For those folks who were saying, “I’ll get the new Verizon DROID after the first update is out,” well its that time. Verizon has released a mandatory update for all DROID users, bringing them from version 2, to 2.01. According to our friends at JKOnTheRun, here is what is updated: OS stability is improved. Battery life is improved. Camera auto focus functionality is improved, and time between shots is reduced. Enhancements for three-way calling. Audio for incoming calls is improved. When receiving a call on call waiting, the speakerphone now remains on. Bluetooth functionality is improved; background echo is eliminated. Improved Bluetooth phone book Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you ever wanting to have a Windows Mobile phone, that could also double as an Android, or maybe even an iPhone? VMware, the premiere vendor for server virtualization thinks they have found a way. VMware is developing virtualization technology that allows two operating systems to run simultaneously on a mobile phone.  VMware is currently working on optimizing the virtualization technology so the incoming/outgoing data from each OS is managed efficiently and securely and that the switch from one OS to another is seamless and intuitive. Who is the market VMware is trying to reach with this idea?  The corporate business man who doesn’t want to carry two phones– one business, one personal.   I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

PingDom, which provides a service that allows you to monitor and receive notifications about your network’s status, has updated their iPhone application.  Their application allows you to Get down/up alerts delivered right to your iPhone via push notifications. Examine graphs for site uptime, downtime and response time for any time period. View the current status (up or down) of all your monitored sites and servers. View settings for all your checks. If you’re the kind of person who needs to be constantly updated about your network’s status–and if you’re an IT person, you know exactly what I’m talking about here–then perhaps this is something you ought to check out.  I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Its been a VERY, VERY busy week for Google, and the week isn’t even over yet.  There is so much going on with our favorite Internet search giant these days.  Announcement have been pouring in almost daily. We here at Gear Diary want to make it easy for you, so here is all the Google news that is fit to print for the week of December 7-11, 2009: Google held a large press event yesterday to go over their new directions in search and other new products and services. Google updated their Google Finance product this week by adding financial news stories into the mix Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just yesterday I was saying to Larry that I was thinking about getting an XBOX just to play Modern Warfare 2. (Seriously the game looks AMAZING!) Well, our GearSponsor has tracked down a nice deal on an XBOX 360 Elite Bundle. The GearDeal includes an XBOX 360 Elite with 120GB Hard Drive and 2 free games: LEGO Batman and Pure. Normally this bundle would cost $299.99 but this deal brings the total cost (including shipping) to just $269.99. Included in the deal are: XBOX 360 Elite features and bundle: Black finish design; 120GB Hard Drive Black wireless controller; Ethernet cable Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since I first posted our “Sneak Peek at Dragon for iPhone” there has been one question asked over and over and over again. That question?? “When?” And I understand the question. You see, Dragon has transformed how I use my iPhone. Seriously, I do so much less typing on my iPhone since I started Beta testing the app. It is that accurate (so long as you speak slowly and clearly.) Well “When” is now “Now”. That’s right, Dragon Dictation for iPhone is out. And here is the biggest surprise of all… the app is free! Seriously, it is FREE! Here’s our sneak peek. You can… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s that time of year.  The time where we”re all looking ahead to enjoying more holidays, spending time with family, and — hopefully — a chance to recharge and gear up for a new year filled with opportunity.  In the rush of trying to get ready for the last few weeks of 2009, you may have missed some of our recent posts.  Well, that’s OK because we’re here to give you a roundup of some of the items you may have missed. If you’re preparing to take some time for a vacation, like Dan recently did (even though he still posted like crazy!), you may want to check out some of the gear Dan likes to use, like a Kindle, when he takes a little R&R.  In fact, you can even get an idea of what gear the entire team uses — and let us know what YOU use as well.  While you’re at it, don’t forget to let us know what your own “Gateway Gadget” was to get you interested in technology. So sit back, grab another  cup of coffee and take a look at a few of last weeks highlights with the Gear Diary team. Continue reading on Gear Diary [...]

TeleNav GPS Navigator is getting into the holiday spirit in a neat way. All month you can let Santa’s voice guide you as you use the terrific GPS Navigation system on your mobile phone. The seasonal “update” will cost you $.99 but even there the company is getting into the spirit of the month- ALL proceeds will go to Toys For Tots. A full description follows. Oh, and be on the lookout over the next few days because we are kicking up our holiday giveaway with a few subscriptions to the service! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve said it before, the Mophie Juice Pack Air is the iPhone Power-User’s best friend. It looks good, it adds tons of run-time and it doubles as a case. It… is… awesome! And the new soft-touch red Mophie Juice Pack Air is stylish too! At just $79.95 we consider it a “must-have” accessory. You could order one HERE, but we are giving one away to our friends. Why are we giving one away? Because we love them and we are celebrating! What are we celebrating? Read on to find out and to learn how to enter and win… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While in theory this could be game could have been called Star Wars Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith expansion, fortunately it was just called Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith and is easily abbreviated as MotS. It was released in early 1998, a mere four months after the release of a game still marked as one of the best first-person shooters of all time, and despite getting lower reviews than that game it remains a fan favorite and a standout release for an expansion pack. Yes, and since it was released more than ten years ago, and recently re-released as a digital download through Steam, I have taken another run through the game and looked back at MotS for the next entry in my Retrospective series.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recently received a bunch of cases from Griffin Technology.  One of the cases in the loot happened to be for the new Apple iPod Nano 5G. Unfortunately I don’t own a Nano 5G. I wanted to make sure the case got reviewed so I reached out to my fellow YouTube reviewers to ask if anyone would be interested in reviewing the case.  LuisMayhem17 stepped up and took on the task. Here’s his review of the Griffin Outfit for the Apple iPod Nano 5G which is available from Griffin for $24.99 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A bombshell was dropped last week when Michael Arrington revealed that their “partner” FusionGarage has suddenly squeezed them out of the product THEY envisioned. I was so struck by how forthcoming Arrington was, that I read his blog post to my entire family at dinner that night. It was big news for any of us who were anxiously awaiting the release of the CrunchPad. But that wasn’t nuthin’ compared to today’s news…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Another day, another Direct2Drive Holiday Deal! Now in time for Christmas they are back – they are featuring a game a day for now until Christmas! Days #1-6 have been great, and … well, today is perhaps the weakest yet, but still a good sale on a rather mediocre game. Game #7 is the rather average The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Here is the announcement Tweet: D2D’s 24 Days of Christmas Day 7 deal is here! The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is 50% OFF – now just $9.95! http://bit.ly/5w5ISJ This special includes the game released early this year for 50% off – $9.95 rather than $19.95! But be quick – this… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

AT&T has released a new program for the iPhone called “AT&T Mark the Spot”. The purpose of the program is to help you, as an AT&T customer, report network outages, issues, and dead spots. In this release AT&T makes it really simple to report problems. It will capture your GPS location or you can submit about a location not specifically where you are at. The app has some basic things it wants to know: Is it a dropped call, failed call, no coverage, data failure, or poor voice quality problem? Does it happen once, seldom, often, or always? You can even add your own notes about the incident – something I’m very glad to see!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Larry posted news about the iBend’s release, he hit the nail on the head with regard to the iPhone accessory’s main draw. As he put it “not everything in life has to be fancy“. He was right and no one could say the iBend is fancy. A few months after its initial release however, the iBend did get a bit fancier with the release of their new Artists Series. These added some artistic flair to the accessory and $1 to the $4.99 price of the “iBend Classic”. We got our hands on one of the iBend Artist Series stands; here’s a quick look …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …