Judie: Our saga began when Dan and I received HTC Titans at a Microsoft sponsored dinner while attending CES; it’s hard to believe that on the 11th it will have been one month ago. You can catch up on our previous posts before starting with this one by clicking the following links:

Considering the Move from an iPhone 4S to Windows Phone Titan

Comparing the iPhone 4s Hardware to the HTC Titan and Dipping into the Windows Phone User Interface

In that month, my iPhone has never left my gadget drawer. Although I can think of a few times I wished I had it – mainly when writing up a cool accessory I had just discovered that was ‘iPhone only’ or when feeling the absence of a favorite app — not once have I missed it enough to retrieve it from the drawer. That’s better than I can say for any other phone running any other operating system that I have tried in the past … but I’m not sure if I’m ready to list the 4S on eBay just yet!

There's a dramatic difference between 4.7" and 3.5"!

Judie: For those of you who missed it, in our last article, Dan and I talked about the circumstances behind how we — two iPhone 4S users — each came into possession of an HTC Titan [you can click here to read it]. We also gave some of our initial thoughts about the operating system and why we might have been hesitant to make the change. In this installment, we dig in further into what we like and don’t like about the Titan specifically when it’s compared to the iPhone. Because our Windows Phone experience is occurring on the Titan, the hardware is directly influencing how we perceive everything …… 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 complained I missed the back button, but I’ve adjusted. I do find the homescreen-centric UI to be a bit limiting sometimes, but I get around it by using the home button double click and flipping through my most used apps. Most importantly, the apps I’ve encountered on iOS just seem more well-developed and fully baked than their Android counterparts. I feel more productive on iOS than on Android, and that says a lot. I did everything on my Droid, from email to calendar to writing Gear Diary posts and editing photos, but all of it is so much easier on iOS that it just blows me away. In some cases comes down to app quality while in other cases it is a matter of stability. Either way it makes me happy!… 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 ...

Well, it is that time of year again. That means CES and our annual “What’s Coming to CES” post. Last year was a bit tricky for me as I was doing CES as part of a SCOTTEVEST No Baggage Challenge for Charity. That meant any and everything I brought needed to be on my person. It was a challenge but it was also rather fun. It didn’t hurt that, due to a mess up by the hotel I ended up with a suite with a washer and dryer but it doesn’t change the fact that everything I brought fit into my SeV clothing. (You can see videos of it here and here and… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I hate bills.  I also hate paying for things I can get for free. I was at Thomas’ house last year just hanging out. We were watching a movie on his Roku box, and I realized that the little box was giving him everything that I watch on TV except for local channels. That was the beginning of my quest to get rid of my cable bill.

At first I searched the web and found that all you need is an antenna to pick up local television stations. I could remember back to my childhood, and how we had an antenna that was pointed toward Indianapolis so we would get about 10 channels; that is… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

As a small town guy living in the Chicago area, there are a lot times when I get frustrated with the traffic, the density, and the general inconveniences that are necessarily associated with urban living.

Then again, there are times like today, when I’m happy to be living in one of the larger metropolitan areas in the country because we tend to be among the first to get new technologies, such as AT&T’s new LTE network.

At the moment, AT&T has two phones able to take advantage of the LTE network: the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. The Vivid offers a 4.5 inch qHD screen, but the Skyrocket has a slightly faster processor and is part of the popular Galaxy S II line of Samsung… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I have been teaching for the past few years and have found that recording my lectures is helpful for students that are sick or that need assistance due to attention deficit issues. Many of the programs to record lectures are costly, so I set out to see if I could use my MacBook and a Bluetooth headset to accomplish the task. I found that not only can I, but that it works remarkably well.

The Bluetooth Device: The Bluetooth device I opted for is the Jabra BT3030 Bluetooth Stereo Headset [affiliate link]. Not only is it a good headset, but it can… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I got a text message from my husband, Kevin, on Tuesday last week, saying that he had lost his wedding ring while working at the ranch. He’d been digging post holes to rebuild a section of fence that had been damaged during our April Fool’s Day fire, and while he was on his knees flinging the final few rocks from inside the hole, his platinum wedding band had flown off. The rock he threw hit a tree about 15 feet away, and he figured that the ring had taken a similar trajectory. Kev had already spent two hours searching, part of it on his hands and knees. The area where he had been working is composed of what we refer… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Yesterday we reviewed the PowerBag Messenger, a messenger bag that carries a 6000mAh battery and has internal cabling that makes charging an iOS device, or one that has a mini or microUSB connection simple. Today I got home and shot a video of the backpack version of the PowerBag for the second part in the review. Little did I know how handy both bags would be just hours later.

You see, the October Surprise dumped a fair bit of snow on the ground today. That, combined with the fact that the trees still had leaves on them that caught more snow than usual, has resulted in downed… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

CES is coming up, and this year we will have the biggest Gear Diary team covering the event ever. Even though CES is more than two months off, it isn’t too early to start thinking about the ins and outs of the week. As we have mentioned previously, one of the biggest challenges at CES is keeping cameras, phones and video recorders charged and usable. The days are long and the tools we use to cover CES are in use from early morning until late at night. Battery cases and external batteries help a great deal but, this year, we’ll have yet another way to keep our devices charged thanks to PowerBag.

PowerBags come… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

(image courtesy ThinkG33k)

As regular readers of Gear Diary may know, I used an original Droid for almost two years. In fact, up until a few months ago, I was totally convinced my next phone would be an Android device. But Android and I had a falling out, and I picked up an iPhone 4s on Friday. Why? And is the learning curve tough? Read on for my thoughts!

First, there’s the “why”. A few things dragged me away from my little robot friends. One, Android is becoming increasingly fractured. It seems as though the only way to guarantee timely updates and continued support is to pick up a Nexus device. Otherwise… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

It is a strange irony that is not lost on any of us. The iPhone 4S is announced mid-day on Tuesday, word of Steve Job’s death comes the following evening, and the new iPhone starts pre-orders start at 12:01 AM PST. No doubt some people will suggest it should be delayed. I never had the honor of meeting Jobs, but my guess is he wouldn’t even dignify that with a response, well — maybe a two-word email like “Plans stays…” but not an actual response. So which iPhone 4S to get?

What Color? This is an issue of personal taste, but I find black devices tend to stay looking fresh longer. And if you do find… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

A few weeks ago we were out to dinner with some friends. When the time cam to pay, Laurence reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Without thinking I said, “Where did you learn about the Flipside 2X Wallet?”

To which he replied, “Uhm, I think some guy named Dan reviewed it on Gear Diary a year ago.”

Okay that was dumb of me but it is good to know my friends read the site. And I do love my FlipSide wallet. In fact, since yesterday I love it even more. Yes, my Flipside Wallet got some extra storage thanks to the new FlipsideKick. The $9.99 add-on is money well… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...