High end cell phone manufacturer Vertu has announced its latest creation in the Constellation line, the Ayxta. The new design features the first flip style mechanism from the phone maker and is slated to sell for between 4,900 and 6,500 Euros ($7,100 – $9,500). In addition to Vertu’s infamous concierge service the Ayxta will also feature Vertu Select, an online service featuring “lifestyle information.” City Brief sends information to the Ayxta once you inform it of where you’re traveling to, and “enables you to hit the ground running, feeling informed and prepared for your new surroundings”. It’s Lonely Planet for the wealthy, with tips for restaurants, bars, exhibitions, shopping and the all-important cultural Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Web site The Street is reporting “Exclusive: Verizon Snubs Palm Pre”. There’s no telling whether their tipster means that only the Pre won’t make the Verizon trip. By the time Verizon is ready to offer a new Palm smartphone there very well could be a refresh of the Palm Pre under a different name or even model. In addition, there’s no telling whether the recently unveiled Palm Pixi will be slated for Verizon. Nevertheless it’s an interesting rumor since the loss of a major carrier as Verizon would be a significant setback to Palm’s comeback story. The Street Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The major update to Pocket Informant we reported on a few weeks back is now live in the App Store. Version 1.1 of PI brings some significant improvements to a rapidly maturing iPhone/iPod touch application. I have been using a pre-release version of it for a number of weeks and I can honestly say that this version has allowed me to finally get rid of having separate calendar and task apps on my iPhone. For me the biggest improvement is in the task management. In the initial release it was a convenience but could not compete with some of the excellent standalone task apps. With this update to version 1.1 that is no longer the case. The task management is excellent, the available functions and configurations extensive and the integration with Toodledo seamless. PI has a permanent place in my dock. I use rely on it that much. Among the most significant changes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I just noticed the Palm Pre has finally made it’s way down from $199 to $149 and now $99 on Amazon.com. You can avoid the hassle of visiting a retail store by ordering online. There’s no need to fill in any rebate forms either as Amazon is selling the Pre net of the rebate but after a new 2 year subscriber agreement. Palm Pre Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With the arrival of Autumn it is once again time for the great State Fair of Texas and one of the world’s largest auto shows. Gate attendance each year at the fair reaches more than three million over its three-week run, with estimates that at least 75 percent of attendees visit some portion of the auto show.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just when you thought the iPhone case market was getting stale, along come the folks at Griffin Technology. It’s not really surprising since Griffin has been on the forefront of Apple related accessories since the very first iPod was released. The accessory manufacturer has just announced several new cases for the iPhone 3G/3GS, which will be coming out sometime this fall. The Outfit and the Outfit Shade – $24.99 & $29.99 Not just another case, Outfit is sleek, stylish hard-shell protection for iPhone 3G and 3GS. The slim, no-clip case surrounds iPhone in a translucent polycarbonate shell for protection. Griffin’s EasyDock design lets the bottom of the case slide on and off for quick, no-hassle docking. Outfit is available for iPhone 3G and 3GS in Black Translucent and White Translucent colors. Sleek, stylish hard-shell protection for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, Outfit Shade is a case unlike anything else. The slim, no-clip case surrounds iPhone in a protective polycarbonate shell with a metallic graduated tint finish. The EasyDock design lets the bottom of the case slide on and off for quick, easy docking. Outfit Shade is available for iPhone 3G and 3GS in Blue, Lime, Magenta and Silver. Both cases [...]

After years of ‘Match 3′ games like Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest and even multi-dimensional ‘Match 3′ games like Puzzle Quest Galactrix, there was only one natural course to follow .. MATCH 4! Of course, since Match 3 games already offered extra bonuses for a 4th matched item, the folks at SPB needed to do something different. Here is the scenario: you make the connection between three sides of a rectangle! So how well does this game work in terms of keeping interesting going in a seemingly saturated matching-game field? Read on and see!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Kevin and the gang  at Crackberry broke the Hippopost app earlier today, and I must say if this app has some longevity it will certainly be great. The Hippopost app gives you the ability to take a photo with your BlackBerry, and send it as a physical postcard to any recipient for only $0.00 – yeah that’s right…FREE! They do this by placing sponsor ads on each postcard. Currently postcards in Canada are being sent, as the creators of this app are former RIM employees. They will start shipping stateside beginning October 15th. Hippopost integrates seamlessly with your Contacts to pull addresses. This is a free app that can… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

MMS Is Coming… and I’m still not sure what is so exciting about it. Admittedly I have never used MMS on ANY phone but still… why would I choose to use MMS over emailing images when emailing works just fine? I am, however, open to finding out WHY it is such a big deal. So I turned to my friends in the hope that they would enlighten me. Here’s what they said…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome to a new series we are starting here at Gear Diary called “State of the eBook”. Every two weeks or so (more if the news warrants it) I’ll be bringing you the latest news in ebooks, publishing, and the general digitization of our reading lives. … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

No, it’s not a new F1 racing team sponsor, it a line of luggage for the F1 aficionado who can’t get enough of a good thing. I suspect that like most luxury goods, if you have to ask how much it is, then you can’t afford it… This initial phase of the collaboration takes in to consideration the rigorous travel schedule encountered by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race team, giving them a collection of luggage which is tough, secure, light weight and in keeping with the technology associated with advanced motorsport. The SBL MclarenSport collection comprises 9 individual pieces all with their own unique design attributes and common functional traits. All items are finished in black nylon with the distinct Mclaren rocket red accents. The perforated leather carry handles, black nickel metal hardware and linings in grey and rocket red come as standard. The wheel suspension system which some of pieces employ has been through rigorous testing courtesy of the Mclaren team and has proved its prowess over thousands of miles of grueling travel. Due to drop into Selfridges in London and Manchester on 2nd Nov and a month later it will go into Harrods. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A beta of Evernote’s Windows application version 3.5 is now available to the public. It is a huge update and the first for the Windows application in quite some time. The new version offers an interface quite similar to the Mac desktop. It will display thumbnails and three different formats for viewing notebooks. Best of all it is fully compatible with Windows 7 and [offers even better support for] supports inking if you have a Tablet PC. (Wow, good timing seeing as my Fujitsu P1630 is almost here!). In fact, the inked notes are fully searchable. It is available HERE. A screenshot, details and further instructions for installing the Beta follow…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m cross-platform in my smartphone use and… later today… I will be cross-platform in my notebook use too. Here’s why… I do a good deal of writing using voice recognition, in fact the ability to use Jott and Vlingo to respond to individual emails by voice was a big reason I began using a Blackberry. I find it fast and convenient. In addition, I struggle with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and on bad days the pain in my hands and wrists can become a big problem. Using voice recognition to write a first draft of something and then manually clean it up saves a lot of wear and tear on already aching/painful joints. As much as MacSpeech 1.5 is an improvement over the original version, thanks to the decision to begin using the Dragon NaturallySpeaking’s voice recognition engine, it still falls far behind Dragon’s Version 10 Windows software. This has been a particularly rough few weeks, and I have been relying more on speech recognition than usual; MacSpeech just wasn’t cutting it. That got me looking for a small, light, portable Windows machine that would, primarily, be used for writing and for responding to email by voice. So began my search. Little [...]

Picked up a new Symbian S60 device? Looking to push the one you have further? Epocware, makers of Handy Shell and other major Symbian software are offering a 35% discount on the following programs: Handy Shell: Was $19.95, now $12.97 Handy Calendar: Was $29.95, now $19.47 Handy Weather: Was $24.95 , now $16.22 Handy Safe Pro: Was $34.95 , now $22.72 Handy Alarm Pro: Was $14.75 , now $9.72 This deal runs for the next 5 days, so act fast!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: offstandard It hasn’t taken quite as long as I thought it would for the GSM version to appear, but it’s still been almost four months since Sprint’s CDMA Palm Pre was first released in the United States. Now a few other parts of the world can have their chance at trying webOS. I figure within another few weeks after that, GSM Pres will be all over eBay, so people in the US who use AT&T and T-Mobile will finally get their shot, too. Pricing and availability for the UK… Continue reading on Gear Diary …