G5 Entertainment develops and publishes casual ‘hidden object’ and ‘time management’ games for a variety of platforms including iOS, PC, PSP and Mac. I have reviewed games from them such as Virtual City for the iPhone & iPad, Supermarket Mania 2 for the PC, and Mystery of the Crystal Portal for the PSP. Now they have brought eight of their games to the Mac App Store – all for the low price of $6.99 each! Here are the games, with descriptions provided by G5 Entertainment. Virtual City is a city building and transportation simulator with intuitive interface and outstanding graphics. Build a city of your dream, whether… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The 2011 Ford Explorer has been named North American Truck of the Year at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this morning. As a finalist it beat out the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango for top honors. In the North American Car of the Year competition, two of the three finalists are electric vehicles, although one does have a range extending gas engine on-board and this is what clinched it to make the Chevrolet Volt as the top car over the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Sonata… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Well established mobile software companies are slowly rolling out apps for Windows Phone 7.  Ilium Software, a long-standing mobile software company, has just released its first WP7 app, eWallet GO! (the ! is theirs – not [necessarily] an indication of my excitement). eWallet is a secure information manager (password protector, etc.) that has been around for quite a few years, expanding to new platforms as they are introduced.  It’s an old favorite of many – I myself have used eWallet on several different platforms in the past. eWallet GO! offers over 30 card templates, ranging from credit cards to website passwords to contact information. Your information is protected by 256-bit AES encryption… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This morning was my last morning in Vegas. Yes, CES is over. As I was checking out of the hotel I noticed something I had missed when I checked in on Monday. The simple LCD screens at the front desk aren’t screens at all. No, they are iPads that have been secured into the desks with a bezel wrapping around them. The only thing that gave them away as iPads was the telltale button that remained exposed at one side. The iPads were not being used as simple screens though. No, they were used to display the bill, interact with the person checking out and they even let people sign their bill with a finger. (The new Kensington… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. I have taken a couple off since the games released were either retreads, nothing I believed would arrive, or not worth mentioning. Of course, by doing so I failed to mention the PSP Minis release of Angry Birds, but I took care of it elsewhere. But now we finally have a few new games worthy of attention, so here goes! For me the biggest release is Venetica. This game was released in 2009 in Europe, and has been given high regards. The game is primarily a PC release, and I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Despite being a gear geek, I still want my kids to have activities for inside that are not on a television or video game system.  In their life, most of what they know come either of those ways.  We do play with Lego toys, slot car tracks and board games, but those get old to the boys.  What we need is something unique that seems magic.  Enter GlowCrazy which happens to be both unique and does seem like magic.  The good folks at GlowCrazy sent me and my boys a sample for review.  My boys play hard and are self named experts in toys, so I knew we could get a great review.  Let’s… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s a cry from one of the presenters on one of my favorite, and utterly silly, shows, “Top Gear”:  ”Pooooweeeerrrr!” growls Jeremy Clarkson all the time.  It’s a cry that, if you port your gadgets around anywhere near as much as I do, you probably use all the time too.  ”Power!”  Or maybe you’re more of the Scotty from “Star Trek” type: In any event, if you’re a technogypsy needing “poooweeeerrr!” like me, XtremeMac has some solutions to help you.  They range in price depending on the product of course, and are good for most USB devices.  Surf on over and take a look. Full information below. XtremeMac™ Announces New Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the things I love on my iPad is how much I can get done through one, well-connected app (in my case, Twitter).  The ability of tech to link things that previously had been separated is just getting rolling, and I am happy to see it.  Books and apps that utilize the capabilities of connected tech are something that I completely welcome. Heywire is trying to poke into that world.  Their new app mashes up texting, IM, and social media and allows you access to all those through a single app.  Right now I personally am using IM+ Pro, but Competition is a Good Thing™ in the tech world, so I’m glad… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When it comes to storage, I have to admit that each new revision continues to amaze me.  One of the things I love is the fact that I am juuuuuuust old enough to have been around for basically the entire change from ginormous computers that took up whole buildings to things like the iPhone, iPad, Samsung Tab, and so on.  Without any nostalgia at all, I remember how amazing it was to get 100 MB on one half-height hard disk.  Now, of course, you can get 32 GB in a 3.0 USB thumb drive.  It’s staggering.  And the price keeps dropping! Like the line of “Express DUO” thumb drives from Super Talent.  MSRP of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I gotta tell ya, at this point I’ve done enough posts on their products, and looked at enough pictures, that I’m thinking that Speakal should just go ahead and give me one of their new speakers!  (I want the SB 12, honestly; my last iPhone speaker died several months ago.) Be that as it may, here we go again:  Speakal is presenting you with the above-shown sports-ball-based speakers.  (I think those funky ones on the right are golf balls, but I don’t play golf so don’t quote me.)  In any event, Speakal is displaying these new beauties at the CES, and I’m sure they’ll be popping up on their web site shortly, too.  So… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s an issue as old as Xtreme Sportz. You’ve strapped a video camera to your helmet, and you’re convinced it’s absolutely killer footage. Unfortunately, you taped the camera at the wrong angle, and instead of seeing your wicked skating set everyone sees the sky. Luckily, ContourGPS has a hands-free video camera that solves this issue by turning your phone into the viewfinder via bluetooth. I can see where this would be helpful, since without some sort of screen you don’t know that your camera is aimed properly. However, may I make a suggestion? If you’re going to be using this to videotape your triple flip off a mountain while snowboarding in a blizzard, or some other similarly… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Francis and I got to spend some intimate time with Motorola’s Xoom powerhouse tablet and Atrix smartphone and we came away impressed. Toward the end of the demo we asked for a chance to try something new; we asked to take over the Atrix while it was connected to a 20″ monitor, keyboard and mouse and use it, in conjunction with LogMeIn, to take over my 24″ iMac in New Jersey. The result… The smartphone took over and controlled my Mac seamlessly. We asked if anyone else had done this, and were told this was, at least in their experience, a first. That’s right, the new Motorola Atrix is a 24″ iMac in your pocket… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now, just because I currently happen to be in the iPad/iPhone camp doesn’t mean that I can’t recognize quality phone in other markets when I see them.  HTC, for example, is a manufacturer for whom I have always had respect–my one Window Mobile phone was an HTC, and other than the OS, I loved it.  Now, they’re offering a bevy of new 4G smartphones–based on the Android 2.2 release–that look pretty sweet.  No prices available yet, but that doesn’t prevent you from window shopping at least, right?  (I like the one that has a kick-stand.) You can see the full press release–which is worth looking at; I don’t point you all to press releases… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The No Baggage Challenge is in day 6 and the end is drawing near. As a reminder, Larry and I have been in CES with only our Scottevest clothes to cart our gear with us. We’re doing this for the Haiti Challenge, as a way to support this incredible charity: With minimal, often substandard, and frequently unavailable health care, the people of the Caberet and surrounding region of Haiti suffer from lower life expectancy and high maternal, fetal, and infant mortality rates. Childhood infection rates are among the highest in the world, and adults often suffer or die from easily treatable diseases and conditions. Build the Road to Health To date, the Church Outreach To Youth (COTY) Continue reading on Gear Diary …

VIZIO is moving toward all connected televisions. VIZIO is introducing a universal wireless HD video and audio kit sub $200. Can put about 20 Myers away from TV and it will stream the content. They have introduced their first dual band router for video and computer wireless access. 7 and 9″ portable LCD TVs. For Mobile and auto applications. Their new Cinematic Experience id available in 50, 58 & 71″ (240Hz) sizes starting in June. Connect with Skype to any VIA HDTV for video chat. Head to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …