Canceled flights.  Lost luggage.  Delay after delay.  And that’s after hours of lines and security just to make it to your gate.  We’ve all had these — and worse — experiences traveling.   Worldmate is looking to make things a little better on your next trip, by giving a Kindle to the person who submits the “World’s Worst Business Traveler Experience” by June 1st.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s that time again…time for me to recognize all of the wonderful sponsors who believe in and who so graciously support Gear Diary… I’ll start by mentioning our newest sponsor, LogicBuy. Have you noticed the near daily Gear Sponsored blurbs that Wayne started posting last week? Not to be confused with the GearDeals he has always scoured the net to find, these are sponsored posts pointing you to the deal of the day on the LogicBuy site. We’d like to thank Thai and the gang at LogicBuy for their support, and we hope that you all enjoy some extra savings when taking advantage of their deals. Next is our original and longest running backer: Skooba Design (formerly RoadWired). Michael… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the world of coupons there’s one word that brings music to my ears. That word? Stackable! Why is stackable so good? Because it means more than one coupon can be used or the coupon can be applied against other deals or clearance sales. I live for these types of coupons and in the right deal they can make a good bargain become an unbelievable one that you brag about for years. Our GearSponsor LogicBuy checks in this morning with a stackable coupon that gets you 15% off a bunch of Lenovo Laptops including ThinkPad T400/T500, X301, X200s, X200 tablet, Elite models, W500, W700, W700ds, SL-series and R-series. This coupon stacks on top of the existing instant discounts. Expires 5/25. Do… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s GearChat is simple. We all know more than we want about the Palm Pre shipping on June 6. We know it’s going to be $299 less a $100 mail in rebate. Engadget is reporting the no-contract price is $549. Watching and reading about the release is exciting. But ultimately what really matters is how many buy a Palm Pre. Will you be buying the Palm Pre (either on launch day or before the end of this year)? If so, why are you buying? What feature(s) do you hope to use that you aren’t able to get on today’s crop of Smartphones ? And if you’re not planning on buying – why? Are you totally satisfied with what you use?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m not a heavy Skype user but I have clients who use it fanatically. This handy Internet tool lets you make free International calls between Skype users. It can be used locally to make calls and for an added fee will function as a regular phone line that can receive calls. This is a cheap way for overseas branch offices to keep in touch without running up a nasty phone bill. I knew there were some added tricks that Skype could do such as video conferencing and Instant Messaging. But horoscopes, games, faxing? Testfreaks has a nice layout of 50 ways to trick out your Skype service. Not all of them are free – but they’re worth a look for anyone using… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here is another welcome new Gmail Labs feature: “Message translation“. Activate it in the settings of your Gmail account and you will able to translate the message to your own language. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When it comes time to leave your home, are your pockets overflowing with all the different things you take along?  Hey, if David Beckham, Robery Downey Jr. and Brand Pitt can carry man bags, then so can you. Waterfield Designs, the makers of some really innovative laptop and designer bags and cases have launched a new bag aimed specifically for men.  The Muzetto comes in two sizes.  The “personal” meant for carrying your daily essentials such as your wallet, cell phone, keys and other digital items and the “laptop” which accommodates up to a 13″ laptop with accessories.  The laptop size is TSA check point approved. The bags are made in the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a cool deal similar to the Laptop from yesterday – except this offers a 22-inch desktop form factor. This GearSponsored deal from LogicBuy offers a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB DDR2 800MHZ, TV Tuner, Slot-load DVd+/-RW, speakers, Wireless-N, Bluetooth. Top it all off with a 22″ diag. Touchscreen and you’ve got at lot of computer. This runs Vista Home Premium 64-bit but surely you’ll tinker and grab the Windows 7 Release Candidate just to show off to your friends and family. HP TouchSmart IQ500t – $944.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Buzzd is slated to appear today in the BlackBerry AppWorld where you can also download it for free. This is an application that makes it easy to read (and see) what is going on around you and it draws liberally from services like Citysearch, Last.fm, TimeOut, MetroMix and Flavorpill for descriptions of different establishments such as restaurants and clubs. The premise on the surface is simple. The application uses the built-in GPS or CellID to figure out where you are. Then you locate what your “friends” are doing and which locations are hot. Sounds great. Assuming you’re a 19 something bar hopper. In practice I think there are several issues with all location based services — including buzzd.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The iconic San Francisco Cable Car!  Why would you carry around some black plastic stick or something looks like a key on your key ring when you could have one of these!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As fuel prices reached all-time highs late last summer, Kia found itself introducing its newest vehicle to the American market at the worst possible time. Another big SUV into a market already overcrowded, with consumer buying trends heading in different directions. Fast forward to spring 2009, and as the U.S. prepares for vacation season amidst much lower fuel prices – but an uncertain economy – Kia once again finds itself facing challenging issues selling the new truck.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apologies for the title, but now that there is no question why I am not in the PR business… As I wrote last week, there are many of us here on Gear Diary who are fans of speck’s awesome cases. My MacBook has had one on from nearly day one of ownership and, as Judie mentioned to me last week, her MacBook Air NEVER leaves its Speck shell. My iPod Nano now sports a Speck Fitted case almost exclusively and one of my students was thrilled to get one of my Fitted cases for his brand new iPod Touch. (Enjoy the Touch Jake! You’re going to love it!.) Well, the good folks at Speck have been kind enough to provide a nice variety of their cases. For images, details and instructions on how to win read on…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have been waiting for this announcement since January, you’ll be glad to hear that Palm Pre, the highly anticipated new Palm device, will be released June 6th. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m a pretty avid music collector and like most people I hate the disappointment that comes with purchasing an album – whether CD or download – and then finding out that it sucks isn’t as good as I hoped it would be.  Although I was initially reluctant to “rent” music through a subscription service, after trying one I came to enjoy the option of listening to an album before I purchased it.  Even better, I began to discover bands that I might never have considered if I had to put cold, hard cash on the line. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

What do a couple of friends do when they can’t find an online accessory store that meets their taste?  If it’s YouTube reviewer Quinn (thatsnazzyiphoneguy) and his friend Dana, they open their own of course.  The pair recently launched the online store Unlimited Case. After growing tired of seeing e-tailers who charged market value or slightly less for cases, but then tacked on over priced shipping charges to compensate the two decided to open Unlimited Case which offers free shipping to anywhere in the United States.  International shipping is only $4.  Currently the store carries cases by Speck Products, Contour Design and Switch Easy for the iPhone 3G and 2G iPod Touch.  More… Continue reading on Gear Diary …