How’s your workspace look?  If you’re anything like me, it’s a disaster area–cords, adapters, power strips, one-to-many USB jacks, cables (and in my case, glasses, pain meds, swiss army knife, arm braces, Tums . . .), you name it. You’d think it was never going to get better. Well, maybe it is! And even better, maybe you can make it pay! Take a snap of that chamber of horrors you call your workspace, join Cirago’s contest on Facebook, and you get a chance to win one of their HydraDisplay X3 multi-monitor adapters (MSRP of around $180). I mean, what have you got to lose? Cirago says: It’s time to spruce up the home computer Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re a big social media maven, always checking your Twitter and Facebook accounts, chances are you’ve thought to yourself, “MAN, can’t someone consolidate some of this stuff? I’m going nuts trying to keep up!” Well, sobees is here to offer some relief. Their just-released iPad app Social Media allows you to aggregate both your Twitter and Facebook information in one place. So if you want to try to get ahead of things, you social butterfly you, why don’t you check it out on iTunes; it’s available for an MSRP of 4 bucks. Full information below. sobees, the most innovative social media aggregator, is pleased to announce the arrival of sobees Social Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back in June we reviewed a few of the JAVOSide slip cases for the iPad. The cases- * Protect your iPad from bumps, shock and scratches. * Allow easy access to the iPad * Are lightweight Case weighing only a few ounces * Are made from material that is animal friendly * Has a soft inner lining The sleeves have an MSRP of $35.95 and are available through Amazon. We’re giving away the two review units, however. That means tomorrow night both the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Another solid release week in the midst of the back to school season. The biggie is the Wii-exclusive Metroid: Other M, which is a new entry to the classic franchise that goes all the way back to 1986! This so-called ‘interquel’ (the story comes between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion) has been getting some excellent reviews thus far! There is also an XBLA game called Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, which is a small adventure that bridges the first and upcoming second game. There is a ‘completist’ release for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition for those who haven’t played the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have had the opportunity to look at, and review, a wide range of iPad stands and today we’ll take a look at yet another one. Lapwork’s iPad Space Dock (we reviewed their Recliner for iPad a few months ago) is one of the smallest and low profile stands we have seen. If it looks a bit familiar that might be because it looks strikingly similar to Element Cases’ Joule for iPad that Judie first posted on back in April. There are some notable differences and we’ll get to those in a bit… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are lots and lots of speaker docks. Some are huge and offer big sound. Some have tons of bells an whistles. And some, like the StreetParty 4 I have been using for the last two weeks, make their mark by being small, easy to use and easy to carry. Sure, with such a small dock you give up something by way of full, rich sound but you more than make up for it in convenience. So if you are looking for a system that will replace your huge, expensive home system you can stop reading this review right now. If, however, you want something that you can keep with you, set… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just a short time ago Motorola appeared to be on the ropes. That all changed when Motorola found Android.  Less than a year ago Motorola released and sold millions of their first Android device, the Droid on the Verizon network.  Since then, they have brought out the Cliq, Cliq XT, The Flip and the Droid X.  Today I am reviewing the sequel to the Droid, the Droid 2. Hardware The Droid 2 has similar looks to the original Droid.  It is a little less blocky, but it’s almost identical to the original Droid in size, weight and thickness.  The front has chrome trim on it, and feels a little less plasticky than the original especially around… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I remember getting a nice new IBM ThinkPad (when there was only just the one model in color and gray-scale versions) on a Friday and needing to install Microsoft Office quickly before my business trip on Sunday. Sadly the CD drive was delayed and wouldn’t arrive in time for the trip. Back then, Office came on floppy disks … 25 of them! So I put the ThinkPad on the dining room table at home and went about my normal routine, feeding it floppies every now and then. It was excruciating, but at least none of the floppies were corrupted! Fast forward … umm, 18 years and I was setting up various video games on my… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Amazon‘s newest e-reader, the Kindle 3, just arrived on my door step. Rather than post a bunch of written text listing the specifications and what not I thought you’d enjoy a peak at the new device on video. Check out my quick unboxing and first impressions including a size comparison to the Kindle 2 from my YouTube channel below. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Apparently the FCC filing for Griffin’s new PartyDock got out before they were ready to totally share. Unsurprisingly, some of the information circulating about it based on that filing isn’t totally accurate. So thanks to Griffin, here’s the deal with the new dock. Games: You can play games designed specifically for PartyDock on it. Apparently up to four can play a mix of party and casual/family games from their iPad or iPhone right on their TV. PartyDock games will be available through iTunes and only games designed or adapted to the platform will work. (This makes sense since special functionality will have to be baked into the apps to make them work with the dock.)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is a portion of my desk.  What do you notice?  Cables!  Cables galore!  Mouse cables; keyboard cables; charging cables;microphone cables; headphone cables; Augh! Cable nightmare! Genius wants to help.  With their new Navigator 905BT (that’s Bluetooth, kids!) mouse, you can at least start by ditching your mouse cable.  One cable at a time, right?  Check it out on Genius’ web site. Full information below. Genius (www.geniusnetusa.com), a brand division of KYE Systems Corp., today announced a new addition to the company’s extensive line of mice, the Navigator 905BT mouse that connects instantly to any PC or Mac Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ah the summer sales! We’ve had a great run with stuff from Steam and Direct2Drive and GamersGate and EA Games … and a crappy pseudo-sale from Sony. Now we have a couple more entries as we get to the close of summer: first off, Impulse is having a big 50% off sale on some great games. Here are some details: Eschalon Book I – 50% OFF – $9.99 Eschalon Book II – 50% OFF – $12.49 The Witcher Enhanced Edition – 50% OFF – $9.99 World War II: Time of Wrath – 75% OFF – $7.49 All Apogee Games – 40% OFF – Incl Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Your friendly neighborhood Gear Diary Sponsor, PDAir, is a pretty prolific bunch.  In point of fact, when I got my first iPhone 2G, they had so many cases for me to review that eventually I had to take a break! Now, I’m not a case maven like Larry, but I still like to try new ones, so you know that that was a durn ton of cases. Well, PDAir is not letting us down for other products, either. This week, they’ve released cases for the iPhone 4, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, and others. So if you’re looking for cases (not to mention other gear), you should really take a look. Here’s this week’s full list… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The about this time last year I wrote a series of posts about the Amazon Kindle. One of the posts was entitled “An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos”. It discussed some of my concerns with their DRM scheme and the issues that I was having with it. I wasn’t pleased with some of the apparent limitations of the DRM, and I was totally disappointed with the customer service people I spoke with. A year later I want to write another open letter to Amazon. This one I’m going to title, “An Open Letter to Amazon Regarding the Kindle 3” Yes, my Kindle 3 arrived just a few minutes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s no question that the iPhone 4 serves me far better in the battery department than the iPhone 3GS ever did. Unfortunately, “better” isn’t “good” and I still find my charge running low by the middle or end of the day. As a result, having a backup battery with me at all times is a must. But here is the thing… there are backup batteries and there are BACKUP BATTERIES. The Gum Plus from IntoMobile is a BACKUP BATTERY. It’s big. It’s beefy. And it’s a new fixture in my gear bag. Let’s take a look… From JustMobile- The Continue reading on Gear Diary …