From the Developer: Word Tower: A challenging, fast-paced word play game for the iPhone/iTouch What do you get when you mix up Scrabble, Boggle and Tetris and add the flipping, shaking and sliding that only the iPhone/iTouch can do? WORD TOWER! In this one-of-a-kind word game, create words out of stacks of letters before they pile up and form a tower. But don’t look down too long; more letters are falling your way! Catch them on the way down to place them strategically. As you advance through levels, an array of special tiles will challenge your strategic skills and quick thinking. Four modes, basic to genius, will keep you challenged and coming back for more. WORD TOWER is ideal for quick breaks, epic sessions and everything in between. You can also compare your scores online with players around the world. -http://wordtower.me Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I made the leap to the Mac less than two years ago. When I first made the move I read a number of posts which describes some of the best Mac applications. Over the last 20 months I have found my collection of applications I swear by. Some are from those initial lists but most I stumbled upon along the way- often by accident. With so many of us here on the site using Macs these days I thought it would be worthwhile for us to begin sharing some of our favorite Mac applications. Hence our new “GD Must-Have Mac Applications” series was born. At the same time, I also wanted us to be able to not only share a description but to show the EXPERIENCE of using the application, as well. I went in search of a good application for capturing a screencast of using a given application. I tried a number but wasn’t fully satisfied with any until I came upon ScreenFlow. It does everything I hoped for and much more. It is fully-featured yet simple to use right away. It only seemed fitting that a look at it should be the inaugural post for this series. Here’s [...]

Palm Pre owners can fork over $31.99 to Sprint for their Palm Micro-USB Vehicle Power Charger. Or instead they can snag what’s advertised as an OEM Palm Pre charger on Amazon for $6.85 plus $2.93 shipping. As Palm Pre users have discovered, only specifically manufactured chargers are compatible with the Palm Pre – so while you may be able to get a generic to work this OEM charger for the Pre seems like a safer bet. Palm Pre OEM Car Charger – $6.85 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I was out listening to my Shuffle during my afternoon walk. Earlier I had used iTunes’ Genius functionality to build a few playlists that might go well with a brisk 3 1/2 mile walk. Once again, I was impressed by how great the Shuffle is on a walk or for other outdoor activities. Along the way something else struck me as well…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Let’s be honest … selling 2.3 million of ANYTHING in two days anywhere is bound to make someone very happy. In this case, the item in question is the video game Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS, which was just released in Japan. The Dragon Quest series is EXTREMELY popular in Japan, and previous entries in the franchise have launched to furious sales. Dragon Quest VIII launched in 2004 for the Playstation 2 to 2.2 million sales in two days, and back in 1992 the Super Nintendo release of Dragon Quest V saw 1.5 million sales in two days. A bit of history and context – the original Dragon Quest was released in Japan for the Nintendo NES system in 1986, predating the original Final Fantasy and based heavily on the American role-playing classics Wizardry and Ultima series. It established the core tenets of the so-called ‘jRPG’ (Japanese role-playing game) genre, and the series has been immensely popular in Japan ever since, second only to the Final Fantasy games also published by Square Enix. In North America the games were sold under the name Dragon Warrior until Dragon Quest VIII in 2005, and have never been nearly as popular [...]

We all saw the stories last week about the Apple AppStore celebrating it’s first birthday.  This week, a story over at AppleInsider has Apple stating now that the AppStore has served up 1.5 Billion (yes – Billion with a “b“) applications in the year that it has been open. More important, the rate of app downloads is continuing to increase – more than half a billion in the last 3 months alone! I don’t know how many of those were free applications (or re-downloads) as opposed to paid downloads (the story says the “rumor” is 15-40 free apps for every 1 paid app), but no matter how you examine it those figures are… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now, this could be interesting.  OK, BlackBerry fans…know how you currently take your iTunes music libraries and sync the non-DRM files to your ‘Berry?  Maybe you just bypass iTunes altogether and have started using AmazonMP3 to get your non-DRM music fix?  Well, looks like RIM could soon be letting users wirelessly download MP3 files directly from their BlackBerry devices via their own music store.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just in time for capturing fun summer memories is this 12.1 MP Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 for only $144.99 (normally $170+) via GearSponsor Logicbuy. The camera features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens; 4X Optical Zoom; 30mm wide angle lens. Contains 15 MB of built-in memory with one Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo Media slot. The camera has a 3 inch LCD display and also captures video in MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode. Available in Black, Blue or Red. Use Coupon code 2J5G?JPX7NT7LM which expires July 17, 2009. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 – $ 144.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

BlackBerry owners will soon have another site to hang out and exchange BlackBerry war stories. As if the myriad of message boards such as Howardforums, CrackBerry and BlackBerryForums weren’t enough – it appears RIM is poised to open their own discussion forum and Social Networking site. While exact details aren’t available it appears the site will more closely resemble a discussion forum than a Social Networking site. MyBlackBerry via TechCrunch and Crackberry Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is one of those deals that seems too good to be true, only it’s not. It’s no secret that Marshalls and T.J. Maxx offer great bargains on brand name clothing but did you know they also offer deals on iPhone accessories too? I recently made a trip to my local T.J. Maxx and I recorded the “unbagging” for my YouTube channel.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So many times an App update comes across and we click update all and walk away.  Lately I have been very interested in what updates are bringing with push, video and compass possibilities.  Most updates are for minor bug fixes or 3.0 compatibility.  This evening my only update was for Astraware Solitaire, which I reviewed last week.  (Read review here) “Control your iPod music from within the game.”  Hmmm.  Not much thought for a few minutes then I decided to test out the new update.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So here was the dilemma… I was sitting outside in the sun rereading a book I purchased a number of years ago. (Yes, a dead tree book!) I remember some insights in it that might prove useful for some talks I need to be giving in a few weeks. So there I was on vacation reading it for the second or third time. And I was right, there was something worth noting on every other page. The problem was I didn’t have time and paper nearby and, quite honestly, I didn’t feel like sitting there and taking notes while reading in the sun. Fortunately I had my iPhone with me. It made note-taking a breeze. I tried two different approaches and each was useful in its own way. Here’s what I did… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I posted a review of ibisMail, a full email client for the iPhone recently. I’m impressed with it on a number of levels and have begun using it as my main email client. Just a day later there are two bits of news to share.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The iPhone 3GS video apps keep rollin’ in. Here is one for the social media fiend in all of us who need another way to alert your Twitter Followers of new and exciting updates via movin’ pictures. Peter Cohen at MacWorld confirmed that the new TwitVid application is now available on the iTunes App Store.  … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Slacker is a web based music service that offers both a free and paid version. The Slacker clients stream music via the web as well as many smartphones. I’ve subscribed for about 6 months because the paid version of Slacker allows me to skip as many songs as I would like while listening to the service. What I really like about the paid version is that you can use a special Slacker MP3 player to store music for when you’re on the go and not connected to the web UPDATE: Both the free and paid versions allow you to connect a Slacker portable player – a paid account gives unlimited skips and no commercials. The newest model of the player – Slacker G2 – is available in both 4 GB (25 music stations) and 8 GB (40 music stations). My friend Nan Palmero has been testing the G2 and has these observations.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …