I’d heard that the ability to read and review your Kindle book notes and highlights online was coming soon. This morning I received notice that any notes (or passage highlights) that I make on my Kindle are viewable via the Amazon web site. … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve always been a big fan of Astraware.  As a former Palm Pilot user I can remember playing Bejeweled on my IIIc.  It’s been a long time since the days of Palm games and Astraware has come a long way since the introduction of Bejeweled.  They’ve turned a blockbuster handheld game into a mega-gaming company with tons of popular titles. When Astraware asked if I’d be interested in reviewing a couple of their games for the iPhone and iPod Touch I jumped at the chance. Today I’ll be reviewing their latest game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Bubble Babble as well as one of their more popular titles for the same platform, Platypus.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re an AT&T customer, you’ve got cause to be (somewhat) happier. We all knew this was coming, but today, AT&T officially announced upgrades to their 3G Wireless Broadband network. AT&T* today announced plans to upgrade the nation’s fastest 3G network to deliver considerably faster mobile broadband speeds. The network upgrades are slated to begin later this year, with completion expected in 2011. The upgrade to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology is part of AT&T’s plan for continued investments to deliver the nation’s best mobile broadband experience – the ideal combination of speed, coverage and best device line-up. AT&T today has the nation’s fastest 3G network and has attracted more than twice the number of smartphone users than any other competitor. …AT&T plans to begin LTE trials in 2010, with deployment beginning in 2011. There are a number of interesting projects on the AT&T table, including the following Near-Doubling Radio Frequency Capacity. In 2008 and 2009 to date, high-quality 850 MHz spectrum has been deployed in more than half of AT&T’s 3G network footprint to improve overall coverage and in-building reception, with additional markets planned for later in the year. More Bandwidth to Cell Sites. We are adding [...]

Our GearSponsor deal for today from LogicBuy is this Lenovo Y550 which is a relatively newer model that features a Core 2 Duo T6400 2GHZ processor, 3GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive and HDMI. Top that off with 802.11n WiFi and a DVD+/-RW as well as Vista Premium and you’ve got a nice compact desktop replacement on your hands. Use coupon code USPGRADSPROMO (expires 5/28) which stacks and gives free shipping. LogicBuy Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Motorola Clutch i465, a qwerty keyboarded prepaid cellular phone, is now up on the Boost Mobile site and available for orders at the not terrible price of $129. The phone offers a 1.79 TFT display with 64k colors and 128 x 160 pixels. There’s Bluetooth and a VGA camera as well as 20 MB of internal memory. Talk time is claimed to be 205 minutes. If you’ve been holding off on Boost Mobile due to their rather plain phone selections – this model plus their bargain unlimited talk/text $50 plan might just kick you over the edge. PhoneArena Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This Jabra BT2040 is a relative steal from $8.99 from Buy.com. Sure there are other sites that meet this price – but they all want to tack on another $5 to ship it. The deal here includes shipping so your out the door total is $8.99. Make no mistake about it, the Jabra BT2040 is a low end model. It’s powered by one AAA battery which provides for a claimed 11 hours of talk time and makes it easy to recharge (no waiting) but inconvenient because you must keep a stock of batteries. Jabra BT2040 – $8.99 via DealNews Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Proving that there is NOTHING that cannot be converted to a USB memory stick, here is a Ninja throwing star (aka – Shuriken) that’s marketed as a 2GB USB Memory card. The site doesn’t say whether this is a plastic knockoff or if you may actually be able to embed it into someone’s thigh (that’s a joke). This is one quirky USB gizmo seems like it’s best used at home because bringing it into the office may not get the response you’re looking for. Expect to pay about $108. GeekStuff4U Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Could 2009 be the year that Androids take over planet earth? If you were attending the Google I/O Developer Conference today then you might think that. The company announced that we should expect between 18 and 20 new Android based smartphones from about 9 different manufacturers by year end. This is a huge uptick from a year where we’ve limped by in the USA with only one rather bleak Android G1 device on T-Mobile. Expect the handsets to be shipped in one of three flavors: Obligation Free – Android OS but no pre-load of Google applications. Small Strings – Distribution agreement that Android will be shipped with Google Applications. Expect 12 – 14 phones to fall into this category. Bigger Strings – “The Google Experience”… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Do you own a Windows Mobile phone? Do you want to watch Hulu and youtube in your browser? Then you should be interested to hear that Skyfire is finally out of beta as of this morning. Now, I will be honest: I’m not a huge fan of Skyfire. Or, at least I wasn’t a fan of the beta. Has it improved enough to deserve space on your device? Read on for my first impressions.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This post began as a quick post about the update to MacSpeech Dictate — software that brings accurate voice recognition technology to the Mac. Dictate was first released a little over a year ago and was the first time that voice recognition on the Mac worked well. It was built on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 9 engine and, while falling short of that application and its accuracy, worked fairly well. Version 1.5 of the software just began shipping last week. At first I was a little miffed because it was a rather expensive upgrade but then the customer service rep explained that it’s actually entirely new software. This version is built on Dragon’s Version 10 and brings… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For those of you still stuck with Vista, or those of you with Windows 2008 Servers, there’s some interesting news – Service Pack 2 is now available for download. I haven’t tried to download any of these, as I am currently running Windows 7 on all of my personal PC’s.  The other two PC’s currently in the house, my wife’s MSI Wind and my daughter’s seriously hurtin’ PowerBook G4 both run Windows XP Home and OSX 10.4.11 (I think), respectively.  I did try to download the ISO, but the server must be seriously busy, as it just sat there for about 30 minutes or so trying to load the download page. Windows Server 2008 & Vista SP2 – ISO  32bit/64bit Windows Server 2008 & Vista SP2 – (KB948465) 32-bit – 350MB Windows Server 2008 & Vista SP2 – (KB948465) 64-bit – 580MB For more information on the service packs, check out TechNet. A complete list of fixes (there are over 800) can be seen after the break.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Didn’t school just end? Someone forgot to tell Apple, as they are running a Back to School Special.  College students — or faculty/staff members at any grade level — can get a Free iPod Touch with the purchase of a new Mac between now and September 8th.   This offer includes the MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac. Apple Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of the big race – and not just a spectator –Samsung is ready to make that dream become a reality with their Honorary Samsung Instinct Pit Crew Member Sweepstakes. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Microsoft today made the long rumored touch screen Zune HD device official. Set to launch in the fall, it appears that Microsoft is smartly looking to leverage their large (17 million strong) XBox 360 community as one method of content distribution. Look for Zune to be a premium content partner on Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace where you’ll be able to obtain all sorts of exciting TV and film releases. Zune HD comes with a built in HD Radio Receiver (??), as well as a 480×272 OLED touch screen interface (16:9 widescreen format). There’s an HD-compatible output to allow the Zune HD to playback supported HD video files from the device via HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) docking station (sold separately) to a TV in 720p… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I can still remember the days when a 20 MEGABYTE hard drive cost TEN TIMES the $197.99 price of these two 1.5 Terabyte (total 3 TB) Seagate ST31500341AS Baracuda drives. These 3.5″ form factor drives feature 7200 rpm spindle speed and 32 MB buffer size. Interface is a 1 x Serial ATA-300 – 7 pin Serial ATA. Tip: if you want to really look cool shell out another $110 and plop them both into this double HDD rack. What’s all this technical mumbo-jumbo mean? Lots of file storage space at decent speeds. This is a GearSponsor deal from LogicBuy who also offers some love for Laptop users with a 500GB 2.5″ Hitachi Travelstar drive priced at $78.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary …