Each year Neilson, the ratings people, release the results of a survey showing who is playing what in terms of video games. Last year, they found that even 2 years after the release of the Playstation 3 (PS3), the Playstation 2 (PS2) was the dominant system in terms of play time, followed by the Wii – but also noted that the PS2 showed the greatest decline in share. (note: their own ‘state of the gamer’ report for 2008 contradicted that and showed the XBOX360 2nd and Wii 3rd) Now they have released the report for 2009, and there are some dramatic shifts and interesting finds enclosed in their report!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Remote access to servers is a well-known corporate must-have, with companies like Citrix running the show. But what about your home PC? Wouldn’t it be nice to not only access your personal files from any computer with a USB port? Dane-Elec has announced a USB solution that does just that! Not only does it give you access, but you can set up as many as 30 people to access the home server, making it great not only for families but for small businesses too! Best of all, there’s enough storage to use it to store and stream media files and photos! No more clogging up your smartphone with pics of your last vacation, as this system also lets you access your server from an iPhone or Windows Mobile handset. This sounds like a really cool concept, and clearly the Consumer Electronics Show agrees; Dane-Elec has already won a “CES Innovations Award” for the product! Press release after the break! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

About six months ago I saw an advertisement for the ooma phone system. It was on sale, looked interesting and I jumped to purchase it. I wasn’t all that familiar with the system but thought it was worth a look. I was immediately impressed by it. The unit connected directly into my router and I connected my home phone system into the unit. After a quick sign-up process I had voice over IP phone service for free for the life of the system. ooma offers a premier level of service at a competitive price but for those who aren’t interested in the extra features of that service the hardware is the only expense incurred. The Premier features are… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

SignalBoostTM DB Pro cell phone signal booster from Wilson Electronics has been named one of CE Pro’s 2009 Best Electronics Systems Technologies BEST in the “Best Home Networking Device” category. The DB Pro was designed to provide enhanced cell signal coverage inside of a building. It works with all cell phones and data cards, and on the networks of all wireless carriers (except Nextel/IDEN). It provides a more powerful cell phone signal meaning fewer dropped calls and faster data transfer rates.

The DB Pro kit comes ready for easy installation. A roof mounted omni-directional antenna eliminates concerns with cell site locations and has multiple mounting options.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Lets face it.  Not only are we becoming more wireless, but we are also becoming hands free.  From voice dictation to voice activation, our gear has begun to listen.  Amulet Devices announced this voice-enabled remote at CES this week.  The remote is the first of its kind for Windows 7 Media Center.  Read the full release after the break. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve covered various forms of GPS and monitoring systems for the elderly. But what about everyday life? You can’t be everywhere at once, and GPS is great for activity but poor if you need to know if someone went from the living room to the bedroom. CloseBy has a solution that, while pricey, lets you monitor the movements of a loved one within their home, even as far as checking to see if they’ve opened the fridge or used the medicine cabinet. While this seems very Big Brother-ish, think about it this way. It’s not uncommon for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s to lose track of time and not take medication, or even eat regularly. This gives family members and care providers a way to check in without robbing someone of their independence. Pretty cool idea! Check out the press release after the break.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Boost Mobile (part of Sprint Nextel), big in the prepaid cellular service market, has announced that they will be offering service on the Sprint network beginning on January 13, 2010.  Up until now, Boost has been utilizing only the Nextel (iDEN) network. Sprint purchased Nextel in 2005 to become Sprint Nextel, but they’ve continued to maintain the two separate networks. They are also planning to release new CDMA-based handsets for use on the network including their first Smartphone – the Blackberry Curve 8330.  Boost is planning to offer the Blackberry Curve for $249.99 with an unlimited plan including talk, tet, web, and email for $60 per month. The other phones Boost will be offering are the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Big cities attract tall buildings to house all of the workers needed to run corporate operations, and real estate acreage makes it easier to build up than out – that makes sense. But throughout the last century, skyscrapers have also signified a sort of public display of wealth and prestige for some. The ability to say you have the world’s biggest building brings visitors from all over the world to places like New York City, Chicago, Taiwan … and now Dubai.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Jen Edwards at PocketGoddess asked today, “When is a  Barnes and Noble not a Barnes and Noble?” The answer, apparently, is when it is a college location, and you’re toting a nook. The much touted in-store benefits for the nook are not available to the college stores, despite Barnes and Noble being the parent company! Then again, this is the company that runs 3 eBookstores, and those eBookstores combined support seven (and counting!) devices.*… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Lenovo has shown some beautiful, innovative designs here at CES. Some of them are simply stunning. They aren’t leaving their core commitment to business machines behind, however. Our GearSponsor has a great example of this and it is today’s GearDeal. The Lenovo ThinkPad T410 has a 14.1 inch screen. It starts at $1,345 but this deal wil get you $346 off. That brings the starting price down to just $999. It even includes free shipping. The machine is powered by newest Core i5 / i7 CPUs, can handle up to 8GB DDR3 memory, comes with Windows 7 Professional and offers- get this- up to 18 hours battery life with optional 9-cell slice battery. Additional features include a DisplayPort, enhanced VoIP… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Anyone who cut their teeth on Palm OS PDAs knows Splashdata and Iambic. SplashMoney, SplashPhoto, SplashWallet, Agendus, Health and Diet Manager…the list goes on and on, but the point is that no PDA user went without at least some of  those programs. Throughout the years they branched out to other OSes, with their flagship products appearing on every major platform, including the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Android and Blackberry. Now shopping for those apps will be even easier, since Splashdata has announced they are acquiring Iambic! Hopefully this leads to more software support across platforms, and the same quality apps we’ve come to know… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

All photos by Kevin In the Central Hall of CES they’ve set up an eReader Zone, and many eReaders and old and new are  represented. One of the ones that I’ve been eager to spend some hands-on time with is the Plastic Logic QUE, and for about 30 minutes, that’s exactly what I did. Carly posted some of the quick iPhone snaps that I took along with the latest press release; here are some better pictures along with a bit of video from Plastic Logic …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve been a big fan of TetherBerry.  I have used the application quite frequently with my BlackBerry while on the go and, frankly, pre-MiFi it saved me from having to duck into a crowded coffee shop for WiFi.  I find that I still use the application when — on those rare occasions where I don’t happen to have the MiFi on me (whereas I always have my smartphone with me) and need to tether my laptop to meet a deadline. Well today the TetherBerry team hit us up with the announcement that they will be branching out to other smartphone platforms, including Windows Mobile, iPhone and Android, and will be immediately rebranded simply as Tether. The announcement comes with a new & improved user interface, beta testing for a soon-to-be-released Android version , and a newly  enhanced version of Tether that improves support for both USB and Bluetooth tethering. That’s not all:  through January 10th you can purchase Tether 50% Off ($19.99)  from the Gear Diary Software Store or BlackBerry App World. OK, with other methods of tethering available, why would you want to consider this particular application? Take a look at this screen shot showing 147% faster on the [...]

The year has just begun so it is time for many to attempt to live up to the resolutions and get into shape.  As someone who works out and runs, I often need some encouragement and help.  I usually just change podcasts or playlists for a pick me up.  Adidas has just introduced a unique line of miCoach products and training plans to help get anyone in shape.  Since I almost exclusively wear Adidas shoes, I might have to see if my workouts can benefit from the miCoach. Release and products after the break. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With the switch to digital, the idea of the pocket tv is all but dead. You can’t walk around with your rabbit-eared portable tv anymore to get your daily soaps. Never fear, though, because Cydle has a solution: Digital tv for your smartphone! And not only will you be able to watch digital tv on the go, you can also charge your device while you watch tv! Now you won’t miss important work calls as you catch up on “Days of Our Lives”. Sure, you claim you’ll be using it to catch the news on the go, but we all know you just want to find out what happens to Sami Brady…full press release after the break!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …