By his own admission Steve Jobs is quickly moving us into a “Post-PC” era. This new era is not “post computer” era. Rather, it is an era in which computers look less and less like desktops or laptops and more like… well iPads and iPhones. (Perhaps a better name for this new era in computing would be “PC Rev2″.) This process of moving into PC Rev2 will be sped up when iOS 5.0 is released this fall since it finally makes it easy to cut the cord. Yes, iPhones, iPod touches and iPads that have been slaves to Macs or Windows PCs will finally sync and update without physically needing to tether them to a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For the past few weeks Judie and I have both being using a new service called WRITETHAT.NAME. If you use Gmail as your email client (directly or as the engine powering something like Mac OS X Mail.app), the service makes it very simple to keep your address book up to date. It is an interesting service that scans your email for personal contact information and then updates it on a daily basis — so long as you have turned on the auto-update feature. If not, then it will offer you the updated information and you can choose to accept… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  We start the week with a Gear Deal on the Toshiba Satellite C650D-ST4NX1 15.6″ laptop. The laptop features an AMD dual-core Fusion C-50 accelerated processor, 3GB RAM, a 320GB HDD, 802.11n WiFi and sports a 15.6″ 1366×768 display. It also packs an integrated webcam, a card reader and more. The Toshiba Satellite C650D-ST4NX1 has a starting price of $479 but with $180 off and an additional $20 coupon our Gear Sponsor has found a way you can get it for just $279. Gear Deal: Toshiba Satellite 15.6″ AMD C-50 dual-core Laptop via LogicBuy Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Update: The giveaway is now closed, and the winner is darktweak! We appreciate everyone who entered, and we’d like to remind you to keep an eye out for many more great Gear Diary giveaways! =) It’s time to start thinking about the supplies you are going to send your kids back to school with, and we are here to help! We’ve gathered together a collection of goodies that any student would like, and while there are plenty of practical items, we didn’t forget the gear that helps makes time off from studying even better. Whether you are on a limited budget or the sky is the limit, there is something here for everyone … including an… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

    Last week Apple released their updated MacBook Airs. I picked up an 11″ MBA with 4GB RAM and a 128GB ssd. I love the thing. There were a few reasons for the purchase. First, the new generation of MBAs are super fast. That along makes them a great choice. Second, this release brought back the backlit keyboard that had disappeared in the prior generation. I didn’t realize just how much I missed the backlighting until I had it again. Third, the diminutive size of the 11″ MBA makes it simple to being pretty much everywhere. As much as I love my iPad there are some things you just need access to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Finding a case is like an ongoing quest and adventure for any device. I have come to enjoy cases that provide dual uses such as a battery or stand. It seems that case makers are continuing to combine functions for cases while still maintaining protection and style. I recently was able to try an iPhone 4 and iPod Touch case from Nest. The cases provide protection while also doubling as a hands free display stand. Let’s take a look. The Nest cases are two piece slider style cases. The inside of the cases are lined with a soft… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(underlying image courtesy Lyrics Fever) Nate over at The Digital Reader caught some new changes this morning for ebooks on iOS. Google Books is gone from the App Store, and NOOKkids is now the same as Kobo — you can sync and sign in, but you can’t shop or create an account. So far there’s no word from Amazon, and the regular NOOK app is still unchanged as well. This is, to say the least, UGLY. All it does is punish the consumer, it doesn’t prevent anyone from using the applications and it doesn’t add to the reading experience. Apple is acting… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  For a pretty fair while I was using Toodledo to manage my tasks. I was never all that crazy about their native application for iOS, so after doing a little scouting around, I settled on Appigo’s Todo app. It was aesthetically pleasing, it had good features, and I liked it. Sometimes, though, I wished there was a companion way to manage all of those to do items natively on my laptop. Sure, that cloud stuff is nice and all, but it doesn’t fit every situation or every need. I must not have been the only person thinking that way, because now Appigo has brought a version of Todo to the Mac. According to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Melson Bonding) And here we thought that pesky eBookpocalypse was over and done with … Kobo announced today via blog post that they have been asked to comply with Apple’s new iOS rules, meaning you cannot access the Kobo eBookstore or sign up for a Kobo account in-app. In fact, Kobo can’t even link you to their site, all you can do is log into your existing account! Books you buy through the browser or on your computer will still sync to the app, but you lose a small amount of convenience. Still, this is ominous, and my guess is that Amazon’s Kindle app and B&N’s NOOK are not far behind in changing… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You may have noticed more videos than usual last week. That’s because we used the opportunity of being together last weekend to start something we had long been discussing  — a video series. We shot a lot of video and, as you might suspect, only some was actually usable. We had an “interesting” time figuring out how to intro things and, since we are committed to doing this unscripted, one never quite knew what would happen. One thing we did discover was… we need a good name for this series and… we need your help figuring out what that should be. So take a look at this clip of some outtakes. At the end we… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m the farthest thing from a professional or even amateur photographer, but I have a developing (analog pun intended!) obsession with apps that augment my phone’s camera.  My latest find is Paper Camera, which I happily purchased for my iPhone and iPad.  At the time of this writing, it’s on sale for $.99, which is 66% off of the regular price.  JFDP‘s (the developer) blurb: Seeing the world through the stylish and artistic lens of Paper Camera transforms your ordinary world into a magical experience. No boring post-process needed!! What if you could see your everyday life, your house, your street, your school, your family as a sketch up, a cartoon, a comic Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Last week saw us post a larger number of videos than ever. In them we took a first look at the AT&T Status phone running Android 3.2.2, Carly talked to us about the benefits of Chromebooks and why they might be a great choice for you and we launched not one but two contest/giveaways. Missed any of them? Well we’ve gather all of them together along with links to each post… Gear Talk: iPad 2 Case Roundup  Read It! Judie’s Orbino Padova for iPad 2 Has Arrived: Here’s a First Look  Read It! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The New Gary Burton Quartet – ‘Common Ground’ In school bands the vibraphone is taught as a percussion instrument, which it certainly is to an extent as a mallet-based instrument. Yet when you listen to the sounds it produces, it is hard not to classify it closer to the piano or guitar in terms of harmonic presence. In the 1960′s two major forces emerged on the instrument – Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton – who took up the mantle from Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton and modernized the instrument. While Hutcherson focused on taking the sound and style of the instrument into the post-bop mainstream… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Vostro 330 All-In-One  Ships Fast, Saves Dollars   Send your student back to college with a Dell Vostro 330 all-in-one computer. It is sleek, fast, takes up minimal space and… did we mention, you can even get it with a touchscreen? Striking Presence. Serious Business. The smooth lines of the Vostro 330 Desktop will look great on your desk from any angle. This all-in-one can fit as easily into your office environment as it will into your budget. Be productive. Feel secure. Help increase productivity and expand your view with a 23″ WLED Full HD display. Feel confident that your work is safe with Vostro reliable solutions for data protection and Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It is truly an iOS world. Need proof? Elana and I are out to dinner on the Jersey shore and Elana comes back from speaking to the front desk with… Yes, the restaurant has its own app and has cards advertising it at the front desk. And to top it off the musician playing the background music had his sheet music right in front of him. Well sheet music isn’t quite right… No, his first gen iPad was held in the microphone stand and between songs he could be seen swiping the touchscreen to get to the next tune! It is truly a brave new… Continue reading on Gear Diary …