One of the things I’ve usually taken for granted is how much of a difference a quality docking station makes in my daily computer use.  Sure, I have a laptop and (now) a netbook for my “regular” job.   Working with a netbook provides additional mobility with a lighter machine to lug around for the daily grind, but it can be a challenge during extended periods of time (read:  12-16 hours of work at times to meet deadlines).   A decent external monitor certainly helps, but needing to manually plug-in every peripheral item is an unnecessary task when you have a docking station. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but where I work we are not using docking stations.  Connecting either the laptop or netbook  (and these days, it’s usually the netbook for ‘regular’ work days) had meant early morning wrangling of cords.  When Judie sent me over the HP USB 2.0 Docking station to review, I was VERY happy to put it to real-life use.  In fact, ahem, it’s been put through a very extended period of daily use (Judie sent it over right after CES wrapped up in January).… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If we believe what Steve Jobs tells us (that argument’s meant for a whole different discussion) the Apple iPhone OS is an built to be one of the best operating systems for gaming.  Any look at the sheer abundance of games in the iTunes App Store and you might just have to agree. Do you do a lot of gaming on your iPhone 3G or 3Gs? If you answered yes, you’ll appreciate the Case-Mate PWND case.  It’s a silicone case that has severely reinforced corners which make it resemble a gaming console remote control.  When playing games that rely heavily on the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer the case makes for a more ergonomic feel in your hand. Available from Case-Mate for $19.99 it’s not necessarily a case you’ll want to rock 24/7 but if you’re into marathon iPhone gaming sessions it’s one you’ll want to keep within arms reach. Want to learn more about the PWND case, head here. Check out my video review after the break.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Verizon Wireless) I hate cases for my phones. I tend to forget this however and buy them anyway. In 10+ years of owning cell phones, I think I’ve used one case for more than a few weeks (an Agent 18 ecoShield for the original iPhone). At the same time, I really love my Moto Droid and thought it would be prudent to have a case for it…so I did my research and discovered there were very few exciting options out there. A few Verizon branded cases did catch my eye and after a field trip to my local store I picked up the shell/holster combo. Is it a keeper? Will it survive my low case attention span? Read on to find out! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since I have already expressed my love for the original Star Wars Jedi Knight and the Mysteries of the Sith expansion, it is only fitting that I move on to the sequel! Don’t worry, I will return to Dark Forces soon enough and have also recently completed Jedi Academy … so soon I’ll have reviewed the entire Kyle Katarn saga on the netbook for you! But for now, let’s look at Jedi Knight II.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Street legal, baby! The first thing I thought of when I saw this news item was, “Only in Europe.”  Then I thought about it a little more, and my brain spit out:  “Or maybe Florida.  Broward county, say.” And then I realized, hey, the Boomers are getting older, and a lot of them play golf; I’ll bet they’d love a golf cart that can haul them around the links and then they can climb back in after the 18th hole and use to putt on home (sorry).  Seriously.  I don’t know about where you live, but I’m definitely seeing more older and mobility-impaired folks scooting around in (or on) small, electric gizmos. So Garia obviously has followed that thought to its logical conclusion, and is demoing a street-legal electric golf cart at the Geneva International Motor show next month.  Garia says that it’s fitted with street legal safety equipment such as seatbelts, license plate, and side mirrors, to let you tool around on city streets.  So if you’re in Geneva in March–and believe me, I would love to be in Geneva in March–check it out.  Or surf on over to their web site and look it over. Full info after [...]

We are all feeling the financial pinch!    Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. It is crazy how different my gaming habits are than they were ten years ago.  I was once a heavy console gamer, staying up late to finish levels or a game and searching for tips in magazines and websites.  These changes are probably due to age, available time or becoming a parent or combination of the three.  At any rate, my gaming habits has gone from shoot ‘em up action packed games to more slower paced “smart” games.  Especially puzzle games.  Larry introduced this game to Dan who in turn sent me an IM that read, “Get Cogs.”  That is a pretty serious instruction coming from Dan! Cogs is a 3D puzzle game in which solving the puzzles build or operate complex machines.  The game is beautiful and “smart” and will have you thinking analytically all the way through.  Read the complete review and find out one major flaw with the game after the break.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the biggest desires for Mac gamers for the last 5 years or so was that Valve’s Digital Download service Steam would come to the Mac, especially after the switch to Intel processors and ‘Cider’ ports made bringing Windows games to the Mac easier than ever. Steam is a service that debuted with Half-Life 2 in 2004, and provides a store with full account management, game launcher with integrated patch management, and an integrated gaming community. Crossover Games has helped – it is more or less a commercial version of Wine (Linux service) that provides a ‘Windows micro-environment’ for running games. Some folks have had success running certain Steam games that way, but for most it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While at CES this year, I was lucky enough to talk to our friends over at Gelaskins about the new things they were going to introduce this year. Gelaskins provides stunning protective skins for all types of devices from e-readers to cell phones to laptops; they have plenty of beautiful designs to choose from, as well as the ability to design your own skin. When I stopped by their booth, I was hoping to find for something for my T-Mobile G1 or maybe my Acer Aspire One netbook.  Myself, as well as several others on the Gear Diary team, like the Gelaskins line, as seen in this review by Larry. Well, I wasn’t disappointed with what they had to tell me, and now it can be announced. Gelaskins has partnered with National Geographic to provide their stunning photos to the Gelaskins line of protective skins.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There were a few ways I could introduce this item.  You know:  “Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the shower.”  Or maybe, “And you thought the whole vampire thing had reached its zenith with the Twilight movies.”  Or perhaps, “If you want Halloween to continue all year . . .”  But then I decided, heck, the picture pretty much speaks for itself. Spinning Hat, makers of other blood-related products like the Blood Bath Mat and the Blood Bath Shower Curtain, has added to their “blood bath” line with the above-pictured Blood Bath Shower Gel.  Available at an MSRP of about $8, it can fulfill all your blood bath… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A great deal had been written on Apple’s decision to pull some 5000 apps from the App Store due to their inclusion of scantily clad bodies, explicit sexual references and more. The New York Times jumped into the ring today and quoted Apple Senior VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller on the matter. (Rene Ritchie of the iPhone Blog has a great synopsis of it.) I have long maintained that Apple has every right to determine what apps make it into the App Store and what don’t. Heck, if Apple wanted to require every developer to include a smiley face on the splash screen of their app that is without their rights. If they want to prohibit the use of “Carolina Blue” in their apps that is their right. (And as a Blue Devil I would whole-heartedly support such a position.) :0 Apple has the right to determine what apps are available in their App Store. We, on the other hand, have the right to choose whether to buy devices that require the use of Apple’s App Store or not. Simple. But Apple’s actions do raise two significant questions for me.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last December we wrote about Sonoa Systems‘ service geared to speed up iPhone, Android and other mobile apps, because one thing we all want is to have applications running smooth and fast on our smartphones.  Frankly, if an app craps out when we use, guess what?  It gets deleted.  That’s something developers who spend countless hours writing code and designing “the next big thing” do not want. Now Sonoa Systems has unleashed their latest offering:  Apigee, a free, self-service Application Programming Interface  (API) management tool for applications that use web services like Twitter, Facebook and Google.  Sonoa already has customers like MTV Networks and MySpace under their belt, and now they’re offering the free Apigee service to mobile developers to get detailed data and content protection. If you left  your Geek-speek translator at home, that just means developers can leverage Apigee to see application usage patterns and traffic.  Think of it as a Google Analytics service for your Mobile Application.  You’ll be able to actually see what the heck is happening  –  rather than guess  — and better manage your application’s service.   If you can easily see how the volume of users are actually using the app, you may be [...]

Evernote continues to roll integration with numerous apps and partnerships with assorted hardware manufacturers. The latest partnership comes in the form of Evernote’s SmartSolution now being available for three of Lexmark’s inkjet all-in-one printers, the Interact, Prestige and Platinum. This new integration allows users to send hardcopy scans into Evernote straight from their Lexmark machine with a single touch of a button. I’ve been using this solution with my Fujitsu ScanSnap lately, as I have been digitizing my assorted notebooks from numerous seminars and training I’ve attended over the years in preparation for the upcoming iPad.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s GearDeal may be priced like a netbook… but this is no netbook. Our GearSponsor has tracked down a Dell Inspiron 15 for under $400 shipped. The notebook has a 15.6″ screen, is running a 2.2GHz Dual-core processor, ships with 3GB RAM, has an internal DVD+/RW and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The list price on this unit is $544 but with this deal it is just $399. Dell Inspiron 15 15.6-inch 2.2GHz Dual-core Laptop via LogicBUY.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the usual frustrations with being “mobile” is that you can’t always access important documents, much less reliably print them from your smartphone.    German-based Cortado aims to change all of that with their free  cloud-based Workplace solution.  Geared towards BlackBerry users, Cortado Workplace  puts printing functions and file management at your fingertips.   Those days of getting on the plane and finding yourself having a panic attack at 30,000 feet because you totally forgot to load the most important document ever created are over! Forget about trying to store important presentations or documents on that micro SD card.   This solution gives you up to 1GB of free online storage accessible from your BlackBerry, as well as any desktop.  Need more space?  No worries, Cortado can give your business an enterprise solution giving your entire workforce cloud-printing and file management to put all of your job’s important information right at your fingertips, and accessible from anywhere.  What’s even better is Cortado’s made their solution totally customizable to where your business can integrate your own applications to this service using the standard Java Content Handling API (CHAPI).  So now your company’s developers can easily leverage Cortado’s Workplace in their own apps! Tired [...]

There are all sorts of games: big games, small games; casual games, hardcore games; console games, handheld games; role-playing games, shooter, games, action games, sports games; old games, new games; kids games, adult games; thrilling games, boring games; good games, and bad games. And then there is Plants vs. Zombies! How is THAT for an overly dramatic beginning?!?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …