Suddenly all the dads in my life are going Apple. My father-in-law loves his iPad and my dad is using a new 21″ iMac and is taking my iPhone 3GS. (Well that is… if I can ever order the iPhone 4…) If dad has an iPad you might want to get him Case-mate’s iPad cases. The Walkabout has an MSRP of $79.99. It is “Made of high-end tan leather, any dad will be happy to tote his iPad around in this case.” Information and ordering here Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While drooling over the live feed coverage of the Nintendo 3DS at Engadget I got an email reminding me of something – the OnLive Remote gaming service goes live on Thursday of THIS WEEK! I have written about OnLive here and here, but since March the company has converted early-adopters to ‘invited testers’ who get a year and a game for free. The whole premise is to replace the need for a heavy duty PC to be able to play the latest games. Instead, in true ‘cloud computing’ fashion, all of the heavy lifting is done remotely and the results are delivered over a broadband connection. The reason for the large-scale testing and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have been told I have a tendency to see patterns in places where there is just a funny coincidence but the timing of this is a bit TOO perfect. On Monday AT&T announced that the HTC Aria was on the way to their network. The Aria will run Android 2.1, has a 3.2″ HVGA screen, a 5 MP camera and HTC’s Sense UI. With a two-year contract price of $129.99 after a $100 rebate the smartphone is a good deal for anyone who is on AT&T’s network and wants an Android phone. So the Aria is announced on Monday June 14th. Monday, the day BEFORE the iPhone 4 was available for pre-order… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A quad-core processor and a Blu-Ray DVD player are two key features of today’s Gear Deal. The HP Pavilion dv6z Select Edition (dv6zse) has an AMD Phenom II Quad-core processor running at 1.6 GHz and a 15.6″ screen for your viewing pleasure. Its brushed aluminum case is just 1.21 inches thick and it weighs in at under 5 .5 pounds. A 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 Switchable graphics card keeps things moving and can be upgraded to a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 card if you like. And with this deal you can get a free upgrade to a 320GB hard drive spinning at 7200 rpm. If you really want a 21st… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have mentioned my coaching exploits many times.  I just finished my twelfth season as the head girl’s fastpitch softball coach.  We had the best regular season in school history staying undefeated until losing in the state playoffs.  One thing that has really changed over those twelve years is pitching.  High school pitching now is as good if not better as some college pitching when I started coaching.  With the pitching rubber only 43 feet from the plate, the speed of the pitching is a huge issue in my line of work.  Most teams own a radar gun to not only keep tabs on their own pitcher, but also scout the opposing teams.  I… 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. Once again my weekly app store search has brought yet another game.  This week’s choice combines subtle, simple graphics and a cool soundtrack with platform game play and puzzle strategy into a truly addictive and unique gaming experience.  Shift utilizes simple, yet intuitive controls to guide the character through each level.  The game usually costs $.99 but has been free the past couple of days. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

… um, because they are pretty much copying stuff everyone else is doing. Of course, many will say that is exactly what Apple does – jump on an existing trend and do the same thing … but better. So that is the question – is Microsoft doing something new or just another version of the ‘me too dance’? First off … what IS all this stuff? Well, the XBOX 360 is the better-selling of the two video game consoles aimed at the so-called hardcore gamer, outpacing the Playstation 3 from Sony. Both consoles focus on graphics-heavy presentations and online gaming, catering largely to male gamers in the 16-35 year old market. They have each done… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This isn’t the first time Apple has had issues with a new iPhone. Granted the other were once the phone’s were already in user’s hands, and that may in fact still happen, but this is only the second time Apple’s offered pre-ordering on an iPhone so work with me here……. June 2007 – The very first iPhone launched on a Friday at 6 PM. This brought a host of criticism from consumers who were concerned about the lack of support they might receive going into a weekend. It took only 40 minutes for AT&T’s computer’s to go down, over-whelmed with volume. But as first generation product… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of GeekyGadgets By now you have likely heard that Apple did a refresh on the Mac Mini, greatly overhauling the internal and external hardware and enhancing the overall specifications … and the price. The basics are as expected – more or less a copy of the 13″ Macbook Pro with more desktop-like set of connectors. The big new features include the addition of a HDMI port, upgrade of the graphics chip, and the sleek new look. Here are some details: Most notable is the new aluminum unibody enclosure, which stands just 1.4″ tall and features an easy-to-access memory panel. Other new features include an HDMI output, NVIDIA GeForce 320M on-board graphics, and Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(underlying image courtesy Unwitting Wit) Teleread featured an interesting article today from Laura Dawson, a publishing consultant. She believes that Borders is going to die, and the loss of a major bookstore chain will trigger more ebook adoption. It’s an interesting theory and it has merits, but I also think there’s some reasons why it isn’t perfect. For starters, here’s a sample conversation from when I helped close the Framingham, MA Borders store back in 2005: Customer: Wow, I am so upset you guys are closing! I shop here all the time! (In my head): If you shopped here all the time, this store wouldn’t be closing. Me: Oh, yes, we’re all sad Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As a guy who works in a building where I can hear no less than 4 different languages every day (some days as many as 7 or 8), I would have to be totally out of touch not to notice that it’s World Cup time.  And I don’t know about you, but one issue that I have with a world cup 8 timezones away is the videos.  I watch a lot of videos on my PC and iPhone, and often need to convert them. Into the gap steps Tunebite.  Tunebite’s software allows you to convert from multiple formats to multiple formats.  In addition, Tunebite gives you web recording capability, so you can set up your… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dexim just sent us some information on their new iPad items. The company is pleased to announce the launch of a new line of accessories made for the Apple iPad. Available now, the company has launched new cases and screen protectors that are both stylish and functional and come in a wide array of colors and designs. Each of the new cases comes with a screen protector, install card and cleaning cloth. They are all economically priced and with the inclusion of a screen protector are a deal worth looking into. Some of the new offerings include: LA136 Durable Protection Sleeve ($21.90) – Made of Thermoplastic… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since this is the week of gaming’s biggest event – E3 Expo – we can expect a fair amount of announcements, leaks and so on. First up, one of the most anticipated games this year, Fallout: New Vegas, gets an official release date and an E3 trailer! First the release info. According to an email from Bethesda: Fallout: New Vegas will be available at retail stores across North America October 19th, and in Europe on October 22nd. The official trailer can be streamed or downloaded at Bethesda’s official site, or you can check out the Machinima channel version on YouTube: Source: Bethesda Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I made the move to Mac I decided to also leave MS Office behind in favor of Apple’s iWork suite. Even still, people still swear by Office… and that is true of both Windows AND Mac users. Well if you are still using a Windows PC our Gear Sponsor had a deal on all of the various versions of Office 2010. Here are your options. Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Edition includes 2010 versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. It has a retail $499.99 price but with this Gear Deal the price drops to $449.99. An additional $15 coupon code brings the price to $434.99 and includes FREE shipping. AND… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m a big fan of puzzle games, particularly puzzle games that don’t run against the clock.  I’ve enjoyed Cogs, Ragdoll Blaster, Zen Bound, Myst, and many more.  Now added to the list is Eltima’s new game, Promina, a puzzle game that Eltima describes thusly:  ”Just build color cubes into minimum 2X2 figures of one color and watch the laser burn them forming new color figures and new challenges for you.” Promina is available on iTunes for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch for an MSRP of $1.99. Full information below. Eltima Software has recently released a puzzle game for iPhone and iPod touch – Promini.  It’s as simple as a pie, challenging and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …