There’s little question the future of television is on the net. Hulu, among others, is making series inroads through increased content and new desktop players. What remains unclear is what exactly net-tv’s business model will be. Will it be the traditional model that relies on commercial breaks? Will it be a subscription model as some have suggested? Or will it be something new like the trial model showing up on Hulu recently?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Google Voice is a free service from Google that enables one number access to any of the different phone numbers you use throughout the day. By distributing your single Google Voice number to contacts they always have that one number to reach you at. When they call Google Voice their call is forwarded to any of your “normal” phone numbers (business, office, cell). Behind the scenes of Google Voice you setup special rules so that business contacts only ring to a certain number during a certain time period while family might ring to another during any time period. Currently the service, operating in a closed beta, is completely free. A Patent has however just been filed that shows how Google… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When it comes to iPhone ringtones there are a few options. You can live with the stock tones that ship with the device. You can (over)pay for them by purchasing through iTunes. You can make your own. Or you can subscribe to RingtoneFeeder. RingtoneFeeder is a weekly delivery service that brings new tones - 1 vocal and 1 instrumental in 2 versions- to your iPhone each week. It is an interesting concept. Let’s take a look.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s been a good deal of news about Apple’s new “policy” of labeling more and more apps with the “NC17″ label. Yup, everything from the gal of the day apps to any and every browser available (uhm… with the exception of the native Safari app of course) is now labeled with the warning. Worse yet, Apple no longer allows promo codes for any app carrying this “warning”. Little did I suspect, however that the particular app above would carry said notification. (But there’s the screen cap that came up when I went to update the app.) What is it? You’ll never guess… But why not try anyway. Yes, that’s right, it’s time to play the first and only round of Guess What App Is Inappropriate For Kids? Here’s how you play. Step 1- Take your iPhone or Touch, open the notes app, and list the top ten apps that MIGHT get labeled as NC17. Step 2- List ten more. Step 3- Realize you are wrong and click through to see the answer. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It took me forever to download this (as yet officially unreleased but widely available online) BlackBerry Messenger from OTA (over the air links). It’s not because the download is slow but rather RIM’s BlackBerry OS insists on confirming several times that you really do want to download and install the software (a problem with many RIM downloads – not just this one). Each time it asks the default is either “no” or “cancel” and if you’re not watching closely you can mistakenly close out your download. That’s not even taking into consideration the super annoying 5 minute reboot that BlackBerry devices often require after installing a new piece of software. Arggg. If you’ve survived that rant then go grab the latest… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Are you one of those late adopters who sorta doesn’t believe in buying anything right away. You know deep in your heart that if you wait long enough that at some point that overpriced gadget will have a price drop. And when the price does drop then that’s your signal to pounce. Today may be your day if you’re one of the people left who has yet to buy an Xbox 360 gaming rig. This 60GB console is only $249 and the mailman will even drop it on your doorstep for free. There’s no coupon code – just click on through and enjoy a reduced price Xbox 360 60GB. Courtesy of our GearSponsor Logicbuy. Xbox 360 – $249.99 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This Solara Tracker 2100 GPS can stay underwater up to an hour, survive temperatures as cold as -40 F and operate as high as 42,640 feet. It also has a built in Satellite transmitter that connects to the Iridium network to both send and receive text messages. Pre-defined standard and custom messages let you communicate with base camp ensuring accurate communications. There’s even a solar battery pack accessory to recharge the device. Price is $879.99 for the GPS. SMS capabilities cost $29.99 under a 3 year contract, $34.99 for a 2 year and optional 24/7 monitoring is $9.99 / month. The perfect accessory for this summer’s family camping trip. Solardata via Gizmag Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I sat down in my “chair” tonight and flipped on the TV. Verizon Fios, to which I’m subscribed to for TV, internet and phone service, greeted me with a message that informed my I could now get Twitter & Facebook on my television. As if I needed another excuse not to get up from my “chair.” Watch my video to see it in action.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

UPDATE: The following update appeared on David Pogue’s Times column. EDITOR’S NOTE | 8:41 p.m. The Times published an article explaining that the Orwell books were unauthorized editions that Amazon removed from its Kindle store. However, Amazon said it would not automatically remove purchased copies of Kindle books if a similar situation arose in the future. My Note- It doesn’t change the core issues here! Just a few weeks ago I posted on a series of encounters I had with Amazon and their customer service. The first post raised questions about DRM. The second clarified some of the initial misinformation I received but, on other levels, only made the situation worse. The third post was an open request to Jeff Bezos to clarify the issue personally. (He didn’t and I never heard from Amazon again.) All of it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Today it went from bad to worse. Earlier today our friend Alex Kac at WebIS sent us a link to a piece from David Pogue at the New York Times. It’s bad, really bad, and raises Amazon’s Kindle issues to an entirely new level. The short story is that people who purchased certain [...]

Earlier today, some of the Editors here at Gear Diary were having a conversation about the website Wikipedia, which has grown into something of a communal encyclopedia.  Our conversation involved the strengths and weaknesses of the concept behind a site like that, and whether the information was as accurate or as reliable as an old fashioned encyclopedia. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Late last year the PS3 got a very innovative game that wasn’t just appropriate for all ages, but also invited you to use your imagination and creativity in ways beyond most other console games. The game was LittleBigPlanet (commonly referred to as LBP) and the ‘star’ of the game was a character called SackBoy. The game invited you to envision new worlds and new costumes for SackBoy in its’ tagline – Play. Create. Share. Gamers adopted the game relatively slowly at first, but momentum hasn’t stopped growing in the more than six months since the game launched – nor has the creativity of folks who are creating both virtual and real SackBoy creations.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a quick two minute YouTube video that outlines some of the video capabilities of the Nokia N97. It’s a particularly good overview of the new device’s capabilities for anyone contemplating a purchase (don’t forget the Nokia N97 deal from Dell expires today 7/17/09). Nokia N97 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Okay, so what we have here is a representation of the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, at least as far as USB hubs are concerned. Whether you’re a die-hard romantic or you veer somewhere closer to the, uh, louder end of the scale, USB Fever has you covered.    … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You want to know more about Linux?  You want to set up a good server at home and need some help?  Apress has a daily deal on one of their eBooks.  Today’s deal is The Definitive Guide to CentOS.  CentOS is a Linux distro that is used primarily in the server role.  You would use CentOS to set up a server for learning PHP,MySQL and Apache.  For ten dollars, you can’t beat it! The Definitive Guide to CentOS Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Pandora streaming Internet Radio.  In fact, I love it so much, I may pay the $38 for the yearly Pandora One subscription.  However, it is not always easy to listen to Pandora.  Yeah there’s a iPhone App, but I don’t have a iPhone.  Plus, sometimes I want to listen to local radio station streams.  Why use a computer when you can get some of that old time radio experience from the Internet thanks to the Livio Radio. Continue reading on Gear Diary …