Back in December we mentioned that Amazon was working on a Kindle application for BlackBerry.  Now that free app is officially available to download for U.S. customers.   Just point your BlackBerry browser over to amazon.com/kindlebb, or go to the Kindle for BlackBerry site right on your computer to email yourself the download link. Features include: – Search and browse more than 400,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers. – Find New York Times Best Sellers and new releases for $9.99, unless marked otherwise – Get free book samples – read the first chapter for free before you decide to buy – Books… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Logitech G27 racing wheel is the follow up to Logitech’s wonderful G25 racing wheel that came out a few years back. It is developed mainly for the hardcore gamers who love to experience every bit of the game, and play it in true sense. It is designed to provide the best racing experience to the PlayStation gaming station users and PC gamers. Having used the G25 in the past, I would say I am a very happy owner of the fantastic G25 racing wheel made by Logitech. The G27 racing wheel from Logitech is everything a racing simulation fan would ever want; leather-clad steering wheel, two motors for force feedback, manual gearbox, with clutch pedal. I would like to thank Logitech as they are kind enough to provide me with a review unit of the G27. A full review is scheduled within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I would like to share these unboxing photos with you racing simulation fans out there! Take a look!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Anyone who has kids is scared to think about when their kids go on the internet.  If you have a netbook, you might also not have a optical drive for installing software.  The PeeWee Kit can help as it ships a internet security suite and many kid safe educational software for Windows XP , Vista or Windows 7.  Software includes: Science House Bailey Book House Trudy’s Time & Place House Sammy’s Science House Millie’s Math House Thinkin’ Things Mighty Math Carnival Countdown Zoombinis Mountain Rescue Reader Rabbit Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego? Oregon Trail All of this software comes not on a optical… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recent reviewed SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3, having gotten it for my PSP Go on the PSN (Playstation Network) store. Getting anything through PSN requires having a full account linked into the store, and purchases tie in to your credit card and are permanently linked into your PSN account. In other words, if you have a PSN game, Sony knows you haven’t pirated it or gotten it used. In exchange, I can re-download the game on any of my (four) PSP systems tied to my account, so that anyone in my house can play any of the PSP games I own easily.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While reading Dan’s recent review of the Eos Audio System, one thing struck me. His toaster is disgusting! Well Dan, it’s time to upgrade and have I got the toaster for you. If you use an upright electric toaster chances are it has happened to you more than once.  You place your toast in the slots, pull down the levers and wait.  Unable to see if your toast is done or not you rely on the toaster’s inaccurate setting to alert you.  Sometimes you pop up the lever early resulting in under done toast, other times you leave it in too… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

To paraphrase my favorite beer commercial, “I don’t always use Windows Mobile, but when I do, I prefer SPB Mobile Shell.”  SPB Software is known for making a number of great Windows Mobile programs, but this week they announced that they’re venturing outside of that familiar territory and into the Android and Symbian neighborhoods with the next Mobile Shell release, version 5.0.  Mobile Shell is a launcher on steroids, with lots of great customizable settings, plug-ins, and widgets, and has long been one of the first things that I load on any Windows Mobile device. Considering that I’ve been using an Android-powered phone a lot recently, I’m definitely interested in seeing  how SPB has adapted Mobile… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you ever watched a stunning TV episode, or even just a pedestrian street scene, and wondered how they managed to take over that part of Washington / New York / Boston / wherever in order to get the shot? Chances are they didn’t. Stargate Studios, a “visual effects and production services” company, also offers a “Virtual Backlot Library, which includes hundreds of photo-real, virtual locations covering 28 major cities from around the world”. To illustrate their capabilities they have a Virtual Backlot page, a gallery of cities, and also an amazing YouTube video showing before and after green-screen clips – many from very familiar shows! What else is there to say – just watch the video!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Because my iPhone is largely a work device these days, e-mail is an important element of what I do on it. And because e-mail is an important part of what I do on my iPhone, the iPhone application reMail has become key for me. The concept behind the application is quite simple. It downloads your entire Gmail account to your handheld device, compresses it so that it doesn’t take up an overwhelming amount of space, and then lets that e-mail reside on the device itself so that you can search it whenever and where ever you need. If you’ve ever tried to search for an e-mail from more than a few weeks ago on your iPhone you’ll understand how convenient the speed and off-line access to e-mail is. And how well does it work? Well, thanks to reMail I have 81,066 different emails on my iPhone and they only take 304 MG of space. That’s impressive and makes it a must have app for serious iPhone users. Sadly, unless you have already purchased the application you’re out of luck. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I didn’t realize what a difference a good mouse can make in your computing experience until I got one. Wow. Using a mouse that is comfortable to rest your hand on and accurate in its pointing is a big big deal. And if the mouse is wireless… all the better… especially if you are using it in place of a laptop’s tiny trackpad. Well our GearSponsor tracked down a great buy on a Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse. Offering “Laser Precision; Hyper-fast scrolling; Ergonomic design” the VX Nano has an MSRP of $69.99 but with this deal the price is just… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Images courtesy of Proporta Not all cell phone cases are made the same. Some are really just junky cheap knockoff’s of knockoff’s, and some are genuinely worthy of the your money and your device. We do a lot of case reviews here; we love our phones and we love protecting them. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn’t had an accident with their cellphone when they should have had a case that actually protected it. The fact is, you need a case.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Snap on back covers are a popular category in the over-crowded iPhone case market.  These simple to put on cases mostly protect the back of the iPhone and keep the phone’s profile slim. Trexta has been making accessories for wireless devices for over ten years but just recently began doing so for Apple devices. Their racing series case, which is made from genuine leather, is inspired by elements straight from the speedway. Since snap on back covers for the iPhone are available in so many variations it’s important that when companies release new versions they offer something different. Does the Trexta Racing Series match up?  Read on to find out.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

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 I will admit it…I have become a word game junkie on my iPhone!!  It is a sad state of affairs, but lately, my spare time has been spent playing a number of word games.  The latest addiction is Free Word Warp.  If you have played the flash game text twist on your computer then Word Warp will seem familiar.  Lets take a quick look. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

And amazingly folks are STILL looking for those Nigerian windfall dollars … Each year the National Consumer League (NCL) issues a report of the top scams in the hopes that folks will learn something and not keep trying to cash in on deals that seem to good to be true. Read on to see the list!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re a burglar, and you are tired of staking out homes only to be stymied as you break in because the owner is still there, have I got an application for you! Stop staking out houses and start staking out the new site, Please Rob Me. Instead of watching to see if there is activity in a house, you can locate users in your area who are mindlessly using Foursquare to broadcast their location to everyone on Twitter. Picking a mark is easy! Enter your area and look for someone who is eating a meal, attending a sports event, in the middle of a pub-crawl, or doing any number of other activities which might give you enough time to pull a major heist. Once you’ve chosen your mark, click on their Twitter profile and get their real name. Look up their real name in the phone book or online, and then head on over to the ‘house of easy pickin’s’. That’s all there is to it! And if you bring along your smartphone, you can even adjust the thoroughness of your burglary as you track their  progressive tweets and Foursquare check-ins. It couldn’t be easier! Of course there is [...]

I have had a somewhat interesting history with the PSP SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo games. When the first one came out in late 2005, I was skeptical and rented it, and soon thereafter used it as an example in my ‘New Year Gaming Resolutions’ article earlier this year. Here is what I said: “The SOCOM Confirmation of the Coded Arms Games Principle – SOCOM is the type of game I don’t like too much – small single player but mostly multiplayer (see Star Wars Battlefront Principle). So I rented it. Halfway through I was thinking I should have bought the game, but by the time the rental was over, I had played all of the offline modes at least once and had put enough online hours in that I felt done. So I returned it with no regrets.”… Continue reading on Gear Diary …