Ever sat at your desk watching some streaming video and though, “Man, I wish I could convert that sucker!”  Well, you’re not the only one:  the tech boffins at Applian haven’t just thought about it, they’ve actually done it.   Their new streaming media recorder/converter software allows you to, well, record and convert streaming media.  At an MSRP of $40, streaming conversion can move from your random musings to your desktop.  Interested?  Well, surf on over. Full information below. Applian Technologies today announces the release of Replay Media Catcher 4 – a major update to their extremely popular recorder and converter for online video and audio. Replay Media Catcher 4 sports a new automatic Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Some two years ago I bought a 2GB Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. When used with Livescribe’s special paper the Pulse recorded both pen strokes and audio which were then later transferred to my computer. From there I could view the notes, listen to the recorded audio or, almost magically, tap anywhere in my text and hear the audio connected to the very moment when I had written that particular note. Having made the move away from using Windows-based Tablet PCs to using computers running Mac OSX exclusively I had missed the ability to use MS OneNote to take electronic notes. The Pulse served that purpose for me and went one… or a dozen… better. It was… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Hope everyone is having a great summer! The so-called ‘dog days of summer’ have hit game releases this weak …. yeah, I said ‘weak’ intentionally. Really nothing big coming out this week – there is a new Trackmania game for the DS & Wii, offering all of the tech-oriented high speed for the series is known for. Another racing game – Need for Speed World – is a free-to-play online racing game. The other interesting release is Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. It is interesting not so much in that either the game or movie look very… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a great story about technology making a real difference in one person’s quality of life… My mom just turned 100 in June of this year. She says she has the mind of a 50 year old and the body of a 100 year old and in truth she certainly doesn’t look 100. But she is 100 (and has the Happy Birthday letter from the President to prove it) and, as a result, she has some physical limitations. Among them, she has macular degeneration. According to her eye specialist she won’t go blind but her vision has gotten so bad that reading has become a problem. This is a horrible Continue reading on Gear Diary …

My search for the “perfect” iPhone 4 case that strikes just the right balance between protecting my iPhone, reducing the chance of an antenna issue and maintaining the thin design of the handset has brought me to check out Speck’s new PixelSkin HD. Designed with their well-received PixelSkin cases in mind, the PixelSkin HD uses smaller “DPI” (read- smaller boxes in the design) and is made from a significantly harder material. From Speck- Patterns and textures can turn “plain” into absolutely fabulous. PixelSkin HD has a shiny polished back with matte Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have road rage issues. I tend to get very frustrated by traffic and being lost; unfortunately, I live in New Jersey and have what amounts to a completely inverted sense of direction. So it’s not uncommon to find myself stuck in traffic in a strange place, while trying to calm my frustrations…and then the GPS pipes up with a “RECALCULATING” and suddenly I am plotting the highest point from which I can drop the evil beast of a device. Luckily, I am not alone. According to CNN, it’s fairly common to have a negative reaction to GPS-voice. Basically, while GPS devices and computers are capable of speaking, they lack emotion, so we don’t connect with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The folks at Speck keep rolling out new cases for the Apple iPad. This time around they sent a review unit of a case that uses their increasingly familiar pixel design and brings it to a skin that wraps the iPad in a thick protective layer shielding everything but the screen. Let’s take a look. From Speck: The tactile pixel texture and perfect amount of “squish” is what makes this rubberized iPad case so grippy in-hand and famously protective. Works great with our ShieldView screen films. When I first opened the case and took a look at it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last month Judie, Travis and I reviewed Aligata’s Genuine Leather Case for iPad. We liked it… a lot. And we especially liked working with Aligata’s owner Tom. He takes great pride in his product, has been steadily improving it and offers superb customer service. The cases have an MSRP of $79.90 but are currently on sale for $69. They are currently available in Black Espresso, Nippon, Nude Beauty, Perfect Black and Dark Chocolate. For details, pictures and ordering jump over to Tom’s site. We have two to give away- one in Dark Chocolate and on in Perfect… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There is a constant issue I am on a quest to resolve.  With all of these wonderful mobile devices and streaming music etc, I have spent a lot of time listening to my media on what are, at best, sub-par speakers.  My iPhone, iPad and even MacBook Pro are all amazing devices, but none provide audio of acceptable quality.  I do have several speaker devices around the house that sound great but none of them are particularly mobile.  Recently the folks at Wowee One allowed me to review their new Gel Audio mobile speaker unit.  The company promises full range frequency response in a super portable unit.  Let’s take a look.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have ever used any of the products by British inventor James Dyson (who also does his own commercials), you know they are pretty cool. At Gear Diary we are all about technology that is cool, so this video immediately grabbed our attention. The image at the top shows how the fan technology works in terms of the mechanics, and the image below shows the flow-front produced. The fan draws in random air from behind and pushes it out with 15x the force in a nicely focused beam. Using the focused draw and push of the fan design, folks at… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Nope; this isn’t going to be yet another post about the “Apple admits antenna problem (sort of) and promises Cases For All!” situation.  There’s plenty of folks blogging about that right now, so I’m just stickin’ to apps and such.  And on that note, Affle is offering the Pinch messenger app for the iPhone.  Pinch provides you with the capability to “message friends with pictures, locations, and unique emoticons”.  Pinch is available from iTunes for an MSRP of $0.99.  You a messaging maven?  Maybe you should check it out, yo. Full information below. I’m happy to announce that the new app Pinch – iMessenger, iContacts & iLocations Sense by Affle is now available… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One thing I have not been able to try as an iPhone user is wireless headphones.  As the technology improves, there are many instances where using Bluetooth stereo headphones can be a great advantage.  Arctic Sound entered the audio game recently and have offered some nice earphone solutions.  I have reviewed some of the ear bud style here and here.  These products proved to have superior audio and build quality at an affordable price.  In fact, I used one of them this morning during my workout.  The P311 headphones retail for $37.95 and will be available in mid-August.  Look for a review here on Gear Diary soon! Full Company Release:… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Haven’t picked up an ioSafe Solo external hard drive yet?   What are you waiting for?  Have you seen our video reviews?  The ioSafe is indestructible and virtually insures that your precious data will survive whatever disaster life throw its way. Now’s the time to grab one. Buy.com has the 2 TB ioSafe currently on sale for only $299 (down from $399) and you’ll get free shipping too. On top of that the ioSafe comes with 1 yr. of free disaster recovery service too. Click here to jump on over to the deal… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Update: This contest is now closed and we have a winner — Joe G. Thank you all for entering, and please keep your eye out for more Gear Diary giveaways! Have you been keeping up with the Lenovo A70z Desktop System giveaways happening across the web? If so, then you know that there are 21 different sites participating! If you haven’t been keeping up, there is still time because you still have some chances left — including a chance with us — because now it’s Gear Diary’s turn! Here’s how to enter: 1. Click here to complete our 10-question survey. 2. Leave a comment Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As you’re surely aware by now in today’s press conference Apple announced that all current iPhone 4 owners and any who purchase one from now until September 30th would be receiving a free case from the company.  And anyone who’s purchased an Apple Bumper case would also be entitled to a full refund. The cases however won’t be available until next week and a check of Apple retail stores even today reveals no third party cases available for purchase.  The company must now be scrambling to stock their virtual shelves with third party cases since they’ve now offered up the use of a case as a solution to any reception issue users… Continue reading on Gear Diary …