPG released in early 2000, which means that it was immediately labeled as a ‘Diablo Clone’. In many ways it fits that description – but it offers much more depth than any of the traditional action-RPG’s, making it more similar to later games like Divine Divinity. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I reviewed the iPhone mind-mapping application Instaviz almost a year ago. Here is what it looks like on the iPhone… My conclusion at the time? I’m impressed by what the developers have accomplished here. The engine driving the application is as amazing. The application really works and a recent update makes exporting and sharing your graphs easier than ever. Instaviz is an impressive app. At $9.99 it isn’t cheap but if you mind map, get organized best through visual means it is definitely worth a look. Well I think Instaviz just became a far, far better value. You see, Instaviz’s developer Glen Low of Pixelglow Software Has released an update to the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s not major news, but it is good news: Microsoft is simplifying their “Windows Phone 7 Series” to the less cumbersome “Windows Phone 7″.  An obvious explanation for the “Series” moniker is that it was meant to “indicate that there would be a range of phones providing choice of hardware and operator.” Microsoft must have realized that the name was a bit too cumbersome and in the interest of simplifying things, shortened it to Windows Phone 7. Good move, since that’s what we were calling it anyway! Tis the season for Series finales. We’ve got one too – dropping the ‘Series’ and keeping the ‘Windows Phone 7.’ Done. If you want to keep up… Continue reading on Gear Diary …