The Cotton Hoodie from Scottevest has an MSRP of $70 and is available now. Now I know what you’re thinking — $70 is a little bit expensive for a cotton hoodie. And, in most cases you’re absolutely correct. A quick Google search for the garment yields a host of various offerings that are, for the most part significantly less than $70. Then again, those hoodies aren’t from Scottevest. Those hoodies don’t combine comfort with the kind of organizational system SEV is known for. So yes, this particular garment comes at a slight premium cost-wise but what you get for that premium is, in my opinion, worth every penny. The hoodie is soft, comfortable, and includes all of the special features that make clothing from Scottevest special.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

2009 has been quite a year for Gear Diary.   There have been more than a few reviews and posts that have highlighted the year.  Before we all go off to see off 2009 with friends, family and loved ones, let’s take a brief look back and find out what some of your favorites have been — and what you want to see more of on Gear Diary for 2010.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Another year has come and gone.  I’ve actually heard some people say that this has been a slow year gadget wise, but I disagree and I am sure the rest of the Gear Diary team agrees.  Here is what we think deserves the title Gadget of the Year for 2009.  Note: I counted a mention if a team member said anything about it that is positive.  This is not scientific, and it is really just for fun.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I still regularly used a Windows Mobile device, PhatNotes by PhatWare was typically one of the first programs that I installed on a new device.  I now use an iPhone much of the time rather than Windows Mobile.  I’ve tried several notes programs for the iPhone, and while many of them are quite good, none have quite hit the mark for me.  I like being able to group notes of similar topics, and being able to synchronize easily with desktop software is handy also.  So, when PhatWare offered Gear Diary a chance to examine their newly released version of PhatNotes for the iPhone, it seemed like a good chance to check out whether PhatNotes could assume the same role on my iPhone as it did on my Windows Mobile devices.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dan: Judie and I are continuing to play with, tweak and become familiar with our Camangi Webstations. There is no question that it excels as an e-book reader. Thanks to The Android version of eReader both of us have downloaded our libraries and had a number of sessions reading from the device. There is no question that it works quite well in this regard. It allows you to read both in landscape and portrait mode, lets you change the font, is backlit (something that isn’t possible with a device that uses ePaper, and, thanks to the testing, navigation is as simple. Judie: Dan and I have discovered that when using the native eBook app, you can swipe the screen to change the page, or you can use the volume button up/down motion to turn pages in either direction. This is a pretty great feature! When reading eReader books, you simply have to tap the screen.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ok, I admit I don’t know many people who have landline phones from the traditional phone company anymore.  Most people now a days have a VOIP phone that is part of the cable, phone, and Internet plans offered as a bundle from a lot of vendors (Brighthouse, Comcast, Verizon, etc).  The idea is to phase out landlines. Well, AT&T wants this sooner rather than later, with them responding to an FCC request for comment: a 32 page response to be exact.  The FCC wanted AT&T’s opinion on the who, what , when , where, why and how to phase out landlines completely. From the Engadget article: AT&T has provided the FCC with a whole Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As the battle of the Smartphones rages on, more consumers are making the smartphone switch every day. People are trading up their RAZR’s for something with a touchscreen, keyboard and high dollar data package. Comscore conducted a survey back in October to find out the Mobile OS market share as of Q3 2009. The survey was only conducted on users above the age of 13. The results show that 36M Americans are using a smartphone, while 196M use a standard style phone. The numbers in the chart reflect the amount of phones in use at the time of the survey, and not the amount products sold. Looks like Blackberry Continue reading on Gear Diary …

… and so as I do with all Top-whatever lists, I record my general disagreement, complain about the myopic nature of the list, rail against the hit-driven nature of these things … and then get around to reading the list! So I recommend you do the same by heading over to the NPR list – then coming back here to comment. Read on for a few thoughts on the list!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

[image courtesy of TechCrunch] It’s no secret that many members of the Gear Diary team use Mophie’s battery packs. Well, it looks like Judie, Dan and Larry may get a chance to see another brand new Mophie product at CES next week:  a credit card reader for the iPhone/iPod touch. The new case/credit card reader will be used in conjunction with a dedicated Mophie application to capture and process credit card transactions.  Per TechCrunch this solution is geared towards small business owners, instead of merely being marketed as an alternative for iPhone/iPod touch owners to enter… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Are you willing to gamble $19.99 for a product that won’t ship until Spring 2010? Do you want a soft-touch coated grip for your iPhone that is made with “sturdy, durable construction”? One that provides simple wire management, improves accelerometer-based gameplay, works in both portrait and landscape mode, and one that employs a sleek, aesthetic, and ergonomic design for enhanced playing comfort on your iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod touch 2G? If so, then check out the Posimotion Helix Gaming Grip. Helix offers an unmatched handheld gaming experience on the iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod touch. With a combination of soft grip handles, ergonomic stylish design, and landscape/portrait quick clip system, the Helix brings motion based gaming to new levels. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

From Energy Sistem, a company I had not yet heard of, comes two interesting eReaders.  Both have a 6 inch Vixplex e-Ink display with 4 levels of grey, an 800×600 resolution, Integrated Speaker, and an ARM9 processor.  Where they differ is their internal storage.  The Energy Book 2060 has only 64 MB of internal storage while the Energy Book 1060 has 2 GB.  Both are expandable to 16 GB via SDHC and come with a 2 GB SD card.  They support PDF, EPUB, RTF, TCR, PDB, PRC, MOBI, OPF, OEB, HTM, HTML, TXT, CHM, FB2, DJVU, DJV, MP3, PNG, TIF, GIF, BMP and JPEG, depending upon the model purchased. No word yet on whether they will be available here in the US, but the price is supposed to come in around 257 €.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image from MyPetJawa After countless face-offs with Q, being a prisoner of the Cardassians and making first contact without ruining history, Captain Picard has finally been given the recognition he deserves. CNN is reporting that Patrick Stewart is being knighted, and while it is well deserved for his myriad roles, he will always be Captain Picard to Trekkies worldwide. It is great that after he knighted Robin Hood in “Men In Tights”, that he gets to be Sir Patrick of the Federation of Planets. Queen Elizabeth, “Make it so!”… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With all the restrictions on what you can and can not carry on airplane flying around, there’s one thing that seems certain.  The less you pack the better of you’ll be.  As I get my gear bag ready for CES 2010 I’m faced with a mountain of charging cables that I’ll need to stuff into my bag. One thing that will help is the Contour reCharge Universal.  The reCharge Universal is a home charger and car charger in one which allows you to simultaneously charge two devices via a USB  cable.  The reCharge comes with an iPhone/iPod cable, but it can charge any device that uses USB. It features a black… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Adam Zeiss of CrackBerry noted that Amazon’s Kindle for BlackBerry page is up and touting the foreboding promise that the free app is“Coming Soon.” The big question, though, is whether anyone will actually care when it is officially released. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I had my house built in 1998, one thing I wanted but could not afford at the time was a programmable thermostat.  Thankfully, Trane was kind enough to send one that I probably would not have considered, the Trane XL800. The first thing I had to do was install the thermostat.  To do so, I had to turn off my HVAC system — which mean going into the depths of my garage and flipping the breakers.  Then I went back inside, removed the existing thermostat and replaced it with the programmable thermostat.  Make sure to pull the little plastic strip out and to install the batteries that come with it (these batteries will keep your program in the thermostat if you have a power outage).  After I had installed the thermostat, I went back into the garage and flipped the breakers back on.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …