The dog days of summer are upon us.  School has started up, the work grind continues to well, grind along, and the tech news keeps a coming at a frantic pace.    Last week saw quite a bit of action.  Microsoft announced a curious mobile strategy -  Windows Mobile 6.5 will compete with Android, while Windows Mobile 7 will go head to head with the iPhone.  Given the direction and fragmentation of the platform, some wonder whether Windows Mobile could soon be  dead if there are not significant improvements — and fast.

RIM shifted into gear with a webstore front for their BlackBerry App World,  an enhanced Google Mail Plugin, and a Google Apps Connector for their BlackBerry Enterprise Servers.   There was plenty of App goodness for iPhone lovers:  Qik was updated to allow 3G uploading (but, alas, still missing live streaming);  Judie showed us that you can still get the fun and instant gratification of a Poloroid with your iPhone; and Christopher Gavula hit the road to see whether Navigon’s GPS application would reign supreme.

But, that’s not all.  Take a look at some of last week’s highlights to see what the Gear Diary team’s been up to…

Doug’s 30 Apps in 30 Days series for the Palm Pre (featured on Just Another Mobile Monday as well as Gear Diary)  has been quite the hit.  This week, Doug took a look at some more offerings for WebOS fans –including picks for the road warrior, news hound,  baseball fanatic, and gamer (not to mention some alternative data  sync options for Pre owners).

Tired of the iPhone, WinMo, and BlackBerry?  Maybe you’ve been considering  Nokia’s E71 and the Symbian OS.   If you are  thinking of jumping on the Symbian wagon — or even if you are already a die-hard fan — take a look at Carly’s experience.

Judie continues her journey from Mac back to Windows with the HP dv6 laptop and mini 110 netbook.  Is it a journey you should (or could) also take?…

Photography buffs who are tired of sacrificing function with a regular point-and-shoot digital camera (or their mobile phone) and sore from lugging around a full size Digital SLR camera will want to check out Raymond’s in-depth review of the Olympus E-P1 Digital Pen.  This could be the camera you want to take on your next adventure.

Travis continued his “Blue Plate Special” series reviewing the best (and cheapest!) apps for your iPhone.  This past week’s pick was PhotoFunia – something you’ll want to pick up for some more photo fun.