How I Used Social Media to Buy a Car

Wow, my first post since moving to San Diego and it only took 52 days to do it! That’s pretty horrible, I must admit. Here I thought moving to a new city would inspire me to be more active in my photography and blogging. Nope. Turns out moving and starting a new job means you have next to no free time. When you do find yourself void of responsibilities, all you really want to do is relax with your iPad and new season of Nikita on Netflix. Perhaps I’m projecting a bit… Clearly I really love that show.

For all the years I lived in San Francisco I never owned a car. It just wasn’t necessary. I walked almost everywhere in that city, and loved it. It was a healthy way to get around and it allowed me a little time to myself. When I needed to go further than a say a mile, I’d take the Muni. And despite what many of the locals might say, we have a stellar mass transit system.

My apartment had a Walk Score of 98 and a Bike Score of 95. My office had a Walk Score of 92, a Transit Score of 100 and a Bike Score of 89. Basically I had the world, just steps away. San Diego, well it isn’t quite the same here. Continue reading

ZAGGkeys PROplus iPad Keyboard Case Review

Last year I reviewed another iPad keyboard case from ZAGG. I loved the case but felt it was a bit too thick and heavy especially when compared to the space the iPad took up on it’s own. Ultimately though I grew to find it an indispensable accessory for my iPad. So did many people I encountered on my flights and at coffee shops. Since then ZAGG has released several other iPad keyboards but it’s the $129 ZAGGkeys PROplus (let’s be honest, that name is a mouthful) that I’m writing about today.

ZAGGKeys PROplus HeroFor the most part an iPad keyboard is an iPad keyboard. The differences, generally speaking are just a handful of variables.

  1. Bluetooth vs dock connector
  2. Size of the keyboard
  3. Chicklet keys vs rubber keys
  4. Case vs stand vs portfolio case standalone

This keyboard connects via bluetooth, is just smaller than a full-sized Apple keyboard, has chicklet keys and works as a stand for your iPad, as well as a case. What differentiates this keyboard from almost all other keyboards is the feature made popular by Apple’s MacBook Pro. This keyboard lights up! Before we get to that, let’s cover the basics. Continue reading

ZAGGfolio iPad keyboard case review

I believe that Apple created the iPad, at least initially, to be a content consumption device. It’s fabulous for reading magazines, watching video and playing games. However, when it comes to actually being productive, I found the onscreen keyboard practical only for short-form content like tweeting to friends, updating my Facebook status and short replies to emails.

Enter the ZAGGfolio Keyboard Case, a device that tackles these issues with ease.

ZAGGfolio Keyboard Case

This $99 bluetooth keyboard case changed the way I use my iPad.  Continue reading

Enter to win a ZAGGSparq 2.0!

Here’s some fun news! The people at ZAGG were kind enough to offer me five, yes FIVE, ZAGGSparq 2.0 units to give away! The ZAGGSparq 2.0 is one of the latest gadgets I reviewed and one that I absolutely love.

Win a ZaggSparq 2.0

You can check out the review here. To get the details read on. Continue reading

ZaggSparq 2.0 Review

Around a year ago, Ryan bought a Samsung Epic™ 4G Android phone which, at the time, was pretty much the coolest phone in town, at least on Sprint. He loved it for its bright screen, slide-out keyboard and 4G data speeds. That last part had even me jealous. My iPhone 4 was blown away by the data speed on the Epic 4G.

ZaggSparq 2.0
ZaggSparq 2.0

Problem was, the battery life on this phone was dreadful. It got to the point that his phone was only getting a few hours of standby power. Even with 4G turned off, and the supposedly incredibly efficient AMOLED screen, battery life was abismal. So when Zagg had a 50% off sale on just about everything on the site, I picked up a ZaggSparq 2.0. Continue reading

Facebook for iPad is Finally Here

Hats off to my friend Jimmy [Twitter | Tumblr] for catching the article from the New York Times, At Long Last, Facebook Releases an iPad App, announcing the release of Facebook’s native application for the iPad.

Why it took so long to get Facebook to release an iPad app is up for debate. Some say it was Apple wanting content agreements with Facebook (remember iTunes Ping?), some say it was Zuckerberg contending that the Facebook website was already iPad friendly and then there was the leak that turned your regular iPhone Facebook app into the iPad app, which Facebook patched up lickidy split.

There was even a Facebook programmer, Jeff Verkoeyen, the lead developer for the Facebook iPad app, that ended up quitting the company due to frustration over the delays. He is now at Google. Their first iPhone developer went through the same thing a few years ago and quit. Continue reading

Zagg SmartBuds Review

 Zagg SmartBuds

For the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Zagg.com had a super sell. Just about everything in their store was 50% off or more. I am a big fan of Zagg’s InvisibleSHIELD screen protectors and ZaggWipes so I thought I would take advantage of their sale.

For whatever reason I didn’t order any InvisibleSHIELDs for my new iPhone or new iPad. Instead I purchased the Zagg Sparq 2.0 battery for Ryan’s Android phone. Its battery life is abysmal. I also picked up a pair of Zagg SmartBuds. I’m in the market for some good workout headphones that don’t cost the $350 my Klipsch Image X10i headphones cost and thought these would be a great alternative.

The normal retail price for the headphones is around $50 but the sale brought them down to $25.

Typically I only review products that I have purchased for myself and typically those products have been heavily researched before I make that purchase. Thus, most of my reviews are positive, glowing even. This is not one of those reviews.

If you learn one thing from this review it will be that the Zagg SmartBuds are perhaps the worst headphones I have ever purchased. Want to know why?

Continue reading