Over the past few years Google has released some amazing free apps and they continue to get better every day. Google just released an update (ver 5.2) to their popular desktop application Google Earth. The 3D spinning Earth model has found its way to thousands if not millions of desktops and can be used for a variety of tasks and entertainment. The update comes to both the free and pro version and adds some super cool new features to their already robust program . With the previous update to Earth (ver 5.0) Google lets you upload your tracks from a GPS receiver and import your tracks directly on the map. This time around Google has expanded that goodness with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apple’s update of MobileMe brings the new email look that has been in Beta to the masses. It is a huge improvement. It also coincides with the release of the Find My iPhone iPhone app. The app is universal so it works equally well on an iPad. (Perhaps it should be called Find My iOS Device???) Here’s a quick look at it in action. When you start the app it shows you all the devices on your MobileMe account. It can take a few seconds to locate the device and, obviously, those with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Looking for a specific business in your area?   Just whip out your smartphone and get the info you need, right?   Like most people these days, that’s exactly what I do.   But what happens when you still can’t find what you are looking for with that fancy-pants  location based application? Well, if you are a BlackBerry or iPhone user who has installed the popular Poynt application we’re quite fond of here at Gear Diary, you’ll be able to get live search assistance.  That’s right…“live” search assistance.  A person.  Someone who will assist Poynt users.  Think of it as your phone’s private On-Star feature.   Interested?  Read on to get the full details.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Last we saw Leliana, it was the end of Darkspawn and her broken and bloodied body was the last thing Alistair spied before he too died. That’s the great thing about fiction – being dead is no obstacle! So Bioware gets to bring Leliana back for more adventures! Bioware has announced the latest DLC adventure for Dragon Age: Origins – Leliana’s Song. This new adventure will have you take the role of a younger Leliana in the time before she joined the chantry. You already knew she had a somewhat sordid past – now you get to experience it first hand! Here is the official description: Assume the role of Leliana, a young Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Samsung Samsung recently had an official unveiling of the new Galaxy S smartphone. Samsung has plenty of new phones coming out this year running for all the big carriers running and assortment of OS’s. The Galaxy S has been seen before at various conferences and shows, but this time people were able to get some good hands on to see what Samsung has to offer.  So what really makes the Samsung Galaxy S any different than any other the other dozen phones coming out this Summer? Will Samsung recover from the damage caused to Behold II owners scorned by lack up of future OS updates?  Samsung is fighting hard to take some of the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s no denying it… the new Mac Mini from Apple is a great little computer. It brings a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 memory, a 320GB Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 802.11n WiFi, and Four USB 2.0 Ports to the smallest Mac ever. It also includes FireWire 800, an SD Card slot and HDMI, making it the perfect Mac for the den. If you want to go the more traditional route you can since it includes an HDMI to DVI video adapter. Another nice trick up its sleeve is that it makes upgrading the RAM a simple three second process AND the new Mac Mini can handle up to 8GB of RAM. Yup… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Arcadeheaven After 10 years out of the business could Sega be plotting a comeback. Some recent news suggests that the former console maker  could be staging a comeback in to the console business. In 2001 Sega announced retirement of hardware to focus on software developement and games. Back in 80′s Sega was a direct competitor to Nintendo and had some killer systems like the Sega Master System, Genesis, Saturn, and of course their last system, the Dreamcast. They also had some pretty cool mobile gaming hardware in the past years and introduced us all the iconic Mascot of Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog. Although Sega changed hands a few times the company has… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s a common injury.  iPhone elbow.  You know, you’re on the cross-country fight and go to watch a movie on your iPhone.  But without anything to hold  your arms ache from 2+ hours of holding your phone in a proper viewing angle. I’ve got a bunch of iPhone stands in my gear library. However, most are of the cradle variety and these are large, mostly meant for desktop use. When I travel it would be nice to have a stand solution to take along for watching videos from my iPhone. Are you like me, in search of a simple and portable iPhone stand? Something that’s small enough to easily store… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the Book of Amos you’ll find the famous quote– “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet…” Well we don’t fare much better. (One look at my stock purchases over the year proves that.) No, neither of us can see into the future… usually. But this time seeing the future is not difficult in the least. Hence we are not only writing this post in advance but we are publishing it early too. 600,000 iPhone Activations Crash AT&T Servers… Mayhem Ensues Published Thursday June 24th 5pm Today made Monday June 15th’s iPhone pre-order day look like a walk in the park. Apple and AT&T’s servers could Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now this is something different. Traditionally earphones either sit on your ear or in your ear. Those in your ear are held in place with a variety of different methods using everything from foam covers to flanged plastic (the Etymotic hf2 use this method) or they are molded to your ear the way the are. Well Urbanears has taken a different approach and it looks rather intriguing. The new Urbanear Medis come in 12 colors and use an entirely new method to stay put once placed in your ear. As Urbanears explains- What makes the Medis unique, apart from the number Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since I’m using my iPad as a notebook replacement most of the time I need a good solution for holding it at the right angle for reading and writing on it using a Bluetooth keyboard. Judie knew I was looking for something that would fit the bill so when LapWorks sent her a review sample of their iPad Recliner she forwarded it to me to use and review. (Thanks Judie!) I’ve been using it in my home study for the last week and have gotten a good sense of its utility . Let’s take a look… From LapWorks- Well, now Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I made a big deal in my Neverwinter Nights Netbook Gamer about how that game had reignited my love for role-playing games after nearly a decade away. But I also mention that there was a reason I picked up Neverwinter Nights in the first place – I was enjoying the recent Star Wars games and was really looking forward to the promise foretold in Knights of the Old Republic previews, but wanted to get a feel for the state of the RPG again to see if it was even worthwhile for me to give the upcoming Star Wars RPG a try. Folks on the Bioware forums recommended that I try NWN, and the rest… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image Courtesy of TechShowNetwork I didn’t lead with the comic itself as it contains some language and phraseology that might offend some … so click on in to see the comic itself – or head to Penny-Arcade to check it out! I have written at some length about the Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony presentations, but in their most recent comic Penny-Arcade sums up the whole thing much more efficiently than I have seen anywhere: Um … yeah. What they said. Source: Penny-Arcade Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Friends gathered once again in South Carolina to learn about Linux and check out what is new in the Linux community.  It is a time of learning as well as  time of camaraderie and a over all great time if you are a fan of Linux and Open Source technologies. My trip to SELF started on Thursday as my new found friend, Ed Liddle and I headed down to my Mom’s house for a pitstop.  Mom and Dad put together a great dinner of Smoked Pork Roast and Chicken and all the fixens and we rested up for the rest of the trip to South Carolina.  After we woke up, we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Tonight I was reading an interesting article on The Boy Genius Report about a curious quirk with the HTC Sense UI on the DROID Incredible. As it turns out, to display those neat previews of websites in the UI the browser is taking screenshots of the site. Doesn’t sound so unsurprising does it? What is odd is the way that the phone is storing those screenshots for future reference. According to BGR, these screenshots are stored on the phone’s internal storage drive where they are easily viewed in any picture viewing application. What’s worse is they are NOT deleted if you do a full reset on the phone. Bit of a privacy concern should you sell the phone without deleting these files! Continue reading on Gear Diary …