I don’t remember exactly which of Wayne’s articles it was, whether it was something on the Palm Pre or the iPhone 3G S or something entirely different … but wherever it came from, it started me thinking about that bane of the mobile gadget junkie’s existence: battery life. More specifically: mobile phone battery life. Similar to what has happened with PDA’s, laptops, digital cameras and so on, mobile phone makers have constantly struggled to maintain the balance between features and battery life. Because, after all, a dead mobile phone can’t make a call, regardless of how many cool features are listed on the box. So I asked around the crew of Gear Diary, and here is what they said:… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: Auntie P I ran across an article today extolling the virtues of the new Opera Mobile 9.7 running in “turbo” mode and how it beat (mostly) other mobile browsers on the market. On the surface, this is very impressive and Opera are to be commended, but the article, unfortunately, was misleading. While it mentions that OM 9.7 uses server-side rendering to boost speed, it’s mostly only mentions in passing – with the articles focus remaining on how fast OM 9.7 was. Why is this important? Read on to find out what you should know about server-side rendering…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

OK, all you BlackBerry Tour owners (and fans).  Now you can protect your brand new 9600 (that’s the model number for the Tour ) from all those drops and bumps with the new OtterBox Defender Case. OtterBox BlackBerry Tour Defender MSRP: $49.95 Spec Sheet Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Green is the thing.  I’ve seen more on protecting and saving the environment for future generations lately, that it’s I think, finally starting to sink in. Hopefully… To help, Devotec has just announced their latest offering, a solar powered Bluetooth speaker for BT enabled music players and phones. The Devotec Industries Solar Sound Bluetooth Speakers are light and portable while still being able to produce a deep, clear sound. With integrated bluetooth, they can be connected wirelessly to most of the latest phones, including the iPhone (with use of the iPhone 3.0 software update). The Solar Sound speakers have an integrated solar panel for charging in sunny areas, and a 3.5mm connector for use with music sources that do not have bluetooth (cable supplied). Weighing in at $99.99 USD, the device seems pretty cool, especially since it doesn’t require any power adapter or user replaceable batteries to operate. It also acts as a hands free device when your BT powered phone rings, allowing you to take a call. The device specifications and the full press release can be found after the break… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now that Google Voice invites are going out at a good clip (heck even DOUG has one now!) the real question is, How do you use it to get maximum benefit? We have a few suggestions and we’ll start off with this one for iPhone users… get VoiceCentral! It is amazing. Here’s why…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a nice Gearsponsor deal on an updated version of the Nintendo family. This Nintendo DSi (available in blue or black) takes pictures using either an inward or outward facing camera and you can choose from 11 different lenses to customize your shots. Connect wirelessly to browse the internet, share photos and play with others. Access your music in the AAC format off any standard SD Card. Did I mention it also plays Nintendo DS games? Deal is good until 7/25/09. Nintendo DSi – $152.99 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This Lenovo T6500 deal just came to me via email. For only $499 you’ll grab a 3GB 15.4″ WXGA laptop with 250 GB of hard disk space. The full boat Windows XP Pro operating system is installed. The device includes a modem, LAN and WLAN card as well as Dual Layer DVD Burner. Aren’t recession’s fun! Newegg – Lenovo T6500 $499 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Once upon a time, a hungry hungry caterpillar crawled across my desk. It ate my loose staples and paperclips, and it ate a pencil or two; it found a quarter and ate that, too. It saw my stapler and it saw my four port USB hub…and it chose to eat the hub. The End. USB Fever 4-Port Hub in a Caterpillar Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Applian Technologies is releasing Video Padlock software which has one purpose. The program quickly secures your downloaded video and audio files on your Windows PC making them unwatchable by unauthorized eyes. For only $19.95 you encrypt all your videos so they become invisible to your wife or girlfriend other users of the PC. Video Padlock offers different levels of encryption: Full Encryption uses 128 bit ARC4 encryption or Fast Encryption which will encrypt the first portion of a file making it unplayable for anyone who doesn’t have Video Padlock. Applian Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m recently experiencing deja vu!  I’m on an international trip, I of course, bring along a small notebook to do some light computing on holiday.  The computer breaks down…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

SDG Systems, who loaned us the TDS Recon and the Openmoko devices for review earlier this year, contacted me about three new devices they are now selling.  First up is the Bluebird Pidion BM-150R. Currently running Windows Mobile, this is a Enterprise level smartphone with Quadband GSM, WiFi, GPS, a camera and a 3.5 inch VGA screen.  It also happens to be a device that is designed to take the bumps.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Barnes & Noble today announced a new every device strategy where their just announced eBook store (and resulting eBooks) will be available on a wide variety of devices including smartphones like the iPhone and BlackBerry as well as the iPod Touch. Although I’m sure they’ll be capable of (eventually) reading eBooks from Barnes & Noble – isn’t it sad to see smartphone platforms like Windows Mobile, Palm Pre, Symbian and Android miss the cut for inclusion in these exciting press announcements? Barnes & Noble promises over 700,000 titles will be available. A large number of them were acquired as part of their Fictionwise purchase earlier this year. The remainder have all been written by Santa’s Elves who are busy up in the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

According to Amazon’s web site this BlackBerry branded HS-655+ carries a list price of $139. Purchase between August 1 and September 12, 2009 and you’ll qualify for an added rebate of $20 which brings the current $29 sale price down to a super cheap $9.99. The reviews on Amazon are decidedly mixed with several people complaining about a flaky ear-piece – so this is probably a headset for the diehard fanboy looking to round out their BlackBerry branded accessory collection. BlackBerry HS-655 – $9.99 after rebate… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Card Ninja has consistently been ranked as one of the most popular games in the iTunes App Store. The game recently received a significant update which most importantly includes the ability to save your game for maximum level-conquering and you can now compare scores with other players worldwide. Card Ninja is integrating with the OpenFeint platform, allowing players to monitor their rank in global leader boards and chat with fellow players. At only .99 cents this is fun twist on matching, memory type games that’ll keep you coming back for more Ninja! The game itself requires players to flick cards at their matching targets.  As you advance through the different levels the targets become more challenging.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The folks at Mediafly are wasting no time at all.  They’ve been pushing out updates to their iPhone app, have a BlackBerry Beta, and now they have just announced that they begin supporting content on the popular Roku player by the end of the year.   This is big news, as Mediafly plans to provide free-of-charge  audio and video podcasts that you can customize  from a variety of providers, including Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN, and NBC. The Mediafly/Roku partnership will customized content to your television at the same $99 cost for the Roku media player (current Roku owners will be able to get the service for free, when it is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …