Already going through sports withdrawal now that the Super Bowl has ended?  Not too excited about the upcoming Winter Olympics?  Well, how about we add one-part thrill of competition, plus one-part agony of defeat mixed with a heaping mess of Robots.  Yeah, you read that right.  Robots.

• Hand-to-hand robot combat?  Check.
• Sumo-wrestling robots?  Check.
• Fire-fighting robots?  Got them, too.
• Dancing Robots? Robots mixing cocktails?   Done and done!
  

What crazy, topsy-turvy alternate universe of coolness is this  where you can watch Robots engage in all manner of competition?  Why, right here via the RoboGames, of course.  You’ll be able to catch all of he action as hundreds of robots compete (and sometimes flat-out destroy each other) via the web April 23rd-25th.

Tech enthusiasts, engineers and people who just like watchin’ stuff get smashed and/or explode should read on to get the full scoop on the 2010 RoboGames competition.

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It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the Poynt application for BlackBerry.  It’s one of the first things I load on a new ‘Berry.  It’s free, and simply put it is the best location based search application for BlackBerry.  Whether you’re looking for movie tickets, restaurants, businesses, or gas prices, Poynt is what you want to use for quick results.   Over 1 million active users can’t be wrong.  One thing I appreciate is the fact that the development team over at Multiplied Media is constantly adding new features to Poynt.

Case in point (pun intended): AccuWeather has now partnered with Multiplied Media to bring their weather data and forecasts directly to the application.  Even better is you won’t have to search around the app to get to it.  It’s right there on the home screen! Your local weather conditions will show up in Poynt even as you scroll through the interface to pull up information relevant to your specific location.  That Accuweather.com data powers the display on the Poynt home screen to show your local temperature and sky conditions.  Then, to make it even more slick, those sky conditions are reflected by the dynamic background that changes according to the type of weather the user is experiencing.   Very cool!

The full press release of the partnership — and handy download links if you wanna download it straight to your ‘Berry — follow.

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Shape Services recently updated their popular IM+ for Skype application to include VoIP calling for BlackBerry smartphones.  The $29 application will let you call a Skype user’s PC, chat via Skype, and now make Free VoIP calls.  What’s nice about the application is that the one-time purchase means any and all future updates and features will be included free of charge.   If you’re looking for a way to keep up with friends and family across the globe without piling up a hefty wireless bill, then IM+ for Skype certainly looks like a terrific option.

Look for a full review of the application soon here on Gear Diary.   Keep reading for the full press release and feature summary for IM+ for Skype.

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Uniea wants to be your one-stop shop for all your case needs.  As such, the Uniea folks are having a Valentine’s Day sale, where if you buy one case, you can get a matching case for 40% off.  And the beauty is, if you happen to be holed up because of a snowstorm, you can still order cases for your sweetie without leaving the comfort of your home.  So if you’re looking for Valentine’s Day gifts in the case department, and the weather is too nasty for you to venture out, go on over to Uniea and check out their selection.

You remember that lovable robotic baby dinosaur, Pleo, don’t you?  Well now you can help choose the next Pleo and take advantage of a great deal this month.   Pleoworld is holding a poll to select one of five color patterns for a new Pleo that will come out this year. Go vote for your favorite Pleo color now, and you will be automatically entered for a free raffle to win your very own one-of-a-kind custom made Pleo designed by Jerry Finney.   So what are you waiting for?  Be the coolest kid on the block — or the coolest parent on the block – with your very own Pleo.

If you don’t want to hold off until the end of the month, you’re in luck as there will be free shipping through February 28th.  The winner of the unique, Pleo robotic dinosaur will be announced the same day.

[Pleoworld]

The Cybook Gen 3 is a few years old (it was released in 2007), but about six months ago it received an update allowing it to read Adobe ePUB files, giving it new relevance in an increasingly ePUB focused ebook world. Thomas sent me his Cybook to update with the new firmware and review, so let’s take a look! Does it stand up well against my Kindle? Is the Cybook worth the $350 Bookeen lists it for? Read on and find out!

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I recently reviewed the full soundtrack for Dragon Age: Origins, and a large part of my criticism was that it wasn’t a great value – it released well after the game was out, and suddenly made folks who paid for a ‘deluxe’ version aware that the ‘Soundtrack’ they got was really a sampler. Now the Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack has arrived, how does this one measure up, both musically and as an overall value?

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Apparently in Japan and some other countries it is very popular to wear your cell phone on a neck strap – especially when using it as a media player. That trend has not hit North America. Now Collins America hopes to make it more popular through the introduction of the Danglet, an accessory that clips into the docking connector of any modern iPod or iPhone device and allows you to keep it readily available around your wrist or neck. So how does it all work?

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Looks like Ian McEwan and Stephen Covey have company in the Amazon exclusives club! Gavin De Becker, author of “The Gift of Fear”, has an exclusive with the Kindle Store for one year. This is probably Amazon’s best defense against the agency model that’s all the rage among scared publishers; Amazon guarantees themselves great content, the author gets a raise, and the consumer wins too!

And if you don’t know who Gavin de Becker is (I didn’t!), Amazon’s press release has some details:

“The nationally bestselling ‘The Gift of Fear’ is a perennial bestseller in its category, and de Becker’s books have resonated throughout the years with our customers,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Kindle Content. “We’re excited to work with Mr. de Becker in sharing these exclusive electronic versions of his books, now available in the Kindle Store for wireless download in less than 60 seconds.”

Gavin de Becker is the founder of a 200-person firm that provides consultation, protective services and assessment services to many of the world’s most prominent figures in media politics and culture, as well as advising government agencies, major corporations and universities. De Becker designed the MOSAIC systems used to screen threats to justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, CIA officials, members of Congress and the governors of 12 states A frequent guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Larry King Live,” and many other shows, his bestselling books on violence are published in 14 languages.

“Over the years, there have been about 25 different editions of ‘The Gift of Fear,’ and I am very excited that Kindle can free my books from the bonds of paper and glue and warehousing and shipping,” said de Becker. “These special Kindle editions of my books can efficiently and instantly be available to readers around the world, and offer many benefits unavailable in conventional paper books. For example, while readers of the physical edition may or may not have had access to a nearby dictionary, Kindle readers can now see the definition of a word at the moment it’s encountered. Now readers can also easily search for a any reference, name, passage, topic or even individual word throughout the entire text.”

The Kindle edition of “The Gift of Fear,” the New York Times bestseller about the “universal code of violence” and identifying and protecting oneself against potential attackers, contains a new foreword from the author. The Kindle edition of “Just 2 Seconds,” considered the most complete and definitive resource on preventing assassination, has new and updated content.

Very interesting mix of authors that Amazon has amassed; I wonder who they will sign next?

Via Nate’s ebook news

Our GearSponsor has an awesome deal on a powerful Quad Core system with an 18.4″ 1080p screen, 6GB DDR3 RAM and… lots of WOW!

The HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition Core i7 Laptop is a powerhouse. Reasonably priced to begin with, with this deal you can “save up to $519 + web-use 6% coupon” with this deal. But there’s even more. This deal includes a free upgrade to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a free upgrade to a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive and free shipping. And if you’re not satisfied with 4 GB of RAM this package includes $100 off an upgrade to 6 GB of DDR 3 RAM!

But this GearDeal gets even better. With this package you can get $50 off Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and $60 off any HP printer.

The total base package is just $1129.99 with this deal AND you can customize the system before you buy.

Details on LogicBUY.

HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition Core i7 18.4-inch 1080p Laptop via LogicBUY.

The Gear Diary Store is a great place to find software and accessories for your Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, iPhone and Palm OS devices; together with our partner MobiHand, we are working to bring you at least one software title deal a day. You’ll get a great price while supporting Gear Diary, no special codes necessary. Are you ready to save?

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Random House has weighed in on the eBook price wars, and it looks like Macmillan, Hachette and Harper Collins won’t be sending them a fruit basket next Christmas. At the American Bookseller’s Association Winter Institute meeting, Random House made it clear they aren’t interested in pursuing the same “agency model” as their three colleagues.

From the Mobileread forums:

The only bright spot for Amazon, and Kindle owners, came from Madeline McIntosh, the President of Sales, Operations, and Digital for Random House. She pointed out that publishers “have no real experience at setting retail prices.” She also revelaed that one of the reasons Random House had not been party to the iBook Store at launch was because of the pricing issues.

In regards to delayed releasing of ebooks, McIntosh said, “Our current policy is we release e-books at the same time as physical books,” followed by “I haven’t been convinced that it’s good for the author or consumer to delay the release. My fear is that the consumer who has fully embraced the technology will buy another e-book that is available or lose interest altogether. What if I train the consumer that the best scenario is to get it free?”

The poster did not supply a link, but I did find collaboration at The Bookseller that Random House did make it clear they weren’t interested in setting prices. Apparently this is also why Random House is not currently committing to iBooks. Maybe this will lead to Apple being forced to take responsibility for their new bookselling interests, which might in turn bring price competition back to the marketplace. All it would take is Apple using the wholesale model with Random House, and undercutting the “agency” ebooks…

If you want to support Random House, here’s a few ways. Look for books published under the Knopf Doubleday, Crown, Bantam, Ballantine, or Random House imprints; these are all under the Random House Bertelsman umbrella. You can friend them on Facebook and Myspace, and follow them on Twitter. And if you’re really excited, you can contact them and let them know you support them staying away from the agency model!

Via Mobileread

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! This is a ‘Big Daddy’ of a week … ok, that was relly bad. The big release of the week is yet another delayed but highly anticipated multi-platform game Bioshock 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 release. Early reviews are very positive.

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Going green and buying electronics usually don’t mesh very well.  Thinksound set out to create great sounding headphones that were also friendly to the environment too.  Not an easy task to say the least, but one the company took very seriously.

Thinksound’s lineup currently consists of two eco-friendly headphones.  The company was kind enough to send me both to review.

Does being “green” mean you have to sacrifice sound quality?

Click on through to find out, but here’s a hint, in a word, nope….

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