As I pointed out to my housemate last night as I was struggling to get her desktop speakers working, I’m not much of an audiophile.  Yes, I like music, I like it to sound good, I played piano (until I lost the nerves in a couple of fingers), but still. My brother, on the other hand, is very much your guitar-playing, distortion-wielding, huge -collection-o-records owning audiohead.  And I just know that he’d love to check out this new iPhone app, Amplitube, by IK Multimedia.  Amplitube is “the ultimate mobile guitar amp and effects system for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad.”  Rob, he thought the  Rockman was cool; he’s going to love this I bet… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Okay, I know what you’re thinking:  ”home energy management” has got to be one of the most boring topics this side of High School Latin, or doing your taxes.  I understand, believe me.  But let’s face it:  we’ve reached the point of  ”get greener or watch Houston turn into Venice”.  Plus, it’s not like electricity is getting cheaper over time, you know what I mean? So in the vein, Belkin has introduced some energy saving products.  Belkin tells us: To help people reduce their carbon footprint and lower their electricity bills, Belkin today announced four additions to its Conserve line of energy-saving accessories. Elegantly designed and easy to use, the Conserve Insight, Conserve Socket™, Conserve Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a Gear Deal that sounds too good to be true… but it is true. Our Gear Sponsor found that Logitech is running a special on Ultimate Ears earphones. Which Ultimate Ears earphones are on sale? All of them actually and you can save up to 68%. How good is the deal? Well the top of the line Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi Noise-Isolating Earphones with Voice Capability usually cost $419 but are available for $219.99. And the more reasonable Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Noise-Isolating Earphones with Voice Capability drop from $189.99 to $99.99. Orders over $75 will ship for free. The fine print? There is a limit of 1 per customer on each… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For my final M-EDGE iPad case review I wanted to share a video from my YouTube channel. The M-EDGE Touring Jacket is a neoprene sleeve that’s lined with gray fleece.  It fits the iPad just about perfectly.  Not so tight that you feel as though you need a crow bar to get your iPad in or out and not so loose so that the iPad gets jostled around. Here’s what M-EDGE  has to say about it: The M-Edge Touring Sleeve for the Apple iPad is the must-have accessory sleeve for the active iPad user. The Sleeve, made of durable and easy-to-clean neoprene, provides superior device protection and includes a large exterior Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am honestly beginning to believe that hubris is so tightly ingrained in the Sony Corporate culture that ‘berate the customer day’ likely stands alongside ‘casual Friday’ as a regular occurrence. OK, perhaps that is a bit harsh, but what came out of the mouths of Sony at their E3 press event were definitely NOT the words of a company in DEAD LAST in every possible category of gaming for the last several years who should be looking to ingratiate themselves with the customers who had previously made them the biggest name in console gaming. How bad is it? Nearly 4 years after the release of the PS3 Sony is touting gameplay numbers … FOR THE PS2!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Nintendo loves to work and rework their key franchises, which generally means that their E3 talks are filled with Metroid and Mario and Zelda. This year was no exception, and while their focus was on the fact that with the Wii and Ww-Motion Plus they deliver on the complete experience rather than just ‘cool technology’ (clear shot at Sony & Microsoft), the true star of their show was the next generation of the quirky little handheld many folks thought would fall to the PSP but has instead gone on to become the top selling game system ever: The Nintendo 3DS. Here is what we know, directly from Nintendo: Size (when closed): Approximately 5.3 inches… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With Buick being one of the four remaining cornerstones of the General Motors family, executives in the division find themselves in a difficult but familiar dilemma: Deliver competitive vehicles that attract new buyers while not alienating a loyal demographic. The new Buick LaCrosse is completely redesigned for 2010 and is built on global architecture at the Fairfax plant in Kansas City. It offers all-wheel-drive, a suite of advanced intelligent personal technologies and safety features and choice of (eventually) three engines. “The new LaCrosse builds on the success of Enclave as the next step in Buick’s renaissance and great attention to detail, craftsmanship and advanced technology,” said Susan Docherty, Buick-Pontiac-GMC vice president at vehicle launch… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just because you can’t get through Apple’s servers to order your new iPhone 4 doesn’t mean you shouldn’t and can’t make arrangements for it when (if??) it ever arrives. Fortunately Waterfield is rolling out some protection for the new iPhone. Right now there are two offerings but I suspect more will be on the way. The nice thing about both of Waterfield’s initial offerings is that they are slip case that protect the phone when it is in your bag or pocket but slide off the phone during use. In light of the iPhone 4′s sleek design I suspect a lot of us will be more inclined to use our iPhones sans case more than… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Android Central is reporting that the HTC Aria will be getting a bit of a lobotomy. You see, AT&T apparently hates the idea of sideloading apps. Sideloading means you can add apps that are not part of the regular Android marketplace through over the air download or via the USB cable on your computer. It’s for installing beta software, or software that’s only distributed through a developer’s site, and many of these are not as obscure as you’d think… Just to give you a few examples, I was away on a business trip last week. While I was there, I received an email that the new Swype beta was out. I was able to download and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Word just came to us that the HTC Desire will be coming to the US this August on select regional operators. While details are sketchy right now and the specific details on the device such as pricing, specifications, etc will come to light when the specific operators are announced. What we do know is that it will features a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Android 2.1 with HTC Sense. As the information we received notes… The HTC Hero has already been well received by customers in regional markets, and the HTC Desire represents the next step for HTC in bringing the power of Android and the usability of HTC Sense to even more consumers… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While most folks with an interest in Mass Effect 2 have likely already played the game, at E3 yesterday EA and Bioware announced a downloadable demo for Mass Effect 2, offering ‘over an hour’ of game content as well as the ability to carry your progress into the full game if you decide to keep playing. Here is the sales pitch: As Commander Shepard, you awake in a Cerberus medical facility currently under heavy siege. Battle your way through a gripping mission for survival! Then play through an additional action-packed mission and rescue a dangerous convict from an impenetrable prison station. Catch up on the story of Mass Effect™ in the exclusive “Story So Far” Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today, Toshiba announced a bucket-load of new products.  I’ll let Toshiba tell it: Today, Toshiba announced a slew of new consumer laptops that usher in exciting new designs and a wide variety of cutting-edge new technologies. These new laptops will introduce consumers to a range of new features including 3D support, Sleep-and-Music, NVIDIA Optimus technology, Resolution+ DVD Upconversion, and more. With this new product lineup, Toshiba is yet again showcasing its dedication to innovation within the mobile computing space. This new set of laptops covers a pretty wide range of sizes and prices, so rather than trying to squeeze it all in here, you should take a look at the full information below. Satellite A665 and Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Not many details yet – especially since the site seems to be intermittently up and down due to heavy traffic from curious Fallout fans – but it seems that Fallout Online is real, is happening, and is getting to the point of looking for some testers. After enduring years of drawn-out legal action between Interplay and Bethesda over the rights to the Fallout name, and then the news of an online Fallout game coming in 2012, we now have a teaser site. Check out Fallout Online for a nice little site with a distinctly Fallout feel … and scant few details. While you are there be sure to sign up for the beta… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So, it was just this morning when I saw Dilbert taking a stab at the eternal question, “What will they make an app for next?”: And then I log on and check out what new apps are available to notify you all about, and see this one: From the time she finds out she is pregnant to the day she goes into labor, iPregnancy can help expecting mothers plan and prepare for a beautiful new baby. iPregnancy is an iPhone app designed to guide a woman through one of the most important periods her life. Designed by an OB/GYN, the iPregnancy app provides features like: a due date calculator Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As an avid guitar player, I have become a huge fan of Agile Partner’s guitar apps, Guitar Toolkit and Tab Toolkit.  These are two of my most used apps for the iPhone and Tab Toolkit is beautiful on the iPad.  In fact, Tab Toolkit won an Apple Design Award just last week.  Well, Agile partners is at it again with a new piece of hardware and iPhone app for the guitar!  Read the release and watch the video of the app in action.  I have to get this one!!!! AmpKit is a free app that comes with a two-channel Peavey ValveKing amp, 2 cabinets, 2 mics and 3 pedals.  In Continue reading on Gear Diary …