I was reading through my feeds and came across a article on Linux Pro magazine where Intel Hacker, Sarah “The Geekess” Sharp, has announced on her blog that Linux will be the first OS to support USB 3.0.   When can you have this?  TODAY, if you can handle compiling a custom kernel.  Others will have to wait until the fall for new versions of Ubuntu and Fedora to come out. From Linux Pro Magazine: The basic specifications for USB 3.0 show it to have a transfer rate of 5.0 Gbps. Think about that.  With 5.0 Gbps transfer rate, you can fill a USB 3.0 based MP3 player in seconds! … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Seidio’s product page lists what may best described as a “big ass battery” for the Palm Pre. This extended life battery doesn’t yet have a price, exact capacity (nearly twice the current Pre battery capacity of 1150 mAh is claimed) or shipping date but if the messages I keep reading about short Pre battery life keep pouring into the Palm Pre fan boards then this battery is going to be one hot seller. Seidio Palm Pre Extended Battery Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Doug and I started using Toodledo at about the same time, and have both become devoted users of the service. Earlier tonight however, he noticed something strange. Either he had completed all his tasks, or Toodledo was down. A quick visit to the site revealed this sad web page… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Are you the proud owner of a new Palm Pre?  If you haven’t already, you might want to get a screen protector, pronto. Joel at Geek.com posted the above photo of his new Palm Pre.  It’s a rather disturbing sight, considering that his Pre is 5 days old and hasn’t been dropped or handled roughly.  Let’s hope this is not typical of the build quality. Check out Joel’s experience here Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am weak…I ordered one, and now I am waiting for delivery. In the meantime, I am amusing myself with Vincent’s video unboxing. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Can’t wait for AT&T to get their act together and “figure out their tethering plans” for iPhone? Then how about this $30 wireless broadband model. The modem is unlocked (suitable for use on GSM compatible carriers only) and no contract is required. I use a Broadband card on my MacBook Pro and even though it’s only used maybe once per month – each and every time I swear that it’s the best investment I ever made. Albeit a little expensive for monthly service (typically $60/mo) – these are the way to go when you need a sure fire data connection to the Internet. Here are the specifications: Flip-up antenna. Multicolor LED status indicator. Connectivity: ExpressCard/34 slots. GSM/GPRS/EDGE – 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. EDGE Class 12. UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

GearSponsor LogicBuy checks in with today’s deal which is an HP Mini 110 XP 10-inch Netbook. The goods include either a 16 GB SSD drive or a 160 GB hard drive, 1GB memory and Wireless-G Wi-Fi. There’s also a 5 in 1 card reader and VGA port in case you want to hook up to some big display action. The OS is XP Home SP3 which you’ll undoubtedly rip out and replace with Windows 7. If you’re an open source fan – check out the Linux version which is $80 cheaper with slightly smaller specs. Link – HP Mini 110 XP ($299) or HP Mini 110 Linux ($249)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s a bit difficult to categorize Mediafly in a nice little box, but here goes:   Mediafly provides a free service to manage personalized digital audio and video content.  What is interesting is that Mediafly’s service is is device-agnostic.   You can use Mediafly on an iPhone/iPod, Chumby, Zune, RSS Reader, or a host of other devices — which makes their offering unique for anyone who wants to access an audio or video podcast through a variety of consumer products. After speaking with the company’s CEO, Carson Conant, to find out what makes Mediafly different from all the other content providers out today, it is safe to say that this company’s vision is to bring personalized media to all of your audio/video devices. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Remember those old point and shoot cameras that had the selector on the back allowing you to snap panoramic images whenever you wanted? With the newly released application Auto Stitch from Cloudburst Research, taking quality panoramic images on your iPhone is just as easy. photo courtesy of Auto Stitch Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Through June 15, 2009 Borders has this Sony PRS-505 eReader on sale for $199.99 with coupon (available via link). With capacity for about 160 books this is the older style eReader from Sony. Connect to the Sony Book Store for access to popular titles or load up other document formats such as Adobe PDF, RTF, TXT and Microsoft Word. Battery life is claimed to last for up to 7,500 page turns but you’ll probably fall asleep well before then. Sony PRS-505 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Motorola has officially announced the launch and immediate availability of the Motorola A455.  The device is available for Verizon Wireless. The A455 is a loaded messaging machine that features one touch access to IM-style texting and emoticons, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a touch dial pad and fast EVDO connectivity. The device is available in two colors: Tin Silver and Purple, and holds up to 500 text messages and then organizes them by contact and displays them in a chat-like format. When it comes time to make a phone call the A455 features a touch pad for easy dialing.  It features a 3.5mm headset jack and a memory card slot for… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

4J Studios wants to know, do you Wuggle? Wuggle is a new tactile word game from 4J Studios.  The goal of the game is to make words by piecing together floating tiles. When you’ve got a word you want you smash the tiles together to submit then for score. You earn points based on the word’s length and each individual tile’s value. The game features two different game modes, colorful screens and funky background tunes.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s an interesting graphic that compares the total cost of ownership between iPhone, Palm Pre and Android. I was a little surprised to see the gap is so wide with the Palm Pre being $1,200 cheaper over the course of the required 2 year contract. Sure you can argue that the phones aren’t exactly comparable and that depending upon where purchased the Pre may require a rebate – but still $50/month cheaper is nothing to laugh about. Bill Shrink Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Do you suffer from eye strain or headaches after long sessions on your computer? Gunnar Optiks offers a full line of digital eyeware which is meant to help you eyes cope with those marathon blogging sessions.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apple has said in the past that from the iPhone 3G onwards, the iPhone product range will be segmented, based not on hardware, but on software. The iPhone 3G S gives an idea of how Apple is working towards this. The iPhone 3G, when upgraded to the new iPhone OS 3.0, lacks the voice-dialing and video recording features of the iPhone 3G S. Apple says that this is because the current iPhone 3G doesn’t have a powerful enough processor to handle these features; when jailbroken, the 3G is able to record video, but at 15 fps instead of the 30 fps of the iPhone 3GS, so we’ll accept Apple’s excuse that it doesn’t want to compromise the iPhone experience. These excuses fall flat with the discovery that the numerical battery life indicator will also be restricted to the iPhone 3G S. … Continue reading on Gear Diary …