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. This week’s Blue Plate is time sensitive, so read quickly and get to downloading.  Most of the games featured in the weekly column have been puzzle type games.  Cops and Robbers is going to break this streak with a 3D scroller that is sure to provide an entertaining diversion.  The game is usually $2.99 but is free for the time being, so if this one looks interesting you better jump on it; I think you will not be disappointed. Details after the break… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(underlying image courtesy Pittsburgh Peas) Amazon is still pounding out exclusive deals with various authors (the better to thumb their nose at Apple, presumably). This time it is with science fiction author F. Paul Wilson, who is apparently well known for The LaNague Federation Series. If you aren’t familiar with the series (I wasn’t), the author describes it as: “Galactic Empires are a joke. At least I’ve always thought so. So when I started writing science fiction I looked for something different. I wanted to set my stories against a single consistent coherent background–my own Future History. I based the socioeconomic tenets of my LaNague future history on a laissez-faire model. It makes more sense than an empire. An empire needs absolute control if it’s to function in an empiric way. That’s all but impossible over interstellar distances. What’s needed is a freer, looser form of government, one dedicated to preserving the diversity of humanity, allowing it to develop along the myriad possible paths open to it, yet carrying a big club to break up the fight when one segment takes a swing at another. This then shall be the whole of the law: Go where thou wilt, do what [...]

Scanner Pro is a powerful iPhone app that “transforms the device into portable scanner”. Just updated to version 2.0, the app adds GoogleDocs integration, camera stabilization, automatic edge detection and passcode protection. It costs $6.99 in the App Store but is a free update to existing users. With Scanner Pro 2.0 comes in handy when a hard copy document should be scanned and there is no scanner nearby. It lets people scan multipage documents, email them and even upload to Dropbox, Evernote, MobileMe iDisk or any other WebDAV enabled server. The application incorporates special algorithms to enhance image quality and make it as readable as possible. While it is a bit on the complex side once you learn how to use the app it is remarkably powerful. All of which is interesting but what really caught my eye, and raised questions, when I received word of the update yesterday was this… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Images courtesy of Tokyoflash TokyoFlash launched a campaign a few weeks ago that puts the power back into the hands of the consumer allowing us to choose what products they bring to market. As a result of this campaign they are pleased to release their first  customer co-designed product, the Escape C. As a result of the feedback on their concept blog, they designed a Bluetooth fashion accessory that connects to your phone, laptop or MP3 player and of course still tells the time in the usual Tokyoflash fashion.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am a big fan of Instapaper Pro on my iPhone. I love the app for its ability to make reading articles and RSS feeds on the small device so much easier and more enjoyable. The ability to strip out all the “extra” stuff cluttering a page and just focus on the text is amazing. And with each release the app has become more powerful AND easier to use. That is not a combination you’ll find together all the often. Now comes word from Instapaper’s developer that the app is coming to the iPad. The key points are touched on in the first sentences of the blog entery over on Marco Arment blog. He writes… First: Instapaper is definitely coming to iPad. Second: Instapaper is coming to iPad very soon. Possibly even on day one — yes, I’m going for it — but that’s optimistic. Third: Instapaper Pro will be a universal iPhone/iPad application. That means that you only have to buy Instapaper Pro once to have it on both devices, and the iPad edition will be available to all Pro purchasers at no additional charge when it’s released. What does it look like? The short answer: It looks like [...]

My assistant Sunny makes fun of my interest in passion for obsession with technology. Then again, after a bit of unhappiness when I initially moved our entire office from Outlook to Gmail/GCal etc she has become a Google Apps Master. And just a day after we started using a shared Evernote account she declared “I just love Evernote!” (That initial day though… not fun.) So when she just sent me this YouTube video I had to watch… Wow is it neat… I want one… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Our GearSponsor has found a great deal on a powerful notebook that offers a good amount of screen real estate and can double as a TV thanks to its integrated HDTV Tuner. The HP Pavilion dv4i is a good 14.1″ notebook on its own. This deal offers a host of great upgrades that combine to make it even better. To get this deal select an Intel Core i5-520M Dual Core 2.4Ghz with Turbo Boost 2.93Ghz, upgrade to 4GB DDR3, add in a webcam, a fingerprint reader and wireless-N with Bluetooth. Then add in an HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner. Use the code… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Looks like Sony is aiming to scoop up any ebook reader sales pre-iPad release. They’ve temporarily dropped the price of their Sony Pocket Edition (PRS-300) to $169.99 (regularly $199.99). The Pocket Edition is a pretty basic reader; it supports Adobe DRM, meaning you can purchase and read books on it from Kobo, Sony, even your local library if they support Overdrive! The catch is that it has a fairly small screen (5 -inches) and no wireless capabilities. If you can live without an integrated store, and don’t mind a smaller size, this is an excellent device! But hurry, the deal ends April 4th. Via Teleread Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Many of you know that I live in the country, several miles outside of the thriving metropolis of Eldorado, Texas — population much less than 2000. We have fairly decent EDGE wireless coverage here, but there are areas where the signal typically dips to one bar — and it seems like many of those places are either on the highway between San Angelo and Eldorado or in various spots on the ranch where we typically drive. I took care of our low signal issues at home when I installed the Wi-Ex zBoost, but signal strength in our vehicles has continued to be a sore spot. When I was offered the chance to review the Wilson Electronics MobilePro Wireless Cellular/PCS Dual-Band 800/1900 MHz Amplifier, I’ll admit that I was pretty skeptical. Not only is the wireless amplifier much smaller than the Wi-Ex’s, the base package is $100 less. I mean, sometimes you get what you pay for, right? Then there was the fact that the kit was completely transferable – not only between vehicles but also from vehicle to inside the house.  I’ve been using this kit for some time, and I’m now ready to pass a verdict.… Continue reading on Gear [...]

Those of you living in Sprint’s 4G areas have got a tasty bit of Android goodness to look forward to later this summer, because that’s when the absolutely gorgeous and feature-packed HTC EVO 4G will be available exclusively from Sprint. This smartphone will feature a 1GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processor, dual cameras including an “8.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera.” With its built-in mobile hotspot functionality, the HTC EVO 4G can allow “up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 4G experience. Users can easily share an Internet connection on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device.” And before you start thinking that HTC stuffed all this in some dinky micro-screen, it’s most certainly not: the HTC Sprint EVO 4G will have a 4.3″ pinch-to-zoom screen. Holy crap! I feel like I just saw a super hero streak by! I’m not even going to offer up my usual Sprint branded snark because … wow! This phone looks amazing! You want to know more about it and see some more pictures, right? Well here you go …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

MacJournal is a great Mac application for writing, journaling and posting to a host of different kinds of blogs. For the longest time I have been waiting for them to release the iPhone version of this awesome software. Well, now it is out. It looks great. It syncs with MacJournal. And it is only $4.99. Oh, and I am writing this post with it! It has some serious limitations. For example it does not let you add images to “posts” created with the iPhone. To do that I had to sync the post I wrote on my iPhone back to the Mac application. This is a huge limitation but then again this is only a first release. Hopefully a more powerful app will emerge after a few updates. In the meantime, if you use MacJournal already this might well be worth the $4.99. The full email announcing the app follows…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

What does it say when Final Fantasy VII is released on the PSN Store as a downloadable game for the PSP & PS3 for $9.99 and everyone rejoices, yet when the original Final Fantasy comes along for the iPhone for $8.99 and there is a general sense of being over-charged? Perhaps it is the reality that all business models aren’t created equal. I will talk about the business model in a bit, but for now … let’s explore the iPhone release of the original Final Fantasy!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As if by amazing serendipity, I had just started writing this when I read Carly Z’s “Adventures in Internet Radio” talking about traveling with Pandora and Slacker. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons to love these apps! Loads of music, tons of choices, affinity selection with ‘learning’ system that allows you to help the apps do their job better. In fact, since before Christmas not a week has gone by that we haven’t used either Slacker or Pandora on either my Droid or iPod Touch to play music for the whole family, and when my younger son bought himself an iPod Touch those apps were amongst the first he added. But over the last week two categories of problems with those services have really frustrated my family.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Amazon has been proudly showing off their iPad app today, and made it clear they’re looking to develop for tablets as a category. Since there’s really only one category of Apple tablet-esque devices, it’s safe to assume devices like the HP Slate, and possibly, hopefully, Android tablets, will also be blessed with a big-screen and finger friendly version of the Kindle. Compare this to the iBooks app, which, if it has any portability at all, will most likely only move between the iPhone and the iPad, and possible on macs. If you had to tie your data up in a proprietary store, which would you choose? The one that lets you be platform agnostic, read on eInk, small devices, big devices, tablets, computers, all with near-seamless wireless sync, or the store that ties you deeply to one ecosystem?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We have covered Qstarz products here before.  The devices I’ve covered thus far have both been data loggers.  Qstarz has let me know about a GPS that is quite unlike the data loggers I have previously reviewed from Qstarz, but still has a lot of the same functions. The SR-Q2100 is designed for use outdoors and includes a 1.8 inch LCD display.  There are no mapping functions on the device, but there are a host of other features that may make this the perfect device for cycling and other sports that are usually performed out in the weather. So what is 10 in 1??  Well, it’s a track logger, a cycle computer… Continue reading on Gear Diary …