Cellcrypt offers a very unique feature.   That feature is completely securing voice calls on GSM networks.  We’ve covered Cellcrypt  before, highlighting their mobile-to-mobile security.   Now there’s another reason to use Cellcrypt’s services:  secure Mobile-to-Office calling. While this level of service (encrypting voice calls) could be considered, by some, to be a bit much — and targeting those inflicted with a touch of paranoia — Cellcrypt is catering to governments, law enforcement agencies and businesses that require the highest levels of security.  Cellular network hacking is very real.  The threat to your communications (voice and data) is expanding daily. Afraid that corporate espionage… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last week, I joined the ranks of new iPad owners.  Yes, I’m a little late to the game, but you do what you have to!  The device is all it is made out to be; it is a beautiful piece of gear.  The first thing that crossed my mind when I pulled it out of the box was how to protect this beauty.  I was not completely interested in a large case to carry the iPad by itself.  Since I have a gear backpack, I thought it would be best if I just had some sort of sleeve to hold it while it was hidden away in the little document slot in my bag. … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sure, using an iPhone or Blackberry for work is great, but you need to have some fun too. And, let’s face it, deep down we’re all little kids who love laughing over a good sound effect or fart joke. Enter an app like Sound Mac-Hine. It’s essentially an app full of sound effects, ranging from various Howard Stern show regulars to oldies but goodies like “Beetlejuice” and “The Three Stooges”. Personally, my favorite was “The Three Stooges”, though I think my fiancee and dog were less impressed when I played the same effect 15 times. Of course, there’s more… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Two of the best games ever made were the original Fallout 1 & 2 from Black Isle Studios, released in 1997 & 1998. The games had loads of ground-breaking features and also a core quality of writing and game design that makes them stand head-and-shoulders above the majority of games released today (including and perhaps especially the 3rd, not-from-Black-Isle, entry in the franchise). The soundtracks by Mark Morgan were also critically acclaimed at the time of release, and were included in the Good Old Games released of Fallout 1 and Fallout 2. But now Mark Morgan has teamed up with others through Aural Network and re-mastered the original tracks and re-released it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

[image via EveryJoe.com] Put the rocks down!   This isn’t a rant.  Quite the contrary.  Nuvo, who we’ve featured before, continues to merge technology with prenatal development.  Nuvo’s Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System can not only help provide some relaxing hands-free tunes, but are now emphasizing how the system can help provide “comprehensive fitness solution” for Moms-to-be and baby.  They’ve even got a study showing the benefits of light exercise during pregnancy. Interested?  Well, before you grab that iPod and hit the gym be sure to read the full release. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have made my love for so-called Indie games known in the past: whether it is stuff from Spiderweb, Soldak, Basilisk, 2D Boy, or Lima Sky, I always applaud the effort of a couple of people with regular jobs and families to feed who work tirelessly on something they love … and try to support them when I can. So when I got an email from Craig Stern at SinisterDesign, I was thrilled. He mentioned that aside from running the website IndieRPGs.com he was also a developer, and was about to release his first game, Telepath RPG: Servants of God. Here are some details about the game: Part Japanese strategy RPG Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just in case you think we’re all about the Apple products here at Gear Diary . . . we’re not!  And to prove it, your humble news reporter is presenting to you the latest case from PDAir, the Aluminum case for the HTC HD2.  You’ve gone with the big, bright screen of the HD2; now you want to give it a little protection.  Maybe the PDAir case is the right one for you.  Surf on over to the PDAir web site where it’s available for an MSRP of $28 and check it out. Full information below. Thin, Lightweight and strong. Removable 360 degrees belt clip included. Anodized aircraft-grade aluminum prevents from scratches Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Success Television) It occurred to me after reading this editorial at Teleread that there are really two audiences for ebooks. There’s the people who just want to read a book. They’re happy picking up their reader or iPad, opening a book, and just reading. Maybe they want some minor options like font sizes, but talk to them about specific fonts, background colors, backlight adjustments, dictionary lookups, etc., and they’re going to glaze over. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a measure of what the audience wants or is taking advantage of in their device or software. Then there’s the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

image courtesy of smartphone mag YouMail gives BlackBerry, iPhone and Android users visual voicemail features that aim to compete with the likes of Google Voice.  Already supported by major U.S. wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, YouMail is now targeting business users with additional features to provide the complete unified-phone experience and merging the enterprise PBX with employee smartphones. If your company has been looking to integrate a customizable voicemail and voice-to-text solution to further mobilize their work force, YouMail’s new enterprise features may be worth a look.  A few features that YouMail is using to attract business users include: Unlimited voice-to-text message Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you made the switch to Blu-Ray movies at home? If so you probably still have a load of DVDs lying around. Sure they still look great upscaled on your Blu-Ray player … but not as good as a true HD Blu-Ray movie. Well, if you were thinking about upgrading your library but the high cost was holding you back, WB has a new option for you to consider: DVD2Blu! This program currently features >90 movies from the WB catalog, and has you send in the disc only and then get back a brand new Blu-Ray copy of the same movie! WB charges either $4.95 or $6.95 depending on the movie, and shipping is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Tonight I got an email from 2D Boy – the makers of the sublime World of Goo – about their participation in a game bundle called the ‘Humble Indie Bundle’. There are two cool things about this bundle: first off, you name your price, and second off, they are setting things up so you can divide your donation between the developers and charity in any way you want. Here is the email: Hello there! We are sending you this email because you previously purchased World of Goo via the MacHeist bundle and we thought you might be interested in another bundle we’re participating in. It could be a good opportunity to pick up Windows Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You’ve got to give HP credit… the HP ENVY 15 is a fine looking notebook. It is 1″ thin, weighs just over 5 pounds, is powered by either a Core i5 or Core i7 processor, has USB 3.0, can handle up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM and has 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830. Yup, HP did a nice job here. You’ve got to give our Gear Sponsor credit… the HP ENVY 15 has a starting… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It seems clear to me, as someone who was on the back-end of the first generation technonerd wave (Commodore PET!  TR/S-80!; Apple IIe! etc.) that not only are the nerds in charge of product development, but we’ve even taken over marketing to a certain degree.  Early proof of this was one of the first “ooh, cool!” cell phones, the Motorola StarTAC, which both looked like a Star Trek:TOS communicator, and also was named as close as you can get to “Star Trek” without getting sued into oblivion by Paramount. But hey, that was almost 15 years ago; now there’s an entire company named Star Tech, and they are looking to gain some… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here are your list of new USBFever items for this week (one wonders if they ever sleep): CLIPPINGHOLSTER case for iPhone 3G / 3Gs Icewear case for Apple iPad Hard Shell case for Apple iPad Universal 3.5mm audio plug FM Transmitter with FM Talk for iPhone iPad / iPhone / iPad / Notebook / PDA Stand / Riser Car Power Inverter (USB + AC Power sockets) with USB Port (110V, 150W) Car Power Inverter (USB + AC Power sockets) with USB Port (220V, 150W) USB to 1080p HDTV Sharing Cable Extra Long Dock (for iPhone / iPod Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve tried a number of different business card scanning apps that let you take a picture of a business card with your iPhone camera and automatically pull information from it in order to create a new contact. It is a great idea but I have thus far been a bit disappointed in the accuracy of them. After all, it is not a time-saver if you take a picture, scan it and then have to manually edit almost all the information fields. When I say that ABBYY, one of the leaders is optical character recognition was entering into the ring I was interested. After all,  ABBYY OCR technology drives is the engine used… Continue reading on Gear Diary …