Image from XARKAGANDA Did you hear? President Obama is threatening to regulate the tech industry in the name of ‘protecting democracy’! President Obama is putting technology on his ‘axis of evil’ list! President Obama is calling all new technology ‘dangerous diversions’! President Obama has declared war on technology! President Obama is warning of ‘iPad Perils’! Actually … none of that stuff is true – but I bet you have read something similar today in a hype-titled post at some tech blog coupled with some out-of-context portion of a speech given by the President to the graduating class of Hampton University. Here is the closest to the truth from the Guardian UK:… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As companies continue to “go mobile” to take advantage of giving their employees the means to manage their work anytime or anywhere, the inevitable problems of how to manage devices and costs quickly becomes top priority.  Imagine being able to easily manage all of the service costs for each device — before those pricey overage charges hit from going over monthly minutes or data plan allotments.    Imagine being able to receive an alert to your phone before you start roaming.   Imagine being able to not only keep costs under control, but also ensure security, ease support worries and speed up mobile device deployment in your organization.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

[image courtesy of trueslant.com] In case you’ve missed any of the updates from the Gear Diary team over the last week (and there have been many great updates and reviews!), we’ve pulled together just a few highlights.  Whether you were too busy this weekend to catch Betty White’s public dissing of Facebook on Saturday Night Live or Ellen DeGeneres’s recent apology to Apple, we’ve got you covered. Let’s catch up, take a break and get  a quick look at some of the product reviews and news makers that have hit Gear Diary over the last few days.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It hasn’t been wide spread, but since the launch of the WiFi iPad, some users have been reporting issues with their WiFi connectivity.  There seem to be two major issues that users are experiencing when it comes to WiFi connection problems. One, sometimes the iPad doesn’t automatically re-connect to a known WiFi network after it awakes from sleep. Two, sometimes the iPad doesn’t seem to draw a good WiFi signal even when strength appears to be very strong. Apple has posted a few possible fixes/trouble shooting solutions on their web site here and here in the form of support documents. But it seems now they’ve… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As is true for many Mac users, I remember not-so-fondly back in 2002 when the nifty and free iTools became the very similar but not-even-close-to-free .Mac … and then later got renamed to Mobile Me. While many users find the tools useful and therefore subscribe, there is nearly constant discussion about the pricing model and comparisons about the services offered compared to free or inexpensive alternatives. Many folks hope that Apple will price the service more competitively, or perhaps even make it free. According to MacDailyNews, that day might be approaching: We have received a tip that we cannot confirm, hence our “RUMOR” designation, that nonetheless has at least an air of credibility about Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I carry my Droid for every run and bike ride so I can track how far and fast I’m going. Typically I swap between Google’s My Tracks, BuddyRunner, and Runkeeper. Across the board, every one has exhibited a weird GPS bug that’s alternately amusing and frustrating. That’s a screenshot from my run today using Runkeeper. I have been working hard on improving my speed, but I can assure you I did NOT run a 3 minute mile. Nor did I cover anywhere close to 7 miles (the actual run was somewhere ~2).  Of course, I didn’t find out about the apparent record setting Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re a heavy Google user such as myself, then you probably noticed the new mandatory “Everything” bar now located on the left side of your Google search page. Some may not care but me being a daily Netbook user, I need all the screen space I can get. A friend emailed an article from TweakGuides on how to get rid of this new annoyance. I thought I would pass along the information in case anyone else finds this new Everything bar as useless as I do. With a desktop machine or native widescreen it’s not as much an issue because the search results usually don’t take up the entire span of the screen anyway… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Before CES I needed to get some GD business cards… quickly. I waited until the last minute (surprise surprise) and, as a result, had to run out, buy business card paper (expensive stuff!), design a card and print it myself. It took a bit of time to get right and each card ended up actually being rather expensive. Well our Gear Sponsor has us begin the new week with a Gear Deal that would have saved me time, trouble and dollars on new cards. Best of all, this deal is FREE. Thanks to LogicBUY  OvernightPrints.com is offering new customers 100 full-color Business cards Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve always had a bit of a watch fetish. It started, for me, back in high school, with a collection of Swatches. I’ve replaced those watches with others and my collection still grows today. But here’s one watch that would really round out my group. ADR Studio, an Italian design house, posted this great render of what an Apple iWatch might look like. It’s just a concept design though so don’t get all in a tizzy just yet. The iWatch concept realizes the promise of Microsoft’s own SPOT operating system in that it would bring widget-distillable information to your wrist in the form of apps. You could pair it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! The highest profile release of the week if Lost Planet 2, the sequel to the solid but flawed 2007 game. But sadly the early reviews of the sequel are actually saying it is even worse than the original – and looking at the meta-score showing ~75% is actually skewed by the few 100% scores … and sadly those are typically done to get hits by being early and ending up at the top of score-based listings (so much for journalistic integrity!). So instead I looked at a game that has been in beta for a while and has been an excellent experience… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last night I posted a piece entitled A Tale of Three iPad Cases. It addressed my great experience with Owl Studios and Sena Cases and my less than great interactions with a third company. This morning I received an email from Tom at Aligata iPad cases. Tom told me about his all leather cases that are made from “… genuine bovine leather, natural grain. Very classy and durable as hell.” They look good and are currently on sale for $59.90 at http://aligata.com/ Tom went on to explain his pre-order policy. Turns out he too charges in full for his cases due to a limitation with his e-commerce company. He was sure to point out however that he is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’re pretty fond of our ScotteVest gear here at Gear Diary, so I’m pretty stoked to be able to point you to this one-day deal.  Rather than employ my usual wit to get your attention, I’ll let the information from the ScotteVest people simply speak for itself: So what turns a pair of Cargo Pants into Ultimate Cargo Pants?  Start with 16 pockets, add zip-off legs (to form Ultimate Cargo Shorts) and make it out of a lightweight, linen/cotton blend treated with Teflon® for stain and water resistance.  The Ultimate Cargo Pants are great for warmer weather and travel, and if all that is not “ultimate” enough, they are on sale for 20% off today.  They’re packed full of external cargo Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As a true technonerd, I’m always on the lookout for new gadget sites.  Well just today we received word of a site that specializes in desktop systems and gear:  Notorious Gadgets.  The NG folks describe their endeavour as “The New Trendy Computer Brand – A Mix of Elegance and Power.”  NG has a fairly large number of desktop systems available, as well as a few peripherals.  So if you’re looking for what sounds like Bespoke systems (I’m hip to British slang, yo!), surf on over and give it a look. Full information below. U.K. company Notorious Solutions Ltd has launched a new computer brand named Notorious Gadgets. The brand is noticeable… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

No doubt this is all over the net but… it is Betty White, it is Sunday morning and.. laughing is good. If you have been living under a rock here’s what happened. A Facebook campaign to get Betty White to host Saturday Night Live built up enough steam that SNL actually invited her to host. At 88 1/2 White is still wicked funny and and comedic timing that is unparalleled. She used the monologue to thank Facebook for making it possible for her to host… and then promptly cut Facebook down to size for being a huge waste of time. Best line- “In my day we didn’t have Facebook… we had phonebook… and we didn’t waste an afternoon on it.” Enjoy… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the interesting things that happens when you are an early adopter of some key new technology is that you not only get early looks at the device and some accessories, but you also get a chance to see how various businesses work with customers or… don’t, as the case may be. I recently had a chance to see how three different companies handled the pre-order process for their new iPad cases. Two impressed. One did not. Two I am eager to do business with. One I have no interest in dealing with ever again. Here is a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. (More accurately, The good, the good… Continue reading on Gear Diary …