My search for the “perfect” RSS reading system just got a bit more complicated… and that’s a good thing. Newsgator has just announced that its consumer applications will soon be working with… you guessed it… Google Reader. The plan is to have Google Reader become the online companion to and integrate with FeedDemon and NetNewsWire. This is great news as it promises to merge a superb desktop application, NetNewsWire with the power of Google Reader. I, for one, can’t wait to try it. There’s much more to the news. To read the entire release just click on “More”…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The summer’s not yet over. We have a full month before the kids head back to school and during that time there are plenty of beach days remaining. If you need to replace an MP3 player – or perhaps just want a quality but less expensive “beach” player – here’s your chance. This 8GB Zune is a refurbished model which is available on Newegg for about $50 than comparable new models on Amazon. If you’re interested don’t delay – the deal is done 7/31. Zune 8GB (refurb) – $74 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the market for a tiny laptop but lacking the budget that many of these ultra portable devices require? Here’s a Gearsponsor deal on the Lenovo U350 13.3-in laptop. This device features Core 2 Duo SU2700 ULV 1.3 GHZ; 3GB DDR3; 13.3″ HD WXGA LED display; 320 GB hard drive; 4-cell battery; 802.11n Wi-Fi; GMA X4500; Vista Home Premiume. Save $150 with coupon USPTHINLIGHT through 8/5/09. Lenovo Ideapad U350 – $599 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Word’s trickling in that some T-Mobile customers may be seeing changes applied to their contract come September 1, 2009. According to TMonews the fee changes (which affect some but not all T-Mobile customers) are slated to raise overage costs which would change contract terms and allow those affected to cancel without any early termination fee (ETF). As usual this is a YMMV (your mileage may vary) and according to the site if you’re impacted you’ll be receiving a notice from T-Mobile about the rate changes. TMONews Continue reading on Gear Diary …

All over the news lately is how bad texting and driving can be. It’s common sense that looking at your phone and driving is a bad idea. But have you ever tried to quantify how bad it is? The NY Times has an interactive game up that lets you “test” how bad you are at texting and driving. The goal of the game is to use the numbers on your keyboard to control what lane your car is in, while simultaneously answering texts that require simple, one word answers through a phone that appears off to the right. According to the end of the game, the average user is .24% slower at responding, and misses… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As we all know by now Apple recently yanked all Google Voice applications from their App Store. These programs made using the iPhone in conjunction with a Google Voice account much simpler. While people have been arguing over who is to blame for the sudden yanking – the Palm Pre development community has been working on their version of a Google Voice application. One of the first, dkGoogleVoice has reached early testing. The interface looks smooth and while it still has some beta bugs – the ability of a Google Voice application can’t hurt Palm’s Pre fortunes. A quick video of the application in use after the break.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I came across this website this morning and thought it would make a fun experiment. In the spirit of blind taste tests like Coke vs Pepsi, one website has set up a Bing vs. Google vs. Yahoo. In this blind test, is your favorite search engine the one that reigns supreme? I tested it with 10 random searches I’ve done lately and listed next to it the website that won each blind test. Read on for the results…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This has to be the smallest Remote Controlled Airplane in the world.  Measuring in at 3.5 inches, the Plantraco Micro Butterfly  has a 4mm Motor with 32mm Direct Drive Propeller, a 0.38 gram receiver, a micro actuator for the rudder (rudder only on this one folks) and the remote has a charger for the plane’s LP30 lithium polymer Bahoma cell.  The remote runs on 4 AA Batteries. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It seems as though I had just barely gotten up from my computer requesting a couple of items from the Optimized Cable Company website and BAM … the postal service was placing my filled order in my mailbox out front.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

My wife thinks I am insane when I buy something more than once – she considers it extraneous. Generally she is right, and I seldom do it – but there are also times I go overboard. For example, there are several games I own for both Mac & PC so I can play whatever platform is available. Also, I recently bought ‘Puzzle Quest’ for the iPhone, which is now my 8th copy – I bought it for the PSP, two copies for the DS to play multiplayer with my kids, the PC, Mac, Wii, and normal cell phone version. All except the Wii version (which has terrible controls) have gotten enough playtime to justify the cost. There is another game to add to that list – Broken Sword, which I have now bought and played for the fifth time.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With the iPhone 3GS doing a nice job taking pictures and shooting videos accessories that make capturing inages and video are more important than ever. Joby has just announced their new Gorillamobile which just might be the most flexible (pun intended) tripod for iPhone (and other small electronics) yet. Better still, it can be useful in holding the iPhone securely during numerous tasks above and beyond capturing images. It features four interchangeable quick‐release adapters, flexible leg joints with rubberized grips, and a secure locking mechanism so that it can be used in hundreds or thousands of different places where a straight-legged tripod would be useless. The Gorillamobile will retail for $29.99. For information visit the Joby site. More images and the full release after the jump… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve been a big fan of the products distributed by RichardSolo since I reviewed their first iPhone battery for JustAnotheriPhoneBlog. That battery provided an extra 1200mAh of juice. I liked it! Then Richard gave me the opportunity to review the RichardSolo 1800 for iPhone. It was a bit bigger, bumped the extra runtime significantly and added a flashlight. I liked it even more. Now RichardSolo has introduced the BluePack S3. It ups the storage to a mind-blowing 2600mAh. That should be enough juice for even the heaviest iPhone user to never need to carry a wall charger again. That, however, isn’t the half of it because this new battery takes things to an entirely new level.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

ITWorld has an interesting article comparing Windows 7 to OSX that’s worth a read.  While it is definitely a one sided comparison (the way its written at least), it compares 10 different UI points.  I can’t say that I disagree with the conclusions or the UI points chosen for comparison. The items compared include: Startup File Window The Taskbar Gadgets Control Panels etc. If you haven’t tried Windows 7 yet, and are curious about how it compares to OSX, then this will give you a decent idea of how things line up. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Zii technology demoed at CES has been in hibernation for a while, but the official deets have finally come out today about what they planned to do with their Zii stem cell computing platform.  That devices is called the Zii Egg. The Egg is the device for Creative’s new developer platform called Plaszma.  Plaszma is based on the Android OS.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apple’s promised MobileMe iDisk app is now available. The app makes accessing your iDisk simple. Once you log into your MobileMe account (required) the app shows which f your files have been saved to your iDisk. From there it is a simple tap and the file appears on your iPhone. This is an amazingly innovative app that… Oh, wait, what’s that you say? Apps like Air Sharing and MobileDisk and (yes the list goes on) already have that functionality? And what?Apple just undermined more developers by letting them create a paid app and then undercutting them? Okay, well at least Apple’s redundant, should have been out long ago app for accessing… Continue reading on Gear Diary …