So someone knocks on the door, right? You want to see who the heck it is, without giving away the fact that, well, you’re checking them out. (This isn’t an issue at my house–there’s simply too much glass around the door to hide.) Maybe you even have one of those fisheye lens peephole viewer things. Which is okay, I guess, but this is the digital age, and maybe you can do better, don’t you think?
If you use a Mac and an iPad, then Twelve South’s new HoverBar is for you. It lets you use your iPad 2 an adjustable arm that floats iPad 2 next to an iMac or Apple display, allowing you to use iPad as a secondary, touchscreen computer.
[It] turns iPad into the ultimate sidecar for an iMac or Apple display, presenting more ways to use iPad more often. Connect HoverBar to your Mac, snap iPad 2 into the secure clip and you now have one powerful dual-computer work setup. Having iPad floating next to your Mac allows you to monitor your Twitter stream, stocks and local weather — or run FaceTime on your iPad while you email, edit a file, or cut a video on your Mac.
Today’s Gear Deal will get you up and running with Blu-Ray for just $49.99. That’s right, LG’s BD611 Blu-ray Disc Player is normally $119.99 but our Gear Sponsor found savings that knock a full $70 off the price. Add in the fact that it will ship for free and it can be on the way to you for under $50. The unit features full HD 1080p, the “sound of Blu-ray technology along with USB 2.0 Media Playback” and Up-Scaling to “deliver exceptional image quality from standard DVDs”. Get details and ordering information here on the deal page.
Gear Deal: Get Going with Blu-Ray for Under $50 via LogicBUY
If you still weren’t convinced that Apple’s desktop/laptop Mac OS X operating system and their mobile operating system iOS were moving closer and closer to one another here’s yet one more example.
If you have a Mac go to software update and download the Airport Utility update. Once you do you’ll be greeted with a utility that will be rather familiar if you have used the recently release iOS Airport Utility.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Now far be it from me to tell a man (or a woman for that matter) how to use their BBQ grill. Like politics and religion, grilling is a topic where advice is rarely appreciated or even more rarely followed. I’m sure you’re great at cooking a steak over charcoal or gas, and I wouldn’t tell you to your face if I thought otherwise. A. because you’re feeding me and B. because you probably have fire and sharp BBQ tools within arm’s reach.
Maybe you’re one of those people who can judge a steak’s doneness by comparing the surface of the meat to the firmness of the fleshy part of your thumb pad. Good for you then. (Please, oh please, don’t cut into a steak while it’s still on the grill to check whether it’s cooked enough. Meat must rest after cooking or you’ll just let all the good juices out!) But as techy types, gadget enthusiasts should strive to introduce some rigor into their grilling methods and cook to exact internal temperatures whenever possible. For example, I like my steak to come off the grill at precisely 122 degrees and allow it to come up to a beautiful pink medium-rare while it’s resting. You are letting it rest, right?
If we can employ some cool new iPhone technology to help out with these methods, so much the better. Enter the iGrill Bluetooth® cooking thermometer from www.igrillinc.com and the free accompanying “Steak Time” app from Omaha Steaks. So shoo the dog out of the kitchen and put your steak on a high counter to bring it to room temperature while we investigate these fun kitchen tools.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Who in the world would get excited about a shredder? ME, that’s who. So when Judie posted a review of the SwingLine Cross-Cut Shredder last year I took note. You see, as bad as Judie and Kevin’s stack of “waiting to be shredded documents” was, Elana’s and mine is worse. How much worse? Let me put it this way. In Judie’s review she began with the following,
This is my husband’s and my pile of things that needed to be shredded. It started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, and eventually ended up in a bag under our bed. What’s in it? Everything from those “convenience” checks that credit card companies seem to think we can’t live without, to credit card applications that simply need a signature and mail back to be approved, to health insurance settlement statements, all those bits of paper that have numbers, names, addresses and other information that gets scribbled down when we are trying to be efficient.
If I were writing that paragraph it might be something like this,
This is my wife’s and my pile of things that needed to be shredded: it started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, eventually ended up in a bag under our bed and now is filling an entire room.
The situation is really bad… and potentially embarrassing. It is SO BAD in fact, that I won’t be including a picture here. But trust me, our “to be shredded pile” needs help.
All of those things piled up in our house for the same reason they gathered in Judie’s, and perhaps your home. Identity theft is real and you can’t simply throw documents with your personal information in the garbage anymore. No, you need a good shredder, and that means something that not only slices the page but also cross-cuts the page so that the data on it is all but impossible to put back together.
That’s where Swingline’s Stack and Shred 80X Handsfree Cross-Cut Shredder has the potential to step in and save the day. It offers the security we need and is probably the easiest I have ever seen. Let’s take a look.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Big, bold and impressive. That’s the only way to describe Samsung’s top of the line UN55D8000 55″ 3D 1080p LED 240Hz HDTV. And with today’s Gear Deal you’ll get it bundled with a Samsung BD-D5500 Blu-ray Player and 2 extra pair of 3D glasses (that makes for a total of four pair). The Samsung UN55D8000
features edge-lit LED backlighting with Micro-precision dimming Plus for enhanced image quality (higher contrast, darker blacks and eliminates “blooming”). It also features 3D ready, Internet TV (apps such as FaceBook, YouTube, BlockBuster, Flickr, Amazon on Demand, Skype), 4 HDMI versopm 1.4 inputs, 2 USB ports, ethernet, and wrapped in a slim .9″ panel in black design.
As noted, two pair of… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Judie and I had a chance to visit with Gear4 in their suite at the Wynn. We’ve seen some of the company’s products in the past, but I don’t think that either of us realized how extensive their portfolio is. And it is going to get even larger in 2012. Needless to say, we came away impressed. Here’s a rundown on the company and their current lineup …
Gear4 wants to “make things that are simple, enhance your life and are a pleasure to use.” While all of that is highly subjective from what we saw they are doing everything possible to be true to their mission. Their docks look good, appear easy to use and, best of all, they sound excellent.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
You want 3D? Well today’s Gear Deal will get you some awesome 3D AND save you money in the process.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Today we heard about a cool new set-top box for your HDTV from Pyramid Distribution, called the iGoGo TV. The iGoGo is an Android-powered box that brings a robust ‘smart TV’ experience to your home. Because it is based on standard Android 2.3, it means you will be able to run tons of the same Android apps you already know and love.
Featuring wired and wireless networking, support for 1920x1080p full HD, 4GB built-in memory expandable to 32GB by micro SD, support for USB hard drives for unlimited storage, and more.
The iGoGo also includes a 2MP webcam with microphone, so you can use Skype to chat with folks anywhere around the… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
I’m a big fan of Wilson Electronics Cellular signal boosters, and I got to spend a little bit of time Joe Banos (their CEO) checking out their new 4G LTE Universal Cellular Signal Booster and learning about what’s going on in the booster market. Joe sees 2012 as the year that carriers will acknowledge that customers want better signals on their mobile devices by embracing cellular signal boosting technology. Verizon is the first carrier to get fully on board, and Joe said another carrier is expected to do the same in the next few weeks.
Wilson has just released a universal cradle that will take care of mobile users on all carriers, but specifically those… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Kev and I have a Withings WiFi connected scale and blood-pressure cuff. My favorite feature of both is that our results are automatically exported to both a password-protected personal page on the Withings site as well as an app on our iPhone or iPad. We are able to monitor our own numbers and when the mood strikes — peek at each others.
Withings has just introduced a brilliant product with the same capabilities that should make every new parent happy — their Smart Baby Scale.
By using the Withings Smart Baby Scale, parents can access their child’s weight readings from any connected device, such as an Internet-connected computer or an iPad
My first stop at CES Unveiled was QOOQ, a French company that is planning to release the “first tablet specifically designed for the kitchen”. Last year saw hundreds of tablets announced. Only a small percentage actually got released and even fewer had any success. So one might think companies would stop staking their future on new tablets with unique OSes right? WRONG.
The tablet is nice enough looking and has rubber feet, a build in stand and can be wiped clean if it becomes dirty. Does it run Android? Nope. It runs its own Linux OS. It has streamed cooks showing you how to make dishes step by step. It has audio… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Early this week preparations for CES went into high gear. I commented to the GD team that during the week a staple of my diet tends to be either sugar-free Red Bull or FiveHour Energy and that, upon arrival, I may buy a case of each. I also made an offhand comment that a box of FiveHour Energy is rather pricey. Bryan chimed in that he has a SodaStream and one of the available mixes is an energy concentrate. It would, he noted, be far more economical. Two days later I joined the ranks of the SodaStream users. Funny thing is, Elana had mentioned possibly getting one for her parents… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
