It was Saturday night, and I was getting dinner ready when I heard the crash. I knew what it was before my fiancee yelled my name…yet again, my netbook had gotten tangled and flown off the coffee table. My Toshiba has been through this a few times and it never flinches. But this was different. I had forgotten to clear the table before leaving the room earlier in the day, and I left a full glass of Crystal Light Pomegranate Cherry on the table. And when my fiancee tripped, I think you can guess where the flying glass of liquid aimed itself; direct hit, right on my poor netbook.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Verizon & Skype recently held a press conference in Barcelona, Spain during the Mobile World Congress.   So what is bringing the largest U.S. carrier and the popular internet-calling giant together?  Voice calls over the internet made on Verizon’s wireless network, of course!  In a move that was certainly strategized as a hit to other U.S. carriers (cough, AT&T, cough), Verizon looks like they’ll be further embracing the decline of the landline and putting their bets not only on cellular calls, but data-intensive VoIP calls. Has the world gone topsy-turvy?  Weren’t wireless carriers blocking VoIP apps and services not so long ago?  This is a very interesting — and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The MSI Microstar X400-205US is a super slim 14″ Laptop that comes in black with silver trim. Powered by Intel Core 2 Solo SU2700 1.3GHz CPU, it ships with 2GB RAM and a 320GB Hard Drive. Featuring 802.11n WiFi, a webcam, HDMI port Windows 7 Home Premium, the notebook weighs in at 3.8 pounds. It has an MSRP of $549 but our GearSponsor has tracked down a deal that will get it to you for just $399.00. It even includes a 3-years warranty and free shipping! MSI Microstar X400-205US 14-inch X-Slim Laptop via LogicBUY.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since it was released last year I have constantly gushed about how much I love the Popcap tower-defense game Plants Vs. Zombies. Originally released for the Mac & PC last spring, late last year it was announced to be coming to the iPhone, XBOX Live Arcade (XBLA) and the Nintendo DS. The iPhone release was delayed, but has now arrived, and for the bargain price of $2.99! From my review: In an era of a constant stream of $60 games that last four hours and offer me-too multiplayer, Plants vs. Zombies offers an amazing value: hours of core gameplay, loads of added content, tons of reasons to keep coming back for more, and Crazy Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Several months ago, I reviewed Agile’s TabToolkit.  The app allows for guitarists to search and save guitar tabs on the iPhone.  When a tab is discovered using the native browser, the app sees the tab file and allows for auto saving.  It is quick, simple, and works well.  As an added bonus, Power Tab and Guitar Pro files are usable and allow for the tab to be played in real-time with midi instruments.  Come see a quick look at the update after the break. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

click to enlarge HTC is introducing a new Windows Phone this morning — the HD Mini. Specifications on the first press release that I received were pretty sparse, as it only said the HD Mini would be “sleek, well-crafted and easy to use,” that it would have a capacitive touchscreen, and that it would offer personal WiFi for your computer or other devices. Because HTC was being stingy with the specs (up until almost midnight last night), I consulted my Magic 8 ball to answer the questions not covered by the vague initial press release, and these were its replies: Will it have a Snapdragon 1GHz processor? Magic 8 ball says: “Outlook not so good” Will it have something less powerful? Magic 8 ball says: “Definitely” Will it have 512MB ROM? Magic 8 ball says: “Yes” Will it run Windows Phone 6.5.3? Magic 8 ball says: “Maybe” Will it be upgradable to Windows Phone 7? Magic 8 ball says: “Ask again later” Hm. Now I’ve got the real specs. Let’s see how my 8 ball performed, shall we?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

the HTC Legend (click to enlarge) This morning HTC is introducing two new Android handsets, the Legend and Desire. Both sport “an enhanced HTC Sense experience that will … take Android to the next level.” Both will also have “broad improvements to applications including the browser, email client and others.” The Legend includes a 3.2″ AMOLED HVGA display.  HTC has replaced the trackball with an optical joystick, “surrounded by a narrow button to improve usability without interrupting its unique design.” I won’t know how well it works until I give it a try, but the optical joystick looks pretty quirky. You can download the Legend’s full specifications in .pdf here.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Did you root your nook? Be honest, it’s ok if you did. In fact, nookdevs is rewarding you with a shiny new launcher! The nook has had so much development from the rooting community that it is astounding, and adds a great deal of potential value if you don’t mind some tinkering. From their website: NookLauncher is a simple program that works to allow users to run non-stock programs on the nook without having to get into any sort of complicated command line or VNC. It looks and feels a lot like the launcher from 1.1.1, which was full square icons. The stock 1.2 launcher has rounded icons and a shiny look to it. When NookLauncher is first run, you will notice you can not Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Mobile World Congress 2010 kicks off with Microsoft officially unveiling a whole new operating system for Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7 Series. How crazy is that? I am sure we all are excited to actually see a hands on demo video, and the folks over at MSDN has one! The 22-minute video walks us through every new features from the fresh OS for Windows Phone. It looks pretty awesome. Take a look for yourself. Source: MSDN Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Maemo, the Linux that runs on the N Series Internet Tablets and more recently the N900 will merge with Moblin, to create MeeGo according to information coming out of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.  Moblin was a Linux desktop that was started by Intel and targeted at Tablet devices. This is what Moblin 2.1 looks like. PC Mag reports that the new OS will be based on some of the same technology that the KDE Desktop Environment uses today, called Qt. Nokia also will be laying off 285 people in Finland that may be due… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Flickr We are no strangers to cases here at GearDiary. PDair has offered many cases in the past for us to take a look at, today we will take a look at the PDair aluminum case for the Zune HD. Over the past two weeks I had a chance to take the case out in the field during the Eastern Snowpocolypse and run it through some everyday situations. I am quite happy with the case so far, and plan on using the case to keep my Zune out of harms way. PDair makes a great aluminum cases for most phones and portable devices. The Zune HD does not have a huge offering of cases available, I’m a big fan of protecting my gadgets and my investment.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(Image courtesy Slashgear) The Notion Ink Adam Tablet is quite possibly the iPad of Android tablets. There hasn’t been too much news on this new device since CES, but it looks like a hands-on video has been making the rounds and… Hardware-wise, it’s going to be incredible! It sports a 10 inch Pixel Qi screen, nVidia Tegra processor, a 3mpx camera and the holy grail of battery life (16hrs with backlighting, 160 hours without backlight!!). Software is the big question mark here but we’ll know soon enough… Notion Ink says they are on track for a June release.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So what do you do with an old, beat-up iPod classic? That’s the question that faced me when my brother-in-law recently gave me his old iPod classic after he picked up a new one. (Note: the iPod pictured here is not the actual iPod. His was bad but not THIS bad.) It turns out that the iPod was crashing constantly and wasn’t holding a charge. I tried formatting and reinstalling the firmware a number of times but to no avail. It stopped crashing but the battery was completely and totally shot. So he went out and bought a new one and left his old one at our house. So what was I to do with it? I had a few choices. I could throw it out. I could put a new battery into it. Or I could “reclaim” it. Of course I did the latter. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s been the world’s worst kept secret – that Windows Phone 7 Series was coming, and today finally marked its official debut. In a live-streamed telecast from Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer and several others showcased the latest incarnation of the platform formerly known as Pocket PC and Windows Mobile. For those of us who have been along from the beginning of this ride, the Phone 7 Series announcement is a combination of vindication and disappointment.  Vindication in that it looks like a truly exciting and innovative OS — finally! Disappointment because it is seriously overdue, and it won’t be available for some time yet. But the eye-candy presented was something else … There has been a complete overhaul of the operating system; the mobile team has essentially started from scratch. Windows Phone 7 will integrate with Zune and Xbox, it will have a more consistent hardware and user experience, and if Twitter is a reliable indicator, the excitement generated during the keynote presentation was huge.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Adobe has made many smartphone users very happy with the announcement today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona  that they will be supporting Flash 10.1 and AIR for Android devices.   Expect  Flash to officially hit Android some time in the “first half” of the year, which makes us think you may start seeing it roll out by summer.     While you still shouldn’t expect Adobe and Apple to join hands and skip merrily down the rainbow path, it is interesting to note that Adobe has partnered with just about everybody else — with plans to put Flash on BlackBerry, Symbian, and webOS.   Windows Mobile is also referenced… Continue reading on Gear Diary …