It is actually looking like the tablet bonanza promised last year will finally arrive. Francis and I just found ourselves in tablet-Ville. Prototypes and actual shipping models were everywhere and almost all were running some version of Android. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Francis doesn’t own a single Apple product. Yeah I know… some day he will come to his senses but for now he is committed to remaining unenlightened. His phone of choose right now… the Samsung Vibrant. The problem with that is that there are tons of accessors for iPhones but when it comes to phones like the Captivate there are few choices. Francis was sharing his tale of woe when we stumbled upon our friend Johan at his ProClip booth and… wouldn’t you know it, ProClip has a carholder that IA designed specifically for the Captivate and its top-positioned microUSB… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Day Four is all about the unveiling of the new Ford Focus Electric, an all-electric version of the next-generation Focus subcompact. The all-new Focus Electric is Ford’s first-ever all-electric passenger car. (OK, maybe its first-ever mass-produced electric car as Mrs. Henry Ford was reported to spin around the Dearborn countryside in an electric car in 1914.) The zero-CO2-emissions, gasoline-free version of Ford’s popular small car is the flagship of the company’s growing fleet of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles coming to North America and Europe by 2013.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

iGo, the company best known for its power products, has announced that it has acquired two new lines and is now branching out of just the mobile power accessory market. Aerial7, now part of iGo, offers a wide range of stylish headphones (seen above) from small ear buds to larger DJ style. Also joining iGo is Adapt mobile with iPad cases and other mobile accessories. One of the company’s newest offerings, the Key Juice, has won an Innovations Award at CES.  The Key chain like device opens to reveal a USB charger that has tips to charge both micro and mini USB.  There is also an iPod/iPhone version and well… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Vogue) Last night for Sarah’s birthday we went to see “Spider-Man: The Musical”. It was supposed to have officially debuted by now, but due to some unfortunate accidents they’ve pushed back the official debut, so what we saw was still the preview. However, it was still a fantastic experience, both for Sarah (as a theater geek) and me (the comic book geek)! I’m not much of a theater person. Generally musicals aren’t my thing, but I already love Spider-Man, so that got my butt in the seat. The plot was decent, a mashup of the movie plots and some liberal sprinklings of comic book references, and Bono’s musical score was awesome… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

After I reported on the opening of the Mac App Store, I couldn’t wait to go home and try it out! After playing around for a while the first thing I wondered was about the fact that the App Store could see my installed Apps but wouldn’t update them. What I was NOT thinking was “how can I hack the App Store to steal people’s work for free?’. Apparently the old saying that if you try to do something good there are bottom-feeders always looking to free-load, and then complain when you have to put on draconian DRM to try to stop them! According to BGR: There’s a tutorial on Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dino and I spent some time this afternoon at the Lenovo display. We had the opportunity to look at all of the new computers that will be offered by Lenovo this year. Trust us, there are a ton of them and we will have a look at many over the next few days. Right now, however, we wanted to take a few minutes to look a little more closely at their most unusual and innovative product–the Lenovo U1. This is both a tablet and a notebook computer. We saw a version of this computer last year when we were… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Many actors claim to avoid reading reviews of their own work, for a variety of reasons. Likewise, if you go on video game forums, you will either see absolutely no official contact or it will be through ‘community managers’ like on the Bioware forums. Ever wonder why that is? SpiderWeb Games Founder Jeff Vogel (who has run his own ‘indie’ game company where he is the head programmer, designer, writer, and so on, since 1994) wrote an entry on his ‘Bottom Feeder’ blog about just that. Here is a quote: It’s a little different on my company’s forums. But only a little. Even though it is mainly populated by my fans, it Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you were assuming that after weeks upon weeks of mega-deals things would slow down … well, you were right AND wrong! The big Steam and Good Old Games deals are done, but that doesn’t mean you should despair – there are still plenty of great sales … here are a few: Impulse Impulse Weekend Sale, featuring loads of games discounted up to 75% off, as well as a solid pre-order deal on Drakensang: The River of Time (I reviewed the original here) Steam: Weekend Sale the smallest sale I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We have seen a wide range of new and improved gadgets this week at CES. Some impressed us while others left us cold. And there were a few that made us laugh. This review is about one of those items. Yes, the TV Hat looks… well… It looks interesting.  We drew straws to see who would write the review and Francis drew the short one. (Shhhh don’t tell him but they were all short.) Oh, and make sure to check out the end of the review since there are tons of extra shots to enjoy. So…. Here’s Francis… Ok, so day 1 my first time here at CES. And as you all can imagine… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Vision Objects has been developing and refining handwriting recognition technology since 1998, with their software being partnered with some well known products, such as the Livescribe pen series so well loved by several Gear Diary writers (including yours truly).  Despite being well known for their handwriting recognition prowess, which is available in different forms for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile, this is the first year that Vision Objects set up shop at CES. To coincide with its first CES appearance, Vision Objects is introducing several new products.  As described by their press release: MyScript Studio 1.2 – a notes management and form application featuring new functionalities Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recently reviewed the iPhone / iPad version of Rock Band Reloaded, which was the second Rock Band game for the iOS platform. As noted, despite involving tapping on a screen rather than playing a fake plastic instrument, the game is pretty fun. However, the weakest point was the multiplayer. One comment I had was: There is online and local multiplayer, so you and some friends can work on a song together – but if you suspect it isn’t as fun as playing the console version together you would be correct! Now Verizon Wireless announces that they are working with Electronic Arts to bring what amounts to an updated version of the first game… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Kobo is moving aggressively in 2011, and they’re kicking things off by offering PDF versions of major reference and educational materials. Their press release is light on the details, but my guess is that this is a way to beef up their content offerings ahead of B&N getting more aggressive with NOOKstudy. I find the decision to use PDF to be a bit odd, but I suppose it renders charts and such better than ePUB. Still, since most eInk readers (including Kobo’s own) aren’t great with PDFs this seems like a questionable compromise. If you are in need of reference materials, or just looking for new ways to expand your horizons, be sure to check out… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Scosche has announced the new Freedom Mic here at CES and the product has won the 2011 Innovations Award.  The small Bluetooth lapel mic will be available this summer and will work with both the iPod Touch and the iPhone. It features class one Bluetooth so it’ll have a range of 100 ft.  The battery, which is rechargeable via micro USB, will last for up to 4 hours. It features remote start and stop for recording and uses a special app to record both video and audio. Look for this exciting new product this summer… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recently reviewed Korg DS-10 Plus, the analog synthesizer for the Nintendo DS that emulated a Korg MS-10 analog synthesizer. Now Korg is back – this time with the iMS-20, a full translation of the classic Korg MS-20 for the iPad. The Hype: KORG iMS-20: Transform your iPad into a complete analog synth studio! Product Highlights: – A complete recreation of the legendary Korg MS-20 analog synth – Built-in 16-step analog sequencer to control the sound – Music production studio with the MS-20 mono synth, a six-part drum machine, and a mixer – Kaoss Pad function allows intuitive performance and control – Publish and share your iMS-20 songs… Continue reading on Gear Diary …