A week or two ago during the Christmas to New Years span,Viacom and Time Warner had a dispute that’s now resolved.  However, as things usually do happen on our team member list, things go into another topic.  Wayne kicked it off with this message: Wayne Schulz: In 5 years the concept of a cable tv box is going to be quaint. The vast majority will come via on-line. This the foreshadowing. – Hide quoted text – I thought….hmm….is that really true?  Other team members chimed in:… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The sound quality is crap and the Qik video streaming from an N82 is meh, but it is still fun to watch Dave Dickson, the blender hijinks king, grind up a tape measure and a rake. Yeah, a rake. Try doing that with your Oster. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today I had an opportunity to talk to Julian, the Director of Design and Development for Cocoon Innovations. Last week I posted about their unusual and fashionable laptop bags, and in the end I think I was left with more questions than answers. What were they made of? What the heck was the Grid system they were talking about? What would they cost? Would they look good in person? Would I really want to carry one? Read on for the answers and lots of pictures…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the cooler things that we’ve spotted while here in Vegas was Michael Kaplan and his Segway iBOT. I’ve seen plenty of  “regular” Segways, but until yesterday had never seen the wheelchair version – other than in blog posts. After talking to Michael for just a bit, I was impressed by how positively the iBOT has affected his life. How so? On top of being able to climb stairs with ease, he can also raise the seat to the height he was before – 5’8″ and look people in the eye…something I regularly take for granted from my height of 5’10″. After checking out its Wikipedia entry, I soon learned that there were many more reasons to find Dean Kaman’s iBOT impressive…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As CES rolls on there’s a lot of news in the smartphone world. One nice bit has to do with a little company called HTC and the upcoming US availability of the HTC S743. The S743 is a neat little handset that looks like a sleek candy-bar phone with a 12-key front keypad but also sports a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard and some nice power under the hood. The S743 is a non-touch screen device that offers the benefit of both a more traditional user interface and a full QWERTY keyboard. It has the, now familiar, faceted design first implemented on the HTC Touch Diamond. While it is just 1.7 inches wide and weighs a mere 4.9 ounces, it still has a large 2.4 inch QVGA display and packs a whole lot of power. As a US-release, it supports high-speed HSDPA (850/1900 MHz) networks and runs Windows Mobile 6.1. The S743 might look familiar from this shot of Judie’s CES: Getting Ready post. Yup, that’s Judie’s S740 (the European variant of the new S743) getting ready for the trip while some “other” phone gets left behind. I’m pretty darn happy with my current handset but the rave reviews from Judie… [...]

We are currently in line for the event and waiting for registration to begin…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Still here in Knoxville, TN(when I was writing most of this post…) visiting with my parents and my parents took us to downtown Knoxville to an amazing store called Mast General Store.  This store is a chain that only has about 8 stores and it started in the Carolinas.  When you walk into these stores you will see barrels of candy from yesteryear.  Candy I grew up with like Zotz, Chic-o-Sticks, Candy Buttons and more are all at the Mast General Store.  It’s like a Cracker Barrel on Steroids. While walking around this store on wooden floors, you see products from Burt’s Bees, Woolrich, and Mast branded fleece made with Polartec fleece.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The unveiling of the new Palm Pre just ended at CES 2009. It was announced that Sprint will be the exclusive carrier for this new Palm device which is due before the first half of 2009. The Sprint site now has a page where you can leave your name to be notified when the Pre is available for order. Unfortunately there’s no indication of pricing yet. Interesting thought for 2009: Is the Palm Pre a device that could simultaneously make or break two companies financially? sprint.com/pre Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Palm’s keynote address is going on right now at CES 2009. So far they’ve spent some time talking about the background of Palm and a new webOS as well as introducing one new handheld – the Palm Pre. This device has a 3.1″ screen with 320 X 480 resolution, touch screen, center navigation button, EVDO Rev A, 802.11b/g, 8GB storage, GPS, Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP) as well as a slideout keyboard (portrait) AND replaceable battery. So far the device seems to match some of the mock ups that have been floating around different blogs. The phone OS looks to sport Exchange support as well as a substantial amount of integration with social media type activities – synchronization of names from different address… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Earlier this year, I wrote a review of the Scion xB Release Series 5.0 (which I own).  I really like this vehicle a lot and I especially love the tech-related goodies included on it (like having both an audio-in jack AND a separate iPod connector jack).  20,000 miles later it’s STILL proving to be an excellent vehicle for me. Now Scion is getting ready to release the next xB in their Release Series – 6.0.  Just like the 5.0 version, this will be a limited production run of 2500.  Take a look after the break for some of the goodies to be included in RS 6.0. as well as another picture (and a link to more pictures of the vehicle).… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

An announcement from CES 2009 today that Slacker Mobile is available for BlackBerry smartphones. Slacker is a radio service available in both free and premium versions. Users can create a nearly unlimited number of music stations similar typically based upon favorite artists. These stations can be managed on the web. In addition the BlackBerry version offers station caching on the device: Slacker station caching, an exclusive feature for BlackBerry smartphones, enables mobile listeners to store favorite stations on a memory card, allowing Slacker music service to play without a network connection while boosting battery life up to 5 times that of streaming playback and enhancing application performance. In addition, BlackBerry smartphone enthusiasts can enjoy Slacker Personal Radio while doing other tasks such as emailing, instant messaging or web browsing. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When all else fails – make another color! That’s the mantra of cell phone manufacturers these days and the Sprint Samsung Instinct is no different. The Best Buy web site shows the pretty in pink Samsung Instinct as coming soon (what’s so hard about slapping a coat of paint on this sucker and shipping it out the door?). The list price is $599 but that’s certainly going to be the pre-contract price. Pink Samsung Instinct Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Popular BlackBerry Applications FlipSide and PhoneFace have received an update to make them compatible with the new touch screen on the BlackBerry Storm. FlipSide is an MP3 player that plays songs from your memory card and allows you to search online for album artwork. PhoneFace adds large pictures to your contacts making it easier to dial their number and recognize an incoming call. The pictures can be uploaded to PhoneFace or pulled in from sources like FaceBook. You no longer have to trawl through hundreds of contacts just to call your wife or gym buddy. PhoneFace displays your favourite contacts as full-color photos, letting you call them quickly and easily. PhoneFace’s easy interface lets you flick through your favourite contacts with your trackball or Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sony introduced their new Vaio P series Lifestyle PC at CES 2009 yesterday. Weighing in at only 1.4 pounds and less than an inch thick the device is looking like one of the first true competitors to Apple’s ultra-thin MacBook Air. The screen is an 8 inch 1600 x 768 LCD (compared to the 13.3 inch screen on the MacBook Air) and under the hood is a 1.3 GHZ Intel processor. When this debuts later this month expect to pay $900 for the entry level model and $1,500 for the premium model (SSD drive and upgraded Vista OS). Sony Vaio P Series Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sling Media is busy demonstrating their upcoming SlingPlayer for iPhone. This program for your iPhone (also available for a slew of other mobile devices including Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and BlackBerry) uses your TV connection and redirects the signal (audio and video) over the Internet so you can view it (legally) from wherever you are. They’ve greatly improved their mobile interface and although the setup, which requires a SlingBox connected to your TV, is a tad geeky – this is a great tool for those who like to watch their TV while away from home. The iPhone Blog Continue reading on Gear Diary …