Dan: I recently had the opportunity to review the monCarbone HoverCoat fiber Carbon case for the iPad, and I liked it a lot. I liked it so much in fact that I still use it daily, even when my iPad is in a case. I love the way it protects the back and sides of the iPad, feel more comfortable knowing that the iPad is easier to grip thanks to the texture of the material and appreciate the way it looks on my iPad. Recently monCarbone sent two of their iPhone 4 HoverCoats to us to review… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Facebook AMD is showing the holiday Spirit this Black Friday with a twitter contest and some super deals. The contest is actually pretty simple, all you have to do is tweet a deal involving an AMD product between Wed 11/24 6:00am CT and Friday 11/26 1200 midnight. The prize list is pretty extensive, so it might be worth your time to search around post a few deals involving AMD. Beings that it’s the week of Thanksgiving,  it’s almost impossible not to almost trip over tech deals so your 5 entry a day limit should not be hard to get to. Here’s what to do. 1. Follow AMD on… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

“Turkey trots” are a very popular thanksgiving tradition. Usually they’re organized events, with a large group of people and race volunteers, etc. But you don’t need to join a full race to run a Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving, just head right out your front door! Instead of just running your usual route, though, you can still make Thursday’s run special. The fine folks at Dailymile are spearheading the “Feed the Turkey” virtual run this Thursday to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. All it takes is pledging $1, $5, or $10, and then heading out for your run! So this Thursday, instead of heading out to log the miles or pre-burn those dinner calories, give… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Although all of the focus is on Black Friday, there are a few quick sales that are going on for the next couple of days I wanted to highlight. First, at the Sony Playstation Store they are having a Stock Up For Winter Sale, featuring the following games: PS3 PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap – $3.49 sale price; $6.99 regular price Top Gun – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price Gundemonium Collection – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price DeathSpank – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price Joe Danger – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price PSP Groovin’ Blocks – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price Fat Princess Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For those of you putting off the eReader craze due to price, not sure you should have any reservations after this Friday. Earlier this week it was announced that Best Buy will be offering the Barnes & Noble Nook Wi-fi for $99 on Black Friday. Well Amazon has fought back and announced that they will be offering the Kindle 2 for $89 on amazon.com, this was announced on their Twitter page and over at ireaderreview.com; it is the first time ever Amazon has offered a Black Friday deal on any Kindle version. Now keep in mind Amazon stated there will be a limited quantity, but at $89 it’s a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve had the chance to review a host of different ways to use your iPad hands free on a desk or attach it to a wall but the new ELEMENTS line from Revena looks to stand out from the pack thanks to its style and flexibility. As the company explains, This new system allows iPad users to experience and utilize their iPad in any room of their home, their garage, workshop, auto, plane, train, office, soccer field…. the options are endless! And this DOES indeed look to be the case. It starts with the AXIS, “an iPad case with a patent-pending integrated mounting center system which enables the user to rotate their… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With the holidays upon us there isn’t a better time for you to “up your photography game”. Sure you could go out and buy a camera… then get yourself an SD card, then get yourself a tripod and then a bag. Then, when you realize that your computer doesn’t have a slot for an SD card reader you will need to go out and grab yourself an USB SD card reader if you want those pictures off the camera and on your computer. . Seriously, buying all the equipment you need to take good pictures and quickly share them with others is a holiday shopping list unto itself. There’s a much easier way to get… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today in London England an Apple I, one of only 200 of the first ever Apple computers made, sold at auction for a whopping $210,000.  The computer came packed in its original box and included a signed letter from Steve Jobs. When it was first introduced back in 1976 the Apple I sold for $666.66.  Like most Apple products it had a rather short life span and was discontinued in 1977. Today’s Apple I went to Italian businessman and private collector Marco Boglione, who made his offer over the phone.  Boglione’s brother, who was in attendance at the auction, said his brother held a true love for computers and this purchase was… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

ingear is an iPhone case company that I hadn’t heard of until they reached out to us at Gear Diary to see if we’d be interested in reviewing some of their cases. I happily accepted and in a short time a giant box filled with iPhone and iPad cases arrived on my doorstep. Based in Singapore, ingear manufacturers accessories for a variety of mobile devices throughout Asia. The company does so with a three-pronged approach. Their goal is to create a product which looks good, functions well and is affordable all at the same time. They were kind enough to send me four different iPhone 4 cases, the first of which we’ll look at… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Ford Edge crossover utility vehicle paved the way to a new segment for Big Blue Oval to compete. We recently got familiar with a 2011 Edge Sport model, aimed at customers who want a fresher, hipper crossover and this year Ford has updated styling AND technology. The Edge Sport rolls on up to 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, a first for this segment. The Edge Sport 22-inch wheel/tire handling package elevates the already “sporty” crossover to a new level of handling and control. It feels at home on a road course or twisty mountain road, but still delivers a ride agreeable for even… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are sales … and there are sales. And then there is THIS. From now until the end of the year, Direct2Drive has a deal running which they are calling D2D Gives Back. Basically, when you buy games through Direct2Drive, you have a 20% (1-in-5) chance of getting your order for free. No matter whether it is a $5.99 sale game or a $250 order of a bunch of AAA games, you might get them free! They are also instituting a price matching system, called a Lowest Price Match Guarantee. This is pretty straightforward, as it is similar to what most retail stores do – but has been missing in… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I had noted previously that Civilization V was coming to the Mac before the end of the year, but also noted “things we DON’T know … such as exactly WHEN the game is coming out, and whether or not it will be a Steam release similar to Civilization IV (which Aspyr also ported) or a separate ‘pay twice’ release like Dragon Age.” Well, now we have answers! Today Civilization V has arrived on the Mac as shown in the screen from above (taken from my Mac just before I clicked Install), and it comes via Steam as ported natively by Aspyr. This means that rather than running over the Cider… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is one of those interesting bits of information that has been floating around for months and yet no one noticed – even though it is from Apple and involves FREE STUFF! Then suddenly someone picks it up and it spreads like wildfire! In this case it is a good thing – because Apple is giving away 100 64GB iPads when they hit 1,000,000 followers on Twitter! The Twitter account is appleincnews and here is the contest tweet: Don’t forget about our iPad giveaway. We will be giving away 64 GB iPads to 100 of our lucky followers once we reach 1 million followers. As of now they have… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Don’t let this happen to you!! NO, not the getting old part… but the “slicing your finger almost off when opening one of those darn packages” part. Yes, each year at this time of the year there is an epidemic that starts and only gets worse with each passing day. It isn’t the flu. It is the “OUCH!!!! I CUT MYSELF!!!!”epidemic and it is a bloody mess. Literally. So many people go looking to open packages with a box cutter or knife, get distracted and… before you know it are on the way to the hospital. OUCH is right! It doesn’t have to be this way… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The hot gift this holiday season?? Why the iPad of course. That is a good thing for Apple who are solidly on track for world domination at this point. It is also a good thing for the many companies who create iPad accessories. It is pretty amazing to think about the fact that there are SO many accessories now available for a device that did not exist at this time last year. Among the most useful iPad accessories you can get is one of the number iPad stands that are now available. You can pay a lot for a heavy, fancy stand. Or you can pa just $9.90 and get a solid, yet portable stand… Continue reading on Gear Diary …