When game developing legend John Carmack speaks, people listen; when he releases a game engine, people make great games with it; and when he releases a game … it is big news. Today we get the mobile version of id Software’s upcoming shooter Rage, released in normal and HD versions on the iTunes App Store. Rage for iOS plays as an ‘on rails’ shooter, meaning that rather than having full freedom of motion you are transported from place to place to play out the game, using the controls to aim and shoot all of the oncoming enemies. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

DODOcase caught many of our eyes a few months back when they brought traditional bookbinding techniques to the creation of an iPad case. The cases are highly functional AND bring some nostalgia along for the ride. Well, DODcase has just announced their next case and it is for… the Kindle 3. Here’s what they have to say about it… Made from black faux leather and constructed using traditional bookbinding techniques, DODOcase exterior covers bring the look of a book back to the Kindle. An elastic strap keeps your Kindle sealed tight when you are on the go. We take luxury and the environment seriously so we make the DODOcase interior from the highest quality Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Notion Ink Time after time our hearts have been broken by empty promises for a newer better tablet. We all know NOTHING has even come close to comparing to the mighty iPad in terms of tablets and slates. The Samsung Galaxy Tab recently was released, and it is probably the only tablet in existence that someone could even compare to Apple’s offering. But as an Android enthusiast I can agree its refinement (so far) has proven less than worthy. We still have a few weeks yet to go this year and a whole bunch of promises to be filled. Mr Ballmer stated a while back that we… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A major update to iOS always means new goodies at the core of the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. It also means lots and lots and lots of app updates. Sure, sometimes the updates just make the app optimized to take advantage of the new OS’s functionality but for many it is also seen as an opportunity for developers to bump up features. Here are just a few of the many that showed up on our iPads. First up is BlogPress. A recent update to version 2.0 made this universal app (it works great on all three iOS devices) a truly… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s hard to gift ebooks. They’re hard to wrap, for starters! Packages of air don’t generally go over well. Luckily, Kobo is stepping in with a better solution: you can buy gift certificates, or even directly gift an ebook! This is the first time a major ebookstore is putting into effect a way to gift an electronic book, something that’s building in demand with the popularity of ebooks! If you don’t want to give a book or gift certificate, Kobo is happy to showcase their ebook readers! Hopefully they’ll be adding some accessories as well, making it an easy one-stop shopping experience; buy someone a Kobo Reader, a gift certificate for books, and a case! Shopping… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It seems like the role of the internet ‘mob mind’ as political force has been everywhere lately, from Carly’s brilliant post on the power of the social internet, to the follow-up on TechCrunch showing the likely death of Cooks Source, to the pressure mounted on the TSA scanning systems (aka: Door 1: porn scanner, Door 2: sexual assault, Door 3: exit from airport) showing up as protests over the systems have ‘gone viral’ and entered into congressional hearings. I am not going anywhere so serious with this … This image is not from… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Speck has been releasing some great cases for the current generation of iOS devices. Their latest creation is the CandyShell Grip. The CandyShell Grip is “the first case that seamlessly integrates comfortable, finger-friendly gaming grips into the sleek protection and style of the award-winning hard shell, soft center CandyShell case”. As Bryan Hynecek, Lead Designer at Speck explains, “Anyone can make a big bulky gaming case, but we set out to create a case ideal for people that love gaming that would also look and work just as well as their everyday case. The new iPod touch is amazingly thin, so we knew we had to offer the extra grip and comfort gamers would Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The HP dv6 Special Edition (dv6tse) is just 1.21″ thick and weighs in at just 5.5 lbs. It sports a brushed aluminum finish, has a multi-touch screen, a fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, and 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 switchable graphics. In order to ensure you get exactly the computer you want it offers optional upgrades that include Blu-ray and either a Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU, Our Gear Sponsor found a number of different deals on this impressive notebook but we’ll focus this Gear Deal on just one… the loaded HP dv6 with a Core i7 processor. With this deal you get the HP dv6 Select Edition Laptop with a Quad… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have a child who has had music lessons over the last decade, then chances are at some point or other you have paid for something from Music Forte – either yourself or through your school or music instructor. The process is simple – you find what you need, order it and get the high quality print sent to you. Over the same time, many internet sites have sprung up that allow you to buy sheet music and download it immediately in PDF or other forms. Some of these sites are great, while others you are pretty sure are just scanning legal sheet music and selling it (illegally) for cheap… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of my favorite sites to track deals is DealNews, which I visit daily looking for cool tech deals. As we approach Black Friday, the volume of leaked sales has already gotten out of hand, so I was thrilled to see that DealNews has their own Black Friday App for iOS and Android devices! Here is their announcement: Introducing the dealnews 2010 Black Friday App, now available for iPhone and Android (search Android Market for “dealnews”) devices. The best Black Friday App out there is back — new and improved. The Black Friday App features: * Browse “leaked” and verified Black Friday ads right on your iPod/iPhone * Save items Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Our love of ioSafe‘s fire proof and water proof external hard drives is no secret. I mean how can one not love something that’s able to survive this, or this? I’d been using ioSafe’s original product, their Solo model, since I first tested it back in August of last year (they sent me a replacement after I’d burned the original up in the car.) So when they asked if I was interested in being upgraded to one of their newer Pro models I happily accepted. The SoloPRO is available with either eSATA/USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connectivity and you can choose from either 1 TB, 1.5 TB or 2 TB of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are all feeling the financial pinch!  Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. Recently, I have reviewed many apps for guitarists.  From tuners, chord libraries, effects, to tableture.  IOS devices have proven to be an exciting platform for musicians.  Virtually any guitar related activity has been available on my devices except a way to improve my playing.  How about I use my iPad and or iPhone to tune up, find my chords, plug in my guitar to get the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Looks like B&N learned from the delays in releasing the NOOK last year. They’re ahead of schedule and are already shipping NOOKcolors to early adopters and stores! Not only that, reviews are also starting to trickle out. If you want to look at two extremes, just read CrunchGear versus Engadget. On the one hand, CrunchGear wasn’t too thrilled. They were unimpressed with the device’s performance in daylight, and had some quibbles about the UI. Granted, they did point out it was good if you were looking for a color reading-only device, but that’s a small niche when there’s an onslaught of tablets with the same or better hardware and more features coming soon. Engadget… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When it comes to protecting your precious gadgets you can’t beat simple, beautiful, well-constructed leather-goods. That’s exactly what AUTUM is offering with the Straight Jacket, their new line of premium leather sleeves for the iPad and the MacBook Air. As the company web site explains, We found ourselves searching for a leather sleeve deserving of the content it would be holding. Our relentless journey through the interwebs proved fruitless and we took it upon ourselves to build a sleek, minimal alternative to the plethora of cases out there. Custom fitted for iPad & Macbook Air. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Lost sales are a tough thing to measure. It’s easy to track what’s actually sold, but when someone opts NOT to purchase something it’s much harder to measure. Retail stores can approximate this by measuring foot traffic in and out against sales, but how do you measure this if you’re selling online? It’s become a huge point of contention in ebooks, where the agency model and battles over digital rights means there is a critical mass of angry readers with no way to express their displeasure…until now! LostBookSales is a simple website with a fantastic premise: you submit a book that you decided NOT to purchase, indicate if it was an ebook or paper book, and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …