The Retrospective

Photo Courtsey of RIM

A significant departure from previous Blackberry devices, the Bold 9000 proved that Research In Motion could make stylish smartphones on par with those of Apple or Nokia. After three years of committed iPhone use, I bought the Bold 9000 in December 2009 and spent a month learning the intricacies, strengths and weaknesses of the Blackberry OS. After using the 9000 for a month I upgraded to the Bold 9700, a newer model designed to address lingering consumer complaints of earlier phones and become the flagship Blackberry model. While there are definitely scads of advantages to this new iteration of Blackberry device, a long run at the front of the pack is probably not in its future.

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Photo Courtsey of Evernote Corp

After a thorough exploration of Apple’s controversial new darling, the iPad, I started imagining a list of applications that would be a perfect fit for the device. At the head of the pack was Evernote, my go-to application for securely storing important thoughts, documents and web pages. Evernote is a freemium (free with a paid option) service that bridges the online/offline divide; the offline services let you create and save notes, while the online features sync your notes and changes back to Evernote. And unlike other note applications, your files can include text, images, audio, web page clippings and even PDF files. A premium account, which runs just $44 a year, allows you to sync and remotely store files, eliminating the need to email yourself works-in-progress.

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Photo Courtsey of Apple Inc

Typical of introductions to Apple’s new products, reaction to the unveiling of the iPad has been swift and polarized. The last few months have brought countless news stories, blog posts and general punditry, and when combined with Apple’s penchant for extreme secrecy, the wide and complicated range of emotions was almost inevitable. Apple is both extremely innovative and very cautious with its product launches. Watching the live blog updates was like reliving the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, and as with that historic event, I’ve found myself once again looking at an awesome device with a limited, almost crippled functionality.

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Tags: Technology · gadget1 Comment

Tyler Brule, Jenna Lyons, Frank Muytjens - image courtsey of Monocle Magazine

Monocle Magazine, purveyor of all things cool, held a holiday party on November 17th at the J. Crew Men’s Shop in SoHo. It might seem surprising that a lifestyle magazine from London would hold a party in NYC, but for the listeners of Monocle’s weekly podcast it makes perfect sense.

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Tags: Event · Fashion · New YorkNo Comments.