Pictured from left to right; Apples white In Ear Headphones (IEH), red Zagg Z-Buds, and the blue Etymotic HF2 buds. I’ve owned a pair of Zagg Z-Buds for about 1.5 years now and they had been my earbud of choice until I won two new sets of buds from Gear Diary last winter. (Thanks so much, Gear Diary!) Now that I’ve had several months to use them all, I’m prepared to give you all a brief review of all 3; Zagg Z-Buds, Apple’s In-Ear headphones (IEH), and Etymotic HF2 headphones. All of these were tested for the first half of this year on my iPhone… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This last week saw the long-awaited release of Netflix for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. Netflix already provides the ability to stream movies on a number of platforms including Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox and iPad. Subscribers to Netflix have been waiting for iPhone support ever since the Netflix was announced for the Apple iPad at the Apple launch in January. Support for Netflix on the iPhone was announced back in June during the Apple launch of the iPhone 4, which created a lot of excitement for the audience. The Netflix application is free but requires membership to one of the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve made no secret about how much I love the look of natural, undyed, full grain leather, and now Aligata has introduced yet another iPad accessory to satisfy my craving. With no velcro, clips or snaps, the Aligata Nude Beauty iPad Leather Envelope is simplicity defined. This case is nothing but gorgeous raw leather — and just because I love the look — contrasting yellow stitching. When natural leather is left untreated and undyed like the Nude Beauty cases from Aligata (and the Black Espresso and Nippon leathers, for that matter), they will show every nick, stain, mark, scar or water drop that occurs; unlike any dyed leather, the Natural Beauty will also reward… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Slacker Radio and listen to it all the time. The music selection is great, and I love the way they keep adding new aspects to the service such as playing in the background and caching stations along with the recent pairing of Slacker Radio and ABC News. Most recently Slacker’s DJ’s revamped their “Party Hits” station just in time for Labor Day BBQs across the Nation. Sure Slacker Radio has a free service, but at $4.99 a month (or $3.99 if you sign up annually) Slacker Radio Plus is a great deal and, in my opinion, worth every penny. Want an even better deal? We have 5 one-year Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is going to sound like an odd way to frame a press release for a new game that I am very excited about, but here it is: I cannot think of a PC game developer that has been as screwed over as Ossian Studios has been screwed by Atari. When I learned that Atari has no part of this game, I was thrilled and relieved! Let me fill in some details. As part of the original Neverwinter Nights, Bioware contracted developers to come up with so-called Premium Modules, something I discussed in my review of all of the modules. As I said: This was planned as a Premium module, but was cancelled when Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Dell Streak seems to be securing a reputation as one of those devices that you either love or… well, maybe not hate, but which leaves you unimpressed. Two of us here on the Gear Diary team ordered Dell Streaks, but we’ve had different reactions to the Android-based device with the unusual form factor.  Dan and I both ordered a Streak, but Dan’s is already back in Dell’s inventory.  Mine is staying put for the moment. Now, bear in mind that Dan is an admitted Apple fanboy, and I’m a… oh, heck, I don’t know what I am… I love my Apple products, but I’m getting a little bored with them, so when the super-sized Streak came along… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Everyone can use a little extra money in their pockets.  One way to save is to use coupons whenever you go shopping.  Now, I don’t know about you but I am horrible at this process.   Couponing requires you to sift through the weekly circulars and papers to dig out the coupons you would actually use.  Then you have to cut them out,  and remember to have them with you when you go out shopping. There are a lot of people out there that are so highly organized that this is a regular habit.  Sadly,  I am not one of those people.  When CardStar announced that their new CardStar application for… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In about 5 seconds you’re all going to hate me for the terrible pun in the title. Borders (or, as it was known back in my day, “Borders Books, Music, Movies and Cafe”), has hit upon the solution to their customer and sales woes. Is it to improve their book side? Shape up ebooks into a fighting machine? Nope…they’ve thought waaaaaaaaay outside the box on this one. Borders has made the logical leap that people come to bookstores for books, sometimes a movie or a CD, a good cup of coffee…and a Build-a-Bear??? Yes, they are giving valuable floor space to BUILD A BEAR workshop. Space that could be going to ebook displays, bestsellers, bargain books, etc… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Got a new iPhone 4 but no case yet?  Or still using the iPhone 3G/3Gs and want to change thing up?  Here’s a deal that’s hard to pass up. Default Cases is a start-up iPhone case company looking to make a name for themselves.  Instead of investing a ton of money on advertising they’ve decided to take their advertising budget and throw it towards the consumer instead.  The company is offering their iPhone 4 and 3G/3Gs cases, which come in 6 distinct colors, for only 1 penny.  Their goal is to get their new cases into the hands of as many real users as possible and let word of mouth do the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am convinced that one of these days they are going to have a way to implant the music directly into our brains so that we have no wires to have to contend with.  For now, the next best thing could be the Rock-It portable vibration speaker.  It looks slightly like a speaker you might put under your pillow, except it has a pod that you stick on any flat surface.  It could be a box, a window or the side of your file cabinet just so long as it’s flat and it will stick.  Plug in your iPod, iPhone or anything that has a 3.5mm headphone jack and then that surface becomes your speaker.  It is available now… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I suppose it was just a matter of time after the 1.03 patch & Return to Ostagar DLC news, and then the Darkspawn Chronicles and Leliana’s Song DLC release news, that we should get the full-on expansion Awakenings. What did surprise me was that I didn’t get it in a release from Bioware or from a visit to the site (it still isn’t listed tonight!), but in a sales email from GameTreeOnline! Oh well, however the news arrives, it is GREAT news for gamers! Here is the info about awakenings: From the Makers of the 2009 RPG of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins, comes the first official expansion pack. For Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There is a great Veggie Tales song The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, where they are supposed to be singing about ‘piratey stuff’ but Larry is singing about … nonsense. At the end they conclude ‘you just don’t get it’. And THAT is exactly what I was thinking when I read the news about the sorry state of album sales at NPR. Here is the video, just in case you don’t know the song: From the article: The month of August — like, basically, every month for the past 10 years — has not been kind to the music industry. Between August 8th and 14th, only 4.95 million albums were Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal? The Inspiron 15r! This laptop has an Intel Core i3-350M running at 2.26GHz, 4GB DDR3 memory, a 320GB Hard Drive, an 8X DVD+/-RW, 802.11n WiFi, a 1.3MP Webcam and a 6-cell battery. HD Audio 2.0 with SRS Premium Sound and Intel HD Graphics make this machine as good for play as it is for work. And speaking of work, it includes MS Office 2010 Starter Edition. Optional upgrades include ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 discrete graphics, 15.6″ WLED Glossy LCD, eSATA, HDMI, 7-in-1 Card reader and more. The 15.6″ Dell Inspiron 15r Laptop has an MSRP of $669.99. Our Gear Sponsor has tracked down a coupon for $70 off. The brings the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just because you have the new iPad doesn’t mean you have to get the Apple BT keyboard, right?  Right? Well, USBFever this week released an answer:  ”Right!”  You can now pick up a wired keyboard that works for your iPad or iPhone from them for an MSRP of $55.99.  So you’re not reliant on Apple for your keyboard needs any more, compadre. What else have the released?  Read on! Game Handle for iPhone 4 / iPod 3G / iPod 2G Leather Case for HTC Wildfire (Book Type) Leather Case for HTC Wildfire (Flip Type) Twine Leather Case For APPLE iPhone 4 Protective Crystal Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Anyone who knows me personally knows that long before I struck up a love affair with gadgets my heart belonged to watches. As early as junior high school I had a fascination with time pieces and started a blossoming collection. Back then I could only afford Swatches and Casios, but as I grew older and as my income increased I began to acquire more valuable pieces including Rolex, Cartier, Panerai, and more. I’ve sold off most of them because in this economy it’s just too hard to hold onto so many valuable things, but I have never lost my addiction. My most recent watch purchase, the Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500M didn’t break the bank… Continue reading on Gear Diary …