Thomas’ T-Mobile global Blackberry Bold 9700 is truly adding up the travel miles. It spent time in the Far East with him last month, attended CES in Las Vegas and is now with me in Cabo. The phone is great and T-Mobile’s global plan is nothing short of awesome. Otterbox has just announced their super-protective Defender Series case for the device and I sure wish I had it with me. (No, the phone is fine Thomas but with this amazing case I would be even less worried about doing any damage to your device.) The Defender Series case offers three different layers of protection. Together they shield the device from bumps, shock, drops, dirt and dust. Layer 1: A protective clear membrane over the keypad and protection for the display screen, camera and flash from scratching and dust intrusion. Layer 2: Hi-impact polycarbonate shell. Layer 3: Durable silicone skin to absorb bump and shock. A foam sound-isolating ring over the microphone, silicone plugs over the ports to provide easy access and a holster style swivel belt clip make this case super protective while still allowing for ease of use. The case costs just $49.95. More details can be found HERE. [...]

photo credit: seretuaccidente We encourage you to do whatever you can to support those in dire need in Haiti, as Carly Z wrote about in her Gear Diary’s Three Ways You Can Help Haiti. HOWEVER, as is sadly the case too often, it seems that scammers are able to mobilize even quicker than relief workers. CNN is reporting that the FBI has issued a warning about scams purporting to bring aid to Haiti actually just filling the pockets of unscrupulous characters.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

[image courtesy of PhoneArena] There’s been  a glimmer of hope that Microsoft may show off Windows Mobile 7 next month in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress.  Consumers and companies alike who have been using Windows Phones are looking forward to seeing whether Microsoft can truly reinvent the mobile market.  Now, however, rumor has it that not only will we not be getting a peek at Windows Mobile 7, but it’s likely that we won’t see it until next year’s Mobile World Congress in 2011. According to the Bright Side of News: …representatives from Microsoft, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI, Nokia, nVidia, HTC and many more … all had Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Wikipedia In case you weren’t around at the start of the last century, an Orchestrion is a mechanical device that “plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band”. They are sort of a player piano gone wild, where multiple instruments are independently controlled and triggered in a similar piano roll fashion to produce synchronized music. For his latest project, legendary guitarist Pat Metheny has teamed up with some technical experts from the Boston area to construct a modern re-imagining of the orchestrion. The CD release is due out later this month on the Nonesuch label, and is highlighted here. The music will inevitably be categorized as ‘jazz’, but this is a case where labels are irrelevant. Regardless of your personal tastes in music, I encourage you to watch this amazing 7-minute video that Nonesuch records put together to highlight the amazing music Metheny has created using some very interesting technology.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The first TSA-Friendly check-through bags were effective at getting you through security with your notebook quickly, but some were sorely lacking in the style department. Booq’s new Taipan lift covers the function AND style departments while also providing an effective way to stay organized on the go. The Taipan lift can open 180 degrees. This means you may be able to move through airport security without having to remove your laptop. At the same time, Booq’s unique two-button feature creates a 30 degree opening that makes it easy to grab interior items while on the go without having to stop to open the whole bag. This allows you to access the contents quickly and easily. Booq includes a zippered trolley handle pass-through that allows the Taipanto slide over the handle of your rolling luggag. This leaves you a free hand to carry additional items. Moreover, the Taipan lift slides easily under the airline seat keeping you out of the battle for overhead compartment space. In other words, the Taipan lift is a bag that is built for travel.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Photo courtesy of ppcgeeks.com T-Mobile’s second Android device the Mytouch 3G has done pretty well since the release back in July of last year. Months later, T-Mobile made the announcement of the MT3G Fender Limited Edition. The LE phone basically looked like the same phone with faux wood Fender finish. After the announcement the phone seemed to just fizzled out and fade away, I had just assumed that it became vaporware and TMO scrapped the entire thing. T-Mobile recently launched a new Ad campaign with some help fro Eric Clapton for the upcoming January 20th launch.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Nokia N900 has been grabbing a lot of attention lately. Our own Judie saw one first-hand while at CES and was super impressed by it. (In fact she has a review unit on the way!!) The N900 is slick. It has a 3.5-inch touch-screen, a Web Browser by Mozilla that supports Flash and AJAX, a 600MHz CPU, WiFi, HSPA, a full slide out QWERTY keyboard and a 5-megapixel camera. At $599.99 for an unlocked version it is also a bit pricey. Our GearSponsor has tracked down an awesome deal that knocks the price down by a full $130. That means you can get a new N900 for just $469.99. It will even ship for free.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One thing permeates every aspect of video gaming – it is DYING! The last decade was full of articles about how PC gaming is dying, the release of the PSP was accompanied by predictions of how Nintendo’s handheld line was going to die. Even recently articles have shown how during the recession console game sales have declined while PC game sales rose – prompting articles wondering if console gaming was dying. And so on … So naturally along with the death of platforms we get articles looking at the death of genres or specific game types. There were articles about the death of World War II games (right before the excellent Call of Duty: World at War shooter and the Company of Heroes RTS games), and now … IGN discusses 10 Ways to Save the JRPG (from certain death, naturally)!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When the economy is struggling, it seems school budgets are often squeezed, and badly. My mother is a high school teacher, and even in her middle-class suburb they have budget issues and pushback on spending money for education. Want to help your local school system make a difference? So does Meeting Tomorrow Audio Visual, who make (surprisingly) audio/visual equipment like projectors, etc. They’re giving away 10 projectors to the schools that get the most votes in their contest! So make sure to vote, but you can do more than just your own vote. Tell your school board, the PTA parents, your neighbors…the way a school is going to win is by getting the word of mouth out about this great contest! You have until March 31st, plenty of time to dig out that phone chain from your kid’s little league and use it for something other than inclement weather!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I caught this via Chris Pirillo’s twitter that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak purchased a Nexus One and admits it is his favorite gadget now.  Steve  also admits he still has 2 iPhones.  Steve hasn’t exactly been a iPhone fanboy either. From NBC Bay Area article: In recent years, he hasn’t been afraid to criticize the company he founded. He blasted the first-generation iPhone for not supporting 3G out of the gate, and he’s criticized the phone for not being more open to developers. He even hacked his own phone. It’s pretty bad the way Apple has turned out.  When Woz was part of Apple… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You want filing?  They gots you some filing! Under the heading of, “If the iPhone is more like a wee bitty computer than a phone, why can’t it do more computery things?” comes an update to an existing iPhone application:  HanDBase.  Written by DDH Software, HanDBase is a relational database app that allows you to manage your information in the way you’re used to with a typical relational DB. The update includes some new look-and-feel options, a new security mode, a new Choose Database file, and a bunch of the usual stuff that comes with an update, I’m sure (bug fixes; performance enhancements; etc.).  So if you’re one of those people that keeps trying to use your iPhone as more than a toy, maybe this is another app you need to install.  Take a look and decide for your own self. Full press release after the jump.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve been a long-time user of eMusic’s subscription service.  One of the early online music services (selling DRM-free MP3 downloads since 1998), eMusic was the first of which I was aware to offer a subscription-based music sales model.  They offer several different monthly packages for which you receive credits that can be used for purchasing individual tracks or whole albums.  The cost per track ranges from $0.54 for an eMusic Lite monthly subscription to $0.36 for an eMusic Plus annual subscription.  Many albums are available for 12 credits – or roughly $6, depending on your subscription level. Until the middle of 2009, eMusic’s catalog consisted primarily of independent labels.  In June 2009, though, eMusic struck a deal… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Earlier today, I told you how you could text message to donate to the Red Cross. Then Judie shared Xavier’s plan to match donations to the Red Cross as well, and it is amazing to see the outpouring of support that has resulted. After we posted on those, we received an email about another organization supporting Haiti: CARE.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This sounds like a Monty Python routine: Valleywag announced a bounty of up to $100,000 if you could break your NDA and prove the Apple Tablet existed. Shockingly, Apple’s lawyers were not happy …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Reading over on Phandroid today I came across a post that rumors that Google is looking at possibly reducing the price of The Nexus One or at the very least expanding the group of people who can buy it for the $179 price. From a Googler named Ethan: Also, as you’ve probably seen elsewhere, we’ve listened to everyone’s feedback and concerns and are working to expand the group of customers that qualify for upgrade pricing on the Nexus One. Please stay tuned for more information. Now, I will say the same thing as they did in the post: what about the ones who paid the full price?  What can Google do about that?  They can’t do the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …