Image courtesy of Nvidia I’ve been waiting for the Nvidia Tegra line of products for what seems like years. I have a Zune HD which is one of the first to sport a Tegra setup and even preordered the Notion Ink Adam in hopes to have the Tegra 2 in my grasp at the end of 2010. Of course as you may know, I won’t see that until the end of the this month. Now that CES has kicked off Nvidia let all the skeletons out of the closet and will be powering a heavy portion of all mobile products in 2011. The Tegra 2 is in direct competition with Samsung’s hummingbird Chipset and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This looks pretty spectacular …  Today LG and T-Mobile announced a new tablet, the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) powered T-Mobile G-Slate, which will be “the companies’ first 4G tablet in the United States powered by the latest version of Android. The tablet-optimized Android 3.0 operating system was designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes, and addresses the unique aspects of tablet use cases and form factors.” Suddenly my brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab feels all old and out of date!  We’re attending an LG event tonight, so I’ll keep an eye out for any new tablets (or other cool mobile devices) they might be showing … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We just posted the release of ioSafe’s newest hard drive product right here.  Just like last year, Dan, Judie and Larry were able to see the ioSafe perform in person.  Last year, the demo showed how well their products stand up to fire which was right up Larry’s alley.  This year they dragged one behind a van then shot it!  To make it even better, the Gear Diary editors get to take the shots!!!  Of course, I am saying Judie and Kevin took the best shots since they are fellow Texans and all.  Watch the video and I promise you will be nothing short of amazed! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Voice to text is a huge deal and becoming bigger all the time. It’s now incredibly useful on our desktop computers, on our cell phones and even in a variety of cars these days. I love using Dragon dictation on my iPhone and iPad. The speed and accuracy of it are remarkable. Unfortunately because of limitations Apple places on what applications are able to access you can only create new text in the app itself. That means you are unable to directly reply to e-mails using voice to text on the iPhone and you can only create text and then copy it to a different application. It’s a few steps that are not difficult but are a bit cumbersome… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Way back in high school I took four years of Latin. I know, I know – the common wisdom now is ‘why learn a dead language’ unless you are going into medicine? Yet Latin taught me more than a single language – it is the basis of many of the modern languages, and has helped me learn other languages more quickly through the years. So when I saw a full-featured Latin app, I simply HAD to check it out! The Hype: SPQR is the ultimate app for Latin lovers, Latin teachers and Latin students who want to immerse themselves in the language, presenting dozens of texts in Latin and English, a comprehensive and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Chances are if you own a television, stereo, or any type of home theater equipment you know that Dolby is synonymous with “blow-you-out-of-your-La-Z-Boy-recliner” surround sound.  During this week’s Consumer Electronics (CES) show in Las Vegas, Dolby is showing off their latest audio improvements, including new PC surround sound technologies to help bring your entertainment to life right on your computer. The Aspire Ethos multimedia notebooks and Aspire Z-Series PCs will be the first to feature Dolby’s new surround sound enhancements.  Whether you’re gaming, listening to music, watching movies, or streaming  your Hulu or Netflix on your computers, Dolby is enriching your entertainment value by bringing that rich, full sound to your computers and devices.  Why sacrifice entertainment just because your not in your barcalounger? Read on to see even more that Dolby’s showing at this year’s CES event. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Along with all of the gadgets at CES, some new games are also being released this week.  Astraware has just released a new iPad game, Weird Worlds:  Return To Infinite Space.  This is the iPad take on the Mac/PC game of the same name.  The iPad seems like a great platform to engage in space combat.  Here is the complete release from Astraware.  Watch soon for a full review. Astraware and Digital Eel launch Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space on the iPad Staffordshire, UK – January 5th 2011 – Astraware® is excited to announce it’s Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Human-machine interface is all the rage at the CES event in Las Vegas with a large push at enhancing safety while behind the wheel. OnStar threw down the gauntlet last night as they announced a stand-alone system that will be available for any manufacturer’s vehicle, not just GM. While not all vehicles are certified for its use just yet, OnStar says they are working on adding other vehicles as quickly as possible. Unfortunately the stand-alone system does not look like it will unlock your doors for you, sorry. OnStar announced that it is responding to repeated consumer requests by offering its industry leading safety, security and connectivity services for non-GM and older GM vehicles already on… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you sit in front of a computer all day you know how uncomfortable keyboards can get. Your wrists hurt, your elbows hurt, your hands cramp up…so you go for a “natural” keyboard, or you invest in one of those smooshy gel things, but it doesn’t ever quite get better. Smartfish thinks they have a solution! Rather than change your wrists (tough without very uncomfortable surgery that probably isn’t covered by your HMO), Smartfish thinks the answer is to change your keyboard! Their “Engage” keyboard actually adjusts as you work on it, learning how long you keep your hands in one spot and subtly moving apart/together so your hands and wrists change position. It looks very cool… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

B&N is really running with kids book in ebook form! It’s a lucrative market but until the NOOKcolor has been a very tough sell. Now they’re expanding to iPad toting parents (and very tech-savvy 3 year olds) with an iPad app as well! This looks like a huge step up in kid’s reading programs. It takes things beyond static reading but also looks at how it can be accessible to various ages. I was very impressed with kids books on the NOOKcolor, and it’s wonderful to see this experience move beyond one device. If B&N is looking to create lifelong readers, they’re on the right track hooking them while they’re young! If you have… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

TekTrak is launching a free version (previously $5) of their iPhone app this week that will allow anyone with a iPhone 4 or 3GS to locate their phone, track its previous locations and remote ring the handset from any web browser.  While Apple recently made its Find My Phone feature free for iPhone 4 users,  iPhone 3GS users didn’t have free options. Unlike some other options that provide a free ‘trial’ of 30 or 60 days (which only helps if you happen to lose your phone during that specific period), TekTrak allows anyone who downloads the app two free sessions at any time that can be used to  locate their phone — plus, get your friends involved and you can earn unlimited additional free uses just from the referrals.  nd for any friend they refer the app to they can earn additional free uses- making sure the service is available for you when you actually need it. TekTrak shows last known location and a plotted map of  previous locations.  Even if your phone’s battery dies you still have the last known location, helping you get your phone back.  Read on for more features, video and to get the free download! [...]

A couple of weeks ago while getting ready for our holiday vacation, I was tasked with getting our selected movies converted from DVD and put into iTunes. For me, this meant one thing: sitting the stack of DVD’s next to my Macbook Pro and firing up Handbrake! Since I was ripping for my iPad, my son’s 3rd gen iPod Touch, my 1st gen iPod Touch I was loaning my other son, and for iTunes running on my wife’s laptop, I decided to see if there was an update that included a larger and more current set of presets. Alas, nothing since November 2009! But today on the MacRumors Forums Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just before Christmas Rocky IV was on cable yet again, and I watched the last hour of it with my wife and kids. While it was never what anyone would call a ‘good’ movie, certainly not like the original Rocky, it has often been a guilty pleasure because it executes perfectly on the whole built-up feel-good emotional roller-coaster motif. But watching it with kids who were born after the memory of the Soviet era had exited the cultural mainstream brought just how out-of-date all of the Cold War jingoism has become. I would have to put Rocky IV into the category of things that have aged prematurely and are cemented forever in time …but… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

CES is off and running. We’ve added an image collection to the right-hand side of the site so you can follow our experience. For now… here are a few images from our first day a and a half here in Vegas. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

CES 2010 brought great news from ioSafe complete with a convincing demo in the desert for our editors.  Check out what Judie, Dan, Kevin and Larry got to witness last year right here.  The company has come to be known for making virtually indestructible hard drive solutions.  In fact, my biggest fear is losing all of my valuable files due to fire or flood, even though I have backups and good habits.  The folks at ioSafe are at it again, releasing the ioSafe Rugged Portable plus Data Recovery Service; we should have a review up on Gear Diary soon.  For what the hard drive offers, the price is very affordable.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …