With the advent of Twitter, email, etc…sometimes, its just not easy to share links online.  They are sometimes too long.  So, services like TinyURL and the like have cropped up to save us from LONG URLs.  Well, Google has decided it wants to let a hand too.  They have created Google URL shortener.  This is a new service provided as an add on to the updated Google Toolbar and Feedburner applications. From the Official Google Blog: This morning, we launched updated versions of the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner that offer a new URL shortening service from Google called the Google URL Shortener. We mentioned our URL shortener as a feature in both Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A new milestone has been hit by the Android Market.  Five months ago, there were only 10,000 applications available.  Well, as of today, its now 20,000. Not too shabby for only five months of development!  According to Androlib, a web site that has been keeping tabs on the publication of all free and paid apps since Android was introduced, the number of apps hit the milestone earlier today and shows no sign of slowing.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As the initial reviews (initial panning?) of the Barnes and Nobel Nook continue to swirl, the next contestant for eReader dominance is getting ready for its debut. Sporting the tag-line “More than an eReader, QUE means business.” Plastic Logic’s entry into the eReader fray will debut at CES in just a few weeks. The teaser invitation tells us little we did not already know, but it does highlight the fact that it is being positioned as a business device (“QUE™ was made for how busy professionals work. Thousands of documents and all of your favorite publications now at your fingertips.”), will provide access to its own “QUE store” and sports an (apparently) innovative user… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I played the game religiously as a child.  I’ll bet the original game still sits somewhere, buried in a closet in the basement of the home I grew up in, minus a few pegs. Now the game I played as a youth is available for the iPhone. Premier iPhone application developer EA has released Battleship for the iPhone OS. The game-play and overall strategy remains just like the original version but the graphics and 3D effects bring it into the future.  There are however new super-weapons and different modes of play as well. The game can be played in two-player mode… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Like a lot of kids in the 80s, I had a boom box.  It was big, loud, heavy…but oh so cool!  I used it until it finally died, about 10 years later.  I miss it. But what if I could have it back?  What would I want it to do now?  Well, I’d like it small, easy to use, able to use my MP3 collection, but still sound great. Enter the Rad Blaster!   Its a small USB device that has an OLED screen, supports MP3/WMA/WAV audio formats and have 2GB of memory built in.  It looks and behaves like our old school boom box, but with all the cool audio of now.  For $59.99, it may be a little… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We know (hope?? assume??)  the next gen iPhone is coming in the next 6 months. With Apple having just bought Lala perhaps they should also consider grabbing a few existing iPhone apps and making them part of the core functionality of the device. What better way for Apple to quickly make the iPhone better than ever than to have additional services or tweaks available right out of the box. With that in mind I asked the team… What one iPhone app should Apple buy and build into the core functionality of the next gen iPhone and why? (Note- the app must currently be available either in the App Store or as a jailbreak app) Unsurprisingly many of the suggestions are currently only available to people with jailbroken iPhones. (After all it is WHY we jailbreak in the first place.) Here is what they said…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

PocketShield has recently been updated to v3.2.5. PocketShield is an intelligent screen locker. It completely locks the screen and hardware keys when phone wakes up and is inside your pocket or case, and unlocks it automatically as soon as you take it off. How? Most phones come with an integrated light sensor, PocketShield uses this sensor to determine if the phone is inside something(without light reaching it). So if it’s receiving light it is probably because you have it in your hand, or you have it over your desk, or someplace where there would be no reason to have it locked. What’s New:- New Settings UI (finger friendlier + scrolling friendlier + language Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Our GearSponsor has pointed out a neat computer deal at BestBuy that has a netbook price but real-world notebook specs. I mean, who ever imagined you would be able to get a brand new notebook with the latest Windows operating system (Windows 7) and excellent specs all for just $449.99 plus $.99 shipping? This HP Pavilion dv4-1548dx has a 14.1 inch WXGA BrightView LCD screen, a 2.1 GHz Dual-core processor, a DVD+/-RW optical drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, a bundled remote, a 6-cell battery and it comes pre-loaded Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS. That is a pretty powerful notebook for under $450! But hurry, according to LogicBUY’s site the deal expires today! HP Pavilion dv4-1548dx 14.1-in 2.1GHz Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It was only a matter of time that the nook would be hacked wide open and it appears that this has indeed happened.  This is what they call rooting a device.  Rooting a device means you have full access to the device’s flash memory and you can make any modifications you wish.  Why would you want to hack the nook?  Well how about fixing all of those pesky bugs that Judie found?  How about running something OTHER than the default ROM?  How about free 3G access? With that said, you risk your warranty and killing your device if you decide to root your nook.  Therefor I only recommend it to those who have $259 dollars to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ah yes… the holidays. Times for family, food, drink… and scammers! Elana received an email from her aunt last night that included the above credit card scam “transcript”. It has been checked out by Snopes and looks to be legitimate. Even if it is not legit, Snopes points out that the elements of it certainly are and “anyone who holds a credit card is a potential victim of this type of fraud”. The scary thing about this scam is just HOW much information the scammers have. They have your name. They have your address. They have your credit card number… minus the security pin which is what they actually want. These days the scammers are better than ever. They are slick. The phishing sites look real. (My mother-in-law got caught just this weekend. Fortunately something didn’t feel right. I asked her to check the credit card she used and sure enough… she was getting hit by scammers.) The callers sound polished. They are GOOD. Fortunately there is one sure fire way to be safe. It will work. It will be secure. And it won’t cost you anything. You just have to do it… religiously. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

UPDATE: Larry just let me know that someone on Twitter just got a notification that their new 27″ has shipped while the Apple store still shows shipping delayed 2 weeks. That may mean the 2 week delay is merely a supply demand issue. We’ll hopefully know more soon. I was going to buy a new 27″ iMac when they were announced. Then I decided not to. Well a few days ago the draw of 27″ of gorgeous screen real estate, 1 TB of storage and a super powerful quad core processor became too great. I decided I had waited as long as I could. I was going to order one and put my current 24 inch iMac on eBay. Well, it looks like it won’t be happening and for once I’m glad I waited. You see, Apple has delayed new shipments of the high-end iMac by at least two weeks due to a growing number of video complaints. Two weeks puts us at the very end of 2009. And if the issue isn’t resolved it will be 2010 before the computers begin shipping again. Timing is everything and this timing, at least from Apple’s perspective, could not be worse.… Continue reading [...]

(Image courtesy of Open Logo Project) Have you ever rushed out to buy the next big thing, only to find out it was flawed? And then a better version came out soon after? Or the price dropped, or you obsessively tracked firmware updates, waiting for the one that would justify your decision to camp out at 4am at your local Best Buy? We’ve all been burned (witness the intense discussion about the nook!), and a few of us shared our stories below. What was your worst “early adopter” tale? Or have you been lucky in your tech buying? Read our sad tales of woe/happy memories of our cool gear, and then share your own! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are a variety of application launchers available for the Mac OS but Bevy has to be one of the coolest. Press a key combo on your Mac’s keypad and get a visual look at every icon for all the applications you’ve got on your Mac.  Simply click on one to launch the app.  Don’t recognize the icon?  Hover the cursor over it and Bevy will tell you its name. It has a variety of other really cool features as well. Click on a letter and Bevy will show you all the apps which begin with that letter, hiding the ones… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Seidio Innocase Snap Case for the iPhone 3G and 3Gs is a snap on back cover style case that comes in a variety of colors. The case retails for $19.99 and is available here. Seidio was kind enough to give me a case to review. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s no hiding Gear Diary’s love of the Mophie Juice Pack Air.  All the editors own one for their iPhones, and we just gave one away to a lucky Facebook friend. There’s also no hiding the lackluster performance of the iPhone’s battery.  For power users, like us, it’s often times impossible to get through a single day without having to “plug-in” at least once. Anyone who knows me knows I have a love of cases for the iPhone.  If there’s one single thing that bothers me about the Mophie Juice Pack air it’s the fact that it’s a case.  Yeah, I know that’s supposed to be its most appealing feature but for a true case fanatic like me, someone who can’t be tied down to the same case every day, it presents a problem. In my recent trip to NYC I decided to test some external batteries that aren’t cases to see if I could live with one instead of the Mophie. Here are my thoughts on one of them, the Richard Solo rs1800.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …