It has been over a year but Gear Chat is back and we’re talking tech. In this first episode Thomas and I talk about the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Series 7 Slate tablet and what configuration of Apple computing products is best. Future episodes will include Gaming and eBook segments and much more. We also want to hear from you! What content do you want covered? What questions do you have? Would you like us to do the podcast as a live, call-in conversation? We want to know.

Happy listening and, as always, thanks for sharing via Twitter and Facebook.

A year and a half ago I was able to review the Blue Yeti with Larry.   I love the Blue Yeti and use it every Wednesday when I record the Linux Link Tech Show as well as the occasional episode of Hacker Public Radio. It’s almost a perfect product.  However, there’s one thing missing that makes the Yeti less of a perfect device for a professional.  That is an XLR output.  Blue has changed that Yeti of a Microphone and made him a pro by adding a XLR output on the bottom allowing you to plug the Yeti Pro into any soundboard that can provide phantom power.  They also kept… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

About two weeks ago Thomas mentioned a brand-new microphone that was about to be released, the Sampson Meteor Mic. He told me that it not only had a great look to it but that all reports indicated it worked beautifully. It was small, easily transportable thanks to its fold up design, and it looked pretty cool. Most importantly it apparently offered excellent sound quality. I told him I’d have to look into it.

I was fortunate enough to have a review unit waiting for me just two days later. I’ve been using it ever since and have been incredibly impressed with it. I like the look as it has a bit of the… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I am unique in how I started blogging.  I started audio blogging or podcasting far before I started writing gadget reviews and posts here on Gear Diary.  So, the first thing I always seem to look at when doing gadget reviews is a way to capture audio no matter where I go.  My first mobile recorder of sorts was a Belkin Tune Talk, which is  an adapter that plugged in to the bottom of an iPod, followed by the Griffin iTalk Pro and the Blue Mikey.  All of these had issues.  First, there is battery life.  The hard drive on my 5th generation iPod would always spin while recording which means that the battery life… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Larry and Dan are headed to CES on Monday along with Judie, Kevin and Francis. We, however, are going as part of a Scottevest No Baggage Challenge for Charity. In this Gear Chat we’ll discuss how this came about. This IS a No Baggage Challenge for Charity, and donations will be going to the Haiti Plunge.

As part of the Challenge, Scott Jordan, founder and CEO of Scottevest will be making a donation, and we’d like to invite you all to step in and help as well. All the money… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Apple just announced that they sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days it was out. Larry, Judie and I have three of them, and in Gear Char #13 Larry and I talk all about our new phones.

We’ll talk hardware, software, hits and misses. Here on Gear Chat #12 we’ll talk all about the new iPhone.

You can catch up on prior GearChats here…

Larry and Dan are back after a few week break.

In this podcast they focus on jailbreaking their iPhone, iPod touches and iPads, highlight a few iPad and iPhone apps, touch on some items making news and offer a few tips and tricks.

Some of the jailbreak apps we are enjoying…

Activator
Backgrounder
FullForce
Infiniboard
Infinidock
Categories

Also in this podcast-

iPad apps FlickPad and NotesToStore.

You can listen here or download from iTunes…

The Samson Go Mic is a compact USB directional condenser microphone designed for mobile recording a bit back. When I reviewed it I liked the small, compact, easy-to-use design. I also liked the good sound quality that comes in a small, relatively inexpensive package.

The Samson Go Mic offers…
* A folding, compact design that allows for easy laptop attachment or desktop placement
* Professional quality performance, with multidirectional recording options for maximum flexibility
* Frequency response of 20Hz – 18kHz ensures crystal clear recording quality
* Plug & play MAC and PC compatibility with no required drivers for ease of use

It is available at: BestBuy.com, Amazon.com, Sam Ash, Sweetwater, B&H, J&R. It has an MSRP of $89.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

In the 9th edition of Gear Chat we talk about the iPad 3G. The devices are prepped to ship and should arrive Friday April 30th. Will Larry keep his or continue to use his WiFi version plus the Sprint Overdrive? We’ll know soon enough… Oh, and we also talk about some iPhone and iPad apps, the latest tech news and some tips and tricks.

Visit Gear Chat’s home over on PodBean… or subscribe in iTunes…

Visit Larry’s YouTube channel

SHOW NOTES…

Apple iPad

AT&T’s iPad 3G details page

iPhone apps–Rhapsody, Line2

iHome iA5 App Enhanced

Gear Chat #5 is live. In this episode Larry and Dan talk iPad, iPhone, Flash Wars and more…

The podcast is also now available from iTunes… You can get it HERE.

While at CES this year I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Blue Microphones booth.  One of the products which really “wowed” me during demo time was their “Yeti” microphone.

The Yeti is being touted as the world’s first THX certified Microphone.  The USB powered microphone is the perfect tool for for a wide range of projects including podcasts, vocals, live or event recording, interviews, broadcasts, instruments, bands and more.

Blue Microphones was kind enough to send both myself and Joel a Yeti for review and the following dual review contains both of our observations.

Blue has long made studio mikes and other devices like the Blue Eyeball web cam with a focus on quality construction and great audio.  Now they are trying to enter the live performance arena with their brand new enCore series of Microphones.  Blue was kind enough to send me samples of both the enCore 100 and the enCore 200 stage mikes.  Are they going to be good enough to unseat the venerable Shure SM57  and SM58?  Let’s find out.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

For many years I had no idea what people found interesting about Podcasts. These recorded audio programs are named for their typical method of distribution through iTunes where they are often downloaded to iPods. A podcast session typically lasts about an hour and features one or more hosts talking about specific news of the week. Topics can range from technology to politics to financial news. The rise in popularity of Podcasts means that their distribution has also spread beyond just iTunes and iPods. I’ve found my BlackBerry Bold to be an exceptional podcast player due to its super loud and clear speaker system. There was always only one thing holding me back from using the BlackBerry to listen to my Podcasts – I had to manually download the podcasts. At least until I downloaded PodTrapper for BlackBerry.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.I’m a huge fan of the Engadget podcast. Not a week goes by that I don’t listen to Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel. Their podcast is updated weekly and they chat about the week’s top news and provide added insight that you don’t get from their web site. I’m not sure how frequently these Engadget live shows are going to happen. This episode feature Jon Rubenstein formerly of Apple and now leader of Palm and was taped on 9/13/09. Aside from some problems with low audio and a questionable selection of first guest (cool demo of Pixi – but terrible explanation of why there’s no Wi-Fi (Sprint didn’t want it?) and come on Jon Rubenstein doesn’t know the type of processor in the  Pixi  ?) the video is… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

New in Google Labs is Google Listen. Available exclusively for Android smartphones, this free download allows you to search, download, stream and subscribe to your favorite podcasts. At the moment you can only search English audio podcasts ( support for video podcasts is missing ) and there’s an annoying requirement to login with a gmail.com based email address which kicks sand in the faces of those of us using Google Apps for Domains (who therefore don’t have a gmail.com address connected with their account).

Google Listen for Android