In between when PalmOS was starting to die (Tapwave Zodiac!), and the iPhone was launched, I had a Windows Mobile phone–the HTC Universal phone o’ 1000 names.  Now, I hated Windows Mobile with a passion, as Judie can attest, but one nice “get” from my time on the Uni was locating the SPB apps. SPB makes some durn nice apps.  And now you can get one of my WM favorites, SPB Time, for you iPhone.  The Time app has multiple skins, analog and digital display types, a calendar, and even the phases of the friggin‘ moon Continue reading on Gear Diary …

OK, how much have YOU spent in the App Store … TODAY? Personally … well, let’s just say that I could have bought an Apple TV instead! I have seen so many great games coming to the App Store recently – and not just bite-sized casual stuff – that I have been planning to write something up about it … but this week is absolutely insane! Here is a run-down of just SOME of the stuff hitting the App Store this week, with App Store links and YouTube videos: Riven: Sequel to Myst Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror Remastered World Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For many people “MP3 Player” is synonymous with “iPod” but that just isn’t the case. Sure, all iPods are MP3 players but not all MP3 players are iPods. There is the Zune, there is are the offerings from Samsung and there are the MP3 players from Sony, the people who brought you the Walkman portable cassette player. (Yes, I just dated myself.) Sony is still in the MP3 business and they are still making the iconic Walkman MP3 player. Now, however, they are all flash-based and our Gear Sponsor has found some great deals on a number of them with capacities between 4 and 32 GB. Yes, you can now save a full 25% Continue reading on Gear Diary …

U.S. Cellular wants your business.  Hey, I’m not being cold here; all cell carriers want your business, right?  But U.S. Cellular is going to be going, if not the extra mile, at least an extra mile, starting Friday, 12/17, and continuing on until Christmas Eve.  And what is that extra mile?  Here’s what they tell us: U.S. Cellular is kicking off an “All Phones Free” Sale this Friday.  From Dec. 17 until Dec. 24, we are offering our extensive lineup of cutting edge phones free while supplies last, including the latest Android-powered smartphones. As if that isn’t enough to boost holiday spirits, we’re topping it off with a $100 credit to new customers purchasing a smartphone Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Flipboard first came out for the iPad I was impressed by the user interface and thought I would use it a great deal. I didn’t. Before long I was back using Reeder to check my RSS feeds and using specific news apps to read my news. Well an update to the Flipboard app may just change that. Among the features you will find in the new version is… Google Reader integration. That’s right, you can now add a section that delivers your Google Reader account items AND lets you share interesting items with others. The app makes your Google Reader feeds look and feel like you are reading a magazine. The result is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In case you haven’t heard, thin is in. Don’t believe me? Just look at the popularity of the new line of Mac Book Airs. The thinner a mobile device is, the easier it is to carry around. However, protection is important too. Not many of us want to sacrifice shock and impact protection for something that’s a little lighter in our gear bags. The JAVOedge Editor Quantum case seeks to satisfy both needs. It’s very thin and very light weight yet sturdy enough to provide ample protection from the dings everyday life throws your way. The outside of the case features a pebbled leatherette material that’s been placed over a polycarbonate shell. JAVOedge is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of AnalogSherpa How many times have you heard someone utter a movie cliché? ‘I have a bad feeling about this’, ‘I’ll be back’, ‘Say Hello to My Little Friend!’, ‘You Can’t Handle the Truth!’, and on and on. But perhaps the king of them all is the infamous line from The Wizard of Oz – we’re not in Kansas anymore! So here is a great video that shows 58 (!) scenes of someone uttering that line in a movie or TV show. Enjoy! As for the list of every movie and TV show referenced? Find it here: The Wizard of Oz Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’re all familiar with Black Friday and Cyber Monday but there’s another big holiday shopping day about to hit too. Just in case you haven’t heard Friday December 17th has been deemed “free shipping day.”  This year marks the 3rd year for this special shopping day. Right now more than 1,500 online retailers have agreed to participate in the program and they each promise delivery of whatever you purchase in time for Christmas.  The number of stores involved has continued to grow over the three years – starting from 700. There are plenty of recognizable, big name retailers involved too – Sears, Kmart, Toys ‘R’… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The folks at G5 Entertainment continue to deliver some of the best casual gaming experiences available on the PC, Mac and iOS devices, with franchises such as Virtual City, Supermarket Mania, Mahjongg Artifacts, and Mystery of the Crystal Portal amongst others. Now G5 Entrainment has announced a Christmas sale with a different app discounted every day between December 16th and 22nd! How do you know what is on sale? There are several ways: Check their Facebook page every day. Monitor their Twitter status for sale updates. Keep an eye on their home page for details. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

How hard can it be running a supermarket? In the original Supermarket Mania Nikki found out that is was much harder than she thought – especially with the evil Torg and his robot minions trying to put the store she works at out of business. Yet through perseverance she succeeds and prevails! Now Nikki is back … but so is Torg! Can you help Nikki Succeed in a new location with new challenges? The Hype: Nikki and her friends are back in Supermarket Mania 2! Help her uncle Ross manage and run his chain of grocery stores on the other side of the country. Keep the supermarket shelves stocked up, floors… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Quick – what pops into your head when you hear ‘Order of War’? Probably that it is a war game, and perhaps that it is a World War II game based on similarity to other game names. But beyond that? With Medal of Honor you got the image of individual heroics that was fitting to the scope of the game. Call of Duty implied a broader action of which you were just a part. Company of Heroes implied an even larger scope with loads of valuable individuals contributing. Order of War for me feels thin and generic. So perhaps that is the most fitting possible name, because while it isn’t a bad game, it won’t… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For several years now MP3Tunes has allowed you to upload music to their hosted website and stream it virtually anywhere. In the last few years that has become more and more important as mobile users become more accustomed to consuming more media and games on the go, constantly bumping up against storage limits – and therefore would rather not use precious storage space for music if there is an alternative. Of course there have been other services announced since then, including Psonar, AudioBox.fm and tunesBag. Each offers cloud-based music streaming, but not all offer a mobile experience to go along with it. More recently web-storage site ZumoDrive introduced ZumoCast Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Gifts are GOOOOOD… especially when they are totally unexpected. And Evernote just announced an awesome and unexpected holiday gift for any and everyonre who uses Evernote. That gift??? Evernote has just raised the monthly upload allowance for all Evernoters. As of today free users are getting a bump from 40MB to 60MB of new notes per month and Premium Evernote users go from 500MB to a whopping 1GB of new notes per month! (That’s DOUBLE the allotment for those of you playing at home!) This is a Much bigger deal than you might first realize since, once… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One great thing about the holiday season is seeing people as well as companies go out of their way to do good things for others. Even better is when a company makes it easy for folks to share in making the life of someone less fortunate a little brighter. So it is super cool that Macy’s has announced their Make a Wish Day event for Friday December 17th. All day long, bring a Santa letter to any Macy’s and they will add $1 to their donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million! Here are the details from Macy’s Facebook page Friday is National Believe Day! We’re celebrating Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve reviewed a number of the offerings from Just Mobile in recent months. Among them are the Gum Plus external battery, the UpStand for holding your iPad securely and, most recently, Judie reviewed the AluPen stylus for touchscreen devices. Well the AluPen has now won some nice awards including the Spark Design Award and iF product design award 2011. The AluPen is a great accessory… or last minute gift… and it just got more interesting because now it comes in a variety of vivid colors. As the company explains… To thank all Just Mobile customers and friends, we decide to bring forward our schedule and announce today our Continue reading on Gear Diary …