Over the past two weeks we’ve seen the Barnes & Noble Nook eReader making it’s way out from under the PR machine of product announcements out to the hands of real consumers.  Jessica was the first member of Gear Diary to get her Nook, and she loves hers.  Then Judie got hers and worked to transfer an extensive collection of existing eBooks over to the Nook.   Early reviews of the Nook haven’t been glowing (see Judie’s documented frustration), so if you were hoping to fill a stocking with the device by Christmas you may want to wait and see if today’s firmware update improves performance or speed issues.  Joel posted that you can hack and root the Nook, Judie rooted hers – and her advice is not to allow the over-the-air update at any cost, as her nook is currently bricked.

That’s certainly not all that’s been happening as we head towards the end of the year.  The Gear Diary team has been busy with reviews and the latest tech updates (plus, a few contests and giveaways!). In case you’ve not been able to catch all of the posts, let’s take a look back and highlight just a few of the items covered by the Gear Diary team…

image courtesy of HiTechReview

Already looking past the Nook, more eBook readers are poised to hit the market in 2010.  As members of the team gear up for CES next month, one of the things they’ll be taking a look at is the QUE proReader.  Will it match up — or surpass — Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes & Noble’s Nook?   Hopefully the units unveiled during CES will give an indication of whether the QUE will be a hit…or a miss. [Note from Judie - Dan and I have a meeting with Que at CES on Thursday the 7th, at 10:30!!]

That’s not all in the realm of eBooks, though.  Carly’s been keeping tabs on the latest products, trends, content, issues and debates with her popular State of the eBook series.  A few of the recent updates include Sony’s own eBook store moving to ePub; and product announcements like the Aluratek Libre for $179.99.  Fictionwise opened their Kindle eBookstore.   Not to fall behind Barnes & Noble, Border’s announced their own eBook partnership.

The growing market of eBook readers is also fostering some deals and product price-cutting.  eReader’s eSlick Reader deal that is offering the Foxit eSlick eReader for 259.99 (yep, the same price as the Kindle and Nook). One thing is for sure on the content side of eBooks, though — publisher’s are afraid of the inevitable move from paperback books to the electronic eBook platform.

photo credit: pipnstuff

Now, maybe you’re looking for some more stocking stuffers.  So let’s talk about contests and giveaways underway at Gear Diary!

Allistaire announced a brand new monthly software giveaway where you can win popular applications for your Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and iPhone.  Even if you don’t win in December, you’ll still be able to participate for winnings throughout 2010 (and with giveaways each month, you have good odds to get some of the most popular applications for free!).

But that is not all!  The team has put together a huge Grand Prize Holiday Giveaway that will include the following:

• New Etymotic HF2 headphones (Dan’s favorites!) (MSRP $179)
• A new Mophie Juice Pack Air (we all have one, love it, and Judie is totally psyched to have just ordered a second one in their newest color – red) (MSRP $79.95)
• X-Mini 2 Speaker (MSRP $29.99)
• GorillaTube iPhone Case (MSRP $99.99)
• An open box but new Jabra Stone Bluetooth Headset (MSRP $129.99)
• Apple In-Ear Headphones (MSRP $79)
• Dexim P-Flip Power Play Dock (MSRP $54.95)
• 2 years AT&T Navigator for iPhone (A $240 Value)
• 6 months of Toodledo Pro (A $7.50 value)
• WebIS’ Pocket Informant for iPhone (A $9.99 value)
• Appigo’s ToDo (A $9.99 value)
• A one year subscription to Evernote Premium (a $45 value)
• An SeV 5.0 Fleece with a gorgeous Gear Diary embroidered logo (A $140 value – without the logo) <- It’s size Large, so if it doesn’t fit you, you can share it with a friend!
• An SeV TEC Hat (A $20 value — Psst!  There’s even another opportunity to win one of 12 SeV Hats)

Finally, if (like me ) your goal for 2010 is to finally get really organized we’re giving away a subscription to Evernote Premium, Toodledo, Appigo Todo and Pocket Informant.

Happily Ever After

Over a year in the making, Judie completes her posts on her own online dating experiment.