A new speech recognition feature is being tested in the BlackBerry version of Shape Service’s IM+ All-in-One Instant Messenger. This handy IM client also supports push services so that you can save your BlackBerry battery by closing out of the program while still remaining available for chat. A free 7 day trial is available which also supports AIM/iChat, MSN/Windows LIve Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk, MySpaceIM, Facebook, Skype and Twitter. IM+ Version 8.1.0 with Speech Recognition is $39.99, and you can get it for 15% off at the Gear Diary Store, with the code GDFallTweets Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Looking to quickly develop true “Push” iPhone 3GS / 3.0 OS applications?  Need a way to port your mobile applications between the iPhone and BlackBerry?  Rhomobile has launched their Rhodes 1.2 development environment that will allow you to easily make push/sync applications for for both the 3GS and BlackBerry platforms. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have to say it — I’m really not too keen on the branding here.  “TrickleSaver?” To me the name just seems to conjure up some not-too-flattering images.   Naming aside, the product line from TrickleStar is geared to simplify saving energy, save you money, and reduce your carbon print by limiting the amount of standby power your electronic gadgets consume.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yesterday Larry posted about his favorite new iPhone Photography app Pix Remix. It made him go “Wow” and, after following his advice and purchasing it, I had to second his “Wow!” It has now been added to the collection of image editing apps I keep on my iPhone.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Web site Engadget is reporting that from August 5 to October 5, 2009 Walmart will be the exclusive phone carrier for the upcoming low end BlackBerry 8520. With similar specifications as the BlackBerry 8900, this new BlackBerry is remarkable primarily because it is expected to use a touchpad for navigation as opposed to the current trackball found in all current BlackBerry models. More Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are all feeling the financial pinch!  Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. From the developer: Overwhelmed by apps? Looking to save money? Looking for just the right app? AppMiner will help you stay on top of the App Store and will save you money! With over 60,000 apps now on the store, it is easy to lose track of everything that is going on. We constantly mine the store looking for new and updated apps and monitor prices for changes so we can notify you of the latest and greatest apps and deals. Many developers adjust their prices on a regular basis even making apps FREE for a short period of time in order to boost their rankings and reviews. AppMiner can help you catch these deals as they happen. You can even set a watch to alert you to when an app you want is on sale. AppMiner lets you browse more of the top apps, gives you a better search, finds price drops, lets you customize your categories and much more. Best of all, we are offering this app for FREE, so get it [...]

There is a fine somewhere between cynicism and being an actively suspicious consumer … and when I heard about the release of a game called Mass Effect Galaxy on the iTunes App Store that would somehow tie into the upcoming Mass Effect 2 for the PC & XBOX360, I had a hard time deciding which of the two feelings was foremost in my mind. Because I felt that this was on the surface little different than Burger King having all of those cheap X360 games a few years ago as a big promo. Sure, they were games … but it was very clearly a strong marketing push. But because it was a game with the name Bioware attached to it, my hands had already gone ahead and made the purchase before my mind could sort out any of these feelings. So I tapped on the icon with mixed feelings, thinking I might have just entered an interactive advertising campaign, but hoping it was another great Bioware game.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Every now and then there is something that makes you stop and think, “This is a joke right?” but then you discover that it is indeed the truth. This is one of those cases. Yes, it is 2009. Typewriters have gone the way of the horse and buggy. Yet the NYPD is spending almost a million dollars to get brand new typewriters. (Seriously, someone still produces typewriters??) Clearly this is an attempt to avoid the time, expense and frustration of transitioning to an electronic system. I get that. Heck, my colleagues came into the iPhone/Mac era with me kicking and screaming much of the time. Still… $1,000,000 on typewriters… in 2009??? Ah yes, and we hear they… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Limited Edition Red XBOX 360 is back in stock. GearSponsor LogicBuy notes that this bundle is priced at only $399 this bundle includes Red console; Standard Edition: Resident Evil 5 game; Red Wireless Controller; 120GB hard drive; Token card including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and exclusive Resident Evil Premium Theme. Microsoft XBOX 360 Elite (Red) – $399.99 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Users of Google Voice with an Android or BlackBerry phone will be able to download a free Google application to seamlessly route their incoming and outgoing calls. Google Voice is a free phone service presently in a closed beta test. The concept behind Google Voice is brilliant. You are assigned one phone number which can be forwarded to any of your regular phone lines (cell, home, work). Calls can also be made from Google voice though until these applications part of the challenge of working with Google Voice was an often lengthy series of numbers that you’d dial in order to access Google Voice and make your outgoing calls appear to originate from your new Google Voice number. There’s still no official… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Web site MacRumors today reports that the latest iPhone OS 3.1 beta appears to disable the ability to share your data connection with a laptop via tethering. Previously several hacks could be used to enable tethering. These hacks involved modifying a carriers settings file or tricking iTunes into thinking your iPhone was on a carrier that allowed tethering. Since AT&T does not support tethering (availability is promised for the future) this new OS update may stop the casual sharing of iPhone connections though given enough time someone will probably come up with a way around even this latest restriction. More Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As of late, I’m all about saving money.  This year has been very hard on us as a family, and I am really looking forward to 2009 coming to a close; but unfortunately, we still have a ways to go yet.  Until that happens, I’m doing my best to save the shekels. However, no one wants to be a miser at the expense of good tasting food and beverages.  If no one eats or drinks it, things that go to waste still waste money. So I have high hopes for something really cool that I just saw on the ‘net. Enter the SodaStream Fountain Jet Starter Kit. It allows you to make your own soda from your own tap water.  I’m not entirely certain how well… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There aren’t many things more amusing than watching a kitten chase a laser pointer’s dot. Kittties are playful and energetic to begin with, but giving them an impossible to catch “mouse” creates a game which never seems to tire them. My cat Avah is two years old, and while she no longer has quite the playful moves she used to impress me with, she still shows moments of friskiness when a moth gets in the house or a string is dangling. We’ve played the laser pointer game before with comedic results, so I figured that she would be the perfect test subject for the FroliCat BOLT, an automatic laser light cat toy. FroliCat was kind enough to send me a review unit; Avah was kind enough to get off her cushion and play along…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Every once and a while an iPhone application comes along that makes you go WOW! Well for me PixRemix is one of those applications. WOW!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The moment that we’ve all (or at least some of us) have all been waiting for will arrive on Thursday. That’s when NASA is slated to release 15 higher quality video key moments from the July 1969 live broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing. This release is part of an Apollo 11 restoration project slated for completion by the fall. Watch the live unveiling on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv or just wait for their invariable YouTube debut. NASA TV via The Register Continue reading on Gear Diary …