There are some smartphone accessories that make you go “huh? Who would buy this?” And then sometimes there are ideas so smart you think, “Wow! Why didn’t anyone do this sooner?” Finally, there’s the “GREAT idea, poor execution” accessory. The Kingston Wi-Drive fits into one of these categories, but you will have to read to the end to find out which one!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

image courtesy Fundamentally Flawed Barnes and Noble is taking an extremely strong anti-Amazon stance this week. Engadget is reporting that They’ve declared all books published through Amazon or in an exclusive deal with Amazon will not be carried in their brick and mortar stores, just online at BN.com.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sarah and I are planning a trip abroad soon, and on my to-do list was to call Verizon and add international roaming to my iPhone. When I called the customer service line, I was incredibly impressed with how helpful they were, above and beyond what I had expected! As soon as I explained the purpose of my call was to add international roaming, the customer service representative emailed me the Verizon rates for calls, texts, and data. She then waited until I confirmed I had it to review my options and move forwards adding a roaming plan, because she wanted to make sure I understood the cost structure. Even better, the email had dialing instructions with the country codes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you heard of Tiny Tower? Chances are you have, at least if you use an iOS device. It was named Apple’s 2011 Game of the Year, which is how I stumbled upon it while browsing the App Store. But now that I’ve discovered it, it has become my go-to game throughout the day. Worst of all, I’ve now gotten Sarah hooked on the Android version, despite the fact that neither of us can really point to what’s so exciting about the game! If you’re not super familiar with Tiny Tower, here’s the App Store description: Tiny Tower lets you build a tiny tower and manage the businesses and bitizens that inhabit it! ★Make money Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(yes, I am very obsessive about keeping all my apps neatly in folders.) Recently Thomas commented that he had re-read my “Farewell, Android” post, and he wanted to know if I felt the same way since buying my 4s back in October. At the risk of ruining the surprise, the short answer is “Heck yea!” But that would make this a rather short follow-up, so read on for how life on iOS has treated me and whether I miss anything from my robot-loving days! The impetus for my initial decision to move to iOS was frustration with Android’s fragmentation and how poorly my Droid aged. Nothing from Android in the last few months has made me regret that decision. The Galaxy Nexus is nice, but huge, and Motorola’s DROID offerings have the shelf life of a carton of milk. Plus nothing HTC has pumped out on the Android side has been particularly intriguing. However, the iPhone hardware still feels solid, and I don’t feel like the 3.5in screen is a limitation. So I don’t feel like toting an iPhone has left me out in the cold as far as anything exciting! More importantly, and universally, let’s talk software. Yes, I [...]

I’m a big fan of audiobooks for long drives. Sarah and I usually head to the library a few days before a road trip and stock up on something we will both enjoy hearing, and on rare occasions we splurge for a download from Audible.com. In general, though, we tend to find it’s faster and cheaper to borrow the CDs from the library than deal with a digital audiobook. Despite the format being perfect for the digital age, costs are still high and digital library borrowing is still a complete mess. That’s where Simply Audiobooks thinks they have a plan with their new Audiobooks.com streaming service. Their blog sums up the program pretty… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I wrote yesterday about my first impressions of the Case-Mate Phantom for the iPhone 4s, and I pointed out that it was new and therefore in the “new accessory honeymoon phase”. Last night I discovered a potential issue, but luckily for me, the legacy of the original iPhone came to the rescue! See, the original iPhone had a very recessed headphone jack. It fit normal 3.5in headphones, but only if they had a very slim plug design. Anything not supermodel-skinny didn’t fit. Of course accessory manufacturers stepped right up, and when I had my original iPhone I used a $10 Belkin adapter to connect my tiny headphone port to my normal size headphones. So how did the original iPhone’s… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am hard on my phones. Really, really hard. Honestly, it is a miracle my iPhone is unscathed; by 4 months into owning my Droid it had gone down the stairs twice and out of my pocket multiple times. So far the iPhone has been lucky, but ever time I slip it in my SPIbelt for a run or fiddle with it while walking the dog, I feel like I am tempting the smartphone destruction gods. So, as soon as Case-Mate’s Phantom arrived, fresh from Judie and Dan at CES, I slapped it on my phone. (Literally-I received it at 1pm today and my phone was encased by 1:05pm!) A full review will be coming once I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sure, you hit your local Starbucks for coffee, morning after bleary-eyed morning. And maybe on weekends you sit with the paper and a nice latte, people watching and catching up on the news. Pretty soon you’ll be able to add happy hour to the list! Starbucks is adding alcohol to several stores as a test run, which in theory sounds like an intriguing idea. After dinner drinks like “irish coffee” would be a great fit for a cafe. But according to Bloomberg, Starbucks is apparently aiming for the after-work drinkers: Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) — Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop chain, will sell beer and wine at more locations to lure customers during the slower afternoon Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have said many times that running with headphones in is not a good idea. It’s dangerous for multiple reasons; you can’t hear cars, animals, or people coming up behind you. Even with the music turned down you lose a sense of what’s around you. The common suggestion is usually to leave one earbud out, but then you’re stuck with a mono listening experience. That’s why One Good Earbud is such a smart idea. From their website: One Good EarbudTM is the ideal way to safely listen to music, podcasts, audio books, and mobile calls while running, cycling, snowboarding, or working out at the gym. Our custom-designed earphone mixes both channels of sound from a stereo Continue reading on Gear Diary …

After Apple’s big iBooks 2 announcement, I went hunting for more info on prior digital textbooks; it occurred to me that most of the pilot programs and digital textbook stuff are aimed at college level students and up, with the most famous/infamous being Amazon’s Kindle DX experiment with several universities. This makes sense, since college kids foot their own bill for hardware. So why is Apple targeting high schools? Did no one point out that schools are so poor they are firing teachers left and right? A class of 500 freshman starting high school would cost a district $250,000 before textbook costs just to get each kid an iPad, plus ongoing book costs each year. For college this is brilliant because… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy nikdaum) eBooknewser reported today that Amazon quietly shut down Mobipocket, an ebook store that those of us with PDA roots probably remember fondly. Amazon purchased Mobipocket and still uses their format as the basis for Kindle books. After reading the post, I headed over to Mobipocket and found what appears to be the internet equivalent of a broken, abandoned storefront. There’s no announcement that Mobipocket is gone, but the files appear to have all disappeared. Bestsellers, fiction, non-fiction, everything is just gone, with the exception of a handful of classics that appear on the main page. Meanwhile, things aren’t exactly hopping over at eReader/Fictionwise. They haven’t carried a new bestseller or mainstream… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A few years ago, Sarah and I had lunch with my grandma, and she started pulling out photo albums to show us family pictures. Among her pictures were photos from her life before she came to America, everything from photos of her and her brothers to her life in the displaced persons camp where she met my grandfather after the war. We realized she was sitting on an incredible amount of history, and while it has taken a long time to get around to coordinating it, we finally got together with my aunt and started documenting her photos today. What we discovered went beyond just my family into a piece of much bigger history. First, a bit… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s an interesting (and honestly, inevitable) trend in the book world lately: no one’s talking hardware anymore. Yes, there’s new devices, and sales are touted when they’re impressive. But the big announcements that come up again and again are “ebook sales are increasing by these triple digits/these authors are making this much money through ebooks/we have this many free ebooks, etc”. Plus, all those lovely ebooks are available on tablets, computers, smartphones and dedicated ebook readers…so does it pay for a company to offer the hardware without the ebooks anymore? In my view, the answer is no, and I think 2012 is the year we see many of the unaffiliated hardware drop by the wayside. Sony, Ectaco… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy memebase) When I think of Paula Deen, I think fried food. Lots and lots of fried food. And any number of satires about how unhealthy her cooking is. But if a rumor from The Daily is to be believed, Paula may be facing the fact that she needs to change her diet. Apparently she, like many Americans, has been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. According to the report: The Georgia-born chef — a Food Network star who has written five best-selling cookbooks — has been trying to keep her condition a secret, even after the National Enquirer reported in April that she has Type 2 diabetes, which is often Continue reading on Gear Diary …